"~!"
"Finish him, Justin!"
Basically, every member of the audience would cheer for Justin.
...although not all..
A handful of upperclassmen from different classes and years stared at the duel in silence.
One female student from the fifth year was pressing her fist to her mouth while slouching forward, with her eyes bulging out as if she didn't want to miss a single move.
A certain seventh-year student was staring at the fight with his mouth hanging open.
A third-year student from the group that bullied Justin, seated with his elbows on his knees and his chin resting on his hands, wasn't even blinking, and pushed away his nervous friend, who suddenly changed his mind about targeting their junior.
The only person from Justin and Rotsard's year who wasn't excitedly cheering for Justin's triumph was the red-haired, fox-eyed boy, Felix Fallrain.
He was standing right next to his gray-haired cousin… and was trembling.
"Don't make that face! See? That rotten bastard is getting his ass ki…!"
"Shut it, Ren!"
The gray-haired boy tried to cheer his cousin up, placing his hand on his shoulder, but that gesture only resulted in Felix flinching and snapping at him while taking a step back.
"What the hel, man? I called you to watch this because I thought that seeing that rotten bastard put into place would help you recover from the trauma!"
Ren furrowed his brows and scoffed, taking back the hand that his cousin slapped away.
"N-no. No. You're all blind."
"Huh…?"
Felix shivered and shook his head, turning away from the duel that was only growing in intensity, with the fabric of Rotsard's sleeves flying around together with splinters…
…wait…
Splinters…?
Meanwhile, Rotsard quickly stepped back and spat out gooey blood again, this time a bit brighter in color, before returning to an almost maniacal exchange of blows.
|Why…?! Why?! WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY?!|
His mind was screaming as his vision was turning red.
He never expected such an outcome!
Outrageous! Hateful! Detestable!
To think that peasant!
That WORTHLESS, FILTHY peasant…!
|WHY IS HE SO WEAK?!|
Rotsard bared his teeth in a mad grimace as his anger breached the limits of his self-control.
He was there, fully embracing his role in the world.
As a noble, making the sacrifice of himself, his honor, all of his values.
Sacrificing it all to assure that humanity will survive.
That it will have the hero who will save everyone, and bring peace and prosperity to all!
BUT THAT FILTHY peasant DARES TO BE SO WEAK?!
SHAMELESS! SHAMELESS! SHAMELESS! SHAMELEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!
Each slash thrown by Justin was easily deflected by Rotsard.
Thinking that it must have been a trick, Rotsard began to attack faster, stopping each clean hit an inch before the future hero's body…
…and Justin was barely able to register half of it…!
Agonizing despair at such ineptness almost tore Rotsard's heart apart!
His insides were still injured, and with him moving so much, he ruined a full month or two of the hard-earned recovery only possible through Mira's help... And the only reward for it was… this…?
Justin was supposed to soar above Rotsard in terms of strength, reflex, speed, and magic!
Rotsard was supposed to be the villain who cheats and cheats and cheats using every single unfair advantage possible, only to get defeated by earnest hard work augmented by raw talent!
WHAT THE HEL WAS THIS THEN!?
THAT CLUMSINESS!
THAT SLOW REACTION TIME!
THAT TUNNEL VISION!
Pulsating with rage, Rotsard's head felt as if it was about to explode.
Rotsard attacks carried enough power and momentum to rip his own sleeves apart, and him merely deflecting the wooden sword was crushing and ripping it apart to the point that it was held together only by Justin's mana.
"It's time to FINISH THIS!"
To make matters worse, Justin himself didn't seem aware of what was happening, and he called out, stepping back for distance and… jumping up for his signature attack.
An overhead downward slash.
"..."
Seeing that, Rotsard just stopped in place, his head turning blank.
*WHAM*
"YEAH!"
"JUS-TIN! JUS-TIN!"
With that, the attack obviously connected with a loud threatening sound, causing the audience to erupt into cheers for the future hero…
"HAAAAH! Ghhhh…?"
…the future hero who realized that despite his spirited cheer, his attack wasn't pushing his opponent back…
The splintering wooden sword wasn't pushing Rotsard back.
It obviously wasn't cutting through him either.
"...eh…?"
As Justin landed back on his feet, with the wooden weapon laid across Rotard's chest without any effect whatsoever, the future hero shivered and let out a pitiful voice.
His chin started to tremble, and his eyes filled with tears even before he dared to look up.
Because when he did…
"..."
"...hic…!"
He cowered and started hiccuping under the hateful glare of yellow eyes.
It wasn't even the glare that a beast gives its prey. It was the glare that a human gives a piece of filth that stuck to the sole of their shoe.
"...I-I'm…!"
"...?"
Even Justin didn't know what he tried to say. He merely mumbled something while backing off like a terrified animal, confusing most of the audience to no end.
"Student Vallhall! This duel is…!"
*WHAAAAM*
The teacher flinched in realisation and rushed forward, reaching his hand to hasten his coming between the two opponents, but the next moment the future hero disappeared from his spot to the deafening sound.
*WHAM*
"...gah…!"
"?!?!"
A second later, Justin wheezed after his back slammed against the Academy's wall, and his eyes flashed white while the audience was yet to realize what had happened.
Only the marks in the ground told the tale of Rotsard reaching Justin, digging his heel in, and delivering a devastating roundhouse kick against the haphazard guard of the future hero.
*tack* *tack*
The pieces of the shattered wooden sword just barely fell on the ground and Justin didn't manage to even properly slide down the wall, but Rotsard was already by him.
The enraged villain grabbed the future hero's shirt and spun around with him, gaining momentum and tossing Justin a dozen feet into the air, throwing him back towards their starting point.
"...!"
"STOP!"
Rotsard bared his teeth, focused solely on the path of Justin's fall, and, despite the teacher shouting in between chanting spells, he charged and launched himself at his victim.
There was no doubt about what would happen next if the teacher failed with the rescue, only a miracle would save the peasant student.
"VALLHALL!"
In a desperate attempt to prevent the tragedy, the teacher roared while aiming all the defensive spells he knew at Justin…