'Strange.'

The skull principal had a nasty personality, but he wasn't a foolish person.

He must clearly know that the banquet hall was located in the middle of Granden City, so would he harass the students while ignoring the possibility of outsiders getting involved?

'Could it be that this enemy is not mine, but the Duke's?'

Yi-Han glanced at Duke Icaldoren.

The Duke, with his arms crossed, waited without a hint of emotion on his face. His demeanor exuded arrogance, as if nothing emerging from the alley could concern him.

If it were an enemy attacking the students, he would have shown more surprise or a different reaction.

'It's definitely the Duke's enemy!'

Yi-Han inwardly regretted.

It would have been over if he had just left it to the Duke's escorts, but he unnecessarily intervened.

'The skull principal is not helpful at all.'

Yi-Han tried to call the escorts to cooperate, even if it was now.

However, the attack of the enemy in the alley took precedence. The energy that had been growing stronger was refined like a blade and leaped out with murderous intent.

As Yi-Han had guessed, Duke Icaldoren was not surprised.

Of course, it wasn't because he specifically knew who the enemy was. Duke Icaldoren was so used to such attacks that he was sick of them.

A Duke of the Empire inevitably made enemies, and Duke Icaldoren, who had been the most aggressive among them, had made foes ranging from great noble families to criminal guilds.

Most of the enemies didn't even dare to touch him and lowered their tails, but when there were too many of them, he would experience such attacks two or three times a year, like a regular event.

Of course, true to his arrogant personality, Duke Icaldoren was neither intimidated nor cautious in his actions.

Instead, he raised his guard tremendously.

The defensive artifacts Duke Icaldoren was currently wearing were worth easily surpassing a dozen or so castles, and the escorts on standby around him had the combat power to slaughter a guild or so.

He was like a walking fortress, so there was no reason to fear the attacks of petty assassins. The ones who should be afraid were the attacking assassins.

That's why Duke Icaldoren was truly, not even a bit surprised.

By the attack, that is.

'Truly amazing!'

Duke Icaldoren made countless speculations in that short moment about what Yi-Han's actions meant.

The reason for intervening in this situation?

It could be to raise his value in front of Princess Adenart, or it could be to raise his value in front of Duke Icaldoren.

'Or it could be both.'

The Duke leaned towards the latter.

The actions shown by that boy from the Wardanaz family were very energetic for a freshman. Many geniuses entered Einroguard, but it was rare for a genius to establish their position and build a reputation like that from their first year.

'I will respect your ambition. Boy from the Wardanaz family. But there's one thing you're missing.'

Having grasped the situation, Duke Icaldoren noticed a gap in Yi-Han's plan.

'That means you have to handle the attack alone in the end.'

Since he had stepped forward saying he would handle it, he couldn't receive help from the Duke's escorts.

And most of those who tried to attack Duke Icaldoren were strong individuals who had thoroughly prepared to attack the Duke in their own way.

‘You might not know how strong my attackers usually are. No matter how much of a genius you are, it will still be difficult for a freshman to deal with the attackers, right?'

It was easy to misunderstand because a mage's magic possessed world-shaking power, but the combat power of mages was actually lacking compared to expectations.

Magic is powerful when completed, but it is nothing before it is completed.

Those who knew this well easily toyed with mages. There were many ways to interfere with magic, from disrupting spells to breaking concentration.

Duke Icaldoren estimated that it wouldn't be easy for Yi-Han to win against the attackers.

If he said that and then received help, it would greatly damage the face of that ambitious boy, but the Duke intended to intervene immediately if Yi-Han seemed to be pushed back.

If Yi-Han was severely injured, it would be troublesome for him too.

'Even if I help, don't resent me. It's something you chose yourself.'

"Be careful, Master. It's poison!"

"Stop whining. If you're shouting in earnest, then either your eyes or your brain must be broken."

The Duke spoke to the escort in a nonchalant voice. The escort's face turned red.

With the detoxification performance of the artifacts the Duke currently possessed, even if the entire surroundings melted away with poison, the Duke wouldn't be harmed in the slightest.

In fact, despite the escort's shout, the Duke hadn't moved a single step.

"What kind of monster is it? It doesn't seem like a slime. Perhaps a summoning of spirits or realm beasts mixed with poison."

The Duke and the escort roughly guessed the identity of the attacker as soon as it crawled out of the alley.

Having experienced so many attacks, they could now estimate just by looking at the appearance.

Seeing the amorphous movement while oozing poison, it was likely a slime, spirit, or realm beast, but it moved too fast for a slime...

It was likely a summoning of spirits or realm beasts, contaminated or fused with deadly poison.

Perhaps the attacker obtained information that the Duke would pass by this area and summoned that poisonous contaminated being in time.

The culprit could be traced later by mages after the situation was settled, and now...

'It will be difficult.'

Duke Icaldoren concluded.

The situation was too unfavorable.

If it were an assassin using complex magic or techniques, it would be different, but it was impossible to deal wisely with an enemy who roughly pushed through like that.

It had to be suppressed with force against force, but the poison emitted by that poisonous contaminated being, although not enough to kill the Duke, could easily melt the surrounding walls. It was too strong of a poison for a freshman to detoxify.

Moreover, it wasn't slow or weak in strength either, so if a fight broke out, the outcome would be decided with a single clash.

"If you fall, I'll immediately res..."

Bang!

"?!"

Duke Icaldoren's eyes trembled for the first time in a long while.

Surprisingly, the boy from the Wardanaz family had pounced first!

