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The swords clashed in a fierce struggle.

“Hmm? Strange, it shouldn’t be this easy!”

Gah! This strong girl!

Just barely managing to read Amelia’s movements, I thrust my sword at her.

However, the SS Rank power struggled to hold my sword in place.

On top of that, I had already used my hidden Beastkin S rank power during the first exam, so I couldn’t rely on it anymore.

“Could it be that you’re going easy on me?”

Click, clack.

Gradually, Amelia’s blade began to touch my neck.

I felt a thin cut, and crimson blood started to flow.

“Ugh…!”

“Looking at your expression, you seem sincere. Keep trying, number 321!”

At that moment, multitudes of yellow lines erupted from the ground towards Amelia.

Zing!

Layers of ropes began to wrap around Amelia’s limbs one by one.

“…What is this?”

“Now’s the time!”

As Shia shouted the signal, different lights started to flicker throughout the forest.

“Magic Arrow!”

“Fire Ball!”

“Wind Cutter!”

“Water Bomb!”

Whoosh!

Simultaneously, a line shot out from behind me, wrapping around my torso and pulling me back.

“Whoa!”

Bang, bang, bang! Crash!

The moment I moved back, various spells flew towards Amelia from all directions.

“Are you okay?”

While I blankly stared at the scene, Shia extended her hand toward me.

“Did you create these ropes?”

“Yes, it’s a Binding Spell created with the help of your divine power.”

The yellow ropes binding me shimmered and melted away.

“To be honest, my plan was to distract her and then let everyone attack at once. Without you, Nova, it could’ve been a disaster. Thank you so much.”

No wonder everyone was too scared to come out. They had such a plan!

“Oh, it’s nothing. Thanks for helping out.”

“Let’s pull back for now; we’ll get swept up if we stay here.”

Boom, boom, boom!

Various spells flew around us.

If things went wrong, there might not be even a dust particle left behind.

“Understood, I’ll go now.”

We retreated into the thicket and kept an eye on the situation.

After a while of bombardment, someone shouted,

“Stop!”

One by one, the attacks began to cease as the smoke cleared, revealing a massive Ice Sphere.

“…Failure?”

Crack!

As the sphere shattered, Amelia emerged, crouched low with a chilling smile.

“Were you planning something like this? You cute little friends!”

“Everything’s okay; the Binding Spell is… no way?”

Zzzzzt!

As Amelia took a step forward, the ropes let out a sizzling sound and began to tear apart.

“Alright, the real test starts now.”

“…Everyone, charge!”

“Wah, ah!”

At Shia’s shout, the hidden candidates armed themselves one by one and rushed in.

Clang, clang! Clang clang!

From then on, chaos erupted.

The sounds of swords clashing and axes swinging shook the forest.

“To think she’s handling so many candidates alone…”

“Truly impressive; the Academy’s staff is strong.”

From what I knew from the game, the entrance exam wasn’t this intense. It was supposed to be just a tutorial level.

You only had to cast a few spells and take a couple of hits to clear it.

No matter how realistic the situation was, what was with this difference?

“Is there any next move?”

“…No, this is it…”

This situation wasn’t looking good. What kind of variable caused such a monster to appear?

Bang, bang! Boom!

“Alright, alright! Everyone’s doing great!”

She swatted away the weapons flying toward her with a single swing.

With her attack, several candidates were sent flying like dominoes.

“What’s so great about this crazy woman!”

“If it’s that great, just let us pass!”

However, the candidates began to struggle and band together, as if they weren’t just going to let this go.

“Hah!”

A slightly bulkier candidate swung down an axe.

Clang!

Amelia effortlessly deflected the blow as if it were nothing.

“This is the moment; let’s disarm her!”

In the standoff, one by one, candidates charged in and swung their swords at Amelia.

Clang! Clang! Squeak! Thud!

Overwhelmed by the combined force, Amelia’s sword got embedded into the ground.

“Die!”

Flushed with the thrill of disarming her, the candidates attacked all at once.

Weapons flew from all directions; there was nowhere left to escape.

Clang!

!!!

Yet, in the space where Amelia had just been, there was only the sound of metal clashing, and nobody remained.

