Deadcat recalled.
The power contained in Oknodie’s tricolor ball.
Woosh!
“I lost one illusion stack.”
When was the last time I lost a stack?
Right…
It was during the midterm exam for the Upper Class for Second-Year 1st Semester.
It was the first time since then.
The same Upper Class Student, Mandela.
Even when I was attacked by her, I thought—
The academy is really fun.
If I were outside, I would be bored and wouldn’t even get to use the abilities I’ve developed, but thanks to this, I’ve earnestly strengthened my abilities.
Receiving Oknodie’s tricolor ball was the same feeling.
It was an amusing power.
The flames enhanced by Dark Mana would burn my hands like the terrors of hell, while the freezing power of blue would freeze the action of the Mana trying to stop it.
I must summon Mana to block it, but that contradictory property doesn’t even allow me to make that attempt.
It takes a special skill to plant that without any conflict.
Top Student.
She is perfectly qualified to be at the pinnacle of the First Year.
Thud!
“I added three more to that.”
The attack coming my way is the six-colored ball.
A power infused with three attributes.
But the response will be the same.
I will receive it with my body to lessen its power and snatch the ball.
After that, it’s over.
I won’t even care about a sword wielder frozen by fear; I’ll take down the Top Student Oknodie.
Smash!
“This strike, if I can just endure it, is my victory.”
Deadcat was struck by the incoming ball on the trajectory of her writhing body.
Bam!
Once again, Deadcat’s body was helplessly bounced back.
However, there was a different difference from before.
As the illusion vanished, Deadcat reappeared in her place.
There was no ball that should have been hovering above her.
The ball that passed through her body sprang back to hit her again!
Gasp!
Deadcat realized.
Oknodie threw a very nasty ball.
[Spatial Severance] and [Material Transmission].
A closed loop connecting front and back by cutting a specific section of space.
That ball never stopped.
It kept moving forward.
As long as that power remains, even if I eliminate all my illusions and throw my main body, it will continue to come at me.
[Nine Lives]
The cat said to have nine lives.
Deadcat implemented that technique similarly by merging it with Magic.
Like a dead cat, beyond the illusions that die, she appeared perfectly intact in her original position and countered the Empire Knight who was left in shock.
“Deadcat…”
The girl named herself that day.
I am Deadcat.
A chilling technique so acknowledged even by the enemy.
Her illusions possessed nine stacks.
And now, following the second stack, the third stack flew away.
“I couldn’t block even a little.”
It was influenced by a power that was different from the [Spatial Severance] and [Material Transmission] contained in the six-colored ball.
A type of force related to [Unblockable].
A means that keeps the velocity and action of the object that has reached the top intact.
Unless I can decipher its identity and secrets, no matter how many stacks I expend, nothing will change.
A strike that cannot be received by those who lack wisdom.
Who would not be surprised that a mere First Year threw such a ball?
“I must have figured it out from the first strike.”
I was aware that the [Nine Lives] I developed was deciphered from the previous attack, and Oknodie drew out the perfect countermeasure.
This is a challenge.
Just as I pierced your schemes, can you also dissolve mine?
The fourth stack disappeared.
Yet, I still couldn’t tell.
Further depletion is perilous.
With both hands packed full of Mana, I received the ball.
Boom!!
I took it.
The flame contained in the bluemetal ball exploded and rebounded.
A deviation that shattered the assumption that the same attributes would produce the same effect as the tricolor ball.
Hiding a trap that explodes the moment it touches external mana.
The fifth stack disappeared.
The composure vanished.
Thud thud
The sound of the attack I received with my hand was almost simultaneous with a collision sound from afar.
My sensitive hearing claimed it was the sound of a ball crashing against a wall.
Strange, indeed.
The ball is right in front of me.
Why do I hear a sound from behind?
It was akin to my [Nine Lives]…?
Gasp!!!
The sixth stack vanished.
And then came the moment of realization.
It transcended mere deciphering.
Completely read.
After just one display in front of me.
The principle of my ability.
The method of manifestation.
I was caught up in all of it.
“Isn’t this fun?”
This wasn’t enjoyable.
It wasn’t the thrill of defeating a strong opponent she desired.
There was no one-sided hunt here.
If there was one, it wasn’t for her.
The strong enemy in front of her.
It was for that monster.
“I’m overwhelmed.”
I felt it.
If I grant that child “the next opportunity,” I know well what will happen.
I will lose everything.
Not even a single thing will remain.
She will use everything I’ve shown against me.
There is only one chance.
I cannot allow a second chance, I must end this with my strongest finishing move.
“I don’t care if you don’t understand the principle.”
I will respond with a strike that doesn’t require understanding.
The seventh stack vanished.
