NOVEL NEXT Chapter 252
<252 - The Rematch with the Warrior>
A ball was added to the acceleration hell.
Whoosh, whoosh! The ball zoomed by, now making shoo-ba-ba-ba! sounds as it left electric traces and afterimages in its wake.
What the heck is that?
I’m scared…
Can we get the trapped balls out?
“Oknodie…”
“I’m sorry! I thought I could get them out.”
Hehe.
Even with a laugh, Kasia’s expression remained stoic.
“Are you mad?”
“I am mad.”
“Ugh, I’m really sorry…”
“She’s the one.”
“Huh?”
Kasia pointed to where the Imperial Second Princess was wreaking havoc in the coat, where the top student of the second year, Mandela, was fighting Warrior Ishtar.
No, it should have been unfolding.
Slither.
The badge of the warrior.
The one who drew the Holy Sword.
Shining like the sun, with dazzling blonde hair, she aimed her sword at me and said.
“Oknodie.”
“Yup?”
“I think I’ll have to eliminate you.”
Just like that?
This is strange. No matter how I think about it, there was no such event.
“Why?”
“If you want to pretend you don’t know anything, you can just stay there. That is, if you can keep doing that!”
When I asked honestly, her hostility only grew.
*
The Imperial Second Princess was caught in Dark Mana.
Claiming it was unrelated to herself.
Is that what she wants to assert?
Everyone knows it’s a shameless statement.
Oknodie was the person who could handle Dark Mana more than anyone in the academy.
“I’ve heard rumors that the Imperial Second Princess has battled Oknodie before. If there’s a moment she fell into Dark Mana, it must have been then.”
The descendant of the archers, Skola, said so.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter if she admits it or not.
This is a warning to everyone in the academy.
“I will show no mercy to those who handle Dark Mana.”
The warrior remembered.
The tragedies caused by Dark Mana.
– Ishtar. Our Huajunchon is vulnerable to outside attacks. But with Dark Mana, we could defeat monsters and the lord’s soldiers!
– Ah, no… Why am I killing the self-defense squad…? Ru-Run…
– Hah… Don’t use the likes of Dark Mana… Those who use this power will inevitably be subject to someone’s control one day… Even if you don’t want it, you’ll become evil…
The unicorn of Huajunchon.
Possessing potential surpassing Ishtar.
A man, Arthur, who could have perhaps become a warrior.
He met his end.
Just before being dominated by Dark Mana and about to defeat Ishtar, he managed to partially regain his self and halted the sword that was about to strike her.
Ishtar, having lost everyone in the village except Yufi, swore vengeance against all Dark Mana users and was chosen as a warrior by the one and only deity, Sofemia of the Sun.
She is the avenger.
Having felt the deficiency of power, she vowed never to choose anyone who could die weaker than herself as a comrade.
Thus, her strength was the highest among all second-years.
“Run, first years! That warrior is dangerous!”
There might be competent people to keep the successful ones in check, but there are few who truly intend to kill.
To Mandela, the top student of the second year who did not know the circumstances regarding Dark Mana, Ishtar appeared to be insane.
“I don’t know what you’re dissatisfied with, but I don’t like you either!”
Ishtar initiated the final confirmation.
“The skill of manipulating ice balls, if you don’t have a deep mastery of ice magic, that skill was impossible.”
“Isn’t that right?”
[Truth]
“Evidence has increased that the recent incident involving the old teacher’s ice trap was your doing.”
“What’s that?”
[Truth]
“You… are trying to act as if you’ve forgotten about the countless people you’ve hurt?”
“I have a tendency not to remember trivial events for long. There are much bigger things I need to do ahead!”
Not a single statement was untruthful.
And that made me even more afraid.
That kid doesn’t hide anything.
Deception is the action of the weak.
Confident in her own strength, which is unwavering.
And that made her even more annoying.
Someone needed to punish that bad kid.
If it were when I was younger, I might have just taken her pants down and spanked her bottom.
But now…
That child, corrupted by the foundation’s education…
Was far too late to be corrected with a smack on the backside.
“Good. Then… let’s start with the review.”
The Holy Sword trembled, revealing the warrior’s wrath.
From the very start, she unveiled the trump card of [Holy Sword Liberation].
Ishtar saw it.
With every flicker of the sword’s light, the eyes of the students with Dark Mana looking at Oknodie trembled.
This was a battle between representatives of good and evil.
Depending on the outcome of this duel, it would be determined whether what erupted in the academy was good or evil.
[Wing Cutter]
Infusing propulsion into the blade, it flew with a trajectory so unpredictable, it seemed to have wings.
