Chapter 165: The Last Nemesis Before Summer Vacation (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 165: The Last Nemesis Before Summer Vacation (7)
“I take it Cadet Lilac is the tanker?!”
The mana arrow she fired was sliced in two by Lilac’s sword, but she didn’t look the least bit flustered.
She already knew that one of his specialties was cutting through magic, and that strike hadn’t exactly been her best effort anyway.
It was a spell cast at a level meant for playing around with cadets.
Since she’d used it to entertain them in the first place, it was only natural it could be countered.
“It’s admirable that you’re trying to buy time for your friend to escape, but you should have saved a card like Lilac for as long as possible!”
No matter how skilled Lilac was, he couldn’t hold out against sheer numbers.
He’s the top student, so I can probably turn it up a notch.
Even if it was a basic spell with a simple circuit, increasing the quantity to this extent made it as powerful as any large-scale magic. However, Park A-ram completed the incantation, confident that her students would surely be able to block at least this much.
Having finished the calculations and designated the direction, the mana arrows rose into the air.
A total of 101 mana arrows weren’t enough to blanket the entire area, but they possessed more than enough power to take down a single cadet.
Yet, even knowing he was the target, Lilac didn’t let the smile fade from his face.
“Hmm?”
She knew they’d have another trick up their sleeves, but wasn’t he being a bit too confident?
If this were a real battle, she would have been on guard.
However, in her role as a villain and an examiner testing the cadets, she decided to walk right into their trap.
She was curious to see what kind of plan these honor students had devised. Moreover, to scold the culprit who had made such a risky opening move once everything was over, she felt it would be more effective to crush their strategy head-on rather than avoid it.
That’s right.
Even now, she predicted they would try to run, or that they would play some hand to protect Lilac.
Because that’s how it was every year.
Every year, even the most energetic cadets eventually realized the gap in their skills and became busy fleeing. In the first place, there weren’t many cadets who even thought about fighting back.
With that situation repeating itself, it was only natural that she had come to perceive herself as the pursuer in this event.
But familiarity was sometimes a poison that eroded one’s judgment.
A lethal toxin that could prove fatal if someone was cold-blooded enough to strike at the opening it created.
The situation was different now.
Until now, the cadets had always been exhausted from fighting each other and couldn’t make full preparations.
Without a clear commander and unready to counterattack, they were simply trampled by a powerful enemy who appeared out of nowhere without any plan.
Therefore, everything was bound to be different now that they had gathered specifically to hunt her down.
“Hup…!”
“…Oh?”
The moment she fired all the arrows at Lilac, a well-honed spear imbued with lightning qi lunged from the side.
Cadet Cheon Yu-hak? I heard he fought Cadet Lilac, so it’s a bit surprising they’re both unharmed.
I see. This was certainly worthy of being called a decoy for an escape.
Lilac, Cheon Yu-hak, Kang Han-hee, and even Kang So-hyun.
Couldn’t this be considered the freshmen’s peak combat power?
But even so, it would be meaningless if they were defeated themselves. How did they plan to escape?
She lightly concentrated her mana to block the thrust.
As expected of the runner-up, it was an excellent strike.
If she hadn’t concentrated her mana, she couldn’t have ruled out the possibility of it piercing through her shield.
“…To think you blocked that. You’re the real deal.”
“Did you think I became a professor just for show? Haha, but that was cute, so I’ll let it slide. Don’t go picking fights with your professors so recklessly in the future!”
Lilac would be handled by the mana arrows, and Cheon Yu-hak, who failed to pierce the shield, would be intercepted by the new spell she was about to fire.
“Grow, Ruyi…!”
Aha, I see. Here it comes.
Not a bad timing.
Double casting was a trick used by high-ranking mages who were quite confident in their magic.
Normally, a mage using two types of magic while maintaining a shield would likely be unable to use a third.
He had perfectly executed one of the counter-strategies she had taught in the past.
“But that doesn’t apply to me! Don’t underestimate an A-rank Hero!”
