The instructor gripped his sword tightly and lowered his stance. Cold sweat began to bead on his forehead. A cadet so young was standing firm after slamming into a concrete wall that hard; moreover, he was now radiating an incredibly intense killing intent.
"Get ready!"
The instructor lunged, cutting through the air with a diagonal slash. At such close range, there should have been no room for Edward to evade. However, what happened next defied the logic of swordsmanship.
"..."
Before him, Edward stood motionless, more threatening than he had ever been.
[ Vector analysis complete. ]
[ Minimal movement optimization. ]
Edward did not retreat. Instead of dodging, he took one small step forward—right into the attack's area, a blind spot where the momentum of the instructor's sword had yet to reach its peak. With stiff, precise movements of his head, he let the blade pass just millimeters from his neck. The wind from the slash even cut a few strands of his hair, but Edward didn't so much as blink.
"What!?" The instructor's eyes widened.
Before he could pull his weapon back, Edward moved. It wasn't the elegant Imperial style, but a mechanical, terrifyingly efficient movement. He thrust his broken sword toward the gap in the instructor's shoulder joint armor.
Fortunately, the blunt, broken blade didn't penetrate deep, but the pressure was applied perfectly to the opponent's motor nerves.
"Ugh!" The instructor's arm went limp instantly. His sword slipped from his grasp.
Edward showed no mercy. He spun on one foot, using his body's momentum to drive his knee into the instructor's solar plexus. No emotion showed on his face. Only a cold void.
[ Combat efficiency 98%. Neutralizing threat completely. ]
Edward grabbed the collar of the staggering instructor and, with one powerful jolt, slammed the large man onto the arena floor.
The stone floor cracked.
Silence. The entire colosseum froze.
Edward stood over the helpless instructor, raising his broken sword high and pointing it straight at the opponent's throat. The sunlight glinted off the blood-stained blade. In that moment, everyone realized that the youth before them was not a human, but a perfect killing machine.
However, amidst that terrifying dominance, a blue screen began to flash red with high intensity in Edward's eyes.
[ WARNING: SYNAPTIC LOAD EXCEEDING LIMITS ]
[ HOST BODY DAMAGE: FATAL --> CRITICAL ]
[ PROTOCOL DURATION ENDED. RELEASING CONTROL... ]
Instantly, the suffocating killing intent vanished as if swallowed by the earth. Edward's eyes, once cold and empty, suddenly flickered. His original consciousness returned just as an agonizing pain struck every nerve simultaneously.
"Ugh... hah..."
Edward gasped for air. The broken sword in his hand fell, clattering loudly against the stone floor. His body trembled violently. The blood from his head began to flow even faster now, drenching his face. He tried to look at the instructor beneath him, trying to grasp what had just happened, but his vision began to be clouded by black spots.
"Cadet...?" the instructor's voice sounded weak and filled with confusion.
Edward tried to answer, but as blood began to leak from his nose, he could no longer move his mouth or his body. His world began to tilt. His knees buckled, and before he could utter a single word, his body collapsed forward, falling right next to the instructor he had just defeated.
"BIG BROTHER!!!" A hysterical scream echoed throughout the colosseum as someone ran into the arena.
Edward heard nothing more. Total darkness welcomed him, erasing his sense of time.
_____________________________________________________________
"Brother! Wake up!"
The girl named Lefay ran over and immediately knelt to heal Edward. Her hands glowed with a bright green light, signaling a very powerful healing magic.
On the other side, the cadets began to gossip, weaving their own theories about this turn of events.
"Hey... wasn't he losing badly? Why did the tables turn like that?"
"I don't know, I'm more interested in what happened when he hit that concrete wall!"
"Could it be that hitting his head first caused his ancestor's memories to possess him?"
"What are you even saying when someone is dying like that!?"
Various theories were formed in an instant, and the other instructors began to move to check on Edward's condition.
"Make way for the medical unit!" shouted Instructor Flora. "Hurry!"
Behind her, four people in medical robes ran over carrying first-aid kits.
"Miss, please step aside. Leave the patient to us," one of the medical units tried to convince Lefay.
As for Lefay, she was already exhausted from the sheer amount of mana she had expended trying to heal Edward.
