Chapter 573

No one had anticipated the opening match beginning so abruptly.

After a moment of confusion, however, all four hundred first-years simultaneously raced toward the equipment for their respective classes scattered across Erek.

“Move!”

“Form ranks, now!”

Their panic lasted only a moment.

They might still have been inexperienced first-years, but they had already endured countless trials at their Hero Academies.

Moreover, these were the one hundred students selected from among the first-years of each academy.

They responded to the unexpected situation in an instant.

At that moment—

Dash—!

“Attack Seiren!”

Several Azonia students used Aura Step and charged toward the Seiren students.

For many years, Seiren had only admitted elves capable of using Star Magic.

It was, quite literally, an academy whose main strength was magic.

As a result, it was famous for producing the most powerful mages. Conversely, that also meant its Knight and Summoner Classes were relatively weak.

They were therefore bound to expose weaknesses in close combat.

At that moment, an elf pulled a spear from the ground and swung it at the charging beastkin.

Whoosh—!

Thud-thud-thud-thud—!

The spear moved in a blur, knocking the beastkin students away.

“Ghk?!”

“What?!”

Startled by the unexpected counterattack, the beastkin students retreated.

Anri, a female Seiren student, landed lightly on the ground and glared at the Azonia students.

“You seem to think our Knight Class is weak simply because our academy is famous for Star Magic.”

Thump—!

“As long as I’m here, you had better not even think about reaching our rear line.”

Anri slammed the shaft of her spear against the ground and glared.

“Ha! So Seiren has someone with a respectable amount of spirit!”

A large tiger beastkin stepped forward.

“What is your name?!”

“Anri Bizan.”

“I’ll remember it! And you would do well to remember the name of the man who will defeat you—Carlos—”

“Anri! Move!”

A female Seiren student shouted from behind her.

Anri leaped high the instant she heard the warning.

Yoinia Tella, who had been standing behind her, released her magic as her eyes flashed.

“Acrey!”

Whiiiiir—!

Acrey was one of the easiest forms of Star Magic to learn and apply.

Yoinia rivaled Lea, Seiren’s top first-year student, in terms of sheer Magic Power, so her Acrey was exceptionally powerful.

Countless particles of light engulfed the beastkin students pursuing Seiren.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

Carlos, who had boldly proclaimed that he would face Anri head-on, collapsed.

After being ruled unable to continue, Carlos was immediately warped outside the arena.

“Ghk!”

“What was that?”

The other Azonia students who had been targeting Seiren, only to be stopped by Yoinia’s magic, all turned their attention toward Anri and Yoinia.

“Damn it! What a nuisance! Target that one first!”

The beastkin students targeted Yoinia.

Anri immediately intercepted those rushing toward her.

However, the number of attackers quickly became too much for even Anri to handle.

When that happened, Anri swiftly hoisted Yoinia over her shoulder and began using Aura Step at tremendous speed.

Yoinia cast enhancement magic on Anri.

Holding tightly to Anri, Yoinia aimed her staff at the beastkin students and unleashed a barrage of spells.

===

—Ah! The Seiren students are displaying incredible teamwork! Anri and Yoinia are particularly impressive! They are using guerrilla tactics to buy time for Seiren, which is relatively vulnerable in close combat, to form its ranks!

Runba, a fourth-year Lumene student who had taken a seat in the commentary booth at some point, shouted excitedly.

—The opening match has only just begun, but the Seiren students are already putting on an incredible performance! Not a single one has been eliminated amid this chaotic melee!

Even in the confusion, Seiren swiftly coordinated its forces and overcame each crisis.

—Professor Sedgen! What do you think of the current situation?!

—Elegance! Absolutely elegant! Seiren’s coordination is particularly impressive! And extremely unexpected!

—What do you find unexpected?

—Is it not surprising that Seiren’s first-years can display such magnificent teamwork?

—It certainly is! Until the beginning of this semester, there were countless rumors that Seiren’s first-years were so fiercely competitive they could not work together!

—Indeed! I won’t name names, but they even made our academy’s exchange student study alongside the first-years! Apparently, they gave him a vivid demonstration of what a dysfunctional mess they were!

—Oh! A dysfunctional mess! That’s an excellent description! Hahaha!

Professor Sedgen and Runba chattered away enthusiastically.

Mocking both academies during Lumeiren was practically a time-honored tradition.