Essentially an unavoidable homing missile strike.
With the conviction of a warrior, Oknodie did not rely on [Accelerated Afterimage Sword] but instead twirled the wand and shouted, “Hey!”
[Dark Fog]
A pitch-black smoke enveloped the coat, obscuring her figure.
From beyond it, the life signatures felt numerous.
The warrior pursued the energy she first sensed to the end, only to realize that Oknodie was not the one she’d struck.
Crunch
The sound of her blade scraping the floor echoed.
Her technique was to hide clones sharing her energy in the fog to divert the target.
“Are you trying to commit the same naughty acts you did with the sword with a wand? That won’t work.”
[Holy Sword Function - Purification]
The power of the Holy Sword, which repels all corrupt and unclean powers, was shot at the area Oknodie stepped on.
However, for some reason, Oknodie’s afterimage could not be dispelled by the purifying light that it had just cleared away this time.
“I’ve reviewed thoroughly. I’m the top student, you know.”
“You wrapped Dark Mana in regular mana to block the purification, huh?”
The evaluation of not being a deceptive child was retracted.
An insidious child that did not suit her youthful face.
“If you’ve finished your review, it’s time to move on. I’ll test how far you’ve prepared!”
“Why do you like reviewing and prepping so much as if you’re a teacher…? Are you trying to be a teaching assistant? Ugh. The term ‘teaching assistant warrior’ sounds a bit edgy.”
Her chatter suddenly halted as a translucent barrier shot from the warrior’s sword.
[Holy Mirror]
[One Hundred Eight Defensive Array]
Unfolding like a barrier, it scattered in an uncontrollable sacred energy wall.
As Oknodie poked with a finger, it emitted a sizzle as smoke rose from her finger.
“Eek, hot!”
“… It’s a holy mirror infused with purifying energy that cleanses all unclean beings. Evil beings cannot pass through this mirror. From inside to outside. And from outside to inside.”
“Wow. What a cool new technique!”
Other students under Oknodie’s control can’t help even if they pass through this mirror.
“But if first years fight like this, won’t Mandela-senpai rack up a ton of points?”
“I don’t care. Compared to crushing the ambitions of the wicked Dark Princess tainted by darkness, this is nothing. Unless…”
Ishtar glanced back at Mandela standing in the central 10-point zone of the court.
“Are you going to interfere, senpai?”
“Not at all…? Just go about your business! Winning team is our team!”
Jumping and cheering, the unrefined top student.
With Mandela’s neglect confirmed, another variable for Ishtar vanished.
“The [Holy Mirror] repels evil powers but has the mystical effect of charging sacred power into the mirror and sending it to nearby other mirrors.”
“Is it okay to reveal all that?”
“If I don’t maintain this semblance of fairness, the professors might butt in and complain about balance.”
“Oh! Did you hear that, Myung So?”
Myung So, calculating a chance to intervene, frowned.
Though he didn’t miss a single angle like an excellent jungler, the already exposed ambush was firmly fixed by the stern eyes of Dragon Principal Omoshiroi.
“Principal…”
Those kids have a point. Don’t interfere.
“It’s the finale.”
All variables vanished.
With that certainty, Ishtar explosively unleashed the power of the Holy Sword onto the Magic Mirror.
Stabs! Like a torrential storm of blows, pouring down attacks.
Just how great a power was contained within the Holy Mirror?
Even in mere speculation, the terrifying energy burst from the mirrors behind.
“!!”
[Amplification]
[Absorption]
The amplified power was sucked into the other mirrors and absorbed again.
Only then did the students realize the true value of the Holy Mirror and screamed.
“Break the mirror!”
“Oknodie, if you don’t break the mirror, the warrior’s cowardly power will keep amplifying as it moves between the mirrors!”
A technology that theoretically allows for infinite enhancement, like Oknodie’s interval repeated infinitely accelerating dodgeball!
If used in practice, it could stack tremendous enhancements by passing through the 108 mirrors.
With a single thought, one could massacre multiple enemies from several mirrors or pile up stacks against a single strong enemy and overwhelm them in a single blow.
The warrior’s technique.
The power of being a chosen strong one was evident!
“That’s a problem.”
However, Ishtar couldn’t ignore every variable either.
Crackle
Clang!
Lightning that flew in from somewhere shattered the mirror in an instant.
Only one person on this court could wield such lightning.
“You… should have been a safe person without Dark Mana?”
“Enemies are not distinguished by the presence of Dark Mana. If you torment Oknodie… you are my enemy.”
The leader of Group C.
The fusion experimental subject, Kasia.
The strongest lightning user stepped in to support Oknodie.