Chapter 522
They arrived at the second arena.
Since it was completely identical to the first one in both design and seating scale, all the spectators were able to move over and sit in the exact same positions as before.
Simon once again came to the players’ waiting area, while the transfer students, just like earlier, sat in the back seats and chatted away noisily.
And Maelyn was standing at the front, preparing for the match.
“……”
After finishing her stretches, she closed her eyes and circulated Darkness within her body. A haze-like black smoke flowed out from her.
‘Good concentration.’
No matter how many people were around or how noisy it was, she didn’t allow the slightest distraction.
Then, as she slowly opened her eyes and spread out her palm, a black-lustrous ice sprang up with a shhhrrrk, forming a snowflower.
The ice craft was so exquisitely made that the transfer students nearby let out gasps of admiration. Simon nodded in satisfaction.
‘Her condition is perfect.’
He had worried since it was right after the mission evaluation, but it turned out to be needless. When she clenched her fist, the flower of ice in midair shattered.
“Vice President Keyzen’s skills seem pretty decent too.”
“They say she’s a direct line from the Ivory Tower.”
“For real?”
At the words Ivory Tower, Maelyn glanced over. The transfer students all avoided her eyes and rolled their gaze elsewhere.
Simon quietly smiled as he approached her.
“Keyzen’s victory is already guaranteed. You can take it easy.”
She gave a dismissive snort.
“I can’t take it easy. If it’s Keyzen, it has to be an overwhelming win.”
“Everyone~”
Both their heads turned. Kamibarez came running into the waiting area.
“Kami!”
Maelyn brightened and called out happily. Simon followed with a question.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine now!”
Fortunately, her opponent Alizarin had regained consciousness while being carried away on a stretcher. There were no serious injuries, and the medical staff said he would be well enough to attend class the very next day.
Kamibarez had apologized to the bandaged Alizarin.
—It’s me who should apologize. I was careless, saying things like Ursula being greedy.
But Alizarin bowed deeply instead.
—That power… it must be truly difficult to bear.
Kamibarez, however, didn’t share that last remark with Simon or Maelyn.
She didn’t want to worry them.
Even if only half-blooded, if this power was an inescapable destiny, she would gladly make it her own strength. Kamibarez resolved so.
At that moment, the broadcast echoed.
—Students of the final match, please enter the arena.
Maelyn exhaled with a fwooh! then raised her arm with a fiery spirit.
“I’ll crush him lightly and come back!”
Simon nodded with a smile, and Kamibarez hugged her tightly in encouragement. Soon, Maelyn strode out with confident steps.
“Do your best, vice president!”
“Show us your skills!”
The transfer students cheered her on. In thanks, Maelyn gave a playful wink and walked, her sky-blue hair fluttering behind her.
And then Maelyn went to the duel arena.
“……”
“……”
Silence fell, awkward and heavy, between Simon and Kamibarez, now the only two left in the waiting area.
‘Ah.’
Simon began sweating and stared straight ahead.
‘…I want to crawl into a hole and die.’
When Kamibarez had been overtaken by the blood and transformed into someone else, he had been so shocked and flustered that he could only think about protecting her.
But after time passed and his head cooled, he belatedly realized just what he had done to her.
—L-let go of me…!
—Not until you come back to your senses! Close the seal and calm Ursula’s blood!
Thud!
Simon banged his head against the arena fence. The nearby guard flinched in surprise.
‘I-I want to die.’
Now that he thought about it, he had no idea what possessed him to do such a thing.
Shaking with humiliation at his newly updated black history, Simon lifted his flushed forehead—and saw Kamibarez, cheeks equally red, staring at him.
Shff—
As soon as their eyes met, she looked away and fixed her gaze firmly on the floor. Simon felt his heart drop.
‘H-how should I apologize?’
From tomorrow, normal school life would resume. They would be meeting constantly in the student council room. He couldn’t keep things this awkward forever.
If there was a right time to apologize, it was right after the mistake—meaning now.
“K-Kami, you see…”
Simon spoke.
She answered in a voice tiny as an ant’s crawl, “Yes.” Summoning courage, she met his eyes for a moment—
“…!”
But after one second, she looked away again, staring at her feet. Her face burned, and tingles ran through her hands and feet.
—The only one who can control you… is yourself.
Blood kept rushing to her face. Just smelling Simon beside her was enough to bring back the memory in vivid panorama, making her throat ticklish.
No matter how embarrassing or awkward it was, could she really call the person who had rushed out to save her an idiot?
She had thanked him right away when she came back, but that wasn’t enough. She needed to apologize too.
Both their heads turned at the same time.
“About earlier—!”
“The truth is—!”
Then both of them looked away, unable to maintain eye contact.
“…Maelyn’s match is starting.”
“Y-yeah, it is. Ahaha.”
The guard at the front of the waiting area let out a deep sigh.
‘These kids… tormenting me as a pair.’
* * *
“Students Maelyn and White, step forward.”
The two students of the final match were called to the arena front.
And then—
Wooooooo!
A torrent of vicious boos erupted, so loud even Simon flinched. It was the complete opposite of the gentlemanly manners the Moyran students and spectators had shown so far.
Kamibarez looked around frantically in shock.
