Chapter 98: Chapter 98
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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Swimming in Shadows
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I swim through the shadows.
I was doing something so absurd.
Perhaps that's why I could see Solvas's face, beyond the shadow, etched with bewilderment.
It was only natural.
Shadows aren't like water.
If anything, they feel more like paint.
So how was I swimming through shadows?
The answer was simple.
Magic Engraving: Wind.
The wind generated by the engravings on my arms and legs gave me buoyancy.
It wasn't enough power to fly through the sky, but it was enough to keep me afloat in the shadows.
Thanks to that, I could swim even within the shadows.
Splish, splash, splish!
The distance between Solvas and me began to close rapidly.
Believe it or not, swimming is my specialty.
It was a suitable exercise for building stamina without injuries, so at one point, I swam every single day.
"Insane,"
Solvas, too, seemed utterly bewildered, as if he hadn't expected this.
He hastily dashed across the waves.
Simultaneously, a shadow bow formed in his grasp.
Fwing!
As he released the taut bowstring, a shadow arrow soared towards me.
The shadow arrow split into multiple streams, quickly becoming hundreds.
A rain of arrows poured down from the sky.
I quickly dove into the shadows.
The shadow arrows pierced through the shadow waves and passed me by.
However, I continued to swim within the shadows, evading all the arrows.
Since the power of the waves was so strong, the arrows couldn't unleash their full force either.
Beyond the shadows, Solvas's face contorted.
It seemed he realized that creating the shadow waves had been a misstep.
Shadows have the property of devouring other shadows.
Within the shadow waves, even Solvas's shadows couldn't exert their full power.
During that time, I once again closed the distance with Solvas.
Splish, splash, splish!
As I pursued him with an incredibly fast butterfly stroke, Solvas recoiled in shock.
It hurts when you flinch like I'm some kind of bug.
I had no choice but to swim even harder.
Thanks to that, I, swimming, was faster than Solvas, who was running on the shadow waves.
"What the— How is your speed not slowing down? Aren't you getting tired?!"
Of course not.
This little bit isn't enough to make me tired.
Aisha and I are still undergoing our hellish training.
What's more, I've ramped up the intensity of our training specifically for today.
Stamina is power.
Right now, I am a destruction tank forged from pure stamina.
Solvas frantically unleashed a barrage of shadow weapons.
I have evasion and a body of steel.
Trusting in these, I unhesitatingly closed the distance.
Even escape has its limits.
Finally, the distance between Solvas and me was gone.
My eyes gleamed.
This was my chance.
The light of the magic engravings on the soles of my feet simultaneously flared.
CRASH!
Immediately afterward, my body shot upward in its butterfly stroke posture, accompanied by an explosion of magic engravings.
Solvas, dumbfounded by this outrageous turn of events, stared up at me with a bewildered expression.
It's your fault for not expecting it.
My hand wrapped around Solvas's shoulder, pressing him down.
Solvas quickly braced himself, putting strength into his legs.
"Ugh!"
However, while Solvas was a genius with shadows, I had the upper hand in terms of strength.
SPLASH!
Pushed by my raw strength, Solvas plunged straight into the shadow waves.
Both Solvas and I instantly sank beneath the shadow waves.
Solvas narrowed his eyes, then they glinted sharply.
"This is a mistake,"
Solvas's lips formed the words.
RUMBLE!
At that moment, the shadow waves began to churn violently.
What I saw next was a swirling vortex raging within the shadow waves.
A massive vortex began to sweep up all the surrounding shadows.
As expected, the Six Stars.
Even seeing it again, the scale was insane.
But Solvas didn't know one thing.
My legs wrapped around Solvas's waist.
At the same time, my arm tightly constricted Solvas's neck.
In Hanon's form, I was considerably smaller than Solvas.
Burying my face in a man's chest felt utterly disgusting, but...
...it was perfectly optimized for clinging.
"W-what, get off me!"
Solvas thrashed his body, trying to shake me off.
He must have intended to create a vortex and then escape himself.
Solvas continuously pounded my body with his fists.
But that was a mistake.
Solvas's face contorted.
Solvas's hand, which had struck me, was now swollen and bright red.
How could a fist be fine after punching a lump of steel with bare hands?
He could never win a hand-to-hand fight against me.
I tightened my grip on him even more.
Right now, I wasn't a person; I was an iron weight.
An iron weight that could never be shaken off.
I pressed down with even greater constricting force.
CRACK!
At that moment, a cracking sound came from Solvas's body.
"Cough!"
Solvas convulsed further, choking out a cry of pain, but I had no intention of letting go.
I'm like a tick; once I latch on, I never let go.
That was my only specialty.
The vortex began to grow even wilder.
At this rate, Solvas would be caught in the vortex too.
In the end, he had to make an extreme choice.
And that was exactly what I had been aiming for.
Solvas clenched both his fists.
WHOOSH!
At that moment, the shadow waves that had enveloped us collapsed and vanished simultaneously.
And at the same time, I felt a sensation of weightlessness.
The shadow waves that had held us vanished.
Therefore, we began to plummet towards the ground.
My hair whipped around as a strong wind rushed past.
The sensation of falling permeated my entire body.
But Solvas hadn't earned the title of Six Stars for nothing.
As soon as he dispelled the shadow waves, he created shadow daggers in both hands.
