SWNOVELXO Chapter 97
The shadows swim.
I pulled off such ridiculous nonsense.
So perhaps that’s why I can see Solvas’s face behind the shadows, looking bewildered.
Of course, it’s only natural. Shadows aren’t like water.
If I had to describe it, they’re more like paint.
But how on earth am I swimming through the shadows?
The answer was simple.
Magic Seal · Wind.
The wind, attached to my arms and legs, gave me a sense of buoyancy.
It might not be enough to fly, but floating within shadows was certainly doable.
Thanks to that, I was able to swim in the shadows as well.
Splash splash splash!
The distance between Solvas and me started to close in an instant.
Believe it or not, swimming is my specialty.
Considering it’s a suitable workout to build stamina without injury, I used to swim every day.
“Crazy.”
Solvas seemed taken aback, seemingly not expecting this.
He hurriedly dashed across the waves.
At the same time, he formed a shadow bow in his grasp.
Ping!
As he released the taut bowstring, shadow arrows came flying my way.
The shadow arrows split into multiple fragments, soon becoming hundreds.
It was like a rain of arrows falling from the sky.
I quickly dove into the shadows.
The shadow arrows whizzed past me through the shadow waves.
However, I managed to glide within the shadows and dodge every single arrow.
The power of the waves was so strong that the arrows could barely exert their force.
I could see Solvas’s face distort beyond the shadows.
It seemed he realized that creating the shadow waves was a blunder.
Shadows have the property of consuming the same shadow.
Within the shadow waves, Solvas’s shadow couldn’t dance either.
In the meantime, I closed the distance between Solvas and me once more.
Splash splash splash!
As I sped through with a vigorous breaststroke, Solvas was clearly startled.
If you freak out like that, you’ll end up hurt.
I had no choice but to swim even harder.
Thanks to that, I was swimming faster than Solvas, who was running on the shadow waves.
“What the heck, why isn’t your speed decreasing? Aren’t you getting tired!”
Of course not.
This alone wouldn’t tire me out.
My hellish training with Aisha is still ongoing.
Plus, I had cranked up the intensity even more for today.
Stamina is the foundation of national power.
Right now, I’m a destructive war machine forged from stamina.
Solvas frantically unleashed shadow weapons.
I had evasion and a body of steel.
With that trust, I brazenly closed the distance.
There’s a limit to fleeing.
In the end, the distance between Solvas and me shrank.
My eyes gleamed.
It was my chance.
The light of the magic seal spread uniformly across my soles.
Bang!
In that instant, my body shot up with the explosion of the magic seal while maintaining the breaststroke position.
Solvas, caught off guard by this absurd variable, looked up at me with a stunned expression.
It was your mistake for not anticipating this.
My hand wrapped around Solvas’s shoulder and bore down.
Solvas swiftly braced himself with his legs.
“Ugh!”
But while Solvas was a genius in shadows, I held the upper hand in strength.
Sploosh!
Solvas, overwhelmed by my immense strength, fell straight into the shadow waves.
In an instant, Solvas and I sank below the shadow waves.
Solvas squinted his eyes, glaring at me.
“This… it’s a mistake.”
Solvas’s mouth uttered that phrase.
Boom boom boom!
In that moment, the waves of shadows began to swirl violently.
Soon, what came into view was a whirlpool raging through the shadow waves.
The enormous whirlpool began to sweep away all nearby shadows.
Indeed, the six stars.
Even after seeing it again, it was insane in scale.
However, Solvas was blissfully unaware of one fact.
My legs wrapped around Solvas’s waist.
At the same time, my arm tightly gripped along his neck.
As Hanon, I was significantly smaller than Solvas.
Burying my face in a guy’s chest felt disgustingly wrong, but it was optimized for a perfect cling.
“Get off me!”
Solvas thrashed about, trying to shake me off.
Probably intending to escape after generating the whirlpool himself.
Solvas continued to punch my body.
But that was a mistake.
Solvas’s face twisted in pain.
His hand that struck me turned bright red and swollen.
Swinging a fist at a hunk of steel like me wouldn’t end well for him.
He couldn’t win in a fistfight against me, not ever.
I tightened my grip further around him.
Right now, I was not a person but a steel weight.
And a steel weight that couldn’t be shaken off.
I pushed the constricting force even stronger.
Crack!
In that moment, I heard a sound of breaking from Solvas’s body.
“Gah!”
Solvas coughed up pain, but he didn’t think of letting go.
I’m like a leech; once I latch on, I never let go.
That’s my only ace.
The whirlpool began to grow even wilder.
At this rate, Solvas would also be caught up in the whirlpool.
Ultimately, he had to make a drastic choice.
And that’s exactly what I had been aiming for.
Solvas clenched his fists tightly.
Whoosh!
In that moment, the waves of shadows that constituted us collapsed and disappeared.
Simultaneously, I felt buoyant.
The shadow waves that had been holding us vanished.
So, we began to plummet to the ground.
My hair flew as a ferocious wind whipped around.
I could feel the sensation of falling throughout my body.
But Solvas wasn’t awarded the six stars for nothing.
As soon as he retracted the shadow waves, he conjured shadow daggers in both hands.
The shadow dagger, held backward, came crashing down on me.
Just before the shadow dagger struck my back.
Snap!
The shadow dagger shattered.
Upon my back, a bone armor had formed.
‘Grantoni.’
