Race Along the Fortress Walls
Today was the day the third After-School BMAT began.
Before the exam got underway, Endolas Vaudeville, the Card Necromancer, had invited all the first-years to the Great Auditorium. Perhaps mindful of the test looming right around the corner, the spread was made up mostly of easy-to-digest vegetables and light meals meant to lift one's energy.
Simon and his Group 7 teammates were seated around a round table, enjoying themselves — when an uninvited guest appeared.
"Hello, everyone~"
She came gliding over, silky ivory hair fluttering, and claimed an empty seat with the brazen confidence of someone walking into her own bedroom.
'Serne Aindark!'
"Hehe."
Ignoring Meilin entirely, Serne framed her chin in both hands like a flower blossom and stared openly at Simon as he ate, unblinking.
'...I'm going to get indigestion.'
Simon, naturally, felt the weight of it.
"What do you think you're doing here?"
Meilin's eyes had gone sharp as axe blades.
"Get lost already—!"
"Meiryiiiin~!"
Serne spun around instantly and latched onto her in a full-body hug.
"Serii missed you *sooo* much!"
"Ugh, for crying out loud — I said get off!"
Meilin shoved her away, her face twisted in disgust. Serne jutted her lips out in a deliberately petulant pout, but pulling that act on Meilin of all people only invited fury.
"Hmph."
Serne turned her head back and flashed Simon a picture-perfect smile.
"Have you been well, Simon?"
"Stop ruining the mood and go sit with your own class!"
Meilin shot to her feet and shouted.
"Nope, nope~ My classmates are boring! Serii is staying right here!"
"..."
Just as Meilin's rage meter was about to max out, Serne smiled sweetly and said,
"Then come have a little chat with me."
"Ha! Why would I? Get lost!"
That was already her third eviction notice.
Serne put on an exaggerated sulky face, then turned her back on the three of them — and let a sly, meaningful smile curl across her lips.
"Everyone! Shall I tell you an interesting little story?"
"What story?!"
Dick, who had been sitting there like a whipped dog, reacted instantly to the word *interesting*.
"Wouldn't you love to hear about Meilin's childhood? Her personality was the complete opposite of what it is now!"
"Hey!!"
Meilin's face flared scarlet, but Serne didn't spare it a glance.
"When I first entered the Ivory Tower, little Meilin took one look at me and came sprinting over, and then—"
Mph!
From behind, Meilin clamped a hand over Serne's mouth, seized the back of her uniform collar with the other, and began dragging her away.
"Mmmph! Mph! Mph!"
Even as she was hauled off, Serne made a point of elegantly waving goodbye to Simon. Simon forced himself to nod back.
And so Meilin and Serne stepped out of the Great Auditorium and stood facing each other.
"What — what — what story?! If it's useless nonsense, I swear I won't let it slide!"
"Aww~ it's nothing bad."
Serne's voice slipped right back into its honeyed, cutesy register.
"We were thinking — what if Simon joined our Ivory Tower?"
Meilin's brow furrowed.
"What kind of crap is that, out of nowhere?"
"A request for cooperation, of course! You and Simon are in the same class, the same group — you're close, right? And you're heading to the siege battle together this time, aren't you?"
"Ah-ha."
Meilin sneered.
"The elders must be getting awfully anxious these days, huh? That's a decision Simon gets to make after *graduation*."
"And that's exactly why we're trying to make the choice a little easier for him!"
Meilin's eyebrow shot up.
"Cut the bullshit. Why on earth would I do anything good for *you*—"
"It's the other way around."
Suddenly, Serne's voice turned dead serious. The corner of her mouth lifted in a faint smirk.
"You know how much the Ivory Tower values a Special Admission No. 1 student, don't you? If you're the one who brings Simon into the Tower — don't you think the elders would start looking at you differently too?"
"..."
"Something even *I* couldn't manage, and you'd be the one to pull it off. Wouldn't you say?"
