Chapter 245
"Then, we shall now begin the duel between Prince Andre and Student Simon Follentia."
The head butler, having looked over the two once each, lowered his arm.
"Begin!"
Cheok!
Cheok!
As the match began, the two boys took different actions.
Andre started by drawing a magic circle and focused on preparing high-level black magic.
Simon, on the other hand, simply drew a single magic circle behind his back and then charged straight at Andre.
‘A good decision.’
Watching Simon’s back as he sprinted, Loraine crossed her arms.
‘Second-years’ black magic is on another level. It’s best to secure minimal insurance and try to decide it early with magical combat.’
Thuuuum!
Simon, aiming for close combat, stepped on Darkness and soared into the air.
Andre’s eyes widened in response.
‘What the hell, this bastard?!’
To Andre, it looked as if a black line, once far away, had suddenly surged right in front of him.
Thwack!
Andre crossed his arms and blocked the kick, frowning deeply.
‘What power!’
His feet scraped long marks into the ground as he was pushed back.
Simon kept pressing forward. Kicks fell like a spear barrage, leaving afterimages, and Andre struggled to block them with his arms.
Tat.
At that moment, Simon’s left foot drove deep toward Andre.
His torso followed with an extreme forward lunge that seemed to drag the very space along with it, and his right arm thrust forward in a fierce straight punch.
Fwoooooosh!
The violent strike ripped through the air. Andre leaned his body to evade and found an opening for a counterattack.
‘A mere first-year!’
He stepped toward Simon and threw a punch.
Thwump!
He thought Simon would be wide open after throwing that straight punch, but both of Simon’s arms had already returned to grab Andre’s arm.
"!"
As his arm was grabbed, Andre’s vision suddenly tilted upward, his body flipping backward.
"Khugh!"
Thud!
Before his back could smash into the ground, he twisted midair and caught himself with his Darkness-coated legs.
Simon was ready to follow up with another blow, but when he noticed the magic circle floating in the air above, he retreated. A blade of Darkness grazed and tore through his outer cloak.
‘Damn it…! I won't let my guard down again!’
Andre quickly got to his feet, wiped his mouth, and summoned Darkness again.
Wooong! Wooong! Wooong!
Three magic circles formed around him. This time, it was Darkness Arrows.
A look of puzzlement flashed across Simon’s eyes.
‘A second-year using Darkness Arrows?’
Another magic circle layered over the one for Darkness Arrows, and then began to spin at incredible speed like a wagon wheel.
Dudududududududu!
Arrows poured forth in a straight line like a machine gun, and Simon flung his body out of the way in shock. Wherever he ran, the arrows blocked his path like a wall.
[The gap is widening again, boy! You must close the distance somehow!]
‘Got it!’
At least in magical combat, he had confirmed his advantage.
Simon ran in a zigzag to close the distance between him and Andre.
‘!’
That was when it happened.
A chill crept down his spine. Something jet-black was rushing in from the side.
Relying on instinct, he raised the dagger Loraine had given him and swung it to the side.
THUUUUUM!
Simon's body bent into a sharp angle. A massive greatsword had slammed into his side out of nowhere.
He barely blocked it with the very tip of Loraine’s dagger.
Slaaaaaash!
Simon was flung back, dragging a long trail across the ground.
Looking at Loraine’s dagger, he saw that about 10% of its red aura had already been drained. It felt like being hit by a charging carriage.
"Didn’t expect you to react to that."
Andre grinned. The mysterious weapon that struck Simon had already disappeared.
‘What was that?’
Simon, sweating coldly, raised his dagger defensively.
As long as he didn’t understand the nature of that technique, he couldn’t recklessly approach for magical combat.
Meanwhile, Andre’s black magic was nearing completion.
"Keep your eyes wide open and watch!"
He raised his arm high.
"And understand what it means to have survived one more year in Keyzen!"
Ssssss.
Black smoke poured from the magic circle and engulfed Andre.
From within the smoke, a giant hazy figure emerged. Its whole body was covered in black armor, and its helmet radiated ominous crimson light.
Clutched in its right hand was the same greatsword that had struck Simon earlier.
<Invocation – Encipher>
Cheok!
The giant, resting the greatsword on its shoulder, looked down at Simon.
Simon felt his body go numb.
‘So, he was a Spiritology major.’
A black magic spell that uses spirits to imbue a special ghost with physical form and manifest it in the real world—‘Invocation’, the crowning art of Spiritology.
"With this complete, the match is over."
Andre stretched out his arm.
"Die."
Simon bent his back desperately, and the greatsword slashed through the air. A black line remained in its wake.
If his reaction had been a second slower, he would’ve been cleaved in two. The thought made his hair stand on end.
‘The greatsword’s not that long. I need to put some distance between us.’
Simon quickly turned and ran.
That monster, though huge, was swinging its sword while staying near Andre. It likely couldn’t stray far from him.
Fwoooosh!
But the length and size of the falling greatsword suddenly expanded. As it crashed down above his head, Simon hurriedly raised his dagger.
KAAAAANG!
A tremendous crash rang out as dagger and greatsword clashed.
‘Ghhk!’