The eighth wave of attacks repeated.
Simultaneously, Deadcat unleashed her power.
[Manifestation of Mana]
[Declaration of Area – Mana Null Zone]
A explosive-scale opening of power that doesn’t allow the manifestation of any magical ability.
Conveniently, Nature Mana—which would assist in the manifestation of magic in a normal environment—empties out from the reverse magic that was set off by taking away Mana.
An advanced Mana control technique impossible without perfect control, resembling a vacuum state!
[Mana Block]
Hiding Mana from being detected so that it cannot be drained from the living creature’s body.
This, too, is a type of advanced control technique designed solely to negate the enemy’s magic.
Its difficulty was comparable to the upper-level technique [Darkness Block] demonstrated by Oknodie.
Hiss
The energy imbued in the ball dissipates.
This is it!
If it’s merely a physical force of that degree, I can block it with one illusion stack.
“Perfect.”
I block the ball with the eighth stack and then take down Oknodie with a definitive strike before my real life is threatened.
Without allowing my instructor to intervene.
Faster than anyone else.
The calculations were complete.
Success rate over 70%.
As long as I don’t make a mistake, Oknodie will not lose the duel; she will truly lose her life.
She might even get expelled.
I don’t care about that.
I will depart after defeating the greatest talent.
The time until graduation.
I will exchange it all for a moment’s victory.
This exchange… is definitely not bad.
Oknodie.
There is worth in the thrill of taking down this genius.
“What’s left is just the execution.”
In the moment of repeating the answer painted in my mind as if replaying it.
It’s the time to confirm that my answer was right with both eyes and feel it through my entire body.
It had to be just so.
Yet, a contaminant that I had excluded from my perfect calculation slipped in.
[Eastern Killing Sword]
[Island Strike]
With a dazzling flash, a single sword is unleashed.
The speed and trajectory undoubtedly targeted my throat.
I had to choose.
Block the ball with the eighth stack, unleash my finishing blow to take Oknodie’s life, and then get hit by Sing’s sword, dying.
Or, block the ball with the eighth stack and forfeit my counter, preparing for Sing’s strike.
Thud!
The eighth stack disappeared.
Instead of all stacks being gone, the physical force encased in the six-colored ball dissipated.
The hand that should have struck the floating ball turned away from it.
Clang!
The sword snapped in two.
Deadcat chose to prepare for Sing’s strike.
*
I’m dying.
I’m dying.
There is no way to escape death.
Deadcat.
A Second-Year Upper Class Student.
The strength of that Cat Beastfolk was unpredictable.
Sing felt fear.
The moment I charge in, I will be instantly killed.
As he blindly sensed this reality, Sing could not move a muscle.
“Why can I not parry it?”
Looking at Hestia’s hammer, he couldn’t comprehend.
“Why can I stand to receive this?”
Watching Son Ohchun use his hands to block, he fell into confusion.
They are not weaklings.
But the difference with him isn’t that great either.
If I really fought…
He’s confident he would win.
His intuition is sharp.
After all, he’s survived in the Eastern Empire, where one wrong draw of the sword leads to death.
“Let me take a shot. For the thrill of taking down that arrogant senior who delights in terrorizing juniors.”
The answer to his question came from Son Ohchun’s daring grin.
It wasn’t that he believed he could win.
That fool didn’t even sense the bloodlust.
He was completely unaware that the enemy could kill him at any time.
Such foolishness, instead, yielded unpredictable results.
“Is that right.”
There is a difference between what one can do and what one truly executes.
Hestia was a formality.
She never truly faced the bloodlust.
Son Ohchun was mere coincidence.
Deadcat hadn’t even accounted for him being an interference.
What about myself?
Both formalities and random interferences have come.
My case is different.
“I really might die.”
To take revenge for my younger sister, to return to my hometown and take down the ones I must kill.
Right now, I must put this sword aside.
I will calmly let an attack fly at Oknodie, capturing that moment with my own eyes, content to settle for second place.
“But I refuse.”
As the ball strikes Deadcat’s body, she widened her stance.
The sword extended.
The next moment, the blade shattered, and three large lines of blood were engraved on her chest.
“Is this it?”
The premonition of death.
The moment I desperately wanted to escape.
Yet, I escaped.
The sword broke, and though I sustained a serious injury to my chest.
I did not lose my life.
My instincts.
Deadcat’s murderous intent.
Created a result different from my calculations.
“Sing. Disqualification.”
Compulsory recall.
Sing, appearing outside the coat, chuckled dryly.
At the moment I secured the perfect stance with the determination of life and death.
He hadn’t even realized he crossed the line of the coat.
That action led to this outcome.
His nonchalance about life and death ironically saved his life.
