Chapter 375
—Shatel, rise. Shatel.
Shatel was born deep in the mountains.
No people, no communication.
A world where what you saw was all there was. Shatel thought all fathers were small like his.
—Today, we’re going down to the village.
But on his fifth birthday, the first time he went down to the village with his father, Shatel realized something.
He was the only one who was big.
People looked at Shatel and ran away in fear. Some pointed and mocked, others laughed and ridiculed him.
—Why are you so obsessed with that giant brat?
—Even after being kicked out of the village, he still hasn’t come to his senses.
Each time, his father told the villagers: “He’s big, yes, but he’s a kind boy.”
And he also told Shatel: Though bodies differ in size, hearts are the same.
He said everyone was actually kind inside.
With a wrinkled face and a gentle smile, that’s what he said. That was the last smile from his father.
Fwoooosh!
That night, as Shatel was returning from a hunt in the mountains—
His house was in flames.
The villagers had reported a wild giant, and the soldiers, responding to the report, set fire to the house and fields.
Crackle! Fwoosh!
They burned the entire area to avoid confronting the giant. Joking that giant brats burn well because they’re full of fat, the soldiers descended the mountain.
“.......”
Watching the house burn, Shatel dropped his hunted prey and howled.
Father was wrong.
They’re not only small in body, they have small hearts too.
Finding his father’s charred remains among the ruins, Shatel gave up everything and trudged toward the village.
In his hand was the hunting knife used to take monsters’ heads.
—Hello?
While descending the mountain path, a human blocked his way.
Already small for a human, this one was even smaller.
But she scattered an overwhelming aura, this silver-haired girl.
—Looks like I was too late.
Muttering in a sad voice, she pointed to the knife Shatel held.
—You going to kill them all?
“.......”
Without a word, Shatel charged at the girl.
And then.
When he opened his eyes, the blueish dawn sky was above.
He had lost consciousness from a single blow.
Not far away, the girl squatted, playing in the dirt with the knife Shatel brought.
Grinding his teeth, Shatel stood up, his body covered in wounds.
—Do you really think?
The girl spoke in a calm, controlled voice unfitting her appearance.
—That your father wanted a bloody revenge?
Shatel bit his lip hard enough to bleed.
He knew.
He knew this wasn’t what his father wanted.
Seeing Shatel’s hesitation, the girl smiled brightly for the first time.
—Let’s do something more fun than revenge!
* * *
Shatel met Neftis, learned black magic, and how to become strong.
But still, he faced discrimination.
No matter where he went, people pointed fingers. Because of those stares, he began to stutter, stopped going outside.
He spent years holed up in caves, communicating only with Neftis.
He was filled with rage.
His father died because the villagers looked down on him.
Mocked, dismissed, yet still smiling.
Shatel vowed not to live like his father.
Born a monster, he would live thoroughly as a monster. He would crush others with overwhelming fear so they would never dare touch him again.
That was his way to survive.
After that decision, Shatel’s life changed.
He never avoided fights, and never lost to anyone.
At the meritocratic Necromancer School, everyone looked up to him. Now, no one even dared to challenge him.
That’s how it should’ve been.
Claaang! Claaang!
The crowd roared with excitement.
[Simon Follentia: 98%]
[Shatel Maer: 3%]
Dozens of skeletons swung emerald sword-lights freely.
Beyond them, a blue-haired boy commanding the undead.
But Shatel had no Darkness left to draw on. All that remained was his sturdy body.
He was seething.
In this match, the loss condition was having your barrier gauge drop to 0%. So he had played carefully, inefficiently wrapping his body in Darkness, until he ran out.
If he’d gone bare-handed from the start, these sword slashes wouldn’t have meant anything.
Shlaaang!
A turquoise slash grazed his back. His barrier flashed red before returning to normal.
[Simon Follentia: 98%]
[Shatel Maer: 1%]
Was this defeat inevitable under human rules?
‘No, I’m still—!’
Swish.
‘I haven’t lost yet!’
Sensing the elite guard’s movement, Shatel suddenly dropped his stance and clenched his fist.
Simon and the elite guard were linked.
Destroy one, and in the moment Simon took damage, he’d rush him.
Whooom!
A sword came swinging straight at him. But Shatel’s fist was faster than the guard’s descending blade.
Bang!
A clean hit.
The skeleton shattered, bone shards flying everywhere.
