"Alright, that's enough."

Push-

"...Huh!"

Pielott, who had been swinging his sword relentlessly, suddenly found a blade pressed against his chest.

Just as he was about to make a big swing, Frondier's sword quietly stood before his life.

"Step back and cool your head."

"...I'm not done yet...!"

"This is your last chance."

At Frondier's words, Pielott's mouth shut. A warning glint resided deep within Frondier's languid eyes.

"Since you attacked me, you've died a total of six times so far. If it were anyone else, you would have already been disqualified. Why do you think I gave you so many chances?"

"..."

Pielott closed his mouth and thought for a moment at Frondier's words.

Well, of course, it's because I'm the most promising among the freshmen—

"Because your judgment is so idiotic."

"Ugh...!"

"You came in with five people from the waiting room, so you should know that you're a team from the moment you entered here. So, if one person is disqualified, the remaining four are disqualified as well."

At those words, Pielott's eyes widened, and he looked back.

Among the four who had been watching his fight, excluding Dier, the other three were looking at him with sunken eyes. Only Dier shrugged with his usual expression.

"It would be too pitiful if the remaining four were disqualified without being able to do anything because of one person's stupid and unilateral choice. That's the reason, you fool. You arrogant fool who thinks he's the only one who's good."

Frondier spoke as he pushed his sword forward. The slowly advancing blade didn't stab or cut Pielott, but it forced him to step back.

"I said it was your last chance. Think carefully with your friends over there."

Pielott bit his lower lip, then, as if he had finally come to his senses, shook his head and his expression became calmer. He turned around and walked towards the four others with heavy steps.

"..."

"..."

There was a brief silence. The others didn't know what to say to Pielott. Pielott also had no intention of saying anything to them.

He thought it was right to apologize, but his pride prevented him from speaking.

"Hey, Pielott."

It was Dier who broke the silence.

When Pielott looked at him, Dier spoke with a refreshing smile.

"You got totally wrecked!"

"...This guy..."

"Man, as expected, the second years are amazing. If it were me, I would have been rolling on the floor in 3 seconds."

Despite his words, Dier's eyes were sparkling. Pielott couldn't understand it. What was with this guy? Were those the eyes of someone who admitted to being weak?

"As I thought,"

Dier said with those bright, colorful eyes.

"Coming to Constel was the right choice!"

"...!"

At those words, the expressions of everyone, including Pielott, changed. Their eyes widened for a moment, and then their expressions relaxed.

The man who had first told Dier about the waiting room asked.

"Do you have an idea?"

"Sort of."

Dier answered immediately. Pielott frowned and said.

"You have a way to defeat 'Frondier of Sloth'?"

"No, I can't defeat Sloth."

This was also an immediate answer. From somewhere, a tired voice could be heard saying, "Stop calling me that."

"But the goal of this test isn't to defeat the upperclassman, right? I think everyone has realized it by now. Why this test seemed so easy when we only heard the explanation."

Dier spoke while pointing his finger at the key. Pass by touching the key, no matter what method you use. Just hearing the words, it seemed like an easy test that made you wonder why they even bothered.

"Even if all of us combined our strength and aimed for the key with all our might, it might still be difficult."

"..."

"The condition itself was so easy because of that sunbae. He can increase the difficulty all by himself."

Everyone nodded with determined expressions.

They had all watched Pielott fight. A mysterious black water. A liquid whose volume and quantity were unknown, attacking in unpredictable shapes and trajectories.

The restriction of Frondier having to stay seated no longer felt like a restriction.

"...That's not all."

Pielott said, narrowing his eyes.

"There are invisible attacks. It might have been hard to notice from behind."

"...No way. Invisible attacks?"

"I wasn't sure at first, but after fighting a few times, I became certain. The attacks of that black liquid are scary, but in between them, invisible attacks fly in. The damage itself isn't that great, but it makes you lose your balance at crucial moments."

At those words, everyone looked at each other. Could they really deal with both the black liquid and the invisible attacks?

"It's okay. I knew about it."

"What?"

Dier spoke at that moment. He wasn't surprised. When he had been watching Pielott fight, he hadn't missed anything.

Pielott asked suspiciously.

"You knew? Really?"

"The plan takes that into account, so listen up everyone."

Dier spoke and gestured for them to come closer. As Frondier had said, the five of them put their heads together and began to discuss.

After hearing the whole plan, everyone nodded. Pielott, although not entirely pleased, acknowledged that Dier's plan was reasonable.

Meanwhile, the female student who specialized in magic sighed as if she had just remembered something.

"...Come to think of it, this was the 2nd stage, right?"

"...It was."

It was a fact they didn't want to know, but now that they heard it, their vision went dark.

"If the 2nd stage is like this, just how strong are the upperclassmen in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th stages?"

They felt a strong sense of awe not only towards Frondier but also towards the upperclassmen waiting in the next stages.

Because they believed that Frondier was the weakest among them.