Chapter 199

199

[Oh! The three knights have charged forward together! The one leading the charge is… Eiran! Eiran Eisar, the vice-leader of Seirun’s 1st grade! Following closely behind are Lumeran’s Duran Moira and Eliza Hergin!]

Eiran, with long silver hair flowing behind her, led the charge.

Duran grinned as he followed Eiran, who moved like a gust of wind.

“An Arcane Knight, huh? Those legs are indeed quite swift.”

Zzzzap-!

Fierce sparks began to sh**t off Duran’s body.

Dressed in a golden lightning-infused aura, Duran lowered his stance.

Zzbaabaaabaaat-!

Duran closed the distance to Eiran with astonishing speed.

“Show me your skills, Vice Leader of Seirun!”

Qugagag-!

Duran swiftly drew his sword and lunged at Eiran.

Whoosh-!

“……!”

In an instant, Eiran leaped, evading Duran’s attack.

Thud-!

Then, as if stepping on empty air, she adjusted her posture mid-air, pulling away from Duran.

Seeing Eiran so effortlessly evade his attack, Duran smirked.

“This is entertaining.”

It was easy to see at a glance.

The vice leader from Seirun was no ordinary Arcane Knight who relied mainly on magic. This was an Arcane Knight specialized in physical combat.

Zzbaaabaaat-!

A ferocious aura of lightning surrounded Duran’s body.

Fueled by his competitive spirit, Duran raised his sword high.

Whizz! Zzzzap-!

A bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky and struck Duran’s sword, making it glow like a lightning rod.

Zzbaabaaaat-!

Empowered with an even more intense lightning aura, Duran tightened his legs, readying himself.

Qugagag-!

“Draw your sword! Eiran Eisar!”

Duran’s terrifying sword technique aimed straight for Eisan’s back.

But again Eisan lightly leapt away, evading Duran’s relentless, unconventional sword strikes from all directions.

Duran’s eyes flickered.

Though the first attack was just a light probing strike, this one was far more complex.

Yet, Eiran had evaded it like it was nothing.

Not only that, she didn’t even glance at Duran while performing moves that seemed almost supernatural.

“Hmph. So this is the real deal, the vice leader of Seirun, huh? You’re no pushover.”

Duran’s eyes blazed with determination.

Whoosh-!

“Still only relying on brute force, I see.”

At that moment, Eliza, observing the situation from slightly behind, flew over to Duran on her Wind Wyvern.

The Wind Wyvern, cloaked in a storm, squealed – !

As if mocking its master, it appeared to be ridiculing Duran.

“An irritating master with an irritating beast of burden,” Duran said coldly.

The Wind Wyvern tried to hit Duran on the head with its tail.

Puff-!

Of course, Duran easily blocked the attack and responded.

“Would you like me to skin you?”

Duran’s eyes flashed.

But the Wind Wyvern merely snorted in disdain.

“I’d like to punish your impudence, but since the Ruse Tournament comes first, I’ll let it slide.”

Eliza drew a whip from her waist.

“Watch closely. I’ll show you how we hunt prey. Let’s go! Pippi!”

Eliza teasingly pulled on the reins of the Wind Wyvern.

As the Wyvern charged toward Eiran at lightning speed, Duran muttered under his breath.

“I can’t get used to the name of that familiar of his.”

Overconfident Eliza had only the most splendid of familiars.

While each one was indeed powerful enough to shake the battlefield, their names were utterly adorable, far beyond what anyone could get used to.

Regardless of Duran’s derision, Eliza quickly approached Eiran and said.

“Pippi. Block the path of that Elf with a storm.”

At her command, the Wind Wyvern shot up into the sky with incredible speed.

Accelerating as it descended, it quickly crossed paths with Eiran.

In doing so, it whipped up a storm that blocked Eiran’s path.

Gooouuuuu-!

Thanks to the Wind Wyvern’s special ability to manipulate the atmosphere, an invisible wall of air blocked Eiran’s path.

As Eiran began to slow down, Eliza grinned and swung her whip.

Hwirrlik-! Tup-!

“Great, I’ve got… Huh?”

Eliza, who had been smirking in triumph, almost got dragged away as Eiran recovered her speed and broke through the storm.

Barely regaining her balance, Eliza was shocked.

“What? Why is Pippi’s storm not working?”

“It must be the Armor of Animus.”

“Hey! What exactly are you riding?”

Eliza frowned upon realizing Duran had quickly jumped onto her back from behind.

