Chapter 110: Red Sea (4)

The match continued in a tense state.

Magic collided fiercely.

The speed of the two was so fast it was difficult to follow with the eyes, and only sparks remaining after collisions were fiercely flying in the empty air.

The only thing visible to the eye was faintly flickering shadows.

And the aftershocks hitting the spectator seats' barrier in time were all.

The surroundings stir.

"What is this? What exactly are we watching...?"

"It's not a speed that can be followed with the eyes."

"Let alone understanding the number of games going back and forth each instant... I can't even distinguish what movements the two are making."

"Wasn't he a student like us? Is there such a difference in level?"

"I can feel the mana density even beyond the barrier..."

It was already a match that far transcended the level.

The students couldn't discuss the scene they were witnessing.

Because even the minimum gap wasn't established for them.

"What in the world is that power...?"

It wasn't just the students.

The professors were the same.

Even setting the standard as faculty rather than students, this match had something that chilled the spine.

It was a close battle staying at such a high level.

"Is this situation even possible...?"

"It's preposterous."

"No matter how much time has passed since retirement, he was once called the pinnacle... To not be pushed back at all against such a veteran."

"Tsk tsk... It's like seeing a monster's raw gem."

Everyone absent-mindedly let out exclamations.

It was enough to be surprised.

Rather, it would be stranger not to be surprised.

Everyone knew he had outstanding talent, but until now no one had properly measured the boy's limits.

That's because there were rarely occasions to exercise his skills.

Everyone had similar reactions.

Silence settling.

Just.

Awe.

As the scene before their eyes far exceeded the category of understanding, the spectators had neither the need nor will to understand it.

They only blankly stared at a [genius] that didn't exist until now.

The cool air overwhelms the audience.

"Is that even possible...?"

"Like I would know? And weren't you the one who said he'd hold his own quite well?"

"No, that was obviously half a joke... Besides, that's not just holding his own, he's clashing almost evenly!"

"Isn't the professor going easy?"

"Does that look like a level he can handle while going easy to your eyes? Even other professors are making blank expressions in bewilderment."

"Is it really a close battle...?"

"Go!! The reverse bet is hitting!!!"

The children's exclamations were of no help.

Professor.

Cracks were forming in the name they thought could never be beaten.

The arena's fervor grew hotter.

The fierce offense and defense from the start now reaches its limit, and suddenly the snake who caught the back sticks the opponent into the ground.

With a dull bursting sound in the background, the professors mutter.

"Has there ever been a case of a student beating a professor in the tournament until now...?"

"Just once."

There was.

Just once.

A person who surpassed a professor as a student.

"Red Sword Star."

A name known to have reached the highest star.

Undoubtedly the greatest hero remaining in the empire, and a superhuman with no one to surpass him even looking through past history.

It was a record set when he was still a sixteen-year-old boy.

"......"

The professors thought simultaneously.

Today.

History might be written once again.

《Huhu.》

Dust fluttered on the screen broadcast by magic tools.

The arena with shadows cast.

The boy who had been walking in midair until just now tread the ground while fluttering his black coat.

Then he asked with a malicious smile on his lips.

《Do you perhaps intend to continue?》

His narrowed eyes were smiling ominously.

***

The Faculty Tournament.

Originally I had planned to pass it lightly.

I knew that causing a commotion in a place like this would only draw unnecessary attention.

I thought there was no need to increase troublesome matters.

But

"What can you do with mere illusion magic?"

Selena being ridiculed in front of the students.

I didn't like that moment.

She was someone who had helped me in many ways usually... I felt heated and thought I should step up needlessly.

Though the person in question didn't seem to care.

She was someone I personally felt affection for.

Because it was as if I was seeing myself.

More precisely, myself from a time so distant I couldn't remember exactly.

Perhaps it's a kind of reminiscence.

'Whatever the reason.'

I intended to return as much as the opponent provoked.

Even if it was a formal relationship, he dirtied the name of my master.

It was proper for a disciple to return revenge.

Yes.

Just like now.

"Ugh, uugh..."

Professor Cardel writhing while kneeling.

Groans were buried between his breaths.

I ask with my coat fluttering.

"Do you perhaps intend to continue?"

"......"

The opponent doesn't give an answer for a while.

Was it because of the shock remaining in his body?

Or was he shaken by the fact that he was pushed back by a mere student?

I guess it might be both.

"Ha..."

After catching his breath for a moment like that.

The professor came to his senses.

He suddenly raised his lowered head.

Though he was still confused, he didn't easily break his own pace.

Perhaps because he was a veteran, his speed of adapting to the situation was fast.

The professor brushed off dust from his collar.

An appearance of regaining composure.

The gaze that had leisurely circled now overflowed with cool chill.

It seemed he was recognizing the class.

"...I'll acknowledge it."

Cardel suddenly spoke.

Mana of terrifying mass swirls around.

His pupils glare entirely this way.

"I didn't think I'd be pushed back this far... It seems I underestimated the student too much."

"I'm just glad you've realized it even now."

"My face as a professor is no joke. I thought I'd show an overwhelming difference in skill, but I wonder if I've only raised questions about my qualifications."

