Chapter 372
Simon and Shatel, now dressed in their duel suits, stepped into the center of the arena.
Simon looked over at his opponent.
‘That pressure is unreal.’
Giant.
No word described Shatel better.
He was well over 3 meters tall, maybe even nearing 4 meters now, taller than when they first entered school.
Add to that his pale gray skin, thick eyebrows, and sharp, intense eyes.
It truly felt like a massive statue had come to life and was standing right in front of him. The shadow he cast threatened to cover not just Simon, but the entire arena.
A being of a different species. It didn’t feel at all like he was fighting a fellow student.
“Students, shake hands.”
At the referee’s instruction, Simon had to raise his arm above his head, while Shatel let his hang low. The two clasped hands.
“Let’s have a good match, Shatel.”
“……”
“Haven’t seen you since BMAT.”
“……”
“Oh, by the way, why’d you pick me as your duel opponent?”
“……”
Simon let out an awkward smile.
Was this guy… maybe mute?
As the referee continued with the instructions, the two took their distance from each other.
“Go, Shatel!”
“Give us another brutal match!”
“Simon~! You’ve got this!”
The crowd was evenly split. Cheers came fifty-fifty for each fighter.
Shatel had his own share of fans, not just among the aggressive male students, but also upperclassmen, thanks to his heavy-handed, brutal style of combat, reminiscent of classical Colosseum bloodbaths where opponents were turned into pulp.
On the other hand, Simon’s supporters cheered for his meteoric rise, his raw talent, and his stardom. Especially among the girls, the cheering was loud.
“Simon! You can do it!”
Kamibarez and Dick held up signs and cheered enthusiastically. Benya was clapping, and someone suddenly hopped over from behind and dropped into the empty seat.
“Yes! Found a spot!”
Dick turned to look at the girl who plopped down next to him.
A twin-tailed girl draped in a white uniform top like a cape. The infamous Special Admission No. 7.
“Elisa Celine!”
“Hm?”
She frowned at Dick, clearly displeased.
“Who are you? Why’s some no-name acting familiar with me?”
The sharp jab made Dick lean back with a shocked expression. Elisa then chuckled behind her hand.
“Just kidding. Dick Hayword. Like I wouldn’t know the son of the White Cow Merchant Group?”
“Oh.”
Dick regained his pride and puffed up a bit.
Elisa turned to the others.
“And over there’s Kamibarez of the Ursula family, and next to her is… ah!”
Elisa stood and placed a hand over her chest, bowing politely.
“Benya Vanilla-sunior. It’s an honor. I’m Elisa Celine.”
“Hii~!”
Benya waved happily.
Kamibarez, seated in the middle, looked at Elisa with a surprised expression.
She’s way more polite and courteous than the rumors suggested.
“A true politician.”
But Dick just smirked knowingly.
“Yes, Mister Merchant.”
Elisa fired back, not letting it slide. Then she sat with her knees together and glanced around.
“But weren’t you guys the Four Musketeers? Where’s that annoying sky-blue-haired girl?”
Kamibarez answered.
“If you mean Maelyn, she’s getting ready for her match in Arena 3.”
“Ah~ so it’s overlapping. Too bad. I wanted to see that wench get wrecked by Serne.”
—Then, we will now begin the duel assessment between Class A student Simon Follentia and Class I student Shatel Maer!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!
At last, the big match was about to begin. The two boys took their fighting stances, and the arena erupted in cheers.
“YEAH! Let’s go, Simon! Take down Shatel and move up to second year!!”
“Simon~ Go die!”
Dick turned toward Elisa after hearing that last cheer.
Did she just say “Go die” not “Kill him”?
“Hope you slip, crack your skull, and get hauled off to the infirmary! Go, Shatel! Don’t go easy just ‘cause he’s Special Admission No. 1!’”
“…You might as well cast a curse at that point.”
Dick let out an empty laugh. Kamibarez, unable to stay silent, chimed in.
“T-That’s not nice! We should cheer for who we like, not tear others down!”
“Nope~ I do what I want! Hope Simon crashes and burns!”
Elisa wasn’t so much cheering for Shatel as she was dissing Simon.
She’d been tangled up and dragged down by him one too many times by now.
* * *
Meanwhile.
‘Focus.’
In the arena, Simon was battling the immense pressure in front of him.
Just standing near Shatel gave him goosebumps all over, and cold sweat dripped down his spine.
“Are both students ready?”
At the referee’s question, both Simon and Shatel nodded. After confirming their readiness, the referee dropped his hand and declared:
“Begin!”
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!
The sound that erupted with the match’s start had spectators covering their ears.
‘Ugh.’
Simon grimaced and looked forward. A massive magic circle had unfolded directly in front of Shatel.
Dark needles spun around, completing the formation. Simon recognized the spell immediately.
‘Domain Reversal.’
Shatel’s signature dark magic.
Simon had briefly encountered it during the ocean-themed 3rd BMAT.
A powerful Darkness Terrain spell that transformed the entire island’s soil and bedrock into ammunition under the caster’s control. A technique that had already far surpassed first-year level.
‘I have to stop that no matter what.’
Confident in magical combat, Simon bent his knees and prepared to dash forward.
But—
‘And what happens after I get close?’
Simulations ran through Simon’s mind.
His projections split five ways, each trying a different approach to attack Shatel, but the outcome was the same: all five got smashed by Shatel’s massive fists.
‘I don’t even know where to begin.’
Shatel stood firm with both fists raised in a textbook martial arts stance. A direct hit from those huge fists would surely drop Simon’s barrier gauge to zero instantly.
Casting such an enormous spell right in the open like this, that was confidence.
