Chapter 42: Academy Exchange Meet — Twist (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 42: Academy Exchange Meet — Twist (6)
The chariot carrying us hurtled forward, tearing through the air. It was already the fifth lap.
The race would end after ten laps around this vast arena. Right now was the exact midpoint of the match.
"Ah! What a shame! Once again, Joaquin Academy fails to overtake Parsi Academy by a razor-thin margin!"
The announcer lamented in a tone that wasn't disappointed in the slightest. If anything, he sounded thrilled.
‘Joaquin has awakened in its own right.’
As Victoria's mental power rose, our Skoll and Hati—who had been dragging along like turtles—transformed into nimble hares. Yet even as we entered the second half, an overturn still seemed out of reach. Parsi was narrowly keeping control of the momentum.
The announcer—a man tasked with the duty of constantly stoking the flames of excitement in the hearts of the audience, the viewers, and the sponsors.
"Ah! That was a golden opportunity, but they've missed it once again!"
"It's going to be an uphill battle from here on out!"
I knew he was just doing his job, but it was grating on my nerves. And because of that, our chariot was slowing down. Victoria's mental power, which had finally rebounded, was beginning to wane again.
Not that I could just go pull the announcer aside in the middle of a race. Maybe after it was over, but not now.
‘In the end, it comes down to me.’
Victoria had demonstrated her latent potential to the fullest. She had dragged a match on the brink of a blowout back into competitive territory. Now, it was her master's turn.
‘I need to suppress my fighting spirit if we're going to turn this around.’
If only I had Raven's Blessing...
‘Forget it, you already passed on it. Don't waste time on useless regrets, idiot.’
Even if I had received the transfer, there was no guarantee it would be compatible with me. If some blessings complemented each other, then naturally, others conflicted. And as for what happened when blessings clashed... I didn't particularly want to imagine it. I remembered reading on the wiki that it started with the collapse of the soul before the physical body slowly crumbled away.
‘I just need to control my power my own way.’
I licked my dry lips, tasting gritty sand, and focused my mind.
Something Nox had said in passing flashed through my mind.
— What does it feel like when using Raven's Blessing? Hmm, well, first you plant a single dot in your mind. Set that as your target point and visualize gathering your power into it.
"Parsi's chariot has just crossed the line for its sixth lap... and right as I speak, Joaquin crosses it just 2.14 seconds behind!"
— The key is separating your immediate surroundings from your intent. Heavenly Sword, to put it in your terms, turn off the background chatter. Think about one thing and one thing only: 'Gather power.'
"Parsi seems to have completely shifted their strategy! At first, they aimed to swallow Joaquin's sun and moon, but under their opponent's relentless pressure, they've decided to focus purely on reaching the finish line...!"
— People often mistakenly think that condensing power reduces its impact. It doesn't. The mechanics of power—of fighting spirit—work the exact opposite way.
"..."
— The smaller the nozzle on a water gun, the farther it shoots.
Kboom!
The violently grinding sound echoed as our chariot jolted as if about to flip over. Victoria yanked the reins to keep Joaquin upright, while Parsi managed to barely regain their balance as well.
"I—I can't believe it! Ladies and gentlemen, this is unbelievable!"
Joaquin's chariot slammed straight into Parsi's. As their wheels and armored plates scraped together, a shower of sparks violently sprayed into the air.
"Joaquin! The chariot carrying the Heavenly Sword and Princess Victoria is driving hard against Parsi!"
The distance between us closed to zero. It would have been ideal to swallow the sun and moon the instant we gained speed, but...
‘One wrong move, and the momentum could completely tip away.’
Know the difference between ambition and greed, Kang Geomma. That was the essence of the "single-point concentration" Nox was talking about.
"The real battle starts now, folks!"
"And let's take a moment to express our gratitude to Black Bull for sponsoring this match!"
"An energy drink designed to sharpen focus, now selling like hotcakes at convenience stores everywhere—"
*
"Gah, damn it!"
The curse lashed harshly against the side of Kang Geomma and Victoria's faces.
Edward was about to vent his raw fury, but when his eyes met Kang Geomma's, he quickly changed his tune, sneering instead.
