The Virtual World Shatters
Chris was like a blazing sun radiating intense light, while Togun was a black hole that swallowed even that light whole. Mana sparkled and shimmered in every direction. A pitch-black darkness pushed it all away, dyeing the world in an inky void. That's it. The special quality Chris had witnessed in Togun during the obstacle race. An absolute darkness that repelled every trace of the world's sparkle. It was the complete opposite of Arina, who was covered in nothing but glittering light, and it belonged solely to Togun.
Interest flickered in Chris's normally indifferent eyes as he confirmed the truth of it with his own sight. His pupils narrowed like camera lenses, as if trying to decipher its identity. He stored hundreds of images in his mind, carefully observing every single swing of Togun's sword, frame by frame. Then, just as Togun's Anti-Magic Sword sliced through the light and reached him, Chris finally moved.
Flashlight Shaping
The light that had been cut by the Anti-Magic Sword rapidly gathered behind Togun once more. It took shape in space. It forcibly fixed the form of light, something that should never be touchable. Imbuing physical force into light that possessed none—this was a secret art only possible for Chris, who possessed the Eye that Sees Mana. The strongest magic that had driven Zeon to despair yesterday revealed itself once more before Togun.
The greatest advantage and disadvantage of light magic was its speed, which even the caster could not fully control. The fastest substance observed in the current universe. An element whose velocity matched the human perception of time's flow. Even superhumans could not fully sense and wield that speed. That was why Chris had long since given up on calculating formulas for this aspect of magic. Only instinct and intuition. He handled light through rough approximations, guided by the Eye that Sees Mana.
"……!"
If even Chris, the caster, struggled with it, there was no way Togun could track the magic's speed with his eyes. His attack should have landed first, yet in an instant, swords of light surrounded him.
Glory Sword (The Glory)
Its name meant glory. The sword of victory that illuminated the user's future. Faced with that dazzling radiance, Togun had no choice but to halt his attack on Chris and swing his sword at the approaching blades instead.
BOOM!
The Anti-Magic Sword barely intercepted the Glory Sword. With a small explosion, the Glory Sword shattered along with its mana.
"So it really does erase all the sparkle, huh?"
Even though he had narrowly escaped the crisis, Togun's face was rigid. His sharpened senses, honed through countless beatings from Jealousy, warned him of a far greater danger than anything he had faced before.
"Interesting. I can't even begin to figure out how you're doing it."
Other spells, he could roughly grasp after seeing them once. But what Togun had just done was beyond his comprehension—an illogical sight.
"So show me more."
The words came out flat and emotionless, yet Togun could feel the genuine interest behind them. He turned his head toward Chris and his eyes widened. Behind Chris's back, countless Glory Swords stretched endlessly, their blades pointed directly at him.
Insane!
For a split second, his mind went blank at the overwhelming sight. In contrast, his body—tempered by Jealousy's violence—reacted instinctively to the incoming attacks.
CRASH!
Togun barely managed to block a Glory Sword with the flat of his blade. The Anti-Magic Sword's power erased the incoming strike, but it could not completely deflect the resulting explosion. The blast hurled him backward. He crashed violently into the ground, yet he had no time to sit and nurse his wounds. A merciless rain of Glory Swords followed immediately after, pouring down on him like a storm.
Beast Imitation Footwork — 'Monkey'
There was no time to watch and dodge with his eyes. Any hesitation would mean his entire body being pierced. It wasn't true light speed, but the attacks moved at nearly sonic velocity. Before his mind could process it, Togun relied solely on his body's reflexive instincts to evade, gritting his teeth.
What do I do now?
Honestly, he needed to end this with the next strike. He had already revealed his trump card, and even this technique had a time limit. The muscles throughout his body, already struggling to withstand the Anti-Magic Sword, were screaming in protest. The posthumous curse left by an 8-star dark mage. Strengthened over centuries of inheritance, it was breaking Togun's body down at the cellular level.
At this rate, there's no chance of winning.
Meanwhile, Chris pressed the assault even harder, as if the real fight had only just begun. The Glory Swords flew in unpredictable trajectories from every direction, defying the usual weakness of light magic—its obvious attack paths. Defeat was certain. That realization kept circling in Togun's mind.
In the end, beating a 4-star mage with my current skills was impossible, wasn't it?
Swallowing his frustration, Togun ground his teeth. What flashed through his mind was the image of Zeon slamming the sink in the bathroom yesterday, choking back his rage.
"……I absolutely don't want to lose."
He steeled his resolve. One more time. Just one more try. There was still one method he hadn't attempted yet.
His gaze lowered. Gripping the hilt tightly with palms stained by blood and fluid, Togun raised the Anti-Magic Sword toward the incoming Glory Swords.