Meilin's expression turned murderous.
"You little— I'll actually kill—!"
Just then, a massive roar of cheers erupted from the Great Auditorium — WHAAAA!
Both their heads turned. On the auditorium stage, Endolas Vaudeville was making his way to the podium.
"Consider yourself lucky."
Meilin turned her back and started walking. Serne called after her retreating figure.
"Serii's offer! Think it over carefully~"
"GO TO HELL!!"
While Meilin sprinted back to her seat, Endolas — resplendent in his lopsided clown costume — was already speaking into an amplifying crystal orb.
"First-year students! Are you all enjoying the games?"
"YES!!"
"It's the best!"
"Doesn't even feel like a test!"
Bathed in the flood of praise, Endolas waved with deep satisfaction written across his painted face.
"Look here, Professor Aaron! See how they respond to me!"
He jabbed his elbow into Aaron's ribs — the professor had come to keep the students in order — and murmured slyly.
"My games aren't tests, they're *art*! Now that it's come to this, why don't we extend the exams by just one more day—"
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
Aaron said flatly.
"The schedule after this is tight as it is. Any more would just be a burden on the students."
"Tch, tsk, tsk!"
Endolas clicked his tongue in open displeasure.
"You truly are a man who knows nothing of entertainment! And after all the cooperation I've extended to Kizen — not just for a day or two, mind you — this is how rigid you act?"
"I don't have the authority. Ask Professor Jane when she returns."
"That lady is hopeless."
Even the great Endolas shook his head at the mere mention of Jane.
Aaron glanced at the watch on his wrist.
"Wrap it up soon. The students need to get to their positions before the BMAT starts."
"Ahem! I know, I know!"
Endolas raised the amplifying crystal orb and spoke.
"Now then! Students of Kizen! Your attention, please!"
The chatter of the rowdy hall died down rapidly.
"We have an announcement! A new element will be added to this round of games!"
At those words, every student's face froze at once.
"Ugh, now what?"
"I've got a bad feeling about this."
Experience had taught them all during their time at Kizen: announcements of this kind were almost never good news. More importantly, everyone had already laid out plans and strategies for the exam — a new variable was the last thing any of them wanted.
"And that element is—!"
Endolas thrust both arms skyward. Cards came spilling out of his sleeves, hissing through the air as they rose.
POP!
POPOP!
The cards transformed into countless gift boxes and began stacking themselves into towers.
"This round's games carry even MORE prizes than before!"
WHAAAA—!!
A tidal wave of cheers broke over the Great Auditorium.
"Endolas! The man is a god!"
Dick, having climbed onto the table, screamed himself hoarse, foam practically at the corners of his mouth.
"Hahaha! Thank you! Now, settle down a moment."
Endolas placed a hand over his chest.
"I am always on the side of children who love adventure! Quite unlike the ordinary grown-ups who force you to cram for your studies!"
As he said it, his eyes slid sideways toward Aaron, who maintained a perfectly blank expression and stared straight ahead.
"Ahem! In any case — the best of the best among all these magnificent prizes! Today I shall reveal the two greatest prizes on the line in this exam!"
The mountain of gift boxes Endolas had just conjured from his cards was split into two piles.
The box perched at the very top of the left pile opened.
"The first great prize is none other than—!"
FWOOSH!
The lid swung open and black flames roared up.
-KRIIIIIIIIE!
What emerged from within was — of course — a bird wreathed in black fire.
As the black bird wheeled freely around the Great Auditorium, ash drifted down here and there. The students flinched and shielded their plates.
"The first prize needs no introduction — the rare undead, the Death Phoenix!"
The black bird settled onto Endolas's left arm and shrieked.
-KRIIIIIIIIIE!
The students' eyes lit up. Every single person in that hall was thinking the same thing.
I want it.
"They're giving an undead that precious to a *student*?"
"Yeah, that's insane."
The hall was already beginning to stir.
"Riding this momentum, let's reveal the second prize right away!"