Shatel turned his head to charge Simon—
“!”
Simon stood unscathed.
“I saw you going for the elite guard.”
Simon had been thinking hard about the guard’s weaknesses too.
Just before Shatel attacked, Simon had removed the cloud spell placed on the elite guard. What Shatel destroyed was just a regular skeleton’s bones.
“You’re really something, Shatel.”
Simon raised his hand. The emerald light around all the skeletons vanished, flowing into the magic circle at Simon’s side.
“As a show of respect, I’ll also give it my all until the end.”
He lowered his stance and reached into the magic circle by his side.
Sssshhhhhh!
Like drawing a sword, dark-blue Darkness swirled and coiled together.
What finally emerged clearly took the shape of a blade.
<Simon Remade – Blood Sword>
Clang!
Simon raised the sword—an enormous blade, wavering with indigo heat haze.
Until now, he had used <Blood Arrow> in the form of bow and arrow as his finishing move, but his true weapon of choice was this.
Holding the sparking greatsword in both hands, he lifted it above his head.
“From this match’s result, I don’t believe I’m superior to you.”
Shatel had a disadvantage in the match-up and was fighting Simon right after facing Herseba.
“I don’t know what’s pushing you so hard…”
Shatel charged like a raging bear, letting out a roar. The last trace of Darkness flickered faintly on his fists.
“But there’s no one in this school who doesn’t acknowledge you.”
“!”
Shatel’s pupils shook.
‘The whole space—’
Simon’s greatsword, raised high above.
‘Feels like it’s cutting through space.’
It slashed down in a perfect straight line.
KRAAAAAAANG!
The indigo strike tore through Shatel as he charged.
At the moment of contact, the sword energy exploded again, wildly smashing his barrier.
RUMMMMMMMMBLE!
In the pitch-black smoke.
Both boys stood frozen in place.
[Simon Follentia: 98%]
[Shatel Maer: 0%]
Soaked in sweat, the judge raised his right arm and shouted.
“Match over! The winner is Simon Follentia of Class A!”
WAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
Thunderous cheers erupted.
Simon finally dropped to one knee, exhaling a long breath, and as if waiting for that moment, Dick, Kamibarez, and Benya ran down from the stands to celebrate with him.
“......”
Shatel, who had collapsed on the floor and was watching them quietly, staggered to his feet.
He had lost so helplessly. People would surely start pointing fingers at him again.
“Shatel!!”
“Well fought!”
But—
From the stands came waves of cheering. Soon, even classmates from Class I were running toward Shatel.
“Shatel, can you stand?”
Despite the massive difference in size, his friends struggled to support him, trying their best to help him up.
“......”
—At the very least, there’s no one in this school who doesn’t acknowledge you.
It wasn’t much comfort.
But just resting his arms on the shoulders of a few friends made his steps feel not so heavy.
* * *
“Run, run!”
Dick, having exited the arena, was leading the sprint. Behind him, Simon and Kamibarez were gasping as they followed.
“This match took longer than expected! They’re probably already in the middle of the fight!”
Dick glanced at his wristwatch. Kamibarez, running beside Simon, looked at him worriedly.
“Simon, are you really okay? The medics said you should get checked.”
“I’m fine.”
Simon said with a smile.
“Herseba basically carried that match.”
Herseba had nearly fainted the moment the match ended.
For both Simon and Herseba, it was their first time properly using second- and third-stage authorities. Especially for Herseba, the ability to raise mummies was something she acquired after becoming a lich, so she hadn’t yet found its limits.
When the barrier later collapsed and Herseba suffered the recoil, it had nearly damaged her Life Vessel, an extremely dangerous situation.
Fortunately, when Simon opened the subspace and examined her lich body, the Life Vessel was barely pulsing, holding on with only a faint amount of remaining Darkness.
—Kehaha! There’s no such thing as power without cost, boy.
That was Feer’s remark after checking Herseba’s condition.
Simon nodded in agreement.
‘Yeah, it really was excessive.’
Building a city, raising mummies.
Especially that dragon-shaped mummy she raised at the end—it probably pushed her to the brink of collapse.
Simon resolved that from now on, Herseba needed to train to use her abilities more efficiently and learn to distribute her power wisely.
“Ah! I see it!”
Kamibarez shouted. The First Indoor Arena, where Maelyn’s match was taking place, came into view.