The opponent is still underestimating me.
Perhaps because he wanted to observe the Anti-Magic Sword more closely, Chris deliberately missed his attacks even when he could have landed them. Having brought out his secret art, he must have believed nothing could possibly make him lose. This was his final moment of carelessness—and at the same time, Togun's last chance to break through.
Cut.
The opponent wielded the element of light. It was an element deeply connected to space, one of the highest-dimensional forces among the world's components. But unfortunately, this world was not the original world created by the system. It was a virtual replica constructed by countless expert mages.
This world.
Marily had once said something like that. When Togun had worried whether his power might cut through even the virtual world, she had told him that unless he truly intended to cut the world itself, the Anti-Magic Sword would not arbitrarily slice through it. In other words, if Togun willed it, he could cut this world as well. Just as he had once cut into Professor Karlsen's Inner World and intruded inside.
"……"
He changed his target. There was no point in cutting down the incoming attacks one by one. He would carve out the space itself along with them. Ignoring Chris's magic, not even glancing at the blades as they struck his body, Togun gritted his teeth and took a single step forward.
Masao Sword Style — One Stroke Severance
Cut.
No additional explanation was needed. The words meant exactly what they said. A simple downward slash through empty space. It looked like nothing special, yet the effect it produced was immense.
RUMBLE…
It directly struck the formulas composing the virtual world. It severed mana itself, forcibly extracting the fuel. The result was a partial collapse of the virtual world. The mountainous terrain of trees, soil, and stone was sucked into the black hole Togun had created, leaving behind a void as if the world had gone dark.
A cheat possible only because it was a virtual world. With a single strike, Togun mimicked the partial collapse of the world—an act normally only possible for those who had reached superhuman levels beyond 4-star. Even Chris faltered in surprise. In that moment—
WHOOSH!
From within the darkened world, Togun leapt high toward Chris. His body was stained with blood. He must have endured the Glory Swords with his bare flesh before severing the world. One arm had been severed, more than half his torso was covered in burns, and his left eye was injured, swollen shut in a grotesque manner. Beyond those wounds, countless polygon fragments covered his entire body. It reminded one of the Little Mermaid dissolving into sea foam. Under normal circumstances, he should have been eliminated long ago. Yet he had reached Chris in this state for two reasons.
The first was that when Togun had interfered with the virtual world's formulas, part of the safety mechanism—ejecting users who took excessive damage—had malfunctioned.
"GRAAAAAAAAAH!"
The second was that Togun possessed a will strong enough to endure such injuries because he desperately wanted to defeat Chris.
Letting out a scream close to a battle cry, Togun swung his sword at Chris. In response, Chris gathered light in front of him.
"……!"
But then he looked around and realized something. The sparkle that had always surrounded him had all been pushed far away by Togun's attack. Since this was the first time he had manifested magic using only his internal mana, it took longer than expected to form the spell. If Aaron Dice had been in his place, he would never have shown such an opening. But Chris, who had reached this position solely through his supernatural ability and talent, lacked combat experience. He panicked at this unprecedented situation.
Though he managed to manifest the magic a beat late, the situation was the reverse of before. This time, Togun's sword reached Chris first. Before a new Glory Sword could fly toward Togun, the Anti-Magic Sword carved a diagonal line across Chris's chest.
SPLAT!
Blood sprayed before Chris's eyes. The droplets began dissolving into polygons from the edges—the sign of elimination.
It hurts.
But before that realization, what pierced Chris's mind was the intense pain from his chest. In the virtual world, one should never feel more than a dull ache no matter the injury. However, Togun's attack had partially broken that function. Though it couldn't compare to being truly bisected, a considerable level of pain transmitted through the wound.
Hum…
Feeling it, Chris manipulated his magic. Yes—the error in the elimination system. Thanks to it, not only Togun but Chris himself could not be ejected from the virtual world even in a clearly losing situation.
I can't lose.
And just like Togun, Chris also had a reason he absolutely could not lose. For Professor Repli's sake, he had to secure victory in this match.
"……!"
A radiance so brilliant it stole all vision poured toward Togun.
Ah, this is it. I'm done.
Just as Togun swallowed his frustration and accepted defeat—
BEEP! BEEP! System Error! System Error! The Survival Treasure Hunt match is being terminated immediately!
The artificial intelligence AI intervened between the two. Judging the virtual world Togun had severed as an error, the referee halted the match itself for the students' safety.
All remaining participants in the virtual world will be ejected to the outside!
Before Chris's magic could strike Togun, both were forcibly expelled from the virtual world by the AI. Leaving behind the now-twisted and ruined interior of the virtual world, the Survival Treasure Hunt match concluded with an unprecedented result: a simultaneous elimination draw where no participant scored any points.