Simultaneous chanting, whether triple or quadruple, simply by increasing the numbers, wasn’t a particularly difficult feat for her.
She had already seen through the weakness of the area-of-effect attack using the artifact that Kang So-hyun specialized in.
It was threatening because it used overwhelming mass to crush the target, but the counter was also simple.
<Inversion, Gravity, Concentration, Range Designation.> Four circuits constructed the magic circle, and she activated Defying Heaven around herself and Cheon Yu-hak. It was a threatening 4th-tier spell that inverted gravity within the designated range.
If the heavy weight was the problem, she just had to create an environment where that weight couldn’t be utilized.
“Haha, you didn’t see this coming, did you?!”
She had intended to give them a hard time, but they were doing so much better than expected that she felt she could go a little easy on them.
“No, I didn’t.”
Wait. For someone caught off guard, his answer was far too calm. No, more than that, the artifact that should have grown in size was nowhere to be seen.
Oh, don’t tell me.
“It’s not like it has to grow just because I said so, right?”
It was just like the first time; she’d been completely fooled.
Just as she had tried to respond based on her knowledge of his techniques, he had used her own background knowledge against her to pull a bluff.
What he held in his hand wasn’t a staff of immense mass, but a sharply honed short sword.
A scent.
A deep, subtle fragrance wafted from the black flower blooming at the tip of his sword.
“…Honestly, I can’t say that’s a very good habit. Gambling during a battle—do you have multiple lives?”
He smirked.
“I can’t hear you over the sound of someone who fell for it hook, line, and sinker.”
The fluttering black petals disrupted the mana, making the power of her magic weaker than usual.
The shield that blocked the slash began to crack.
“Ugh…!?”
She was only able to block his attack after diverting the mana that had been holding Cheon Yu-hak back into her defense.
“…Aha, so Lilac is the only one retired?”
“What are you talking about?”
“So-hyun, I’m actually terrified right now, you know?”
Lilac was fine too? How?
“Don’t you remember my talent? It’s Reinforcement. Reinforcement.”
Aha, I see. Cheon Yu-hak, who was caught, freed himself, and Lilac used Reinforcement to boost his own capabilities to block the magic himself.
…Wait a minute? That means the movements he just showed were done without Reinforcement?
Lilac had successfully blocked the attack.
That meant there was no longer any reason for So-hyun to use Reinforcement on him.
“…Ah.”
The moment the light of Reinforcement enveloped him, the petals that had been lightly fluttering surged forth, becoming a shimmering black Sword Qi that coated his blade.
The blade approached.
What he poured into the sword and swung was a murderous intent bordering on toxicity—a truly lethal strike.
I messed up.
The shield was cleaved in two, and the incoming sword slashed her shoulder. For the first time, she had suffered what could be called ‘damage’ from a cadet.
“Whoa…!”
I almost died.
Well, there were protective devices, so she wouldn’t have actually died, but it was seriously dangerous regardless.
If she hadn’t instinctively twisted her body, it would have been her head, not her shoulder, that got cut.
The other cadets were impressive too, but she had never seen a first-year who attacked with such genuine murderous intent.
“That was insane, Kang So-hyun. I’ll admit it. I don’t like it, but that was pretty good.”
It was her way of saying she wouldn’t pursue them if they ran.
In fact, from her perspective, this was nothing short of high praise.
Even if it was a gamble by just a few cadets, they had managed to land a blow on her.
It was something that deserved acclaim, and she considered it enough to grant them a reward.
However, strangely enough, they showed no sign of running and began to regroup.
Wait?
It was only then that she finally noticed something was off.
For their goal being to protect Cadet Kim Ga-eul, they’re being excessively aggressive.
If they were thinking about their subsequent escape, they were more than capable of coming up with a more stable move than such an aggressive method.
She wasn’t so foolish that she couldn’t find the answer to a doubt once it took root, and she soon reached the unpleasant truth.
“Ah, aha. So, you didn’t come here to save your comrade, but to try and take me down?”