This time it was the silver gift box at the top of the right-hand pile that opened. Pitch-black darkness poured out, and from within it a staff sprang free.
The staff was wrought of violet metal, its head shaped like a triangular eye ringed with teeth — and it was giggling like a person, a low *hehehehe* sound.
Then the staff freed itself from the gift box entirely and began flying loops through the air.
"GYAAAAH!"
The students ducked in alarm.
The staff pranced about the Great Auditorium entirely on its own whims, firing off curses indiscriminately. Students struck by them went bald, sprouted tails, or fell madly in love and started hugging the person beside them.
"What the hell is this thing?!"
Giggling with evident delight at the chaos it had sown, the staff looped through the air and landed neatly in Endolas's right hand.
"The second prize is the autonomous-action staff, Areldelu! It seems two lucky students will be born as the masters of today's prizes!"
At that, every student's expression turned deadly serious.
"Good timing, huh."
Simon turned his head at Meilin's murmur.
"What is?"
"Think about it. Prizes that big have to be attached to the large-scale or difficult games, right? I'd bet at least one of the two is tied to the siege battle."
At that, Dick pounded the table.
"Right, right! At least one of them has to go to a game that takes thirty people to enter!"
Camibarez wiggled her fingers wistfully in her lap.
"I — I really wanted to go with you all... I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, Cami! Matching everyone's card combinations matters more anyway."
Up on the podium, Endolas spoke again.
"Then the After-School BMAT will begin in twenty minutes! You are free to disperse!"
Twenty minutes before the exam began.
The students streamed out of the Great Auditorium in a surging crowd.
Simon, Dick, and Meilin said their goodbyes to Camibarez and were already sprinting across the Kizen campus.
"This is an emergency!"
Dick guided the two of them through a shortcut as he talked.
"After what Endolas said today, the competition for the siege battle could get way uglier!"
Simon nodded. It was obvious as daylight that people would swarm toward the siege battle for a shot at the grand prizes.
"Got a plan?"
"Not exactly a plan, but — the siege battle cards spawn at random spots somewhere along the fortress walls, right? So let's split up in three and search."
Dick pulled a bundle of fireworks out of his subspace.
The idea was that whoever found a card first would fire one off as a signal flare to mark the location.
Hearing this, Simon raised an objection.
"Won't other students come running too, though? Not just us?"
"Exactly, you idiot! A firework randomly going off at the fortress wall? Everyone's going to notice!"
"Heh heh heh, worry not!"
Dick held out blue fireworks to Simon and Meilin. The two of them took them, if a little skeptically.
"You just set off a whole pile of them."
Saying that, Dick pulled out a fat bundle of *green* fireworks from his subspace this time. The moment Simon grasped his intent, he grinned wide.
"That's our Dick!"
No one on the continent could touch this guy when it came to clever schemes. The two of them high-fived with a sharp *smack*.
Before long, the towering ramparts of Kizen's fortress walls came into view.
"I'll take this section!"
Dick clutched the fireworks to his chest and shouted as he ran off toward the henchmen.
"Simon, east side! Meilin, west side!"
"Got it!"
"Yeah!"
There was no time to lose. The two immediately split left and right.
"Big Bro Kon! I have one favor to ask — a matter of life and death!"
"...Dick? The BMAT's about to start. What's going on?"
Dick worked his henchman connections, handing out fireworks to the henchmen passing by and asking them to set them off at just the right moment once the game began.
Meanwhile, Simon too was sprinting along with a few of the green "decoy" fireworks tucked under his arm. His gaze drifted to the Endolas card pinned at his chest.
[The exam will now begin!]
[Win your engagement against the next student to gain 1 additional point.]
[Denban Arena.]
'It's starting!'
Running along the fortress wall, Simon tapped the skeleton-shaped badge — Pier's avatar — a couple of times.
'Pier! Pier!'
After a moment of silence, light kindled in the avatar's eye sockets.
