Bismarck-Class Destroyer
Bismarck-Class Destroyer
Academy Regulation Article 14. Club room scramble based on club room occupancy disputes.
This rule is a new regulation introduced in the Academy, which prides itself on meritocracy, to weed out incompetent clubs that just occupy space and engage in politics.
The gist is simple.
Any group with the qualifications of an Associate Club or higher can demand a duel for club room occupancy rights against an underperforming club.
Actually, Bianca-sunbae doesn't have much room to talk, because the club room she's currently occupying is also a war trophy she seized by force three weeks ago from a peaceful club called "A Cup of Tea After Meals for Health and Beauty."
...Though the name is a bit suspicious.
The problem is that Bianca Lucia is insanely strong.
The fact that she's held out for three weeks without any club members or achievements is proof that Bianca has blown away the numerous factions that have challenged her all by herself.
But this opponent is on a different level.
The pride of the Victoria Union, the Chivalry Society.
It's a massive faction created by pro-monarchy forces—who still serve the King even in an era where the World Government rules all nations and all monarchies have been abolished—to extend their influence into the Academy.
Although they are still just an Associate Club, if you include non-academy students, the number of members reaches the tens of thousands, and there are even upperclassmen elites within the Academy.
The faction itself hasn't been around long and doesn't have a club room, so they're stuck as an Associate Club, but in reality, they're bigger than most clubs.
The only reason the head of that massive organization is a mere first-year, Penelope L. Gladstone, is one thing.
"Concept Erosion...."
A realm that only a tiny fraction of the pinnacle among 3rd-generation ability users can reach.
Penelope was already manifesting the absurd talent of painting over the colors of the surrounding world with her own 'Idea'.
"If you back down now, I'll specially accept you as an apprentice in my Order of Chivalry. Your reputation as the Ice Princess will shine even brighter under me."
As Penelope smiled arrogantly and pointed her magic staff at us, Bianca sank deep into her wheelchair and returned to her cold Ice Princess mode.
We arrived at a massive Colosseum-style duel arena within the Academy.
Bianca coldly scanned Penelope's vassals filling the surroundings.
"Private battle. The winner gets the club room occupancy rights. No objections, right?"
Then, she tugged on my sleeve.
"...Seo-yeon-ssi. Can I beat that woman? Concept Erosion... that's much more terrifying magic power than the rumors said."
Where did that charisma from earlier go? She looks like she's about to cry.
"Of course you can! Who do you think you are, Sunbae-nim? You're the pinnacle of Majihoi and the club president I chose. A silver-spoon young lady like that? You can finish her with one sweep of a broom!"
"R-right? I knew Seo-yeon-ssi had a good eye!"
Bianca immediately puffed out her chest and looked smug.
Well, I didn't bother telling her that Bianca winning here is the set route of the original <Dice and Academy>.
Veteran players don't go around spoiling things carelessly.
Bianca turned her head back and asked Penelope very arrogantly.
"I'll add a condition. What will you do if you lose?"
The vassals sitting in the spectator seats erupted in fury. "How dare you speak such nonsense to our Order Leader!" they shouted, but Bianca didn't even blink.
Penelope began to flush at the unexpected provocation.
"The outcome is already decided, but if you insist, I'll take the bet! If I lose, I'll even become your slave!"
"I don't need something like a slave; it's just a hassle."
Bianca waved her hand as if it were bothersome.
"Just be a member of our club. I need to fill 5 members within a week."
"...What did you say?!"
I could hear the sound of Penelope's pride cracking. The vassals' profanity shook the duel arena, but Bianca let out a yawn as if she were already uninterested.
Truly, Ice Princess Mark 2. I'm not sure if her talent for pissing people off is better than Mark 1's.
[Notification: A private duel has been declared. External observation is blocked.]
With a mechanical announcement, a massive black curtain draped over the sky of the duel arena.
It was a perfect blackout where even the noise from inside couldn't be heard from the outside.
I could hear the vassals in the spectator seats murmuring, but I sighed and covered my face with both hands.
"...Link."
I shared my vision with the Watching Eye I had already floated in the air.
There's no better study than watching others fight in real-time 4K.
Especially if it's a duel between characters who fought for the top spots in the original work.
Inside the curtain, the first to move was the enraged Penelope.
"Grrr... How dare you treat me like a slave? I'll melt that arrogance with molten iron!"
As Penelope slammed her magic staff into the ground, a purple wave spread along the surface.
[Concept Erosion - Manifestation].
An ability to bring weapons she deeply understands and admires into reality.
And Penelope is a self-proclaimed, hardcore naval geek.
"Steel giant, paint this world as my sea! Manifestation. Bismarck-class Destroyer!"
