Reunion (1)
CLANG! CLASH!
Ian's sword and my own crossed in a resounding ring of steel.
Sweat trickled down my forehead, gathering at my chin and dripping toward the ground. I didn't need to put a label on the situation. It was hopeless. Why had everything twisted into this?
I flicked my eyes toward Selina and Lily locked in combat. She had promised to crush Selina while I held Ian back. No... Lily was being pushed back a little.
"...You're still holding back, huh, Veri?"
CLANG!
Ian swung his sword at me with a rough breath, throwing caution to the wind despite the remaining strength.
'What the hell.'
As Ian said, I still had enough stamina and mana left compared to him. But who could have predicted this? That the Ian and Selina duo would pull off the exact same strategy?
And unlike me, who had methodically suppressed opponents with the most efficiency, Ian had to endure all the blood and wounds that the protagonist's aura made him avoid. He had fought his way to the finals.
What should I do? What can I do now?
Beating Ian right now would be an obvious, deliberate loss.
Then should I take him down and rush to help Lily who's being pushed by Selina?
No, that's not good. It would be the worst move even in an exchange.
Or should I let the fight drag on with Ian until Lily falls?
That option didn't even cross my mind, so I shook my head firmly.
Originally, my plan had been to use the fact that if I fell first, Lily would have no choice but to surrender eventually. Then, unlike me with my battered body, Lily could claim second place with almost no external injuries. Even if it wasn't the result I wanted.
But the roles had reversed. Instead of me, Lily had become the one battered. It wasn't a choice I, who had sworn to protect her, could make.
"What are you thinking so hard about, Veri? At least when fighting, you should focus on your opponent as basic courtesy, right?"
Ian lifted his sword high with a struggle, the movements barely holding it up. He was so exhausted that his energy had turned into motion. It was the only way to describe it now.
"Kyaa!"
As I turned at Lily's scream, I saw Selina aiming a large, opaque orb at the ground where Lily had collapsed.
No choice. This episode had to be abandoned. Right now, Lily's priority came first.
Thinking that, I tightened my grip on my sword and swung it toward Ian with full intent.
"S-Siege!! The demons have broken through the barrier and attacked the West Tower!!"
Suddenly, someone burst through the arena doors and shouted that. Multiple demons had infiltrated and raided the West Tower of the Academy.
"...What?"
Demons had already attacked? No, demons? Attacking the West Tower, not Ian? So early? Why?
There was only one piece of information given, but it sparked multiple questions that began to take over my thoughts.
As I moved my eyes around to figure out what was happening right now, people began screaming and fleeing one by one.
"The tournament is paused for now! If we handle the siege quickly, we'll resume immediately, but if not, we'll announce new schedules later. So all of you should evacuate quickly!"
The referee coach shouted that to us, standing blankly in the arena as people streamed out.
Teachers and coaches who had been watching the match rushed toward the west or flew off using magic.
The student audience, each filled with worry and anxiety, hurriedly left their seats.
The arena, which had turned into chaos in an instant when there weren't many people watching the tournament even at night, began to grow quiet.
"Veri? Veri!! Didn't you hear the coach's words to run away?! What have you been thinking about all along, Veri!"
"Uh, uh? Uh... Yeah. Right."
Shaken awake by Ian, I came to my senses and looked around.
Selina lifting the injured hand of Lily who had been protecting her in the fight.
Selina had been dominating Lily, but the clear difference in skill showed on her face that she was quite exhausted.
Ian still showed signs of collapse from overusing mana and stamina,
his body covered in wounds was expanding and contracting rapidly due to constant heavy breathing.
I was the same.
Not as bad as Ian, but my mana was almost depleted and stamina was nearly gone.
'Speaking of which, it's strangely quiet around here.'
Even if people had fled in panic, how could it be this deathly silent? Shouldn't there be at least the faint sound of crickets?
Questions chained one after another, and despite following Ian toward the escape route, I couldn't shake the strange unease.
In my view, Ian held the standard academy supply sword, the same one I had been holding.
In an instant, a severe anxiety and fear that made my heart stop gripped me.
The protagonist and the main heroine were together. Me and Lily, who had stolen their roles, were also in one place.
Our four of us were in a state where stamina and mana from the continuous match couldn't even be called normal.
Even the weapons we held were ordinary, worthless items. No artifacts or elixirs were carried under the academy rules.
'Ian and Selina are protected by fate, but not me and Lily.'
The moment I realized it, the only action I took was:
"Everyone, run to the main building of the Academy at full speed!! Now!!"
"Uh, uh? Suddenly why...
"Veri?"
"..."
As Ian and Lily showed confusion, I hurriedly grabbed Lily's hand and tried to lead her outside the arena.
Tic. Ping! Quack!
The magic lights that had brightly lit the arena shattered and broke, and a darkness that couldn't be seen even an inch ahead enveloped us.
