172. Hyenas
172. Hyenas
The students had all come up from the underground waiting room to the arena.
The hostile atmosphere that had begun in the waiting room carried over into the arena.
-Then we will begin the second test.
The starting signal sounded, but no one dared to move rashly.
They must have wanted to charge forward the moment it began, but everyone was watching one another.
It was because the air throughout the entire arena had changed strangely.
Heavy enough to make breathing difficult, and so hot it felt like it would cook your skin. It was as if they had entered a sauna.
And the ones creating that situation, occupying the center of the arena and confronting each other, were Lucia and Edgar.
That was because the two of them were using their auras to completely dominate the surrounding atmosphere.
They had no choice but to be cautious.
This sensation was something the other students were experiencing for the first time.
They had somehow managed to beat Albion, but he had been alone.
While he had other escorts, Albion had been the only powerhouse of that caliber.
But this time, there were two swords of the Five Pillars, and even Atlas, who stood watching their display with his hands behind his back.
Even if they all ganged up together, could they really land a proper blow on these two, who were overwhelming the entire arena with sheer force of spirit alone?
What if they moved first for nothing and ended up all getting eliminated absurdly?
"What are you so scared of?! We're all human, just like them!! We're the same age, don't be afraid!!"
"Yeah, you cowards! We can win if we do it like before, don't be scared!!"
In the arena filled with silence due to the fear of being the first to move, someone shouted loudly and ran forward, and that became the signal.
Following that student's words, everyone began to move, and the two who had been locked in a standoff of willpower also moved.
"!!!!"
"Hah...aat!!!"
Red flames burst from Edgar's Flamberge, and Lucia brought down her two-handed sword, which was wreathed in aura.
The blazing demon sword Flamberge clashed with Lucia's two-handed sword.
-Kwang!!!
No matter how you heard it, it was not the sound of two swords colliding.
The clash of the two swords produced a deafening roar like that of an exploding bomb.
"Whoaak?!!!"
"Hey... Hey, hey, fall back!!"
Some of the students who had charged in with great spirit took the shockwave head-on and were thrown backward.
It wasn't a full-fledged technique, so the aftermath wasn't that great, but it served as a good warning to the students who had tried to recklessly interfere between them.
'...Wouldn't it be fine to just let the two of them fight like that?'
It seemed better to just let them fight it out and wait for one side to be eliminated first.
Getting involved for no reason seemed far more dangerous.
-Kkang!!!
The swords of Lucia and Edgar collided with a fierce explosive sound.
The fight to settle the hierarchy between Russell and Lemnos had begun in earnest.
——————————————-
The Saintess and the Bishop were in the same room as the professors who were grading.
"The Five Pillars have fallen rather quickly."
At the Bishop's casual remark, the atmosphere among the academy professors who were grading sank even heavier.
"I-it was clearly some kind of accident."
Without even being asked, one of them started defending Albion's position.
They did not realize that the longer they talked, the more disgraceful it looked.
It was the Saintess's words that broke the awkward silence.
"The magic couldn't be cast in time because other students from the rear cast Dispel on it... and the decisive factor was that one student ruined the completed spell. It was a decent combination. Does the academy teach such things as well?"
"Y-yes! Of course!! It's all part of the undergraduate curriculum!"
Hulan giggled as she watched one of the professors say this.
Though the Headmaster let out a heavy sigh.
And soon, the second test began.
The faculty members, who were enjoying refreshments in the VIP room while watching the entertainment... no, while grading, were quite satisfied with the second test, which was showing a completely different pattern from the first.
The two swords, known as the strongest among the Five Pillars, were clashing, causing massive collateral damage in all directions, so no one even dared to think of interfering.
"Hoho, so earlier was just a rather amusing fluke."
"Since the match-ups were drawn randomly, it seems a genuine accident occurred."
"These are the pillars of our Empire. What do you think?"
Just a moment ago, there had been the incident where the Five Pillars were collectively attacked by regular students and collapsed in the opening moments, but this time was different.
The clash between the two swords of Russell and Lemnos created an atmosphere that prevented ordinary students from daring to interfere.
It instilled a fear that if they interfered and the target switched to them, they would not be able to handle it.
The gloomy atmosphere, as if they had been afraid another upset would occur, vanished in an instant, and the mood became cheerful again, as if the earlier tension had never happened.
"Haha, the academy students are truly remarkable. The combination in the previous test was excellent, but the martial prowess these two are displaying this time is also outstanding."
