Chapter 98

“Hoo.”

A tired sigh escaped my lips.

In front of me, one of the participants from the first round of qualifiers was sprawled out, having just taken a punch.

It was clear that my stamina had been significantly drained by this point.

“Wang Non!”

At that moment, I lifted my head at Card’s call.

I noticed a bracelet on Card’s wrist glowing.

Looking back at my own wrist, mine was glowing just the same.

This is…

Ding ding ding—

A sound echoed from everyone’s bracelets.

It was the sign that the qualifiers had ended.

16 people.

We had made it to the top 64 for the finals.

Card and I locked eyes.

Our hands shot out and high-fived in an instant.

“Wow, we actually made it!”

Grantoni came running over, waving his arms.

His pale wrists were clearly visible.

Shortly after, we heard an announcement to move outside the forest.

Thanks to the light from our wrists, we exited without any confusion.

As we stepped out of the forest, the instructors approached us in a hurry.

They checked our injuries, treated us, and pointed us to a resting area.

At the same time, I noticed others walking out of the forest.

They were the qualifiers.

Among them, there was a guy whose eyes met mine directly.

The son of shadows.

Solvas Umbra.

He seemed a bit worse for wear, likely due to the aftermath of my explosive attack.

As soon as our eyes met, Solvas flinched.

Then he twisted his face in anger and glared at me.

It seemed he was embarrassed by the flinch caused by the shock engraved in his body.

It was like a porcupine puffing up its quills.

Now that I think about it, he does bear some resemblance.

From now on, I’ll call him Sol-porky.

Solvas turned his head sharply and walked away.

“That scared him properly. That’ll have repercussions in the next match.”

Card sidled up next to me, chuckling.

Now that things have turned out this way, I hope he trips up in the next match.

“I think I’ll go check the results of the other group’s qualifiers.”

“Oh really? I was thinking of having a meal first.”

“Go eat with Grantoni. I just want to see the results and head off.”

“Hehe, food! Food!”

Card nodded and casually went off to eat with Grantoni.

Seeing Card so easily get along with Grantoni shows he really has some great social skills.

In the Butterfly Fire group, results for international individual qualifier rounds were always random.

So I couldn’t guarantee who would come out on top this time.

I quickly moved to a different area.

Checking around, I found that the other groups were pretty much done as well.

People were bustling around, watching the matches.

Even those who were eliminated in the qualifiers could still watch the matches.

Maybe that’s why there was a considerable crowd.

On the wall, matches that hadn’t finished yet were still being screened.

I could see students letting out sighs here and there.

First, I checked the results of the qualifiers.

‘The main team members passed without any issues.’

It seemed everyone performed well in their qualifiers.

Among them, one name stood out.

Group 3, Ordo Academy’s Eve.

Unyielding Blue Flame.

“As expected, you passed too.”

At that moment, the main character appeared.

As I turned my head, there stood a woman with blue hair.

Eve was looking pristine, without a single wound on her.

Considering the time since the qualifiers took place, there couldn’t have been much of a difference from my condition.

To look that unscathed, she must have completely dominated her qualifiers.

“Yes, it would be embarrassing to be eliminated from the qualifiers.”

“…You’re being shameless after what you did to me.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

She glared intensely at me.

It seemed like she had heard a lot of chatter about our previous encounter.

It’s no wonder that rumors spread to Jerion Academy about Eve’s passionate confession.

It must have been tough for Eve to show her face around after that.

I felt a bit sorry, but I had already committed myself to being unashamed.

I was determined to keep this shamelessness till the end.

“Well, I had no choice but to attack after being ambushed.”

I couldn’t exactly say that I attacked her due to the Remnants of the Ice Dragon.

So I chose a way to ease the situation as best as I could.

“I apologize for the ambush.”

Who would have thought I’d end up apologizing?

“But I still believe that the Magic of the Ice Dragon is dangerous.

If you don’t follow the proper way of removing the magic, I’ll have no choice but to exert my power. So I will eliminate your magic.”

Eve turned on her heel and walked away, leaving a warning behind.

Does she really need to come specifically to warn me?

She really carries her role as the side story’s main character, doesn’t she?

‘I could never pull off something like that.’

That’s something one is born with.

“Ah.”

“This is hopeless.”

At that moment, I heard the students sighing.

I unconsciously followed suit and turned back to the screen.

“Huh?”

Soon my eyes began to widen.

Because Seron was on the screen.

Seron’s opponent was someone I recognized.

Royal Palace of the Sky, Paradon.

The Paradon Academy established there.

The sole prince, Ergo Paradon.

One of the six stars, facing Seron head-on.

But Seron was a mess.

Her opponent was one of the six stars, so it was no surprise that Seron couldn’t handle him.

Seron swung her axe without retreating even an inch in front of him.

However, no one could visualize Seron’s victory.

She was already bruised and bloodied from battling Ergo.

〔You’re throwing a meaningless struggle before me. It would be easier to just accept your defeat.〕

Dozens of swords swirled around Ergo.

He could swing swords without even holding one.