“This is the Ruse Tournament, isn’t it? So this level of cooperation is only natural, isn’t it?”

“Kk!”

“The Armor of Animus, huh. A strong technique passed down through generations in the Eisar family.”

After hearing Duran’s words, Eliza narrowed her eyes.

“Swift mobility and powerful defense. Clearly, a competitor optimized for this Obstacle Race.”

“Yeah. That said, though it irks me, Eliza Hergin, I propose we cooperate.”

“Alright.”

Eliza readily accepted the offer.

While she’d prefer to take down Eiran alone, now was the time to set aside personal feelings for the sake of the Ruse Tournament.

As enemies notorious in their own right, the two chose to work together as representatives of their grade.

Whoosh!

As Eliza summoned her power, the Wind Wyvern’s speed increased even more.

Zzzzap-!

Duran conjured lightning aura.

In truth, the pair could have easily overtaken Eiran if they wanted.

However, the current leading group consisted of Eiran, Duran, and Eliza – two against one.

If Eiran, the vice leader of Seirun, was eliminated here, Lumeran would gain an undeniable advantage in this match.

Whoosh-!

Eliza, who had been far ahead of Eiran, gave orders to the Wyvern, causing it to charge toward Eiran.

While this happened, Duran pushed his aura to its limit and hurled a lightning-infused sword strike toward Eiran.

Puck-!

Seeing this, Eiran ducked.

‘Could it be… she’s already giving up?’

Duran and Eliza exchanged puzzled expressions just then.

Whizz-!

A life-like energy enveloped Eiran’s whole body.

With her arms raised to cover her face, Eiran charged forward with increased speed.

Zzzzap-!

Qugagagag-!

Lightning and storms struck Eiran’s body.

Nevertheless, Eiran burst through their attacks and sped past both of them.

A magnificent frontal breakthrough.

Watching this, both Duran and Eliza were frozen in shock.

“She didn’t counterattack against our assaults…”

“And just ran past us?”

The two stared at Eiran’s rapidly retreating back.

Evidently, her body had taken quite a beating from the powerful attacks, leaving her completely battered.

Yet Eiran never once looked back and continued forward.

It’s known that the two have bad tempers and always retaliate when attacked.

Thus, to them, Eiran’s action of charging ahead without any regard for their attacks felt like a mockery.

“Hmph, indeed the vice leader of Seirun. I heard she was quite gentle, but she certainly seems arrogant.”

Duran stretched his neck as he dismounted from the Wind Wyvern.

Eliza absentmindedly groomed her fingertips while muttering.

“If she’s not going to look at us, we will at least force her to turn around.”

“Dueran Moira, your help is no longer needed. I’ll take down that opponent.”

“That’s what I was about to say, Eliza Hergin.”

The two, whose tempers had boiled over, glared fiercely at each other.

Then, they both leapt forward with astonishing speed.

“Stop right there! Eiran Eisar!”

“For the honor of our school, fight me! Vice Leader of Seirun!”

Seeing Duran and Eliza race after her with almost murderous intent, Eiran shrieked.

She had a very simple reason for not retaliating.

‘I’m scared! I’m so scared! The people from Lumeran are terrifying!’

The reason she poured all her energy into the Armor of Animus and focused solely on defense using the ancestral technique Evergreen was because she had absorbed all the attacks without retaliating out of sheer fear.

In reality, she didn’t want to be a knight.

She didn’t want the attention, nor did she want to be targeted by students from Lumeran.

It was a far too responsible position for her cautious nature.

However…

“Eiran! There’s no one as suited to be a knight as you!”

“A-Ah, no! President Rienia! I’ll just run away if I get scared!”

“See, that’s exactly it! I’ve never seen anyone as good at running away as you!”

The Student Council President, Rienia, forcefully registered her after flashing a thumbs-up at the dismayed Eiran.

Thus, Eiran vowed during competitions to run as far away as possible from other students to avoid fights.

But her cautious strategy only led to misunderstandings and accidentally provoked the two most belligerent students from Lumeran’s first year.

“Stop right there!”

“Stop now!”

“Hi-i-i-ii-ii-ii-ii-ii-ii!”

Eiran fled with a face on the verge of tears.

Thanks to the power of Evergreen granting her endless vitality, Eiran ran tirelessly like a prey animal escaping from a predator.

Seeing her avoid all their attacks with near-perfect evasive maneuvers, Duran and Eliza’s eyes flared even more crazily.

“I’ll get rid of her!”

“I won’t let her get away easily!”