The space tore open with a mechanical metallic sound, and massive 15-inch twin turrets appeared hanging in the air above Penelope's head.
Overwhelming mass and the smooth texture of steel.
BOOM!
As the salvo began, the entire duel arena shook as if there were an earthquake.
Magic shells accurately struck Bianca's location, causing a massive explosion.
"Hoo... Haa...."
Bianca, who barely escaped through the dust cloud, pulled one of the classics from her bosom while sweating profusely.
"Je-jang-il-si-je-jin (All generals advance at once), Judgment·Earth·Mysterious·Yellow (various types of cannons). Nan-sa-yeo-roe (Random fire like thunder), Bun-myeol-jeok-seon (Burn and destroy enemy ships)!"
The moment the sentence was recited, Bianca's body was enveloped in a dazzling blue-white radiance.
This time, the armor of a Joseon general covered her body, and a massive hwan-do (sword) with red tassels was created next to her wheelchair.
"...Not easy from the start, really."
Bianca drew her hwan-do.
CLANG!
Deflecting the incoming 15-inch shell fragments with sword energy, Bianca kicked off the ground and soared from her wheelchair.
The usual sickly appearance was nowhere to be found; like a fierce general cutting through waves, Bianca broke through Penelope's encirclement and charged.
"Wh-what?! That outfit?! Do you think you can block my naval guns with such a crude sword?!"
"Crude? You, who don't know the invincible faith contained in this text, are the pitiful one!"
Bianca stepped on the air and unleashed a single slash.
Magic shells fired from the naval guns poured down with a thunderous roar, but Bianca, under the protection of the Nanjung Ilgi, flowed her movements flexibly as if riding an invisible waterway.
"It's over!"
And through the opening she saw, Bianca's hwan-do sliced diagonally across Penelope's shoulder.
Just as I thought the fight was decided, Bianca's expression stiffened, and feeling an instinctive sense of crisis, she immediately leaped backward to create distance.
"...Hehe, did you find out?"
Penelope lightly brushed off her shoulder. The fabric was torn, but there wasn't a single scratch on the white skin underneath.
As Penelope walked forward, heavy magic power swirled around her.
"Concept Erosion can be applied to my own body, too. The core defensive concept of the Bismarck-class Destroyer. Manifestation of Turtleback Armor."
Penelope's body itself had turned into a fortress of steel.
As Penelope scoffed and raised her staff high, massive steel structures rose up behind her back.
"Did you think you could pierce me with just that level of attack?"
Secondary batteries, anti-aircraft guns, and 15-inch main guns amplified at an unrealistic speed.
The field of fire wove tightly, beginning to turn the duel arena into hell.
By Academy standards, the Bismarck-class battleship is downgraded to a mere destroyer level.
Because to even scratch the hide of the monsters rising from the sea, you'd need at least a massive flagship that is 1.2km long and equipped with 100-inch main guns.
But even the firepower of that destroyer was excessively overkill for dealing with a single human.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!
Bianca's armor shattered. Amidst the raining bombardment, Bianca was slammed into the wall, bleeding. Her hwan-do was broken, and one arm hung limply as if she had no feeling in it.
"Will you surrender now? If you don't want to hurt more."
Penelope sneered, confident of victory, but Bianca, despite staggering, grabbed the broken sword hilt again.
"...Hoo."
Bianca's eyes turned toward me. Specifically, toward me beyond the linked vision.
Of course, she couldn't be looking at me.
But I felt like she did.
"I have someone who believed in me."
Bianca pointed the broken sword at Penelope with a trembling arm.
"My club is no longer just my own."
No, this person is making me embarrassed, seriously!
I was blushing and holding my forehead in the spectator seats, but Bianca's gaze was no joke.
This is why otakus are for real!
"Then die there! Salvo!"
The moment the light of destruction, as if Penelope's every naval gun would erase everything, poured down, Bianca spread her arms wide and murmured.
"...I realized it. The core of the book's text."
Judgment·Earth·Mysterious·Yellow (various types of cannons: firing the Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow cannons)
With a tremendous roar, dust rose thickly.
Penelope shouted, confident of victory, but her expression was soon filled with astonishment.
"That can't be... No way!"
Behind Bianca, hundreds, thousands... no, tens of thousands of bronze cannons filled the air.
An overwhelming volume of firepower that shot down Penelope's naval gun barrage head-on.
"Not all mages grow at a slow pace."
Bianca smiled, mixed with blood, and Bianca's magic power screamed and expanded.
"Is this what Concept Erosion is? It's completely incomplete and weak, but!!!"
Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Yellow.
Tens of thousands of shells containing the science and faith of Joseon began to pour through Penelope's naval gun barrage.