Grantoni, watching from somewhere, had conjured the bone armor for me.
Solvas’s eyes widened.
Just then, as Solvas tried to respond…
He realized my body was radiating heat.
My entire body began to be slowly infused with light.
Accordingly, Solvas’s eyes widened further.
“Why, why are you glowing?”
“Who knows.”
I looked up at Solvas and grinned widely.
“Looks like I might explode.”
When mystery and magic seals meet, their powers tend to magnify.
So I was prepared.
Magic Seal explosion!
Solvas’s face turned pale.
Yet, as apart from that, his skin darkened.
He became adorned with night shadows like armor.
That should protect him from the explosion’s impact.
However, the fact that Grantoni supported me meant that another one was also watching this situation.
Straight up!
The night shadow that was meant to cover Solvas’s head came to a sudden halt at his neck.
Solvas’s night shadow is a superior version of shadow magic.
Umbra is one of the few exceptional families recognized for their mystique in the world.
They were a specialized family that passed on the uniqueness of night shadows, just like the Whitewood Duke.
But just for a fleeting moment.
If it really is just for a moment, shadow magic can still cause night shadows to pause.
Cards’s shadow magic.
His magic paused Solvas’s night shadow for just a moment.
And that fleeting pause turned everything upside down.
As Solvas’s eyes, which were the only part not covered by night shadow, began to glow with light.
“… Shit.”
That was the last curse Solvas barely muttered.
Boommmmm!
Finally, the canopy of the forest was engulfed in a massive explosion.
* * *
After the explosion of the magic seal.
Solvas and I fell separately to the ground below.
No matter how strong I was, the explosion of the magic seal was a burden.
Therefore, I couldn’t do anything until I hit the ground.
Just before I hit the ground like that.
Whoosh!
I just managed to escape from hitting the ground, feeling something sticky and soft envelop me.
When I regained my senses and looked around, I saw the shadows that wrapped around me.
“Wang Non!”
From afar, Card came running, waving his hand.
Thankfully, due to Card’s shadow magic, I had avoided the fall.
I slid down from the shadow.
“Ha ha ha, this is art!”
Just then, Grantoni also stepped out from the forest.
Grantoni clapped his hands, praising the explosion as art.
“You’re still as reckless as ever.”
Card chuckled, watching me as I emerged from the shadows.
Card must have been observing me when Solvas used his lawless wave.
So he probably saw everything about how I fought.
“So how’s Solvas?”
“He fell over there. I considered whether to finish him off, but I think Solvas’s real comrades are probably gathered there.”
It’s unclear whether they’re out or not. Is this noise coming from them?
It would have been nice if I could’ve knocked them out in the preliminaries, but this is pushing it.
I was a bit reckless in that fight, and my body ached.
‘Moreover.’
I felt several eerie presences rustling through the trees.
After making this commotion.
The preliminaries are a jungle.
A place filled with beasts obsessed with passing the preliminaries.
I need to clear out these guys before heading to Solvas.
“So what happened?”
I loosened up as I asked Card.
He paused for a moment and then slapped my shoulder.
“It was the most refreshing day of my life.”
Card, having royally messed with that tyrant supervisor, had a more liberated expression than anyone else.
“Alright then, let’s work as hard as we feel refreshed.”
Ruffle—
Hyenas began to appear from the thicket.
Like us, they were also grouped up with each other.
Among them were also academicians from our magic arts.
“Card, make him regret picking me.”
That’s a different reason for sure.
As I glared at Card, who had piled up his burdens, he shrugged.
Anyway.
“Let’s get through the preliminaries.”
From now on, I’m going to be a destructive war machine.
* * *
In the sanctuary of Olfram.
Inside the arena building constructed there.
There were those who were gazing toward the situation room.
They were professors from each academy.
“This generation really has many talented kids.”
One professor marveled as he watched the preliminaries unfold.
As he said, this generation had indeed produced a plethora of talented individuals.
Heroes of humanity, dependable defenders of the Magung.
The professor, watching them with delight, suddenly realized how quiet it had become around him.
Eventually, he noticed that all the professors were looking at the same screen.
Curious about what was happening, he turned to see a boy swimming through the black waves.
What is he doing?
Swimming in a river or something?
As I stared blankly at the scene, I gradually came to a startling realization.
“… Isn’t that Solvas’s shadow?”
One of the six stars, Solvas Umbra.
His shadow was unmistakable.
“Unbelievable.”
Another professor expressed disbelief.
The idea that someone could swim through shadows like that was absurd.
But the boy in the screen forcibly swam to Solvas and pulled him out.
And then, after a fierce battle, he self-destructed along with Solvas.
The professors had incredulous looks.
“He’s not holding back at all.”
“Seems like he’s equipped with something special.”
“I can’t judge just by watching here. What was that boy’s name again?”
The professors began to murmur.
To such an extent that the boy’s battle was shocking.
His fighting style was utterly unpredictable.
There’s no such thing as a madman like him.
“Hanon Irey.”
In that moment, someone blurted out the boy’s name.
The one who called out the boy’s name was a female professor who looked very uncomfortable in her formal attire.
In fact, a faint scent of alcohol brewed from her, resembling that of a drinker.
And that professor was known to everyone.
In the past, she was a leading figure of the generation of the Rising Sky.
Veganon Mercia.
Veganon was grinning widely.
“Our kid.”
She was one infatuated professor bragging about her student.