"Kyaa!"
"W-What is this all of a sudden!"
Soon after, the thick scent of death that only an assassin like me could recognize filled the air.
Reflexively, I knew this death wasn't aimed at me. The dark, sinister gaze that had been sent earlier was meant to swallow the fragile girl in front of me.
"Her Highness the Princess!!"
SLASH. CRAASH!
So I threw my body toward the spot where Lily had been standing just moments ago and wrapped her in my arms.
A sound of something being borne and torn rang out, and searing agony ran down my back, piercing my spine with sharp pain.
"Ve-Veri...? Suddenly what... you...! Blood on your back!!"
"W-Who is it!!"
At the perfect timing, the moonlight shining through the window frames lit up the entire arena, engraving a large, long scar on my back that was imprinted in everyone's eyes.
"Kuh... Ugh...! Kyaaah!"
The pain continued to the point where my hands trembled, but I bit my tongue and rose, checking my surroundings since falling now would be the same as thrusting my neck toward death.
'No presence is felt.'
I could sense the faint scent that an assassin like me could only recognize.
But not only no presence, but no sound either, so I gathered the remaining mana into my eyes as much as possible.
...This ability was something I knew better than anyone, and in front of this dog-like ability, sight was the only means to perceive the opponent.
As mana filled my eyes and the surroundings brightened like daytime, I saw a pitch-black sword rushing toward me.
CLANG!
Just barely blocking the opponent's sword, I shouted:
"Her Highness!! Lily!! Illuminate the surroundings with magic!!"
"Ah, okay!!"
In the darkness, as my back wound engraved by Selina and the clanging of steel from the recent sword clash reached her, it seemed Lily had grasped the urgency and hurriedly began to brighten the surroundings.
"Eh...?"
"This... is all... demons...?"
"I-Ian... What do we do?"
As Lily's magic illuminated the surroundings, we all had no choice but to feel endless despair.
The number of gazes surrounding us was one, two... three. It wasn't even enough to count to that.
Looking at them, it was at least thirty.
With only two demons appearing at the beginning, now there were at least thirty demons surrounding us.
We sensed that death was holding its giant sickle to our necks, and our bodies trembled in fear.
"Blocking the previous attack was quite impressive, human boy."
The leader of the demon group said with a smile as he looked at me.
A pitch-black sword. A pair of swords, Baekya. The demon who was searching for the whereabouts of Baekya.
One of the rare named demons among demons. Phorath.
There was no time to think why the character who appears in the middle-to-late part of the novel was showing his face now.
At this moment, the action I should take was clearer than ever.
"Ian, take Her Highness and Selina and run away. I'll buy you time somehow."
Whispering softly while pointing my broken sword at Phorath.
I didn't know why they weren't killing us immediately, but if we could use the given situation, we had to make the most of it.
"Abandon you and run away? I can't..."
"Then are you going to let Her Highness and Selina die?"
"..."
"It's better for everyone to die quietly here than for me to buy time while you call the coaches. Three of us combined can reach the main building even if two demons chase us."
As soon as I finished speaking, the demon started showing killing intent toward us again, as if he had no intention of waiting any longer.
"You bastard Ian Cedric!! If you don't want to die together, run!!"
"...Shit!!"
Ian cursed in a way that didn't suit him, slung Selina and Lily over his shoulder, and ran toward the only empty escape route.
"W-What is this! Let go right now! Can't you let go?!"
The sound of Lily struggling to escape from Ian's arms came, but
Perhaps as a mage, her strength wouldn't allow her to escape even if Ian was weakened, so it was fine.
"I-I can't leave you behind again...!"
SLASH. QUACK.
Suddenly, a hot yet cold... contradictory pain in the abdomen. The demon looking down at me with a sinister smile was visible.
"On top of this, looking away even once is too much."
"Uh... Kuh..."
"...I thought you wouldn't be cleanly cut, but it was because of that necklace."
Following the direction of the demon's gaze, the scar from my left shoulder to my right waist came into view.
And the Trace Changer that had broken from the demon's attack.
Saaak.
His light reddish-brown hair turned pitch black like ink.
The rough skin that assassins usually had changed into fair and snow-white yet covered in all kinds of scars.
The impression that had overall shown masculinity reverted to his original appearance without shedding the boy's aura.
"Then, if it's just a necklace, it should be at least an artifact level to block my sword."
Blocked. It was blocked...
Could I really call that blocking?
I had avoided the situation where my entire body was split in two with one hit, but if this continued, even without further attacks, excessive bleeding might kill me?
Just like proving my thoughts, my vision blurred and the sensations of my whole body dulled.
Then, a faint voice like a hallucination came faintly through the wind.
"......Finn?"
Ah. No matter what, it seemed this place, this extra in the novel, was the place where I would meet death.