225th Episode
Jusephin’s tears rolled down her cheeks and dropped onto the ground.
Jusephin’s tears were far too poignant to be dismissed as mere emotional manipulation.
Amidst this, Ray—who was already disliked to an extreme—began hurling insults at Jusephin, which caused cheers of support for Jusephin and jeers directed at Ray to erupt from all around.
Normally, in such a situation, the examiners would have intervened…
However, the examiners were silently allowing the cheering and jeering, as long as it didn’t involve excessively harsh insults.
With newfound courage, Jusephin gripped her sword again.
Whoosh!
A brilliant Sword Aura blossomed above the blade of Jusephin’s sword.
Near the dueling arena, a Knight Order Grandmaster-level knight and a high-ranking Mage stood by, ready to act as examiners in case of any unforeseen incidents. Thus, the candidates only needed to give their best as if in a real battle.
Jusephin wiped her reddened eyes with her forearm, rose from her injury, and amidst everyone’s cheers, charged at Ray with a war cry.
“Hyaah!”
*
Just before Jusephin launched her attack,
Ray had finished analyzing the situation amidst the torrent of jeers.
Ray realized he wouldn’t play the role of a hidden powerhouse, teased as “a weakling pretending to be normal” from his past life anymore.
So, what should he do now?
He couldn’t afford to lose to Jusephin here. If he did, it would guarantee his elimination on points alone.
Should he just go all out and quickly overpower his opponent to end the duel?
‘That seems…’
Though Ray was a cold-blooded person capable of killing without hesitation when necessary,
he also had a fair amount of consideration when circumstances allowed.
While advancing higher in the tournament during the third trial was important, ultimately, he had to demonstrate his abilities to the examiners throughout the process. Even if he were eliminated early in the tournament, showing sufficient prowess could earn him significant bonus points.
But if he failed to showcase his skills in the first round itself…
Unless the examiners showed mercy and gave him another chance through supplementary tests, it would be difficult to avoid elimination.
Ray had no intention of ruining the futures of these young ones who bore him no grudge.
Thus, the moment Jusephin attacked,
Ray took a defensive stance to allow her to fully display her abilities to the judges.
Clang!! Clang!!
The duel officially began.
Flashes of light erupted as their sword strikes clashed.
Jusephin realized that the duel might be more manageable than she initially thought and felt a bit startled.
When she launched her attack, she secretly worried that she might fall instantly, but Ray’s sword techniques were much less impressive than she expected.
What is this? Is he letting me win? Is he pretending to be weak to toy with me later?
Jusephin briefly entertained such doubts but regained her confidence upon seeing Ray’s frozen expression.
I must be stronger than I thought! That’s why he’s so shocked!
Though it was a foolish thought, it was often hard to gauge one’s strength accurately when there was a significant gap in skill levels.
Buoyed by renewed confidence, Jusephin relaxed and unleashed her swordsmanship with full force.
Clang!! Clang!!
Jusephin’s relentless attacks continued.
As Ray parried her blows, he evaluated her skills as decent enough.
Her swordsmanship, though lacking speed due to its non-linear style, continuously pressured Ray by creating a coherent flow.
This kind of swordplay required innate talent to use effectively in a duel.
‘She’s probably Rare-tier level…’
While Ray was contemplating this,
Jusephin successfully pushed Ray back, feeling elated.
If she kept up the momentum just a little longer, she might find an opening in Ray’s defenses.
In that moment, Jusephin was convinced:
She could overcome this arduous trial like a hero in a storybook and ascend to a new level.
But it was a delusion.
Once Ray judged that he’d given Jusephin enough opportunity to showcase her skills, he changed his approach.
Clang!!
“What?!”
Ray forcibly inserted his sword into the trajectory of Jusephin’s ongoing strike.
He spun their crossed swords and pushed hers upward, beginning to pressure Jusephin.
Though Jusephin was flustered, she managed to defend herself against Ray’s advances fairly well.
Her efforts to maintain her rhythm left a deep impression on the judges.
However, the fundamental gap in skill between them was too great.
Before long, Ray’s sword pointed at Jusephin’s neck.
The examiner announced Ray’s number.
“Number 60, victory.”
Clang!
Realizing her defeat, Jusephin dropped her sword.
Collapsing to the ground, she cried bitterly, her voice filled with resentment.
“You bastard… you tricked me again… You played with me… You mocked me until the very end…”
The aspirant who vowed not to let her spirit break finally broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.
Though Ray wanted to yell something crude, he exercised extreme patience and remained silent.
Jeers rained down on Ray as he descended from the dueling arena.
*
There were a total of 60 applicants for the Knight Division.
In the third trial, a tournament where individuals advanced to the finals, they would participate in six duels.
After winning his second duel, Ray skipped the third match due to a forfeit victory.
During his second duel, Ray similarly taunted and deceived his opponent as he did with Jusephin, causing the jeers to grow louder.
By now, some people began to suspect Ray’s identity.
Could Ray possibly be a “secret examiner”?
Perhaps he was acting this way to evaluate the candidates closely as part of his duties as an examiner—a rather reasonable hypothesis that spread among the crowd.
Even among the examiners, whispers arose: “Do you know anything about him?”
Despite Ray’s actions being quite malicious, the jeers against him continued relentlessly.
“Haa…”
Sighing, Ray ascended to the dueling arena for his fourth duel.
Now, Ray just wanted to finish the entrance exam quickly and return home.
However, his fourth opponent, Culpen, was brimming with enthusiasm, contrary to Ray.
“I will defeat you and bring justice!!!”