A slight sense of humiliation.
Even if this wasn’t her true self. Even if she wasn’t using her full power.
As someone confident in her skills, her pride was stung by the cadets’ challenge, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit humiliated.
However, that humiliation soon began to vanish, suppressed by a much larger surge of interest and competitive spirit.
If they had simply underestimated her, it would be right to crush them, but if they had come to challenge her with such thorough preparation, she had to think differently.
It was no longer right to respond half-heartedly to the challenge of her students and future juniors.
“Haha, it’s been a long time since I’ve had this much fun. Kang So-hyun, I’ll make sure to put you through your paces ‘kindly’ during your time as a teaching assistant.”
Contrary to her playful tone, golden mana surged around her.
It was a sign that she was going to get serious, dropping the playfulness.
* * *
…I messed up.
I should have taken her head with that last strike, but a slight tremor in my sword gave her the time to dodge.
The price for that was the reality of having to face a top-tier A-rank Hero who was now completely serious.
“This wasn’t in the plan…”
“Ah, damn. The time…”
The only saving grace was that the professors’ Villain Time lasted about 30 minutes. Since most of that time had passed during the previous skirmishes, just holding out would be enough now.
“Good. Very good. I’ve learned well that our first-years are quite exceptional. To think you’d try to hunt me instead of running away.”
Her voice sounded like she was either very pleased or very angry.
“Honestly, my pride is a bit hurt, and I’m not feeling great about it, but this is how it should be. This is indeed the original intent of this exam. Facing a powerful enemy, an invincible foe, a hero should naturally act like this. I also have to praise you for coming up with a plan that didn’t exhaust each other too much. Well done.”
The golden mana surging around her began to draw a new circuit.
Her original and signature move.
It converted mana into simple physical impact and poured it out, but because of that, it boasted simple, brute-force power.
“Then I should give you my all as well. As a villain. As a wall that will stand in your way from now on. And to fulfill my duty as a professor.”
Overflowing Golden Light.
Her original spell poured down toward us.
“So, try to live up to my expectations. Let’s see if you can block this too!”
Has she lost her mind? They won’t die, but what if she traumatizes the kids…!
It was clear she was being even more serious than when she used it as the masked villain before.
“Everyone, get behind me…!”
To block this, I think I’m going to have to steel myself a bit.
“Protect us! Ruyi!”
Immediately after I set up the reinforced Ruyi like a shield, a massive impact shook the entire area.
…Did we block it?
“Waaah!”
“Aaaah!?”
The Little Witch, who had been waiting nearby, was pointing her staff at me.
Am I screwed?
“Hmm, congratulations, Kang So-hyun. I didn’t think you’d be able to withstand that.”
She playfully tapped her wrist.
[30 minutes have elapsed. Professors, please conclude your raids and return promptly.]
“Well, I should say you’re quite bold. I was surprised, but anyway, it wasn’t bad. If you can just reduce the gambling aspect a bit more, you could become a fine strategist, Kang So-hyun.”
She floated up with her mana and lightly ruffled my hair.
“Oh, but you know I don’t mean you should keep fighting with Joker picks like you just did, right? In a real battle, that’s a one-way ticket to the afterlife, so keep working hard and don’t let your guard down!”
This time, as if as a punishment, her staff bonked me on the head.
She gave a bright smile and a nod toward the others huddled behind me.
“The level of this year’s freshmen really is high.”
After saying that, she floated away.
Once the tension finally broke, our gazes turned toward the culprit of this whole incident.
“…Ah.”
Kim Ga-eul.
Just what on earth has this girl been up to?
“I-I’m sorry.”
Seeing Ga-eul apologize on the verge of tears, the others let out small chuckles.
Wait? It looks like they’re in a forgiving mood.
“Whatever, let’s just eat first. I’m starving.”
“Ah, we have to start the fire again. It’s Ga-eul’s fault, so Ga-eul should do it.”
“We have a lighter. Don’t bully the kid.”
The first night of the final exam began to deepen.