novelraw Chapter 21 : Chapter 21
Chapter 21 : Chapter 21
Chapter 21: A Single Bug
'Spark induced me to enter the portal alone. Very blatantly.'
Accordingly, I had prepared myself to some extent.
That I would face a disadvantageous situation.
However, the situation I was currently facing surpassed even my expectations.
As long as the Anti-Magic Field existed, the power of the Red Magic Stone could not be used.
"Yeah. I wanted to have a showdown with you someday."
I maintained my composure.
I didn't want to show a flustered appearance to Spark.
Whining about unfairness is something only the weak do.
War is not a game.
It means it is not a fight based on fair rules.
One cannot always fight under optimal conditions.
One must always assume the worst.
Prominence is not an existence where the Red Magic Stone is everything.
I have to prove that to him.
"You're unexpectedly calm?"
Spark tilted his head.
"I'm looking forward to it. What kind of expression you'll make when you are utterly defeated by a Prominence who isn't using a Red Magic Stone."
I said those words, but it was going to be a difficult struggle.
Spark was an opponent I had struggled against even in optimal condition.
A single moment of wrong judgment would lead to death.
"It will be a very enjoyable time."
I could not suppress my excitement.
"As expected, you Prominence have a unique way of thinking. Or is it just you who is particularly like that?"
Spark approached leisurely.
Electricity began to swirl around his fingers.
"It's a duel!"
"Spark! Show him what for!"
The crowded students surrounded the two of them in a circle, forming an arena ring.
"Watching is fine, but be careful. I don't want to turn you guys into roasted meat too."
Spark raised his hand with a beaming smile.
"For your information, your petty tricks won't work anymore."
He declared while looking at me.
'Petty tricks. Last time, I threw an Arcane Sword to warp the trajectory of the electric shock.'
He seemed to be talking about that.
Spark generated spheres of electricity.
They split into over a dozen pieces.
'Did he choose rapid fire instead of increasing the power of a single shot?'
Unless I carried dozens of pieces of metal around, it meant it was impossible to parry all of them.
"Then, let's have some fun!"
Spark released the electric shocks without delay.
I watched them silently.
I did not take any action.
Because there was no need to.
"...Eh?"
He furrowed his brows.
"Did you give up? After putting on all that bravado? As expected, things like Prominence can't do anything without the Red Magic Stone..."
Spark's mockery stopped midway.
Crackle!
The electric shock struck my entire body.
"It's ticklish."
I threw a sneer at him as if to show off.
A part of my clothes was scorched black, but that was it.
There was no damage.
"...How did this happen?"
The playfulness vanished from Spark's face for the first time.
"Why don't you try harder?"
"How arrogant!"
Falling for my provocation, he followed up with electric shocks immediately.
Perhaps because his emotions were heightened, his momentum was even more fierce.
"Is that all?"
This time too, I took the electric shocks with no response.
As if it were tedious, I blew and brushed off the ash on my shirt.
"Those clothes, could it be..."
It seemed he finally realized the cause.
Undergarments were revealed through the shirt burned by the electric shocks.
It was insulated clothing.
A full-body tights form that stuck closely to the body.
I wore it underneath my school uniform.
That was why even Spark had not easily noticed it.
It was an item I received through Isel after the first fight with Spark at the abandoned factory.
After obtaining the insulated clothing, I wore it at all times whenever I went out.
Because I didn't know when or where I would clash with Spark.
If the insulated tights had a disadvantage, it was the uncomfortable fit and poor sweat drainage.
Because I had forced myself to wear it all this time, it felt incredibly damp and unpleasant.
It was the moment I felt the worth of enduring that discomfort.
"Eeeek!"
Spark could not contain his anger and jumped around, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Insulated clothing! That's cowardly!"
"I never imagined the word 'cowardly' would come out of your mouth."
Especially considering he had been hiding behind Joffrey's back until now.
"So that's why you were so confident?"
Spark waved his hands, brushing away and erasing the remaining electric spheres.
"It doesn't matter. I have many other specialties besides that."
Electricity and Red Magic Stone.
A situation where each other's main specialties were sealed off.
He rummaged around and took something out.
It was spiked knuckles.
'Unexpected.'
I thought he avoided close combat because his frame was small.
Come to think of it, his physical endurance was quite excellent even at the abandoned factory.
He must possess an ability related to physical reinforcement.
"Hand-to-hand combat? Fine."
I also unsheathed my sword, not to be outdone.
Close combat is better than shooting.
There is the sensation of hitting, breaking, and cutting directly.
"Shall we start the second round then?"
Spark clapped his knuckled fists together with great spirit.
I thought he was warming up by lightly jumping in place, but then he lunged in with a surprise hook.
'Fast.'
The gap closed in an instant.
Swish.
Swish.
He threw punches in succession.
