Chapter 19
Stillness.
The noisy crowd fell silent in an instant.
““······.””
The sneering lips fell shut, and the wide-open eyes fixed on a single spot.
At the end of all those focused gazes stood a black-haired boy.
A boy wearing a mask.
The air inside the arena turned cold.
“······What was that just now?”
“What happened?”
Murmurs began leaking from the stands, little by little.
Sharien's attack had vanished without a trace.
The blazing fire that had raged moments ago had died down.
As though it had never existed in the first place, as though it had been nothing more than a single ember.
“No way···.”
“Did he block it? Sharien's attack···?”
All eyes turned toward him.
The overwhelming firepower Sharien had displayed.
-Huh··· Is the top student really the top student? The force is reaching all the way to the stands?
-Isn't that dangerous? That's not something some Class E nobody can handle!
-Is someone going to get hurt?
Those who had been murmuring about it were now struck speechless.
Their sneers, contempt, and concern—all those looks shattered.
Every eye in the packed stands shared a single view.
The boy.
And the smiling mask.
“W-what just happened? Did anyone see it clearly?”
“······It vanished. Sharien's magic, without any warning.”
“What? Is that even possible?”
“Could Sharien have made a mistake?”
“Does that make any sense? A basic mistake like that? From the top student of Class C?”
Voices stirred throughout the stands.
The opinions darting this way and that soon converged on a single answer.
“Then··· did he block it? Did he block Sharien's flames?”
“That's impossible. That wasn't firepower some Class E nobody could withstand.”
“Besides, isn't he E rank overall? How could someone like that···.”
“He didn't get lucky and dodge it, or endure it. He countered it outright. He reverse-engineered Sharien's attack perfectly and tore apart the mana structure itself.”
“Fuck, can someone actually do that?”
The murmuring wasn't confined to the waiting seats.
Others who had been watching the examination as well.
Cadets from other classes and the staff supervising the examination.
“Oh-ho···.”
A white-haired old man let out a quiet exclamation.
He was the headmaster of Grandia Academy.
As though he had discovered something fascinating, he stroked his neatly trimmed beard.
Other professors were seated beside the old man as well.
“Just as I was informed earlier, he is an enigmatic child. That was truly a perfect Dispel. But what is even more surprising is that, even while doing so, not the slightest trace of energy could be sensed from him.”
““······.””
“It is neither magic, martial arts, sorcery, nor even black magic···.”
Though he had taught for many years and met countless children, this was the first time the old man had encountered anything like this.
A power that activated without any sign or aura.
Something whose source he could not even discern.
Was this not truly akin to divine power?
“Indeed··· perhaps assigning Jaber as his watcher was the right choice.”
A mutter as he quietly mulled it over.
The headmaster did not continue.
He simply turned his attention a little more fully to the duel before him.
‘Divine power···, is it?’
Along with that incomprehensible thought.
***
Whoooosh-
One side had attacked once, while I had defended once.
It had been a brief clash, but the atmosphere inside the arena had changed.
I merely smiled quietly.
Ding-!
[The item ‘Mask of the Evil God’ has been activated.]
Only the mechanical chime lingered in my ears.
A blue screen rose before my eyes.
[Mask of the Evil God]
-Effect: Nullifies attacks directed at the wearer three times. Activates only while equipped.
-Uses Remaining:2/3
-Time Until Uses Recharge:47 hours 59 minutes 13 seconds
I showed no sign of it.
What I needed to focus on now was the duel before me.
I stared at the red hair fluttering in the wind.
“······.”
Had she sensed something wrong?
Sharien's eyes had changed completely.
Beyond her settling red eyes, there was no longer any trace of mockery.
“You··· what trick did you just pull?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Pretending not to know is clumsy. That attack just now wasn't something a mere top student of Class E could block. What trick did you use to make my magic scatter? And without leaving so much as a scratch on you.”
“I got lucky.”
“Nonsense···! Explain yourself properly!”
“I'm not sure. It's not as though there's anything to explain···.”
I smiled.
I smiled at her.
My mask too had its corners twisted into a grotesque grin.
“Perhaps your magic was simply shoddy?”
A sneer.
Just as she had sneered moments ago, and as everyone else had sneered at Class E.
“Considering it was stopped by a single finger.”
“······What did you say?”
Sharien was left staring blankly.
I smiled as though answering her gaze.
The top student of the lowest-ranked class.
E rank in every stat except theory.
A piece of trash with stats anyone could laugh at.
And that trash was mocking the girl, the top student of Class C.
“How dare you···.”
It wasn't easy to remain composed in a situation like this.
To be dismissed in turn by the very person one had looked down on.
It scraped at one's pride and shattered one's mental composure.
Especially for someone as haughty as Sharien, the effect was bound to be doubled.
“How dare you···! How dare you! How dare you! You Class E trash, looking at me with those eyes···!”
Sharien snapped.
Veins stood out in her reddening eyes.
Fwoosh-.
The girl raised her bow again and set a flame to the string.
The blazing arrow was more powerful than the one before.
‘Did I provoke her too much?’
But you provoked me too.
You bullied my shuttles.
Thinking absently, I rummaged through the inventory inside my robe.
‘Where did I put it? I definitely had a mountain of them piled up···.’
I had taken the first attack head-on for impact, but I couldn't repeat that method.
Because the [Mask of the Evil God]'s stock was too precious.
‘Well··· it does recharge on its own after some time.’
I wanted to avoid exhausting all my stocks.
It took 48 hours just to recharge a single stock.
