Chapter 529

 

-The number of challengers is a bit high, isn't…-

 

The statue was slightly perplexed at the sight of the students rushing towards it.

 

There had been many students who had challenged it so far, but this was the first time they had attacked in a group like this.

 

"Wardanaz. Please cast the spells!"

 

"Feet, grasp the earth. Hands, tear the enemy apart. Cloak..."

 

The White Tiger Tower students, who had received various strengthening magic, charged confidently.

 

Among the 1st-year students, the White Tiger Tower students were indeed the most familiar with combat using strengthening magic.

 

After all, combat using strengthening magic was similar to the combat of knights, unlike general magic combat.

 

With that pride and having received far more strengthening magic than usual, the White Tiger Tower students' charge couldn't help but become bold.

 

At that sight, Jijel frowned.

 

'The enemy is not to be taken lightly, yet they're charging like that.'

 

Of course, even if the opponent was strong, they couldn't keep avoiding with their bodies.

 

Since one of their advantages was numbers, it was essential to somehow send out scouts to keep the opponent in check and obtain information.

 

However, there was a huge difference between reluctantly taking on that role and running excitedly just because they had some magic cast on them.

 

"Attack!"

 

A White Tiger Tower student shouted while covering his body with a shield.

 

The sharpened reflexes and the body filled with vitality gave him the confidence to react to any attack that came flying.

 

Thwack!

 

However, contrary to the White Tiger Tower student's shout, he rolled over to the side.

 

"??!"

 

The statue's attack didn't come from the front but from the side.

 

The statue, which swung its club at the air without stopping, continued its attack.

 

To someone watching, it might have looked like it was doing something meaningless in the air, but to the White Tiger Tower students, it was a terrible attack coming continuously from their blind spot.

 

From the side, from behind, from below, from above, etc., as the spatially shifted attacks flew in from completely unpredictable directions, the White Tiger Tower students rolled over.

 

"Th-this is..."

 

"What nonsense...!"

 

The White Tiger Tower students were shocked at the feeling of the common sense of swordsmanship they had learned all their lives being denied.

 

That wasn't all. The Black Tortoise Tower students behind them were also similarly shocked.

 

In their eyes, the movements of the White Tiger Tower students who had received strengthening magic were so fast that they couldn't even dare to confront them.

 

Yet the statue easily subdued all of that, making it feel meaningless.

 

"Wardanaz! Do you have a way to attack it?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"What is it?!"

 

"Keep advancing."

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

The students were shocked at the sight of Wardanaz giving orders with an expressionless face.

 

Although he didn't get angry or threaten them, an aura that wouldn't allow any objection was felt from his cold appearance.

 

'The usual Wardanaz...'

 

'...was incredibly kind...!'

 

The friends belatedly realized that the usual Wardanaz, who nagged them while hitting the back of their heads with his staff, was actually a very kind and considerate Wardanaz.

 

"Wardanaz, come back to your original self...! This isn't like you!"

 

"Be quiet. Advance."

 

"Sob sob."

 

"Wardanaz. I prefer your original self... No, I didn't particularly like it, but compared to now..."

 

While the White Tiger Tower students and the Black Tortoise Tower students were grieving and preparing to charge again, Yi-Han looked at the statue.

 

The weakness of magic with extremely high difficulty, like spatial magic, was always its casting speed.

 

The statue in front of him was casting at an unbelievably fast speed by borrowing the power of Einroguard, but the fundamental limitation wouldn't disappear.

 

Using numbers to exhaust the opponent and disperse their concentration was the right strategy.

 

Although his friends from the White Tiger Tower were screaming and flying away in front of him, Yi-Han's heart, bound by the destiny of the future, had not a single cloud.

 

"Salko. It's your turn. Go. Use earth element magic to obstruct the vision as much as possible."

 

"..."

 

Salko seemed to have felt that arguing now was meaningless, so he nodded his head and gestured.

