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Chapter 96

The appearance of white threads sprouting over the skin like veins resembled armor more than limbs. It was, in a sense, a biological suit of armor.

It almost reminded one of the fusion created by Saturday’s sect. The corpse, born from the fusion of science and magic, had a truly horrifying and abominable look to it.

Darius’s elemental enhancement had reached the stage of a concentrated embodiment of such technology. He wasn’t swinging his fist; he was merely wielding a dagger with an arm empowered by his enhancement.

Yeon-woo had surely used luck manipulation to block it. Even so, it was impossible to completely negate the shock. He was pushed back several meters, dragging his feet, and his arms tingled. While it might be partly due to his inability to fully extend himself, it was more a testament to the power possessed by that arm.

“It seems there’s truly no downside to being strong. That’s something I hear often; it must be true. Let’s fight a bit mindlessly, Choi Yeon-woo.”

“I’ve really thrown away most of my friend’s personality…”

It would be more accurate to say he had become flexible, but at this moment, he wanted to claim he had abandoned his character. What on earth had the former him done to warrant such a drastic change in strategy?

As he pondered this, Darius suddenly disappeared from his field of vision with a loud whoosh!!

‘Below…!!’

Darius, almost flat against the ground, was sliding off to the side. Tch, clicking his tongue, he aimed straight at Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo barely dodged Darius’s left arm, swung as if to hit with a punch, leaning back like he was limbo dancing.

He narrowly avoided the sharp wind that stung his face, twisting his waist to its limit while swinging his sword. The aim was to see if he could cut through the exposed elemental enhancement.

Phew.

“How’s it look? Worthwhile?”

“…Its performance is insane.”

Last time, it was a doppelganger weapon formed with a wooden sword, but this time it was a real blade with a sharp edge. Even if it looked like a stick when manifested as a doppelganger weapon, the sharpness had been confirmed multiple times up till now.

Yet, Yeon-woo’s sword couldn’t sever Darius’s left arm. Blood spilled where the blade made contact, but it barely even scratched the surface of his skin.

Of course, Darius wouldn’t let Yeon-woo swing his sword freely in such an unstable posture. With his left arm blocking the sword, his right arm came slashing through. The dagger pierced in, forcing Yeon-woo to quickly stimulate his mana heart.

A shadow surged from below Yeon-woo. Since contracting Tae-oh, his affinity for darkness enhanced even the dragon’s magic.

Thanks to the shadow’s sudden splay of attack, Darius had to retreat before he could tear into Yeon-woo’s body.

Seeing Darius step back, Yeon-woo let out a sigh of relief. Had his expectations been mistaken, he might have just lost; still, he had to gamble.

‘For now, it seems that maintaining elemental enhancement relies on one arm… that seems to be the limit.’

If it weren’t the case, he could have enhanced the rest of his body to block the shadow now, but he didn’t do that.

Of course, it was still too early to conclude that one arm was the limit. He was such a cunning opponent that it could well be a ruse to make it seem that way, only to flip the situation upside down when the time was right.

One shouldn’t make judgments solely based on what the opponent shows. Remaining in doubt and suspicion always is the quickest path to survival.

‘But I think I’ve found a strategy.’

With that thought, Yeon-woo grinned. Slapping the arena with his palm, he crouched low, ready to pounce, causing Darius to halt.

“Let’s switch roles.”

A darkness seeped around Yeon-woo, centered around his palm. It was a domain—a territory projected using elemental mana of darkness.

Once, Shar had said that there isn’t much of a distinct difference between a monster’s domain and a martial artist’s. Yeon-woo agreed with that sentiment.

Because he could deploy both an aura-based space and a magic-based domain. He understood better than anyone what distinct advantages each possessed.

Thus, he was the one who understood the pros and cons of space and realm best. And he judged that this situation was a chance to draw the maximum advantage from the magical domain.

“Tae-oh.”

This was not the name of his child. Rather, he had named it after the image of a massive crow flapping its wings. From the start, there was no way he would use a character related to a crow for a child’s name. He wished to use the character for joy, hoping only for happiness.

“Have you learned how to fight with a wizard well?”

“…Ugh, damn it.”

*

– Ah, what is that?! Is it dark magic!? A black domain extends around student Choi Yeon-woo!!

– According to student Yeon-woo’s report, it’s dragon magic. Dragons can use their magic without incantation. Since a dragon contractor hasn’t appeared before, Yeon-woo is essentially the only one in the world who can use such magic.

– Ah, I see! Knowing this must be burning the wizards inside!

“Absolutely!!!”

Alyssa Valdia, seated at the judging panel, jumped up, her excitement palpable. Her abrupt movement made the nearby judge fan himself in discomfort.

“Let me interpret! I’m not asking for much! I even promised compensation!!”

