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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“Lord Chrom!”
“What?”
Lavaul’s urgent cry made Chrom turn around just in time to see two students take him down.
Chrom’s mind raced.
Two in front, two behind, a sharpshooter somewhere, and the princess still unaccounted for.
Was she still waiting for an ambush?
No, that wouldn’t make sense.
With Lavaul down and Pino missing – likely eliminated, Chrom assumed – only he and Regret remained.
At six versus two, it was smarter for the enemy to press their advantage rather than wait for an ambush.
So, the princess wasn’t here.
Was this a coordinated attack?
The princess keeping Alphonse and Grendel busy while her teammates eliminated them?
Logically, it was the most plausible explanation.
But a gut feeling told Chrom otherwise.
‘What if… it’s the other way around?’
‘What if we’re the distraction?’
Trusting his instincts, Chrom ignored the enemies closing in, ran forward, and shouted,
“Regret! Just one of them! Then run!”
Regret, who was preparing to break through the mage’s barrier, immediately switched targets and swung her Impact Amplifying Hammer.
Crack!
A student teleported away.
Confirming the new mark on her bracelet, Regret retrieved her discarded longsword and sprinted after Chrom, ignoring the mage.
The knight who had eliminated Lavaul yelled,
“No! They’re getting away! Don’t let them escape!”
“What?!”
The mage, still blinded by the flashbang, finally saw them running, but it was too late.
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“ROAR!”
Grendel, a towering figure with a scarred, muscular torso, roared and his voice echoed through the forest.
With a Physical Ability score of 8, his strength was unmatched.
His charge shook the ground, and his punches tore through the air.
While not true ‘Red Light’, his mana-enhanced attacks could easily shatter rock.
Let alone a human body.
His merciless fist punched through Lyla Everblaze Barhardt, and a sickening crack echoed.
Blood splattered, bones shattered.
Brutally, inevitably.
“—Is that all?”
Grendel’s right fist was crushed.
A translucent wall of blue mana had appeared between him and Lyla.
His attack, meant to shatter rock, had shattered his own hand against the impenetrable barrier.
Alphonse Betouare, watching from behind, whispered in awe,
“High-Rank Magic Barrier…!”
Unlike a shield, the Barrier wasn’t meant for personal protection.
It was a tactical spell that created a fortified zone for multiple allies.
Even Grendel’s rock-shattering attacks were useless against this magical fortress.
“Ugh!”
The bracelet didn’t activate for non-fatal injuries.
Even Grendel, as tough as he was, couldn’t suppress a groan as pain shot through his mangled hand.
Alphonse’s mind raced.
‘To break through that defense, we need another High-Rank spell, or multiple Mid-Rank spells.’
Regardless of individual skill, even Grendel, whose raw power surpassed his own, was crippled.
Defeating the princess with just the two of them was practically impossible.
But this wasn’t a simple brawl.
It was a game with rules.
Guessing the princess’s objective, Alphonse yelled,
“Run! Grendel—Ugh!”
A mana-charged projectile slammed into his raised shield, sending him tumbling backward.
Grendel started to charge again, but Alphonse’s shout stopped him.
“I said run! Target the other teams! Once we have three marks, we win as long as one of us reaches the finish line!”
“…Got it!”
As Grendel ran, Alphonse Betouare got back on his feet.
Lyla tilted her head, puzzled.
“Shouldn’t a loyal subject sacrifice themselves for their lord? Besides, I don’t need to chase him. If I catch either of you, I’ll have all the marks I need.”
“There are three flaws in your reasoning, Lyla Everblaze Barhardt.”
Alphonse said calmly.
Lyla knew he was stalling, but she decided to humor him.
“First, he is not my subject. He is a fellow student.”
“Second, a subject’s sacrifice is only valuable if it prevents a greater loss. This isn’t a life-or-death situation, and Grendel, who already has a mark, is a higher priority target.”
“And lastly,”
Alphonse gripped his sword and shield, taking a stance.
His custom-made armor and shield, enchanted with protective runes, were undamaged despite the fierce battle.
His rune-enchanted sword was still sharp.
“—You cannot defeat me, nor can you take my mark, Princess of the Barhardt Empire.”
His tone, no longer polite, dripped with hostility.
Then, Alphonse’s sword pierced his own throat.
The bracelet activated, absorbing the fatal blow and teleporting him away.
And since he had eliminated himself, the princess didn’t get his mark.
Lyla was caught completely off guard, but her expression remained calm, devoid of anger or surprise.
The former royal family of Sphero, destroyed by the Empire.
The Betouare family, loyal to the old royal family.
The quiet hostility in the young man’s eyes.
Her sunset-colored eyes flickered for a moment, then returned to their usual serene composure.
Only the flawless princess remained.
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Five shadows raced through the dense forest, where even sunlight struggled to penetrate.
Three are chasing, two are being chased.
But the knight, despite her numerical advantage, couldn’t hide her anxiety.
‘How are they so fast?!’
She couldn’t understand.
Her team had started with a mark thanks to the princess, allowing them to conserve their energy.
Chrom’s team, on the other hand, had fought a grueling battle against Alphonse’s team and then clashed with the princess’s team.
They should be exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Yet, they showed no signs of fatigue.
Why couldn’t she catch them?
“Can’t you go any faster?!”
She yelled at her teammates.
“This is our limit! We’re not Combat students who can just pump mana into their legs!”
“Our mana’s running low! We’ll be drained before we even fight!”
The two Magic students were using Low-Rank Windwalk, a highly efficient movement spell that lightened their bodies and propelled them forward with a tailwind.
But it had its limits.
Unlike Reinforcement, which directly enhanced physical abilities, Windwalk relied on external mana manipulation, making it less efficient in terms of speed and mana consumption.
The knight was exasperated.
“Then what the hell is this Midas guy?
“He’s using Reinforcement without any spells! That’s why he’s so fast!”
“Is he really ‘Blue Light’? Even if his conversion isn’t complete, his Reinforcement efficiency should be terrible!”
Combat and Magic students were converting their internal mana to suit their respective disciplines.
This meant lower efficiency when using spells or abilities from other disciplines.
Combat students, approaching ‘RedLight’, gained stronger Reinforcement with less mana, but their external mana manipulation weakened.
Magic students, approaching ‘Blue Light’, gained greater spell efficiency, but their internal mana Reinforcement became less effective.
Yet, Chrom was maintaining a high level of Reinforcement.
There was only one explanation.
“How much mana is he pouring into Reinforcement?!”
It was an absurd waste.
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