'He's crazy!!'

No matter how arrogant due to youthful vigor he was, that was an act of a madman.

The reason the poisonous contaminated being hadn't attacked immediately was because there were many people other than Yi-Han present, but he had narrowed down the target to himself by attacking first.

It wasn't just digging his own grave, but also making the coffin and getting in.

'Fortunate!'

Yi-Han inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed he could avoid the embarrassing situation of having to borrow help from the Duke's escorts.

Fortunately, the opponent's compatibility was very good.

Whoosh-

The poisonous contaminated being, enraged by Yi-Han who suddenly rushed in and landed a blow, spewed out a thick poisonous fog.

Another mage would have used magic to take control of the poison, but Yi-Han just left it alone.

As expected, the poison had little effect on Yi-Han. Even when he breathed, the enormous mana diluted the poison like an ocean.

"Fog, spread."

Thanks to his poison resistance, Yi-Han used the precious time he gained to cast the newly learned <Ogonin's Light Fog>.

Yi-Han's form lost focus and wavered, shaking. The poisonous contaminated being was greatly startled by the series of incomprehensible events.

If the opponent were a cold and experienced enemy, it would be different, but such a summoned being, although physically superior, was weak to such unexpected situations. Yi-Han immediately cast the next spell.

"Bones, bind my foe."

It wasn't a powerful force, but it was enough to hinder the movements of the poisonous contaminated being.

The bone binding orb was created at the ankles of the poisonous contaminated being at a speed several times faster than other ordinary mages.

"Shoot forth!"

Sharp bone fragments were embedded into the body of the poisonous contaminated being like bullets.

It wasn't a body with a typical structure, so it wasn't a fatal wound, but the pain was still there. The poisonous contaminated being roared and shot out poison around it.

Sizzle!

'Ugh.'

Yi-Han clicked his tongue, seeing his cloak and clothes melting away. Fortunately, they were clothes bought with his family's money, not his own.

'I need to be careful.'

If Duke Icaldoren had heard Yi-Han's inner thoughts, he would have been appalled.

In the midst of such a fierce battle, he was worried about his clothes first, not his life.

'It's not a case where the defense or evasion is exceptional like the King of Ghouls. It has a physical form, so inflicting damage should suffice.'

Having finished his calculations, Yi-Han immediately took action.

Summoning an illusion clone, casting invisibility magic, circling behind, casting a 5-layered enhancement spell on an iron ball in succession, and firing!

Thud!

His movements were so swift and decisive that the reactions of the Duke's escorts were about half a beat late.

The escorts were shocked by Yi-Han's appearance, casting magic in succession at a speed far beyond their expectations in an intense combat situation.

For a freshman to cast magic in succession at that speed in a fierce battle situation.

From the perspective of the escorts, who should never be surprised by predicting and preparing for any situation, it was close to humiliation.

"I've brought down the enemy. Finish it off for certain!"

He wanted to set it on fire himself, but Yi-Han called the escorts, worried that the fire might spread around or react with the enemy, causing unexpected events.

The escorts drew their swords and swung them as if they had been waiting.

Flames erupted from their swords, the poisonous contaminated being, which had already been critically hit in the chest and couldn't move, was engulfed in blue flames.

The magic flames instantly incinerated the poison and devoured the contaminated being as well. Yi-Han inwardly cursed, seeing the swords the escorts possessed.

'They were just watching with those level of artifacts?'

Of course, Yi-Han had stepped forward saying he would handle it, but couldn't they have helped a little?

It's not like Yi-Han was narrow-minded enough to pick a fight over that!

"Exc... Excellent."

Duke Icaldoren spoke, belatedly composing his expression in the unexpected situation.

Seeing that, Rowena felt pleasure. It was the first time the Duke, who always acted arrogantly without any change in his expression, showed such a reaction.

"I didn't know you could yield credit to my escorts."

'Ah.'

Yi-Han belatedly realized the Duke's implication.

Usually, there was quite a difference between "Yi-Han caught it alone" and "Yi-Han and the Duke's escorts caught it together" for such an achievement. And everyone liked to monopolize.

But Yi-Han didn't particularly care.

'It's not like there's a bounty on it. It doesn't matter.'

Since they weren't sharing a bounty, it wouldn't change anything even if he shared some credit.

The Duke would reward them anyway, right? If he reduced the reward because Yi-Han yielded to his escorts, then he wouldn't be a duke, but a thug.

"I thought it was more important to quickly subdue that enemy and ensure the safety of the surroundings, rather than credit."

His friends applauded with emotion, but Duke Icaldoren wasn't fooled.

There was no way such an ambitious fellow would yield for that reason.

That was a signal sent to the Duke.

-I have ambitions as much as your ambitions. We ambitious ones can make a deal with each other.-

Duke Icaldoren felt like he could hear Yi-Han saying that.

There was no other reason to show favor.

Ambitious people recognize each other.

Age didn't matter.

Duke Icaldoren elevated his perception of Yi-Han from simply a talented freshman to a young ambitious person worthy of sitting across the table as an equal.

"...I understand. I will think positively about the proposal."

It wasn't bad.

Duke Icaldoren also needed to obtain information within the magic academy.

Whatever ambitions the boy from the Wardanaz family had, a mutually beneficial deal was sufficiently possible.

"...No. Your Grace! Your Gra... What the hell is that guy??"

Yi-Han muttered at the Duke's receding back, but Rowena pretended not to hear that Yi-Han had cursed at the Duke.