The two of them were merely providing commentary the way they always had.

Unfortunately, this was not Lumeiren.

Screeeech—!

Feedback shrieked through the microphone.

—Professor Ain? Professor Len? Are you here to drag me away again?! What did I do wrong?! Stay back! H-Hey! Professor Harrid ordered you to do this again?! Why do you only ever obey his orders— Let go! Let go! You lackeys of Professor Harrid! Let me goooo! Mmph! Mmmph!

—Professor Harrid! Please give me one more chance! Who else could possibly provide commentary like mine...?

—Drag him away, Professor Yura.

—Aaaagh!

Professor Sedgen’s screams and Runba’s pleading voice filled the broadcast.

Then Professor Harrid’s chilling voice sent shivers down the listeners’ spines, bringing the commotion to an end.

The spectators saw Professor Sedgen and Runba being dragged out of the commentary booth.

A moment later, the broadcast showed Elena sitting in their place.

—Lumene would like to make an announcement. We experienced a brief broadcasting accident. From this point forward, commentary will be provided by Lumene’s finest professor, Professor Harrid Edmond, and me, Lumene’s Vice President, Elena Zeron. Please overlook the earlier accident with generous hearts.

Elena clasped her hands together and spoke teasingly in a sweet voice. When she playfully stuck out her tongue, exclamations rang out from all around.

The broadcast soon returned to the match.

“How irritating. Why do I have to clean up this mess?”

Elena grumbled with a scowl.

“Focus on the commentary.”

“Yes.”

Elena answered primly and reactivated the microphone’s amplification magic.

“They’re disgracing the entire academy.”

When Eliana muttered under her breath, Carr answered,

“You’re probably going to disgrace the academy plenty yourself, so don’t judge them too harshly.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Eliana narrowed her eyes, and Chelsea spoke.

“He’s not wrong.”

“Xia! The students from the other dormitories are making fun of me!”

Eliana threw herself into Chen Xia’s arms and complained.

“They’re both being too cruel. If they state the truth so openly, it will hurt Eliana-yang’s feelings.”

“You’re the cruelest one here!”

Eliana screamed.

“By the way, why is Seiren’s teamwork so good? Weren’t they all on bad terms?”

Chloe asked Eiran.

Eiran nodded.

“Yes. It’s true that the first-years were hostile toward one another.”

At the beginning of the semester, Seiren had thoroughly divided its first-years according to rank.

As a result, they viewed their classmates as opponents they had to trample on to rise higher, leaving them wary and bitterly hostile toward one another.

However, those tendencies changed after Seiren, the Comet Mage, descended into the present world.

“After the first-years taught by Leo-nim achieved remarkable results during the first-semester midterms, the other students reflected deeply on themselves. Yoinia, who is fighting alongside Anri now, even went around preaching the importance of cooperation.”

Yoinia had once led the elite team from the highest-ranked class, but after being utterly defeated by Anri from the lowest-ranked class, she had reevaluated herself.

“Yoinia... Come to think of it, she’s currently ranked second among Seiren’s first-years, isn’t she?”

“Yes. She and Anri are particularly famous for being an incredible pair.”

“A knight and a mage can produce exceptional synergy when they coordinate properly.”

Carr nodded.

“By the way, Eiran, why are you only telling us this now?”

Eliana narrowed her eyes.

“Pardon? Because no one asked....”

“Ahem! Aren’t you a Lumene student?”

“I-I’m an exchange student. I have to return to Seiren now....”

“What? You’re saying you’re going to betray us?!”

“Th-That’s not what I meant....”

“So all the friendship we shared meant nothing? You’re going to betray us! How awful! Traitor!”

“But...!”

As Eliana pointed accusingly and shouted, tears welled in Eiran’s large eyes.

Eliana sidled up to the tearful Eiran and slipped an arm around her shoulders.

“Hehe. There’s a simple way to prove our friendship.”

“W-What is it?”

“Tell us the weaknesses of Seiren’s second-years. Hehehe. If you tell us that, our friendship will continue—”

“Eiran! How long are you going to stay over here?”

The Seiren second-years appeared.

“Eiran! I missed you! When are you coming back?”

“Gasp! Why are you crying?”

“Did the Lumene students bully you?!”

The Seiren second-years made a great fuss when they saw Eiran’s tear-filled eyes.