"Princess! You always rely on someone else's shadow, don't you? Always!"
It seemed he had decided to rattle her mind instead of spewing cheap profanities.
Unintentionally, it was a solid strategy on Edward's part. After all, Kang Geomma and Victoria were barely bridging the gap between them using sheer willpower and focus.
Kang Geomma and the Parsi instructor both fell silent by tacit agreement. The Parsi instructor found it uncomfortable to step into royal drama, while Kang Geomma was simply curious about the Victoria royal family.
Most details regarding the daily lives of the British Empire's royal family were shrouded in secrecy. They had remained silent during the clash between the 6th Corps Commander Basmon and the Seven Star Heroes, and even throughout the 2nd Human-Demon War. Yet despite their silence, almost no one criticized them, except for a few noble factions led by the Nibelung Family.
‘It wasn't so much that people were cowed by their authority, but rather that their interests were entangled with the Victoria Imperial Family.’
A fragment of that secret history was being laid bare right now.
While suppressing the leakage of his fighting spirit, Kang Geomma perked up his ears. Edward's sharp voice pierced through the wind.
"How is it that, past or present, you do nothing but rely on others and your family?! Aren't you ashamed to call yourself royalty?!"
"..."
"His Majesty is watching this match right now! Do you honestly think His Majesty will be satisfied seeing you like this?! Leeching off the Heavenly Sword?!"
"...Shut your mouth..."
Victoria gnawed at her lower lip.
"Did you think nobody knew why you fell out of His Majesty's favor despite being first in line for the throne?! It's because of your pathetic hypocrisy!"
"I told you... shut your mouth."
"Your hypocritical crusade to 'abolish privilege'—His Majesty knows better than anyone what a joke it is!"
A sharp crack seemed to fracture Victoria's composure. Emboldened as if he had hit the jackpot, Edward pressed on.
"Within the Imperial Family, every word and every secret leads straight to His Majesty's ears! Princess, that wet nurse you cherished more than anyone was no exception! She was the bitch who spilled all your innermost thoughts to him!"
All words and roads lead to the Emperor. That was the fundamental reason why no rumor ever leaked out of the imperial family. A system where the Emperor held absolute monopoly over every detail of royal life had persisted for four hundred long years.
The Victoria Imperial Family possessed a fiercely centralized structure. That was why the head was titled Emperor, while his children were called Princes and Princesses.
Before they were his children, they were the Emperor's subjects—or more accurately, his property.
Fwhoooosh.
Without warning, a cloud of coarse dirt blew into Victoria's face. The dusty gust momentarily severed her mind from reality.
‘Everyone is merely a cog for His Majesty.’
The imperial family was a massive machine. The Emperor was the pilot, and everyone else was nothing more than components executing his directives.
Among the Unique Blessings passed down through the imperial bloodline was the Owl's Blessing, which granted absolute memory. It was the single most decisive factor in determining the heir to the throne; birth order was strictly secondary.
Princess Victoria had inherited that very blessing. As a result, even the moment she first opened her eyes inside her cradle remained crystal-clear in her mind.
The mobile made of interconnected clockwork gears; the iron cradle enclosed from above like a birdcage; and His Majesty the Emperor's chilling, bone-piercing gaze peering down at her through the bars.
Brrr. Just remembering it sent a cold shiver down her spine.
‘His Majesty is a machine.’
That was how every monarch in the history of the Victoria Imperial Family met their end. They turned into machines. The blood in their veins served merely as lubricant to keep the system running.
Burdened by the Owl's Blessing to remember and possess all things, they eventually degraded into living artificial intelligence—thinking and ruling solely for the survival of the dynasty.
‘I was fated to become one of them too.’
Two people had altered her destiny from becoming a hollow machine. The first was her wet nurse—a warm candle in the freezing void of the imperial palace.
‘And the other...’
She glanced sideways. It was the man standing right beside her. It was her desire to communicate directly with him that had driven her to enroll in Joaquin Academy.
Ten years ago, on that fateful day.
‘May the Blessing of God be with us.’
