Chapter 553
Chapter Title: The Bastera Match
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“We will now begin the Bastera match for the second-year combat class.”
The combat studies professor, Ripen, placed the Bastera-exclusive ball in the center of the field.
To get the first move, a team had to claim that ball.
“One, two. One, two.”
Chelsea warmed up, bending and straightening her knees.
The fastest person on Chelsea’s team was none other than Chelsea herself.
‘Duran is on their side. And Illiana will probably be supporting him.’
Chelsea watched the fastest players on the opposing team with a wary eye.
Duran Moira.
A user of lightning aura, he vied with Chelsea and Eliza for the top speed among their peers, excluding Leo.
In Eliza’s case, using her summoned beast would make her an easy target, so she was left out of the initial rush for the ball.
‘Anyway, I have to get the ball before Duran. I have to get it quickly and.’
Chelsea’s eyes rolled before locking onto Illiana.
‘I’m going to throw it right in Illiana’s face.’
Wearing the expression of a ferocious beast, Chelsea recalled Illiana’s earlier words.
‘But the class president… surely he’s not staying out all night, is he?’
Ever since she heard that Leo had skipped class for a date with Elena, it had been nagging at her.
‘Of course, I heard it was a condition for Elena Jer-on to accept the vice president position.’
Still, what bothered her, bothered her.
It was just like when she was a child, watching the noble young ladies of the Rodren Empire send a constant stream of love letters to Abad.
‘No, this bothers me even more than back then!’
Leo’s popularity had been a fact since their first year, so it was nothing new.
But for some reason, this time it bothered her immensely.
So, she had been trying hard to ignore it.
And in that situation, Illiana had brilliantly succeeded in provoking her.
‘She’s so annoying, just one hit. Just! One! Hit!’
Chelsea ground her teeth.
Meanwhile, Professor Ripen brought a whistle to his lips.
Seeing this, Chelsea tensed every muscle in her body.
*Fweee-!*
*Whoosh-!*
Kicking up a massive gust of wind, Chelsea sprinted toward the ball.
*Crackle-!*
Duran, too, shot forward, emitting bolts of lightning as he ran for the ball.
Just as the two were about to reach for the ball with nearly identical speed.
*Flash-!*
With a bright flash of light, someone snatched the ball.
Both Chelsea and Duran stared wide-eyed at the one who had taken it.
Even Illiana, the one who had seized the ball first, looked back and forth between the two of them and the ball with a puzzled “Huh?” on her face.
“Why are you guys so slow?”
*Twitch-!*
*Twitch-!*
With no ill intent, Illiana had once again succeeded in provoking not only Chelsea but also her own teammate, Duran.
“What? Did Illiana just grab the ball before Chelsea and Duran?”
“Illiana’s fast, but she was never a match for Chelsea and Duran, was she?”
The speed of Chelsea and Duran was well-known not just among the second-years, but throughout all of Lumerne.
For Illiana to have overwhelmed them both with speed, the entire second-year class couldn't help but be thrown into confusion.
“Maybe Chelsea and Duran were just taking it easy?”
“Those two, the very embodiment of competitiveness? No way.”
“They’ve been competing for the title of fastest in our year since we were first-years.”
“Right, they’re rivals who’ve been dying to beat each other. There’s no way they’d go easy.”
The murmuring second-years soon began to arrive at a single conclusion.
“Hey, when was the last time we had the all-year speed test?”
“Mid-first semester.”
“Hasn't Illiana been practicing some kind of acceleration magic lately?”
“In that case…”
Everyone stared at Illiana with astonished eyes.
“Does that mean Illiana has gotten faster than both of them?”
***
“So that’s it!”
Illiana grinned.
“The results of the new magic I started learning a while ago are showing now!”
With a thoroughly smug look, Illiana puffed out her chest in triumph.
“It must be because of Lady Luna’s magic. You’ve gotten incredibly fast.”
“Hmph. Indeed. Does this mean you’ve become slightly more useful?”
“Hohohohohohoho!”
Hearing their exchange, Illiana covered her mouth and burst into laughter.
