Baraki Nepiri's Challenge
With Baraki Nepiri's appearance, an even greater tension than before settled in Arina's eyes. He was the very picture of a strong-against-the-weak, weak-against-the-strong type, someone whose reputation could easily sway him. That was why Arina sensed an aura from him that she had never felt from any other academy student until now. In truth, while the difference wasn't as vast as she perceived, he did possess skills one level above the other academy students. For instance, he had noticed Arina's trap in advance—a trap the other students hadn't even sensed—and appeared before her with thorough defenses in place.
Among elemental magic, the greatest characteristics of the wind attribute were "repulsion" and "compliance." Ilon Doyan, the representative of Dominic Academy, had summoned a storm that repelled Arina's resistance. In contrast, Baraki Nepiri had wrapped wind around his body beforehand, naturally complying with Arina's resistance like a gentle breeze and slipping through. Or rather, to be precise, it wasn't Baraki Nepiri who entered Arina's domain, but Silvia Cristel, who had yet to step inside.
"External support from Silvia, while Baraki directly enters to resolve the issue." Their roles were perfectly divided, a flawless display of teamwork.
"This can't be all you've got, right?" Before the combined might of two 3-star mages, such an obstacle posed no hindrance whatsoever. Baraki approached slowly, remarking that he would be disappointed if this was truly everything. He had hoped everyone would be eliminated at the entrance, but unfortunately, that had been too grand a dream.
It's fine. She had never thought for a moment that this alone could block every opponent, just as Baraki expected. If anything, this was where the real battle began. She had prepared all sorts of magic circles for those who made it past the initial section.
"……?" As Baraki walked toward Arina, he soon noticed something was amiss. Despite continuing to walk, the distance between them never closed. At first, I thought it might be an illusion. What trick had she pulled? Baraki's eyes narrowed as his right arm lashed out violently toward her. His elongated right arm whipped forward like a lash, yet even that failed to reach Arina.
"You've pulled an interesting trick, junior." Just as Baraki guessed it might be spatial magic and looked at Arina, Silvia—who had sensed the anomaly first—sent her voice to his ear on the wind.
-There's a spatial expansion formula inscribed on the surrounding walls. It's the same one Professor Paracelsus often uses.
Professor Paracelsus…… Had she learned it from him? Or perhaps Professor Paracelsus had drawn the magic circle himself and given it to her. Even for a 3-star mage, expanding a space of this scale was no easy feat.
Even if it's the latter, it's still impressive. Even if Professor Paracelsus had drawn the magic circle, it was Arina who had utilized it. Otherwise, the Academy Tournament Committee would never have approved the use of such a magical tool. To freely manipulate a high-ranking mage's magic—that alone spoke volumes about how hard she had worked during this time.
Of course, Professor Paracelsus must have drawn a magic circle suited to her level as well. Her skills, which had advanced even further than during the mock battle, filled him with excitement. There was a sense of pride in knowing he had been involved, directly or indirectly, in her brilliant growth. It made him wonder if Aaron had taken time out of his schedule to help his juniors for this very reason.
"What's the specific effect of the magic circle?" Baraki muttered quietly, and the answer came swiftly.
"Distance expansion."
"Is that all?"
"Probably. That's what it looks like to me."
If Silvia said so, then it must be true. That cola witch might not match up to Amy Pewter on their team, but she was an elite with top-tier formula interpretation skills among the fifth-years. Trusting the judgment of someone superior to him completely, Baraki took a step forward without the slightest hesitation. No matter how much of a grand mage's formula it was, the one using it was only a 3-star mage. An infinite expansion of distance like those used by high-ranking mages was impossible. There had to be limits to both the speed of expansion and the total distance.
In that case, I'll reach the opponent faster than the distance can expand. Baraki's legs began rapidly contracting and relaxing. His muscles pumped like rubber bands, bouncing with elasticity. The moment his very bones softened and his body half-collapsed like a slime, thud! Baraki's form shot toward Arina like a rubber ball hurled forcefully at the ground. A dash that far exceeded the instantaneous speed a human could achieve. With his body compressed to the extreme, Baraki broke through the endlessly stretched distance between himself and Arina. As the gap closed with a piercing sound, Arina's eyes widened and her hands moved swiftly. Whoosh. Tension pushed the spaces apart, and the formulas pooled within took the form of arrows, nocked and aimed at Baraki. At her signal, the arrows launched in unison. Silent as fish swimming through the sea, they struck Baraki's charging body mercilessly.
"Guh!" The expanding tension inscribed in the magic circle pushed Baraki's body backward. Having barely closed the distance, he was sent flying back just as far. Laughing heartily as if he found it amusing, he lowered his center of gravity, ready to charge at Arina again.
"So, you've got countermeasures up to the third one, huh?" To Baraki, this felt like a siege. Gazing at Arina, who had erected a fortress of magic circles, his eyes sank low. "Let's see how many defenses you've prepared."
