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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“I will destroy Black Obsidian.”
As Ed uttered those shocking words, Gracia’s gaze fixed on him.
Simultaneously, silence fell over the previously noisy classroom.
Everyone who heard him questioned their ears.
Destroy Black Obsidian, the symbol of House Sigmund?
Such a preposterous statement…
[Edgar Fix, do not interfere. You are my student. I have a duty to protect you. ]
For Gracia, the student’s safety was more important than the truth of Ed’s claim.
He had already made the mistake of allowing Max to reach this state; he couldn’t let his student get hurt any further.
[But Professor, if this continues, isn’t killing him the only option? ]
[……]
Ed’s words hit the mark.
Even a Swordmaster like Gracia couldn’t simply subdue a Madman wielding Black Obsidian, the very essence of House Sigmund, with a 17cm pointer.
While he could kill Max at any moment, Gracia’s nature prevented him from taking his student’s life.
[Whoosh! ]
As they spoke, a blast of dark magic power fired by Max flew towards them.
Gracia with his gaze still fixed on Ed, casually flicked his pointer and completely neutralized the attack.
[Khehehe! Khe! Khehehe! ]
Max laughed like a beast and began to claw at himself with his sharpened fingernails, deliberately inflicting wounds to further enhance his power.
Watching Max’s self-mutilation, Gracia sighed.
[…There’s no other way. ]
Max had already entered the complete Madman stage.
Subduing him through conventional means was impossible.
Desperate for any solution and with nothing to lose, he reluctantly accepted Ed’s proposal.
[…Ed, I accept your plan. However— ]
Even if they proceeded with the plan, Ed’s safety was the top priority .
Gracia emphasized this point.
[—If I order you to retreat, you must retreat immediately. And I will not accept any plan that puts you in danger. ]
[…Of course. ]
Ed readily agreed.
Gracia then asked Ed to explain his plan, and Ed began to outline his strategy.
After hearing the explanation, Gracia nodded, confirming his understanding.
[So, you’re saying that if I block Max’s Black Obsidian and hold him off, you’ll launch a surprise attack and destroy the sword? ]
[Yes. ]
[Heh. A crazy plan. ]
A crazy plan.
There was no other way to describe it.
Withstand a Madman-enhanced Black Obsidian with a 17cm wooden stick?
[Are you certain you can destroy Black Obsidian? ]
However, Gracia didn’t question the feasibility.
Because it was indeed possible.
He was one of the Empire’s four Swordmasters, a transcendent being who had surpassed the limitations of mere weapons.
[Yes. I am a blacksmith. ]
And Ed was a talented young man on the path to becoming a master blacksmith.
Just as Gracia could block Black Obsidian with a wooden stick, Ed could shatter it through his engineering analysis.
[Then let’s begin. ]
*Bang!*
The moment Gracia finished speaking, Max, having completed his transformation, pounced on them.
A torrent of dark magic power, emanating from Black Obsidian, pursued them as they retreated.
[Woooong!]
Ed activated his Plasma Mana Shield and blocked the attacks.
Gracia, with practiced footwork, deflected most of the magic power, batting away the rest with his mana-infused wooden stick.
*Whoosh!*
But Gracia didn’t stop there.
He charged towards Max to execute Ed’s plan.
“Legion Commander! We’ve found the training ground’s location!”
At the same time, the adjutant, having finally located the training ground, informed Alerina about the location.
But Alerina, with her eyes glued to the screen, simply muttered…
“I have a feeling… something’s about to happen…”
“Pardon?”
“…I think they’ll handle it. That pretty boy… he has something up his sleeve.”
Something up his sleeve?
The adjutant turned his gaze to the screen.
The miraculously surviving image transmission magic sphere was broadcasting Gracia and Max live.
[Groooooar!!!]
Max roared in fury, swinging his sword wildly.
He felt humiliated by Gracia, who was toying with him as if he were a child, using only a wooden stick.
[Shwaaaaaaaa!]
A massive wave of dark magic power, vastly increased in size, surged towards Gracia.
Hundreds of sharp, needle-like projectiles of dark magic power shot out, aiming to pierce Gracia’s body.
“As expected of a Swordmaster…”
But as an unnamed student murmured, Gracia dodged the attack with the preternatural agility of a Swordmaster.
Frustrated, Max began clawing at himself again, drawing even more power.
Gracia looked at Max with disdain and said in a cold voice,
[You will be remembered as the worst swordsman in history. All you can do is rely on drugs and self-mutilation. ]
[Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!!!]
With a furious roar, a red aura exploded outwards from Max.
Black Obsidian vibrated strangely and absorbed the red aura like a vacuum cleaner.
