Chapter 818
Flutter-!
A large piece of cloth.
The hem of a garment fluttered between the two of them.
Simon and Jule’s pupils widened instantly, and they both stopped their attacks.
What appeared, blocking their path, was a girl with mint-colored hair.
Ranked 4th overall, representative of Katarology, and sister of Phantasus.
Merida Hugh Ikel’s light-green eyes calmly fixed on Simon.
“Merida?”
A startled voice burst out of Simon’s mouth.
“How did you……!”
“I heard.”
She spoke in a low, subdued voice.
“That you negotiated with Ballack, and starting from third year, you’ll be the Student Council President.”
Her eyes gleamed sharply.
Realizing there was some misunderstanding, Simon hastily corrected her.
“No, to be exact, it wasn’t Ballack, but a decision made by Keyzen headquarters……”
“In the end, that means it wasn’t a position passed down by my brother. It was a position handed over by Ballack.”
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble!
From her body, an overwhelming Darkness began to surge.
Just from the release alone, Simon felt as if he were being sucked into the depths of the sea.
“So there’s no reason for me to yield that position to you anymore. I acknowledged you, but the one who will succeed Phantasus brother is me.”
She raised her hand.
“So that means I……”
Claaang!
Suddenly, a massive sword strike crashed against her back. Merida, who blocked it with nothing more than the mere release of Darkness, rolled her eyes to glance behind her.
“Sorry, but I came first.”
Click.
Jule, with an unpleasant expression, gripped the hilt of his sword.
“I have business with Simon before you.”
“……”
Merida silently looked at him, and her lips parted.
“You’re in the way.”
Babababababababababababam!
Simon’s eyes widened in shock.
Before Jule could even move, dozens of “Sleep” curses stabbed into his body like wedges.
The chanting speed and ejection velocity were beyond what a human could possibly react to.
“I’ll say it again.”
Through the smoke, Jule’s body collapsed, and Merida turned her head back toward Simon.
“I……”
Claaang!
Again, from within the smoke, a sword strike of the demonic sword slammed into Merida’s back.
Once more, the Darkness emanating from her repelled the strike, but this time it was so strong that her footing faltered for a moment.
Merida frowned and turned around.
Hoooh—!
To her surprise, Jule was still standing, kneeling on one knee, clutching his demonic sword.
He was unscathed. Even his Life Gauge, reflecting his physical state, had hardly dropped.
“Sorry, but I gave up ‘sleep’ to this sword long ago.”
Jule spoke in a calm voice.
“There are times when I enter a comatose state for the sake of recovery, but peaceful slumber doesn’t exist for me. You cannot defeat me, we are mismatched.”
“Mismatched?”
Merida’s reply was icy.
“What does that mean.”
Babababababam!
Babababababam!
From all directions, Sleep curses poured down on Jule like the spear strikes of a pike formation. His body was endlessly flung backward, sparks scattering everywhere.
“Merida! Stop!”
Simon tried to intervene, but even while dealing with Jule, Merida also cast curses toward him. Simon hurriedly ducked low to dodge them.
“Gahk!”
Blood gushed out of Jule’s mouth.
Curses had a limited “stack”. Once it exceeded a certain threshold, whether used ten times or a hundred times, the effect remained the same.
But Merida was bombarding them mercilessly, treating curses like mere offensive spells.
No human could withstand Darkness continuously stabbing into their body. Jule was being battered to pieces.
“Amazing. I abandoned sleep, yet I still feel ‘drowsiness’.”
Even while being hammered by curses, Jule curled his lips into a twisted smile.
He held the demonic sword with both hands over his chest. From between the bandages covering his eyes, a tear of blood trickled down.
“Thank you. For reminding me that I still have something left to discard.”
The drop of blood seeped into the hilt of the sword, and a sinister energy rippled forth.
Jule gripped the sword so hard that veins bulged across his hands.
<Jule’s Original – Demon of Wrath>
The curses raining down on him were shredded apart like finely chopped ingredients.
Jule cut through every curse with his sword, then kicked off the ground and charged.
