How to Live as a Martial Arts Writer in a Fantasy World

39 – 39. What’s that?!

39.

-During the first round, I wouldn’t expect my brother to show up. Since the second-year seniors will undoubtedly believe they can win on their own, there’s a higher chance he will appear round 4, the group round.

-However, the team composition could easily change. Because of the first round pitting the Knights Department against each other, there should be at least one reserve member. Absolutely.

Alan had coached the freshman representatives and had instructed Maya on dealing with them. His predictions were accurate.

Only the second-year seniors showed up in the first round.

With their confident movements subtly signaling ‘You’re no match for us’, they exuded an air of superiority.

‘Two from the Knights Department, and the other one is…’

Stella’s gaze shifted to a brown-haired second-year student standing quietly behind the two knight cadre students who were ready with their swords.

It was a face in her memory.

Despite being a knight, Allexis, a famous sophomore notorious for choosing a magic course as a minor.

“Alexis. I’m leaving the support to you.”

“Leave it to me.”

Taking a course in the Department of Magic as a minor implies a distinct point; unlike other knights, it means to use magic.

A talent so rare that they’re often classified as magic swordsmen, is naturally gifted.

Alexis Delmore, born with such a rare talent, was a well-known existence in the Department of Knights.

A flaming fireball forms above Alexis’s head, taking the shape of an arrow.

The count was three.

The fire arrows launched towards Stella and the two freshmen on either side of her leave a crimson track in the air.

“Disperse.”

With Stella’s low command, the two nod and swiftly retreat to both sides.

While the two dodge and pull back from the fire arrows, Stella pours power into her sword, swinging it directly towards the incoming fire arrow.

With a shallow explosive sound, the fire arrow crushed by Stella’s aura whirls into fragments.

“Impressive!!”

A sophomore student’s sword is falling down, intending to suppress Stella. She chooses to retreat rather than face the sword head-on.

Seeing his sword attack evaded by Stella, the sophomore’s eyes slightly narrow.

“Dodged?”

The trajectory of the sword, swinging in what seems like immediate retaliation, turns wild.

But no matter how destructive the attack might be, it couldn’t compare with the sword attack of Maya that Stella had been practicing against for the past week.

With destructive power rummaging through an illusion-like swing, that was Maya’s swordsmanship.

Stella wasn’t slow enough to just stand in place against a straightforward destructive sword attack emphasizing its prowess.

“Just like a rat…!”

Stella didn’t retort.

Stella’s eyes glistened as she let the flying sword attacks pass her by, rather than accepting them head-on.

‘A gap!!’

Stella’s sword traced a fierce trajectory.

***

Allen, with his chin in his hand, was observing the performances of the first-year representatives.

Although Stella defeated one of them, still, the first round ended in victory for the sophomores due to her difficulty in dealing with Alexis.

In the second round, the first-year team including Leila and Selene overwhelmed the others.

In the third round, the appearance of Stella, Leila, and Selene resulted in a draw.

“One win, one loss, one draw. It seems like the team game will ultimately decide the victory.”

“What do you think, Your Highness?”

“Well… Despite all our training, defeating Hyung head-on would be difficult.”

Allen knew how strong Albert was.

Moreover, considering the recent changes in Albert’s swordsmanship, there was a likely chance that he had another trick up his sleeve.

‘The question is, what is it?’

Just as Maya had brought the Phantom Butterfly into reality, Allen wondered whether Albert too would have realized at least one thing.

Allen scratched his chin, lost in thought.

“As expected, the formation is led by Hyung. Just as I predicted.”

“You maintain the formation you taught me to use, Your Highness.”

“The key is Stella.”

The team game involving all ten members.

Finally, it was time for Ellyon and Albert, the seniors they had saved until the end, to step in. Both parties had one win, one loss, and one draw. However, the situation seemed to be worse for the first-year representatives.

Maya spoke.

“It seems like the youngest, Evans, has worn himself out.”

“He has been on the course both the first and third round. But unless Stella takes the role as the center that binds Hyung together, everything will crumble.”

“Can’t it be entrusted to Master Rustal?”

“I can’t judge that because I don’t know how skilled Senior Rustal is. I only expect one thing from Senior Rustal.”

Maya’s gaze turned to Allen.

Unspoken questioning.

Allen noisily chewed his popcorn.

“While binding Hyung at the forefront, completely annihilate their rear magicians. Right now, both Selene and Leila of the first-year representative team have expended too much energy.”

“So, there’s a high possibility that they might target those two.”

“Exactly.”

With the use of Leila’s Ice Magic and Selene’s Wind Magic, they won the second round and drew the third, but it exhausts them intensely.

Ten minutes of rest time is not enough to recover fully.

That’s why the roles of Stella, the five at the forefront, and Ellyon Grad von Rustal are important.

