It Went Too Well
Rachel, listen carefully. From now on, Cassandra and I are going to catch the bad guys.
“Then I’ll go with you!”
“No. There’s something I need you to do.”
“What is it?”
“A duel for the class president election is going to be held in the large training arena.”
“I know.”
“Watch over it for me.”
“Why?”
“There will come a moment when I need your help. Remember this, Rachel. No one can die. I need your strength. Got it? If you stay there, that moment will definitely come.”
Rachel didn’t fully understand what he meant, but she nodded at Asbel’s words. And so she stood in the arena, watching the duel unfold.
It was a three-way battle where all three fighters shared a single arena. Since each of the three representatives was exceptionally skilled, the match was quite entertaining to watch. But the hierarchy of power was decided almost immediately.
“Ugh!! I surrender!”
The first to reach her limit was Fiore, the representative of the Truth Research Society. She was an outstanding lightning mage, but her opponents were simply monsters. She couldn’t even show off her full potential before she collapsed.
Now only two remained: Darose of the Lions’ Legion and Luspontia, leader of the Element Followers and their representative.
“Not bad at all. Darose, was it? You’re putting up a pretty decent fight.”
The obnoxious little loli grinned wickedly, dressed in her black gothic lolita outfit. In terms of pure physical ability, Darose could have torn her apart long ago. But the spirits she had summoned around her prevented him from moving freely.
Shadow spirits. The elemental beings Luspontia had contracted with. They were one of the otherworldly spirits that manipulated shadows to attack their opponents. Their weakness was that their power dropped sharply during the day when shadows were scarce, but this monstrous girl was controlling only her own shadow in broad daylight and still driving him into a corner.
“Let’s end this. You fought well, but I can’t let the class president come from your faction. That muscle-brained Gotrose has held the position for half a year. That’s more than enough. Now it’s our turn.”
Her shadow exploded outward, rapidly expanding its domain. Then it transformed into countless spikes and shot toward Darose like spears.
Darose poured mana into his sword, creating a vivid aura blade. It was an unbelievable achievement for someone still in his teens, but unfortunately his swordsmanship wasn’t strong enough to withstand Luspontia’s assault.
“Ugh!!!”
His sword began to slowly give ground. His eyes lost focus. Was he really going to lose? To this obnoxious little brat?
His gaze flicked toward Gotrose and his faction members sitting in the spectator seats. Eyes full of worry. Eyes full of disappointment. Again. They were looking at him with those same eyes again.
He had run without rest until now, all so he wouldn’t have to see those looks, so he could be acknowledged, so he could prove he was better than Gotrose. Did he really have to face that expression again?
“Damn it.”
Darose gripped his sword desperately. He couldn’t allow this. He couldn’t fall here. Last time. And the time before that. He had tried to surpass Gotrose but failed every single time. Gotrose had once defeated that annoying spirit user. He had to do the same. Only then would he be acknowledged.
“I!! There’s no way I’ll fall here!!!”
Desperation and the inferiority complex he had built up toward Gotrose exploded all at once. In the end, he made a choice he should never have made.
“I…… I will win!!!!”
A forbidden skill. It was an innate ability he had been born with, but its side effects were so dangerous that his family had strictly forbidden its use. However, Darose’s reason had already shut down in the face of the possibility of losing in front of everyone.
His muscles began to writhe and change shape. They twisted like those of a beast rather than a human.
“Uwaaaaaaaaagh!!!!”
Even his roar sounded like that of a wild animal. At the same time, the color of the aura blade on his sword began to shift into a vivid blood-red.
Luspontia’s eyes widened at the sight.
“You?!………”
“Uwaaaaaagh!!!”
In a flash, the blood-colored aura drew a perfect arc as it shot from Darose’s blade.
“Kuh!”
Luspontia hurriedly pulled up her shadows to defend, but she couldn’t withstand the overwhelmingly amplified power. Her defense was sliced apart. The aura that grazed her body left a diagonal slash wound across her upper torso. She was lucky not to die, but Luspontia staggered and collapsed.
Even after that, the aura still had power to spare and flew toward the students in the spectator seats.
“Stop it!!!”
The professors weren’t about to sit and watch. They immediately drew their weapons and moved to suppress him.
“The duel is over!! Stand down!!”
After deflecting the aura blades flying toward the students, the professors focused on protecting and evacuating them while also attempting to subdue Darose.
“Lady Luspontia!! Get a hold of yourself!!”
Professor Vilda, the whip-sword specialist, stepped forward while shielding herself and wrapped the fallen Luspontia with her flexible blade, quickly transporting her to the rear.
Several professors stepped up to subdue Darose, but his rampage wasn’t something they could easily stop.
“Evacuate them!! Evacuate!!”
They also had to worry about getting the students to safety.
“Young master Darose!! Come back to your senses!! Young master Darose!!!”
They couldn’t kill the rampaging Darose either. He was the son of a powerful family, so the professors had to focus on calming him down and keeping him alive. Because of that, the difficulty of subduing Darose skyrocketed.
“Damn it!!!! Darose!! Darose!!! Snap out of it already!!!”
Greatsword professor Howzer roared, but the completely deranged Darose didn’t seem to hear him at all and continued his rampage.
The other professors were already overwhelmed, trying to protect the students and block the aura blades that Darose was mercilessly hurling at them. They were short on hands. But as professors, they couldn’t ask the students for help either.