“Stop interfering with me and Simon.”
Merida snapped in annoyance.
“You’re the one in the way!”
Jule shouted back, swinging his sword.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble!
Crash crash crash crash!
Simon, suddenly forced into the rear, stared blankly at the two of them.
‘Why are you two fighting each other to the death?’
He didn’t know the reason, but thinking about it, this was a perfect chance to escape.
There was no gain from letting Top 10 ranks fight it out. While the representatives of Katarology and Magical Combat clashed, Simon began to quietly retreat.
But then—
‘?’
Before him, a giant toy building stood tall.
‘What the hell?’
The volcanic rocks and barren landscape had disappeared, replaced entirely by streets resembling a toy city.
“If you keep interfering—”
Merida climbed atop a quilt floating in the air.
“I’ll knock you out until you sleep.”
<Merida’s Original – Lost in a Dream>
From the desolate terrain, toy houses began rising up one after another. Simon’s eyes swept sharply over his surroundings.
‘Merida can now fully use Phantasus-senior’s Lost in a Dream. But this is……!’
Phantasus’ Lost in a Dream had turned the world into an ocean, with sea creatures drifting about.
But Merida’s version was different. She turned everything into a toy world.
Toy houses and trees sprouted everywhere, barren lots were reshaped into blocky constructions, and above, baby mobiles spun round and round as if in a nursery.
At the forefront, human-like figures, like children’s scribbled drawings, wandered the toy city. The entire space warped into something childlike and grotesque.
‘And this mist, what is it.’
The entire city was wrapped in a violet fog.
It contained the effect of Sleep curses. Simon felt drowsiness creeping in, but as a Phantasus-type Sleep user himself, he had natural resistance.
Thud—! Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!
From one of the alleys, footsteps echoed. Turning his head, Simon saw strange things clumping together as they approached.
Toy rocking horses, eyeless stuffed animals, toy soldiers—all manner of toys fused into a giant wave of trash surging toward them.
Simon and Jule immediately turned their backs and ran.
Tatadak!
On the roofs of nearby houses, eyeless toys appeared one after another. This black magic spared no one, showing hostility toward both Jule and Simon alike.
One of the toy soldiers leapt high and swung a sword at Simon.
‘Royal Guard!’
Swoosh!
A Royal Guard Simon had summoned sliced the toy apart. But as it split, stuffing burst out and exploded.
Not only was the blast powerful, but it carried a “Sleep effect”.
In this city, even just breathing air, or striking its toys and structures, would result in Sleep.
It was an absurdly overpowering black magic.
“Everyone, return!”
Simon dispelled the Royal Guard state of his summons and called them back into subspace.
Against Jule, they might have been useful, but inside Merida’s Lost in a Dream, using the Royal Guard only expanded the range of danger.
“Simon!”
From the opposite alley, Jule cut down Merida’s toy soldiers with sword strikes, and shouted.
“Before settling things with my demonic sword, it would be troublesome if you were defeated first!”
‘What the hell is he saying even in this situation.’
Kwooooom—!
This time, shells fell to the ground and exploded. Startled, Simon and Jule both halted their steps.
‘Who?’
Sensing a completely new Darkness, Simon lifted his head.
Beyond Merida’s Lost in a Dream, which was filled with sleep mist, higher in the skies above.
Two transparent ships floated in the air.
“Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha! Found you, Simon Follentia!”
Ranked 7th overall, representative of Spiritology.
The one who intruded this time, was Elisa Celine.
“Idiot! Fighting this loudly is basically telling the other competitors where you are, isn’t it?”
Boom!
Boom!
The cannons mounted on the ghost ship simultaneously fired, dropping spirit-infused shells.
Indiscriminate bombardment across the entire city.
The paradise and toy city Merida had created with Lost in a Dream collapsed. When the shells struck, instead of flames, stuffing burst out and scattered chaotically into the air.
[Do not interfere.]
From somewhere in the city, Merida’s annoyed voice echoed like a reverberation.
“I was the one who was supposed to settle things with Simon first!”
