The Calamitous Alliance
A massive explosion swept across the volcanic region. On the right, a storm of vivid crimson flames. On the left, waves of sparkling light. Ennya Dexspin, who had been ducking and holding her breath every time she spotted survivors being bombarded, trembled violently as she ground her teeth.
That can't possibly be fair!
In the Academy Tournament, teaming up was perfectly legal. Mages, who always made rational and logical choices, often formed instant alliances with other participants as one of the best ways to secure an easy victory.
But even so, this is just ridiculous!
That was why Ennya Dexspin had also recruited students from multiple academies to form a team against Aaron Dice and Chris. Yet even to her, this situation was far beyond excessive.
Two 4-star mages, both considered disasters in this tournament, joining forces? There were limits to how far one could cross the line…!
"How the hell are we supposed to beat that?!"
Her pent-up frustration finally burst out as a shout. Facing Aaron and Chris even one at a time was already overwhelming. Yet the two weren't traveling alone. Two fully matured 3-star mages from Benedict Academy, plus one late-stage 2-star and one early-stage 3-star from Sirionella Private Academy—four participants moved alongside them.
Of course, no matter how much sheer numbers they threw at the pair, it was all meaningless against power that could overwhelm everything. An alliance between two 4-star mages was like an unstoppable natural disaster that humans could never hope to challenge. Confronting it head-on was both reckless and foolish.
We can't win.
Ennya Dexspin had always lost to them even when they fought separately. The only team that had ever achieved any meaningful result against them was Benedict Academy's B Team.
But…
Still, her pride wouldn't allow her to give up so easily. She knew exactly how important this match was to those two. At the very least, she wanted to land one solid blow against them—something to make up for all the humiliation they had suffered so far.
There's only one way left.
If that's how it is, then it's all or nothing. Win or lose, I'm going for it! You damn bastards!
Grinding her teeth in the middle of the battlefield where explosions raged from every direction, Ennya Dexspin made her decision.
The news of the alliance between Benedict Academy's A Team and Sirionella Private Academy's team—the alliance of two calamities—quickly spread throughout the entire virtual world.
"This is getting out of hand."
When people received too great a shock, they often became strangely calm instead. Togun, who would normally have widened his eyes and made a fuss, merely scratched his cheek with a troubled expression.
"……"
Jeon, meanwhile, could only swallow his groans. It wasn't simply because the two strongest competitors in the tournament had formed an alliance. He had realized the reason behind their alliance: they had joined forces specifically to keep his team in check.
There's no answer to this.
If Marily Raymond had been here, could she have found a way out? Jeon was certain she couldn't. There was simply no solution to two prideful 4-star mages combining their strength.
Our only option now is to defeat them one at a time.
The enemy was forcing them to choose: fight Aaron Dice, or fight Chris. And if the second one arrived while they were engaged with the first, defeat was guaranteed—a time-attack battle they had no chance of winning. It was practically a sentence to lose.
We made the wrong call.
They had assumed that in a three-way battle, the other two factions would fight each other to mutual destruction. The real answer had been to move early and ally with one of them. Their side was clearly the weakest in terms of raw power, which ironically would have made forming an alliance easier.
"Found them!"
But the train had already left the station. Regret now was far too late.
"Chris! Over here!"
At Shubi's urgent call after spotting Arina's group, Jeon ground his teeth. There was no choice left but to fight.
Just as he thought that and began to rise, Arina—who had been silent until now—spoke quietly.
"So the only way to win is to take down both of them, right?"
From behind Shubi, a figure approached. A boy with a lion's mane of hair walked across the sky, stepping on fragments of sparkling light. Meeting his white eyes whose thoughts were impossible to read, Arina swallowed dryly from tension.
"I'll handle him. In the meantime, you two take down Senior Aaron."
This wasn't some reckless boast. It was a judgment based on her own reasoning. If the one approaching had been Aaron instead of Chris, Arina would never have said such a thing. What Kain had taught her was a technique particularly effective against close-combat specialists like that. She might not win, but she was confident she could buy time.
"……"
At her words, Jeon turned his head toward Arina without a word. His eyes were closed, so her expression was hidden. Yet through microcurrents, her heartbeat reached him clearly. It was faster than usual from tension, but not excessively so.
"……I'll trust you, Arina."
In chess terms, this was clearly a sacrifice. Normally, it would be a move to hand one's piece to the opponent for greater gain. But in this situation, the sacrifice served a different purpose. It was a piece given up to save the king—not for advantage, but for survival. And perhaps sacrificing Arina this way could turn out to be a fatal mistake.
Yet Jeon chose to believe her. He chose to trust Arina, who had confidently declared she would hold off a 4-star mage.
She'll definitely hold out until we defeat Aaron.
