SWNOVELXO Chapter 98
“Huuh.”
A tired sigh escaped my lips.
In front of me lay a member from the 1st round preliminaries, knocked out cold by a punch.
Sure enough, my stamina had taken quite the hit by this point.
“Wang Non!”
At that moment, I lifted my head at Card’s call.
I noticed a bracelet on Card’s wrist glowing.
Looking back at my own wrist, mine glowed just the same.
This is…
Ding ding ding—
A sound resonated from everyone’s bracelets.
It signified that the preliminaries had concluded.
Sixteen.
We made it to the top 64 finals.
Card’s eyes met mine.
Our hands crossed swiftly and clashed.
“Wow, we actually made it through.”
Grantoni rushed over, swinging his arms in victory.
His bright white wrist bones were clearly visible.
Soon, we received orders to move outside the forest.
Thanks to the glowing bracelets, we could exit without confusion.
As we stepped out, instructors approached us at a quick pace.
They checked our injuries, tended to us, and pointed us to a resting area.
At the same time, I saw others walking out of the forest.
They were the preliminaries passers.
And among them, a guy who locked eyes with me was there.
The son of shadows.
Solvas Umbra.
It seemed the impact from my explosion had left him looking a bit charred.
As soon as our eyes met, Solvas flinched.
Then he frowned, narrowing his eyes at me.
It seemed he was embarrassed by his reaction to the shock.
Like a hedgehog bristling its quills.
Now that I think about it, he kind of resembles one.
From now on, he should be called “Solporcupine.”
Solvas abruptly turned his head and walked away.
“You really scared him. That’ll definitely affect the next match,” Card chuckled as he approached me.
At this point, I hope he drops out in the next match.
“I want to check on the prelim results for other groups.”
“Oh really? I was thinking of grabbing some food first.”
“Go eat with Grantoni. I just want to see the results.”
“Hehe, food! Food!”
Card nodded and casually walked off to eat with Grantoni.
That guy Card really does have a knack for making friends.
Even though results for the international preliminaries for the Fire Butterfly side are always random, I couldn’t predict who would succeed this time.
I quickly moved to another spot.
When I checked, the other groups were nearly done as well.
People were buzzing as they watched the matches.
Even those who got knocked out in the preliminaries could still watch the matches.
Maybe that’s why so many people had gathered.
On the wall, matches that hadn’t yet ended were still being displayed.
Students were sighing here and there.
First, I checked the prelim results.
“Ah, the top-tier teams made it through without any issues.”
Seems everyone did well in the preliminaries after all.
Among them, one name caught my eye.
Group 3, Ordo Academy, Eve.
The unwavering Blue Flame.
“Of course, you passed too.”
At that moment, the very person appeared.
When I turned my head, there stood a woman with blue hair.
Eve looked spotless, without a single scratch.
Her time in the preliminaries couldn’t have differed much from mine.
Looking this pristine meant she must have completely dominated the preliminaries.
“Yeah, it would be embarrassing to get knocked out in the preliminaries.”
“…You’re so bold after pulling that on me.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
She glared at me fiercely.
It seems word had spread around about what happened last time.
So much so that Eve’s passionate love confession became well-known even at Jerion Academy.
It must have been tough for her to show her face around.
I felt a tad guilty, but I’d already decided to be shameless about this.
I’ll stick to my poker face till the end.
“I had no choice but to retaliate since I was attacked out of the blue.”
There was no way I could admit I attacked her due to the residual effects of the Great Dragon, so I opted for an excuse that might salvage the situation.
“I apologize for the ambush.”
Didn’t think I’d apologize here.
“But I do believe Great Dragon magic is dangerous.
If you don’t take care to remove the magic properly, I’ll have no choice but to exert my power. So I will be removing your Great Dragon magic.”
Eve left with a warning.
Did she really need to come all the way here just to give me a heads up?
She sure did act like a main character from a spin-off.
“I could never pull off something like that.”
That’s something one is born with.
“Ah.”
“This is hopeless.”
At that moment, I heard the students’ sighs.
I inadvertently turned my gaze back to the screen.
“Huh?”
My eyes started to widen slowly.
Because there on the screen was Seron.
Seron’s opponent was someone I was all too familiar with.
Palace of the Sky, Paradon.
Home of the Paradon Academy.
The one and only prince, Ergo Paradon.
One of the Six Stars was facing off against Seron directly.
But Seron looked utterly battered.
Her opponent was one of the Six Stars, obviously not someone Seron could handle.
Seron swung her axe defiantly, not backing down a bit.
But to everyone’s eyes, there was no way Seron could win.
She was already battered and bleeding from her encounters with Ergo.
〔You are making meaningless struggles in front of me. It would be easier just to accept defeat.〕
Dozens of swords swirled around Ergo.
He could wield swords even without holding them.
That was the legendary swordsmanship known only to those chosen from the Paradon royal family.
Sky Swordsmanship.
