Chapter 185: The Grand Festival (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185: The Grand Festival (6)
A video feed of Isaac sprinting while carrying Princess Snow White played on the massive screens suspended above the stadium.
The entire academy gaped at the sight.
No matter how close they were as mentor and mentee, one was still a commoner and the other a princess. Yet, as he rescued her, Isaac looked like a prince straight out of a fairy tale.
Despite being in Isaac’s arms, White showed not a hint of rejection. Instead, she clung to him even tighter. The only blemish on the picturesque scene was her rather ungraceful sobbing.
“…”
Luce Eltania, her rose-gold hair elaborately styled for the occasion, radiated a sinister aura. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, her gaze cold enough to kill.
The second-year Magic Department students gathered around her were overwhelmed by her murderous intent, trembling in sheer terror.
Princess Snow White. Her relationship with Isaac had clearly grown intimate through their near-daily mentoring sessions. The fact that some of the precious, limited time Luce could spend with Isaac was being siphoned off by that woman… it was enough to make her blood boil.
To Luce, the sobbing White looked like nothing more than a conniving vixen clinging to her man. The sight only served to intensify her wariness.
Meanwhile, in the audience stands.
A beautiful student with light-green pigtails sat trembling, her fists clenched white. Her face twitched rhythmically as she stared blankly at the video with jade-colored eyes, unable to control her shaking.
“I… I haven’t… received one yet…” Kaya Astrea murmured in a soft, breathless voice.
A princess carry from Sir Isaac.
She remembered when Lisetta Lionheart had been carried by him during last year’s joint practical evaluation. She hadn't received one herself yet—it was something she had only enjoyed in her wildest fantasies…
And now Princess Snow White had received one first? How could this be?
She understood the circumstances, but she never expected White to be protected in such a manner. Kaya’s jealousy was so thick it was almost palpable.
“Ah!! A swarm of students is rushing Isaac all at once!! How will he overcome this crisis?!” the announcer, Amy, shouted excitedly.
Sprinting while holding the princess… Her friend Isaac was truly, pleasantly insane.
On the Arcball race track, the remaining participants were converging on Isaac like a predatory pack. Isaac, his silver-blue hair whipping in the wind, looked straight ahead.
“White, take off my glasses.”
“Huh? Yes…!”
Snow White, still sobbing in Isaac’s arms, reached up and removed them. Her tears wouldn't stop; the shock of riding the thrilling waves only to have them abruptly crash was still rattling her heart.
The glasses she removed were a magic tool: Ribella’s glasses.
Just as shedding heavy sandbags makes one’s body feel weightless, removing those glasses allowed a mage to perceive and follow the flow of mana with newfound clarity.
Isaac’s eyes quickly scanned the competitors swarming from the front.
“Hand it over!!”
“Give us the Arcball!!”
Woooosh!
Using the 2-star spell [Cold Divergence], Isaac unleashed a pure white mist that surged forward with fierce momentum. The participants lunged at him with elemental magic and rackets, cutting through the fog.
He skillfully dodged their strikes and countered with his own spells, weaving through the crowd. Even with the burden of carrying White, Isaac’s movements were breathtaking.
His remarkable physical abilities allowed him to read the flow of mana even through the freezing mist, dodging spells and retaliating with perfect judgment and reflexes.
It was a display of pure artistry. The students who had rushed him were stunned; it was hard to believe a student from the Magic Department could move like that. Only the top elites of the Knight Department could hope to match his agility.
“Aah!”
“What do you think you’re doing, attacking me, you idiot?!”
As the chill thickened, the participants began attacking each other indiscriminately, their vision obscured. By the time they cleared the mist with basic magic, Isaac had already vanished, having surged past the entire group.
“What…?!”
The students stood bewildered, watching Isaac’s retreating back as he sped down the track.
Is he really running that fast while carrying a person? What kind of speed is that?
Cheers erupted from the stands.
“Wow!! Isaac successfully evaded the onslaught of numerous students!! Incredible!!” Amy shouted with a beaming smile.
Whoooaah!!
At that moment, a chilling mana swept over the track once more.
Behind Isaac, water mana pulsed through the air. Massive blue waves began to crash forward with a ferocity that far exceeded the power of basic elemental magic.
“Ah, Senior Isaac…! Behind you!!”
The wave swallowed the width of the track. At the terrifying sight, White’s pale face turned even whiter.
“T-t-that! Is that really basic magic?!”