 

"Sand, obstruct the vision!"

 

In an instant, dust rose and blocked the front.

 

Although Wardanaz was a bit crazy right now, they couldn't deny that his judgment was sharp.

 

He accurately grasped the magic Salko could use and immediately instructed him to use it when needed.

 

"Ratford. Cast the <Confusion Sand> magic. Shyles. Cast the <Rock Firing> magic. Turn the direction 30 degrees more to the right."

 

As he spoke, Yi-Han swung his staff.

 

Then, a water orb was created and fiercely stabbed in front of the feet of the White Tiger Tower student who was trying to retreat, taking advantage of the dust.

 

"Advance."

 

"Wardanaz, please come back to your original self!"

 

***

 

Although a fierce and intense battle was taking place, there were surprisingly a few students who were satisfied with this atmosphere.

 

The Blue Dragon Tower students were exactly like that.

 

"Tsk... That guy Wardanaz. That's the dignity of a high noble."

 

"..."

 

Nillia, who was pulling the bowstring, looked at her Blue Dragon Tower friend in shock.

 

"What nonsense are you saying!? That's just being crazy!"

 

"What? No. Nillia. Your words are too harsh. To a friend!"

 

The Blue Dragon Tower students were rather flustered by Nillia's reaction.

 

No matter what, calling a friend crazy.

 

Could it be that Nillia didn't like Wardanaz very much?

 

"Ah, no. My words were too harsh... No, that's definitely being crazy!"

 

As a Blue Dragon Tower student was forcibly teleported and hung upside down on the ceiling, Nillia was about to let it go but came to her senses.

 

No matter how she looked at it, that was definitely being crazy.

 

"That's not being crazy, it's being worthy of a high noble."

 

"Right."

 

Among noble families, high noble families with both history and prestige were always the object of respect.

 

Those from noble backgrounds respected that unwavering dignity and authority to the point of sometimes even misunderstanding it a bit.

 

Just like now.

 

"He's telling his friend whose ankle is sprained to charge again!"

 

"It's an inevitable sacrifice for the greater cause."

 

"Right. It's a virtue that a commander must possess."

 

As they were talking, Yi-Han spoke next to them.

 

"It seems your wound has healed. Go in again."

 

"Got it, Wardanaz!"

 

"I'm going now!"

 

The Blue Dragon Tower students, who had finished stopping the bleeding, excitedly picked up their staffs and charged.

 

At that sight, Nillia couldn't close her mouth.

 

No...

 

No...!

 

"Nillia. Your arrow stopped."

 

"Hey!"

 

"?"

 

Yi-Han turned his gaze, puzzled.

 

Nillia, who had shouted, felt her mind going blank the moment their gazes met.

 

"...I'm shooting now!"

 

"Okay."

 

Nillia grumbled only inwardly and shot the arrow.

 

The statue erased the long-range attacks with spatial displacement or summoned other statues and used them as shields.

 

All attacks were continuously being blocked, but it had meaning.

 

While pouring out these attacks, the distance between the students and the statue was gradually narrowing.

 

...Of course, the students were getting hit that much...

 

Tak-

 

Nillia turned her gaze when someone next to her dropped their staff.

 

It seemed like the princess had made a mistake while chanting a spell and dropped her staff.

 

"Princess. Are you alright?"

 

"If you're tired, take a short break..."

 

The followers next to the princess hurriedly spoke up.

 

At that sight, Nillia grumbled more inwardly.

 

'If I were a royal too, I would have had more friends.'

 

No matter how she thought about it, being from the imperial palace seemed more advantageous in expanding friendships than being from the Shadow Patrol of the northern mountains.

 

Nillia didn't dislike Adenart, but she couldn't help but be jealous of how friends naturally gathered around her just by staying still.

 

"I'm fine."

 

"But..."

 

"I'm really fine."

 

Adenart quickly sent the followers away and sneakily glanced at Yi-Han.

