NOVEL NEXT Chapter 83
Seron Parmia.
With her appearance, Ban and I halted our battle and stared at her in silence.
“…Seron?”
As Ban called her name, Seron flinched her shoulders.
“I, I’m not Seron!”
If you’re going to hide it, at least do it properly!
That gleaming forehead above the mask was unmistakably Seron.
“Seron, what are you doing?”
Upon recognizing Seron, Lina also called out.
What on earth was she doing on that side?
Seron’s expression grew even more flustered, but she held tightly to her two axes and bit her lip.
“I don’t know! Just come at me!”
Seron showed hostility toward Isabel’s group.
“What is she talking about? Does she even know what situation we’re in?”
Lina made a bewildering response upon witnessing this.
“She’s not Seron.”
At that moment, Ban let out a murderous aura from his sword, enough to startle even Seron.
“Anyone blocking my way is the same.”
Ban declared his intention to break through anyone who stood in his path.
But Seron didn’t back down and raised her axes.
“…Bring it on.”
Like a honey badger facing a lion, she bared her frightening teeth.
This was a rather absurd situation for me.
I never expected Seron to pop out suddenly.
‘Where has she been watching from all along?’
It seemed she had come out thinking I was in danger.
I appreciated her intentions, but at this rate, Seron would get caught up in the boycott as well.
Just as I raised my hand to stop her, she spoke.
“I came here of my own volition.”
From her tightly shut lips, a determined will could be felt.
She came here of her own will.
As I looked at her from behind, I lowered my raised hand.
“Can you stop Ban?”
“Of course!”
Seron clashed her axes, showing her fighting spirit.
Good.
I would leave it to her.
What remained was…
Kugugugu…!
At that moment, flames began to swirl around us.
My gaze landed on the one controlling the blaze.
The strongest spirit contractor and the number one among the original spirit mages.
Beakiring Monem.
She summoned the highest fire spirit, and flames started to erupt.
The massive spirit, resembling a giant lizard, flicked its tongue.
Even I, with high resistance, could feel the heat.
Moreover, the eyes of the highest fire spirit were completely fixed on me.
‘Did it feel the remnants of fire?’
I, who housed the corpse of the Fire Spirit Sovereign.
There was a high chance that the highest fire spirit sensed something amiss.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but.”
Beakiring twirled her hand as if saying she had waited long enough.
“Sharine and Ring are here, so it’s too much to handle.”
Sharine, who stood beside Beakiring, regarded me with disapproval.
Then she let out a sigh and casually raised her staff.
“You’ll get a good slap from Senior Bickamon.”
Sharine had come here at Isabel’s request today.
So she had no intentions of letting it slide.
Fighting against the highest spirit mage and the magic arts top student was not an easy task.
Moreover, Isabel wouldn’t just stand by forever.
Just as I was anticipating a tough battle…
Whoooosh!
The wind blew fiercely, pushing back the swirling flames.
“Huh?”
A bewildered response emerged from Beakiring.
As she hurriedly looked up, a massive azure bird was descending from the sky.
The enormous bird, big enough for one to feel its grandeur, unfolded its transparent wings.
Each flap of its wings shook everyone present.
“Is that… the Spirit Sovereign?”
Beakiring uttered in disbelief.
The bird was indeed the Spirit Sovereign.
The spirit contracted with Poara Silin.
Whoosh!
The boy riding the wind landed next to me.
“Ugh!”
He landed clumsily, struggling to stand up straight.
Then he pushed up the glasses he wore on his mask.
“I, I’m here to support!”
“Poara Silin, why are you here?”
At Beakiring’s question, Poara shook her head vigorously with a flustered expression.
“I’m not Poara! I’m just a passing spirit mage!”
“What do you mean?”
Beakiring’s response showed her incredulity.
She frowned as if to say, “Are you kidding me.”
‘Seems like she sensed the spirit’s power and came here.’
I guessed Poara’s rough reason for coming here.
She likely sensed the essence of the highest spirit and intended to play the role of a boycott member.
“I’ll handle the spirits.”
Poara averted her gaze as if Beakiring’s eyes were piercing.
Good.
