Chapter 373
Fwoooosh—!
A blinding light burst forth from Herseba, the staff embedded in the ground.
The black floor, once consumed by the Domain Reversal, began to transform into a dense golden hue.
"What the hell is this madness...?!"
Elisa, No. 7 special admittee watching from the stands, was sweating coldly.
"That's not black magic! That’s an ability!"
"Uhmhuhuhuhu!"
Dick, seated beside her, let out a lewd chuckle. Elisa quickly turned her head.
"Hey, merchant! What the hell’s going on?!"
"As you can see, Simon can do stuff like that now~"
She wrinkled her nose.
"Stop acting all smug and answer! Did Simon always have an ability? Or has he been hiding his power all along and is only showing it now because his opponent is Shatel?"
"Simon has...!"
The answer came from beyond Dick. Kamibarez, hand over her chest, spoke with a sincere expression.
"He's never once held back."
"That's right, that's right."
Benya beside her also nodded.
Elisa looked slightly awkward.
"Ugh, okay, I get it. Why so serious?"
"Just like she said—"
Dick shrugged his shoulders.
"That’s a power Simon recently equipped."
"...Abilities are innate powers, what kind of bullshit is that?"
"Hehehe! If you don’t know, shut up and watch! Since he used that technique here, it looks like Simon has no intention of hiding his strength anymore."
* * *
Inside the arena.
"......."
Shatel was flustered.
Despite Domain Reversal still being applied over the entire arena, the goldenized floor created by the staff couldn't be moved.
A power opposing Domain Reversal. Even now, the golden ground was pushing back Shatel’s domain, expanding its influence.
And standing tall on that golden land—
Simon Follentia.
Over his dueling suit, emblems—or perhaps bandages—were spiraling around, functioning like garments. It wasn’t Dark Robe of Magical Combat, nor Darkness Veil.
An ability.
Simon Follentia was currently using an ability.
"Looks like you’re surprised."
Simon gave a faint smile and raised both hands.
"The counterattack begins now."
Ruuuuumble—
At his gesture, the entire arena shook, and something began to rise from the golden ground.
"!"
There were rooftops, more than one or two.
An entire city was emerging, as if it had been buried beneath the floor.
Step. Step.
Countless footsteps echoed across the golden floor.
From the doors of newly risen buildings, bandage-wrapped monsters stumbled out.
Screams and gasps of shock rang out from every corner of the audience stands.
"Mummies (Mirra)!"
"They’re real mummies!"
Murmur murmur murmur!
With the appearance of these ancient undead, spoken of only in legends, the entire audience was thrown into upheaval.
From Shatel’s standpoint, he could no longer afford to observe. He initiated Domain Reversal at the areas not yet goldenized by Herseba, raising the floor and launching it like bullets.
Seeing this, Simon subtly moved behind a building.
Boom!
Craaaack!
The floor and golden structures collided with deafening roars.
"Go!"
At Simon’s command, the mummies advanced one by one.
They appeared like bandage-wrapped zombies, but they were larger, faster, and moved more naturally than zombies.
Gya gya gyak gyak gyagyagyagyak!
Watching the swarm of charging mummies, Shatel adopted a more serious expression and focused on black magic.
<Domain Reversal – Adjustment>
He raised earthen walls at the front to block their approach, then levitated all arena debris, dirt, and rubble.
Crack! Crunch!
He then reassembled the fragments midair. After a brief process, the ends were sharpened into spear-like spikes.
With a signal—her palm lowering—
Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-KA-BOOM!
A wide-area physical bombardment rained down across the entire city.
"Wow...!"
Gasps of awe spilled from all corners of the audience.
Simon building a city, Shatel bombing it.
Their battle had far surpassed the realm of an ordinary duel evaluation.
Ruuuumble—
Dust billowed across the city.
"......."
Having executed a wide-area bombardment with a single gesture, Shatel calmly looked at the screen. Checking the barrier gauge, he saw Simon hadn’t taken a hit.
Ping!
"...?"
As Shatel turned around, one mummy had circled behind him and was flinging its bandages to wrap around his left arm.
Slip! Slide!
Other mummies followed suit. Their bandages, snapping like whips, wrapped around Shatel’s arms, head, and thighs.
He tried to rip them off by force, but the pressure was stronger than he expected.
Tap. Tap.
Meanwhile, the towering walls Shatel had built were effortlessly scaled by mummies using their bandages like ropes. Undead as they were, their bandage utility was exceptional.
At this rate, it was dangerous.
"Hup!"
Shatel’s eyes sharpened with focus.
<Domain Reversal – Control>
He summoned spearheads from the floor to pierce the mummies binding him and collapsed the walls to trap the others in dirt and rubble.
Clearing his immediate vicinity, Shatel turned his head to scan the surroundings.
"......."
Before he knew it, he was surrounded. Not just the right and left flanks of the arena, but the rear as well.
Except for the ground beneath his feet, the entire area gleamed golden.
Like a game of land conquest.
Given time, buildings would rise in those areas too, and more mummies would emerge.
"It’s no use, Shatel."
Simon’s voice echoed from within the city.
"Escaping this city is impossible."
WAAAAAAAH—!!
The audience had already exploded into chaos.
The whole arena sparkled gold. Everyone watched Simon’s spectacular new technique with jaws dropped. Even second- and third-year seniors shouted and clapped without restraint.
"That’s insane. A first-year controlling dozens of undead?"
"Looks like at least forty of them."
"Is he a legion commander or something?"
"At the very least, he’s not using spiritual contact methods."
The students were too absorbed in enjoying and studying this new technique.
"......."
Ultimately, Shatel decided to change plans. He raised fragments from the floor and shaped them into curved, circular blades.
When fifteen blades were ready, he bent his knees and leapt toward the city.
