Chapter 20
Swoosh-!
The sound of the air being fiercely torn apart.
Dozens of arrows were rushing right before my eyes.
Blazing flames, and the air shimmering and shattering around them.
The fiery demon raged as if it would subject me to predation at any moment.
"Stay away...!"
The girl glared at me as if she wanted to kill me.
Regardless, I pressed the button on my watch once again.
Click-.
My vision dulled, and the flow of the entire world slowed down.
Through that gap, a colorful blade extended outward.
The next moment.
"Hmm."
Boom, craaash-!
The missed arrows caused explosions behind my back.
A sudden wave of heat washed over me.
Even so, my gaze did not waver.
I simply took one step forward, and then another.
My stride was neither rushed nor sluggish; it was completely relaxed.
"I believe I told you? It's no use."
I subtly provoked her.
I implied that her continuous attacks were merely boring to me now.
Was she swept up by my reaction?
Shariel's tempo was gradually falling apart
Breathing heavily, the girl bit her lip.
"I told you... I told you to shut up!"
"Oops."
Swish-.
I parried the surprise attack that flew at me.
Its trajectory was also deflected, and the arrow plunged innocently into the floor.
I casually waved my balloon sword.
"You missed again."
"How dare you, you Class E trash...!"
"I'm getting tired of this pattern. Do you not know how to say anything else?"
"I don't know what kind of trick you're pulling, but I will definitely make you regret this!"
"I've already heard that line, too. Exactly 11 minutes and 24 seconds ago."
"You...!"
She was different from the beginning.
Her distinctively beautiful and deceptive smile was gone.
Instead, only a deep frown remained in its place.
Click-.
Thick drops of sweat rolled down her pale white cheeks.
Her stamina seemed to be hitting rock bottom, as her movements were no longer sharp.
'Well... she did run wild like that.'
After my first parrying.
Shariel poured out a fierce attack like a madman.
Like someone denying reality, claiming that this couldn't be happening.
'I suppose it's natural, in a way.'
The magic she had polished her entire life.
Imagine thinking that the field she dedicated her life to was thwarted by a mere balloon sword.
It was ridiculous.
Pushed aside by that ridiculousness, she would be defeated even more ridiculously.
-Aren't you starting to get worried? About the kind of humiliation you'll face.
-Do you want to forfeit? I might let you off the hook if you crawl on all fours in front of the whole school.
And that too, to an opponent she had been ignoring until just a moment ago.
It would be rare to find someone who wouldn't be shaken in such a situation.
Moreover, the opponent is just a child.
Click-.
A time when her mental growth was not yet complete.
Chipping away at her pride bit by bit could be considered an excellent strategy.
"Haa, haa...."
"You seem to be out of breath?"
"Ugh, shut up.... I still have plenty of room to spare!"
The start of the sparring.
Ten minutes had already passed since then.
The flow was entirely one-sided.
Click-.
The girl attacked, and I executed parrying on every single one.
The one pushing the pace of the sparring was clearly Shariel.
Because I only repeated my defense and hadn't launched a single attack.
"Well."
However.
"Even if you repeat this a few more times, the result will likely be the same."
The atmosphere had already shifted to my side.
There is a clear difference between pushing the pace and taking the lead.
Click-.
I reset the watch and deflected the newly fired attack.
The combination of the bug and parrying deflected the arrows one after another.
Not a single scratch appeared on the balloon sword
'The affinity was good.'
I thought while shaking my hand.
Parrying is a skill that requires a high level of concentration.
Moreover, it can only be applied to one thing at a time.
It is especially tricky to execute against projectiles.
'I am drawing out the maximum efficiency with the watch bug, but....'
As expected, I can't help but be at a slight disadvantage in a battle pushed by sheer volume.
In Shariel's case, it was easy to use parrying because she tended to be careful with every single attack.
Click-.
If she hadn't picked up a bow,
If she had pushed with quantity rather than quality,
If she had deployed magic like an ordinary pyromancer....
'I would have lost. There is a limit to defending with parrying, after all.'
A skill honed to the extreme.
That was exactly what ended up holding Shariel back.
Click-.
"You sure are good at deflecting things this way and that!"
"Hehe, thank you."
"Like a flying bug! If just one... if just one hit lands, you'll be knocked out cold!"
"Then try to hit me."
"Ugh, eek...!"
Swish! Craaash-!
We continued our offense and defense, biting at each other's tails.
As the trajectories over the sparring ground grew flashier, the murmurs from the spectator seats reached my ears.
-What the hell is going on? A mere Class E top student is going toe-to-toe with Lady Shariel...?
-It's not just going toe-to-toe, though? It only looks like he's completely dominating her.
-What's in his hand... is that a balloon? He deflected magic with something like that?
