Chapter 620
The incident began with Simon’s idea.
—What if we send Loraine and Serne Eindark as a team? I just hoped their relationship would improve at least a little during this Dark Emperor tournament.
Simon said this purely out of a wish for the two to get along better, but when Fitzgerald Ingels heard it, he fell into serious thought.
—Strategically, that doesn’t sound bad either. I’ll mention it to the department representative later.
In this Dark Emperor, the second-year summoning students’ event assignments and schedule adjustments were deeply influenced by Fitzgerald.
Of course, the final authority lay with Hector Moore, the department representative, but even he trusted Fitzgerald’s data and analytical skills.
That evening during the meeting, Fitzgerald brought up the topic.
—As you know, Serne has been skipping every single event. It’s a problem.
Already troubled by this issue, Hector scowled deeply.
—You bastard, what are you getting at?
—I propose pairing Loraine and Serne for tomorrow’s three-legged race.
The three-legged race was a simple, classic event. Two people stood side by side, tied their inner legs together, and ran. Since it was at Necromancer School, the use of black magic was allowed.
However, since it was still a “race”, flying magic or riding summoned beasts was forbidden. Direct attacks or curses on opponents were also prohibited.
—Hector, you know as well as I do, the only one who can control Serne is Loraine. Since she’s working hard in this Dark Emperor, she’ll somehow drag Serne to the field.
—.......
And so, today.
Loraine really did succeed in dragging Serne—who had been holed up in her dorm room oversleeping—to the arena.
But the atmosphere was anything but good.
“Why aren’t those two running?”
“......Are they fighting?”
The spectators whispered among themselves.
The race had already started, other students were running full speed, yet Loraine and Serne stood still, coldly glaring in opposite directions.
Goooooooh!
A murderous aura surged between them, so intense that no one dared intervene.
A referee holding a flag timidly approached.
“U-uh, students. You really should start now......”
At his words, Serne’s eyes flashed savagely. The referee instantly shrank back and fell silent.
“The referee is right.”
Loraine, having tied back her flowing black hair with a string once again, spoke firmly.
“Let’s start.”
“Why should I?”
Serne retorted sharply.
“Because you’re a student.”
Loraine glared back.
“Is running in a school sports festival really something you should question with a ‘why’?”
“You think I’d run in some childish event like this?”
“You’re always like this, aren’t you?”
Loraine’s patience was reaching its limit.
“What are you so dissatisfied about? What is it that you hate so much? You don’t follow the school’s rightful orders, you only cause trouble, and you only harm others!”
“What I hate?”
Serne gave a short, incredulous laugh, then stared straight at Loraine.
“Because of a treaty, the moment I turned seventeen, I was dragged here to Keyzen. The reason is obvious. To take the successor hostage, to make sure the Ivory Tower couldn’t recklessly oppose Keyzen. And you expect the one dragged here to cooperate willingly?”
“......”
Loraine clutched at her robe.
“Hostage? That’s impossible! That’s just your exaggerated interpretation!”
“Do you really believe that? Look at history.”
She raised her finger to Loraine’s eyes.
“No kingdom ever sends their successor to the royal palace of a hostile nation out of free will. They’re forced. The reason is hostage, prisoner, slave. After Keyzen’s victory in its conflict with the Ivory Tower, they forced a treaty where successors must study here. Calling it a school is just a convenient excuse, isn’t it?”
Loraine shook her head fiercely.
“Is that so? Bermude is dead! You’re no longer just a successor—you hold power almost equal to the Master of the Ivory Tower! Yet you didn’t ascend as Tower Master, and instead stayed in Keyzen by your own will! If you really thought you were a hostage, then why remain in school? Why stay in Keyzen and still act like this? Your words are full of contradictions!”
Serne lifted her chin.
“I stayed in Keyzen for my own reasons. And my goal isn’t studying or grades. Must every student pursue grades? I’ll only do what I want, within this school’s walls.”
