Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Interlopers (2)

“Cough, damn it... dust......”

After lifting myself up from beneath the Undead Orc’s feet, I waved my hand back and forth to clear the acrid dust.

Lloyd and Karin beside me also straightened from where they had been crouching.

“We did manage to block it somehow.”

“Wow, that actually worked?”

GRAAAAH......

With a sneer, I flicked my gaze toward the staff Artifact Lloyd was holding and the Undead Orc.

“Hmph, of course. Who do you think came up with it?”

The Artifact Lloyd had obtained was a weaker version of Headmaster Levia’s specialty: ice magic.

Headmaster Levia had used a technique that employed ice magic to manifest ice armor and block Demonic Aura.

This method worked properly because I knew one fact that, at this time, was not yet known and was known only to Headmaster Levia.

That armor could block not only Demonic Aura, but Holy Power as well.

The Undead Orc, clad in ice armor.

When Elysia cast her wide-area magic, Lloyd summoned the Undead Orc and, at the same time, used the Artifact to cover it in ice armor.

Holy Power condensation for ten minutes.

Two Holy Light Shields, Consecutive Forging.

On top of that, I had the undead grip one of the enormous Holy Light Shields formed from condensed Holy Power in each hand.

Thanks to Karin’s Wind Magic assistance, this process was completed even faster and more smoothly.

As a result, just before the wide-area magic hit, we were able to crouch at the feet of the undead, whose whole body was defended by the two Holy Light Shields, and endure the wide-area magic.

“Now, then... is it our turn?”

I chuckled and looked across at them.

“What am I looking at right now?”

“An undead... with Holy Light Shields......?”

“How could they do something so blasphemous with Holy Power......?”

The complexions of Team 1, unable to hide their agitation, soured.

I boldly thrust out my right hand.

“Didn’t you say that, Elysia? That all you have to do is win?”

Shhhhh......

The Holy Power of the Sacred Mark gathered into my heart.

“I like that line too. Winning is what matters most.”

Holy Light Forging.

Holy Light Spear, Fifty Consecutive Forgings.

TING! CLANG!

CLATTER!

Fifty Holy Light Spears fell in a heap onto the floor around me.

The number of Holy Light weapons I could create with the Holy Power of the Sacred Mark was, in truth, nearly limitless as long as I didn’t overuse the Holy Power.

But until now, I hadn’t made many Holy Light weapons.

Even if I made a lot, I didn’t really have a use for them.

But now, in the middle of a team battle, it was different.

“You’re going to beat our team and make me repent?”

What a joke.

“Karin.”

“Okay.”

As Karin stirred her bow through the air as if handling a staff, the fifty Holy Light Spears floated up through her Wind Magic.

Whoooosh.

Naturally, the spearheads of the Holy Light Spears imbued with Wind Magic were pointed at Team 1.

“The ones who need to repent are you bastards.”

FWIP, FWIP, FWIP!

The fifty Holy Light Spears shot out like arrows and cut through the air toward Team 1.

Elysia, in response, also drew formulas behind her back all at once, and—

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

In the blink of an eye, the Holy Light Spears streaking forward exploded in a chain reaction in midair.

***

Smoke rose again in the center of the arena from the aftermath of the clash between the ranged spells fired from both sides.

After intercepting every Holy Light Spear, Elysia exhaled briefly.

‘They did use their heads.’

To think they would block her wide-area magic and counterattack.

‘And by linking Holy Magic and Black Magic, no less......’

She admitted it was an unexpected method.

But that method would work only this once.

Whoooosh......

At the sight of Team 44 once again summoning a large number of Holy Light Spears and lifting them with Wind Magic, Elysia grimaced.

‘Are they planning to use the undead as a shield and keep launching Holy Light weapons from range?’

That was not merely naive. It was arrogant.

Because no matter how reinforced those Holy Light Shields were, their durability had to have a limit.

‘Hmph, did they think Grade 1 was that easy to look down on?’

If she manipulated the formula with just a bit more precision, she could twist the trajectory of her magic, avoid the Holy Light Shields, and hit Team 44 accurately.

And that was not all. 

She had not yet shown a proper high-level spell either.

Once her spellcasting was complete, victory would be theirs.

Whirrrrr......

A formula was drawn on Elysia’s staff after she made her decision.

Casting would take a little time, but Franz and Bella stood in front.

Since the two of them were Grade 2, blocking that should be nothing.

FWIP, FWIP, FWIP—!

Dozens of Holy Light Spears flew in once again.

Elysia was about to tell the two of them to buy her a little time until the formula was complete, but—

“Franz, that’s......”

“Everyone, lower your eyes!”

“What?”

Franz and Bella, who were well-versed in Holy Magic, noticed the anomaly a step ahead.

No sooner had Franz finished speaking than formulas were drawn simultaneously on the incoming Holy Light Spears, and—

Holy Light, Remote Casting.

FLASH, FLASH, FLASH!

All the Holy Light Spears burst by themselves in midair under Damon’s Holy Magic, releasing sharp flashes of light one after another.

A baptism of dazzling light spread through the center of the arena without warning.

The three of them had their vision blur for a moment, but because they had noticed a little quickly, they at least avoided having their sight go black.

However.

‘...What?’