“Hiiieee! I’m so sorry!”

Eiran’s cries for forgiveness fell on deaf ears.

Qugugugugugung!

Just then, the earth surged up in front of them.

The three frontrunners hesitated.

Gwererere!

Seeing the demon that erupted from the ground, the three stiffened.

“A Cyclops?”

*

Gwerer!

The Cyclops didn’t only attack the leading group.

The many students in the second group also faced the Cyclops’ assault.

Seeing this, Leo muttered.

“A Cyclops captured by Seirun?”

Leo noticed the control devices hanging around the Cyclops’ necks.

Apparently, they were demons captured by Seirun for research purposes, used as obstacles fitting for an obstacle race.

At the appearance of these high-class demons, the students momentarily panicked.

That’s when Leo sprang into action.

Qugugugung! Bang!

Leo’s former position was covered by fierce flames.

“Hey, b*stard! Fight me!”

Leo smirked upon seeing Lunia with glowing red eyes.

“I’m sorry but I’ll have to decline.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you decline or not!”

Looking behind her, Leo said.

“Watch out.”

“A-ang?”

A giant Cyclops’s palm descended upon Lunia.

Seeing this, Lunia’s eyes gleamed.

Hwarlek! Qugaggang!

Gugugugugugoo!

In just a single magical strike, a Cyclops’s arm turned to ash.

Lunia said, without even looking at the Cyclops writhing in pain,

“Do you really think these things can interfere with me?”

Though high-tier demons, these Cyclops, restrained by their control devices and lacking a demon mage, were no real threat to Lunia.

Seeing her sneer, Leo casually remarked,

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Hmm?”

An orb of magical fire descended upon Lunia.

Hwrulrek! Qugaggang!

A fierce clash between magical energy and aura flames sent flames spiraling in all directions.

Celia, who stood in front of Leo, flicked her hair back.

“Your opponent is me, Lunia El Rundah.”

Meeting her own identical red gaze, Lunia narrowed her eyes.

“Celia Zerdinger. Top of Lumeran’s Department of Knights in the first year.”

In a way, Celia Zerdinger’s family was akin to a rival family to the Runedah lineage, handling the power of the Phoenix.

‘Though I wanted to target Leo first as he’s the knight,’

Lunia glanced at Leo.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

Besides, the real obstacles were starting to activate.

At first, she only had eyes for Leo, disregarding everything else.

But she quickly regained her composure.

‘If I let Celia Zerdinger run rampant, our side will suffer more. It’s better to pin her down here.’

Hwrulrek!

Lunia summoned flames.

“Rundah vs Zerdinger. Let’s settle who’s truly superior.”

At Lunia’s provocation, Celia grinned.

“Let’s do it. Though obviously, I’ll win.”

With the two set for a clash, Leo stepped back.

Looking around, he scanned the surroundings.

The activated obstacles had everyone on edge.

‘Seirun’s students aren’t to be underestimated either.’

Among the group here in second place, Leo clearly spotted Seirun’s top 1st-year class students from the school trip.

They had grown much stronger than during the first semester.

Gooouuuuu-!

Just then, another Cyclops erupted from the ground.

But it was different from the others.

Though restrained, it was much larger than the other Cyclops.

Its menacing figure made the surrounding students flinch and retreat.

Kung! Kung! Kung!

The Cyclops charged toward Leo and attacked.

Seeing this, Leo smirked.

“Perfect timing. I wanted to try this out.”

Leo extended his hand.

A portal opened, revealing a Longsword.

At first glance, it seemed to be a regular Longsword.

But it was a magical Longsword made from a Dragon bone.

Wuung!

A magical incantation circuit formed around Leo’s sword.

The magical circuits drawn on the sword began to glow brightly.

The surrounding Elf students stiffened.

Leo swung the sword with the magical circuit activated.

Qugagagagaque-!

A colossal streak of light, resembling a comet, shot out from the sword, creating a tail as it soared into the sky.

Seeing this, the students from Seirun were astonished.

“Could it be… Lampas…?”

“That’s the Magic of the Stars taught in the third year, right?”

With the stunned Seirun students frozen, Leo took a step forward.

Kung-!

The massive body of the Cyclops fell to the ground.

Tebek- Tebek-!

Leo stepped over the fallen Cyclops, lowering his gaze to the sword.

Ciiiiiiiiiiing-!

The sword vibrated violently.

It was due to the overwhelming strain of handling the complex magical incantation.

Seeing this, Leo smirked.

“Hmm. Not bad.”