"……"
Whether Arina could endure against Chris or whether they could defeat Aaron—neither was anything but an extremely difficult gamble. Even so, they believed in each other. If each of them did their part well, the other would surely succeed.
Leaving Arina behind, Togun scooped up Jeon and leaped sideways. Chris fired a laser condensed from photons in pursuit, but Arina shot it down with a mana bullet.
Boom!
She detonated magic in midair by striking the formula Chris had prepared. Slightly surprised by the sight, Chris stopped chasing Jeon and hovered in the air, looking down at Arina.
"Your opponent is me."
Arina shouted boldly without avoiding Chris's white eyes that made others shrink back. Chris gave a small nod.
"So you really are the real one."
Unlike the artificial imitation from the morning, the glow surrounding her body was natural. No—if anything, the density had grown even thicker since morning. This was definitely the real Arina Grant.
Thinking that, Chris leaped downward.
"Can you see ahead of you?"
Arina's gaze flicked toward his wrist. The bracelet symbolizing the team leader was fastened there. Yet his eyes were fixed precisely on her.
"I can't see. I just made it so I can perceive."
Chris tilted his head at her answer, but she offered no further explanation. He wouldn't understand the principle even if she explained it anyway. There was no need to explain.
"If you're trying to buy time with conversation, it's pointless."
Chris's white eyes stared directly at Arina. At the same time, photons gathered around him. As multiple lasers aimed at her, Arina broke into a cold sweat and drew up her mana.
"You caught me."
The three stars within Arina resonated. An immense amount of mana, unbelievable for a 3-star, poured forth based on her high affinity. Until yesterday, her hand would have reached for the mana restriction cuff on her left wrist. Now she extended it forward, her eyes shining with determination. Chris simultaneously triggered all the photons he had gathered.
"I don't plan on getting hit like the first day."
The lasers flashed in an instant and reached right before Arina's eyes. Staring at them calmly, she fired a mana bullet from her outstretched right hand.
Bang! Boom!
The bullet pierced the formula precisely, stripping the photons of their cohesion. The lasers collapsed on their own. But Chris had already witnessed Arina shoot down his attacks on the first day with his own eyes. Unlike the hidden move Togun had concealed that morning, Chris was no naive mage who would fall for something he already knew about.
Whirr!
The formula destroyed by Arina's mana bullet scattered into the air and immediately began reshaping into new magic. It was Chris's secondary formula, prepared in advance for the possibility of his magic being shot down. Countless beams of light, like snowflakes falling around Arina, flew toward her to pierce her.
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa!
Arina hurriedly deployed defensive magic around her body. She twisted the trajectory of the light by altering the medium through air currents and retreated backward in a hurry. As if unwilling to let her escape, the light gathering above Chris's head began to change form.
Elemental magic: Flash Sculpting.
Chris's ultimate technique, created with his full power. An all-out strike carrying his resolve to end the match here and now. And this was also the moment Arina had been waiting for most.
"Hitting a formula doesn't just mean destroying the magic formula."
Kain's words flashed through her mind.
Break the formula. Then pour your mana into it. Because magic circles can be freely manipulated without being fixed in circular form, it's like water seeping through cracks in stone—you can insert your own magic between the gaps of the opponent's formula.
"Draw your magic circle inside the opponent's magic."
She could see it. The formula of the Sword of Glory created by Flash Sculpting.
Clang! Clang!
She struck the formula being drawn in the air as if hammering metal. Through the gap that opened, Arina's mana slipped in before Chris could repair it.
"Manipulate the opponent's magic as you wish. For example, steal it."
Spell Intercept. One of the applications of Fluid Magic Circles that hijacked an opponent's magic formula mid-cast. It was a specialized branch of dispel and magic hacking—and Arina's new ultimate technique, honed through an all-night battle against skeletons the previous night.
"……!"
The Sword of Radiance, being formed by the cohesion of photons, escaped Chris's control. The blade that had been created by its master now betrayed him to shine its glory upon another. In the moment even Chris faltered at the completely unexpected ambush, the tip of the Sword of Radiance shot forward, aiming for his heart.
Booooom!
A brilliant flash covered the front. When her vision cleared, Arina saw Chris clutching his wounded right arm and retreating far away.
"……"
Seeing that, Arina bit her lower lip in frustration. She should have finished it with that one strike. Chris would never fall for the same attack twice.
"Honestly, I'm surprised."
Having his own magic stolen was something he had never anticipated. Muttering that, Chris waved his left hand through the air.
"Then try stealing this too."
What formed this time was a multitude of Swords of Radiance. The magic was constructed even more densely than before, leaving no gaps for Arina to exploit. With a menacing aura, the blades aimed at her.
"……"
That was the true power of a 4-star mage. As Arina stared at the cluster of Swords of Radiance that looked ready to fly at any moment, her face gradually turned deathly pale.