As soon as the light faded, what appeared before her eyes was the enormous Holy Light Shield the Undead Orc had been holding, flying toward them like a shot put.

WHOOOOOSH!

“Oh no......!”

“Please dodge!”

CRAAAASH—!

The Holy Light Shield slammed into the floor at the center of Team 1’s formation and set off a tremor.

***

CRAAAASH—!

The spectators watching the match from the stands gasped without exception.

Yulia and Viole, who had come together to assess the strength of the teams participating in the tournament, were no exception.

“...Did you see that?”

“I didn’t know they’d throw something that big like that.”

In that brief moment when Team 1’s vision was blocked by ‘Holy Light,’ Team 44 had used the Undead Orc to send one Holy Light Shield flying straight at Team 1.

A few spectators around the two tilted their heads.

“Couldn’t they have... broken that with magic like they did with the Holy Light Spears?”

“It was big too, so it shouldn’t have been hard to hit.”

“Exactly. Why did they dodge instead of blocking that?”

Hearing the spectators’ questions, Yulia and Viole exchanged glances and smiled bitterly.

‘...It wasn’t that they didn’t. They couldn’t.’

‘Condensed Holy Power isn’t called condensed for nothing, after all.’

After all, Holy Light weapons made from condensed Holy Power had considerable durability. 

Even Team 1 would have had trouble breaking it immediately in midair.

Moreover, their vision had been restricted by ‘Holy Light,’ so Team 1 had noticed the Holy Light Shield being thrown quite late as well.

If they had tried to block it head-on, they likely would not have withstood the impact of the Holy Light Shield thrown by the Orc’s brute strength, and their bands would have fallen off.

“But why did they throw that?”

“That is......”

“I think they were trying to break their formation.”

“......?”

Lucia, who had been watching nearby, answered Viole’s question in her stead.

“Once an excellent mage’s casting is complete, nothing is as powerful as that. It would be better to break their formation and defeat them individually.”

“Huh?”

“Senior Lucia, you were here too?”

“...I was curious about who would win too.”

“You must have heard about the bet Damon made too, Senior Lucia......”

“Ah... ahem, well, yes.”

Lucia’s ears twitched faintly as she cast her gaze toward the arena screen.

Though she said that, Lucia was in fact sunk in fairly deep thought.

‘Aron... is he really going to keep that bet?’

Like Headmaster Levia, she knew that Damon was Aron, a direct descendant of the Four Great Houses.

The only major difference was that, unlike Levia, she thought he could use Holy Power because he had made a contract with a demon named ‘Lucifer,’ one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

‘He’s not an Innate Awakener. He’s using it because of a contract with a demon, so I don’t think he’d be particularly devout......’

However.

‘But for that, didn’t he plan this strategy carefully?’

The state of Team 1 shown on the screen fully affirmed what Lucia had just said.

In the process of hurriedly dodging the Holy Light Shield, the distance between the front line and the back line had grown considerably.

It was only natural, since Franz and Bella, who were in charge of the front line, had dodged forward, while Elysia, who was in charge of the back line, had dodged backward.

Then Lucia swallowed a groan as she saw Team 44 split in two as if they had been waiting for this.

Damon and Lloyd headed toward Franz and Bella at the front.

Karin was approaching Elysia in the rear at a very swift speed.

‘...If they want to deal with Team 1, that method is the best, after all.’

***

Elysia, who had been separated from Franz and Bella because of the surprise Holy Light Shield throw, calmed her startled heart.

“Tch, to think they’d throw that......”

Elysia clicked her tongue and tried to go straight to where the two of them were, but—

FWIP, FWIP, FWIP!

“......!”

When Elysia saw the Mana Arrows streaking in furiously, she had no choice but to hurriedly stop the formulas she had been creating and unfold a mana shield to defend against the Mana Arrows flying in from the front.

Her band had nearly fallen off.

“Did you think I’d let you cast in peace, Miss Elysia?”

“Karin......”

Elysia glared at Karin, who had somehow placed herself in front of her and blocked her path.

She was a mage.

It was not that she could not handle close combat at this range at all, but doing so while also casting high-level magic was somewhat burdensome.

However.

“Karin, your weapon is a bow, which is not suited for close combat either. Are you saying you’ll face a Grade 1 like me alone?”

“So we’re even, aren’t we?”

Rattle— whoooosh......

Wind gathered around Karin’s bow as she nocked three or four Mana Arrows to the bowstring.

“I didn’t come empty-handed either.”

“......?”

After observing Karin’s movements, Elysia furrowed her brow.

Her rapid approach, and even the way she fired her Mana Arrows.

Weren’t Karin’s movements faster than she had expected?

Vmmmm......

That question of Elysia’s was answered when she spotted the golden haze rising from Karin’s body.

‘...I see. A Grace.’

Grace of Agility.

That was undoubtedly the Mid-Rank Holy Magic ‘Grace of Agility.’

She had received a Grace from Damon and approached her.

This had become quite troublesome.

Elysia briefly glanced to one side of the arena.

She could see Damon and Lloyd facing off with Franz and Bella, blocking them.

Like this, she could not go over there.

The same would be true for Franz and Bella over there.

They had neatly fallen for Team 44’s tactic.