Chapter 286

The day after my participation in the Academy对抗赛 was confirmed and I registered and submitted the 3-circle magic to the organizing committee,

I had a memory of being secretly called to a hotel room by the seniors from the middle school department, where they explained the enemies we would be facing.

[I jaehwan, Joseon Yeon, Park Jun Yong, Lee Min Young. This gang of four has been connected for nine years, and except for Lee Min Young, they all come from well-off families, so they are nicely described as a group that leads the entire grade.]

[What about negatively?]

[Just a bunch of smart delinquents who are oblivious to the ways of the world. It’s said that quite a few kids have transferred because of them.]

Due to the closed nature of Altear Academy, where going out is impossible except on weekends, the kids built their own society within that small space.

[Especially, Lee Jae-hwan, whose mother is the representative of the Green Party, and Joseon Yeon, whose grandfather is a cardinal, are the two core people. Lee Jae-hwan mainly uses natural barrier magic that applies biomimetic technology, and Joseon Yeon, being affiliated with the Catholic Archdiocese of Seoul, has Aquinas’ Summa Theologia as her philosophy.]

[Then who’s the other one?]

[It’s a unique character named Oh Deok-jae, who just graduated from our Seviron Academy and is a senior from the year above. I think he’s been here for a year. His parents are just researchers at the Defense Science Research Institute, and… there’s nothing particularly special about him.]

[But how did you know all that information, senior?]

[Ah, one of my parents’ acquaintances is in the national security… uh!]

Just thinking about why the gifted education of Korea was taken over by an American foundation made it easy to find the answer.

Both Seviron and Altear have gathered the children of the so-called “vested interests” that the public commonly refers to, and it’s hard to believe that it would work properly under the supervision of Korean educational institutions.

“Are there only two left now?”

The tattered sleeves of my shirt were constantly bothering me.

I gathered my aura around my fingertips and neatly cut off the rags.

In the meantime, Lee Jae-hwan was eliminated, and Oh Deok-jae entered as the last participant.

I couldn’t help but feel that it was ridiculous having kids unleash their finishing moves right from the start.

There must be a valid reason for heroes to unleash their full power only in times of crisis.

“Ow, my neck is killing me.”

Joseon Yeon said, twisting her head.

Due to the tournament rules, we were not allowed to threaten the opponent during substitutions, so the knot of Arabesque naturally dissipated.

As she was regaining her composure, Joseon Yeon was staring at me with a murderous glare.

“Joseon Yeon, since we have the numerical advantage, let’s keep an eye on the situation and take it slow.”

“Shut up, you otaku bastard. I’ll kill you if you intervene in this fight.”

Joseon Yeon cut off Oh Deok-jae’s words decisively, her aura heart began to shake and her strong will manifested in the world.

“I’ll take care of that little brat.”

Woosh—

The aura responded to Joseon Yeon’s will.

Soon, a pure light burst forth, shining around her head like a halo.

“The beginning of external manifestation?”

It wasn’t perfect, but she had already broken through the outer wall of the mental world.

“Nonsense. It’s divine grace.”

Joseon Yeon rebutted, biting her lip.

Whoosh—!

The inner world, built on blind faith, granted the girl a strong body.

Her legs launched explosively.

As she ran towards me, she disrupted the mana on her path with her hands.

Twisting the disturbed mana like clay, she tightly clenched her fist, and soon, white thorns burst uncontrollably from the tips of her fingers.

“Lord, forgive us our sins!”

“You’re the one acting like a werewolf.”

Whoosh—!

Every time she swung her nails, dozens of white flashes erupted from the tips of the thorns, tearing through the air and rushing towards me.

Each one was a lethal attack that I could not withstand.

As I tried to create distance, Joseon Yeon sprinted again, indiscriminately unleashing her attacks.

Focusing my aura in my eye, I deflected the lethal thorns back to the ground.

The gaze exchanging between us crossed the training hall, and a breathless back-and-forth continued.