“You really......!”
“H-ha, students......”
The referee approached again, pale-faced.
Since they were the successors of Keyzen and the Ivory Tower, even a single word had to be handled with care.
“If you don’t start now, by regulation, y-you’ll have to be disqualified......”
Loraine’s expression hardened. Turning her head, she saw her classmates and seniors from the summoning department in the stands.
Everyone looked like they were at a funeral.
“N-no! We’ll start!”
Disqualification had to be avoided. Loraine moved her leg.
“Serne, we need to go now!”
“What? I said I’m not......!”
Their tied legs lifted awkwardly, completely out of sync. They immediately lost balance and toppled onto the arena floor.
“......”
“......”
Both faces hit the dirt equally. At once, they snapped their heads up.
“What the hell was that?!”
Serne shouted, eyes blazing.
“You’re the one—what the hell are you doing?!”
Loraine shouted back in frustration.
Soon, they were yelling and bickering loudly in the middle of the race.
“What are they doing?”
“Hahahaha!”
Laughter spread among the crowd. Meanwhile, the summoning students couldn’t laugh even if they wanted to.
‘How can they laugh?’
‘Easy for them, it’s not their problem.’
The aftershocks and cold war that would follow this quarrel would fall solely on those around them.
While the two heirs—future leaders of the Dark Alliance—were fighting, the other students had already finished their second lap.
Even as they ran across the Darkness track, when they reached the section where Loraine and Serne lay collapsed, they slowed down, craned their necks desperately to peek, then sprinted again after passing them.
“......You four-eyed bastard!”
In the stands, Hector seized Fitzgerald by the collar and lifted him. With his strength, Fitzgerald’s body was easily raised into the air.
“This isn’t what you said would happen!”
“My prediction was spot on.”
Even in this chaos, Fitzgerald calmly adjusted his glasses.
“The whole point was to at least drag Serne into the event, since otherwise her contribution was ‘zero’. Whether the two cooperate after that is up to fate.”
“You damn bastard, you dare open that mouth......!”
“Hector! Calm down!”
Faction students rushed to restrain him. Hector hissed in frustration, then tossed Fitzgerald aside.
‘Finishing last in the girls’ division is a big blow. We’ll have to recover somehow in the boys’ division......’
“Hey, it’s the president!”
Just then, having finished his own race, Simon came running into the arena.
He rushed to the fence and grabbed it, his eyes shining as he looked at the scene.
Loraine and Serne were sprawled in the middle of the arena, their legs still tied together.
‘Damn! They fell!’
In truth, they hadn’t even taken a single step from the start line. But to Simon, who had just arrived, it looked like they had been running hard and simply tripped.
He shouted loudly—
“Hang in there! Loraine! Serne!”
Simon’s voice echoed across the arena, and just before the two girls could grab each other’s hair, both turned their heads at the same time.
Simon?
From afar, Simon was smiling brightly, waving his hand.
“Don’t give up yet! You can do it!”
Seeing Simon cheering so purely, without understanding the situation, the two girls simultaneously lowered their hands.
“Hmph~.”
Serne gave a small snort, dusted off her gym clothes, and slowly stood up.
“Alright. Now I feel like doing it.”
“......Suddenly?”
“I told you, didn’t I?”
As she brushed sand out of her platinum hair, she pulled out a single feather.
“I’ll only do what I want.”
Wooooong!
The feather instantly broke apart, forming a magic circle—so complex it made eyes widen. The runes shifted rapidly, layer after layer of formulas rearranging themselves.
Sha-rak—
In a blink, the recalculations finished. The circle compressed, returning to the shape of a feather. Serne placed it at their feet.
“What are you trying to do?”
Loraine asked suspiciously. Serne only tapped the rope binding their legs. The rope’s material softened.
“You may be worthless trash with your power sealed.”
Serne turned and pressed her body close to Loraine’s, as if embracing her.