BOOOOM!
Crushing two mummies underfoot, Shatel landed in the heart of the city where Simon had been.
The buildings had grown tall, nearly matching Shatel’s height of over three meters.
Gya gyak!
Gyagyagyagyak!
But since this was deep in enemy territory, mummies swarmed toward him. Shatel swung his arm.
Wheeeeeeng!
The circular saw blades responded. They whirled around him, slashing through the mummies rushing in from every direction.
Wherever the saws passed, the mummies’ upper and lower halves separated. Even the bandages flying from rooftops were sliced cleanly.
Despite being his first encounter with this type of undead, Shatel had already developed tactics for anti-mummy combat.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Now the game of tag began.
Shatel roamed the city, hunting for Simon, and finally caught sight of him sprinting through a narrow alleyway.
Just as Shatel picked up speed and gave chase...
"!"
Sensing a presence, he turned around—only to see a zombie, bound in bandages, flying through the air toward him.
Gya gyak!
One of the mummies had tied up a zombie with its bandages and thrown it like a projectile.
At the same time, Simon clenched his right fist.
<Corpse Explosion>
KWA-AAAAANG!
With a deafening boom, the zombie exploded. Even the mighty Shatel stumbled and fell flat from the blast.
[Simon Follentia: 98%]
[Shatel Maer: 87%]
“Yes!”
“For the first time, Shatel took damage!”
Even with the Darkness Veil deployed, he couldn’t completely block the full force of Corpse Explosion.
With an opening found in Shatel's defenses, Simon immediately switched to the offensive. Throughout the city, mummies and zombies began forming coordinated teams.
The mummies bound zombies with their bandages, then used the terrain of the city to launch them. They wrapped rooftops with bandages to hurl them with centrifugal force or dropped them from ceilings or out of windows in surprise attacks.
And the moment a zombie got even slightly close to Shatel—
<Corpse Explosion>
Simon detonated it.
KWA-AAAAAAANG!
BOOOOOM!
Shatel was again pushed onto the defensive. No matter how effective his circular saw blades were, it was impossible to defend against all these outlandishly creative zombie launch attacks while searching for Simon.
“His undead control is a work of art!”
The spectators were in an uproar, wildly excited.
“Could he actually beat Shatel?”
“Whatever happens, this is a legendary duel.”
At this point, the cheers for Simon vastly outweighed those of Shatel's fans. This was a dazzling, extravagant duel the likes of which no one had ever seen.
“You’re really into this, President.”
From the VIP seats where professors were seated, Keyzen's student council vice president commented.
In front of him, the enormous figure of Phantasus had leapt to his feet, clenching his fists like a child.
“Mmm! Of course!”
Phantasus grinned.
“This is the duel evaluation of the boy I hope will someday succeed me!”
Hearing that, the vice president chuckled.
“Trying to force that grueling position on him already? That's harsh.”
“It’s not force, it's a dream!”
KWA-AAAAAANG!
Meanwhile, Shatel narrowly dodged another Corpse Explosion, sliding backward. At this point, he was struggling just to avoid Simon’s attacks, no longer able to focus on finding him.
And the number of mummies hadn’t decreased. Even now, they continued to multiply.
Fsss—
Finally, driven to the edge, Shatel lifted his right foot.
The Domain Reversal magic circle had always been affixed to the sole of his shoe.
‘So that’s where it was.’
Simon, hiding behind a building wall, quietly watched the scene.
‘No wonder only the ground touched by his foot stayed unaffected by the golden light. Herseba, prepping another Corpse Explosion now.’
[Okay~ Make sure to time it just right for the blast!]
At that moment, Shatel pulled out a scaled-down Domain Reversal magic circle from his shoe sole, and simultaneously drew out another magic circle spread across his back.
Simon clicked his tongue in disbelief.
‘He was preparing another black magic behind his back the whole time he was fighting?’
Then, Shatel collided the two magic circles together.
BZZZZT! CRACKLE!
Fusion Magic Circle.
A super-advanced black magic only taught in third year.
“Simon Follentia.”
Woooooom—
Shatel spoke. His voice echoed as if through a mic.
Simon stiffened and listened closely.
“That story... about having a good matchup against me.”
BZZZP!
The two magic circles fully merged.
“I’ll... return it to you.”
<Shatel Original – Domain Domination>
FWOOOOOSH!
The moment the magic activated, the radiant golden city darkened as if a blackout had occurred.
[Kyahhh! What is this?!]
As the ground was seized, all the buildings and mummies vanished like the wind. Even the building Simon had been leaning on melted away.
‘H-Herseba? What’s happening?!’
[Ughhh! C-Can’t move! My ability’s not working!]
The once resplendent golden city collapsed like an illusion, leaving only the black arena floor now overtaken by Domain Domination.
Shatel turned and glared at Simon, who now stood exposed on the barren field.
“Found... you.”
‘......Ugh!’
Simon quickly retrieved Herseba, still stuck in the ground. Shatel slowly raised one finger to the sky.
“...?”
Simon’s gaze momentarily followed his hand upward.
RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!
The entire arena floor began to quake.
“Kyaaah!”
“What’s happening?!”
Panic erupted in all directions. Simon, wide-eyed, looked around in confusion.
The students in the first floor of the audience stands appeared to be sinking. But no—they weren’t going down. Simon was rising into the sky.
KA-BOOM!
At last, the arena ceiling shattered, and brilliant sunlight poured down over Simon’s head. A cool breeze stirred his hair.
The entire arena was now floating in the air.
‘...Th-this is no joke.’
Simon wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
Shatel had used the Darkness Terrain system to literally levitate the entire arena, his scale was beyond imagination.
“Now... there's no... escape.”
Shatel’s eyes gleamed sharply.
No comments yet. Be the first to leave a review!