It looked like an ant dueling a human with swords. Thanks to Loraine’s dagger, he avoided critical damage, but a significant portion of the Darkness within it had been drained again.
"You thought keeping your distance would work?"
Andre smirked.
Encipher’s attack range exceeded several dozen meters. Anywhere in this clearing, which now served as their arena, was within reach.
"Run away disgracefully!"
Simon, panting, raised his dagger. Clang! Another clash, another portion of Darkness drained from the dagger.
‘Strength, speed, reach… I can’t beat him in any aspect! What kind of black magic is this…?!’
He can’t think of a way to counter that monster right now. If there is one, it would be to directly strike the summoner, Andre.
Fortunately, Andre had remained fixed in place ever since summoning that “Encipher”.
Perhaps the coordinates of the magic circle were fixed, preventing him from moving.
‘Good.’
With that thought, Simon summoned six skeletons from subspace and sent them charging. But they hadn’t even gone far before—Fwoooosh!—their bones were flung into the air.
"Hahahaha! Don’t you think the gap between our summons is just too much?"
Several thought-links were severed, causing a pounding headache.
Still, he selected the skeletons whose links remained. The scattered bones halted midair, turning their sharp ends toward the target.
<Bone Nail>
As the bones flew forward, Andre calmly summoned a Darkness Shield to block them.
"!"
At the same time he blocked Bone Nail, several zombies fell in a curved arc.
A delayed attack. Simon had used Overlord to launch zombies like a catapult.
Slaaash!
But before Simon could detonate them with Corpse Explosion, Encipher swung its greatsword and cleaved them in two.
‘Tch, tough.’
No obvious opening in the opponent. At this rate, Simon had to complete his own black magic too.
Simon then focused solely on dodging, evading attacks relentlessly. But since Encipher’s greatsword moved faster than Simon could run, he had to absorb most of the blows using Loraine’s dagger.
That too was reaching its limit.
Murmur murmur murmur.
As the tide of the battle became one-sided, the nobles had already begun glancing at Loraine and Serne for reactions.
"At this rate, Simon will lose."
"The two ladies must’ve been too reckless."
"Will he really kneel before the true prince?"
"Who knows? Either way, it’ll make big news."
In contrast, Loraine, with arms crossed, and Serne, with a hand cocked on her hip, both wore calm expressions.
"Why did you bet on Simon’s victory?"
Serne asked.
"You first."
"Because you did, maybe?"
"You’re insane."
Serne smiled and shrugged.
"But still, I haven’t heard your answer."
"It’s the obvious conclusion."
Loraine sighed and continued.
"Encipher, used by second-years majoring in Spiritology. Simon can use something even stronger."
THUUUUUM!
At last, Loraine’s dagger, which she had lent to Simon, shattered under Encipher’s greatsword.
Simon staggered back, gasping for breath.
"Your only hope of protection is gone."
Andre, sensing victory, spoke with relaxed confidence.
"So what now? When are you planning to use the item that Ivory Tower girl gave you?"
"I already am."
Simon pulled a golem core from subspace.
"Thanks to that, I just finished this."
Click!
With his other hand, Simon activated the magic circle he had been forming behind his back.
As the circle detached from his back and floated into the air, he immediately fused it with the golem’s core.
"You arrogant…!"
Andre extended his arm, and Encipher’s greatsword came crashing down.
Simon didn’t move. Loraine’s dagger could no longer be used.
KWOAAAAANG!
Onlookers let out horrified screams. A cloud of dirt and dust billowed up around them.
The head butler, serving as referee, shouted in panic.
"M-my lord! If something happens to the Keyzen student…!"
"It’s fine."
Andre clicked his tongue.
"This is a legitimate duel by mutual consent. No matter what the Witch of Death says… huh?"
Creak, creak creak.
Within the dust cloud, Encipher’s greatsword trembled.
Andre’s eyes widened.
‘He blocked it? How?!’
As the dusty fog settled, Simon could be seen kneeling on one knee.
In front of him, an emerald-colored arm had emerged from the golem’s core, gripping the greatsword.
"Here we go."
Simon raised both arms.
Ruuuuuumble!
The golem’s arm was rapidly covered in Cloud.
Since the magic circle behind his back had been continuously refining Cloud, it could coat much faster than normal.
‘It took 30 minutes during BMAT, but now I finished in 10.’
Indeed, Serne’s effect made a huge difference in concentration. Loraine had given Simon endurance, while Serne gave him the power to shorten the required time.
As a result—
Crack!
The golem’s torso formed from the core, another arm appeared and also gripped the greatsword. Then, its two legs stirred and began to raise its body.
"No way!"
Realizing what black magic it was, Andre’s expression turned pale.
"A first-year using a third-year’s technique…?!"
"There’s no rule saying underclassmen can’t learn upperclassmen’s spells."
The golem, now three meters tall, slowly stood.
"Is the idea that first-years should only use first-year spells, the tradition you, Prince, emphasize so much?"
"You bastard!"
The golem threw off the greatsword, sending Encipher’s massive weapon flying sideways and embedding into the ground.
The Blood Golem’s raw strength was superior.
"Now then."
Simon synchronized the magic circle on his chest with the golem and activated Life Link as well.
"I’ll begin a proper counterattack."
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