 

Then she diligently swung her staff and cast magic. Somehow, her movements seemed bigger and her voice chanting the spells seemed louder than before.

 

"...?"

 

At that sight, Nillia felt something familiar.

 

It was like seeing herself being mindful of Wardanaz...

 

'It can't be, right?'

 

The moment she was about to dismiss it as a misunderstanding, Adenart dropped her staff again.

 

She had made a mistake again because she wasn't used to making big movements.

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

Nillia, who had been watching, made eye contact with the princess.

 

Adenart turned pale and sent a gaze to Nillia asking her to pretend she didn't see it. Nillia unconsciously nodded her head.

 

The princess sighed in relief and bowed her head slightly. Then she cast magic again.

 

'What was that just now?'

 

Nillia felt like she had dreamed.

 

"Nillia! We need to go forward! They built a new wall, so stick behind it!"

 

"Hey. I think I just became friends with the princess..."

 

"What nonsense are you saying!? I told you to go forward!"

 

***

 

'Now.'

 

The moment the distance was narrowed by more than half, Yi-Han, who had only been giving orders from behind, started running after casting all the magic he could on himself.

 

Sharakan pounced first, making a fierce sound.

 

Kwang!

 

The statue, which had only lightly subdued until now, didn't hold back its strength against Sharakan.

 

That's how threatening it felt the opponent was.

 

Crack!

 

Yi-Han spread <Ogonin's Light Fog> through the dust and created an ice clone to charge.

 

The moment the statue swung its club and blew away the ice clone, the club froze and its movement slowed down.

 

At the same time, skeleton warriors came rushing out.

 

The statue tried to keep Yi-Han, who hadn't come out of the fog yet, in check with one hand, and boldly swung the other club-wielding hand to knock down the skeleton warriors.

 

At that moment, the skeleton warriors exploded continuously.

 

Kwakwakwakwakwang!

 

The moment it teleported the club, it couldn't help but take some damage from the surrounding explosions.

 

The statue let out a cry of admiration.

 

-Such a splendid...!-

 

However, Yi-Han didn't stop.

 

The opponent had only one arm broken.

 

Water orbs created in the air flew in. Realizing that they were much heavier than the attacks that had flown in so far, the statue reinforced its defense.

 

However, Yi-Han was already running like the wind in the opposite direction of the water orbs.

 

The statue, which had been most wary of this approach, tried to teleport rocks in all directions around Yi-Han, just as it had subdued Yi-Han last time.

 

At that moment, as if anticipating that magic, Yi-Han changed direction and accelerated explosively.

 

At the unbelievably shocking sight, the statue sensed defeat.

 

-I lost...!-

 

An explosive surprise attack when the statue was most exhausted after a war of attrition through his friends' wave-like offensives.

 

On top of that, he had hidden the fact that he could predict spatial displacement magic until the end and then struck the vital point at the decisive moment.

 

No matter who looked at it, it was a splendid challenge that had to be acknowledged.

 

-You may pass through here…-

 

The statue began to scatter into powder.

 

Having achieved its purpose created by being defeated, it was now returning to the earth.

 

Tak-

 

Before scattering, the statue embedded a piece of ore into Yi-Han's staff.

 

It was a badge that the mage who had defeated the statue deserved to receive.

 

This badge, which had a simple spatial displacement magic cast on it, would show a new path to the mage who had defeated the statue.

 

-Hoho. It's the victory of magic and... friendship.-

 

The students behind were a bit puzzled by the word friendship but refrained from speaking.

 

Wardanaz was still quite scary.

 

Yi-Han, who had received the badge, stood still.

 

"?"

 

"...?"

 

The students wondered why Wardanaz was acting like that.

 

'What is it?'

 

'Did you make a mistake?'

 

'Uh, did I charge too late earlier...?'

 

Yi-Han slowly turned around.

 

And then he opened his mouth.

 

"What are you all doing here?"

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

"I-is it a trick question by any chance?"