Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Interlopers (1)

At Professor Noel’s answer, Professor McDowell smiled kindly.

“Ho ho, that is correct.”

It had been an argument held right in the middle of the crowded Saengterminum campus. 

That was more than enough for the rumor that the two of them had made a bet to reach the ears of not only the students, but the professors as well.

If Team 1 won, Damon would never defend Black Magic again.

If Team 44 won, Elysia would acknowledge Karin getting close to Black Magic.

Judging only by the contents, it was quite an interesting bet.

“I did hear about it yesterday, but how ridiculous. It was only a verbal bet anyway, wasn’t it?”

Professor Dave snorted.

“What kind of fool would faithfully keep a bet when they didn’t even write a contract?”

“Ho ho, I doubt that is necessarily the case. I cannot speak for Elysia, but Damon will certainly keep that promise.”

“Student Damon did not look like such a foolish student to me.”

Professor Dave frowned at McDowell’s strangely confident answer, but—

“Student Damon... will keep it.”

Professor Noel affirmed McDowell’s opinion without hesitation.

“Because Student Damon is an Acquired Holy Power Awakener.”

“Yesterday, the other Holy Magic Department professors also pointed that out and moved on, but I simply do not understand what that has to do with anything.”

“Nowadays, there are many Innate Awakeners because of bloodline, but even now, those who acquire Holy Power without a bloodline are truly rare. That is how difficult it is to awaken Holy Power after birth.”

“...Is it that difficult?”

“Yes. One cannot awaken Holy Power unless one is more devout to the beliefs in one’s heart than anyone else.”

“Ho ho, that is correct. There is a reason Yulia and Viole are close to Damon, who defends Black Magic.”

“......”

Professor Dave silently closed his mouth and looked down at the arena, where the first round was about to begin.

Those were the words of Professor Noel, the theoretical studies professor of the Holy Magic Department, and Professor McDowell, a former Inquisitor. 

Their words were unlikely to be wrong.

If so, Damon was by no means entering this match with a light heart.

However.

“There was no need for him to swear so openly in front of everyone, was there?”

Objectively speaking, Team 1’s strength was superior to Team 44’s.

Was this not no different from voluntarily shackling himself?

“I suspect Damon intends to show us, the ones who have learned Holy Magic, through this match.”

Professor McDowell looked down at the arena with a rather subdued expression.

“...That he never defended Black Magic with a light heart.”

***

Sitting in the highest row of the professors’ seating, Levia chewed on her fingernail.

‘Aron, that bastard... Why did he make that kind of bet with Elysia?’

She also knew of the Sacred Mark’s existence and form, but she did not know how a Sacred Mark came to be engraved.

However, if one considered it carefully, did the Sacred Mark not also fall under an acquired awakening?

If so, then if Aron lost this match, it would mean he would stop defending Black Magic.

Even though he was a direct descendant of one of the Four Great Houses of the Dark Empire.

This had to be one of two things.

‘Either he lost his temper and blurted it out.’

Or.

‘...He wants to properly make his thoughts known to the Holy Power users.’

She did not know which it was, but one thing was certain.

Levia looked down at the arena.

The outcome of the match that was about to take place would represent the conviction of Aron, the one engraved with the Sacred Mark.

“We will now begin the first match of the main tournament. Team 1 and Team 44, please come up onto the arena.”

***

The moment we stepped onto the arena wearing impact-absorbing bands, the magic tools installed around the arena focused their light on us.

During the preliminary round, there had been too many people going up onto the arena, so they hadn’t shown everyone individually, but now there were only six of us, so each person was properly zoomed in and projected onto the huge arena screen.

Vmmmm……

I condensed the Holy Power of the Sacred Mark and formed up alongside Lloyd and Karin.

This time, unlike the formation we had used in the preliminary round, the three of us stood side by side in a straight line.

Then I looked at the three people opposite us.

‘...Seeing them up close, they’re really something.’

From my point of view, Bella stood on the left and Franz on the right, each equipped with their own weapon.

Bella’s main weapons were a one-handed sword and a one-handed shield.

Franz’s main weapon was a spear.

And behind the two of them stood Elysia, holding a staff, forming a triangular formation.

The Holy Power billowing from Franz and Bella, along with the magic formulas being drawn on the staff Elysia was holding.

It was clear they were opponents who would be difficult to face, and depending on the situation, opponents we could even lose to.

While I was staring at Team 1 and sharpening my nerves like that—

“Damon, how do you feel now that it’s time to keep your vow?”

“Please don’t be ashamed even if you lose here. We acknowledge the resolve you showed by making that vow.”

A vow, my X-ing ass……

Those two Inquisitors were completely obsessed with making me repent in this tournament.

“Um, Damon David?”

Elysia, who was standing behind them, looked at me and spoke quietly.