“The era of the ‘Lightspeed Swordswoman, Lady Illiana’ has begun!”
“Lame nickname.”
While Chelsea narrowed her eyes, an ecstatic Illiana pointed a finger dramatically at Chelsea and Duran.
“This means you two are now ‘slowpokes’ compared to me, right? Hohoho!”
“…”
“…”
Chelsea and Duran glared at Illiana with terrifying eyes.
Watching them, Karl clicked his tongue.
‘She’s so thrilled she doesn’t even realize she’s about to get herself killed.’
“This means Eliza is slower than me too!”
*Flinch-!*
“I see your point. I feel the urge to go and give her a thrashing myself.”
A vein popped on Eliza’s forehead as she pulled her whip taut.
She looked ready to charge at Illiana at any moment.
“Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. Hold your position.”
Karl broke out in a cold sweat.
Just then, Chelsea lunged at Illiana.
“Give me the ball!”
“Not a chance! With movements that slow, you can’t possibly catch m…”
*Crackle-!*
“Hand over the ball! Illiana Raden!”
“W-wait! We’re on the same tea—Kyaaaaaaah?!”
Seeing Duran charging at her with terrifying intensity, Illiana shrieked and fled.
“Why are you running! Just give me the ball!”
“You’re coming at me like you’re trying to kill me!”
Just as Illiana screamed.
“What are those idiots doing?”
Celia scowled and used an aura step to move toward Illiana.
“Illiana! Pass!”
“Ah, okay! Pass!”
“I don’t think so.”
“Huh?!”
Chen Xia, who had somehow appeared right in front of Illiana, smiled brightly.
They were so close their breaths could mingle.
“Xia, how did you!”
“No matter how fast you are, if I can read your movements, I can predict your path. Hup-!”
With a sweet smile, Chen Xia swung her leg.
*Thwack-!*
“Ack! The ball?”
Like an acrobat, Chen Xia placed a hand on the crown of Illiana’s head, pushed up, and performed a handstand.
Then, with a fluid motion, she kicked the ball out of Illiana’s hand.
As if glued to her foot, the ball didn’t leave Chen Xia’s control.
*Crackle! Whoosh-!*
“Grr!”
As Chelsea and Duran closed the distance, Illiana reached out to snatch the ball back from Chen Xia.
Pushing off Illiana’s head with force, Chen Xia used the rebound to create distance between them.
*Thwump-!*
And just before the ball could reach Duran’s hand, she kicked it high into the air with all her might.
*Snatch-!*
In that instant, Eiran caught the ball in mid-air.
Seeing this, Abad shouted toward the goal.
“Woreden!”
The goalkeeper was none other than Woreden.
Woreden stirred his spiritual power.
At the same time, Eiran threw the ball with immense force.
“Yikes?!”
The ball shot straight down toward Illiana, who screamed and threw herself out of the way.
*Craaash! R-R-Rumble!*
The ball slammed into the ground, carving out a massive crater.
Illiana, having narrowly avoided the ball, gaped.
“Why did you do that! You should have aimed for the goal!”
Teide shouted urgently.
“S-sorry! I couldn’t help it…! I just felt like I had to take Illiana out…!”
“T-take me out?!”
“It’s a good strategy. Woreden is guarding the goalpost firmly.”
Chen Xia intercepted the ball lodged in the crater and said with a cheerful smile.
“It’ll be difficult to get past Woreden and score, so I think it’s better to go with a strategy of reducing the opponent’s strength first.”
“Y-yes! That’s right! That was the strategy! It’s definitely not because I found Lady Illiana annoying or anything!”
Eiran clenched her fist and smiled brightly.
“So, Lady Illiana. Prepare yourself.”
Her face was smiling, but for some reason, a shiver ran down one’s spine.
Watching the scene, the students in the stands trembled.
“S-scary.”
“I thought only Lunia El Lundua was scary, but Eiran is terrifying too, isn’t she?”
***
From then on, it was Chelsea’s team that continued to seize the offensive initiative.