They soon turned fierce gazes upon the Lumene students.

“You bullied our Eiran?!”

“I didn’t think you were that kind of people!”

“E-Everyone, it’s a misunderstanding. The Lumene students have treated me very well.”

Eiran hurriedly calmed her friends.

“Then why are you crying?”

When Aris, a Seiren second-year, asked in confusion, Eiran explained what had happened.

“Eliana-yang said that if I wanted to prove our friendship, I had to tell her all of your weaknesses....”

The atmosphere grew even more hostile.

“I didn’t think you were that kind of people! Lumene is despicable!”

“Eliana Laden! Prepare yourself!”

“Let’s go, Eiran! Those bastards are only trying to take advantage of your innocence!”

“Take off that uniform at once!”

The furious Seiren students dragged Eiran back to their side.

Every Lumene second-year turned to stare at Eliana.

“Well done. You’ve disgraced the entire academy.”

“You made all of us look despicable!”

“I-It was a joke! I was only joking!”

When Chelsea and Carr spoke with contempt, Eliana protested tearfully.

“What will you do now? It looks like the Seiren students will focus on eliminating you first.”

“Guys? You’ll protect me, right? We’re friends.”

Eliana smiled as cutely as she could.

Carr looked at her and spoke.

“You caused this mess. Deal with it yourself.”

“I knew you’d say that, you bastard! Chelsea? You’ll help me if the Seiren students come after me, right? Please, Chelsea Unnie?”

“Why would I?”

“Nella? Tide?”

“I’m a healer, so I’ll treat you afterward.”

“I’ll be in the rear line. How am I supposed to save you when you’ll be on the front line?”

“Chloeeeeee!”

“I’ll be in the rear line too.”

Chloe sighed softly, and Eliana clung to Chen Xia.

“Xia! They’re being cruel and refusing to help me! You’ll help me, right? Please?”

Chen Xia smiled gently, shook off Eliana’s hand, and answered,

“Who are you?”

“You heartless bastards!”

===

“Stop right there, Luke Elda!”

Kabooooom—!

“Eeeeeek?!”

Luke recoiled in terror when an explosion erupted beside him.

“What did I ever do to deserve this?!”

“You were Plov Sunbae-nim’s mentee, weren’t you?!”

“Y-Yes?”

“That’s your crime!”

“Th-That makes no sense! Eek!”

“Stop running! Turn around and fight me!”

Luke pushed himself to run even faster as Lea pursued him relentlessly with blazing eyes.

At that moment—

Boom—!

“Luke Elda! Fight me!”

Medvez blocked Luke’s path.

“Why are you after me too?”

“It is only natural for a beastkin’s fighting spirit to blaze in the presence of a strong opponent! Come at me!”

“Luke Elda is my prey, so stay out of this!”

“Ha! Whoever catches the prey first gets it!”

“In that case....”

Lea grinned.

Whoooooom—!

“Both of you, die!”

“It’s only a match! Why are you telling us to die?!”

“Plov Sunbae-nim told us to kill one another!”

“He only said that because it’s a survival match! He didn’t mean it literally...!”

Ominous Magic Power surged from Lea’s body, and Luke’s terrified expression instantly hardened.

Medvez’s eyes gleamed when he sensed the change in Luke’s demeanor.

'His entire presence changed!'

Medvez grinned and slammed his fists together.

'First, I need to deal with Lea Tingel’s attack...!'

Just as Medvez prepared to defend against Lea’s attack—

Slash—!

A razor-sharp blade of Aura shot toward Lea.

Lea flinched and hurled her magic in the direction the Aura blade had come from.

Kabooooom—!

Lea landed on the ground amid a tremendous explosion.

Tap—!

Aina landed in front of her.

“Aina Beidna! Are you trying to interfere?!”

When Lea shouted shrilly, Aina pointed her sword at her.

“Your opponent is me.”

===

The first-years recovered from their confusion over the abrupt start of the survival match.

They formed ranks across the vast Erek and began eliminating their opponents.

Leo grinned as he watched them.

“Shall we begin in earnest?”

Ruuuuumble—!

The ground began to tremble.

The first-years, who had been watching one another warily, looked around in alarm.

'It’s easy to remain wary of the enemy before your eyes. But on a battlefield, they aren’t the only ones trying to kill you.'

***