Chapter 153: Eliminated (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 153: Eliminated (4)
Even though the Magic Department had only barely managed to defeat me by swarming me as a group, some argued that the Swordsmanship Department could surely win if they banded together as well.
"Absolutely not."
No matter how much I hated acknowledging those Magic Spammers, I had to face reality.
"What’s the problem?"
"The problem is that this is a team battle, not an individual one."
No matter how many swordsmen you have, there’s a limit to how many people can engage a single target at once. In fact, when coordination is off, the result is often worse than fighting alone.
To prepare for this, ordinary soldiers are constantly trained in how to handle a single opponent as a group. However, students attending the Academy—especially one with the highest level of education on the continent—naturally aimed to be knights, not mere soldiers.
And since knights were synonymous with the image of 1-on-1 duels, the students of the Swordsmanship Department were, naturally, only trained for individual combat.
"But isn't that the same for the Magic Department?"
"True. But magic doesn't necessarily require cooperation, does it?"
The Magic Spammers were different. They just had to stand at a distance and fire off spells to keep the enemy from approaching.
I’ll say it again: you have to admit what’s true. People say the knight is the flower of the battlefield, but the one responsible for the actual firepower is the mage. Even that mage of Leon... no, especially that mage of Leon, could fulfill this role better than any other Magic Spammer.
Therefore, for mages, 1+1 equals at least 2. They just have to keep spamming magic until the enemy gets close. It doesn't change the fact that they lose once a swordsman closes the gap, anyway.
But swordsmen are different. Synergy or multiplication like the mages have is a pipe dream. We’re lucky if 1+1 even equals 2. It wouldn't be strange if we ended up with a negative result by tripping over each other.
Besides, thinking about it calmly now, the reason I was able to hold out for so long against so many mages was the result of several conditions aligning.
One was the Dark Mage’s emotion amplification, which caused the mages to lose their cool. Because of that, they risked close-quarters combat just to take me down. Though it ended with a blow to the back of my head from Boradori, I probably would have collapsed before the day was out anyway.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"...We have to decide on the discarded pieces."
On the battlefield, mana is a consumable. There was a reason every swordsman went crazy for Daisy’s Magic Sword, which increased mana the more you fought.
"Hey. Still... the grades of the guys who are reviving must be important too..."
Sososo looked at me with an expression that said I was being too harsh.
"......?"
"What? Why?!"
I replied with a look of pure patheticism instead of words.
"Do you really think I'd be that heartless?"
"...Uh, yeah. I was 100% sure you would be?"
"Asran. This isn't about individual victory. This is a vital moment that determines which department—Swordsmanship or Magic—will hold hegemony for the rest of our Academy lives."
"...Wasn't this an Academy exam?"
"Ha."
Our dear Sososo. He’s officially the third-ranked student in the Swordsmanship Department, yet he has so little sense of responsibility as a swordsman.
"You're going to drop out of the top five soon."
"Stop saying such ominous things to yourself!"
"Fine, Sososo. Let me point out where you're mistaken."
"Is 'So' all that's left of the Minor Sword Emperor now?!"
Ignoring his obvious remarks, I told him who the discarded pieces would be.
"First, it has to be a symbolic figure from the Swordsmanship Department that the Magic Department would target."
The role of the discarded piece was to create an opportunity for allies to approach the mages.
"And they have to be strong enough to withstand the Magic Spammers' spells."
Additionally, they had to take as many hits as possible to drain the mages' mana.
And finally...
"People who have already accumulated enough points that they won't have regrets even if they're eliminated."
Someone with not a single regret. Someone who could perform the mission perfectly.
"We will be the bait!"
Asran and I had to become the foundation for the Swordsmanship Department's victory.
However!
"...My grades are actually kind of borderline?"
"...What have you been doing all this time?"
"I was looking for people, then I found a Dark Mage dungeon. When I came out, Violet had brought a bunch of mages and was beating everyone up."
"......"
It seemed the RoFan male leads were destined to be of no help in my life.
The morning of the fifth day arrived.
"Now then, students..."
The students hadn't revived immediately on the third day for a reason.
"Lastly, take these Proofs of Life. In case anyone doesn't know, if this is taken from you, you lose your chance to revive entirely. Well, since there are no more chances to revive after today anyway, just think of it as losing a massive amount of points the moment it's taken."
Surprisingly, from early morning, the TAs began explaining the rules, activity hours, revival points, and peace zones.
...Come to think of it, those TAs were chasing students until dawn yesterday. Looking at their hollow eyes, it seemed they had been suffering for more than a day or two. They say graduate students have no human rights, and most TAs are graduate students, but this was a bit...
"Finally, one last thing..."
The TA looked at us with an expression of pity instead.
"There is a special score event added this time... If you can manage to get it, you'll probably be guaranteed first place."
"What?"
A murmur broke out among the students.
"Well, that's only if you can get it. It's a chance to take first place even if you can't recover your Badge of Survival..."
A fight between skilled swordsmen is like a fighting game from my past life. What does that mean? It means you have to be able to split the world frame by frame to see the opponent's movements.
Because of that, I could read the TAs' expressions—a smirk that lasted about three frames. Translating that expression, it basically meant, "Get wrecked."
That gave me all the confirmation I needed.