“…”
Back when Ray had just reached Expert-level proficiency,
that period was filled with omnipotent arrogance and lack of self-awareness.
It was a time when one couldn’t properly assess their own capabilities.
Of course, there were cases where humility was maintained, but most often, individuals like Culpen lacked proper self-assessment.
There was no cure for unjustified arrogance other than getting beaten up.
Shaking his head, Ray pointed his sword tip toward Culpen.
Culpen, wielding the largest practice sword suitable for his size, responded honestly to Ray’s provocation.
Zing!!
The fourth duel began.
Culpen possessed a massive build and immense strength, and his swordsmanship was correspondingly formidable.
Though still somewhat lacking in precision, this was something that could be improved with time.
Clang!! Clang!!!
Ray met Culpen’s giant sword head-on as the duel continued.
Similar to his first and second duels, Ray intended to give Culpen the opportunity to display his skills before appropriately concluding the duel.
However, an unforeseen event occurred during the duel that even Ray couldn’t predict.
Crack!
“…?”
Mid-duel, the practice sword Ray had been newly issued couldn’t withstand the strain of Spatial Blade techniques and snapped.
With more than half of the blade broken, Ray’s sword turned into a short dagger.
Confused, Ray immediately raised his hand to request a halt to the duel from the examiners.
However,
the moment Culpen noticed Ray’s broken sword, he let out a roar and swung his greatsword.
“Krrr-aaa-aattt!!”
“…!”
BOOM!!
Rolling along the ground to evade Culpen’s strike, Ray glanced at the examiners urgently.
If a weapon breaks during a duel, must the duel be halted and the weapon replaced?
This was slightly ambiguous.
Since there existed specialized sword techniques aimed at damaging or destroying the opponent’s weapon,
this matter fell under the discretion of the examiners. The examiners, who weren’t particularly inclined to side with Ray, decided to continue the duel.
Seeing that the examiners wouldn’t stop the duel, Culpen swung his greatsword even more boldly.
Dodging several attacks by rolling along the ground, Ray’s brow furrowed in frustration.
Annoyed, Ray lifted his ‘broken straight sword’ with the mindset of giving it a try.
Manifesting a Sword Aura on a broken sword was extremely difficult.
Due to the distorted structure of the sword, maintaining a stable flow of Mana was exceedingly challenging.
Was it impossible then? No, it wasn’t.
Someone with Ray’s level of skill could sustain a stable Sword Aura for a short while even with a broken sword.
Tsk!
Ray tilted his head as he manifested a brilliant Sword Aura on his broken straight sword and blocked Culpen’s greatsword.
Zing!
“…!!”
Both Culpen and the spectators were astonished by Ray’s unexpected counterattack.
Not only Culpen, but even the examiners doubted their eyes in shock.
Without delay, Ray fiercely pressed his advantage and ultimately defeated Culpen with his broken straight sword.
“…”
Thud!
Culpen sat dumbfounded after his shocking defeat.
Did I, did I just lose to a broken straight sword while wielding a perfectly intact weapon…?
Overwhelmed by disbelief and self-loathing, Culpen eventually shed tears like chicken droppings.
Seeing the tears of a wounded and despairing man, everyone watching also felt their eyes water.
Cheering voices poured out for Culpen, and jeers once again rained down on Ray.
Looking up at the sky amidst the jeers, Ray sighed.
There were already too many events to explain.
Ultimately, Ray resigned himself to playing along with whatever concept others wanted him to portray.
And in the fifth duel that followed,
when the examiner offered him a new practice sword, Ray shook his head.
“Examiner sir, this time…”
“…”
“I’ll just use a broken straight sword from the start.”
Ray had gone off the rails.
*
Karahan, a member of the Royal Guard and today’s examiner, watched from a short distance as the third trial progressed in the dueling arena.
The dueling arena was in chaos, filled with the cries of frustrated candidates and jeers directed at Ray.
Amidst this, Ray was beating his fifth opponent with a broken straight sword.
Karahan, chin resting in his hand, calmly observed the horrifying scene, having lost the energy to argue further.
At that moment, Karahan’s superior appeared and handed him an envelope.
“The reply has arrived.”
“Ah, has it?”
Karahan had requested the upper echelons to reconfirm Ray’s identity.
Given the proximity of the examination site to the Imperial Capital, communication was swift, and it seemed the identity reconfirmation procedure had been completed during the third trial.
“What does it say from the top?”
“Take a look yourself.”
Karahan opened the envelope handed to him by his superior.
Inside were a few documents, the same ones he had sent to the higher-ups for reference regarding Ray’s identity.
“…?”
Why were the documents he sent for verification returned?
Curious, Karahan unfolded the documents.
They contained the same information he already knew.
At the bottom of the documents,
the Emperor’s seal—the imperial insignia of the Empire—was newly stamped.
“…”
Silently, Karahan carefully folded the documents and placed them back into the envelope.
The fact that the reply came back stamped with the Empire’s insignia meant… in context, that Ray was sent by the Emperor.
‘Royal Guard…? A member of the Empire’s special operations team?’
Had there been some issue requiring infiltration of a student into the inner workings of Izhise?
Even if the Royal Guard was sent for such reasons, there was no need for him to cause such a commotion during the entrance exam.
It would have been far easier to admit him through a special entry.
One thing was certain: the Emperor wouldn’t have ordered such chaos during the entrance exam.
Ultimately, it meant the guy had chosen to act this way of his own volition…
“Truly a remarkable lunatic…”
Karahan trailed off and shook his head.