“But that body is still useful, isn’t it?”
Loraine’s face twisted with disgust.
“Don’t call people a ‘body’. So what’s the plan?”
“Dense, aren’t you? Step on the feather. With all your strength.”
Loraine frowned but had no choice, if they didn’t cooperate, they’d be disqualified. She put one arm around Serne’s waist for support.
“Hold tight.”
Her vast Darkness surged down to her legs. Loraine leapt forward on one leg and stomped the feather.
TUUU-KWAAAAANG—!
With the roar of a cannon, their bodies shot forward at blinding speed.
“Whoa!”
“What the hell was that?!”
Serne pulled out another feather from her hair, flinging it down at the next spot Loraine had to land. Loraine stomped on it, leaping again.
TUUU-KWAAAAANG—!
To the spectators, the two girls seemed to vanish as if teleporting, followed by a gale that violently shook the arena’s trees.
“Uwahhh!”
“Gahh!”
Students were blown aside by the massive gusts the girls produced. Even summoning students who had been despairing over the race lifted their heads.
“No way!”
FWOOOOSH—!
With a single leap, they were clearing half the arena.
“B-but isn’t flying or teleporting against the rules?”
“No! Look closely—it’s just high-speed leaps! See? The referee isn’t raising the flag!”
It was Serne’s advanced leaping magic. And stomping it was Loraine, fueled by immense Darkness and physical strength.
Each of Loraine’s landings cracked the ground with thunderous force.
“They passed one team!”
“My god! How many laps have they caught up already?!”
Soon, the finish line came into view.
The referees held the ribbon on either side, and first toward the finish were the students from Darkness Dynamics.
FWOOOSH—!
They had prepared booster magic from the dark-flame system, and flames burst from their palms with every synchronized leap. Their teamwork was perfect.
“We got this!”
The student on the right shouted.
“We’re first!”
The one on the left grinned as they made their final leap, chests thrust forward.
TUUU-KWAAAAANG—!
A gale exploded, mountains of dust surged, and their bodies were hurled aside.
And there.
Two figures descended before the finish line: a girl with black hair, and one with platinum blonde.
Standing side by side, they calmly walked forward and brushed the ribbon together.
“Winners!”
The referee raised his arm and shouted.
“First place goes to Loraine and Serne Eindark of the Summoning Department!”
A stunning upset victory, the stands erupted with wild cheers.
The two girls waved elegantly to the crowd, but then both pairs of eyes turned in the same direction.
The audience seats. Simon was there, cheering, jumping with their classmates to celebrate the victory.
“You did amazing!”
Simon smiled brightly, waving his hand. Serne quietly bent down, untying the rope binding their legs.
“I hope this is the last time I ever get tied to you.”
Loraine let out a half-laugh, half-sigh.
“Agreed.”
* * *
At the same time.
Roke Island, at a seaside stall.
Step, step.
Someone approached across the sand. The vendor, busy with his setup, looked up brightly.
“Welcome! What can I get yo—”
His voice stopped.
“Eh... wh-what?”
His pupils trembled violently.
As if he realized something was terribly wrong. As if he were looking at something he should never see.
Step.
The footsteps of the figure passing the stall stopped.
“You.”
Step, step.
The figure turned back, walking toward the stall.
“Can you see my face?”
“Th-that... that’s! Hhhk!”
Feeling the killing intent, the vendor shouted in panic.
“Here! Look here! A monster! A monster-like person—!”
But no one heard.
Not the vendors at the neighboring stalls, not the tourists walking right beside them.
It was as if the two of them were cut off from the world.
Realizing too late that his life was in danger, the vendor stammered in terror.
“I... I saw nothing! P-please, spare me!”
“......”
Beneath the robe, a face smiled.
“That’s right. You saw nothing.”
THUD!
Blood sprayed high into the air.
Amidst the festival’s revelry, a fracture was beginning to spread.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters