A Clash of Masters
I couldn't help but marvel as I flipped open the notebook Seril had handed me. Thanks to the original novel, I already knew the basic strategies for dealing with rare monsters. In a ruined world, the only readable thing left had been I Became the Academy's Scoundrel. It was only natural that I'd ended up completely absorbed in it.
But a novel wasn't an encyclopedia; it didn't explain the underlying principles of those weaknesses, nor did it describe the monsters' precise appearances. Yet, looking at this... This is literally an encyclopedia.
The sheer amount of effort poured into these pages was staggering. Not only had she sketched out detailed illustrations of each monster, but she had also mapped out their primary habitats and the layouts of the dungeons used by the academy.
"The professors rotate through five dungeons at random," Seril explained. "The Lava Dungeon, the Snowy Mountain Dungeon, the Grassland Dungeon, the Jungle Dungeon, and the Desert Dungeon. And the one they'll be using for this monster subjugation battle is definitely the Lava Dungeon."
"Are you sure it's the Lava Dungeon? Couldn't it be one of the others?" I asked.
"I'm positive. Most of the communication spheres the professors brought back this time were scorching hot, as if they'd been baked in a furnace. I could feel it—it was definitely the mana of fire spirits."
Although Teonor Academy was infamous for its brutal exams, they at least guaranteed the safety of their students' lives. To ensure this, the faculty inspected the dungeons beforehand, deploying communication spheres to map out and exclude any ultra-hazardous zones with a zero percent survival rate.
The fact that the retrieved communication spheres were glowing red meant the ambient temperature of the test site was incredibly high. That narrowed the possibilities down to three: the Lava Dungeon, the Jungle Dungeon, or the Desert Dungeon.
However, the Jungle Dungeon was ruled out because the humid heat there wouldn't have lingered on the devices all the way back to the academy. That left only the Lava Dungeon and the Desert Dungeon. The distinct trace of fire spirit mana pointed to an environment where fire spirits thrived in massive numbers. While fire spirits did inhabit deserts, earth spirits overwhelmingly outnumbered them there. Had the crystal spheres come from the Desert Dungeon, they would have radiated earth spirit mana instead.
"That's highly plausible." At my acknowledgment, Seril's face brightened instantly. I extended my hand to the girl who had just proven her incredible utility. "I'll be counting on you during the monster subjugation battle."
"Yeah! Me too!"
Was being acknowledged really that wonderful? If she had a tail, she'd be wagging it so hard she'd probably take off into the sky like a helicopter. By the way, it should be about time...
KABOOM—!!!
As if right on cue, the Big Chicken Hof erupted into flames. A deafening explosion roared, and fierce sparks crackled through the shattered windows.
"Aaaaah! Help! Fire!" The students inside screamed as they rushed out in a panicked stampede. It was absolute chaos. Fortunately, the Disciplinary Committee, having anticipated the situation and prepared beforehand, immediately engaged the Occupation Club. Irelia, who had been watching the terror unfold from outside the building just like me, gripped her sword and charged inside.
If she cleans house too quickly, Idrian won't get a chance to shine. I turned my gaze to Seril, who was staring blankly at the burning building. Despair had completely drained the color from her face.
"No... Lio is still in there..."
Her wheelchair-bound brother? I knew the Occupation Club wouldn't actually harm him, but the sight of the raging flames was rapidly turning Seril's rationality to ash. Just as her mana was about to go wild again, Kanteil placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Your brother is in there?"
"Please... please, just save my brother... I'll do anything! I'll do whatever you want!"
"I don't need 'anything.' We're in the same party, aren't we?"
Kanteil drew his sword. A brilliant silver light gleamed from the blade, shining loftily even amidst the chaotic, ash-filled air. "Go hide somewhere safe. I'll bring him back in no time." With those words, Kanteil dashed into the burning building.
"Aaaah! Save me!" A freshman boy, his finely tailored suit covered in soot and dust, stumbled out in a panic. He didn't even seem to realize his mouth was full of ash, a clear testament to how utterly terrified the new students were.
I need to get up there fast. I sprinted up the stairs. With every stride, it felt as if space itself was folding beneath my feet, mimicking the legendary Ground Shrinking technique. In an instant, I reached the welcoming hall.
The freshmen were fleeing in terror, while the second-years, who had already survived this ordeal once before, fought back against the Occupation Club with grim determination. Among the chaotic clash of steel, I spotted a familiar face. Idrian, who had definitely lost some weight but was still noticeably chubby, was vigorously swinging his sword.
He's definitely drawing eyes. Even with five opponents crowding him, he handled them with seasoned, brutal efficiency. He drove a hidden auxiliary weapon straight into an Occupation Club student's thigh, then delivered a vicious uppercut with the pommel of his sword. The student was launched clean into the air. Since Idrian, the infamous scoundrel of the academy, was beating down upperclassmen, it was impossible for the crowd not to notice.
Of course, his display was still a far cry from the overwhelming martial prowess of the "Madwoman of Teonor," Disciplinary Committee President Irelia.
"How dare a mere second-year challenge me!"
"It's the madwoman! Run for your lives!"
Like a scene straight out of an action movie, the elites of the Occupation Club were being swept away like autumn leaves, tossed aside like mere extras.