“Just let me hit you once! Just once! Aaaaah!”

“Heh.”

Even though she looked like she might lose her mind at any moment, her stride and movements were incredibly precise.

She was likely trying to maintain a skewed distance so that I couldn’t cast the Demon Lord’s horn again, using the reach difference to overwhelm me.

Whether instinctual or not, she was a born fighter.

As I was pushed back dozens of times by her flurry of attacks until I hit the wall of the training hall, she stepped forward, eyes wide open, ready to attack.

“You didn’t see this coming!”

As if sensing it was a critical moment, Joseon Yeon threw a punch from below to above, lifting the ground as she did.

“…!”

I was much shorter than her.

So, unless she bent her waist severely, I wouldn’t get hit by an uppercut.

At that moment, a ring of light shot up from the ground, wrapping around my upper body.

Boom—!

As I was immediately bound and unable to move, Joseon Yeon grabbed my collar and lifted me to her eye level.

My feet easily left the ground.

Gasping for breath, the girl, drenched in sweat, looked me over from head to toe, then broke into a smirk.

“Haha, damn… not even a scream from you in this situation?”

“…”

“Hah, hah, phew… Now, Nameya, do you understand why I don’t step up in the tournament? It’s because the Seviron kids are simply unmatched. The unbelievers aren’t even worth the trouble.”

Crack—

Again, I crafted an arc discharge magic circle with my horn.

However, Joseon Yeon viciously grasped my horn with her other hand, dispersing all my mana.

“Don’t do anything reckless, friend. No matter what struggles you put up, sis will always be seven years ahead of you. If you dislike it, you should have been born earlier. Do you think you could achieve anything by barging into the middle school tournament without any preparations?”

The shape of my horn began to twist increasingly.

Just before returning to a state of pure mana, I opened my half-closed eyes wide and scrutinized her expression.

“Does your god free you from pain?”

“What?”

“Let me give you a piece of advice: you shouldn’t touch my horn recklessly. You might get hurt.”

[Resonance: Demon Lord’s Horn – Engraving]

[Casting: Pain Synchronization]

Crash—!

The horn on my head shattered into pieces, raining down on her face.

“Ahhh! What the hell!”

Joseon Yeon, hit by the shards of mana, startled and shook her face.

But soon, the mana naturally scattered and disappeared.

Nothing happened, and she wore a bewildered expression.

“My horn can act as a semi-permanent organ, but it can also be used as an inscribing medium like a stone tablet or mana stone. Do you understand what that means?”

“…?”

“In game terms, sis just fell for my trap card.”

Although scrolls cannot be brought into the tournament, it’s not forbidden to use the inscribing magic itself.

Thus, just as Joseon Yeon concealed her chain casting magic circle in Longinus’s spear, I had also inscribed a special engraving on the Demon Lord’s horn.

The activation trigger is the horn’s damage and contact with the body.

And the inscribing magic is the pain synchronization.

I pinched my left cheek hard.

“Ow!”

Squinting her eyes and rubbing her face, Joseon Yeon.

This time, I pinched my right cheek.

“Ugh!”

“Now I’m completely done with my interest in you, sis. You should surrender quickly.”

“Do you think I would surrender to such a shabby magic? It’s just ticklish—”

[Creation: Silicon Dioxide – Amorphous Solid]

Immediately, I created a piece of glass.

I raised the sharp shard high into the air and showed it to her clearly.

“What are you trying to do? Are you crazy?”

“Once upon a time, dark sorcerers lived like this.”

“Hey! Stop!”

Of course, this is based on the standard of a reincarnation world filled with mana.

The cold and sharp touch of the glass on my palm.

Creeeeek—

I forced more power to break through the particle barrier.

As I scraped the skin, crimson blood flowed out, dripping onto the sandy ground.

The next moment was a piercing scream.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Joseon Yeon’s raw scream sent the crowd into a frenzy.