"Please... please save my brother..." "Don't worry, we will save him."
With that, Lefay was led away by Flora to rest.
________________________________________________________________
In the Class S spectator seats, a girl with orange hair and pale blue eyes was swinging her pocket watch.
"Hey... isn't this change a bit too sudden? He suddenly took down an instructor that even we in Class S could only give minor scratches to?" "....." "Ethan?" "...Ah? Sorry, I lost focus for a moment. What did you say?"
Ethan, sitting with his childhood friend Altinna, stared at the arena with a blank gaze. How is it possible for a Class D cadet to successfully subdue an instructor... Deep down, Ethan truly couldn't understand what had happened.
"I said, isn't this change too sudden? He took down an instructor with movements that even we could only use to leave a small wound or a scratch on the armor."
"...Yeah..."
The change truly made him curious. Altinna, seeing the big question mark on Ethan's face, asked a question.
"Is it possible this happened because he was frustrated with the result of his duel with Ronie?"
"....I don't think so." "What do you mean?" "Here, let me tell you what I saw..."
Ethan recounted what he had seen while walking home after finishing his last lesson. In a quiet hallway, he had accidentally witnessed a meeting between Edward and Ronie. Thinking a riot was about to break out, he paused for a moment, ready to intervene if a fight started.
Strangely, only Ronie looked annoyed, while Edward was very calm—or rather, he showed no expression at all. This piqued Ethan's curiosity even more. But then, Ronie drew his sword and pointed it at Edward, making Ethan worried and ready to step in.
However, the Saintess came out and mediated between the two first. Fortunately, the Saintess didn't think too much of the trouble Edward had caused before, and even more fortunately, Edward didn't go crazy by saying he would become a paladin and protect the Saintess in Ronie's place.
"At that time, I was really worried there would be another scene, but I'm glad it didn't cause a major issue for the Saintess."
"Hm~"
Altinna rubbed her chin while thinking about something, and at that moment, a cadet with black hair and blue eyes appeared.
"Maybe he was focusing on training himself so he could defeat Ronie." "Eh? You think so?"
"There's no other reason that makes sense."
"Noct... I don't think he's as extreme as you when it comes to wanting revenge."
"?"
Noct, or Noctius, saw Altinna's pouting face and let out a small chuckle. He leaned his back against the chair, his sharp eyes still fixed on the bloodstain left in the arena below.
"Training himself to defeat an instructor in such a short time?" Noctius snorted softly, a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"I've been practicing the sword since I was five, Altinna. And I know what we saw just now wasn't just the result of hard training."
"Then what do you think it was?" Altinna asked, stopping the swing of her watch.
"It was predatory instinct," Noctius answered shortly.
"When he hit the wall, something 'snapped' inside him. And the person who stood up afterward... I even doubt if it was the same human. You felt that killing intent, right?"
Ethan fell silent. Everything Noctius said made sense and was entirely possible.
"Whatever it is," Ethan finally spoke up, "I hope it doesn't bring a threat to him."
_________________________________________________________________
"What is the patient's condition?"
"His condition is critical. The bleeding in his head won't stop, and his muscles seem to have suffered severe trauma from being forced to move beyond their capacity."
"Focus the healing magic on his head and let me handle the muscle tension."
One of the medical units began to flow blue mana slowly into Edward's arm, trying to force the "locked" muscles to relax. However, every time the mana entered, Edward's body twitched slightly, a strange, natural rejection reaction.
"He's staying alive on pure will alone... crazy," Flora whispered in disbelief.
"Move him now! Use the special evacuation route. Don't let the crowd of students block the way to the Class S Medical Ward."
"But Instructor, he's a Class D cadet. The rules—"
"To hell with the rules!" Flora snapped.
"If we take him to the general ward with his muscles in this state, he'll be permanently disabled before sunset. Move him to the VIP unit now, on my authority!"
The medical staff immediately lifted Edward's stretcher with care. As they began to run out of the arena, the remaining dust settled, leaving a heavy silence in the colosseum.
Lefay, walking unsteadily beside Flora, stared at her brother's helpless back with a hollow gaze. Clasping her hands together, she prayed for the first time in a long while.