Chapter 49
As the man stepped forward, the golem's gaze focused on him.
The mana surrounding the golem's body grew sharper.
For some unknown reason, it seemed to be more wary of the masked man than of Sion.
The golem began throwing rocks wildly as a preemptive attack.
The man fluidly dodged the stones that flew at him, two every second.
Though they varied in size, speed, and angle, he showed not a single mistake.
While his agility was several levels below Sion's, he showed no deficiency. His movements were extremely concise and efficient.
When a brief opening appeared, he immediately launched a sword wave that blew away the golem's left shoulder.
CRASH!
The golem's body tilted from the recoil.
With one arm gone, the barrage of stones diminished. He then fired another sword wave, destroying the right shoulder.
Both of the golem's arms fell to the ground, and uncontrolled rocks rolled everywhere.
Taking advantage of the absence of the two most troublesome arms, the man quickly approached the golem.
What's his plan?
Destroying the arms only bought a little time.
Maintaining a magic sword consumed enormous energy. It would be more efficient to target the core rather than attacking other parts.
As Sion had expected, the golem began regenerating its arms.
The scattered rocks were drawn back to the golem.
The recovery speed was much faster than before, taking less than ten seconds for the previously destroyed left arm to reform.
The man used this lull to run toward the torso, throwing a blue sphere into the deep sword mark Sion had left.
Then he jumped up using the golem's body as a foothold and swung his sword at the newly reformed left shoulder.
The solid rock was cut as easily as cake by the man's sword.
"...!"
It had taken Sion three strikes to cut through that section. Though she hadn't yet maximized Sibelin's performance, even accounting for that, the man's magic sword was overwhelmingly powerful.
His sword handling resembled a wild beast more than a swordsman who had undergone long training.
This made it even harder to determine his identity. With nothing identifiable even in his swordsmanship, he truly seemed like someone who had fallen from the sky.
Meanwhile, the golem's right arm regenerated. The speed was now so fast that destroying them seemed meaningless.
The golem's attacks intensified to protect its core.
Each time the golem struck, the ground split, and rock dust scattered.
It seemed like continuing the battle might cause Mount Grace's summit to collapse.
The man desperately dodged each attack thrown at him while throwing another blue sphere into the torso.
What is he putting in there?
Being less agile than Sion, his struggle only intensified as time went on.
Yet he managed to throw in two more spheres.
Reaching his limit, the man took a direct hit from the golem's octopus-like, freely moving arms and went flying.
Sion frowned. As she had experienced, even one hit made movement significantly difficult due to the impact. This would make the fight even harder.
He flew about fifty paces away and rolled on the ground.
After lying down briefly to catch his breath, the man slowly got up.
From that distance, he took out a potion.
Sion knew what that potion was.
A vitality potion...?
As the enraged golem rapidly approached him, the man ignored the apparent need to flee and gulped down the potion.
Then he stood still, watching the golem.
She couldn't understand what he was trying to do.
What is he waiting for?
As the golem approached, forcing the ground to tremble in its wake, explosions erupted from its torso with blue light.
Its massive body tilted momentarily from the recoil.
Consecutive explosions followed in the torso.
The golem's body twisted several times, creating cracks and fissures.
White frost spread rapidly from the torso to the shoulders and legs.
Sion's eyes widened as she watched.
Magic bombs?
Finally, the golem froze solid.
After finishing the potion, the man tossed the empty bottle aside and briefly admired the frozen statue-like golem, as if appreciating a masterpiece.
Then he swung his sword widely, firing a sword wave.
CRASH!
It struck the frozen golem, blowing away half its upper body.
The following sword wave shattered the remaining torso to pieces.
RUMBLE
The remaining parts lost support and fell to the ground.
Where the torso's center had been, a bright red crystal floated in the empty space left by the vanished rocks.
The golem's core.
A final sword wave struck the crystal, shattering it to pieces. The powdered fragments flew into the air on the mountain wind.
After a moment of silence, the distant magic tablet began to glow blue, receiving mana.
RUMBLE
A magic circle spread from the tablet, and the surrounding chaos began to organize itself.
Scattered rocks moved noisily, fitting together to level the ground.
It seemed to signal that the final gate had truly ended.
Though she had doubted it, the man had really defeated the golem alone.
Only then did Sion realize she had lost the bet with her master.
Because of this man who appeared out of nowhere.
More than defeat, she felt bewilderment.
Had her master made the bet knowing such an impossible strange person would appear?
The man dispelled his magic sword and approached Sion.
When he crouched in front of her and tried to touch her ankle, she immediately knocked his hand away.
"Don't touch me."
Ignoring her protest, he took out a potion from his chest and grabbed her ankle, pouring it generously.
"What are you...!"
The intense pain that had felt like a fractured bone began subsiding instantly.
Sion was momentarily speechless. Everything this man carried was mysterious.
When she tried to stand by herself, he helped support her.
Sion spoke in a cold tone, "Why are you being unnecessarily meddlesome?"