Even someone with low mana perception could feel it. That wave was saturated with an enormous amount of water mana. If White were swept away by it, fainting would be the least of her worries.
Isaac casually glanced back at the wall of water chasing them.
“Does that even make sense…?”
“Arrrgh!”
“S-save me…! Aaah!”
The students who had failed to intercept Isaac looked at the approaching wave with horror. They tried to run, but the wave was far faster, swallowing them whole. It was a total wipeout.
The man running behind the wave was Pierre Flanche—a first-year in the Magic Department and a genius possessing Grade S mana. Pierre’s popularity and reputation weren't just for show; few in the academy could hope to best him in a direct confrontation.
Amidst the chaos, Isaac nodded in satisfaction. “Good.”
“What?!”
Pierre’s ruthless attack was actually helping by eliminating the other competitors. Isaac had anticipated this. The only downside was that Pierre’s teammates were still in the clear; they must have agreed that Pierre would handle the rear.
“What is with that crazy guy?!”
Lisetta Lionheart, who had chosen not to rush Isaac, was still running ahead. As someone who knew Isaac’s true capabilities as an archwizard, she didn't have the confidence to challenge him head-on.
Anyway, what kind of monster is that beige-haired junior who popped out of nowhere?
Though his power was incomparable to the mana Isaac had displayed against the Abyssal Sea Monster, there was no denying the junior possessed tremendous strength.
“White, put your arms around my shoulders and hold on tight. It’ll be uncomfortable for a moment, but bear with me.”
“Yes, yes!”
The two-minute possession limit for the Arcball was rapidly approaching. They needed to pass it to a teammate immediately.
White wrapped her arms around Isaac’s neck and clung to him. To ensure she didn't slip as her strength waned, Isaac manifested rock cuffs around her arms to secure her to him.
One of Isaac’s hands left White’s shoulder. As her center of gravity shifted, White had to hug him even tighter, like someone dangling over a cliff.
“Huu, ah…!”
She couldn't move. Yet, for some reason, being pinned against Isaac’s chest ignited a fire in her heart. It was a stimulating sensation—a mix of restraint and pressure that felt unexpectedly pleasant. For White, who was a teenage girl before she was a princess, it was overwhelming.
“Ah, ah, no…!”
…I have to control myself.
Just like during the joint practical evaluation, she felt a pang of guilt for harboring such scandalous desires toward the senior she respected. White squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to suppress her rising passion.
She felt a sudden prickle of murderous intent from somewhere, but she dismissed it as her imagination.
“Tristan!” Isaac shouted, swinging his racket.
He hurled the Arcball. Tristan, propelled by swirling light-green wind, flew in at incredible speed and caught the ball out of the air like a pro baseball player.
“I’ll be right behind you!”
“Ha! Do as you like!” Tristan shouted, surging ahead.
Isaac released the rock cuffs and gripped White’s shoulders again, returning her to a proper princess carry. White’s cheeks were flushed crimson, but she tried to compose herself and maintain her dignity. However, she couldn't stop her lips from quivering.
“White, you can fly with the wind for a bit, right? Just like we practiced.”
White immediately understood—he wanted her to get to safety. She gasped. “Eh? What about you, Senior Isaac?”
“I’ll stop what’s coming from behind.”
“What?”
Behind them, the vast wave was still relentless, seconds away from swallowing Isaac.
“H-h-how are you going to…?”
“Quickly!”
“Ahh, yes! Uwaaah…!”
As wind mana flowed from White, Isaac let her go.
Whooosh!
White took flight, gliding away on the wind. Her mana mastery wasn't enough to fly for more than ten seconds without severe dizziness, but it was enough to escape the immediate danger.
Isaac stopped dead. Like a car slamming on its brakes, his boots screeched against the track, kicking up dust.
He turned around. The wave was about to engulf him. The reason the wave hadn't dissipated was that Pierre was constantly infusing it with mana. There was no outrunning it now.
Someone had to stop Pierre, and Isaac was ready to play that role.
The wave was fundamentally a basic spell, which should have been weak, but Pierre’s immense mana reserves made it a juggernaut. Being hit by it would mean an instant knockout.
Isaac slammed Zhonya’s staff into the ground, drawing up his mana.
Is he going to counter Pierre head-on?
The students in the stands held their breath, mesmerized.
“…”
Pierre Flanche continued his charge down the track, one arm extended to channel the wave while the other wiped blood from his forehead.
Even through the wall of water, Pierre could feel it—Isaac’s mana was rising to meet him.