“Rustal, senior! Win this time!”

“Albert, senior! Win again!”

Listening to the voices pouring in from all sides, Allan turned his gaze to the arena.

Stella with a rigid expression was waiting for Albert.

***

“Laella, Selene, proceed as planned. Both of you, focus as much as you can.”

“…Will it be alright?”

Stella nodded at Laella’s question.

She hadn’t anticipated this from the start but she had come this far: a situation with one win, one loss, and one draw to the last team round.

So, they must win with all they have.

“No need for us to have come this far if we won every round. But well, it’s one win, one loss, and one draw. But we cannot go back losing; we will lose face with Lady Meiya.”

“You’re right. We’ve been trained harshly for a week.”

Selene beat the ground with her riding crop as she clenched her chest.

“We can’t lose. We must win!”

“…Right.”

Laella caught her breath.

Taking part in the second and third rounds consecutively, she was drained, but adequate power remained to execute the secret strategy.

Her hand hidden under the robe trembled slightly.

“As practiced.”

“Got it! Hold dear senior Albert tight, Evans!”

“I will. Astal.”

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Stella, after conversing with Selene went back to the center of the arena, taking a deep breath.

Albert, done with Elion, was waiting for them with his sword drawn.

The aura he emitted was simply from standing still.

“Stella von Evans. I’ve heard your name. Escort to the princess?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

Stella intoned rigidly.

Albert was grinning, watching his nervous junior.

“Shall we see what you’ve got then?”

“It’s an honor.”

“Testing the empress’s escort in the name of the empire’s sword, the Mueller house…that’s a joke. Let’s see how strong you really are.”

“Round 4! The match, begins!”

The resonating roar echoes, amplified by magic.

Simultaneously, Albert and two second-year knight students moved.

Albert rushed forward. The other two, as expected, moved to flank and target the magicians.

Albert’s sword strike fell over Stella’s blade.

“…!”

Stella thought the sword strike was heavy.

Although knights often enhance their physical abilities through magic, Albert swung his blade with an ease that was beyond what Stella could handle.

As Stella’s body was pushed back at taking Albert’s sword, the sound of cheering echoed from behind her.

“Wall of Earth!”

“Ground Wall!”

Walls conjured by two magicians, who were resting and accumulating physical and magical power instead of Selene and Leila, blocked the second-year students rushing towards their rear magicians.

The second-year students gritted their teeth.

“We’ll break through that wall!”

“Hurry up!”

“That won’t do.”

Shadows cast above the knight students.

It was Ellyon.

“I have a job to do too, so it can’t be simple, okay?”

Flames flickered above Ellyon’s head.

Arrows of Fire, Fire Bolt.

About ten arrows of fire hit the ground at an alarming speed. As the two second-year students retreated to avoid them, a paler shadow was cast above Ellyon’s head and more fire arrows lined up.

A vivid crimson shadow cast over the faces of the desperately retreating second-year students.

The second-year knights students, who barely avoided the fire bolt, had a crease on their foreheads.

“If it goes like this…”

“Dang it, we are stuck.”

“…Last year, we lost to Albert. This time, I want to win. So it won’t be easy.”

Flames, having erupted above Ellyon’s head, seemed to fly up in the shape of a giant bird, then poured down like raindrops towards the second-year magician students at the rear.

It was a rain of fire, Fire Rain.

“Protection!”

The second year students desperately cast protection magic to block the Fire Rain.

Their faces show signs of exhaustion.

The spectacle of simply manifesting such a wide-ranging magic that seems to cover the entire stadium is not ordinary.

One could say it reflects the skill of someone destined to enter the red magic tower even before graduation.

“It’s too much.”

“An exaggeration… You speak!”

A drop of sweat fell from the forehead of Stella, who had just blocked Alberut’s sword attack.

Her arms were shaking.

With other first-year students continuously keeping him at bay, she would not have been able to withstand Alberut at this level otherwise.

Each time the swords clashed, it felt as if her hand would tear apart from the impact.

Moreover, the trajectory of the sword was honest, but it contained an unignorable destructive force.

‘Just hold on a bit longer.’

Alberut’s current aggressive attack is ultimately just bait.

Setting up the ground wall to block the opponent’s entry was a prearranged strategy.

For the second-year students, the real emergency was the magic being prepared just behind the high ground wall, which had previously ascended.

Layla, who had been sitting with her hand on the ground and her eyes closed, opened her eyes.

The magic she had been preparing during time bought by Stella and the other front-line knight school students.

“Summon, wind of the North Sea.”

“Become a storm and rush in, gale of the South Sea!”

With Selene’s call, over a dozen magic circles unfolded above Layla and her head.

Watching from the stadium’s seats, Allen opened his mouth wide in astonishment.

“What is that?!”