And Chelsea, Chen Xia, and Eiran made Illiana their primary target.
Illiana’s movements, using acceleration to narrowly dodge the attacks, were nothing short of miraculous.
And for some reason, those very movements continued to provoke the three of them.
“She’s really good at dodging.”
Karl let out a dry laugh.
Teide approached him.
“Karl! Is this okay? We’re not specialized in offense, are we? If we get caught up in Illiana’s strategy and lose the ball, we’ll be in big trouble!”
“Doesn’t really look like a strategy, does it?”
“You have a point.”
Karl and Teide shook their heads as they watched Illiana, who was busy running around screaming, “Save me!”
“Well, it’s true our team has the advantage in defense.”
“Right? If we let them score the first point, it’ll be a problem!”
“True. But it won’t be easy for them either.”
“What?”
“You know, getting hit with a shield hurts like hell, doesn’t it?”
Karl grinned.
“If those three keep rampaging like that, the other team will be too busy defending to mount an offense. And we have the best goalkeeper on our side, don’t we?”
Karl gave a thumbs-up toward the back.
Seeing him, Chloe smiled faintly.
“Karl, I’m going to the front line too.”
“Now’s not the time! Just hold back!”
It was then.
“Enough with the chatter.”
*Whoosh-!*
Eliza, who had been providing support from the air on her Wind Wyvern, swooped down.
“Possession has been turned over.”
Celia, who had somehow succeeded in stealing the ball, was swinging it in her hand, generating an aura of flames.
Seeing that, Chloe stirred her mana.
*Crack-k-k-!*
A world of ice materialized around the goal.
In that moment.
*Crumble!*
‘Dispel using spiritism.’
“!”
Earth spirits covered the surface of the ice.
Chloe glared at Woreden with a frosty expression.
“Chloe, you got this?”
“No problem.”
“Teide! Help Chloe! Eliza, keep Abad in check from the air!”
“Got it!”
“Hmph! Don’t order me around.”
Teide headed to the rearmost position, while Eliza flew into the air to pursue Abad.
‘Celia’s offensive power is deadly enough to shatter Chloe’s defense in a single blow.’
Specializing in offense, Celia’s attacks were on a level that could turn the tide of the game in an instant.
‘We can’t let the other team have the ball as much as possible.’
Being specialized in defense meant their ability to keep possession of the ball was also superior.
In truth, it wasn’t easy to take the ball from Chelsea, Chen Xia, and Eiran, the core of their offense.
‘And if possible, we need to score the first point!’
‘Just because our allies specialize in defense doesn’t mean they can’t attack, and likewise, if the opponents decide to focus on defense, it’ll be hard for us to break through. If we get hit by a counterattack, it’ll be even more troublesome. In any case, stopping their attack is the priority for now.’
Karl narrowed his eyes.
‘Using Illiana as a provocation doesn’t seem like an idea from Celia, Abad, or Duran.’
All three of them were from the most prestigious of families.
As a result, though they were smart, they were weak when it came to unorthodox tactics.
They didn’t even need them.
The three had the ability to break through anything head-on.
‘…Is it Woreden?’
Karl’s gaze shifted to Woreden, positioned at the rear.
Woreden boasted the largest physique among the second-years.
Coupled with his overwhelming power that brought opponents to their knees, most students thought of Woreden as a taciturn martial artist.
But…
‘He’s a sly one, that guy.’
Karl clicked his tongue.
‘If it weren’t for Leo, that guy would have been the strongest in our year.’
His brain was not to be underestimated, just like his strength.
‘First, I need to read the flow of the battle. Read it and find an opening…’
Just as Karl was observing the movements of his allies and enemies.
“Karl!”
“Huh?”
Teide’s urgent voice rang out.
In that instant, Karl realized the ball Celia had thrown was right in front of his face.
‘What? They’re using up an offensive play just to attack me first?’
Karl wore a look of incomprehension.
‘Why?’
*Craaaash-!*
***
Watching the opposing team’s formation get engulfed in flames, Woreden muttered.
“Checkmate, Karl Thomas.”