Dick cried out.
“Maelyn vs. Serne?! No way I’m missing a big match like this, even if we’re on the same team!”
The three of them rushed up the steps into the spectator stands.
“Ugh.”
The moment they reached the top, intense heat hit their faces, and a choking smell filled the air. Some spectators were already fleeing the arena.
‘Is there a fire?’
Looking around, Simon saw thick black smoke choking the arena. Black flames flared like a demon’s gaping maw.
‘Despite a barrier over the spectator stands, this level of heat?’
Simon rushed forward and grabbed the railing to peer into the arena.
Whoooosh!
The entire arena was a hellish inferno. And in the center of the flames, a sky-blue-haired girl sat slumped, gasping for air.
“Maelyn……!”
She had activated the oxygen tank magic circle she had used during the ocean-themed BMAT, yet still staggered as her body was covered in soot and ash.
Coughing from the smoke, tears and snot streamed endlessly from her face as she wiped them with her sleeve.
Standing some distance away was a calm, smiling girl with ivory-colored hair, Serne Eindark.
It was hard to believe the two were in the same space. Serne looked pristine, even regal.
Arms folded, chin raised like a queen, a confident smile adorned her lips.
Above her head floated no less than twenty ‘Dark Flare’ magic circles, suspended and ready.
[Serne Eindark: 100%]
[Maelyn Villene: 9%]
“Give up already~ Maelyn,”
Serne said in a taunting tone, extending a finger to wipe an imaginary tear from the corner of her eye.
“Seri’s too heartbroken to keep fighting.”
“......”
Charred black, Maelyn staggered to her feet.
“......Shut.”
“Hm? What was that?”
“I said shut your mouth!”
Eyes bloodshot and wide, Maelyn extended both arms. Two shots of darkness-flame magic fired from her palms.
“Yaaaawn~”
Feigning boredom, Serne flicked her finger, sending two Dark Flares from the magic circles above to intercept.
The two flame magics clashed midair, erupting into a massive explosion. A wave of heat washed over the arena, and the audience screamed.
Boom~ Boom~
With a flick of her finger, Serne casually fired more Dark Flares. Maelyn dove to evade.
‘The number of spells she can use is completely different!’
Simon bit his lip with a hardened face. As spells fired from the sky, feathers fluttered down into the gaps, unfolding into new magic circles to replenish the arsenal.
“......Whoa, that’s straight-up cheating,”
Dick chuckled in disbelief.
“Maelyn……!”
Kamibarez gasped, hands over her mouth, trembling as she watched the direction of the blast.
Simon gripped the railing harder.
“Why is she sealing away her signature Dark Frost field and only fighting with fire?”
“She has no choice.”
Dick answered.
“Look at the heat in the arena. Ice would just melt instantly.”
In the previous match with Shatel, Simon had entered with a massive elemental advantage.
But this match was absolutely unfavorable for Maelyn—an ice-vs-fire battle.
“But……”
Kamibarez continued with a trembling voice.
“Maelyn doesn’t look like she’s going to give up.”
Amidst the explosions, Maelyn emerged, panting. Simon nodded.
Maelyn had joined Keyzen for one reason: to surpass Serne Eindark.
Originally, the Ivory Tower planned to send Serne this year, and Maelyn the next. But Maelyn had insisted on enrolling this year out of sheer determination.
And the reason she sealed away her Dark Frost field all semester and trained only in darkness-flame spells was because she knew she'd face an elemental disadvantage against Serne.
But since mingling with Simon and Group 7, her personality had softened, and she had become more cheerful.
She had begun to use the Dark Frost field again, and her potential was exploding.
‘But this is dangerous.’
Now, of all times, she was once again facing the wall named Serne.
This final showdown of the first year, it was more important to Maelyn than any exam.
It was the test of how far she had come in catching up to Serne since joining Keyzen.
If she lost without even grazing Serne, if her spirit was broken, she might seal away her Dark Frost field again, reverting to the old Maelyn from the beginning of the semester.
—Ah, is that it?! You’re mocking me, aren’t you?! Fine, it’s all my fault!
Closed off and impulsive Maelyn.
The one who would grow bitter just hearing Serne’s name.
‘If she loses like this, her spirit will break. I need…’
Simon’s face hardened as he fell deep in thought.
‘There has to be a way, something I can do.’
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters