Ariana, who had been expressionless until now, let out a faint smile tinged with mischief.
Carlos realized something was wrong.
Because an unbelievable killing intent was aimed at him.
‘This killing intent… It’s just like the monster I encountered during practice. How could she possibly have this kind of aura…!’
It was hard to believe she was the same student.
Even among the professors, there were few who could emit such an aura.
As Carlos’s body stiffened with confusion, Ariana gave a smug grin.
“Why? Just now realizing something’s off?”
“…”
He almost unconsciously nodded but then remembered he was considered one of Don Quixote Academy’s top students. Barely biting his lip, he managed to hold his ground. He couldn’t bow to a Minerva student whom their headmaster called a rival.
With firm determination, Carlos steadied his greatsword, prompting Ariana to make her move.
“If you’re too scared to come at me, I’ll go first.”
Ariana swung her sword which faintly glowed with barely visible light.
Even Carlos’s well-trained eyes struggled to keep up with her swift strikes, forcing him to hastily raise his greatsword as a shield.
KAGANG!
The deflected blade energy flew toward the surrounding students.
“AHH!”
“KYAAAH!”
Caught off guard, they suffered painful injuries.
As students screamed and retreated, the spectators watching from afar were puzzled.
“Why are they acting like that?”
“What happened?”
“Could she have used poison?!”
Amidst various speculations, Allen shook his head while observing the chaotic scene.
“The other students are the unfortunate ones here.”
Ariana’s blade energy was nearly imperceptible.
Even Allen only noticed it after personally clashing with her, so it was natural the students hadn’t detected anything.
“I taught her.”
Black Wolf proudly proclaimed this while puffing out her chest.
Finding her adorable, Allen patted her head.
“Yeahyeah, you did great. You’ve got talent. Keep it up.”
“Her talent surpasses mine. I didn’t expect her to master it in a week.”
“That may be true, but teaching also requires skill. Looks like you’ve got a knack for it too.”
“Hmph.”
Though she scoffed, Black Wolf’s tail wagged happily, betraying her joy at Allen’s praise – or perhaps she didn’t even try to hide it.
A significant part of Ariana’s newfound stealthy technique came from Black Wolf’s instruction.
The Selene family’s secret art, Moonlight Swordsmanship, emits a unique pale glow like moonlight. After witnessing it, Black Wolf decided to teach her assassination techniques.
Her lesson was simple: apply the principles of stealth to one’s aura.
Despite the seemingly vague explanation, Ariana, with her exceptional talent, successfully mastered Black Wolf’s teachings. Allen, on the other hand, understood nothing despite hearing the same instructions.
“What exactly is talent…?”
“?!”
Black Wolf merely tilted her head and looked up at Allen curiously.
***
KANG! KAKAKANG!
“What’s wrong? Planning to just block all day? Such a waste of that big sword!”
As Ariana shouted while wildly swinging her sword like a storm, Carlos remained speechless. Somehow, her sword kept striking unexpected places despite his attempts to block. How had her swordplay become so elusive?
“Are you a knight or an assassin?”
“How should I know? Judge me however you want. I’m just being myself.”
“You ignorant…!”
“Honor my foot. You claim to give way to your opponent but still block everything.”
“Letting someone attack doesn’t mean letting them do whatever they want!”
“And does it? Not sure about that!”
As their verbal sparring intensified, so did its consequences. The suffering fell squarely on the other students who had to endure stray blade energies whenever the two’s swords clashed.
“Crazy bastards…”
“AAAAH!”
“Gi, Give up!!”
Some quickly dodged while others forfeited the match. In the literal clash of titans where shrimp get crushed, the students rapidly devised a strategy.
“Just focus on defense. They won’t last long at this pace.”
“They can’t keep going like this forever!”
“Wait for their stamina to run out!”
With about ten people remaining, they adopted the hyena strategy of waiting for the predators to tire.
However, they soon realized their mistake when Carlos chose to counterattack instead of continuing his defense.
KWAANG!
Placing his greatsword upright on the ground, Carlos pushed Ariana back using a modified version of the Sacred Knights’ Shield Push technique.
“Tch! I didn’t want to use this…”
Biting his lip, Carlos unleashed his hidden ace.
