A tranquil hall, an unadorned wooden building, the dappled blaze of the midday sun, and two utterly focused duelists—everything silently conveyed the supreme spirit of martial arts.
Once the duel began,
Cervini did not immediately rush forward to ambush Lanqi. Instead, she maintained her distance, cautiously buffing herself with enhancement and immunity spell cards.
Her body felt light, her agile footwork poised to dodge at a moment's notice, her gaze brimmed with vigilance.
Even now, she was already on guard against any potential ranged casting from Lanqi.
Sensing malice and attaining the state of "initiative before initiative" was a grand realm for a martial artist.
Cervini could perceive Lanqi's intent to attack a step ahead, even before her eyes could register it.
She knew that the Lanqi standing before her was a versatile mage of many talents, so she had to remain wary of any trap spells he might lay down.
However,
Lanqi's eyes were as calm as still water, completely devoid of hostility.
Cervini could not help but grow even more wary. She had never seen someone who, when facing an opponent he had to defeat, could still maintain such an amicable state of mind.
If Lanqi had truly achieved the realm of entirely masking his hostility, he might already be above her. At the very least, she was incapable of bypassing malice detection to leave an opponent utterly unable to sense or deduce her strikes!
While Cervini was constantly reinforcing herself and contemplating her options, Lanqi finally drew a thick stack of magic cards from his pocket. In a crisp, fluid motion without the slightest hesitation, he tossed them toward the roof beams behind him. At the same time, he unleashed an activation technique reminiscent of a magic artificer, adding a simple final touch to the magic cards.
A whole stack?
Lanqi's maneuver baffled Cervini and every pugilist present.
One had to remember that there was a hard limit on the number of magic cards one could bind. The tier of a magic card could be viewed as its cost, and a Tier 3 individual could at most bear a total of thirty tiers' worth of magic cards.
Even if Lanqi brought exclusively Tier 1 cards, thirty would be the absolute maximum. Yet building a deck that way would leave him with practically no combat power to speak of.
"I forfeit!"
Lanqi's loud shout echoed throughout the hall.
Next, before the bewildered Cervini across from him could even react, Lanqi turned on his heel and bolted toward the outside of the wooden building at full tilt.
"Forfeit?"
Cervini was utterly dumbfounded.
Even if she had imagined a thousand ways Lanqi might give the duel his all, she had never expected him to simply surrender and hand victory to her on a silver platter!
Could it be...
Did this boy fancy her?
Had signing all those agreements earlier merely been his way of finding an excuse to help their team?
Cervini's thoughts grew chaotic, her heart pounding erratically, completely unable to fathom the intention behind Lanqi's ideas and actions!
Just as that frantic heartbeat filled her ears,
an explosion even more violent than Frey's earlier duel blasted through the hall!
Cervini's eyes went wide. Right at the beam support directly in front of her, the stack of magic cards Lanqi had left behind went off in a chain reaction like detonation talismans!
At this moment, the wooden building—which already had one compromised beam—began to shake violently as another crucial support beam was blown apart, looking as though it would collapse at any second.
When Cervini looked back toward Lanqi and the others, she discovered all three had already vanished.
Frey, who had been prepared all along, bolted straight out the door the instant Lanqi surrendered.
Hyperion fled even faster, slipping away under invisibility and leaving only a decoy where she had stood.
In an instant,
as Cervini's mind short-circuited in sheer, petrified disbelief, the wooden building swayed precariously before collapsing in on itself with a resounding crash!
...
Within the grounds of the School of Knights, a tremendous roar drew the attention of many students nearby.
Looking over, deep within the jacaranda grove, the wooden building had already been reduced to a heap of ruins, shattered wood scattered everywhere amidst drifting smoke.
After who knew how long, a slender figure covered in dust finally crawled out from the debris.
She staggered to her feet, her eyes hollow, as if replaying everything that had just transpired in her mind.
A heavy sense of emptiness pressed down upon her heart, much like the falling dust.
She had indeed won.
Yet before the joy of victory and an indescribable warmth could settle in her heart, they had collapsed into a total mess alongside the wooden building.
She seemed to recall...
Something written in the contract.
Any property damage caused during the duel was to be borne entirely by the pugilists' club; the Student Management Committee bore zero responsibility.
What Lanqi had used to destroy the wooden building were indeed magic cards, even if she had no idea what principle allowed him to use semi-finished magic cards as detonation talismans.
The contract had even stated: Regardless of the outcome, neither party shall seek subsequent retaliation in violation of the spirit of combat or the honor of their family name, neither shall tarnish the other's reputation, neither shall threaten or harm the other through martial force or authority, and both must maintain friendly communication.
None of this had been a coincidence!
At that moment, Cervini finally realized the trick Lanqi had pulled—
That absolute bastard never intended to win in the first place!
All he wanted was to tear down the building in the course of the duel, and he had even tricked them into signing the contract in advance.
And all of Frey's earlier provocations were merely to create room for Lanqi to negotiate, lulling them into believing Lanqi was the reasonable one!
"And here I... here I thought you were a good guy..."
Cervini trembled all over. It was hard to tell whether pure rage burned hotter, or if the humiliation from her earlier delusions was about to burst her heart.