His posture was well-balanced.
Bouncy movements like a professional boxer.
His arms curved like snakes, aiming for my face, upper abdomen, and flank in turn.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
I twisted my wrists here and there, blocking the fists with the blade surface.
A Prominence is proficient in all weapon techniques and martial arts.
To perfectly master them, my physical abilities were pulled up to the limit.
Swish!
Thud-thud-thud!
Clang-!
Offense and defense were exchanged without rest.
"It's... it's too fast..."
The students began to stir.
Dozens of eyeballs rolled left and right without pause.
They were busy trying to follow the elusive movements of the two people.
"Not bad."
I roughly grasped Spark's full strength.
Even with the Red Magic Stone sealed, my pure physical ability was similar to his.
In combat techniques, I was actually superior.
The scouting phase was over.
It was time to move away from a defense-oriented approach and switch to an offensive.
"Yeah? It's an honor."
Spark shook his head, brushing off the sweat forming on his forehead.
"Then how about this?"
He took a step back and pulled his right arm back.
'Is he preparing a big one?'
Sorry, but your intention is clearly visible.
His movement was too blatant.
'In that case, I should use it against him.'
I calculated the path.
I intended to wait until right before his attack reached me.
I was inducing his center of gravity to lean forward.
The more the balance tilted significantly to one side, the more the weakness was revealed.
I would dodge that strike with minimal movement.
I intended to land a counter by digging into that gap.
It would be the blow that decided the match.
Whoosh!
Spark's arm, pulled back to its limit, was fired like a slingshot.
A fast but simple trajectory.
I can avoid it if I focus until the end.
I put strength into my eyes and captured it fully in my vision.
'Looking at the trajectory, it seems dodging by just slightly twisting my upper body will be enough to...'
Crunch!
'...What?'
Spark's right arm suddenly transformed into an abnormal shape.
In the process, acceleration was added with extreme speed.
My plan to narrowly dodge the attack was neatly thwarted.
'This is something I didn't expect at all—'
Crack!
In an instant, my breath stopped.
My vision spun like a top.
My entire body, defying gravity, floated up significantly before being slammed into the floor.
"Cough—"
My whole body let out a scream.
Particularly, the impact on my right chest, which was directly hit by his fist, was the greatest.
'The right arm won't move.'
There was no sensation.
It felt as if even the cells had been destroyed.
'...This is fatal.'
It was a strike too heavy to handle with a body deprived of the Red Magic Stone.
"Ahahaha! I knew you would act like that!"
Spark laughed while flaunting his transformed right arm.
'Grotesque.'
His right arm was far from human.
Instead of smooth, flesh-colored skin, a hide in a form connected piece by piece like scale armor was firmly in place.
It was like a reptile.
"Ered. You're the type who enjoys jumping into the fire. You aim for the opponent's weakness while taking risks that put yourself in danger. You're even enjoying it. You're quite the battle maniac."
"You know how to use your head unexpectedly."
I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth and replied to his words.
I thought he was just a guy who was playful about everything, but this was unexpected.
'He calculated a trap, being certain that I would purposely dodge his attack narrowly?'
To have my pattern read by an enemy.
'There is room for improvement.'
I felt like biting my tongue and dying.
In the meantime, Spark's transformation was continuing.
Passing the right arm, the upper body, and then the lower body.
His whole body was twisting and changing into a grotesque form.
"Phew."
An enlarged physique.
Spark, who had been in a frail human shape, completed his transformation into a lizardman.
'It's not just the appearance that changed.'
I could tell after being hit directly.
His destructive power was at a level that far exceeded humans.
"You've become ugly."
I let out a simple comment while looking at his appearance.
"Are those all your last words?"
Spark sneered.
The scales of victory and defeat tilted sharply.
It would be difficult to overturn the situation.
However, admitting defeat was not the way of a Prominence.
'I can't die in a place like this. Not after how I got here.'
Spark approached slowly.
As if to choke me.
I raised my body, not to be outdone.
My whole body screamed again.
The pain flowing from my right chest spread to my brain.
I ignored the pain.
Had I not received desensitization training for situations like this?
I switched my grip on the Arcane Sword to my left hand, which was somewhat intact.
Using it as a staff, I finally stood up.
'Let's focus.'
There was only one way to reverse the disadvantage.
Only Double Time.
'...Damn it.'
My head was spinning.
The impact when I hit the floor must have been large.
Perhaps because of that, Double Time would not activate easily.
"With this, it's been proven. A Prominence is an existence inferior to an Unnormal."
Spark's scaly hide glinted threateningly.
"Then—"
Boom!
Spark's words were buried in a roar.
A part of one wall of the training hall collapsed.
A dark shadow cast over the thick dust.
"You look pathetic."
The shadow uttered a single word.
The sound of combat boots echoed through the dust.
