Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Do you remember now?
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I might die. The moment that thought crossed my mind, Arthur's blade surged not toward me, but at the seat behind me.
"Dodge—!!"
The cadets gathered there scattered in panic at Arthur's sudden action.
It was a hair-trigger situation.
I'd already tumbled from my chair, and now sprawled half-collapsed on the floor, I lay there exposing my vital points wide open to Arthur.
-Shing!!
The blade of Hyunwol grazed the tips of my hairs, now standing on end.
At the same moment—or perhaps with an infinitesimal delay too fine to measure in seconds—a beam of violet light extended from Theodore, enveloping my body.
The beam stretched out thin and long like thread, weaving together in midair before transforming into a net that settled over me.
"Arthur!"
All of Theodore's magic tools glowed in the same color, resonating in harmony.
In that split-second instant, as I turned my eyes while feeling the blade of Hyunwol trembling beside my ear.
-The Noble Young Master Returned from Death! The Noble Young Master Returned from Death! The Noble Young Master Returned from Death! The Noble Young Master Returned from Death!
A shout so intense it numbed my reason shook my mind, my vision, the pounding of my heart, the flow of my blood—or whatever place housed my soul—throwing me into utter confusion.
The guardian angel was forcing a choice upon me.
-Thump, thump.
My heart raced so fiercely that my entire body tingled.
In a state of extreme excitement, without even realizing it, I was reaching out toward Arthur.
"Your eyes!"
"Arma Cruise…"
Ah, but as expected of a renowned swordsman, he wouldn't go down easily.
"Executor!"
Someone rushed at Arthur with a sword thrust.
Reckless, but commendable.
Still, don't just show courage—deliver results.
The skill gap between that nameless cadet and Arthur was more overwhelming than that between an adult and a child.
-Tak.
Arthur lightly dodged the incoming sword and arrow.
As I extended my arm again to grab his throat, Arthur leaped far away—too far for it to be just to evade me—leaving his position entirely.
"What's going on?!"
"Everyone, weapons out and advance—on Arthur Asher!"
"Someone's targeting Cadet Arma Cruise!"
The moment all the cadets drew their weapons and surged toward Arthur, Theodore shouted.
In an instant, the cadets formed ranks, blocking the space in front of me, and turned back to me with bewildered expressions.
"…The Noble Young Master… returned from death…"
I, too, was lost in confusion, consumed by the urge to go to Arthur.
And then, the moment I began to objectively recognize my own actions, I realized everything had gone wrong.
'Damn…!'
I'd been half-shoved back by Arthur and now sat slumped on the ground, looking for all the world like a pitiful civilian assaulted by Arthur, the swordmaster aspirant.
I couldn't even stand.
Theodore's spell binding my body held me fast.
"Let… let me go… Theodore."
But Theodore showed no mercy—in fact, he bound me even tighter.
Gazing at his bewildered expression, I chuckled, thinking that Theodore and Arthur were more perceptive than I'd realized, and that this time I'd failed by the slimmest of margins.
"Guardian angel."
At Theodore's words, I nodded as if in response.
-That's right, it's me.
-Too bad about Arthur Asher.
-Doesn't that mean Arthur's promotion exam fails now?
'No, damn it. Stop, damn you!'
To shake off whatever had burrowed deep into my consciousness, I tilted my head up as far as I could—the only part not constricted by Theodore's net.
Soon after,
-Thunk!
"Ugh…!"
Stars burst before my eyes.
As the intense pain hit, along with a child's laughter, I returned to being fully myself.
"Executor?!"
"Arma Cruise just harmed himself!"
"It must be delirium from Arthur Asher's attack!"
Uproar erupted once more.
I gave up all attempts to rise and simply lay there spread-eagled on the floor.
The moment I felt heat on my nape and back, I realized my scalp had torn open, blood pouring freely.
"You've changed your approach…"
The guardian angel had clearly tried to exploit my associative memories.
It was attempting to stimulate me without going through Theodore, who seemed to know the full story.
'Maybe… Theodore's magic circle is having an effect.'
Remember everything.
That was the message Theodore had inscribed in the magic circle.
Wasn't this circle like a bookmark for me, who'd died dozens or hundreds of times, my soul torn apart each time…?
As my thoughts deepened, profound fatigue washed over me.
I squeezed my fading consciousness and shouted.
"Arthur Asher has not yet lost his challenger eligibility…!"
***
Even Machina Christie, who rarely showed panic, couldn't help but be shocked this time.
Arma Cruise, bleeding profusely enough to see the pool from afar, had spoken in Arthur Asher's defense—then promptly passed out.
"Cadets with spare divine power? Assist with healing."
"I'll go help."
Five or six cadets gathered around Arma Cruise, who had collapsed face-down on the floor.
Machina let out a small sigh.
