Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: You First
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“What the hell is that?”
“Dean… how exactly did you come up with this evaluation rule?”
“…Kaus, this evaluation… isn’t it exactly the same as when you were a student?”
Inside the hologram, the ‘disaster’ Carnel was rampaging.
That in itself wasn’t a problem… but the problem was Erwin, who had appointed himself as the apostle of the disaster and was going berserk right beside her.
The ironic situation where a student who was supposed to survive by hunting had joined the side of the disaster they were told to run from without question upon encountering it.
“No way we’d change rules that stayed the same for a hundred years just because of that one kid.”
“Dean… in my opinion, this year has particularly str… no, unique students.”
“You were just about to say strange students.”
“…No, Ma'am.”
The scene in the hologram grew chaotic.
Adel had stepped on a twig at his feet, making a ‘snap’.
“Oh, is he dead?!”
Veronica jumped up excitedly.
But the expectation fell flat.
Adel was right in front of Erwin… yet he passed the crisis unscathed, as if he hadn’t seen a thing.
“Aww.”
Veronica slumped back in disappointment, while Kaus glared at her coldly.
“Dean. Please don’t watch a student die with such an excited look on your face.”
Veronica ignored Kaus’s words and fixed her gaze back on the hologram.
Adel moved in the opposite direction from Carnel and Erwin.
“Why’s that kid hiding over there?”
That was when it happened.
Serros burst out from the bushes with a pop.
Serros continued the conversation with a grin… but it didn’t last long.
—Whoosh!
As Adel threw himself backward, the flames swallowed the spot where he had been whole.
At the same time, all of S Class except Neru, Lev, and Erwin mounted Laphia’s spirits on their backs and surrounded Adel in unison.
“Oh….”
“Taking out the strongest student first… not a bad judgment.”
“Wait, where’s the popcorn? Popcorn!”
Before she could finish, Veronica’s clone tore through the air with a rip.
Veronica slipped inside and popped back out moments later.
In her hand was freshly popped popcorn, with steam rising from it.
“…”
Kaus silently looked down at Veronica’s feet.
Her shadow wasn’t shifting around like before.
What was in front of him wasn’t a clone—it was the real body.
“Nyum.”
Crunch, crunch. Veronica’s eyes sparkled as she fixed them on the hologram.
And those watching the fight weren’t just Veronica and Kaus.
Dozens of professors were peeking at Adel’s battle while pretending to watch their own holograms.
“Ahem, get back to work.”
At Veronica’s words, the professors startled and averted their eyes.
Then, as if nothing had happened, they pretended to focus on their assigned students’ holograms.
“Kyahaha~ This is the life.”
Veronica gulped down the soda she’d brought with the popcorn.
“Now cornered like that? Bam! Time to awaken.”
“Dean… what have you been watching lately?”
“…There’ve been some fun books going around.”
“So… you’re saying you slacked off at work to read leisurely?”
“……Kaus, this was all for the academy.”
Veronica turned her head sharply, as if refusing to continue the conversation.
Her gaze was solely on the cornered Adel and the S Class surrounding him.
The corner of her mouth twitched up.
“This is fucking awesome.”
They say watching a fight is the most fun thing ever.
And Veronica’s expression proved it.
***
“Chasok! Burn him!”
Tiny water droplets formed on the bodies of those surrounding me.
Then, from behind Laphia, the fire spirit began inhaling deeply.
‘…Damn.’
I immediately stopped moving.
I reached out my hand. Mana boiled up from my feet, and I drew a line while tuning it.
—Splash!
Black water droplets engulfed my entire body at the same time…
—Roooar!!
The fire spirit exhaled the breath it had held.
Roaring flames swept through the surrounding area.
“Krim!”
Laphia’s eyes spotted the black water droplets covering my body.
Immediately, the ice spirit fixed its gaze on me and spat out icicles.
—Whoosh!
I swiftly dodged.
The black water droplets that had enveloped me froze solid.
—Crack!
‘This is insane.’
Two blocked my path ahead.
Charlotte and Rufus charged at me without giving me a moment to catch my breath.
Their swords crossed as they approached, but…
—Screeech…!
Mana threads tangled in an instant.
Dozens of thin lines wrapped around the two swords.
But Charlotte didn’t blink.
She drew another sword from her waist without hesitation and swung it down.
‘Ah, come on.’
The mana threads split, and Charlotte didn’t miss the gap, kicking me in the stomach.
“Krahaha! First Seat, just give up~ Even you can’t hold out against this many!”
“Don’t jinx it! You bald bastard!”
“Guhk…!!”
I gritted my teeth, running options through my head.
‘Summon Leviathan right now?’
Serros was right.
Handling all these guys alone was impossible.
Every single one from S Class was too tough to flee from or beat head-on.
—Thud.
My body, spinning in the air, hit the ground.
“No chance.”
At the same time, Rufus gripped his massive greatsword with both hands and charged in a straight line.
Like cleaving a mountain, a huge arc sliced through the air toward my head.
—Whoosh!
Mana yanked my body backward.
The greatsword grazed past, scattering a few strands of my white hair.
—Crackle…
A cold sensation wrapped around my fingertips.
My body, pushed back… I tuned the mana again and spun once more.
Twisting in midair, I rode the centrifugal force to clash 【Leviathan】 against Rufus’s greatsword.
“Guh…!”
The massive impact sent my body flying.
My limbs went numb, senses blurring, but I gritted my teeth.
