Chapter 24
Swish-!
The sound of air being sharply cut.
Following that, a single spear rushes in.
It was an attack falling quickly in a straight line.
I calmly raise the flat of my sword like a shield.
Tung-!
Right after, a heavy impact is transmitted to my fingertips.
My body is naturally pushed back.
An incredible strength unbelievable from such a slender figure.
As I'm fixing my posture behind the thrilling sensation, provocation flies as if it had been waiting.
"You're holding up quite well? I thought you'd fall at once."
Mouth corners twisting fiercely.
In the girl's hand is a spear formed of ice.
It was Emilia's ability [Ice Freezing].
"But you're still just a bug after all!!"
Swish-!
I hear something sharp flying at high speed from behind.
I lightly twist my body to avoid it.
Kwak-!
What's stuck in the floor is an arrow.
Turning my head, I see ice fragments flying additionally from a blind spot.
It's an ambush aiming for an opening.
However, I don't panic.
"My, my~ This is troublesome."
Crack-!
A sword strike swung leisurely and cut the arrow.
Ice pieces fall to the floor.
"Tch...!"
The girl clicks her tongue and retreats.
Her blue eyes are filled with thick irritation.
Is she shaken?
The bubble top student she thought would easily collapse.
Such an opponent had been flexibly blocking her attacks until now.
I smile brightly.
"It seems things aren't going as you planned?"
"Ha...!"
She bursts into a hollow laugh.
Perhaps she didn't expect to hear such provocation from a bug she was ignoring.
As expected, it was an easily shaken mentality.
"How dare you, of all people...!"
"Oops."
Clang!!
A sharp bursting sound erupts.
The spear strike thrust out emotionally is swallowed by shadow. We continue a power struggle for a while with our blades crossed.
Her wide-open eyes are full of venomous light.
Screech... Tung!
I push away the girl roughly pushing in.
The distance opens slightly from the recoil.
"This is disappointing."
I continue teabagging with a big smile.
"I was expecting something since you spoke so confidently... but you haven't even grazed me once in 30 minutes."
"Shut up."
"At this rate, the top spot will be difficult."
"I said shut up...!"
Ah, I'm happy.
This is dopamine.
The reactions were good, so the scratching taste was exquisite.
While deflecting the spear blade sharply thrusting in between, I continue grinning and bullying.
"How about trying to even hit my toes?"
"I'll tear it apart. Definitely that mouth...!"
"My, that sounds exciting~? May I ask when you'll tear it?"
"How dare you, to the young lady of Beniti...!"
"I can really gauge the level of Beniti. To think this is the heir."
Clang! Crack, screech...!
The more sharp noises continue, the more the girl is swept up in the atmosphere.
Before we knew it, the duel had taken on a one-sided aspect.
"Haa, haa...!"
Emilia now breathes heavily as if tired.
Her blue hair is wet with sweat.
At this point her legs should be giving out, but she's still holding the spear.
I guess a tough one is still tough.
"Haa, huff...!"
"It's a sufficiently excellent skill, but... your opponent was not good."
This was sincere.
No matter how enjoyable bullying was, I had no intention of deliberately putting down my opponent.
Emilia was clearly one of the top geniuses of this generation.
Solid basics honed through all kinds of effort.
The spearmanship, sniping, and psychological warfare following her overwhelming ice magic had already surpassed student level.
With a bit of exaggeration, two Emilias could probably handle Charlotte.
There's no doubt her talent will remain in history.
You could call it confidence with grounds.
The girl was fully qualified.
It's just... her opponent wasn't human.
"Haha~ You can't reach me with attacks like that?"
Clang-!
I deflect an arrow flying from a blind spot once again.
Ice fragments falling weakly.
Stirring sounds are heard even among the watching spectators.
Students unable to hide their shock.
-Wh-what... are we watching?
-Lady Beniti can't put up any resistance? Is her condition bad...?
-The bubble top student is fighting too well.
-He seems to be completely overwhelming her.
-He's been only defending on purpose since earlier. As if he's...
'Playing with Lady Beniti.'
Emilia must be hearing it too.
The reactions they're whispering.
The status she had built up until now crumbles, and the stage she had carefully prepared becomes a trap binding herself.