[Roheim Swordsmanship: Rock Collapse]
A clay-colored blade energy enveloped the massive sword.
“HAAAAAT!”
Carlos shouted as he slammed his sword into the ground, causing chunks of broken stone floor to surge toward Ariana. The ancient swordsmanship of the long-lost Roheim Kingdom reappeared in the world once more.
“Hmm~ This is fun~?”
Fully immersing herself in the thrill of battle, Ariana opted to break through his attack head-on rather than evade.
[Moonlight Swordsmanship: Crescent Slash]
Her signature faint blade energy momentarily condensed into a pale glow. Building on this momentum, Ariana performed a wide horizontal slash.
When her strike collided with Carlos’s rock projectiles, a massive shockwave swept across the arena.
…
“Damn it…!”
“To withstand that…”
As the shockwave dissipated, the two momentarily froze before charging at each other to finish the fight.
“End of the match~!!!”
Startled…
At the announcer’s call, both immediately ceased their actions. Their swords were pointed at each other’s necks.
“This isn’t over yet!”
“No, it seems it is.”
Putting away his greatsword, Carlos calmly spoke.
“Guh…”
“Ah…!”
Due to the intense battle, numerous injured students lay groaning around the damaged arena. Only upon seeing this scene did Ariana reluctantly lower her sword.
“… Are we the only ones left?”
“That’s correct. Two survivors in the arena! The final preliminary match of today’s Olympia! The winners are~! Ariana Selene of Minerva Academy! And Carlos Hugo of Don Quixote Academy~!”
WAAAH!
The audience erupted in cheers and applause for the spectacular show. Still dazed, Ariana couldn’t relax her grip on her sword. As she stood there, Carlos slung his greatsword onto his back and spoke.
“I’ll definitely win next time. Don’t die before we meet again.”
“Who’s talking nonsense? Next time I’ll carve a scar on that pretty face of yours.”
“Looking forward to it. Make sure to prepare a good sword by then.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed…”
Before Ariana could finish her sentence sounding somewhat confused,
CHING!
Her sword shattered in half at the tip due to the immense strain it had endured. With a bewildered expression, Ariana watched Carlos stroll away from the arena.
“So close… I almost lost…”
She had relied on the tournament rules to secure her victory, contrary to her initial expectations. This fact deeply wounded her pride.
“Just wait. Next time I’ll shatter that overly large sword of yours!”
Watching Carlos walk away gracefully, Ariana gritted her teeth.
***
Meanwhile, as Carlos exited the arena, he encountered Alonso Falenberk, the headmaster of Don Quixote Academy in the hallway. The headmaster had personally come to evaluate their promising student.
“Well? That daughter of the Selene family”
“Hmph, Headmaster was right. The world is vast and there are many strong individuals.”
“Ho ho! Though Minerva Academy irks me, the Selene family is an exception.”
Alonso recalled his past encounters with the head of the Selene family, with whom he’d exchanged blows as the former captain of the Royal Guard. He was the only one Alonso had never managed to defeat.
“She hasn’t fully matured yet, but isn’t she quite the knight? If only you weren’t female and underestimated, you could have learned much more.”
“I shall continue to improve.”
Seeing Carlos cleanly admit his shortcomings, Alonso smiled warmly. Among the countless students he’d taught, few matched the excellence of the one before him.
“Let’s check your sword’s condition.”
“Yes. Here it is.”
Running his fingertips along Carlos’s greatsword, Alonso nodded. As expected, there were fine cracks running down the center of the blade.
“You pushed yourself too hard. We need to send it for repairs.”
“It’s because of my insufficient skill.”
Roheim Swordsmanship, while boasting unparalleled destructive power, placed an immense burden on the weapon. That was why Carlos had chosen the greatsword as his primary weapon.
Shaking his head at his disciple’s modest response, Alonso said,
“No, it’s because of that girl’s remarkable skill. To achieve this much with a standard-issue longsword… She deserves praise, wouldn’t you say?”
“Standard-issue…?”
Carlos’s eyes widened in surprise.
His weapon had been crafted by one of the academy’s top artisans. For it to nearly break against her…
In a way, it proved Ariana’s superior ability.
“Ho ho ho! Pay her back next time.”
“… Yes!”
Watching his silent nodding disciple, Alonso burst into hearty laughter for some time.
