Chapter 114

(5)

10.

The base of the Arsen faction.

Since the battle began, Ulan hadn’t taken his eyes off the screen.

The one he particularly focused on was his former comrade, the Knight Ian Marcus.

‘He’s hiding his true power.’

Not using Divine Power is proof of that.

Ian was an Expert, but if he pushed his Divine Power to the limit, he could temporarily tap into Master-level strength.

Yet, despite hiding his abilities, he showed no signs of being overwhelmed. In fact, it was Arsen’s assault group that appeared to be faltering.

‘At this rate…’

The battle was bound to conclude with Ian’s victory.

Before Ulan’s speculation could finish, a notification flashed:

[Rand Filius: Death]

[Remaining Arsen troops: 8]

The hunter, Rand Filius, who had been shooting arrows to keep Ian in check, had his orb shattered.

Only Iris and Ivella remained.

Realizing the situation was becoming dire, Ulan immediately called out to Cliff.

“Do I not need to help?”

“……”

“Seems like it’s time for a swap.”

No reply came back.

Though Cliff had been silent, he hadn’t been completely mute. Up until Rand’s death, he was holding onto his bracelet and exchanging words with someone.

Just then, Ian grabbed Ivella by the collar.

[Ivella Elea’ad: Death]

[Remaining Arsen troops: 7]

Ivella, clutching her stomach, rolled on the ground.

Seeing this, Iris suddenly pulled back as if to retreat. Was she planning to run away?

As he pondered this, a booming voice echoed across the battlefield.

―Ulan Bator!

Suddenly, Iris in the video shouted his name. She was straining, her voice loud enough to be heard from afar.

―If you’re watching this, please swap places with the defensive troops and come to the battlefield! We need your help!

With that plea for support from Iris, Cliff’s expression twisted.

“Tch, useless things…”

His face clearly showed his irritation.

With a discontented frown, he clicked his tongue and then spoke to Ulan’s back, who was trying to leave the base.

“Stop, Barbarian.”

“……?”

“You can’t leave this place.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’re part of the base’s defensive strength. Don’t even think about stepping outside.”

“But Iris needs my help…”

“Does it seem like you didn’t understand my words?”

With another furrowed brow, Cliff glared at Ulan.

“Forget swapping! You can’t go outside. That’s one of the conditions for participating in the Student Council.”

“Student Council? Conditions for participation?”

“Haven’t you heard from Iris?”

No, he hadn’t.

He only found out this morning that the Student Council was participating in the mock battle.

Cliff smirked, as if he had anticipated Ulan’s puzzled reaction.

“I can understand Iris’s feelings too. As a noble lady from the Senior Count family, she probably wouldn’t want to spend too much time chatting with a barbarian like you.”

Just as Cliff’s mocking response finished, they witnessed Iris collapse.

[Iris Senior: Death]

[Remaining Arsen troops: 6]

With that, the assault group was completely decimated.

Ulan narrowed his eyes.

He didn’t understand why Cliff was blocking him, but he couldn’t hesitate any longer. As it stood, he could lose without achieving anything.

So, ignoring Cliff, he intended to leave the base directly. To move toward the defensive line and swap with someone.

But then, a problem arose.

“If you go out, I’ll go out too.”

Cliff, standing at the entrance.

He was ready to leave the base at any moment, tapping the door with his foot.

“Even a dumb barbarian should know what happens if the base is left unguarded, right?”

“……”

Ulan, about to step outside, fell silent.

What was with this? Why was he acting this way?

Confused and unable to understand Cliff’s words and actions, Ulan frowned.

“Why are you going this far?”

“I just hate you.”

In that moment, Cliff cut Ulan off.

“It’s unbelievably disgusting that you attend the same Academy as a barbarian.”

In his blue eyes, there was unmistakable contempt.

He looked over Ulan’s figure as if it were nothing but a filthy piece of trash.

“I’m not the only one. All the other students probably think the same. They’re just too afraid of your fists to voice their complaints.”

[Emil Dirbel: Death]

[Remaining Arsen troops: 5]

“It should’ve been Himel Deorg that had to leave the Academy, not you! You are a foreign element that doesn’t belong in Arsen!”

[Delia Arpen: Death]

[Kamila Tanesia: Death]

[Remaining Arsen troops: 3]

The numbers of Arsen’s forces dwindled rapidly.