Max swung the further-empowered Black Obsidian downwards, aiming for Gracia’s head.
[……]
At that moment, Gracia used his ‘secret technique.’
The world around him seemed to crawl as it slowed, yet he remained unaffected, moving freely in the frozen moment.
It was as if he was perceiving a single instant split into thousands of frames.
‘He’s hidden himself well.’
In this moment of stillness, Gracia located Ed, who was concealed in Max’s blind spot, ready to destroy Black Obsidian.
For Ed’s plan to succeed, the location, timing, and misdirection all had to be perfect.
‘I leave the rest to you.’
This was the moment.
A blue aura erupted from Gracia’s body, overwhelming Max’s red aura.
*Whoosh!*
Time resumed its flow.
Max’s massive Black Obsidian descended towards Gracia at incredible speed.
[Bang!!]
But Gracia blocked it with his wooden stick.
A blue aura, emanating from the 17cm wooden pointer, replaced the blade, resembling a lightsaber.
[Swooooosh! ]
But that wasn’t the end.
Black Obsidian began to draw back the dark magic power it had dispersed.
The pressure on Gracia intensified, and his expression showed signs of strain.
[Thud!]
At that moment, Ed, who had been lying in wait on the ceiling, activated his thrusters and charged towards Max.
Gracia had done his part; now it was Ed’s turn.
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When Max swung the empowered Black Obsidian at Gracia, I saw Gracia’s gaze flicker towards me for a split second.
In that instant, I knew it was my turn. He had confirmed my position before blocking Max’s Black Obsidian.
*Clatter!*
I immediately transformed my gauntlet. The only way to destroy Black Obsidian was with a superheated plasma blade, so I shifted its form accordingly.
*Whirr!*
A superheated plasma blade erupted from the transformed gauntlet.
This blade, resembling a Zealot’s Psi Blade, maintained its form without transferring even a degree of heat to me, thanks to the powerful magnetic field generated by the conductor.
*Bang!*
Max’s Black Obsidian clashed with Gracia’s wooden stick.
At first glance, it looked like a cat’s paw pinning down a mouse, with Max overwhelming Gracia.
But Gracia wasn’t a mouse.
He was a tiger, merely holding back its claws.
*Swooooooooooooosh!*
I waited for the right moment…until Black Obsidian had gathered all its dark magic power for the attack, until Max, completely vulnerable, would be helpless against my surprise attack.
I patiently bided my time.
‘Now!’
Finally, the moment arrived.
Max’s Black Obsidian had absorbed all the magic power and unleashed its attack, and Gracia began to give ground.
*Whoosh!*
I bent my legs as much as possible, like compressing a spring, then launched myself towards Max’s Black Obsidian and kicked off the wall.
At the same time, I activated my thrusters, adding further momentum to my surprise attack.
*Whoosh!*
In that split second…
…I arrived right in front of Black Obsidian.
All that remained was to shatter it with my superheated plasma blade.
‘Can I do it?’
Destroying an artifact crafted by a ‘Master’ wasn’t easy.
Several conditions had to be met.
First, all of Black Obsidian’s dark magic power had to be channeled into the attack.
This was already taken care of, thanks to Gracia’s excellent distraction.
Second, Max had to be completely unaware of my surprise attack.
If he sensed it, he could divert the dark magic power to defense.
Third, to melt Black Obsidian, which had an incredibly high melting point, I needed to attack with extreme heat.
This seemed feasible, as my plasma blade exceeded 6,000 degrees Celsius.
‘I can do it!’
All the demanding conditions were met.
With newfound confidence, I swung my plasma blade at Max without hesitation.
Just before the plasma blade made contact with Black Obsidian, I partially deactivated the magnetic field containing the superheated plasma, exposing Black Obsidian to the full force of the 6,000-degree heat.
*Sizzle!*
….and it worked perfectly.
Black Obsidian, which had been channeling all its mana into the dark magic power for the attack, couldn’t reinforce itself against the sudden assault.
The blade warped and distorted.
*Crack! Crackle!*
Cracks and fissures appeared as the blade partially melted.
I drove my plasma blade deep into the gap, and finally, Black Obsidian, one of the infamous Four Demonic Swords…
*BOOOOOOM!!*
…shattered into pieces.
Unable to channel mana to the emerald mana stones embedded within its blade for protection, it melted and broke under the sudden, intense heat of my surprise attack.
“…?”
It was unbelievable.
Even Max, in his Madman state, stared blankly at his broken sword with a dumbfounded expression.
“Professor.”
“Yes. Let’s finish this.”
But there was still work to be done.