Just as the situation was spiraling out of control—
“I’ll help.”
Suddenly, one of the students in the spectator seats jumped down into the arena as casually as if she were taking a stroll.
“What are you doing!! Get out of there right now!! It’s dangerous!!”
“Yeah. I know.”
The student who had jumped in answered the professor’s shout with a nonchalant tone. One of Darose’s wildly swinging aura blades flew straight at her. The densely condensed aura maintained a clear semicircular shape even in midair and hurtled toward her at terrifying speed. But the student—Rachel—didn’t seem particularly surprised.
“So slow.”
Having grown used to Asbel’s absurdly fast whip-sword during their sparring sessions, this speed was something she could easily react to.
Aura gathered in Rachel’s hand. She casually swung it and deflected Darose’s aura blade.
“What?”
While the professors were still stunned by her action—
“I’ll help you!”
Rachel charged straight toward Darose without hesitation.
“Lady Rachel!!”
“She can win!!”
The professors hesitated for a moment at her words, but they were in a situation where they would take any help they could get.
“You must not kill him!”
“Got it!!”
Rachel nodded, then began running toward Darose with both hands brimming with aura.
“This hurts.”
The closer she got, the more Rachel realized just how heavy and sharp the incoming aura blades were. Darose was showing exactly what it meant to burn one’s life force for a momentary surge of power. His attacks were growing stronger by the second, but at the same time, his life force was visibly fading in real time.
Since the professors had told her not to kill him, she needed to subdue him as quickly as possible if there was any chance of saving him.
“Should I try using that?”
One day while sparring with Asbel, she had noticed something strange happening to her body. It wasn’t a bad thing. She decided to use that ability.
Descent of the War God has been activated!!
All physical abilities, mana capacity, and reflexes are tripled from their normal state!
Rachel’s eyes transformed into those of a beast. The mana throughout her body surged to an extreme degree. She could feel her muscles, blood vessels, and heart expanding their performance like crazy. Feeling a pleasant buff, Rachel smiled.
“You!!! Come here!!!!!”
With a roar, Rachel charged at Darose. Unlike the professors who had been playing defensively—protecting students while worrying about injuring Darose—she rushed in without holding back.
Sensing an entity rapidly closing the distance, Darose’s attention shifted toward her. Completely berserk and unable to distinguish friend from foe, he roared and charged at Rachel. His aura blade attacks began focusing on her, but Rachel deflected or dodged them effortlessly with beast-like movements and senses, steadily closing the gap.
“Feels good. It feels so good!!!!”
Rachel roared. Her voice, filled with mana, rang out so powerfully that Darose staggered for a moment. Rachel didn’t miss the opening. She dashed in and landed a solid punch on his cheek.
The sound wasn’t that of a fist meeting a human cheek—it was like a cannonball slamming into the ground. Darose’s body staggered violently.
“Kuuuugh!!! I…… will not fall!!”
Even after taking the hit, Darose only staggered for a brief moment. But Rachel didn’t miss that tiny opening.
“Kyaaaaang!!!!”
Like a wildcat, Rachel let out a fierce cry and pounced on Darose, unleashing a merciless barrage of attacks. Darose tried to respond, but the distance had closed too much. Rachel’s bare fists were far more effective in this range.
One claw-like swipe left long nail marks across his body. One kick produced a horrifying crack as bones broke. Rachel fought in an incredibly crude and simple way. It was a pure brawl relying entirely on instinct, with no swordsmanship or technique to speak of. But it was terrifyingly effective.
“Guaaaagh!!”
The sounds of a brutal beating filled the entire arena. Once the distance had closed, Darose couldn’t do anything properly and simply took hit after hit. By the time Rachel had beaten him halfway into a pulp—
“Excellent work, Miss Rachel! That’s enough!!”
The professors, having finished evacuating the students, finally joined the fight in earnest. Rachel immediately retreated at their words. The professors quickly subdued Darose, who had already lost most of his combat ability after being pummeled by Rachel.
“That’s enough!!”
With a heavy thud, Darose was struck hard on the back of his head. He staggered and collapsed on the spot.
Almost at the same moment, a drainage gate in one corner of the large training arena burst open and someone emerged.
“Asbel!!!”
Rachel’s face lit up with a bright smile as she ran toward him. Asbel hugged Rachel tightly, then quickly checked his status window.
Darose Suppression Complete.
Deaths: 0.
Congratulations!
You have successfully cleared the Class President Election Event!
You have left a very deep impression on the professors!!
You will be able to obtain one reward through the professors in the future!
100,000 EXP acquired!
Heroine Rachel’s skill Descent of the War God proficiency has increased dramatically!
Asbel looked at Rachel in surprise. He had only asked her to buy some time, but she had completely cleared the event.
“You did great, Rachel. That was really cool.”
“Hehe!”
Rachel grinned brightly. Asbel smiled back.
Between the demons and Darose’s rampage, things had been tough. But with Cassandra and Rachel by his side, they had managed to get through it. The result was the best possible outcome within the range he had expected.
Heroine Rachel has left a strong impression on the students!
She has earned the qualification to become class president!
The current probability of Heroine Rachel becoming class president is approaching 78%!
Looking at the status window that appeared, Asbel changed his mind.
Things going too well was also a problem.