Meanwhile, Cliff couldn’t care less. Ulan too stopped watching the video.

With the door between them, Cliff glared at Ulan.

“Know your place, barbarian.”

“……”

“You don’t fit in with Arsen.”

After growling fiercely, he pounded the door with his foot again.

“So, while I’m being civil, just get out of Arsen. Don’t tarnish Arsen’s reputation any further. If you refuse…”

I’ll make sure you think about leaving.

Cliff grinned wickedly.

There were many ways.

He had expelled at least ten commoner students already. Kicking out a barbarian with no backing would be a piece of cake.

‘No matter how much of an Expert you are, if you’re publicly humiliated and your reputation falls, you won’t be able to endure it.’

Cliff wore a pleased smile.

But that didn’t last long.

He felt something strange.

‘What’s going on? Why is there no reaction?’

Despite the biting insults and mockery, Ulan showed no reaction. He simply stood there, silent, mouth tightly closed.

As though lost in deep thought.

Huh? Wait a minute. Lost in thought?

Cliff’s eyes widened slightly.

At that moment, Ulan’s eyes went wide too.

“Ah, I see.”

“What?”

“Yeah, that’ll do.”

Ulan nodded, looking as if he had just emerged from deep contemplation, while Cliff raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t just ignore everything I said until now, did you?”

“Huh? Did you say something to me?”

“……”

As the unimaginable turned real, Cliff wore a look of exasperation.

Shortly after, his face turned a shade of red from the shame of being ignored by a barbarian.

“Listen up!”

Meanwhile, Ulan seemed unaware and continued to look at Cliff.

“I’ve found a solution.”

A clever plan to overcome the current predicament.

With a proud grin, Ulan declared, “I’ll make sure you can’t leave the base.”

“……What?”

Cliff wore a bewildered expression.

It was such an obvious plan anyone could come up with.

He couldn’t believe that Ulan had been too dim-witted to think of that. He crumpled his face and shouted,

“Ha! How will you—”

“Do you know what a totem is?”

“What? A totem?”

“It refers to structures set up by sorcerers to achieve their magical purposes.”

Of course, he knew that.

Cliff was a Mage after all.

“What does that have to do with anything right now…”

“It does have something to do with it.”

Cutting him off suddenly, Ulan pointed a finger at him.

“From now on, I’m turning you into a totem.”

In a starkly emotionless tone.

Upon hearing that, chills suddenly ran down Cliff’s spine.

His instincts screamed at him.

He needed to get the hell out of there. Realizing this, Cliff hurriedly shouted,

“Don’t come any closer!”

He invoked the defensive spell he had prepared.

Grasping his Magic Orb, he shouted sharply as a warning, “If you take one more step, I’ll break my Magic Orb!”

This should stop Ulan from making any reckless moves. If the orb broke, part of the defensive strength of the base would vanish.

And there was one more thing to threaten him with.

“I’ll just say that you ambushed me, and my orb broke because of you! Then the trouble will find…”

It’ll fall on you instead.

Cliff intended to say that.

But he couldn’t finish his thought. The feeling of the orb he had just touched vanished like smoke instead.

“……Huh?”

Cliff blinked blankly.

Moments later, the realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.

Ulan had approached him and was holding his Magic Orb!

“W-What the heck?! When did you…! Ugh!”

Just as he was about to scream in shock, he was suddenly met with a giant hand clamped over his face.

With incredible strength, he felt his entire face being crushed.

“Ahhh! Guuh! Ugh!”

But it was a meaningless struggle.

The more he squirmed, the more Ulan tightened his grip over Cliff’s face.

Meanwhile, Ulan walked silently.

After a moment, he arrived at the center of the cabin—where the Arsen flag was planted.

“This looks like a good enough spot.”

Nodding silently, Ulan grinned.

Cliff wanted to scream and ask what he was about to do.

But just then, the world turned upside down. Without even a moment to register the sudden shift—

BOOM!

A powerful shock struck his head.

With the jarring sensation like being hit by lightning, his vision quickly faded to black.

Cliff lost consciousness.

11.

Thud! Dust swirled through the cabin.

The ceiling poured down particles from the impact just moments ago. A moment later, as the dust settled, Ulan stared at the object before him.

“……”

It was the Student Council President.