Arma Cruise was starting to look more familiar passed out with eyes closed than awake.
Of course, for Arma, who hated showing any disarray, it was a disaster.
Machina watched from afar as Arma's torn scalp began to knit, then spoke.
"Resume the exam."
"Yes? Chairman, that…"
"As Cadet Arma Cruise said. There was an incident, but Cadet Arthur Asher never did anything warranting disqualification."
"What do you…"
One of the two cadets by Machina's side awkwardly spoke up.
"It's the chairman's will. In my view, too, Cadet Arthur Asher hasn't broken any rules yet."
Standing beside her was Enoch Clark, whose loyalty to Machina doubled with each passing year.
"…"
"Cadet Adrian Nel Elman didn't stray from the marker, and Cadet Arthur Asher returned before being ruled out of bounds."
"But toward Cadet Arma Cruise—"
"—It looked like an attack, but in the end, he wasn't injured by Cadet Arthur Asher's strike. The current wound is self-inflicted."
"That's… certainly true… but…"
"Right?"
Machina ended the conversation by leaving no room for rebuttal—snatching it away entirely.
Strictly speaking, Arthur had no disqualifying faults.
Adrian had shown a hint of fluster at the unexpected situation, but he was still holding his position.
"Yes, that checks out. If Cadet Adrian Nel Elman had left the marker, the exam would be invalid by the rules, but resuming the match poses no issue. Correct."
"And the victim, Cadet Arma Cruise, judged it the same way."
With those words, the three at the judges' seats unanimously ruled to resume the exam, then signaled the waiting trumpeter with a glance.
-Bwaaaam!
"Resume the exam!"
"Resume?"
Even Arthur in the arena was stunned, staring blankly at Machina while gripping Hyunwol.
His body, still shimmering with golden mana hues from lingering excitement, exuded an unspoken pressure that instilled extreme tension in any living being.
"Why?"
Arthur muttered in place, questioning the judges' decision.
Not disqualified?
Machina's hearing was sharp enough to catch it, but she pretended not to for convenience.
-Taat!
He didn't get the answer he wanted, but Arthur leaped high.
"Is that okay? More blood like that. I heard he has a chronic condition."
Enoch spoke to Machina from her side, hands behind his back.
Right after Arma collapsed, he'd instinctively drawn his sword to rush in and intervene, but Machina's restraint had barely kept him in place.
If a proctor left the exam site, that would be disqualifying too.
The three proctors had a duty to oversee the exam from start to finish.
-Kaang!!
Debate lingered, but the exam wasn't over. Arthur's sword pointed skyward.
Lightning-like mana beams poured down from all directions once more.
Adrian Nel Elman hesitated, momentarily dazed, then blocked Arthur's attack.
-Chiring.
Adrian, who'd been countering with low-power spells he could cast as easily as breathing, had started chanting for retaliation just before—but now, under the intensifying onslaught, his stance was gradually crumbling.
"I heard he's supposed to avoid a racing heart as much as possible… What do you think?"
"…"
Machina was also the student council president who had personally reviewed Arma Cruise's admissions documents.
Enoch dropped his gaze, unable to find a reply to her inscrutable words.
"In my eyes, Cadet Arma Cruise seems to have overcome that issue already, but caution is still needed."
"Overcome it?"
"He's been through enough incidents to cause problems many times over, yet he's still up and about, right? I remember him groaning about late growth spurts… Something must've changed around then."
-Kwagwang!
-Pajik!
As Adrian chanted again to dodge Arthur's lightning, slender fragments of multicolored light floated in the air.
Each fragment homed in on Arthur, who swung Hyunwol wide as if he'd been waiting.
"Huh."
Adrian's multicolored fragments reversed course en masse, turning into blades aimed at their master.
Arthur had interfered with each one using his own mana, bending their paths.
The insect-wing buzz of clashing divine and mana power filled the air.
"Ha, I surrender."
Finally, with no defenses left, Adrian Nel Elman raised both hands.
Countering this would require high-tier magic, the kind needing a full ritual circle.
Yet even after Adrian's surrender, Arthur didn't relax his tension.
Machina gave a faint smile at his prudence.
'Prudent and wise.'
Without the proctor's termination call, the exam wasn't over.
False surrenders on the battlefield were a real tactic—a straight path to death.
"Exam terminated!"
-Eh… Does this actually work?
-Impressive, though.
The training ground, scarred like a clash of lights, left the other cadets speechless.
It had happened less than five minutes after Arma Cruise collapsed.
"Here and now, I recognize Cadet Arthur Asher's qualification for Master Class."
With the examiner's surrender, Arthur Asher's Master Class promotion exam concluded in unprecedented swiftness.
The student council had thus cleared another hurdle.
Flawlessly, without faculty intervention, they'd handled academy administration smoothly.