Who knew what kind of situation might arise? How could I use them all up?
I was physically frail, too. One surprise hit from anywhere and I would keel over dead.
‘I have to keep at least two stocks at all times.’
With that thought, I took something out of my inventory.
A brightly colored stick emerged after it.
Light, with a plump, springy grip.
Sharien, who had been watching, murmured.
“······A balloon?”
“Correct.”
That's right.
It was a balloon sword.
One I'd made a whole bunch of earlier.
I pointed the bouncy tip at the girl.
“A weapon imbued with my soul. I will face you with the Absolute Balloon Sword.”
“······.”
Well, that's because I didn't have a usable weapon yet.
The one I had originally intended to carry was still undergoing refinement.
I planned to use this one as a substitute today.
It was soft and squishy, pleasant to touch.
Getting hit by this thing probably wouldn't feel as bad.
“You···! I'll make you regret this!”
Did she not appreciate my consideration?
Apparently, she had taken it as nothing but deliberate provocation.
“I'll make you weep and beg for mercy, then turn you into a wreck···!”
Ping-.
Her slender fingers released the string, and the arrow shot forth.
The fiercely blooming flame tore through the air as it came rushing in.
I quietly raised the tip of my sword.
‘Shall I try it?’
I took a watch out of my inventory.
An item that was normally provided in the original story as well.
[Ordinary Watch]
-You can check the time.
I had been storing and retrieving this thing repeatedly since earlier.
Over and over. Inventory, hand, inventory, hand. I kept repeating the process.
I had been priming it to trigger a certain bug.
And the warm-up had finished long ago.
‘Now.’
Click-.
I pressed the button on the watch.
The next moment, the flow of time slowed.
This was not a figurative expression.
“······.”
The world slowed down.
To be precise, it was as though someone had set it to about 0.2x speed.
The incoming arrow, the spectators' reactions, and even the other movements···.
The scene flowed as though it were in slow motion, and only I was aware of it.
‘Slowdown Bug.’
A bug that slowed down the overall speed of the game.
The characters, monsters, effects, and even sounds all slowed down.
By using the watch control as I had just done, I could activate it for roughly five seconds at a time.
I widened my eyes.
‘I can see it.’
I could see everything.
Every scene was crystal clear.
My body had slowed down as well, but my perception had transcended the moment.
The arrow's trajectory, the furious girl's expression, the heat, even a single mote of dust caught in the wind.
‘I can do this.’
I carefully raised the tip of my sword.
Even my slowly exhaled breath was nothing more than a momentary pause.
Beyond the opaque, colorful surface, I saw the world.
Swish-.
What I was about to unleash was the most basic combo commonly paired with this bug.
I swung my sword at the arrow that had come right up to my face.
The exact timing, the exact position, the exact angle.
Because time felt slow, I had more than enough time to react.
‘Got it.’
Crackle, crackle-.
Immediately afterward, faint noise flickered across the surface of the balloon sword.
The blade rippled like a heat haze, and I swung it so that it merely grazed the arrow.
‘Parrying.’
The colorful blade brushed against the flame.
Fwish-.
The next moment, the arrow's trajectory shifted ever so slightly.
The attack came close enough to touch me, then veered off course.
Not a single trace of soot remained on my body.
‘Good.’
Parrying.
A technique that intercepts an opponent's attack and sends it harmlessly aside.
This was closer to a trick than a bug, but when implemented in reality, it seemed to register as a bug.
Because an effect similar to the one produced by a bug had flickered around it.
“W-what was that just now···?”
As I dusted off my hand, I heard her shaken murmur.
Sharien. Her red eyes were trembling.
Shock was plainly visible on her face.
“You deflected it? My arrow, with th-that balloon thing···?”
“Thing? It's obviously a sword, isn't it?”
“That can't be···. How, how did you···!”
This was the combination.
The ultimate form of parrying using Slowdown.
I deliberately teased her and snickered.
“Oh my··· Has our illustrious top student of Class C become someone who can't even pop a single balloon?”
“N-no, that's not it. That can't be···.”
“It's just an ordinary balloon, too, you know? A balloon held by the unprecedented man who is the top student of Class E and E rank in every stat overall. Could the fact that you couldn't even scratch it really be because your abilities are so pathetic?”
“Shut up! Shut up···!”
Sharien clenched her teeth and drew the string taut.
I had only thrown her own words back at her.
I couldn't understand why she was getting so worked up.
The churning mana heated the air above the arena.
Ting, shrieeeek-!
Another arrow was fired.
This time, the attack was not a single arrow but a dozen or so spreading out in different directions.
“If you're trash, then fall like trash! Go down obediently···!”
Bright-red flames filled my vision.
It was a savage sight, but I didn't retreat.
If anything, I advanced boldly.
The watch was already in my palm.
Without hesitation, I pressed the button once more.
Click-.
My vision slowed.
I took one step after another.
With each step, I swung my sword.
Fwish, pop, ping-.
The arrows were deflected with feeble bursting sounds.
One after another, they veered off course in turn.
The stray flames exploded behind me.
“Hmm.”
Boom! Bang, ba-boom-!
Even amid the shockwaves surging from behind, I didn't turn my gaze.
The smiling mask watched only the girl from beginning to end.
After batting away the final arrow, the gap between us had been cut in half.
“This isn't the end, is it?”
I asked lightly.
Just as she had, with mockery on the tip of my tongue.
“Because if it is, this would be awfully boring.”
“······.”
I smiled.
Though only slightly, Sharien's eyes were tinged with fear.