The air sinks particularly calmly.

As if before a terrible storm.

In the precariously continuing event, the professor took his stance again.

This time he was emitting mana from his whole body.

"I've already lost as good as."

"Hmm?"

"As a professor, I've been defeated to the point of being pushed back against a student. However, since it's come to this, I'll do my best to trample you."

"That sounds quite exciting."

"I'll go all out for the end."

"By all means."

The professor neatly brought his two hands together.

Following that, mana began to resonate.

A spell with incomparably higher density than before fills the arena.

The adult's pupils flash with utmost cruelty.

Kugugugugu-!

Before long, the arena begins to shake.

Unknown bursting sounds occurring in midair.

Tension that seems about to cut at any moment swallows the area.

The students who had been exchanging opinions each fall silent, and the professors who had been dazed stand up from their seats in bewilderment.

Truly overwhelming spirit.

'Is it coming?'

I knew.

This was a precursor.

A precursor to a great disaster.

"I'll try to adjust so you don't get hurt."

Clap-!

The professor heavily claps his hands.

Right after.

Waves begin centered on the ground he stepped on.

It was a tsunami enough to cover the entire arena.

Filling the circular space made of barriers, foam rises to a height reaching nearly 50 meters.

It was the man's ultimate technique, counted among the top in destructive power even in the original work.

-Cardel-style Ocean Magic Secret Technique-

'Red Sea'

Waves of a size one doesn't even dare to look up at.

Even those watching fell into confusion.

Screams expressing concern about the match ring out here and there.

Even amid that, the professor's calm pupils were quiet.

Only his moving lips shine in the disaster, and the following end prepares to swallow the surroundings without remainder.

Only a short spell remains.

"Sea."

Cardel commands as if squeezing out his last strength.

"Wash away the blood."

At the same time, the waves' color begins to dye red.

As if soaked in drenching blood.

The red tsunami poured down following the finishing spell.

The students' cries shimmer beyond the barrier.

-W-what! Shouldn't that be stopped...?!

-How are we supposed to block something like that!

-He'll die if swept away! He should shout forfeit even now!

-It's already too late because of the barrier...!

The situation continued urgently.

Everyone seemed flustered.

Well, it would be their first time seeing magic with such thick concentration, so the children had no choice but to reflexively scream.

If it were an ordinary student, they would have lost consciousness around this point.

It was literally a situation of being crushed by mana.

"Huhu."

However,

This side doesn't back down.

Rather, I step forward.

A smile flowing thickly at my lips.

Though dark shadows completely covered the wide arena, I advanced toward the breaking foam with fearless steps.

The thickest lies ever were circling at my fingertips.

"Sea, hear the call."

I chant an incantation.

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Then the Lord said to me, "Why are you crying out to me?

Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water.

The Israelites will go through the sea on dry ground.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided.

"Therefore I speak to the false believer."

Lies swirl around.

A staff made by weaving shadows is held in my hand.

I strike down the raised staff to the ground.

Kwak-!

"Shatter."

The finishing sentence.

Right after.

The shadow of the tsunami that covered the sky disappears.

The waves that were about to swallow the arena lose strength, and the calmly dying Red Sea parts to both sides, making way.

It was truly a miraculous scene defying the laws of nature.

"......"

Everyone was dazed.

The sea parting like a lie.

It was an incomprehensible scenery as if falling into the boundary of dreams.

But the foolish sheep cannot take their eyes off.

Tok tok tok-.

The particularly clear shoe sounds whispering in the ears.

I walked through the gap where the tsunami parted.

As I cross between the submitting disaster like that, my gaze meets the young man standing staggering at the end.

He was in an exhausted state.

"Haa, haa..."

Cardel unable to breathe comfortably.

It seemed mana exhaustion had set in.

Though his gaze was high-spirited until just before the match started, now it had a dejected atmosphere as if unable to believe.

The professor seems to open his stiffened lips and mutters.

"Such... a monster..."

Thud-.

The young man collapsed, unable to continue speaking.

He was already in an unconscious state.

"Hmm~ Does this mean I've won?"

I ask toward the device broadcasting the arena.

Only the snake's smile was being transmitted on the huge screen.

"How is it?"

A moment of silence.

And the announcer's voice belatedly grasping the situation and declaring.

It was a resonance announcing the end of the match.

《T-the match has ended...!》

《Professor Cardel Evans forfeits. The winner is Head Teaching Assistant Yuda Snakers!》

Students with uniformly shocked expressions.

Their reactions gradually change.

From fear to shock, from shock to surprise, from surprise to fervent cheers.

Like that, just before thunderous cheers burst out.

What first rang out across the arena was a single shout.

-The reverse bet hit!! 200 times the odds!!!!!

A student dancing while waving his betting slip.

Behind such cheers, applause began to pour from the entire audience.

Waaaah-!!

"Ahem."

Red Sword Star.

It was a major incident of a student overwhelming a professor for the first time since the achievement set by the hero who represented the empire.

The snake was standing as a scene in history with his characteristic playful smile.