“Distinguishing by student or adult in the middle of a fight…?”

Isaac’s voice was as cold and composed as frost.

“I don’t need you to patronize me.”

Zenon spat out blood, straightening up to glare at the sliver-blue-haired boy.

Though part of his leg was frozen, impairing his movement, he still believed himself to be superior to Isaac.

However…

“Or, did you want to show some sympathy before killing me because I’m a student?”

Whether it was the exceptionally talented boy, Isaac.

Or Zenon, whose years of training far exceeded Isaac’s.

“Here, it’s all about who wins and who loses. Nothing else matters.”

In the end, this fight would destroy one of their futures.

“Does the process matter?”

…That’s right.

Zenon’s expression softened. Those few words from Isaac had cleared the turmoil in Zenon’s mind.

Did he pity the boy before him until just now?

Yet, he couldn’t shake off this guilt.

“...You’re right, Isaac.”

Zenon removed his military cap and dropped it to the floor, along with his ludicrous hypocrisy.

That’s right… I shouldn’t feel any guilt about trampling on this boy’s future.

Neither needed to speak until this fight ended.

Zenon gripped the hilt of his Tachi in both hands, readying himself for battle again.

“...”

Isaac closely observed Zenon and adjusted his grip on Zhonya’s Staff.

His body felt heavy. It was slowly freezing under the amplified coldness from Zenon’s Tachi.

Dragging out the fight against Zenon would only put him at a disadvantage, especially when time was not on his side.

He decided to end the battle swiftly.

Isaac resolved himself and dashed towards Zenon with a kick off the ground.

Kkaang!

Boooom!

The two men clashed elemental magic and swung their weapons at each other. The flurry of cold strikes drew countless lines in the air.

Then, Zenon retreated, thrusting his Tachi upward.

Heavy ice and lightning cloaked his blade. Having already foreseen Zenon’s next move through [Psychological Insight], Isaac immediately conjured a wall of ice infused with rock, [Fossilized Ice].

Soon, Zenon swung his Tachi downwards.

Kwagagagang!!

A cold slash wrapped in lightning tore through the ground.

Countless bolts of lightning whipped like chains and mercilessly struck the ground.

“…!”

[Fossilized Ice] shielded Isaac’s body and shattered into fragments as the cracked ground crumbled away.

With nowhere to stand, Isaac’s body hovered in mid-air.

As he fell with the rubble into the vast first-floor hall, Isaac examined Zenon coldly.

Boom!

Zenon launched himself off the rubble and leaped towards Isaac.

This was the decisive moment.

Isaac shouted.

“Eden!!”

[Kyuuu!]

Koooooo!

As Zenon was about to draw a trail with his long blade, charged with frost and lightning.

From the first floor, a pillar of rock shot towards Zenon with fierce momentum. It was the 4-star spell, [Rock Avalanche].

In a flash, Zenon spotted a small golem casting magic towards him from the first floor. It was Eden, a rock golem familiar that Isaac had summoned and kept on standby.

“Tsk!”

Zenon skillfully altered the trajectory of his sword.

A cold slash charged with lightning struck the [Rock Avalanche].

Boooooom!!

The magic-dense pillar of rock extending towards Zenon exploded, scattering debris in all directions.

However, Isaac’s strategy wasn’t to counterattack with [Rock Avalanche], but rather to divert Zenon’s attention elsewhere for a moment.

“…!”

Zenon’s eyes flashed wide open.

He could counter magic. His mind was always processing magic formulas, ready to use them at a moment's notice.

Therefore, if Isaac launched a spell, Zenon could reflexively unleash his own magic to neutralize it.

But what Isaac intended to use wasn’t magic.

Zhonya’s Staff slipped from Isaac’s grasp and plummeted to the hall on the first floor.

From the moment Eden activated [Rock Avalanche], Isaac had been gripping something with both hands, ready to swing.

Topaz mana coalesced sharply.

Relying on instinct, Zenon swung his sword, twisting his head towards Isaac.

Kwaaak!!

“Kugh!!”

Before he could react, a rock greatsword lodged itself into Zenon’s abdomen.

The chilling sound of innards bursting and bones shattering echoed as the recoil of the sword strike caused the topaz rock mana to burst out spectacularly.

A direct hit. It was a critical strike, fully utilizing Isaac’s superior physical abilities.

Boom!

Zenon’s body flew at tremendous speed and slammed into the wall.

