Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Two Madmen
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‘Oh….’
Seriously, out of pure curiosity.
Why the hell is there such a massive arena underground in the banquet hall?
It’s weirdly well-equipped.
“Ahem.”
And our referee.
“Are both of you ready?!”
Carnel, the student council president of Yoram Academy.
Her voice was elegantly poised, as always.
‘Well, let’s think positive.’
Honestly, it was ridiculous.
But if I looked at it another way, it wasn’t a bad opportunity.
Since enrolling in Yoram, the only thing I’d shown besides the “top student” title was nothing.
If I had to pick something, maybe the cafeteria incident…?
‘Ahem….’
Martial prowess, knowledge, accomplishments.
They all had to be doubting me.
Wondering if I was just an empty “top student” shell.
‘So I’ll make it clear right here.’
Touch me and you’re fucked.
And conveniently, my opponent was perfect.
Erwin von Orpheus.
‘There was no better opponent than this.’
He was in the S Class. And from a marquess family famous for its mages.
If I beat him, no one could say a word.
‘Hoo….’
My power was basically a glass cannon.
In truth, I only had one real attack move.
【Word of Command】.
But using it once would shatter half my body.
‘So I’ve got to use my head.’
“Get ready!”
- Zzzzt…!
I pulled 【Leviathan】 from my inventory.
“Begin!”
The match started with Carnel’s shout, but Erwin didn’t move.
‘As expected.’
Erwin was a mage.
He wasn’t dumb enough to charge straight in.
And…
‘He’s a judgment bug.’
Erwin was the type who poured everything into analysis.
If I exploited that bad habit well, he’d self-destruct.
‘So i'll keep him on edge.’
I set my prepared plan into motion.
‘How to win for sure, number one.’
My actual skill was practically nonexistent.
But I had plenty of other things.
‘Act like I’ve got it all.’
And among them, the one that looked the most impressive.
- Screeeeech….
I dragged 【Leviathan】 along as I walked to the center of the arena.
The sound tore through the silence like nails on a chalkboard.
The wind died down, and all eyes focused.
‘Walk slow.’
Hide my expression under the mask.
One step.
Two steps.
‘…Build it.’
The ideal atmosphere I wanted.
Make him mistake me for not just a “sparring opponent,” but a “dangerous freak.”
Stay wary.
That alone was half the victory.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Tuner】
At your touch, mana will play its tune.
: You receive absolute correction toward ‘mana.’
Even at the world’s end, when all crumbles, you attune the flow.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Mana began to play.
- Shoooo….
Ripples rose from my toes.
The sand floor trembled, then danced with the wind.
‘How to win for sure, number two.’
Truth be told, the second one was the alpha and omega.
‘Go all-out with the first strike.’
There was no need to hesitate or test the waters.
I'd pour everything in from the start and overwhelm him.
Force him to his knees before he can even prepare.
I hefted 【Leviathan】 with effort and slammed it into the ground.
- Thunk!
In that instant, the wind stopped.
Even mana held its breath.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Leviathan】
Rank: Mythic
The sword once held by “the Silent King” Laplace.
The slumbering abyss opens its eyes for its new master.
Unique Skill
: 【Toward the Abyss】
For 5 minutes, the abyssal sea unfurls, and the sea’s will 「Leviathan」 manifests.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Erwin, this requiem’s for you.’
I wrapped mana around 【Leviathan】.
‘Enjoy it to the fullest.’
Infusing will, loading emotion, to craft an overwhelming presence.
- Fwoooosh!!
Mana erupted in a storm from 【Leviathan】, playing a dirge toward Erwin.
- Craaaack.
Soon after.
Cracks spiderwebbed underfoot, black waves began surging from the fissures.
The abyss opened.
***
Erwin von Orpheus.
He loved magic.
No, he was obsessed with magic itself.
To him, magic was god.
The reason for living.
When he felt the flow of mana, when a magic circle deployed perfectly.
He considered that thrill the peak of life.
“If I must bond with someone, it should be magic, not a human.”
Nothing in this world was more beautiful or sublime than magic.
So he couldn’t understand.
‘Adel. What the hell are you?’
He couldn’t even speak properly, wearing some beggar’s mask, mana at ‘0.’
How…
‘How did you catch her eye?’
Her.
Carnelia von Delbar.
The perfect mage.
Master of every magic theory, her talent noble among nobles.
‘My goddess.’
Erwin idolized her.
No, his feelings bordered on worship.
‘I must follow her. Carry out her will. That’s my reason for being.’
And yet…
That sacred being…
That perfect being…!
Why.
Why…
‘Are you looking at trash like him?’
She’d noticed him.
Even spoken to him.
Shown emotion.
Drawn close.
- Step.
‘What…?’
Erwin had been analyzing Adel nonstop since before the match began.
- Screeeeech….
The grating friction.
The dragging sword.
The atmosphere from that abyss-shaped blade was straight-up repulsive.
‘…What the hell is it?’
- Whoosh.
At the same time, sand-laden wind swirled behind Adel.
Goosebumps prickled Erwin’s skin.
Like instinct warning him.
‘Tch.’
Erwin bit his tongue.
‘Stupid mistake.’
Emotions were a mage’s enemy.
A battlefield mage couldn’t afford them.
Coldly, thoroughly.
Analyze the foe, strike the gap.
‘Adel… his fighting style is unknown.’
There was no solid intel.
Just that he’d used something akin to a ‘Dragon Tongue.’
‘Countering it… pointless.’
Last week, in Veronica’s class.
When Adel used that power, Serros couldn’t do a thing.
Couldn’t move a hand, couldn’t even open his mouth.
