Chapter 721
A week ago.
Mutant Club basement.
“Magnificent, my friend!”
Benya shouted with an exhilarated expression. Above Simon, who had collapsed to the floor in exhaustion, a single violet scale was spread open.
“You finally conquered even an Ancient Drake!”
“Yes, I barely managed to raise the scale.”
It was almost unbelievable that he succeeded during the exam period, Simon’s accomplishments were nothing short of breakthroughs in succession.
He remodeled the Ancient Drake so that it could move by chaos energy, just like the Chaos Dullahan, and Swordmaster Manus could take control of it.
“With this, one chaos spell allows me to prepare both the Chaos Dullahan and the Dragonian.”
Simon spread out his index and middle finger as he continued.
“Depending on the situation, I can choose the summon. If I need overwhelming firepower instantly, I’ll summon the Dullahan, if I need stable defense, then the Dragonian.”
“But that violet-glowing scale, does it have any effect?”
“Of course.”
When Simon opened his palm, a violet sprout rose up.
It was the power of the Saint of Harvest, reproduced with chaos. Simon decided to call this power Chaos Leaf.
Then he altered the form of this Chaos Leaf, overlaying it onto the scale, which became this brand-new technique.
“Uchcha.”
Simon put on the elongated skull helm of the drake and stretched out his palm. A scale appeared in the air, wavering in violet light.
“Senior, would you try attacking with something simple, like a Darkness flame spell?”
“Alright!”
Benya immediately incanted Dark Blaze and fired it.
But the fireball, flying with a trail of noxious smoke, scattered apart before it could even touch the scale. There wasn’t even an explosion.
“Whoa, how does this work?”
“Mana, Darkness, even Holiness. Chaos Leaf absorbs all three elements. Even completed spells in flight lose their components or power mid-way and get neutralized.”
Chuk!
Simon sharply raised his hand and swung. Violet scales spun around near Benya.
“Try another black magic spell, if you’d like.”
“Alright. Huph!”
She grunted, trying to cast black magic, but soon sighed, “Haaah” and gave up.
“I can’t. It keeps draining the surrounding Darkness and mana.”
Compared to the Chaos Dullahan, there were pros and cons.
The Dullahan, powered further by the Darkness Engine, turned its surroundings into a sealed zone against spells, but the formula was still heavy and took a long time to summon.
The Dragonian, on the other hand, could be summoned a bit faster, and provided sealing effects within a limited range.
“You’re really determined to defeat Aizel.”
Benya spoke in a serious tone.
“Yes. Even like this, victory still seems distant, but I can’t help but look forward to it.”
He stretched out his arm.
“The day I’ll fight him for real.”
* * *
Dudududududu!
Simon’s fists, wrapped in violet scales, were pounding Ballack in the literal sense. With each strike, the Death Armor that boasted invincible defense peeled off and crumbled.
‘No time!’
Simon bit down on his lip until it nearly split.
‘Faster!’
Seeing Ballack’s face glaring at him even while being beaten reminded him of Aizel’s face submerged in poison. Blood vessels burst in Simon’s eyes.
“Haaaaaaah!”
With his shout, Simon’s offensive grew fiercer. Finally the Death Armor shattered, and with a puhk! sound, Ballack’s body slipped out from within.
The observers burst into exclamations.
“Ballack’s Death Armor!”
“It’s been broken off!”
Ballack’s exposed body was visible. His clothes were shredded to rags, and his metal mask was drenched in blood.
“Ballaaaaaack!”
Simon stepped onto the dragon scales spread beneath his feet and charged at Ballack.
Ballack clenched his fists, eyes flashing. The fifth layer of Death Armor crumbled and then reshaped itself.
<Devil’s Horns>
Ignoring firepower and toxins, this was a straightforward physical technique that fused Darkness and poison into overwhelming cohesion.
Ballack had read into the Dragonian’s absorption and devised his counter.
‘I’ll break every black magic spell in this space!’
But Simon had prepared too.
‘Its duration is shorter than Chaos Dullahan’s, but…!’