The wall didn’t collapse due to the strong protective barrier.

Isaac slid down an ice slide he created, landing gracefully on the ground, and slung the Obsidian Blade over his shoulder.

Under normal circumstances, swinging the Obsidian Blade wrapped in rock mana would have turned his hand to stone.

Thanks to the boost in stats from [vs. Human Combat Power], only the tips of his fingers were petrified, leaving the rest unharmed.

“Uhugh…!”

Zenon spat out blood from his mouth.

He had been careless.

Zenon had expected Isaac to have a hidden weapon and even accounted for a longsword’s range, but he never imagined it to be a rock greatsword.

Or perhaps… was it really carelessness?

In truth, he felt it. Isaac’s ability to make split-second decisions had already surpassed Zenon’s own combat experience.

Specifically, [Psychological Insight] played a significant role.

Unaware of this, Zenon slumped against the wall and could only marvel silently at Isaac’s talent.

He tried to stand, but couldn’t. His body felt very heavy. Looking down, he could see the petrified remains of his abdomen.

A sudden wave of fatigue hit him. It felt like his consciousness would fade away at any moment.

Isaac’s eyes, glowing yellow, turned towards Zenon. Behind him, a mysterious ring of rocks floated in the air. In his right hand was the rock greatsword, the defensive ability of the Obsidian Blade, [Eclipse].

Isaac approached Zenon.

Zenon did not give up and unleashed a barrage of ice and lightning magic. However, Isaac easily dodged or countered these attacks with his own magic or deflected them with his greatsword.

Because Zenon had allowed himself to be critically wounded, defending against his attacks was incredibly simple for Isaac.

“Uck…!”

Zenon vomited blood onto the floor. The sudden onset of drowsiness made his vision blur.

Isaac stood in front of him and stared him down, without any expression.

Clearly, Zenon had the upper hand in terms of power.

Yet now, it was Zenon who lay bleeding and incapacitated.

Remarkable…

Somehow, Zenon felt not inferiority or anger towards Isaac, but admiration.

He saw the younger version of himself, who used to wield a sword and train. But this boy… he was going to be far stronger than him.

Suddenly, he wanted to see this boy’s future.

But Zenon thought that was a wish that would never come true.

“...It’s my loss.”

A mix of guilt for not completing his mission, regret for not being able to see this man’s future, and an odd sense of relief came together.

The bitter taste of metal lingered in his mouth, and a bittersweet emotion burst out as a hollow laugh.

Lastly, with a voice choked with emotion, Zenon spoke.

“I’m glad you were my last opponent… Not a bad feeling at all…”

Puuhk!

“Puhuk!”

Out of nowhere, Isaac delivered a spinning kick to Zenon’s head.

Zenon collapsed to the side, losing consciousness.

“Shut up.”

Isaac didn’t want to hear anything from the loser.

He seemed to be lost in sentiment, but all Isaac could think was “So what?”

The rock-powered form of the Obsidian Blade returned to Isaac’s body. His eyes reverted to a dull red, and the ring of rock behind him vanished.

[Level Up!! Your level has increased to 125!] [You have gained 4 stat points!]

“Good.”

Isaac breathed a sigh of relief.

“Good job, Eden.”

[Kyuuu!]

Isaac gave a thumbs up to Eden. The little golem, Eden, responded by raising his right arm.

Then, Isaac reverse-summoned Eden.

“...Ah, right.”

Before moving on, Isaac remembered.

In ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, there was an item drop after defeating Zenon.

Isaac quickly stripped the uniform off the unconscious Zenon and rummaged through the pockets.

“Oh.”

As seen in the game, he found ten small vials of healing potion. These potions, sourced from the Heart Kingdom, were quite effective.

Though not as effective as healing magic, they were good recovery items for emergencies.

He drank one. It was almost sweet but bland, with a strong bitterness rising before it went down his throat.

Isaac grimaced.

“I’ll take the loot.”

He kept the remaining potions as extras and retrieved Zhonya’s Staff and the Sheath of Disaster.

His petrified fingertips were slowly healing. The pain, as well as the parts of his body that had frozen due to Zenon’s chill, slowly improved. The recovery speed was faster than he expected.

Isaac ran up the stairs. He needed to meet Alice as soon as possible.

“…”

The first floor of Bartos Hall was left with piles of debris, and Zenon, who had his uniform stripped off, was left unconscious in a pitiful state.