Subduing the Madman Max.
But with Black Obsidian gone, he was no match for us.
*Whoosh!*
Gracia’s figure blurred.
He moved into Max’s blind spot and severed his Achilles tendon in a flash.
“Grooooooar!!”
Enraged, Max swung his fist.
But Gracia was already gone.
He reappeared in front of Max and slashed at his wrist with mana.
*Fwoosh!*
Max’s hand flew off, spraying blood everywhere.
While Max grew stronger with each injury and surge of rage, a mere student, even amplified by the Berserk Potion, was no threat to Gracia.
“Grrrr… Grrrrrr…”
After about 30 minutes of Gracia toying with Max, who was now restrained by the black adhesive, the effects of the Berserk Potion began to wear off.
As the potion faded from his bloodstream, he started to revert to his normal state.
“M-M-My family heirloom… The Black Obsidian… bestowed upon me by my father…”
As Max regained his senses, he finally grasped the situation and began to sob uncontrollably.
Gracia sighed softly, withdrawing the mana from his wooden stick. He patted my shoulder and thanked me.
“Edgar Fix, thanks to you, I was able to subdue him safely. You never cease to amaze me.”
“……”
Gracia left those words and approached Max. Looking at Max frantically gathering the shards of Black Obsidian, he spoke in a cold voice,
“Max. Why did you do this? You’ve crossed a line you shouldn’t have.”
But Max, ignoring Gracia’s reprimand, muttered to himself:
“The head of the family will kill me.”
“I’m finished now.”
“Father will disown me.”
“Fuck, it’s all because of that commoner,” and so on.
He rambled on, a torrent of words pouring out.
“I knew you were a troubled child.”
Gracia continued calmly.
Perhaps due to the mana infused in his voice, even Max, muttering like a madman, looked up at Gracia.
“If you had asked for my help instead of relying on that Madman’s power, I would have helped you.”
“……”
“Max Sigmund. You just lost that last chance. You resorted to a forbidden potion out of personal feelings and tried to kill your classmate?”
“B-B-But if I didn’t win this spar… the head of the family would…”
“Count Sigmund is also a father. Think about what you’ve done. He was trying to suppress your wicked nature, even if it meant intimidating you.”
“H-Hehehe… Y-You don’t know anything… Father never acknowledged me… Always… just… fucking training…”
“You fool, look at that broken Black Obsidian, shattered because of your foolishness.”
“……?”
“That sword is your father’s heart. He entrusted you with the sword that symbolizes House Sigmund.”
“……”
“I know Count Sigmund. He’s not someone who would be harsh without reason.”
Gracia knelt down and met Max’s gaze.
But his eyes were still filled with anger.
“The sin of killing a loyal servant of the family in a fit of rage. The sin of bringing shame to the family by hitting on the Grand Duchess of Cruel without knowing your place. And all the other petty misdeeds you’ve committed.”
“……”
“Count Sigmund covered up all those sins and sent you here. He entrusted you with the family’s sword, hoping you would change.”
“A-Ah… Uhh…”
“Yet, in the first evaluation match, you tried to cheat by bribing a branch family member. Did you think Count Sigmund wouldn’t know?”
“T-T-The head of the family…”
“…Upholding the family name isn’t just about winning. It’s about maintaining the responsibility and dignity that comes with the name.”
Gracia healed Max.
But the anger in his eyes remained.
“But now, you have no honor left to uphold. You brought this all upon yourself. Count Sigmund will shed tears of blood because of your sins.”
Gracia stood up.
At the same time, Alerina’s adjutant and the cleanup crew he had brought entered the training ground.
Max, clutching the broken shards of Black Obsidian, sobbed for a long time.
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In the end, Max was expelled.
House Sigmund also underwent a thorough investigation, but nothing suspicious was found.
Max, who had been associating with unsavory delinquents since childhood, had simply acquired the Berserk Potion through a broker.
With the incident resolved, the focus shifted from ‘Max’ to ‘Black Obsidian.’
What should be done with the artifact that Edgar Fix had broken?
Ultimately, the decision rested with Count Sigmund, the owner of Black Obsidian.
The Count wanted Black Obsidian fully repaired.
He sent letters to the Empire’s blacksmiths and the Dwarven Allied Kingdom, searching for someone capable of the task.
However, there was no blacksmith in the Empire capable of repairing Black Obsidian, which was imbued with dwarven craftsmanship.
The Dwarven Allied Kingdom also refused, stating they wanted nothing to do with such a cursed magic sword.
“……”
Count Sigmund groaned.
There was only one person in this world he could entrust with the repair of the magic sword.
The very person his son had tried to kill.
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