“Jesus was nailed to the cross, but how come his disciples are so weak?”

Joseon Yeon’s sturdy legs collapsed pathetically.

Even when she clutched her hands and rolled around, the pain still sent electric signals to her brain.

“Didn’t you learn this at the academy? Dispersing interconnected magic circles is easy, you know? It’s supposed to be in the middle school curriculum.”

As she groaned in pain, I took slow steps toward her.

“Ugh…! That’s enough!”

Upon hearing my words, Joseon Yeon reached for the magic circle.

But there was no way I would let her dispel it.

I slowly moved the glass shard embedded in her palm toward her wrist.

Screeeech—

The barrier broke and restored repeatedly, this time spilling even more blood onto the ground.

A straight crack ran across her left arm.

“Ugh! Ugh! Aaah!”

I lifted her tear-streaked chin to face her.

The vivid blood dripping from my arm mixed with water, running down her face.

“I’m scared… it hurts… ugh, please. Just stop. What did I do wrong?”

Out of her sorrowful cries, a desperate scream erupted.

The once fierce face softened considerably.

I threw the glass shard aside and knelt down to embrace her tightly.

“So let’s promise to speak nicely in the future, and not to treat people with contempt. And fix that cringy way of speaking that’s been bothering me for a while now. Got it, sis?”

“Ugh…”

“Good job. Now rest.”

I gave a few light pats on the back of the religious zealot and stood back up.

‘You whine so much yet your stubbornness is really strong.’

She could have surrendered at any time, but it seemed like she despised losing to me more than dying.

Ultimately, Joseon Yeon was carried away on a stretcher by the judgment of the referees, having been declared unable to continue fighting.

[Casting: Tissue Regeneration]

Since the glass was made by magic, the neatly cut section was perfectly sealed.

And truly, as Joseon Yeon had said, I shifted my gaze to the boy who had not interfered in the battle until it reached this point.

“I thought it was all over…”

“No Name…”

“The most fun part is still left, isn’t it?”

After recently meeting Kamikita Emika, perhaps I had raised my standards too high, as the kids participating in the Academy对抗赛 didn’t quite satisfy me.

The plan to just leave for Japan and enjoy endless battles with her was briefly put on hold after seeing Oh Deok-jae.

While I was reading the mana flow to select Joseon Yeon’s threatening thorns, I felt his presence at the same time.

From a distance, his attitude of analyzing it as his own fight was remarkably excellent, and his judgment perfectly aligned with mine.

It wasn’t just me who was surprised.

“No Name, how far does your talent actually go?”

Oh Deok-jae asked, adjusting his glasses.

“How did you grasp all of Joseon Yeon’s aura? How is it possible for a human… no, for an eight-year-old like you?”

At a height slightly above 160 cm, smaller than his peers, a broad build, and skin that was a bit bumpy due to secondary sexual characteristics.

At first glance, he looked quite ordinary, but the reality was different.

As Oh Deok-jae exerted power, the muscles in his limbs bulged significantly, and his elongated eyes were always searching for the center of the battlefield.

Suddenly, he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and loosened his tie, throwing it to the floor.

He bent his knees to lower his center of gravity, keeping his left hand down and hiding his right hand behind his waist.

This was the correct stance for starting a “match.”

By executing an action that could meaningfully impact his winning chances by even 0.1%, he indicated he was pouring his sincerity into this duel.

He threw off the prejudice of age and recognized me as a real opponent.

“Finally… finally…!”

Then, I could not hold back either.

I threw away the magical items gifted by Baek Bong Gon, the gold hairpin and hair tie, into the corner of the training ground.

Then I took out a simple rubber hair tie I had prepared in my pocket and tied my long hair up tightly into two sections again.

I savored the feeling of the cumbersome restriction on my aura heart lifting away, enjoying the clear feeling like I had eaten a mint candy.

“If you’re that curious, senior, why don’t you check for yourself how far my talent goes?”

I’ll definitely roll you around just the way you like.