This felt like we had a decent fighting chance now.
“As I mentioned earlier.”
I raised my fist toward Isabel’s group.
“This area is off-limits to unauthorized personnel!”
＊＊＊
The clash between the highest spirit and the Spirit Sovereign echoed through the air.
In the unexpected disaster, the ordinary students were getting tossed around.
Amid that chaos, Seron and Ban clashed and tangled.
Seron’s desperate actions were so skilled that they even surprised Ban.
As their magic danced and twinkled around, Sharine’s light magic dropped and turned the surroundings into chaos.
That was essentially akin to a meteor shower.
Clash!
At that moment, Lina, Isabel’s friend, emerged through the afterimage of the light.
She attempted to close me in with her proficient swordsmanship.
But I had already fought evenly against Ban.
With my heightened reflexes, I evaded every point where her sword was aimed at.
“Why is the mage so fast?!”
Lina yelled in panic, panting heavily.
Sorry, but I’m not a mage.
As I executed a retreating move to feint, I leaned forward instead.
In an instant, the distance between me and Lina closed.
Taking advantage of her confusion, I swung a punch at her wrist.
Boom!
The explosion magic triggered from my elbow launched me forward.
Crack!
“Ahhh!”
Lina didn’t react in time and allowed the hit to connect with her sword-wielding hand.
In the moment her grip weakened, I sent a weak current through the sword’s surface.
As lightning surged from my hand, she flinched and dropped her sword.
I had seen what happened to the paladin, Passen.
So as soon as she felt the current, she released it.
Clang!
I kicked her discarded sword with all my might.
Lina was disarmed.
But Lina was never the issue from the start.
Whoosh!
Smoke filled the area where the light bullet had landed, and suddenly Isabel appeared.
Her crimson eyes were streaked with beast-like lines.
Her sword charged swiftly toward my neck.
There was no way I could evade this.
I immediately raised my hand to counter.
Clang!
As I deflected the attack with my hand, I vanished into the smoke along with Isabel.
In the hazy dust, I quietly heightened my senses.
As I held my breath, Isabel’s silhouette appeared.
Before her figure could manifest, her sword broke through the smoke.
Clang! Clang!
Without hesitation, the swift arc of my hand met her sword repeatedly.
The blade was still alive.
‘In terms of sharpness, she’s more than half there.’
I realized how much training Isabel had undergone.
Now that I thought about it, this was the first time I was fighting Isabel like this.
I never expected our postponed fight to happen here of all places.
I had to give it my all.
Just as I dodged the fierce blade once again…
Thud!
I realized I had my back against the wall.
Oh no.
I had focused too much on Isabel’s blade and neglected my rear.
Just before another sword thrust was about to reach my chest, I swung both hands simultaneously.
My fingers dug into the incoming blade aimed at my heart.
A trick I had used against Ban.
The Sword Breaker.
Crack!
At the moment I shattered Isabel’s sword, I saw a shining light from the other side.
There was another sword shooting up.
Isabel had discarded her original sword and was wielding a new one.
The source of the sword was Lina’s sword that I had just knocked away.
‘She anticipated it.’
Isabel must have seen how I used the Sword Breaker against Ban.
That’s why she intended to discard her original sword from the get-go and wield Lina’s sword.
Isabel’s crimson eyes were full of determination.
She was ready to do anything to genuinely defeat me.
I found myself smiling unintentionally.
Yeah, the main heroine should be like this.
As the magic seal burst to life on my back, Isabel realized it, but it was already too late.
BOOM!
With a deafening sound, the wall crumbled entirely.
“You!”
I heard Isabel’s voice, but I quickly rolled behind me.
Then I kicked off the ground and dashed away.
I had bought enough time.
That was enough.
I grasped the lightning blade in my hand.
Then I unleashed the remaining energy from Professor Barkio at maximum.
Magic Seal · Lightning Catcher
Gripping the black lightning, without hesitation, I hurled it toward Ban and Seron.
Realizing this, Ban pulled back as he swung his sword at Seron.
“Ahh!?”
Surprised, Seron also pulled back, and I seized her waist with my hand.
“Ah!”
This time, Seron screamed for a different reason.
