49 – OK(2)

As the man stepped forward, the golem’s gaze focused on him.

The momentum of the magical energy surrounding the golem’s body became sharper.

I don’t know why, but I seemed to be more wary of the masked man than Shion.

As a preemptive strike, the golem picked up a rock and started tossing it at random.

The man brushed off the stones that flew in twos every second like flowing water.

Even the flying size, speed, and angle were all different, but he did not make a single mistake.

Agility itself was several orders of magnitude lower than Shion’s, but it didn’t seem lacking at all. The movements were extremely simple and efficient.

As soon as there was a gap, he immediately blew off the golem’s left shoulder with a sword wave.

Quaang!

The golem’s body tilted once due to the recoil.

The shower of stones faded thanks to the blow of one arm. In response, he fired a sword wave again, destroying his right shoulder.

Both of the golem’s arms fell to the floor, and out of control rocks rolled around.

Taking advantage of the loss of the two arms that hindered him the most, the man quickly approached the golem.

‘What’s the plan?’

Destroying the arm only buys a moment.

Maintaining the magic sword consumes an enormous amount of energy. So it was more efficient to attack the core while attacking other parts.

As Shion guessed, the golem began to restore both arms again.

The stones that flew around were sucked back into the golem.

The recovery rate was much faster than before, and in less than ten seconds, the left arm, which had been destroyed first, took shape again.

Taking advantage of the lull, the man ran to the torso and threw a blue orb into the thick sword scar left by Shion.

Then he jumped on the golem’s body and swung his sword at the reshaped left shoulder.

The man’s knife cut through the hard rock lightly like a cake.

“… !”

It was a part that Shion had to cut with a knife three times. Although she hadn’t been able to raise Cybeline’s performance to its maximum yet, even taking that into account, the man’s demonic sword was overwhelmingly powerful.

The sword handling form was closer to that of a wild beast rather than a long-trained swordsman.

Thanks to this appearance, it was even more difficult to find out the identity of the man. Even in the swordplay, there was nothing specific, so it was literally like a person who fell from the sky.

Meanwhile, the golem’s right arm was restored. It was so fast that it was pointless to destroy it now.

The golem’s attack to protect the core has become even stronger.

The floor of the foot and foot that the golem was cutting with his hand cracked and stone powder splattered.

He even thought that if the battle continued like this, the summit of Mount Grace might collapse.

He hurriedly dodged the attack and tossed the blue orb into his torso again.

‘What are you putting in?’

Because he was less agile than Shion, he struggled as time went on.

In the meantime, two more orbs were thrown in.

The man who reached the limit was hit straight by the arm of the golem, which moved freely like an octopus foot, and was blown away.

Shion frowned. As she experienced, even one hit would make her move quite uncomfortable due to the shock. Then the fight had to be fought harder than before.

He flew about fifty paces away and rolled on the floor.

After lying down for a while to catch his breath, the man slowly got up.

With that distance, the man pulled out a bottle of potion.

Shion knew what that potion was.

‘Vitality potion…?’

The golem, loaded with medicine, began to approach him quickly.

In a situation where he seemed to have to run away, the man gulped down the potion without hesitation.

Then he stood still and watched the golem.

She couldn’t understand what he was trying to do.

‘What are you waiting for?’

As they approached while shaking the ground, the golem’s body exploded with blue light and explosions.

The recoil caused the huge body to tilt for a moment.

From that point on, a series of loud noises rang out from the torso.

The golem’s body was twisted and splintered several times, and cracks appeared.

Then, white frost quickly spread from the torso to the shoulders and legs.

Zion’s eyes widened as he watched this.

‘A magic bomb?’

Finally, the golem was frozen solid.

After drinking the potion, the man tossed the empty bottle aside and admired the frozen golem for a while. As if watching a masterpiece created by a master.

Then, he swung his sword wide and fired sword waves.

Quaang!

It struck the frozen golem’s body and blew off half of its upper body.

And the remaining body was shattered by the sword wave that followed.

coo coo coo-

And the rest of the body that was supporting it lost its strength and fell to the floor.

A bright red crystal was floating in the empty space left after the rocks had disappeared, which was the center of the body.

It was the golem’s core.

The final sword wave that followed finally struck the crystal, shattering it. The powdered pieces flew into the air on the mountain wind.

After a moment of silence, the magic slate that was far away received magic and began to turn blue.

coo coo coo.

A magic circle unfolded around the magic slab, and the chaotic surroundings began to be organized.

Rocks that had been scattered all over the place moved noisily and made the ground flat.

It seemed to indicate that the final gateway had finally come to an end.

I couldn’t believe it, but the man really took down the golem by himself.

Only then did Shion realize that he had lost the bet with his teacher.

Because of that man who appeared out of nowhere.

The sense of bewilderment was greater than the sense of defeat.

Did Master make a bet knowing that such a ridiculous, strange guy would appear?

The man destroyed the magic sword and approached Shion.

When he squatted in front of him and tried to put his hand on Shion’s ankle, she immediately knocked it off.

“Don’t touch me.”

He didn’t care and took out the potion from his chest and grabbed Shion’s ankle and poured it out.

“What are you doing now… !”

The intense pain that seemed to have cracked my bones began to subside in an instant.

Zion was at a loss for words for a moment. All the things the man carried were full of unknown things.

As she tried to get up on her own, a man helped her.

Shion said in a cold tone.

“Why are you wandering around unnecessarily?”