Again, there was no answer.
Though she spoke that way, having received his help several times had somewhat lowered her guard.
The man supported Sion as they slowly moved toward the magic tablet.
Upon reaching it, she shook off his support and stood by herself.
Whoever placed their hand on the tablet first would be the overall first place. Others might have gone crazy over this, but the man didn't reach for the tablet and just stared at Sion. He seemed to want to say something.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you putting your hand on it?"
Sion observed his demeanor briefly and said, "Don't tell me you want us to do it together?"
He nodded.
"You really are a funny one, aren't you?"
Is he suggesting they should mark it together since they fought together?
Having already been surpassed, Sion didn't want to take first place anymore.
She stared directly into his eyes.
Does he have his own thoughts about this?
Since Sion had acted alone, she had no opportunity for additional points. Though she wasn't sure about Eternia's scoring system, if the man had earned other additional points through cooperation, he would become the top student even if they marked together.
Even if things went wrong, they would at least be joint first, so he wouldn't completely take her position.
Sion sighed.
Her feelings were complicated. It was her first defeat against a peer, and losing the bet meant being bound to Eternia for four years.
In this situation, she didn't want to think too complexly.
"Haa, whatever. Fine, let's do it."
They both spread their palms and brought them close to the tablet.
And together, they pressed their hands against it.
Sion deliberately pressed her hand slightly after the man.
When they removed their hands, blue handprints remained briefly before disappearing.
"It's over."
Their entrance exam was now finished, with only the descent remaining.
A light breeze blew Sion's long hair. She briefly admired the view from the summit. Not far away, a river cut through the mountain range. Five Eternia sailships were waiting there.
Those who finished the exam didn't need to return the way they came; they could take those ships downstream.
Sion turned to the man and said, "You..."
The man stretched and slightly turned his body toward the descent path.
As he was about to step away, Sion grabbed his sleeve and said, "Tell me your name."
"..."
Even when the man ignored her, Sion persisted.
"Your name."
The man shook his head.
"You can't go until you tell me."
"..."
"I understand you have your reasons, but your name will be announced to the whole school at the entrance ceremony anyway. I can keep a secret, just tell me."
He silently removed her hand and started walking again.
Sion limped after him and grabbed him so forcefully that his clothes nearly tore.
"Name."
When Sion became adamant, the man's eyes wavered slightly.
"..."
The man tried to free himself, but Sion wouldn't let go. As if giving in, he took out his wooden sword. Then, he used its tip to write characters on the rock.
Sion read the name carved in the rock with a puzzled expression.
"...Candy?"
The man nodded.
Sion glared at him and said, "That's not your real name."
"..."
He showed no sign of revealing it. Sion sighed with a dissatisfied expression and said, "Fine. I don't need it, just go."
She finally released his clothes.
They would be in the same Combat Department anyway, so they'd meet again to cross swords.
"...But next time we meet, let's have a match."
***
I had to return to the checkpoint.
It wasn't over even until it was over. Despite feeling exhausted and wanting to go home immediately, I couldn't.
I planned to remove the mask, return from being a nameless person to Damian, and complete the full seven days of the exam.
Being known as Silveryn's disciple, I needed to show my face occasionally to avoid suspicious questions.
After killing time like that, on the seventh day, I descended and boarded the ship, returning to Eternia.
All the other passengers were either the latest arrivals or those who hadn't made it at all—the lowest ranked —and their gloomy expressions.
Among them were the knight and mage who had quarreled with Cecil during our time together. Thanks to having removed my mask, they didn't recognize me.
It took less than half a day to travel downstream along the river.
At the dock near Eternia, a carriage Silveryn had sent waited for me.
I headed to Silveryn's mansion in that carriage.
When I arrived at the mansion after completing everything, the sun was already setting.
Though it had only been a week, it felt like months had passed.
I got out of the carriage at the gate and walked into the courtyard.
For some reason, all the maids were in the courtyard, tending to the garden trees and weeds.
Having entered too quietly, they didn't seem to notice my arrival.
While quietly observing the surroundings, my eyes met with Silveryn's, who was sitting on a wooden bench with her legs crossed and chin propped up.
Her eyes widened as she saw me.
She jumped up and approached me.
Without any welcome greeting, she grabbed my wrist and said, "Come with me."
Silveryn pulled me across the courtyard, leading me somewhere.
"Professor...?"
"It's urgent."
Liria, who had spotted me, stopped sweeping and waved cheerfully in greeting.
I returned her greeting while being dragged along.
Silveryn led me past the corner of the main building's outer wall to a shaded spot out of the maids' sight.
Her grip on my wrist was quite firm.
From her tone and expression, it seemed like something serious.
She pushed me against the wall and said,
"Tell me."
"...Yes?"
"You... didn't miss your teacher?"
I blinked several times in confusion, not quite grasping the atmosphere, and said, "Of course, I missed..."
Silveryn cut off my words by suddenly embracing me.
She pressed me against the wall using her weight and said, "Me too."