‘…Then there’s only one answer.’
Overwhelm him.
Adel had drawn his sword now.
That meant he couldn’t use that technique.
‘…Now’s the chance.’
Blast him with magic, leave no openings.
- Flick.
Erwin’s hand moved to form a magic circle, but…
‘…What if even that’s pointless?’
What if all his judgments so far… were just fakes laid by the opponent?
‘What if drawing the sword wasn’t for fighting, but a smokescreen for his real goal?’
Erwin judged.
Adel hadn’t used a Dragon Tongue-like technique from the start because it had limits.
‘But… what if it needed conditions?’
A technique requiring precise conditions.
A set distance for activation.
A specific formation.
‘What if… all those conditions are met right now?’
Thoughts chained together.
Inference bred anxiety, anxiety eroded conviction.
- Step.
Meanwhile, Adel kept approaching.
‘…No way.’
Chill creeping up his spine.
Erwin swallowed.
What if everything he’d calculated… was Adel’s calculation?
‘…!!’
Erwin instinctively backed away.
And that… became the fatal mistake.
- Thunk!
The sword plunged in.
That abyss-colored blade stabbed into the earth.
“…What!!”
In an instant, his vision warped.
“The sea?!”
The sea opened.
The horizon stretched endlessly, the ground crumbling beneath.
‘Magic…?!’
No.
There was no lingering mana.
Then…
‘…an artifact.’
Equipment with an origin.
Something beyond his control.
“Urk…!”
It was too much.
He was overwhelmed.
Defeat… a pathetic end loomed before him.
“Bullshit…!”
He’d prove it right here.
That he was above Adel.
That magic reigned supreme above all.
And above all…
Carnelia von Delbar.
That only he…
Was worthy to stand at the goddess’s side.
- Szzzt.
Erwin’s hand traced lines.
Lines crossed, forming a complex, intricate magic circle.
- Zzzzt!
As the circle completed, the sea began to freeze.
But.
- Crack!
The ice shattered… no, the sea shattered.
“…What?”
- Splash.
…When had it happened?
Erwin’s body was already submerged… sunk into the abyss.
‘Ah….’
Someone once said it.
When you peer into the abyss, the abyss peers back into you.
And… now.
He saw it.
‘……Dragon.’
Beyond the infinite darkness.
A colossal presence without light, color, or name.
Death itself, having reached the end of all things after eons.
The abyss… gazed at him.
***
“Who’s gonna win?”
“Is that even a question? Erwin, obviously!”
“But… the opponent’s the top student?”
“Well… true.”
“The top student… kinda scares me.”
“Why? Isn’t he cool? He didn’t bow to the nobles… he smashed them instead?”
Amid the murmuring crowd, anticipation mixed with mockery.
“Pfft, Second place. Who are you betting on?”
“…You?”
At Laphia’s counter-question, Serros answered without hesitation.
“Obviously! I'm Team Top Student.”
“…Me too.”
“Oh? Unexpected from you, Second place?”
“…I just compiled the intel and reached the most logical conclusion.”
“Ohh~ So you did more background digging?”
“…”
Laphia frowned, his statment hit the mark.
“Fix that habit, seriously? It's a bad habit, second place.”
“It was necessary.”
“That’s why you’re always vice.”
“You… little… shit….”
It was such a public spot that Laphia couldn’t respond physically.
“Pfft… ahem, right. So, our saintess… huh? Where’d she go?”
Serros looked around, but Lev was nowhere to be seen.
“Seriously… the saintess and top student are ghosts or something.”
Serros leaned on the railing overlooking the arena.
“Charlotte, what are you betting?”
“…Betting what?”
“We’re wagering. Loser buys food.”
“I…”
Charlotte looked down.
At Adel, dragging his sword step by step.
She followed each one with her eyes.
His walking posture.
The angle of his sword grip.
His unbalanced body.
Everything felt awkward.
Like someone else was wielding the sword for him by force.
“…Erwin.”
“Huh? Why?”
Charlotte pointed at Adel.
“…Just… every stance with the sword looks off.”
“Hmm… Dunno, looks fine to me.”
“But…”
“But?”
“If the top student speaks… he might win.”
“Speaks? Oh, that?”
The moment Adel uttered one word and everyone froze.
“Yeah. I was pretty shocked too.”
Serros had been genuinely stunned.
Figured there was a reason he didn’t talk much, but…
“Didn’t expect him to hide something like that.”
For real.
Acting like he was a dragon himself, using Dragon Tongue-like shit.
Serros scratched his head furiously.
“Argh, annoying! Without that, first place would’ve been mine!”
“Why yours? It was mine.”
“What’re you saying, second place?”
And then.
“Huh?”
- Thunk!
Adel slammed his sword into the ground.
“…What?”
“Uh…?”
“…”
The three fell silent.
“…The sea?”
It was unmistakably the sea.
A sea that could never exist in the banquet hall’s underground arena.
“…Insane.”
The sea, the darkness, the abyss… bloomed from Adel’s feet.
“What… is that…?”
The abyss split open.
And then.
――――!!
It exploded.
“Eek!!”
“Gah! What the hell?!”
“Eugh, my clothes are soaked….”
Of course, it didn’t hit Laphia or Charlotte.
They’d dodged the spray quick.
“Pfft… hahahaha…!!”
Serros, was drenched head to toe by the direct hit, she burst out laughing.
“Ah~ As expected! The top student I acknowledge you!”
He slicked back his wet gray hair, marveling on.
“Magic maniac versus a straight-up maniac!”
“…Don’t come near me? I hate getting splashed.”
“Hahaha! And the winner is…!”
“…Me too.”
“The straight-up maniac!!”