It was a point tearing at the scars remaining from inferiority.
"How about forfeiting even now?"
"......"
I return the words the girl had said before the duel started.
Since I decided to take it seriously anyway, I planned to trample her thoroughly until she became a rag.
Of course, the girl didn't seem to accept it.
After regulating her breathing for a moment, she glares this way clenching her fist.
"...Who decides."
A sticky killing intent wafts.
How persistent.
It seems she intends to see it through to the end after all.
Emilia throws away the ice spear she was holding, then starts drawing up power by putting her hands together.
Her transparent blue eyes are already dyed turbid.
"I absolutely won't lose to someone like you... I, absolutely, must not lose."
Crackle, crackle-!
Blue sparks fly.
The mana inside her body starts exploding.
A 'mana rampage' state is artificially induced by colliding what little mana remains and creating hundreds of thousands of frictions.
It was a crazy utilization impossible to even attempt without considerable control.
Amidst the turbulent flow.
Red lips recite an incantation.
"Winter of severe cold."
Before records were established.
Meribell who bloomed frost flowers in the innocent world.
Hear the call of me, the rightful successor of snow cold.
Coveting your great slaughter.
Gathering the tears of fallen witches to build a tower of sorrow.
"Erase everything."
-Emilia-style Ice Freezing Magic Secret Technique-
'Frost Blade'
As soon as the incantation ends, the surrounding temperature instantly becomes chilly.
White frost starts to form centered on the girl's feet.
Clear breath rises from her mouth.
Before we knew it, huge glacier fragments were floating behind Emilia.
"Haa......"
Ten thousand ice spears filling the sky.
I twisted the corners of my mouth while taking in that spectacular scene.
You're finally bringing out your ultimate technique, huh.
Always only seeing it through the game, it feels new to face it directly like this.
Rustle-!
The pressure was no joke.
A feeling of being overwhelmed naturally.
Even the noisy students in the spectator seats were keeping silent.
"......"
"......"
The two people's gazes cross for a moment.
There is no defeat in either's eyes.
Only venom or conviction that they themselves will win occupies their places.
A moment of confrontation.
"Winter."
Peace breaking fleetingly.
Red lips finish the last sentence.
"Rage."
At the same time.
The ten thousand spears decorating the sky all pour down at once.
Like a shower made of blue-green.
Swoosh-!!
The target of the fierce rain was naturally where I was standing.
A waterfall of spears bestowing distant despair.
But,
"Huhu."
Even in such a situation, I laugh.
As if unable to contain how much fun I'm having.
"Wonderful."
Since the opponent showed something good first, is it my turn to show now?
I gently extend my hand.
Wavering black mist.
I calmly condense 'lies'.
Swish-!!
A noise tearing apart the surrounding air.
I make a gun with my index finger and aim at the pouring rain.
Shadows writhe.
"Huhu."
There's no need to be as grand as with Charlotte.
A simple difference in class.
I overwhelmed the output alone.
Power gathered at my fingertips, I recited an incantation as if pulling a trigger.
"Shatter."
Click.
The next moment.
The entire arena spreads black.
***
The students were all soaked in excitement.
A duel between the bubble top student and the villainous young lady.
"Lady Beniti finally drew her sword."
"That person is really unfortunate."
"Young Master Snakers... He seems unexpectedly skilled, but it still wasn't right for him to be in the top spot."
"It doesn't make sense for him to beat Her Highness the Imperial Princess, common sense-wise."
"But we got a good spectacle."
Even if they didn't express it like Emilia.
Students who had been secretly questioning the results of the class assignment test.
For them, this duel couldn't help but be interesting.
An opportunity had come to properly confirm the boy's skills that they couldn't see last time due to Charlotte's barrier.
"Who do you think will win?"
"Of course Lady Beniti, right?"
"I guess so."
"She's an excellent person. If it weren't for Her Highness the Imperial Princess, she would have taken the top spot long ago."
"I heard there's no one her age who can match her in ice magic."
There was no one particularly expecting an upset.
Because everyone knew the status of the name 'Emilia'.
"I'll bet on Lady winning within 1 minute."
"Then I say 30 seconds!"
"Aren't you all underestimating Lady too much...? I think 5 seconds."