The swords chased after Seron as she rushed through the forest.
Though Seron’s axe continuously clashed against the blades, they twisted back and returned.
Each of those blades was considered to be an exceptional sword.
Even with Seron’s skill, they were untouched.
She was starting to get pushed back more and more.
Seeing swords blocking her path made Seron grit her teeth.
A red flash of light glinted off her axe.
BANG! BOOM!
Explosions erupted from Seron’s axe one after the other.
She packed so much power into them that the blades were sent flying in all directions.
The black smoke that filled the forest was birthed from the explosions.
At the moment Ergo furrowed his golden eyebrows and peered into the smoke.
WHOOSH!
Something shot out of the smoke from one side.
Ergo’s swords all launched in that direction.
THWACK!
As soon as one of Ergo’s swords lodged itself in place, his eyes widened.
There, wedged in the sword, was a piece of wood.
A tree that Seron had smashed while running.
THUD!
In that moment, massive trees began to crash down towards Ergo, as if they were on command.
〔Hoh.〕
Ergo unconsciously swallowed hard.
Seron had finally realized what her axe was aiming for, even from beyond his sight.
A shadow began to fall above Ergo’s head.
The collapsing trees lurched to smash him down.
WHOOSH!
Ergo’s swords all lifted in unison.
The Sky Swordsmanship swung towards the trees that were falling onto him.
As the trees were cut down by Ergo’s swords, the sound echoed.
THUD—
Underneath the splintering wood, Seron swung her axe powerfully from below.
Seron’s and Ergo’s eyes met.
Even while her body was a mess, she had gained the only advantage.
〔Urrrgh!〕
To seize this chance, Seron gave it her all with the axe.
However, the gap in their talents was insurmountable.
Just before Seron’s axe reached Ergo—
SHTOOM—
In the sky, a giant sword that was the size of a house descended and shattered the trees in one blow, separating Ergo from Seron.
KWA-AAAAANG!
Seron was flung back and rolled on the ground from the force of the blast.
I tried my best to stay on my feet, but the overwhelming size of the descending sword proved too much.
The sword was so absurdly large that it could be seen from outside the forest.
Sky Swordsmanship.
The sword of the Divine Beast.
It was the ultimate sword wielded by Ergo.
Rolling through the dust, Seron scrambled to gather her bearings and rise.
Just then—
WHAP!
Ergo’s foot kicked Seron in the gut.
〔Gah!〕
Seron rolled on the ground.
She couldn’t get up immediately due to the pain shooting through her abdomen.
〔Why don’t you just give up already?〕
But as she struggled to rise again, Ergo stood in front of her.
THUD!
Ergo’s foot stomped down on Seron’s solar plexus.
Seron swallowed her scream.
〔You know it’s a pointless struggle.〕
Ergo pressed down even harder with his foot.
By now, a smirk had settled on his face.
〔Well, I guess for someone like you, just facing me, the prince, would already be an honor. I can understand that feeling.〕
Ergo had a sadistic nature.
Thus, he enacted a more thorough punishment on Seron as she squirmed.
At that moment, Seron raised her hand and grabbed onto Ergo’s ankle.
〔Why won’t you just give up?〕
Seron gritted her teeth.
〔The guy I like is super persistent. To be worthy of him, I need to pass the preliminaries.〕
Seron spat blood as she grinned.
〔And you, you fake prince, aren’t my real prince!〕
Ergo’s expression turned expressionless.
In that moment, light entered both Seron’s and Ergo’s bracelets.
The preliminaries for Group 1 had finally concluded.
Ergo lifted his foot from Seron.
As everyone watching the match let out a sigh of relief at that moment.
〔Ah, I see.〕
Ergo brought his foot back down with force.
CRUNCH!
Seron’s body bent into a C shape.
The children’s horrified voices rang out.
Light flashed across Ergo’s bracelet, and an instructor charged onto the scene, forcibly restraining a furious Ergo.
Seron was rapidly taken away by the instructor.
And I witnessed the entire scene with wide-open eyes.
Drip—
A drop of blood trickled down my hand.
I was gripping my fist so tightly that the skin on my palm had been cut.
I realized my current state.
This was undoubtedly rage.
Yet I couldn’t fully unleash it.
A sense of suffocation gripped my heart.
Even while my emotions boiled over, I couldn’t let them out.
I belatedly realized the effect of this.
‘The Bandage of the Veil.’
The Bandage of the Veil I had used was suppressing my rage.
To be precise, my anger was gradually fading away.
‘Losing control over my emotions wasn’t the only outcome, huh.’
It was a fact I hadn’t known before.
Thanks to that, my head cooled down instead.
Amidst the instructors restraining Ergo, his furious figure burned itself into my eyes.
Whether Seron crossed the line or not, that was of no concern to me.
After all, this world operates on double standards.
My friend had been treated like that.
“Ergo.”
That bastard will definitely pay.