“Wh-why only at Maelyn…!”
“It’s not aimed at Maelyn.”
Simon turned back with a grave face.
“Get lost, White!”
“How dare you come up to the transfer evaluation match!”
“Coward! Go home!”
“Cheater!”
Woooooo!
The boos were not for Maelyn.
They were for “White”, the student from Moyran.
No one could understand what was going on.
‘Something must’ve happened?’
Simon had been suspicious of the guy from the start, but seeing the audience’s reaction made him unable to hold back his curiosity.
He slipped out of the waiting area and moved closer toward the stands.
“Hey, guys.”
Leaning on the railing toward the spectators, Simon spoke casually. The Moyran students, who had been hurling boos, flinched and turned to look at him.
“It’s P-President Keyzen!”
“Your match earlier was awesome!”
On their uniforms, Simon noticed the badges marked with the number 2—signifying second-years from Moyran.
After glancing around at the supervising adults, Simon quietly asked,
“That White kid. Why do you all hate him even though he’s from Moyran too?”
It was as if they had been waiting for someone to ask. The Moyran students burst out, scrambling to tell everything they knew about White.
According to them, White had transferred in suddenly at the end of his first year, right before the final exams.
His background and origins—completely unknown.
Rumors spread wildly: he was a fallen noble, or perhaps an illegitimate royal son.
At first, the Moyran students didn’t think much of him and treated him kindly.
But the moment he arrived, his actions were shocking. He scored perfect marks on every test, then challenged Moyran’s Top 10 in duels one after another, crushing them with overwhelming power like breaking dojo seals.
Eventually, he forced even the vice top student to his knees in a single match, and finally, he defeated the top student—the number one transfer candidate—becoming the undisputed strongest of the first-years.
For reference, among the Three Great Necromancer Schools, the second semester of first year was when competition became most fierce and sensitive, since the Keyzen transfer selections happened then. Even upperclassmen had to be mindful of the first-years during that time.
And then, suddenly, a comet-like prodigy appeared. The entire school atmosphere was shaken.
The administration began crunching numbers, and despite the “absolute rule” that transfer candidates must complete at least one semester, they made an exception and put White on the transfer list.
For the school’s management, maximizing honor and profit, sending White to Keyzen was the obvious choice.
But for the students, it was utterly intolerable. First-years and seniors alike erupted in protest.
Even the third-years—the peak of Moyran—got involved.
The Moyran Student Council President of the third years challenged White to a duel. White would stake his transfer candidacy, and the president would stake his position as council head.
And in that match—
“White won.”
Simon’s mouth fell wide open at the Moyran student’s words.
“…Are you serious? A first-year transfer beat the third-year president?”
“Yeah, hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”
The student gave a bitter smile.
“In the end, our president stepped down, fell into despair, and two days later, submitted his withdrawal letter to the chancellor.”
“……”
“There was only a month left before graduation, but he still did it.”
Rumors about White snowballed.
His profile as a seventeen-year-old was fake; he was actually a professional necromancer. He used forbidden black magic. He was a pawn of Efnelle.
Even Moyran’s chancellor admitted students had reasonable doubts, so countless investigations followed. But the final conclusion was: no problems whatsoever.
Regardless, at a necromancer school, skill was the ultimate priority.
White secured a spot as one of Keyzen’s transfers. Still, even as a second-year now, resentment lingered in the students’ hearts.
‘Hmm.’
Simon turned his head. He saw Maelyn shaking hands with White.
‘I’m worried…’
Keyzen’s victory was guaranteed anyway. White was a dangerous opponent, so part of him wanted to intervene, but this was a tradition that had lasted hundreds of years between schools. Stopping Maelyn would only insult her determination.
Here, he could only believe in her.
“Are both students ready?”
At the referee’s call, Maelyn and White nodded together.
“Then, from this moment, the match between Moyran’s student White and Keyzen’s student Maelyn Villene will begin!”
The professors stepped back after their final coaching. Once the referee confirmed both conditions, his hand came down.
“Match start!”
From all sides, the spectators roared.
“Go Keyzen!”
“Please, crush that bastard’s pride!”
An ironic scene—Moyran students cheering for the opposing school.
Maelyn immediately cast a magic circle and prepared her offensive. White cold air poured from it.
‘Good. Maelyn’s condition is at its peak today.’
As the match began, Simon ran back to Kamibarez’s side. She looked at him.
“Simon, what were you talking about with the Moyran students?”
“Ah, just about Maelyn’s opponent. I’ll explain in detail later.”
White, without even drawing a magic circle, just stood there motionless, as if saying, “Do your best; try whatever you want.”
‘Let’s see how Maelyn handles this match.’
Simon watched with anticipation as Maelyn activated her first magic circle.
<Frozen>
A frosty chill spread outward, freezing the flowing water channels solid.
A sharp light flickered in Maelyn’s eyes.
“Both the opponents so far relied on water-based techniques. This neutralizes that annoying home-field advantage.”
She then raised her palm high.
Crackkk!
Craackkk!
The frozen water in the channels rose into the air. She wasn’t just sealing her opponent’s black magic.
‘From here on, I’ll be the one making use of it!’
The ice around her began to converge.
No defenses.
It was the herald of a relentless assault.
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