A special score. An Academy in a RoFan. A Head Professor who was a bit crazy, contrary to his public image. Putting all this together...
"Everyone, give up on the special score."
"Do you know what it is?"
"I have a rough idea."
"What is it?"
On the way to the revival point, I spoke a single name seriously to the gathered swordsmanship students.
"The Sword Emperor."
"......?"
"It seems our professor got bored just watching."
"......"
"......"
"......"
The students all fell silent, their faces full of doubt.
"Why?"
"I told you, he's bored."
"The Sword Emperor?"
"For a reason like that?"
These guys still seemed to have some illusions left about the Sword Emperor. ...Come to think of it, he hadn't shown his true nature to anyone but me or Sososo.
"Or maybe it's to give the students a grand realization."
After giving a rough explanation, I warned them never, ever to think about participating in the special event.
"Well, fine."
"It's not like we could beat the Sword Emperor anyway."
Whether they realized the importance of the battle against the Magic Department or simply thought victory was impossible, they followed my lead.
However...
An Academy—no, a RoFan—was a place where things never went according to plan.
"I've been waiting for you."
"......?"
No, seriously. This was a bit much.
"You're in luck. You've just gained the chance to take first place immediately."
"Wait, you just said you were waiting... Gack!"
One student was hit by magic and vanished.
"I do tend to like quick-witted students, but unfortunately, I'm a professor of the Magic Department."
Watching him click his tongue briefly while saying he couldn't take swordsmen as TAs, we realized something had gone terribly wrong.
"Now, get ready."
Those cowardly Magic Spammers. They even brought their Head Professor to wreak havoc.
Violet - Cowardly Sword-Swingers!
I had checked the plan multiple times. I reviewed every possible move the opponent could make. Although I had prepared for an all-out war between the Swordsmanship and Magic Departments to ensure no lingering regrets...
"I never said I'd lose."
Even though I had prepared other paths just to survive, my roots were always in magic. ...And since I used ancient sorcery on the third day, I wouldn't be able to use it for several months anyway!
Therefore, the person standing here now was the proud mage, Violet. Thus, as a mage, I would triumph over the swordsmen. No matter if the opponent was Adam Smith. Even if he was my boss!
"Now then, from now on, we..."
I had finished investigating those who successfully revived about how the eliminated students lived and gathered information, where they revived on the third day, and if there were any other rules.
"Of course, there's no guarantee we'll move to the same place."
"Here, and here. Topographically, luring them here would be..."
They say firepower in war comes from mages, but the one called the flower is ultimately the knight. While mages overwhelm brilliantly and instantaneously, the role of finishing things usually falls to the knights.
"A long-term battle is disadvantageous. We must reduce the enemy's numbers instantly with overwhelming power."
Under the same conditions, a knight with superior physical specs would naturally have the advantage in a protracted fight. That’s why we decided to suppress as many enemies as quickly as possible.
"If this line is broken, move here. If even this becomes dangerous, move here."
If we could reduce the enemy's numbers, I was determined to drag it into an ultra-long-term engagement.
"If this defensive line is breached, aim to tie the enemy down rather than focusing on firepower..."
It wasn't just that the fight between mages and swordsmen was a battle of distance. There was one more thing that was more important.
"We win if we just hold out for today."
Unlike the first Losers' Revival Match on the third day, today most of the Swordsmanship Department students were the ones reviving. If we could just hold out today, we would win. As long as I didn't fall, there would be no more revivals for the likes of Adam Smith or Asran.
It was a truly petty method... but war is won by the pettier side. And if it were anyone else, I might have hesitated, but if our Mr. Adam Smith were in the same position, he would have certainly done the same. No! Perhaps he wouldn't have fought at all and scheduled the final battle for tomorrow!
With that certainty, I drew up the plan for the Magic Department's victory without a moment's hesitation.
"...Oh. What a coincidence. To run into the Magic Department students here."
"Sword Emperor?"
True to a RoFan Academy novel where the original work had already been shattered to pieces, another event I had never seen before appeared.
"I am not the Sword Emperor. I am a Special Boss."
"......?"
"The points on my head are worth about 100 Proofs of Life. One of you can certainly become first place."
No one could laugh at the Sword Emperor's words as he chuckled. That was because...
"Aura?"
As if a lion gives its all even when hunting a rabbit, he stood there emitting not just sword energy, but Aura, against mere students.
???: We must survive.
The reason Dark Mages have a high survival rate is that they lack any pathetic sense of comradeship. That’s why, even after seeing their allies fall—and even seeing the Demon Tribe fall—they gave up cleanly and did their best for their own survival.
"What about the plan to revive the Legion Commander of the Demon Tribe?"
"That was something the Demon Faction was handling anyway."
"They'll take care of it themselves."
Thus, the surviving Pure Magic Faction Dark Mages hid and waited for an opportunity, then revealed themselves once the surroundings grew quiet. Their goal was to leave Akensom alive!
Their plan wasn't half bad, but...
"Aaaaah!"
"What is that?!"
The Dark Mages fled from a storm of cold energy raging on one side.
"This is insane!"
"Run!"
But they began to flee again from the brilliant light of Aura pouring from the other side. Unfortunately, they were unaware of one single fact.
The reason the island was quiet wasn't because the incident was over.
It was because it was the calm before the storm.