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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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The moment they stepped into the circular clearing, marked by a glowing white perimeter similar to their starting point, the bracelets they wore began to emit a soft light.
Pino, still catching her breath from the relentless running, shouted,
“Why did you let them go?!”
Chrom yelled back,
“Because the princess’s team was completely unscathed!”
Contrary to their expectations, Lyla’s team showed no signs of fatigue or injury.
If they had finished off Alphonse’s team, even without taking further damage themselves, they would have faced a fresh team of six against their own exhausted four.
Six versus six versus two was better than six versus four.
Alphonse Betouare must have realized that too, which was why he readily retreated.
“Lavaul, how are you holding up? If it’s too much, I can carry Pino!”
“Yes! Please, let me down—”
“I’m fine! You and the others need to conserve your energy!”
Since their escape, Lavaul had been carrying Pino on his back.
The chair-backpack had been destroyed in the fight, making it impossible for Pino to shoot from her previous perch, and she would have quickly fallen behind if she ran on her own.
Chrom, while scanning their surroundings, observed Lavaul.
Contrary to his initial assumption that Lavaul was just showing off, he didn’t seem to be struggling.
But that made it even more puzzling.
‘He took a direct hit from that musclehead’s charge, wrestled with him, got beaten up, and he can still carry someone and sprint through the forest?’
Even with Fiore’s healing, his resilience was abnormal.
‘Don’t tell me this guy…’
A chill ran down Chrom’s spine, interrupting his thoughts.
Whoosh!
An arrow whizzed past his head as he ducked.
The arrow pierced a tree thick enough for two grown men to hug, leaving a fist-sized hole.
The lingering mana on the embedded arrow made Chrom’s skin crawl.
‘Wait, weapon reinforcement? At long range? The only first-year who can do that is—’
Chrom’s mental “Planetarium” character encyclopedia flipped through pages, landing on the name of the famed monster hunter and sharpshooter.
Without hesitation, Chrom threw a smoke grenade.
Two more arrows flew before the smoke completely obscured them, but they found no flesh and blood.
The archer, Chase, considered firing a few more shots, then lowered his bow.
His arrows were custom-made, not to be wasted, especially when he couldn’t even pinpoint his targets.
‘…The first dodge was probably luck, but his quick thinking after that… This is the second time my attack has failed.’
First against the Fendevig siblings from Morian, and now against this boy, Chrom Midas, from Sphero.
Chase, who could easily hunt man-eating tigers and magically mutated monsters back home, couldn’t believe he was being outmaneuvered by younger kids.
But he didn’t let frustration cloud his judgment.
There were plenty of targets and plenty of opportunities.
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Pino’s short bow and Chrom’s crossbow fired a barrage of arrows, each imbued with a different Low-Rank Formula, hindering their pursuers.
The young man with a long spear yelled in disbelief as he deflected blades of wind and ice,
“Are they insane?! Wasting Attribute Stones like that?! Do they have money to burn?!”
The sharp-featured girl in robes shouted,
“Now’s not the time to complain! Move forward! Our formation’s falling apart!”
“Then you lead the way!”
“Are you crazy?! Telling a mage to charge in?!”
Despite their bickering, the young man’s spear deflected arrows tirelessly, and the girl’s hands continuously cast attack spells.
They thought,
‘Princess Lyla single-handedly wiped out a strong team. If I rely on her again, I’ll just be a lucky bystander. No way!’
‘Chrom Midas… that arrogant brat… I’ll teach him a lesson!’
They were not letting their guard down.
After the Hegemony War and the Judgment War, the Barhardt Empire’s high-ranking positions were filled with individuals who had proven themselves on the battlefield or through meticulous administrative work.
This meritocratic culture, though varying in degree, had been passed down to their descendants.
That was why even the Kingdom of Morian, where magic was paramount, and the Grand Duchy of Nahart, where frontline combat was a mark of nobility, couldn’t claim superiority over the Barhardt Empire in terms of talent.
‘Even with thorough preparation, consumables eventually run out.’
‘They’ll reach their limit soon!’
The two pursuers were confident.
And as if to prove them right, the barrage of arrows gradually lessened, and by the time they reached the second checkpoint, it stopped completely.
Regret, hidden in the bushes, ambushed them.
But the timing was too predictable.
“This is our only chance!”
A predictable ambush wasn’t an ambush at all.
The young man’s spear thrust towards Regret, who effortlessly dodged and retaliated with a slash.
The young man parried, but the unexpected force made him stumble back three steps.
If Regret hadn’t been distracted by an arrow fired from somewhere in the forest, he would have been cut down.
As the young man recovered his stance, the girl in robes unleashed a Mid-Rank Ice Sphere.
Regret threw a dagger from Feldhaus’s Summoning Gauntlet, piercing the sphere and avoiding a direct hit, but the scattered shards of ice slowed her down.
The hunter’s arrow grazed Regret’s left cheek, drawing blood for the first time.
But that was all.
Unfazed, Regret discarded her ice-covered sword and drew a heavy warhammer.
The three pursuers’ faces hardened.
Despite their three-to-one advantage, they weren’t confident of victory.
Their heightened vigilance narrowed their focus, making them less aware of their surroundings.
And Chrom Midas wasn’t one to miss such an opportunity.
A flashbang detonated above Regret’s head, blinding them.
The young man swung his spear, and the girl in robes cast a Magic Shield, even while blinded.
Their skills were impressive.
The hunter, realizing his allies were blinded, switched to rapid-fire with his short bow, further hindering Regret.
Chrom’s poison arrow, unable to penetrate the girl’s shield, only managed to paralyze the young man.
Pino tried to provide support with her bow, but Lavaul suddenly grabbed her.
“Sorry, Sage! I’ll apologize later!”
“Huh?”
Before Pino could react, she was lifted into the air.
The world spun.
Blue sky, the forest below.
She realized she had been thrown like a projectile.
As she fell, she saw Lavaul being eliminated by other students who had somehow gotten behind them.
Time seemed to slow down.
She couldn’t survive the fall with her current spells.
She would be eliminated the moment she hit the ground.
Chrom and Regret were surrounded, and there was still a sharpshooter somewhere.
And most importantly,
Being eliminated like this was infuriating.
Pino focused her mana.
Using a bow in this position was impossible.
But magic wasn’t.
She cast her most reliable spell, Low-Rank Magic Arrow.
Aim—fire.
A streak of light pierced the sharpshooter’s head, hidden in the trees.
Satisfied, Pino lost consciousness as she hit the ground.
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