The legendary swordsmanship that only those chosen from the Paradon royal family could wield.

The Swordsmanship of the Sky.

The swords flew in pursuit of Seron as she dashed through the woods.

Seron’s axe constantly deflected the swords, but they curved and returned again.

Each one was a treasured blade, renowned as a famous sword.

Not even Seron’s extraordinary technique could lay harm upon those blades.

She began to feel increasingly cornered.

Seeing the swords blocking her path, Seron bit her lip.

A red flash of light glimmered from her axe.

Bang! Boom!

Explosive blasts erupted from Seron’s axe one after another.

The force was so powerful that it sent the swords flying in all directions.

The black smoke from the explosions filled the forest.

In that moment, when Ergo narrowed his golden eyebrows and glanced into the smoke—

Woosh!

Something burst forth from that smoke.

Ergo’s swords all shot towards that direction.

Thud!

As soon as Ergo’s swords lodged themselves, his eyes widened.

There was a chunk of wood tumbling, impaled by one of his swords.

It was a piece of wood that Seron had smashed while running.

Thud!

At that moment, enormous trees began crashing down towards Ergo through the smoke.

〔Hah.〕

Ergo unconsciously swallowed hard.

He finally realized what Seron, who had been swinging her axe out of sight, was up to.

A shadow began to loom over Ergo’s head.

The fallen trees swung their heavy bodies to crush Ergo.

Whoosh!

Ergo’s swords all soared into the air.

The Swordsmanship of the Sky swung towards the falling trees above.

At the moment the trees were sliced clean by Ergo’s swords—

Thud—

Beneath the splintering wood,

Seron swung her axe mightily from below.

The eyes of Ergo and Seron met.

She had sustained such injuries, yet she had found her only chance at victory.

〔Rraaaaah!〕

Seron poured all of her strength into the axe to seize this opportunity.

However, there are things that talent cannot overcome.

Right before Seron’s axe reached Ergo,

Swiiish—

From above, a sword the size of a house crushed down upon them, splitting the tree in half.

Kwaaaaang!

Seron was sent tumbling by the wind pressure, rolling across the ground.

She tried to hold her ground on her two legs, but the descending sword was just too overwhelming.

The sword was so ridiculously large that it could be seen even from outside the forest.

Sky Swordsmanship—

The God-Slayer’s Sword—

The strongest sword wielded by Ergo.

Seron rolled through the rising dust.

In the moment she hastily tried to gather herself and stand,

Bam!

Ergo’s foot kicked Seron’s belly.

〔Gyaah!〕

Seron tumbled on the ground.

She couldn’t get up after being hit in the gut.

〔Why don’t you just give up against me?〕

But every time she struggled to stand, Ergo appeared before her.

Thud!

Ergo’s foot smashed into Seron’s solar plexus.

Seron swallowed the scream that escaped her throat.

〔You should know better than anyone that this struggle is pointless.〕

Ergo’s foot pressed down harder.

By now, a sneer had settled on his lips.

〔Well, I guess for someone like you, fighting against me would feel like an honor. I can understand that sentiment.〕

Ergo had a unique trait of sadism.

That’s why the more he witnessed Seron’s desperate struggles, the more he ruthlessly punished her.

At that moment, Seron raised her hand and grabbed Ergo’s ankle.

〔Why don’t you just give up?〕

Seron grit her teeth.

〔My beloved one is ridiculously tenacious. If I want to see him again, I have to stick through the qualifiers.〕

Seron laughed, revealing her blood-stained teeth.

〔And damn, honor is meaningless, you fake prince! My true prince is somewhere else!〕

Ergo’s expression turned blank.

Then—

Light filled Seron and Ergo’s bracelets.

The qualifiers for Group 1 had just ended.

Ergo lifted his foot from Seron.

The moment everyone watching the match sighed in relief—

〔Ah, I see.〕

Ergo slammed his foot down again.

Crack!

Seron’s body bent at an angle.

A voice filled with shock echoed from the students.

Ergo’s bracelet emanated a red light, and a teacher burst onto the scene, forcibly restraining the enraged Ergo.

Seron was quickly taken away by the instructor.

And I witnessed all of it with my eyes wide open.

Drip—

A droplet of blood trickled down my hand.

I clenched my fist so tightly that a wound formed in my palm.

I realized the state I was in.

This was definitely rage.

But I couldn’t let that rage out completely.

My heart felt painfully suffocated.

Even though my emotions were boiling over, I couldn’t spit them out.

I finally understood what was affecting me.

‘The Bandage of the Veil.’

The bandage of the veil that I had used was suppressing my rage.

To be precise, the anger was gradually dissipating.

‘It turns out that losing emotions isn’t just limited to one thing.’

This was a truth I had been unaware of.

Thanks to that, my head was actually cooling down instead.

The sight of Ergo rampaging among the instructors was branded into my eyes.

Whether Seron had crossed a line or not, I didn’t care about that at all.

After all, this world operates on double standards.

My friend was treated like that.

“Ergo.”

This bastard is definitely going to be smashed to pieces.