There was no answer either.

That’s what he said, but because he received help a few times, Shion’s vigilance was somewhat relaxed.

The man supported Shion and moved slowly in front of the magic slate.

As she reached the stone slab, she shook off the man’s support and stood on her own.

Among the two, the first person to stamp their hand on the stone slab was ranked first overall. Others would have rolled their eyes, but the man did not touch the slate and stared at Shion. He seemed to want to say something.

“What are you doing without touching your palms?”

Shion watched for a while and then said.

“You want to take a picture together?”

He nodded.

“Are you really funny?”

We fought together, so we should take a picture together, right?

Shion didn’t want to take the first place since he was already behind.

She stared into the man’s eyes. Do you have any thoughts of your own?

Since Shion acted alone, there was no room for extra points. I don’t know the details of Eternia’s scoring method, but if a man can get another cooperation bonus, he will be the top even if he takes a palm together.

Even if something went wrong, he was at least co-chief, so there was no way he would completely take the position.

Zion sighed.

It was a complicated state of mind. It was the first defeat he faced against his peers, and after that, he lost a bet, so he had to be tied up in Eternia for four years.

In a situation like this, I didn’t want to make it complicated.

“Ha, I don’t know. yes take it.”

The two opened their palms and brought them close to the slate.

And together, they put their handprints on the stone slabs.

Shion deliberately took his hand a little later than the man.

When I took my hand off, a blue handprint left on the slate, which quickly disappeared.

“It is over.”

The entrance exams for these two are now over, and all that remains is to go down.

A light breeze blew Shion’s long hair. She admired the scenery from the top for a while. Not far away, a river ran through the mountains. And five Eternian sailboats were waiting there.

Those who have completed the test do not have to go back the way they came, just take the boat and go downstream.

Shion turned her head to the man and said.

“You…”

The man stretched out all the way and turned his body in the direction of Hasan-gil.

As he was about to move, Shion grabbed the man’s sleeve and said.

“Give me your name.”

“… .”

Even if the man ignored it, Shion persisted in demanding it.

“name.”

The man shook his head.

“I can’t go until you tell me.”

“… .”

“I know there are circumstances, but your name will be known to all students at the entrance ceremony anyway. I’m heavy-mouthed, so just say it.”

Without a word, he slowly released Shion’s hand and walked away again.

Shion chased after the man with one leg limping and grabbed him so hard that his clothes were ripped off.

“name.”

When Shion stubbornly came out, the man’s eyes wavered a little.

“… .”

The man tried to free his grip, but Shion wouldn’t let go. As if he couldn’t win, he pulled out a wooden sword. Then, with the tip of a knife, he scribbled on the rock and wrote letters.

Shion read the name engraved on the rock with a questioning expression.

“… … candy?”

The man nodded.

Shion glared at him and said.

“That’s not your real name.”

“… .”

There was no sign of teaching at all. Shion sighed with a disgruntled expression and said.

“it’s okay. I don’t need it, so just go.”

She finally untied the collar.

These two were in the same combat team anyway, so they had to meet again and exchange swords.

“… Instead, next time we meet, we’ll stick together.”

***

I had to go back to base.

Even though it was over, it wasn’t over. I was tired and wanted to go home right away, but I couldn’t.

I was scheduled to take off the mask, go back to Damian from a nameless person, and fill up the 7 days to finish the exam.

Since he was in a position where his name was known as Silverin’s disciple, he had to show his face appropriately to avoid miscellaneous suspicions.

After taking time off like that, on the 7th day, we descended the mountain and boarded the ship to return to Eternia.

Those who were on board together were all at the bottom of the ranks who arrived the latest or hadn’t arrived yet, so they all looked dead.

Among them were the knights and magicians who had quarreled with Cecile. Because I was wearing a mask, they didn’t recognize me.

It took less than half a day to ride the river and go downstream.

When I got off at the dock near Eternia, I was greeted by a carriage sent by Silverin in advance.

So, I got on the carriage and headed to Silverin’s mansion.

By the time we finished everything and arrived at the mansion, the sun was already setting.

It’s only been a week, but it feels like months have passed.

In front of the castle gate, I got off the carriage and walked out into the courtyard.

For some reason, all the maids were out in the courtyard, clearing the garden trees and weeds.

Maybe because I came in so quietly, they didn’t seem to notice me.

While quietly looking around, I met eyes with Silverine, who was sitting cross-legged on a wooden bench and resting her chin on it.

Silverin’s eyes at me widened.

She jumped up and came to me.

Then, without much welcome, he grabbed my wrist and said.

“Follow.”

Silverin grabbed me and dragged me across the courtyard somewhere.

“Teacher… ?”

“It is urgent.”

When Lilia found me, she stopped sweeping the broom and smiled brightly and greeted me happily.

While I was being dragged away, I accepted Lilia’s greeting.

Silverin led me past the corner of the outer wall of the main building and moved to a shaded area out of sight of the maids.

The strength of Silverin holding her wrist was quite strong.

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Judging by the tone of voice and the look on her face, it seemed like something serious was going on.

She pushed me against a wall and said.

“Tell me.”

“… Yes?”

“you… Didn’t you miss the teacher?”

I blinked blankly a few times in a state where I couldn’t grasp the atmosphere for a while and said.

“Of course I want to see… .”

Silverin hugged me and cut off my words.

She used her weight to push me against the wall and said.

“me too.”