Just before my back slammed into the ground, I forcibly balanced with mana.
And upon landing, I plunged 【Leviathan】 deep into the earth.
—Swoooosh…
A deep, profound abyss began to erode the world around me.
“Hey hey hey…!! Block it! Block it!”
Laphia sensed it and shouted at the spirits dangling from her back…
The fire spirit spewed flames from its mouth to burn the abyss, while the ice spirit breathed sharply, freezing the spreading darkness on the ground.
“No way, First Seat!!”
Serros propelled himself at ridiculous speed, hurling his spear at my nape.
‘Tch.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly and pulled 【Leviathan】 from the ground.
The incoming spear was no issue.
“Huh?”
Tuning mana to grab the spear, it veered off with a whoosh! and fell aside.
‘The spirits are the problem.’
Burning… freezing it, or collapsing the ground outright.
Brutal, but way too effective.
—Hee hee hee! Idiot!
—Die if you go there!
‘Spirits first….’
My thoughts didn’t last.
“Charlotte, assist.”
“…Okay.”
Rufus and Charlotte moved in sync.
Perfectly in rhythm like one body, they gave no openings.
Charging from both sides, the weight of two swords and a greatsword battered my body in turns.
‘Aren’t they too serious?’
Honestly speaking, even if they scored low in this evaluation, it wouldn’t matter, right?
One’s the crown prince, the other’s from a duke’s family.
They could slack off and nothing would change, so why go all out?
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Shard of Rage】
Even if my life was shrouded in misery.
I never shed a tear.
Never bowed my head.
: Stats rise proportional to rage.
Swallowed my tears, and in the end, devoured the world in rage.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
‘Why the hell won’t this activate?’
The situation was plenty hopeless, and I thought I was pretty pissed…
[ 【Shard of Rage】 activation requires unlocking unique trait 【■■■■】. ]
‘No, fuck.’
Then you should’ve told me sooner.
Why reveal the crucial detail at the most desperate moment?
‘Is the system finally losing it?’
Laughter was all I could muster… but system or whatever, I shoved it aside.
‘Just need a little time.’
Time for the abyss to fully bloom and Leviathan to manifest.
If I could buy those few seconds—just a few—I could turn this around.
“Krahaha! Give up already, you bastard!”
As the distance opened between me, Charlotte, and Rufus, Serros dove in like he’d been waiting.
The spear blade flashed past my eyes.
“How’s that? Does it Hurt? Does it Hurt? Just get eliminated quick!”
He jabbed relentlessly, taunting nonstop.
Of course, none hit.
“Hyah!”
Each swing of the spear wrapped it in a flow.
A beautiful curving trajectory.
For a moment, it seemed the spear tip would touch me…
—Whirl!
The tree behind me split, the ground cratered deeply, and the wind currents burst.
And… certainty dawned.
‘…That’ll do.’
—Whoosh!
I widened the distance from Serros.
Close enough to seem like it might touch, but never quite.
‘Focus.’
One chance.
Fail, and I’m out.
“You bastard! Stop dodging!”
Serros trembled in rage, channeling mana flow into his spear tip.
“Die, you bastard!”
The spear cut through wind and air toward me.
‘Now.’
One chance.
My eyes gleamed, fingertips tearing the air.
—Crackle… Crackle.
Mana sparked, thin lines weaving together into a web.
Language engraved per my will, space screamed and ripped.
—Crack!
My fingertips blackened from burns.
“Huh?”
Ignoring the pain, I connected the lines—perfect success.
“You crazy fuck!!”
Serros’s spear stretched toward me but got caught in the torn space’s boundary, trajectory twisting.
“Huh, huh? First Seat!?”
The spear plummeted right next to Laphia.
Laphia rolled aside screaming…
—Kyaa!
—Kek…
—Kek!
The spirits caught in Serros’s spear let out cute shrieks.
Flames extinguished, ice shattered, gusts died down.
“Y-You crazy bastard…!!”
“No! That wasn’t on purpose!”
—Crackle…
‘I win.’
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
【Leviathan】
Grade: 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 sea of the abyss unfolds, and the will of the sea 「Leviathan」 manifests.
✦━━━━━━━━━━━━✦
Pitch-black sea etched onto the land.
Ominous waves rose from my feet, and a dragon-shaped head surged up along the blade.
“Wh-What the hell is that…!!”
It started small.
Tiny snakes.
Glinting scales, crawling snake forms gathered one by one, twisting and entwining.
───────────!!!
Countless snakes linked, soon forming a colossal dragon shape.
—D-Dragon!
—Run! Ruuun!!
—Eek! It’ll eat us!
The spirits clinging to Laphia betrayed their master in an instant.
Without a hint of hesitation, they abandoned her and fled to the spirit realm.
“Kiyaaaaak!!”
Abandoned by her spirits, Laphia shrieked shrilly and bolted without looking back.
Of course, Charlotte and Rufus were no exceptions.
The moment they saw the abyss unfold, they vanished like rats without even glancing at each other.
“Uh… wait, First Seat, let’s talk.”
I didn’t even spare a glance at those fleeing.
“Waaak! Waaaak!!”
Black waves crashed, ominous tides wetting Serros’s ankles.
With splashing sounds, the abyss gripped him tight.
‘Said I was top priority, huh.’
Leviathan’s maw gaped wide, and my smile bloomed just as wide.
“Wait, First Seat! Waaaait!!”
[凸^o^凸]
‘You first.’
Leviathan gulped Serros down.