Charging in with magical combat recklessly wouldn’t work. Simon judged it smarter to prepare a counter-spell and meet him in a battle of firepower.
‘Stay calm.’
Simon traced a circle by his right hip to begin casting the Blood Golem magic circle, a buildup for his “Royal Guard” strategy.
With the other hand, he opened subspace.
[Let’s go!]
His trump card for today’s match, his hidden weapon. He pulled out Herseba.
“Oh! He’s using a staff?”
“Didn’t expect that. I heard he’s good at magical combat, won’t a staff hold him back?”
Simon tuned out the chatter from the crowd and focused.
[Hey! Did you hear that? They said I’m a liability!]
‘Ignore them, Herseba.’
Soon, everyone here would be awed by Herseba’s power.
But before that—
‘I have to stop that Domain Reversal!’
Simon summoned eight skeleton mages from subspace into the arena.
“Dark Blaze!”
Like a commander pointing his staff, Simon gave the signal, and all the skeletons mimicked him, extending their staves and casting magic circles.
Fwoooosh!
Fwooosh!
Eight fireballs, completed in an instant, surged forth with black smoke trailing behind. In response, Shatel stepped forward himself and used his own body to shield the Domain Reversal magic circle.
BOOOOM—!
The surging heat and resulting explosion reached all the way to where Simon was standing.
Simon furrowed his brow.
‘He blocked that with his bare body?’
Shatel’s blessed physique couldn’t be scratched by swords, arrows, or any bladed weapons.
Still, this was a duel assessment, and he was wearing a barrier suit. If his barrier gauge dropped to 0, he’d lose the match. That was the only real handicap Shatel had.
But as the smoke cleared—
“Wooooaaaah!”
“That’s Shatel for you!”
The giant appeared, completely unscathed.
Simon quickly checked the screen, but Shatel’s barrier gauge remained at a full 100%. On closer inspection, there was a shroud of darkness surrounding his body.
‘That’s the same technique from midterms. Dark Veil.’
It was a dark magic technique that wrapped the body in darkness. Though simple in principle, it consumed a vast amount of darkness energy and required full focus during movement, making it one of the most difficult to use.
Still, Shatel had covered his suit in the Dark Veil, effectively recreating his monstrous defense. Regular attacks wouldn’t get through.
‘Then next!’
The mages rotated back, and this time, skeleton archers burst out from subspace.
“Fire everything!”
Thwip! Twang!
Against a full-body Dark Veil, raw firepower wouldn’t be as effective. Arrows imbued with dark enchantments would likely work better.
But Shatel predicted the trajectory of the arrows, thickening parts of his Dark Veil just in time to block them.
His mastery over Dark Veil was already impressive.
And now, Shatel brought both palms together.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeech!
With the same piercing noise from the start of the match, the magic circle completed. Shatel placed it on the ground and stomped down hard.
<Domain Reversal>
Fwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaash!
It began.
The magic circle’s influence spread outward, dyeing the arena in darkness. As Simon looked around, it felt like he had entered a world painted in ink wash.
“!”
A shadow passed over him. Looking up, Simon saw neatly cut chunks of the arena floor falling from the sky.
THUUM!
Simon quickly stepped back to dodge. A glance revealed that the floor beside Shatel had completely vanished.
“Domain Reversal is complete!”
“Kill him!”
Shatel’s fans screamed in excitement.
As Shatel raised both arms, the ink-dark tiles of the arena floor began floating into the air.
Then they rained down.
‘Tch!’
Simon exploded darkness from his legs and started sprinting madly.
This wasn’t just about flinging debris. Because the projectiles were imbued with Shatel’s darkness, they had enhanced power, altered trajectories, and could not be intercepted or shattered midair.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Simon, relying on his solid fundamentals, somehow managed to dodge every attack no matter the direction. It was a marvel of movement. However, Shatel’s Domain Reversal continued to expand, increasing the number and size of projectiles.
[Kid! Behind you!]
‘Got it!’
Simon noticed a large piece of debris flying in from behind and tried to step back.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the ground beneath him gave way, throwing his balance off. Even setting foot down safely was denied by Domain Reversal.
‘Dammit!’
This was the Darkness Terrain. The entire ground was the enemy.
WHOOOOOM!
And now, flying toward Simon, who had collapsed to the ground, was a massive rock wall, over 10 meters wide. Spectators leapt from their seats, trying to catch the decisive moment.
‘Let’s go, Herseba.’
[Okay!]
Whirl!
Simon adjusted his grip on his staff and thrust it toward the incoming wall of stone.
‘Golden Transmutation!’
[Golden Transmutation!]
TING!
And then something incredible happened.
The wall of stone that touched the staff turned entirely to gold, then shattered completely, scattering into glittering dust.
The golden particles danced past Simon’s hair as they drifted.
“Whoa!”
“What was that just now?!”
Not only the audience, but even Shatel showed the first sign of surprise on his face.
The greatest strength of Shatel’s Domain Reversal was its area and power.
And yet, the moment it touched the staff, it turned to gold and broke apart.
Spin-spin—
Simon's staff, spinning freely in his right hand, suddenly stopped with a thunk in front of his chest.
“I’m really sorry, but…”
Simon’s eyes gleamed.
“Shatel, you and I… we’ve got terrible compatibility.”
Somehow, golden and black bandages had formed over Simon’s arms, overlaying his suit like part of his uniform.
As Simon released his grip, the staff stabbed straight down into the ground.
The blackened arena, consumed by Domain Reversal, began shifting, reversing into a deep, golden hue.
‘Come forth, my mummies.’
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time