I shouted while lifting her, whose face had turned beet red.
“Poara, fall back!”
“Uh, y-yes!”
Poara stopped fighting against Beakiring and withdrew.
“Stay right there! And leave Ring like that!”
Beakiring shouted at Poara as she fled, but couldn’t bring herself to chase after.
No matter how powerful the highest spirit and its contractor were, the Spirit Sovereign couldn’t do anything against this.
Beakiring ground her teeth in frustration.
Later, Poara would likely have a tough time because of this.
As I was running, I spotted Sharine in the distance.
She was glaring at me with a slightly dissatisfied look.
Her expression seemed to ask why I didn’t give her a heads-up about this.
I’ll apologize later.
For now, it was all about making our escape.
＊＊＊
After running for quite a while, Isabel’s group finally stopped chasing us.
While Isabel was out of the picture, their main objective was to mediate with the boycott group causing chaos at the academy.
There was no reason for them to pursue me.
Once I evaded them successfully and slipped into a building, I breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter how rigorous Aisha’s hellish stamina training was, I couldn’t help but be exhausted after such a frenzy.
Clang, bang!
In the meantime, I could still see the students’ council members and the boycott members engaged in fierce combat.
Though it was a bit far, they all fought with desperation.
“Ah.”
At that moment, Seron spoke up.
Having forgotten about her, I set her down.
Seron was gazing out the window with trembling eyes, not facing me.
“Seron?”
As I called her in confusion, Seron bit her lip.
“Your Highness, no, Senior Bickamon.”
Did she finally figure out my name?
Amid the chaos, Bickamon’s name echoed repeatedly.
There was no way she could have remained oblivious.
As I forced a smile, Seron looked down.
“This is all because of you, isn’t it, Nikita?”
Bickamon had feelings for Nikita.
Because of that, he had crossed the line and got expelled after causing chaos with Lucas.
Even someone who didn’t know me would have heard rumors about it.
This signalized a heartbreak for Seron.
“It’s okay. I probably would have done the same.”
Seron spoke with a hint of sorrow in her voice.
Seeing Seron smile faintly with tears in her eyes, I was at a loss for words.
“But I’m done helping you here.”
Seron’s gaze remained fixated outside the window.
“I have a friend in the student council who’s a bit slow-witted.”
I finally realized what Seron had spotted outside the window.
There was Hania disguised as Hannon.
“I can’t betray my friend anymore. She’s my only precious friend.”
Seron said, smiling lightly.
“She’s a bit of a brat, though.”
My fists clenched tightly.
Seron turned her body away.
“Because of you, Senior Bickamon, I thought I wasn’t entirely unhappy that day.”
She delivered her sincere words.
“Thank you.”
That was the end of it, and Seron disappeared.
As I watched her retreating figure, I bit my lips in despair.
I lost love because of the enigma of the veil.
But I understood the significance of the friendship Seron showed.
I am friends with Seron.
That’s true now and will be in the future.
How long can I continue to deceive such a friend?
Would I ever be able to reveal my true self to Seron with these misunderstandings lingering?
My instincts warned me.
This was my only chance.
“You stupid tomato!”
This was, after all, my impulsive action.
I was an outsider in this world.
Yet, even someone like me, Seron genuinely considered me a friend.
Surprisingly, my unpredictable gesture ignited a desire to brighten up this dreary world.
So, I forced a smile across my face.
While calling out the nickname I had given Seron before, I pushed down the veil.
Under the moonlight streaming through the window.
In an instant, my appearance morphed into Hannon.
I was wearing the pendant that she mistook for being given to Bickamon.
Holding the pendant tightly in my hand, I raised it overhead.
“Huh?”
As Seron turned around, her voice revealed a mix of surprise.
Her large eyes widened in confusion at this sudden situation.
I smiled brightly at her, staring at her trademark clueless expression.
“Let’s talk again tomorrow.”
With that, I dashed away quickly.
For now, I didn’t know what to think; I just ran.
I leave the resolution to tomorrow’s me.
Thanks in advance, tomorrow’s me.
【Act 4, Chapter 1: ‘The Boycott Ruckus’ comes to an end.】