“What?! Where’d she go…?”

“Yep! You all did wonderfully! I like it!”

As everyone stared at the sound coming from the air, they spotted Amelia, ready to launch her fist from over 5 meters up.

Whooooosh!

A chilling energy began to gather around her fist.

“When did she get up there?! Everyone, watch out!!”

“It’s too late!”

Boom!

A powerful strike infused with ice fell from the sky, obliterating everything around it.

“This can’t be…”

Dozens of candidates on the ground disappeared in an instant, likely dead and disqualified.

“I mean, come on, calling her a crazy woman in front of the supervisor is a bit much, right?”

“Ugh, another round of successive attacks!”

As the candidate, who seemed to be in charge, shouted, the magic users began gathering their mana again.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t fall for that trick twice.”

Amelia tucked her sword deep into her chest.

In just 2-3 seconds, a frosty aura began to coalesce around the sword once more.

“…This is dangerous!”

Copyable Target

1. Wind Cutter (Original: Stella)

…

8. Magic Shield (Original: Leonard) > Usage

I pulled up the protective spell from my skill window and spread it out in front of me and Shia.

Whoooooosh!

As Amelia swung her sword, sizable ice spears erupted outward in every direction.

Screams began to echo throughout the forest.

“Ugh, my… my leg!”

Someone was impaled in the leg, while another person instantly met doom when struck in the chest.

“…This is awful…”

Overwhelmed by the shocking scene, Shia had lost her words.

“What the heck just happened?”

“I jumped on the knee of the person at the front and leaped over; everyone was so distracted trying to block the swords. With that level of skill, she’s dangerous even without a sword. If the sword’s an issue, just throw it away!”

“But…”

“Yeah, nobody thinks to just throw away their swords.”

“What do we do now, Nova?”

“…Sigh, I’m so done with this.”

Bzzzzt!

“Nova?… Your eyes suddenly turned red…”

“…This is getting exciting…!!”

Now this is what I call extreme difficulty! No matter how difficult or challenging a game is, there’s always a strategy. If you’re going to give up this easily, then you shouldn’t have shown up from the start.

“Shia, I have an idea.”

*

Hmm… this one isn’t bad, but this one won’t do.

As Amelia surveyed the devastated scene, she evaluated each candidate one by one.

‘These applicants have potential this year.’

She had a good sense of who she could let pass with a mediocre performance.

With that thought, she tried to sheath her sword.

At that moment,

Thump, thump!

She noticed a boy strolling confidently towards her.

“Hmm? It’d be a shame to end it like this!”

Swish!

The boy pulled his sword back dramatically, mimicking the poised start of a sprinter.

That momentum is different!

Could it be?

Amelia readied herself, shifting into a defensive stance.

Then, the boy’s foot kicked off the ground, propelling him upward.

Whoosh!

Fast!

This speed was at a whole new level, and his straight attack soared directly toward Amelia’s neck.

Clang!!!

Yet, the boy’s thrust was narrowly blocked.

“Whoa~ That was a close one! So, you’re ready after all?”

Clang!

She tried to swipe him away, but unlike before, she couldn’t easily shove him aside.

“You… your strength?”

He wasn’t stronger than her, but it was undeniably different from earlier in their struggle.

“As I thought, you were hiding your strength!”

Ugh… my muscles are killing me…

Without hesitation, Amelia released her sword and dodged to the side.

Thud!

“Ugh…!”

It was as if he had predicted her evasive maneuver. Nova landed a front kick right into Amelia’s abdomen.

“Twice won’t work!”

“Ugh, eek…huh?”

For just a moment, she averted her gaze from him, and when she looked back, he was gone!

“Where did he go… no way!”

Looking up, she saw the boy, fist laden with cold air and aiming down at her.

“Wait! I already hit you, so that means I’m passed, right?!”

With no choice but to prepare to take the hit, she gathered the chilling energy in her fist.

“Not if I can help it!”

Shia shouted, extending her hand as yellow ropes emerged from all directions and bound Amelia.

Checkmate.

“…Ha ha, guess I really got caught there~”

Crash!

Amelia’s icy strike slammed into the ground powerfully.

 

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