"[Hm? What is it, boy?]"
'I need your help! Keep watch over the wall with me and help me look for the cards!'
"[Kreh-heh! Waking ME up for some trivial little exam!]"
Simon hurriedly added,
'It's the exam with the rare undead riding on it — the Death Phoenix.'
"[Boy! From here, the fortress wall is in full view! Make haste!]"
Watching Pier flip his attitude in an instant, Simon burst out laughing inside. He detached Pier's avatar and strapped it right onto his shoulder.
"[Hm.]"
Pier's avatar spoke.
"[First thing's first — you may want to dodge what's flying in from behind.]"
'Huh?'
The instant Simon whipped his head around, a spear of black lightning was plummeting out of the sky toward him.
KRARARARUM!
He threw himself aside in terror, barely clearing it. Where the lightning spear struck, the ground around it blackened and scorched.
Simon belatedly scanned his surroundings.
'Ugh, there are SO many people!'
Students were sprinting along the fortress walls, hurling dark magic at one another. Competition for slots in the siege battle had already broken out.
"[Boy! We haven't the time to face every one of these small fry!]"
'Got it!'
Simon ran straight ahead, slipping and weaving through incoming dark magic like an eel.
Explosions roared from every direction, and Dick's green fireworks were popping and blooming across the sky.
'It's pure chaos right from the start— huh?'
Simon's head tilted upward.
That last firework had sounded a little different.
PAAAAAANG!
The crack of blue fireworks splitting the sky rang out.
'That direction is Meilin's side. She found one already!'
SHAAAAK!
Simon slammed on the brakes, skidding hard, then wheeled around and tore off in the opposite direction. Two students who had been chasing him startled and snapped into combat stances.
"Gah!"
"You wanna fight, huh?!"
From behind, bone fragments from his skeleton flew in and clad Simon's body in Bone Armour. In the same motion, he leapt high up the fortress wall.
'Push off with the skeleton's strength!'
TAK!
Simon began running straight up the wall itself. The two students watched him go by with eyes wide as saucers.
'Good. Keep it up!'
Simon sprinted at full power toward the direction the blue firework had bloomed.
All the while, the green fireworks the henchmen were setting off were washing the sky green.
But.
'Ngh — running like this really is rough.'
It was all well and good not having to fight other students, but keeping pace along the fortress wall was punishing work.
Just then, a certain monster surfaced in Simon's memory.
The chimera he'd seen in the basement of Professor Walter's magic-gun range — that four-legged, four-armed horror that roamed freely across walls and ceilings alike.
'If I moved like that monster...'
Simon pulled more skeletons out of his subspace.
Click-clack. Click-clack.
The bone fragments of the Bone Armour drifted up into the air and began reassembling.
Eight skeletons were used to form four temporary legs, their bodies converging into a single central mass.
'Something like this?'
The result was a four-legged spider made entirely of bone. Of course, it was a configuration utterly alien to the skeletons' natural form, and it lurched and rattled, its joints threatening to come apart at any second—
"[Hold onto each other!]"
Simon's Absolute Order kept the whole structure from collapsing. And for the most crucial part — the leg joints — he substituted his own Cloud.
'That's it!'
Simon hopped up on top of it. The skeleton spider scuttled its limbs and blazed along the fortress wall at a jaw-dropping speed.
Students running below the wall looked up, bewildered.
"A — a skeleton spider?"
"What the hell kind of undead is that?"
Through the eyes of Simon — moving faster than anyone else — the card attached to the fortress wall finally came into view.
Several students were already climbing inside. The fifteen-person limit was about to fill up.
'RUN!'
The students, spotting Simon too, redoubled their climbing speed — but the spider skeleton was faster.
With a mighty leap, the skeleton vaulted up and carried Simon inside with it.
[Entering a new game.]
[1 defender has entered.]
[Defender team: 15/15 — All slots filled.]
It had come down to a hair's breadth.