The Occupation Club students glared at Irelia with pale, terrified faces. The one with the sharpest presence among them screamed in sheer frustration. "Why is the Disciplinary Committee President showing up at the freshman welcoming party?! The Disciplinary Committee agreed not to interfere in this!"
"Huh...? I can't even go where I want?" Irelia smirked, her lips curling upward. "And besides, you guys are the ones who gave me this nickname. I'm the Madwoman of Teonor."
She leaped high into the air, descending like a falling meteor upon the male student who had just shouted at her.
"Aaargh!"
He desperately tried to parry by wrapping his blade in Sword Qi, but Irelia's sword was already shrouded in a dense layer of Sword Force. Although the boy was skilled enough to join the Imperial Guard tomorrow if he left the academy, he was utterly powerless against her strike. His sword snapped in two, and her blade slashed across his wrist. Fortunately, his hand wasn't completely severed.
"Tsk. You should have just stayed quiet like your seniors and graduated. Why cause such a fuss? Oh, wait, your seniors were noisy when they graduated too."
With one of their key fighters taken down in a single blow, the Occupation Club fell into utter disarray. Like a wolf unleashed among a flock of sheep, Irelia rampaged through their ranks.
Just as she was about to wipe out the attackers single-handedly, a single sword swept in to block her path.
It was a man wearing a black mask. Irelia's eyebrows twitched at his posture, which seemed to look down on her from above.
"You dare block me?"
"..."
The man blocking her path was Kanteil. He raised his sword without a single word.
Thanks to Irelia drawing all the attention, I was able to get Lio out easily.
While Irelia held everyone's gaze, Kanteil had moved with blinding speed. He had quickly located the wheelchair-bound Lio and safely escorted him out of the burning building.
I'm grateful she drew their attention, but...
Considering the future, she couldn't be allowed to steal the spotlight any further.
He kicked off the ground. In an instant, Kanteil vanished from Irelia's field of vision, and a chilling, razor-sharp energy registered behind her back. Instinctively, she tilted her head to the left just as a blade swept in from the right.
The blade was coated in a pitch-black Sword Force.
"Ha. And you're attacking me in earnest? I can't let this slide."
"..."
Killing intent swirled like dark smoke in Irelia's eyes.
The dream realm of all martial artists, capable of slicing through even dragon scales—the realm of a Master, a true one-man army. A warrior who had broken through a staggering seven walls began to exert her full power.
The monster who had broken through to the supreme realm before even turning twenty flashed a chilling smile. A deep, ocean-blue Sword Force, even denser than the black Sword Force on Kanteil's blade, enveloped her sword.
The moment her arm twitched, Kanteil instinctively sensed mortal danger. He leaped back, retreating from his position just as a lightning-like strike crashed down where he had stood a split second ago.
The surrounding area shattered and exploded from the sheer force of that single strike, prompting the Disciplinary Committee members to hurriedly evacuate the remaining crowd.
"It's a battle between Masters! Run if you want to live!"
I can't let such a perfectly set stage go to waste.
I lunged at Irelia. It was a speed she shouldn't have been able to perceive, yet, perhaps due to her sheer combat experience, she skillfully placed her blade in the exact space she predicted I would charge into. She truly possessed the skills befitting the title of Disciplinary Committee President.
But what she hadn't anticipated was that my cheat-like abilities allowed me to react to and evade even that. Fluidly dodging her blade, I grabbed her and threw her body straight out of the building.
Irelia's body crashed through the glass window, hurtling downward.
Thud!
A heavy impact echoed from below, but I didn't feel a shred of worry. A superhuman of her caliber wouldn't die from falling from a mere nine-story building. In fact, she probably wouldn't even have a scratch on her.
"Who the hell do you think you're throwing around, you bastard?!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of her scaling the outer wall of the building echoed upward. I could tell exactly how furious she was just by the sheer violence of her footsteps.
I went through the trouble of throwing her out, I can't let her back in.
What Irelia wanted right now was me. Fine, then. I'll go out.
Kanteil threw himself out of the shattered window Irelia had fallen from.
The moment he leaped outside, he saw Irelia kicking off the building wall, scaling the vertical surface with terrifying speed. Her eyes flashed with pure, unadulterated killing intent.
"I'll show you what happens when you turn my academy into a mess," Irelia snarled, her voice low and dangerous.
Where she had gotten it from, she was now holding a spiked mace in her hand.
"Do you want to completely devastate this entire area?" I asked.
I modulated my voice by using aura to alter my vocal cords. Unlike my usual voice, an ambiguous, gender-neutral tone came out of my mouth, making it impossible to tell if I was a man or a woman.
At those words, Irelia's face flushed with anger. "If bastards like you hadn't attacked in the first place...! Whew... fine. Where do you want to settle this?"
She had to prevent civilian casualties, and I had to keep Seril and Lio safe while ensuring the stage here remained intact. In other words, we couldn't fight in a crowded area. Since our interests aligned perfectly, the answer was simple.
"The Monster Forest," I said.
The Monster Forest was where the academy kept monsters captured from breeding grounds, a vast area where beasts from gates had formed their own ecosystem. Best of all, there were barely any people.
Once our destination was decided, we immediately relocated.
Looking back at the welcoming hall fading in the distance, I muttered to myself.
I've set the stage for you, Idrian. Now go make a name for yourself that will reach even my ears.