The word of encouragement the Heavenly Sword had spoken before heading into battle.
Nine-year-old Victoria had felt her heart flutter for the very first time. That was the moment she encountered the word "us" for the first time in her life.
Swish!
The cloud of dust blinding her path thinned out. Reality pulled her consciousness back from the depths of her mind.
"Seven and a half laps! They've spent a lap and a half locked in a grinding clash!"
"Even the previous two matches weren't this intense, ladies and gentlemen!"
Edward's expression twitched with impatience. ‘So my words got to her.’ Victoria's grip had loosened, causing the reins to hang limp in a deep arc. Now that he had landed a hit, it was time for a follow-up strike.
"Eighth lap! Just two laps remaining!"
Just as Edward opened his mouth to taunt her further—Ruuuumble. A bloody crimson aura coalesced within the Heavenly Sword Kang Geomma's glare, binding Edward in place. His fingers froze, causing the reins to slip momentarily from his grasp.
‘Damn it, that monster!’
But just then, the stinging metallic stench in his nostrils began to fade. In his moment of anger, Kang Geomma had momentarily lost his single-point concentration.
"Now's my chance—!"
Edward yanked his upper body hard to the left. The chariot's straight path veered sharply on a diagonal, and—BOOM!
He slammed Joaquin's chariot straight into the arena's outer perimeter wall. The stone ground scraped by the iron scorched black.
The spectators leaped out of their seats, leaning forward in shock.
"Princess, you aren't fit for the Victoria Imperial Family! You'll crash and burn right here alongside the Heavenly Sword!"
Clang!
A bolt snapped, causing Joaquin's left wheel to fly off. Riding his momentum, Edward slammed his chariot into theirs over and over again.
"You belong beneath me, and the Heavenly Sword belongs beneath the Victoria Imperial Family!"
The right wheel shattered as well, sending Joaquin's chariot dragging along the dirt before grinding to a complete halt. Parsi's chariot pulled away cleanly, its tail swaying as it surged ahead.
"P-Parsi is pulling ahead with a massive lead!"
"A match that seemed so neck-and-neck is virtually decided in this single moment!"
"The brilliant tactics of Parsi's 3rd-year student shine bright!"
Boooooooo!
The crowd erupted into furious jeers, pointing their thumbs toward the ground. But Edward, having stranded Joaquin's chariot, didn't care in the slightest. He drove his chariot forward with an arrogant smirk.
Meanwhile, a sudden silence fell over Joaquin's broken chariot. Exhausted, Skoll and Hati collapsed, their tongues lolling out onto the dirt.
With defeat looming over them, Victoria spoke softly.
"Heavenly Sword... I'm sorry. It's my fault for losing my focus."
"No. Truth be told, I lost my focus for a moment too. So this one... is 'our' fault."
"...Our."
Why was it? Why did those two words strike such a deep chord in her chest?
"Ninth lap! Parsi Academy's chariot is just one lap away from the finish line!"
"Ah! At this rate, they might capture Joaquin Academy's iron sphere and claim absolute victory!"
"If that happens, Joaquin Academy will suffer the ultimate humiliation!"
Victoria let out a hollow laugh.
"Eight laps. That's how long it took us to synchronize our powers."
"Think back to how we started. Princess—"
"It's Victoria."
Kang Geomma blinked at her resolute gaze. As soon as he corrected how he addressed her, a faint smile brushed Victoria's lips.
"At first... Victoria and I were practically at each other's throats. Narrowing the gap between us this much in barely fifteen minutes is a victory in itself."
"Is that truly enough for you, Heavenly Sword?"
"..."
"Are you really okay with losing like this?"
It wasn't.
"You hate losing just as much as I do."
"Yeah. I hate losing. It might sound like a boast, but I've hardly ever lost in my entire life."
"Me neither."
The two of them smirked at each other.
Drawing his sashimi blade, Kang Geomma immediately sliced through the clasps tethering the wolves to the chariot with a single clean stroke. Slice!
Victoria bounded lightly off the wrecked chariot. She anchored the sun and moon to Skoll and Hati respectively, then activated her blessing. With a burst of force, she blasted the ruined chariot far away, leaving only the long iron shaft that served as the connecting bar.