'...Lensis?'
Even though he was covered in dirty dust, his brilliant blonde hair did not lose its luster.
"Ered. Is your goal by any chance to disgrace the prestige of the Prominence?"
"...You turn a person's stomach as soon as you arrive."
I furrowed my face.
The heart that had been even slightly glad vanished in an instant.
"You! What was your name? Anyway, you're another Prominence, right? Correct?"
Spark brightened up and welcomed him with a wide smile.
"Who said it was okay to talk to me?"
Lensis replied apathetically.
He didn't even give Spark a glance.
It was a reaction as if looking at a bug.
"You're finally answering me? You've been ignoring me thoroughly until now."
Hearing that, it seemed those two were not meeting for the first time.
'Lensis was at Neustadt Academy even before I came.'
Since the person he was guarding, the 8th Prince Marcus, was an academy student.
Spark's first target for approach must have been Lensis.
Since he was very interested in the Prominence.
Regardless, Lensis would not have given him even a glance.
Given his personality of being indifferent to others, it must have been so.
To the recent Lensis, his only interest would have been the safety of Marcus.
'In the meantime, Spark discovered me, who newly flowed into the academy, and changed targets.'
A sketch of the circumstances until now was drawn in my head.
"You were in quite a difficult situation. It was a good thing I stepped in after all."
Lensis was not the only one who intruded into the secret training hall.
The 8th Prince, Marcus.
He had just entered the interior of the training hall with his arms crossed.
"P-Prince...!"
The students turned pale with fright.
"Is this the den of dirty subversives?"
Marcus scanned the faces of the students one by one with a cold gaze.
As if he wouldn't forget them.
"T-That is not the case...!"
"Shut up. Unless you want to die."
Lensis blocked the students who were approaching Marcus.
"His Highness the Prince did not permit you bastards to make a sound."
"U-Ugh..."
The students, crushed by Lensis's bloodlust, slumped weakly onto the floor.
"How did you know to come here?"
I threw a question to Lensis.
"His Highness Marcus ordered me to watch you after that day. As you know, he wanted to catch the main culprit who ruined the garden."
Lensis shrugged his shoulders.
"Quite some time had passed since you entered through the portal, but there was no news, so I had no choice but to intervene. I thought you might pathetically die before support arrived."
Lensis had been watching everything.
Above all, the fact that I had not perceived Lensis's existence even though I had been monitored by him until now scratched my pride.
It meant it had been proven that Lensis was a step above.
"How did you know the portal transmission location was here?"
"Secretive places are usually bound to exist underground."
Lensis replied as if it were nothing.
'Was it just a guess? So you just recklessly smashed through the underground space and intruded?'
I let out a hollow laugh.
'Well, it's not entirely illogical.'
Given the nature of portals, Lensis would have known that the transmission range isn't wide.
Within a limited range, places that could avoid public eyes are bound to be limited.
"Anyway, do I just need to deal with that guy?"
Lensis stood in front of Spark.
Schwing.
His Arcane Swords were slowly drawn.
Two swords.
It was dual wielding.
"Who said you could cut in?"
I threw a look that wasn't kind at Lensis.
It wasn't over yet.
If I backed down here, it would be like admitting defeat to Spark.
"Ered. I understand your desire to gain merit, but I wish you would value your body more. You are a precious asset of the Empire."
Marcus cut in.
It was a firm voice.
"...I understand."
I reluctantly backed down.
It was an order from the Prince himself.
I couldn't disobey even that.
"I know well that you are not at a skill level to die in a place like this. However, I and Lensis cannot just sit idly by, can we?"
Marcus's tone became much softer than at first.
'I feel like a child.'
When the Prince himself was soothing me, I couldn't grumble forever.
"Be careful. An Anti-Magic Field is applied to the entire space."
I warned Lensis in a low voice.
Although a part of the wall was broken, the Anti-Magic Field was still intact.
Lensis must have broken the wall and entered by borrowing the power of the Red Magic Stone.
However, as long as he stepped foot inside here, he could not be free from anti-magic.
"So what of it?"
Even though I gave a warning, Lensis did not care at all.
"There is no need to waste mana just to dispose of a single bug."
There wasn't a single shred of vigilance in his eyes.
Only absolute confidence in himself dwelt there.
As expected of Lensis.
"...You, you're really unpleasant."
Spark's facial muscles twitched.
'That guy got worked up. Lensis is indeed quite unpleasant.'
In that moment, I also agreed with Spark's sentiment.
"It's just as well. My target was originally you. I wanted to try fighting the Royal Guard, who are said to be the elite among elites."
"You are gravely mistaken."
Lensis showed a completely inorganic reaction.
No emotion was contained in his gaze toward Spark.
"This is not a fight, but cleaning. It is merely a task of exterminating pests."