All the drake scales gathered in the air. Simon coughed black blood as he activated black magic, and from between the scales a refined violet bud emerged.
<Dragonian Linkage – Sealing Barrier>
The bud vanished, and a violet wave spread out. The horns aiming to pierce Simon melted and lost form.
Moreover, the curses, magic circles, and artifact effects that Ballack had used to strengthen himself disappeared.
[This is…!]
All Darkness and mana in the violet domain were being sucked away. Of course, Simon couldn’t use magic circles either.
‘Duration, only five seconds! In that time…!’
Chwarung!
Simon’s hand grasped the hilt of a sword he had already drawn out.
The most basic, worn blade that ordinary skeletons used. He gripped it in both hands and raised it high.
‘Venda!’
The instant he held the sword, Manus’ thoughts surged in and shook Simon’s mind. Chaos rattled his reason, blood rushed to his head.
“Ballaaaaaack!”
Now, stripped of Darkness and mana, everyone was equal.
He staked life and death on a single sword.
This chance was the only one.
That thought alone made his entire body race forward.
‘Venda.’
Following Manus’ guidance, following his instincts, Simon’s sword strike carved a clean trajectory.
And Ballack thought—
‘I’m going to die.’
He felt death approaching.
How long had it been since he last recognized his own demise? This sword strike wasn’t something a mere rookie could imitate.
An out-of-standard existence.
In Ballack’s eyes, he saw the presence of a powerful undead standing behind Simon.
‘There’s no other way.’
Psshhhhh—
The metal mask covering his mouth turned to ash and crumbled away. From his gaping throat, something dreadful crawled up.
‘I’ll consume the Dark Tome.’
Chwaaaaaaaaa!
What burst from his throat had nothing in common with any element or creature of this world.
A raw, primeval serpent of darkness, like a swarm of maws bound together, lunged to bite Simon’s nape. At the same moment, Simon’s worn sword swung down toward Ballack’s throat.
In that instant.
Reason vanished.
With no defense at all, the two of them simply aimed straight for each other’s throats.
In this way, regardless of the winner or loser, both would lose their heads. But now there was no stopping, no retreating.
Their killing strikes crossed in the air, each seeking to sever the other’s lifeline.
[A children’s fight must never cross the line.]
Before Ballack’s eyes, a magic circle unfolded. He had no time to react. From within, a snow–white serpent suddenly lunged out and swallowed the Serpent of Death whole.
‘The Dark Tome’s sorcery, untainted by anything, how could this be…!’
Ballack’s eyes widened as he looked down. A third party had entered the barrier. It was a figure wearing a white fedora pulled low, dressed in a pristine white suit.
“To think you would try to kill the greatest talent this world has birthed. You’ve lost your senses, Ballack.”
It was Bahil Amagar, Professor of Katarology.
Meanwhile, Simon too sensed the anomaly as he swung his blade toward Ballack’s neck. At the tip of his sword, a butterfly had alighted.
‘This black magic…!’
But he could not stop the force of his swing. Ballack’s neck was within arm’s reach.
Yet, at the very point where the sword should have cleaved through the air, resistance was felt.
Before he knew it, Simon was no longer cutting empty air, but slashing through a swarm of butterflies. Each time his blade touched one, it rusted away, and by the time the swarm had passed, Simon was left swinging an empty hilt.
“Were you planning on a double suicide?”
A cold voice rang out.
Dressed sharply in a suit, vice-chancellor Jane struck her scythe into the ground with a resounding thunk!
“No duel that crosses this line will be tolerated. All combat will cease at once.”
Clack!
Clack!
Suddenly red bones connected themselves to Simon’s body and yanked him backward. In no time, Simon was pinned tightly to the floor. A simply dressed man, dragging his slippers, walked forward.
“Simon Follentia.”
“Ah, Professor Aron too!”
“There’s no time. Restrain that monster’s thoughts.”
Simon snapped back to his senses and looked down. The berserk Manus was shrieking in thought-form.