Park Giant, who had been watching from a slight distance, spoke quietly.

“You know this is the busiest time of the three years at the academy, don’t you? If you ask in the second semester, Yeon-woo will surely cooperate.”

“But I can’t wait!”

“Calm down, Professor Alyssa. Yeon-woo hasn’t refused cooperation…”

Nearby, an old man, Alex Carrier, approached. He sensed the rising temperature and had come to cool things down. Alex took Alyssa away from the judge’s panel.

“My apologies. She’s just not good at regulating her emotions yet.”

“I’m aware, so it’s fine.”

Even with the maximum cooling system running, the temperature inside the arena began to drop as the situation settled.

It was no wonder that Park Giant couldn’t comprehend the things happening. There was a mountain of questions he had for Yeon-woo. Given that Yoon-woo’s companions were the famous Yuuri and Kim Hyun-soo, nobody dared to ask hastily.

After a moment’s hesitation, Park Giant opened his mouth. With two professors beside him, he contemplated the spectacle.

“But… is that truly magic? That seems…”

Following Yeon-woo’s motion, the black weapons emerging from beneath his feet surged forth in that direction.

It was as if a Gatling gun had been unleashed, a multitude of weapons firing in succession.

The shadows that struck the ground melted away, and Darius, realizing receiving impacts in the same spot was futile, darted to the side.

“I understand what you want to say. But as an educator, talking like that feels wrong, don’t you think?”

“……”

Both Alyssa and Park Giant remained silent. Park Giant, with his lack of knowledge about magic, while Alyssa recognized that this old man, who only seemed to take care of his own affairs, was a distinguished elder even at the Magic Tower.

“Whichever way it goes, it wouldn’t be a detriment to humanity, would it? Whether the dragon is a monster or a god.”

The opportunities to decipher magic from monsters, or gods, are rare for humans.

Alex said this with a smile.

*

“Tch, damn…!!”

Darius ran along the outskirts of the arena. Dodge, evade, block, evade. Once he began to counterattack, there was no end in sight. The rapid-fire rate was enough to make even the basics of the Grand Sorcerer’s manual useless when it came to finding an opening.

The issue was, while he was firing off volleys under control, each weapon was being unleashed toward advantageous positions like a strategic game of Go. If they were all fired in one direction, he could approach, but the unexpected angles of weaponry prevented him from closing the distance.

‘And even if I managed to close in, that too would be problematic.’

He might not even be able to engage in close combat while maintaining that condition, but the mere fact that it was possible put pressure on him. What he thought to be the sole escape route could easily be a trap?

Such an extreme dilemma. However, that was undoubtedly a psychological war he had waged on Yeon-woo during their previous bout three months ago. He had connived his way through holes in Darius’s flailing right arm.

Thinking this way, Choi Yeon-woo was saying the same thing to himself. He would create openings in his arm and beckon Darius to come in.

“Ha…!!”

The act, which would normally be deemed irrational, oddly appeared as a perfectly viable choice at this moment.

He had thought he preferred not to engage in combat where each side exchanged strategies. Instead, he favored taking overwhelming dominance and securing perfect victories, believing that was his path.

‘Did I just not know anything at all?’

The joy of exchanging attack plans, the thrill of proving oneself correct. Even the realization of having surpassed something unknown to him.

He was, truth be told, closer to being a martial artist than an assassin.

Darius sharply braked his body and began sprinting toward the center of the arena. Challenging his overconfident classmate, who had occupied the arena’s midpoint with utter provocation.

The left arm was his main weapon. Verification was complete. While there would be scratches on his enhanced body part, with the shadow weapons, he couldn’t incur significant injuries.

The problem was, as he charged forward with his left arm in front, his line of sight straight ahead was obscured. He had no means to anticipate weapons likely to come from the sides. He had to knock them away purely based on reflex.

“If you did it, then I’ll do it too, Choi Yeon-woo.”

Recalling their previous fight where he’d completely broken through Yeon-woo’s webs and crow traps, Darius reached out toward the approaching dark current.

‘Wow, he’s going for it.’

Of course, he had subtly encouraged this, but he never thought the composed Darius would take the plunge.

‘He really has changed a lot, Darius.’

What kind of storm this small change might brew in the future, he honestly couldn’t guess. However, if one could smile even when being cut by a blade…

He acknowledged it. The fact that Darius was undeniably different from the vicious person he had been before his regression.

Thus, he would go all out. His body, still recovering from excessive training, wasn’t in the best condition, nor was his mana completely replenished.

Yeon-woo gripped his sword tightly.

The aura enveloping him converged into a single point, exuding a bizarre heat as it shaped a blade around the sword.

Finally materializing was the Aura Blade, to be showcased for the first time in the primary tournament, meant for his seasoned opponent in a meaningful rivalry.

(Continued in the next chapter)

 

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