"R-right! That is the latent potential of our students!"
Of course, Hulan, who was just there to enjoy herself, was simply pleased that entertaining situations kept occurring regardless of who won or lost.
Hulan smiled, but the professors whose families were entangled with Albion still had dark expressions.
While some professors were enjoying their refreshments, there were others who were observing the situation broadly, jotting notes with their pens, and conducting a normal evaluation.
'Those two... I'm afraid to evaluate them.'
That was Andy, the swordsmanship instructor who had to conduct this test.
Since things had turned into a group battle for some reason, leading to a comprehensive assessment, he was not in the best of moods.
In this test, they had to evaluate based on various factors: swordsmanship as the baseline, as well as the application of magic and artifacts, the tactics used, and so on.
In that respect, he envied the two students who were currently engaged in a fierce duel in the center of the arena.
When Lemnos swung his flaming demon sword, hot flames would erupt in all directions, and when Russell brought down her sword, the earth would tremor and clouds of dust would billow up.
To the point that a few fearless students who tried to target their backs simply got caught up in the techniques the two naturally used and were immediately eliminated.
They were only academy freshmen... yet it seemed they had already reached the rank of top-tier Expert.
Reaching the upper rank would mean that kind of performance wasn't impossible, but Andy, who was grading them, thought that perhaps thanks to the secret swordsmanship they had learned from their families, each of their techniques was exceptionally powerful even for that rank.
'The swordsmanship I learned in the Imperial Knights isn't bad... but it's plain.'
It was a concern he thought but did not voice.
At a similar age to them, Andy had reached the rank of top-tier Expert and formally joined the Imperial Knights, but the secret swordsmanship he learned was extremely plain.
It was a foundational style, faithful to the basics and capable of handling many situations.
It couldn't convert aura into flames or heat like Lemnos, nor could it dominate space using one's own aura scattered into the atmosphere like Russell.
It was a self-contained swordsmanship style that strengthened the body and allowed one to create a hard and sturdy Aura Blade.
Even if he had complaints, he could not voice them.
That was because among those who used the Imperial Knights' secret swordsmanship, there were many exceptional individuals.
A prime example was the Director, and the officers who had reached the peak of Expert level were also learning the secret swordsmanship from their own families, but they used the Imperial Knights' secret swordsmanship as their primary foundation.
Expressing dissatisfaction when there were successful outcomes would only make it sound like the swordsmanship was fine, but the one who practiced it had the problem.
In the meantime, a slight change occurred in the arena.
It was because the rest of the students, excluding the two who occupied the center and had begun their fierce contest, had surrounded one person as if encircling him.
Seeing this, the Headmaster murmured.
"Hmm... those students are making a bad move."
He did not mean that the one surrounded was pitiful, but that the rest of the students were pitiful.
"What do you mean by that? All of them except three are ganging up on him, and you call it a bad move?"
"How many incidents has that student caused this semester alone, and you still doubt his skills?"
"Hoo... Headmaster, is that student truly such a troublemaker?"
Hulan smirked and asked the Headmaster.
"Don't even ask... As soon as the new semester started, he got into a brawl, fought a duel... He's quite spectacular."
In fact, excluding the two, there was only one person who could be targeted.
That student's name was Atlas.
——————————————-
"What, is it because it's hard to interfere over there that you thought you'd try fighting me?"
No answer came back.
Like predators eyeing their prey, they all just watched me, kept a certain distance, and circled around.
"Cindy, you seem to be the quickest thinker among us, so do the math. Both of them lost to me before, but you're scared to intervene there and think you might have a chance with me? Really?"
"Once those two settle things... and the way things look, they'll probably fight you too, so it's actually better for us to wait until all that is over..."
"Right, and that's what you should d..."
Before I could finish speaking, Cindy continued.
"But you're not so good-natured as to let us just stand by and watch from a distance, are you? Anyway, we could all see you were clearly watching for a chance to attack us too, so wouldn't it be better to do it while we're all as fresh as possible?"
Damn. I'd been caught.
I had planned to pick a fight first if they tried to just stand by and spectate, but she was quick to notice.
"Was it that obvious?"
"Haven't you seemed itching for it since you entered the arena?"
Despite saying that, they were still afraid of me.
I hadn't even drawn my sword yet, just rested my hand on the hilt, and they were reacting to every single movement of my hand.
"So, shall we finish this before those two settle things over there?"
"Don't underestimate us...!!"