-Fuck, I've never seen anything like that in my entire life.
The faintly echoing chatter.
Shariel's complexion worsens even further.
What leaked through her exhausted lips was an urgency she couldn't quite swallow.
"Ugh...!"
The gazes gathering from all around.
The focused attention tightened Shariel's heavy breathing just a bit more.
-Can't she even pop a single balloon? I thought they said she was a pretty high-level pyromancer?
-No matter how unusual her opponent is, should she really be struggling this much? It's a bit disappointing....
-She always walked around acting so high and mighty, didn't she?
-She's the top student of Class C, yet she can't beat the top student of Class E?
-More importantly, that guy from Class E is pretty good, huh? Did they say his name was Victor?
Voices bursting out from everywhere.
Doubt, disappointment, ridicule, and admiration.
The emotions soon became a pressure that weighed down on the examination hall.
The one receiving the brunt of that pressure was, as expected, Shariel.
-No way... is she going to lose like this?
-That can't be. She's still the top student of Class C, you know?
-Judging by how it's going, it feels pretty evenly matched, though....
-She should drop out then. How could she attend the academy out of sheer embarrassment?
With every word added, the girl's steps grew more anxious.
The trajectories of her arrows wavered, and her mana sparked all over the place.
"You seem to be getting more anxious?"
"Haa, haa... shut up!"
"I suppose so. After all, it wouldn't do for you to struggle against a mere Class E top student, right?"
"Shut up! You're the one who just keeps repeating evasion!"
Her sky-high pride.
The words, and the situation, that kicked at the very core of the girl.
'It should be about time.'
It was her limit.
Shariel's stamina must have been drained completely a long time ago.
Even so, she had been stubbornly drawing her bowstring.
But, even that was slowly reaching its end.
The girl prepared her final attack.
Swoosh-!
The air instantly grew hot.
The hellfire nocked on the string was ferocious, dyeing the very scene red.
Having scraped the bottom of her limits, it was vastly stronger than her previous attacks.
Shariel declared with a piercing shout.
"I'll put an end to this! I will show trash like you the difference in our levels...!"
The arrow, compressed with high heat, was black, unlike the previous ones.
Flames were layered multiple times and focused solely in one direction.
Shariel's fingers released the taut bowstring.
-Shariel Style Pyromancy Secret Art-
'Hellfire'
Following that, a venomous storm was fired.
It surged forward, leaving a blazing heat haze behind it.
A strike powerful enough to surprise even the spectators.
Whoosh-!
'However.'
Its trajectory is obvious.
A shattered reason awakens instinct, and instinct soon spits out linear actions.
And, I had been predicting that reflexive reaction from the very beginning.
In short,
'It's easy to evade.'
Click-.
The scene unfailingly slowed down.
I narrowly brushed past it and executed parrying on the approaching arrow.
Swish-.
"...!"
Craaash-!
A deafening bursting sound.
I didn't stop, digging into the opponent who had revealed an opening.
Now that Shariel had made a huge misstep.
"Ugh...!?"
I rapidly closed the distance.
A look of panic.
The girl corrected her broken posture and drew her bowstring once more.
However, hastily woven magic inevitably has poor threading.
The flames were still blazing, but their power was relatively weaker.
'I'll break through.'
Click-.
Click-.
Click-.
I pressed the watch several times and swung the balloon sword sharply.
The powerless flames died out without even being able to brush past me.
The gap had narrowed down to a single step before she knew it.
"Got you."
A quietly whispered remark.
I immediately lifted my foot and pushed hard against the girl's abdomen.
Since I lacked any strength, I had to put at least my body weight into it.
After that, a delayed striking sound echoed throughout the entire arena.
Thwack-!
"Keugh...!"
Gasping for air, the girl was sent flying.
Was it because of her exhausted stamina?
The damage dealt seemed to be stronger than its original power.
Shariel floated in the air for a few seconds before falling.
Thud-.
Her body sprawled out helplessly.
The girl couldn't get back up.
She was merely taking heavy, ragged breaths.
"Haa, haa...."
"My, my."
I stood upright and looked down at the girl.
I still didn't have a single scratch on me.
Swish-.
I gripped the colorful sword once again.
And then, I aimed it at the neutralized redhead.
The bouncy texture of the balloon rested against her pure white neck.
"Is this the end?"
A declaration tossed out with a smirk.
There was no one who would raise an objection.
Thus, the duel came to an end.
At the same time, a familiar mechanical sound rang out.
Ding-!
[Condition met! You have acquired a new title!]
[One hidden function within the status window has been unlocked!]
[Reward Details]
-Acquired Title 'The One Who Collects Illusions'
-Unlocked Status Window Function 'Illusion Collector'
A blue window popped up before my eyes.
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