I'll definitely break through that wall you built. With that thought, Baraki's legs contracted and relaxed once more. Using the rebound and pumping motion, he burst forward toward Arina without warning. As he closed the stretched distance in an instant using the same method as before, Arina generated more arrows from the magic circle, aiming at him. Bang! Having been hit once already, he knew she would attack at this timing, but dodging all of Arina's attacks while charging was impossible. He twisted his body desperately in midair to evade, but one arrow struck his forehead, sending him flying back the way he came.
"Hmph." This time, however, he didn't simply take the hit. As the arrow struck, his fingers dug deep into the ground. Even as he was pushed endlessly backward, Baraki refused to let go. Enduring the pain of his arm nearly being torn off until the tension ended, he contracted it like firing a slingshot.
"……!" Arina's eyes widened in alarm at the anomalous movement propelled by elastic force. She tried desperately to find a countermeasure, but Baraki had already crossed the stretched distance in an instant and reached her vicinity.
"This is the end……kuh?!" Just as Baraki, flying at tremendous speed, began to rotate his body and swing his left arm like a whip, he suddenly plummeted vertically toward the ground and crashed headfirst. "What the hell……" Had this junior pulled another trick? Grinding his teeth, he looked up at Arina, but she too was blinking blankly in confusion, seemingly just as surprised by his unexpected movement.
It wasn't this guy? A brief silence fell. An inexplicable stillness settled between them, and in that fleeting moment, the distance Baraki had worked so hard to close returned to its original state. He was back at the starting point for the third time already. But Baraki had no time to lament the fact. His entire body felt heavy. A chilling current of mana flowed beneath his ankles. The shapeless magic circle bound Baraki's body, rendering him completely immobile. Only then did he realize the reason for this situation lay not with Arina, but outside.
"Silvia! What's going on!" Silvia Cristel. His teammate who had been supporting him from outside using elemental magic. Something had gone wrong with the support that had been blocking Arina's restrictions. Alarmed by this realization, Baraki shouted, but the voice that had been reaching him through the wind until moments ago was nowhere to be heard.
"……" When he turned his head toward where Silvia had been, he could only freeze, his eyes trembling in shock. In her place stood a boy. With his snow-white mane of hair and blank white eyes that revealed nothing of his thoughts, the familiar figure stared straight at him.
"That guy again……!" Chris. The representative of Sirionella Private Academy. At the same time, one of only two 4-star mages among the tournament participants. The moment he confirmed Chris's presence, Baraki immediately understood the situation. Silvia Cristel, his teammate, had been retired without a sound by that guy.
"Hey! Junior! Hurry up and release this restraint! Quick!" Teaming up in the Academy Tournament was legal. Forming an alliance against a powerful enemy was only natural. Just as Arina agreed to his proposal for temporary cooperation against a 4-star mage and moved to release the restraint, "……" Chris acted immediately, as if he had no intention of standing by and watching. The obstacle race, and Baraki's interference at the very end. Though he had managed to escape somehow back then, perhaps he had found it quite bothersome and irritating. Light gathered at the tip of Chris's outstretched finger and shot toward Baraki.
The aim seems off? Reading the trajectory of Chris's extended finger, a momentary question flashed in Baraki's eyes. It was clearly a laser aimed at him, yet its direction was slightly off from where he stood. Had it been a mistake? That was what he thought, but the result soon confirmed otherwise. Light was a substance that traveled through space. Just as light followed a distorted trajectory when space-time warped under strong gravity, light's movement was inevitably subject to some form of spatial interference. Currently, the space in front of Chris was undergoing a bizarre distortion caused by Arina. Capturing it precisely with the supernatural ability in his eyes, Chris fired the light along the path guided by the shimmer. Whoosh! The light twisted and bent like taffy. Affected by the fluid magic circle formula Arina had inscribed on the walls, the beam was pulled in every direction. But this was exactly as Chris had calculated, and its destination struck precisely where he had aimed. Baraki Nepiri, who had collapsed to the ground—his left temple.
"……" Baraki raised his reflexes to the limit and concentrated mana in his head. He barely managed to withstand the opponent's attack. He had hoped his junior would quickly resolve the restraint on his body during this opening, but "Ah, damn it." Before that could happen, he found himself cursing involuntarily at the cluster of light approaching right before his eyes. "Ah." Baraki dissolved into polygons and was retired. That made it twice. He had been defeated by Chris twice in a single day. And witnessing the scene right in front of her, a small sigh escaped Arina's lips. While she hesitated, belatedly grasping the situation, things had taken a turn for the worse. In the language of the Fan Empire, it was like being surrounded by mountains on all sides, or adding insult to injury. The appetizer that was Baraki Nepiri had ended, and the main dish, Chris, had appeared before Arina with a rather shocking performance.