“As an elf, what the two people in front of me said doesn’t really resonate with me. I’m not a Holy Power Awakener, after all.”

“Whew. At least you can talk some sense.”

“...What?”

Elysia looked slightly flustered when my face abruptly brightened, but I meant it.

I’d been so sick and tired of being misunderstood in all sorts of ways yesterday just because I was an Acquired Awakener.

“But it’s all right. Even if it doesn’t resonate with me, after listening to the other Holy Magic Department students, it seems you didn’t accept the bet with me lightly. I can understand that much in my own way.”

“Oh, can you?”

There’s really no need for you to go out of your way to be understanding about this.

“Well, we’ll know as soon as the match begins.”

Whirrrrr……

Magic formulas began rising from Elysia’s staff.

“If you truly entered the bet with me in earnest, then you must have thought hard about how to beat us.”

“Ha. Seriously.”

If I hadn’t planned to win from the start, I wouldn’t even have said that, you pointy-ear.

I thought about protesting, but there was no time.

Flash.

[30]

[29]

[28]

Just like during the preliminary round, the number that had appeared in the center of the arena began decreasing by the second.

“...Looks like we don’t have time to talk anymore.”

Lloyd took out his staff Artifact and gripped it in his right hand, and Karin also adjusted her hold on her bow.

Whoooooosh……!

A fierce wind began swirling around the arena.

As time passed, the complexity of the magic formula Elysia had unfolded increased.

Flames on the left, lightning on the right.

And wind at the center.

The large-scale wide-area magic of a Grade 1 mage, which had eliminated all the students on the arena in one sweep during the preliminary round.

With just that one spell, the students’ bands had all fallen off before Franz and Bella even had to do anything.

As soon as the match began, that attribute magic would certainly come straight for our front.

For now, we had to set everything else aside and block that first.

Vmmmm……

I stretched my right hand forward, where the Cross-Shaped Mark gleamed.

“Are you all ready?”

“No need to ask twice.”

“Of course.”

[4]

[3]

[2]

[1]

The unexpected attitude of the Inquisitors had been flustering, but what we had to do had not changed anyway.

For me right now, winning the tournament was my highest priority.

And Team 1, standing before my eyes, was the most troublesome group of interlopers in this tournament.

[0]

BEEEEEP!

The starting signal rang out, and at the same time—

RUMBLEEEEE……!

Elysia’s wide-area magic, which had already been cast, swept across the arena.

***

RUMBLEEEEE……!

The violent gale that had blown through swept out of the arena and brushed over the spectator seats and professors’ seating.

“Ugh......!”

Professor Noel lowered her head and desperately pressed down her hair as it whipped about wildly. 

When the wind finally settled, she managed to raise her head.

Then, seeing the arena’s appearance, she trailed off.

“Grade 1... really is different.”

The area where Team 1 stood was still perfectly clean.

However, the arena floor around where Team 44 had been was gouged out and scorched black.

Half of this enormous arena had been swept away by overwhelming wide-area magic.

The thick cloud of dust proved the devastation that had occurred in that single instant.

Even if the casting time had been long, less than ten seconds had passed since the match began, yet its power was already this great......

She wondered how many of the first-year students currently attending the academy could endure that attack.

Team 44 had likely all been eliminated by that attack—

“What did those bastards... do?”

“Ha, is something like that possible?”

Professor Noel, who had been looking at the arena, turned her head from side to side.

Professor Dave and Professor McDowell’s gazes were fixed on the arena.

There was slight bewilderment on both of their faces.

It seemed Elysia’s Grade 1 wide-area magic had been too much after all. 

For these two to worry this much about the students’ safety.

“Professor McDowell, did you perhaps teach Damon that?”

“There is no chance of that. I was wondering whether Professor Dave had given Lloyd a hint.”

“I have never taught anything like that.”

“...Pardon?”

Feeling something off in the two professors’ conversation, Professor Noel turned her gaze back to the arena.

As the thick dust cloud thinned, something became visible.

A huge human-shaped silhouette stood in the smoke.

At a glance, it looked like a person, but it was fatter and larger.

That was.

“An Undead Orc......?”

Lloyd’s Undead Orc, as a direct descendant of the Four Great Houses.

‘How......?’

Professor Noel could not understand the current situation.

She had heard that undead had strong resistance to pure magic, but wide-area magic on this scale should not have left even a Mid-Rank Undead unharmed.

And her question was naturally answered.

“What... is that......?”

Grrrrr……

The Undead Orc, which had been crouching, rose with imposing dignity.

As the smoke cleared, the Undead Orc became clearly visible to the audience and the professors as well.

“My god......”

“That was possible?”

Agitation spread through the nearby professors like ripples.

They were certainly feeling the same way as Noel herself.

GRAAAAAH……

The Undead Orc’s entire body was covered in ice armor.

And in both hands, it held Holy Light Shields as large as its own body.