‘…I, I just tried to kill Ballack?’
Cold sweat broke across Simon’s forehead as he placed his hand on Manus’ skull.
“Your way of using that Ancient Drake was impressive, but—”
Aron knelt on one knee, pressing his hand on Manus’ skull as he assisted Simon.
“It seems you still need time before you can wear this monster and wield it like your own body. What happens if the summoner gets swept up in the summon’s will? For now, it’s best to keep using it as a separate summon, like the Chaos Dullahan.”
“…Ah, I’ll keep that in mind!”
In the end, professors had intervened in the Student Council President’s final match.
Normally, professors could not interfere unless under special circumstances, but with students’ lives at stake, this was precisely that.
The professors had already located the arena prepared by the Grerion family. They acted when the third party, Ballack, hijacked the barrier with magic hacking, and once they saw Ballack’s ‘Dark Tome’, they had no choice but to step in.
Chwarararara—
Jane’s butterflies flew through the air, purifying and pushing away the poisonous mists and swamps.
“We, we’re alive.”
At last the witnesses collapsed into sighs of relief. Leonard cried out,
“There are injured here!”
“Yes.”
Jane gestured, and butterflies flew out, forming teleportation magic circles. Aizel and Ednic Grerion, who were in the worst condition, were quickly moved to the infirmary.
Thud!
Meanwhile, Bahil subdued Ballack.
[Kruwaaaaaaaahhh!]
“My, my.”
Press— press—
Ballack struggled furiously to rise. Having taken multiple blows of chaos, his reason was clouded, and now his fury surged forth, making him resemble a beast.
“Ballack, I do favor outstanding students like you, but—”
Bahil’s polished shoe tapped Ballack’s cheek.
“If you lay your hands on a once-in-an-era genius, one of the greatest talents in human history, even someone of my temperament will be angered.”
Kuuuuuuuuung!
He stomped down again, rougher this time. Ballack’s head drove deep into the floor, yet his thrashing only grew worse.
Bahil’s lips twisted like rotting cheese into a long grin.
“You must pay the price for laying a hand on my disciple.”
As vicious formulas swirled, forming a dreadful curse.
“Overstepping will not be overlooked, Professor Bahil.”
Jane’s voice cut in.
“Is that truly a curse meant for a student?”
“……”
Bahil clicked his tongue and shrugged. The curse dissipated, leaving only a simple calming and paralysis effect to restrain Ballack.
“Hahaha! I wondered why I was called here at this hour of dawn.”
Another figure walked into the barrier. She grinned, showing jagged triangular teeth.
“What chaos, eh?”
A woman clad in tattered rags. It was none other than Belya, the professor of Toxicology.
Jane spoke.
“Professor Belya. Please tend to the students’ antidotes.”
“Sure.”
Belya approached the onlookers and dipped her finger into the poison swamp Ballack had created, licking it as if savoring candy. Watching her lick her lips, the students’ expressions darkened further.
“Interesting poison. The blend is unusual. A faint hint of cinnamon, too?”
Hives rose across her body, but quickly faded. She muttered while rubbing her fingertip on the back of her hand.
“Here, eat. Princess.”
And she fed something from her own body to Molly, the most struggling first-year. Maelyn leapt in alarm.
“W-wait! What are you feeding royalty?!”
“Antidote.”
Belya replied flatly. Though its appearance was questionable, the effect was certain, Molly’s complexion eased at once.
“You lot, eat one each too.”
Belya began scraping at her skin. Grimacing, the students shut their eyes tight and swallowed the hair or scraps of flesh she handed over. Dick, with a goofy grin, stared at the antidote taken from Belya’s thigh, until Maelyn smacked him on the back of the head.
“We’ll hear the full details later.”
Jane clapped her hands together.
“Everyone, return to your dorms.”
At her words, the students began leaving the barrier one by one. Bahil obligingly hacked the magic circle again, splitting apart the barrier’s walls.
“Well then.”
Aron turned his head.
“What shall we do with this one.”
All the professors’ gazes gathered on Ballack.
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