The students in the spectator seats each predict the outcome.
The top student's defeat was considered certain.
But,
Unlike the students' predictions that it would end one-sidedly.
The fight continues as a fierce battle.
《Clang! Screech...! Tung!》
At first, it seemed both were fighting hard.
"What? He's holding out longer than expected?"
"His movements are clean, and not bad... Wasn't he definitely called a bubble?"
"Yeah, he's quite skilled."
"Lady will win in the end, but... huh?"
As time passes, the atmosphere becomes strange.
The flow tilts more and more to one side.
The difference starts to widen.
While Emilia shows signs of struggling, the boy continues evading leisurely.
Without attacking even once.
"Wh-what... are we watching?"
"Lady Beniti can't put up any resistance? Is her condition bad...?"
"The bubble top student is fighting too well."
"He seems to be completely overwhelming her."
"He's been only defending on purpose since earlier. As if he's... playing with Lady Beniti."
The villainous young lady noticeably being pushed back.
The spectator seats are dyed with bewilderment.
They were surprised just by him exchanging blows with Emilia, but now he was overwhelming her beyond that.
The unexpected development delivers an intense shock.
What on earth is going on?
According to rumors, he was supposed to be nothing special, just an ordinary person.
Then what is this current scene?
"No way."
"Lady is being toyed with...?"
One hypothesis flashes through their minds.
The class assignment test that left a big backlash in the academy.
Charlotte who suffered a forfeit loss.
Could it be that she gave up the match not out of a simple whim, but because he was truly an opponent she couldn't win against?
Such an impossible hypothesis.
"There's no way..."
The air dyes unsettlingly.
Right at that moment.
The duel finally runs towards the extreme.
《Winter.》
The girl driven into a corner is more precarious than ever.
It's like walking on a sharp blade edge.
Nevertheless, she didn't back down.
Forcibly exploding her remaining mana, she draws out her maximum output.
Blue ice covers the sky.
"Oh my god... What is that?"
"I knew she was counted among the top geniuses, but to think she was at this level...?"
"The whole arena is going to be destroyed."
"Isn't someone going to die?"
"Shouldn't the manager in charge stop this...!?"
They urgently look for the professors, but they just silently watch.
Finally,
The girl's lips finish the incantation.
The ten thousand spears densely decorating like stars move.
《Rage.》
Kwaaa-!
A roar piercing the eardrums.
The fiercely raging winter arrives with momentum to devour everything in the world.
It was like seeing an apocalypse.
"Kyaaaa!"
"What do we do!"
"Even if he's the top student, if he's swept up in those spear blades, it'll be serious injury at minimum...!"
The children retreat expecting a disaster.
But,
The boy was different.
The snake who had been smiling alone stands still in place.
Then he raises his finger to aim at the sky.
Is he crazy?
To be frozen when he should be retreating even now.
The students scream.
Regardless.
The boy moves his lips.
《Shatter.》
For a very brief moment, his usually closed slit eyes open.
Transparently shining white pupils.
Time seems to stop.
Right after.
A handful of shadows shot from his fingertips.
It pierces through the shower of spears, then quickly spreads in all directions.
The sky dyes pitch black.
《Crack, crack-!》
It's coated in an instant.
The ice spears covered in jet black on the surface stop in mid-air.
Shadows dripping down.
Tak-!
Following that, the boy snaps his fingers.
Elegantly.
The next moment.
《Clang!!》
Ten thousand ice spears.
They all shatter at once.
The vicious winter scatters into countless fragments.
They break and break into tiny pieces.
Whee-ee-e-.
Black snow falls.
Following the gentle breeze, black snowflakes dance gracefully.
Like a snow field soaked in night.
It's alien, yet beautiful.
Gazes are naturally drawn to the layer piling up softly on the arena floor.
An ecstasy faintly emitting light.
""......"
The spectator seats were suddenly full of silence.
The students are blankly appreciating the winter mixed with shadows.
As if forgetting even their previous confusion.
Crunch crunch-.
A scene resembling a handful of dreams.
In the dreamlike landscape, there is one boy walking alone.
The snake asks generously.
《Do you still intend to continue?》
It was a whisper that bewitches people.