Gripping his sword hilt, Jule released a sword strike soaring skyward.
But Elisa was in the high skies. She moved her ship, easily dodging the rising strike.
“No matter how much you attack from the ground, it’s useless! At this rate, I can take out 1st, 4th, and 10th all at once……”
Up to that point, Elisa suddenly cut her words short.
She was supposed to be the highest one in the sky.
But there was shadow above her.
“!”
Elisa frantically raised her head.
Whoooosh!
Something burst through the volcanic smoke above, igniting flames as it set the ghost ship ablaze in passing.
“Kyaaaaah! What the hell!”
A sudden attack from above, with no time to respond.
One ghost ship instantly went up in flames. Though enveloped in Elisa’s Spirit and flying, the ship’s frame was still wood.
Its greatest weakness, was fire.
[Trash.]
Flap!
A dragon, spreading its tattered wings, glared with fierce eyes.
[So you dare ignore my warning. I’ll take this as war now!]
From the mouth of the dragon, a Dragon Fear was unleashed, instilling terror in its foes. Elisa froze under the broad curse of fear.
Whoooosh!
Then Hector, in dragon form, unleashed his breath once more, setting another ghost ship ablaze and completely destroying it. Elisa shrieked “Hiiik!” and leapt over to the remaining ship.
“How dare you burn my ship! You’re dead!”
Elisa began her counterattack, turning her batteries and bombarding Hector with cannon fire. Hector shielded himself with his wings.
[Filth!]
Soon Hector spread his wings wide again and released flames from his mouth.
<Dragon Breath>
Elisa refused to back down, casting spirit magic. The front of one ship flashed, forming a “main cannon” made of Spirit.
<Spirit Cannon>
[Disappear!]
“You’re one to talk!”
The dragon’s breath and the ghost ship’s main cannon collided in midair, unleashing a violent explosion.
* * *
Kwooooom—!
It was, quite literally, chaos. In the skies and on the ground alike, everything was in turmoil.
Simon leapt over the ruins of toy houses shattered by shelling, running through the streets.
[I wasn’t finished, Simon. Stop there.]
Kekekeke—!
Screeeech!
Eyeless dolls, giant rocking horses, and toy soldiers swarmed in from one alley.
Simon placed his hand at his waist, and drew out a crackling purple lightning.
<Chaos Spear>
Krrrraaaash!
The lightning of chaos blasted forth, sweeping away the toy soldiers in the narrow alley all at once. Just as Simon tried to catch his breath, he recoiled in shock, snapping his head back.
Slash!
The house he had leaned against split diagonally, the cut surface sliding away to the side.
‘Jule!’
Jule, once again muddled by his demonic sword, was sending sword strikes in all directions. The toy world was being sliced apart like tofu.
‘Dangerous!’
Simon quickly spun on his heel to escape, but just then, a burning ghost ship crashed nearby.
A scorching blast of heat swept through, and Simon covered his face, staggering back. It seemed Elisa had lost the battle in the skies.
“Sorry, but!”
From the crashed ghost ship, Elisa emerged. Her face blackened with soot, she stretched out her arm.
“I’ve got my own desperate reason to capture you!”
Creak!
Squeak!
The remaining cannons of the ghost ship turned toward Simon and fired spirit shells. On the ground, Simon drew Overlord, cleaving the shells in half.
[Vermin! Stop interfering and begone!]
Whooosh!
Spewing searing flames from his mouth, Hector, still in dragon form, smashed down on the toy clocktower, landing upon the earth.
[I am the one who will succeed Phantasus brother.]
Merida too, who had been sleeping in midair under the protection of her quilt shield, revealed her true body.
No less than five of the Top 10, tangled chaotically together.
“Ahaha.”
At that moment, Simon let out a small laugh. At the sound of it, the other Top 10, who had been glaring at one another, turned their eyes toward him.
Ssshhh.
“You all, if this is how it’s going to be.”
Leaning back against the wall of a building, Simon shrugged his shoulders.
“Then just come at me all at once.”
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