Cliff Anton, headfirst, embedded in the floor, with only his lower body protruding.

Ulan bound Cliff’s ankles tightly with rope. Then, he stuffed the glowing Magic Orb into his groin.

“Now it looks more like a totem.”

With a satisfied smile, he recalled the rules of this mock battle.

‘Each faction’s base must have…’

At least two powers defending it. If the numbers changed, a grace period would be given, or disqualification would occur depending on the situation.

‘However, the state of the powers wasn’t mentioned.’

This meant that even if they were injured, as long as they remained at the base, they would still be considered a part of the power defending it.

Plus, with the orb intact, Cliff was officially present as a defending force here.

“Even I think this is a brilliant solution.”

To come up with such a plan, the Academy had its benefits. Feeling oddly smarter, Ulan smiled proudly.

At that moment, sudden footsteps caught his attention.

Before he knew it, someone was pounding on the door urgently.

“Ulan! Ulan! Are you in there?!”

The familiar voice resonated in his ears.

As the door opened, a familiar face appeared.

“Noa?”

“Yes! I came to swap out!”

Noa answered, breathing heavily.

With her words, Ulan couldn’t help but smile.

This was perfect timing. He had been planning to seek Noa out.

“So hurry up and—… Whoa, what the heck?!”

Just then, Noa gasped in shock.

She had spotted Cliff Anton, absurdly stuck head first in the floor. Letting out a short scream, she pointed at him with wide eyes.

“Wh-What is that?!”

“Cliff Anton.”

“Oh, he was the Student Council President. I thought he was some kind of totem.”

Noa nodded, her eyes narrowing.

“You didn’t kill him, did you?”

“No, he’s still alive.”

“His upper body is buried underground!”

“But he can still breathe.”

Well, that’s okay then.

Noa nodded in agreement.

“As long as he’s still breathing, it’s fine. But you need to get back to the battlefield! The flag should be secured by me and the totem—I mean, the Student Council President.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”

“It might be a bit tough, but I’ve got to endure as much as I can. I don’t want to lose like this, do I?”

That was true.

Ulan didn’t want to lose without doing anything.

“Understood. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes! Oh, do you have any kind of strategy?”

“Strategy?”

“You don’t have one, do you?”

Noa’s awkward smile confirmed that.

Ulan shook his head.

“No, I do have a strategy.”

“Oh, really? What is it?”

“Well…”

Just as he was about to answer her question, a loud noise echoed.

Crash! Boom!

The door flew open with a bang.

Following that, two young men wielding a Holy Shield stormed into the base.

It was the Eloden assault team.

“Found the Arsen flag!”

“Great! Secure the flag first!”

The cadets’ faces lit up with excitement.

However, they made a mistake.

They were so focused on the flag that they failed to notice Ulan’s presence at all. Of course, even if they had spotted him first, it probably wouldn’t have changed much.

BOOM!

An overwhelmingly loud explosion rang out.

As Ulan extended his fist, a powerful shockwave raged like a storm, engulfing the unsuspecting pair.

Crash, crash, crash!

It felt like an earthquake as the two were thrown out of the base.

[Denver Gordo: Death]

[Robern Kraugh: Death]

[Remaining Eloden troops: 8]

The two fainted before they could even scream.

Wiping out the assault team in a flash, Ulan turned back to Noa. Then, he delivered the answer he hadn’t been able to express earlier.

“This is my strategy.”

“……What’s that?”

“I’ll crush anyone who blocks my path.”

“Wait, that’s a little…”

Isn’t that a little too simple for a strategy?

However, he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Ulan had already vanished outside the base.

WHOOSH!

As he clashed with the fierce wind head-on, he silently looked down the hill.

Soon, the Eloden assault team climbed into view. Among them were some familiar faces.

“Ian.”

And Laurea too.

As their expressions hardened, the two looked like they had just seen something terrifying.

Moments later, both of them paled and took steps back as if it were a reflex.

There was only one reason for this.

As soon as their eyes met, Ulan lunged forward without hesitation, charging straight at them.

“IIIIIaaaaan—!”

With joy flooding his voice, Ulan could hardly contain the thrill of facing off against a comrade from his past life. Thus, he sprinted down the hill without a moment’s hesitation.

Chapter 28. Don’t you want to settle this as a draw?

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