Skoll and Hati tilted their heads in confusion. With the chariot gone, the two of them hopped onto the twin wolves' backs.
"Bite down on this."
Victoria shoved the iron bar into Hati's jaws. Looking utterly bewildered, the wolf clamped down on it. Skoll bit down on his side as well.
At this unthinkable turn of events, the announcer—along with the entire stadium—was thrown into sheer confusion. Speaking for everyone, the announcer roared:
"What in the world is that?!"
"An improvised sled," Kang Geomma muttered.
Kang Geomma dug his heels into Skoll's flanks. The wolf shivered, rallied its spirit, and locked eyes with Hati.
Skoll and Hati gave each other a firm nod. The moment fighting spirit ignited in their slit eyes, they kicked off the dirt.
They shot forward like beams of light. The speed was so blinding that the heavy iron sphere trailing behind them was pulled off the ground, hovering an inch in midair. The wolves' legs blurred beneath their bellies, leaving behind lingering afterimages as they sprinted.
The raw rhythm of their synchronized breathing radiated up through their backs into their riders. Kang Geomma stroked Skoll's scruff and leaned down low over its neck. Victoria crouched down alongside him.
Awoo000000000...!
Awoo000000000...!
Skoll and Hati unleashed a roaring battle cry.
Accelerating to unimaginable speeds, they blurred across the arena—making anyone wonder if they were even living creatures. Their backs uncoiled like cheetahs in full sprint, flexing their muscles to maximum elasticity like coiled steel springs.
"I—It's impossible!"
"Joaquin's... 'chariot' has swept through a full lap in mere seconds!"
"Parsi had only half a lap remaining!"
"But Joaquin is closing the gap in the blink of an eye!"
"An utterly unpredictable showdown! What a magnificent climax to this match!"
Edward and his instructor whipped their heads around in panic, their lips drained of color.
"What the hell?! What kind of bullshit is this?!"
His wolves were still sprinting, but their speed was dropping sharply near the finish line. While Joaquin's wolves had conserved their stamina during their brief collapse, Parsi's wolves had been running nonstop. They were completely spent.
On top of that, the premature relief of seeing the finish line right in front of them had caused their muscles to slacken. The hunted was always at a disadvantage against the hunter.
"The distance between them is down to one meter!"
"Only ten meters left until Parsi crosses the finish line!"
The gap closed in an instant. Joaquin's Skoll and Hati crushed the iron shaft between their teeth with a loud crack! Then, mustering every last drop of strength, they opened their jaws wide.
Rows of sharp fangs opened to their absolute limit just inches away from Parsi's iron sphere.
THUUUUUD!
The vanguard of Joaquin and the rear of Parsi finally collided.
"T-The match has ended! And the winner is...!!"
*
I burned through everything I had. The sheer exhaustion made my chest heave, and I couldn't stop a hollow laugh from escaping my lips.
A sticky warmth swept across my cheek. Skoll and Hati pressed tight against both sides of me, vigorously licking my face.
"It's fine, you guys. It's barely your fault."
"Whine..."
"At most, ninety percent your fault?"
"..."
"Can't take a joke? I'm just sore about it."
I pushed their snouts aside and turned my head. Victoria was staring at me without even blinking.
"You worked hard. We almost had them."
"No."
Victoria tilted her head back to look at the arena stands. The crowd's triumphant cheers were washing over us, not Parsi.
As for Parsi, the actual winners, they slunk out of the venue in disgrace, practically driven away by the deafening boos.
"─────!"
Thousands of voices chanted our names in unison. Goosebumps ran through every inch of my body, like static electricity.
Even having heard crowds cheer like this many times before, it still sent a shiver through me. How must Victoria be feeling right now? I left that to the imagination.
Victoria pulled her eyes away from the stands and looked back at me. Wiping her hand against her skirt, she extended it toward me.
"It was an honor to race beside you."
"We'll definitely win the final match."
I clasped her hand.
"Yes."
Victoria gave a bright, clear smile.
— Academy Exchange Meet — Twist. End.