Her cheeks flushed crimson, and tears of fury threatened to spill from her eyes.
"Lanqi!!!"
Standing atop the rubble, Cervini unleashed a roar that tore through the sky, echoing across the School of Knights like a deafening tempest.
A tidal wave of wrath swallowed every shred of her sanity, turning her into a savage beast. She burst from the ruins and tore off in the direction the trio had fled.
Meanwhile, the remaining pugilists who had just scrambled out from the debris were already in a blood-red fury. Seeing Cervini lead the charge, they followed suit without the slightest hesitation or restraint, swept up in pure madness.
Further away along the paths of the School of Knights,
having pulled some distance ahead, the three members of the student council felt the terrifying killing intent and the rumbling tremors of the earth behind them!
The three immediately sprinted for their lives, accelerating to top speed.
"Hey! Black and white, signed and sealed! You signed the agreement yourself—you can't retaliate against us!" Lanqi called back over his shoulder.
Although he still felt he was entirely in the right, the sheer ferocity of their momentum made him feel just a little guilty.
He had never expected Cervini to get this angry. After all, he had conceded to her so politely!
"Lanqi! You despicable, deceitful villain!" Cervini's distant howl came from behind.
"..."
Lanqi didn't dare say another word to provoke her. From the glimpse he caught of her expression when he glanced back, he understood everything.
He was all too familiar with every stage of human wrath, from zero to exceeding the limit!
Cervini had clearly lost all reason to rage.
Before she cooled down, not even the oath on the spirit of combat in the contract would hold her back.
Sure enough, Talia's teachings were right—sprints and endurance runs were both immensely useful, because sometimes you really did encounter reckless classmates who couldn't be reasoned with!
"Lanqi, working with you is remarkably efficient," Frey couldn't help praising as he glanced over. Originally, he thought no one in the world could keep up with his train of thought, but to think there was someone who could coordinate with him so effectively and achieve an airtight outcome.
"Likewise. Without your cover, it wouldn't have been so easy to convince them to sign a peace treaty," Lanqi praised in return.
He even felt it would have been wonderful if he had met Frey sooner.
"By the way, what was the deal with those exploding magic cards of yours?" Frey seemed quite interested in this efficient, convenient new technique.
"Ah, those were semi-finished magic cards. You just need to apply a slight supplementary technique to blow them up."
Over the past few days, inspired by Talia's instruction, Lanqi had developed a new type of "explosive semi-finished magic card."
Though they could not be bound to the soul,
as a white mage, he had finally acquired a roundabout way to wield the offensive capabilities of a red mage in the real world.
There was still plenty of room to refine and enhance their explosive power in the future.
"Want to do the next Shadow World together, just the three of us? Our Civilized Role Models Squad happens to need a frontline tank. Frey, you should be great at taunting, right?" Lanqi quickly asked after explaining, as if just remembering.
The three of them were in the same organization, were all first-year freshmen, and demonstrated excellent synergy. Surely they would make a great fit for tackling the Shadow World together!
"Say no more! I just happen to be short on credits and couldn't find suitable teammates!" Frey seemed thrilled as well. Once he became familiar with Lanqi and Hyperion, none of his initial aloofness remained.
He looked as though he couldn't wait to return to the student council room to play cards and chess with them.
"You two..."
Listening to the exchange between these two eccentric men, Hyperion looked up to the sky and lamented miserably, "Why do I have to run along with you two?!"
She hadn't done anything wrong.
Yet she felt that if she dared to stop, she would be the one to die!
And so,
under the astonished gazes of the students of Ikerite Academy, three students sprinted down the campus avenue while a mob of furious pugilists gave chase in hot pursuit.
It was hard to imagine what heinous sin these three had committed to send that crowd into such a frenzy.
...
Old Liberal Arts Building, student council room.
Within the spacious and quiet room, the president and vice-president sat at their respective desks, thoroughly immersed in their work.
The president's long desk gleamed with the luster of dark hardwood. Its clean lines gave the surface an even more expansive feel, and even though stacks of folders and papers rested upon it, everything was arranged in immaculate order.
Suddenly, clamorous noise swept through the large bank of windows alongside the breeze.
President Monaster set down his pen for a moment due to the commotion. He rose, clasped his hands behind his back, and stood by the window, taking in the lively chase below.
"Looks like they pulled it off."
Monaster picked up the coffee cup from his desk and took a sip, showing a pleasant hint of approval.
"...Does that really count as pulling it off?"
Vice-President Asna soon walked over as well, looking downstairs in astonishment.
Her tone was hesitant, unsure of how to evaluate the spectacle.
It felt as though those three being chased had stirred up a hornet's nest; they must have done something truly scandalous!
"With these three outstanding new recruits, the Student Management Committee's work this year should go quite smoothly."
"As it happens, the month after next there will be an academic visit from Aloran Kingdom Academy. While they are a renowned Southern Continent institution on par with ours, their attitude every year is quite intent on suppressing us."
"This year, they seem to have recruited a considerable number of exceptional freshmen, which gave them the confidence to hold the academic visit so early in the school year. But with those three around, I have nothing to fear regarding any trouble."
President Monaster adjusted his monocle with composure, clearly appreciating the value of these three newcomers, and smiled.
Chapter 101