The shadow daggers, held in a reverse grip, slashed down at me.
Just before the shadow daggers could pierce my back.
CRACK!
The shadow daggers shattered.
A bone armor had, unbeknownst to me, formed on my back.
'Grantony.'
Grantony, who had been watching from somewhere, had created the bone armor for me.
Solvas's eyes widened.
And at the same moment Solvas tried to react.
He realized my body was radiating heat.
My entire body slowly began to be tinged with light.
In response, Solvas's eyes slowly widened.
"Why, why are you glowing?"
"Good question."
I grinned up at Solvas.
"Looks like I'm about to explode."
When Mysticism and Magic Engravings meet,
their power tends to multiply.
So, I prepared for it.
The Great Magic Engraving Explosion.
Solvas's face turned ashen white.
However, separately from that, his skin was turning pitch black.
He was wrapping himself in Night Shadow like armor.
That should protect him from the explosion's effects.
However, Grantony's support meant that another individual was also watching this situation.
THUD!
The Night Shadow, which had been about to cover Solvas's head, abruptly stopped at his neck.
Solvas's Night Shadow was a superior version of shadow magic.
The Umbra family was one of the few unique families in the world whose Mysticism was recognized.
They were a special family that, due to the unique nature of their Night Shadow, had been allowed to pass through, just like the White Wood Golem.
However, for just a moment.
For a very brief moment, even shadow magic could cause the Night Shadow to falter.
Card's shadow magic.
His magic made Solvas's Night Shadow hesitate for just a moment.
And that brief hesitation changed the entire game.
Solvas's eyes, the only part of his face not covered by the Night Shadow, began to spread with light.
"...Damn it."
It was Solvas's last curse, uttered in a low voice.
KABOOOOOOOOOM!
Soon after, the sky above the forest was engulfed in a massive explosion.
***
After the magic engraving explosion.
Solvas and I each fell separately, plummeting towards the ground.
Even for me, the magic engraving explosion was a strain.
Therefore, I couldn't do anything until I hit the ground.
Just as I was about to hit the ground.
WHOOSH!
With a sticky, soft sensation, I barely avoided kissing the ground.
When I regained my senses and looked around, I saw shadows enveloping me.
"Wangnon!"
From a distance, Card came running, waving his hand.
Thankfully, thanks to Card's shadow magic, I avoided the fall.
I slid down from the shadows.
"Hahaha, that was art!"
Just then, Grantony also emerged from between the trees.
Grantony even clapped his hands, praising the explosion as a work of art.
"Still as reckless as ever,"
Card let out a hollow laugh, looking at me as I descended from the shadows.
As soon as Solvas used the Outlaw's Wave, Card must have been watching this way.
So he must have seen my entire fight.
"If I hadn't been reckless, he was an opponent I couldn't have beaten."
If Solvas had maintained his distance well, it would have been a tough fight for me too.
I also have a trump card, but I can't use it here.
"So, Solvas?"
"He fell on the other side. I did consider going to finish him off for sure, but his real allies, whom Solvas planted, are probably gathered there."
So, it's uncertain whether he's eliminated or not, is that what you mean?
I would have preferred to eliminate him in the preliminary round, but anything more than this is too much.
I, too, felt a stiffness in my body, as if I had pushed myself too hard.
'Besides.'
Several eerie presences could be felt among the trees.
We made quite a ruckus.
The preliminary round is a jungle.
It's a place full of beasts obsessed with passing the preliminary round.
Breaking through these guys is the priority before going after Solvas.
"So, how was it?"
I asked Card, stretching my body.
Card remained silent for a moment, then lightly patted my shoulder.
"It was the most refreshing day of my life."
Card, who had thoroughly screwed over his wicked superior, wore a more relieved expression than anyone.
"Alright, then let's work as hard as you feel refreshed."
Rustle—
Hyenas appeared from among the trees.
They were individuals who had teamed up, just like us.
Among them were even some magicology students from our academy.
"Card, I'll make you regret ditching me."
That one has a different reason.
When I glared at Card, who had accumulated karma, he shrugged.
Anyway.
"Let's pass the preliminary round."
From now on, I'm a destruction tank.
***
Olphram's Sanctuary.
Inside the arena building constructed there.
There were people watching the control room screen.
They were professors from various academies.
"This generation truly has many talented children."
One professor, watching the preliminary round, exclaimed in admiration.
As he said, this generation had indeed produced many talented individuals.
The reliable heroes of humanity who would protect the Magic Palace.
The professor, who had been watching them with satisfaction, realized that the surroundings were unusually quiet.
Soon, he realized that all the professors were staring at the same screen.
Curious, he looked in that direction and saw a boy doing the butterfly stroke through black waves.
What on earth is he doing?
Is he swimming in a river or something?
As he stared blankly at the sight, he gradually realized one thing.
"...Isn't that, Solvas's shadow?"
Solvas Umbra, a member of the Six Stars.
It was clearly his shadow.
"He's insane."
Another professor expressed his disbelief.
His reaction was that it was preposterous to swim like that within shadows.
But the boy on the screen eventually reached Solvas by swimming and dragged him out.
Then, after a fierce struggle, he self-destructed with Solvas.
The professors wore dumbfounded expressions.
"He doesn't spare himself at all."
"It looks like he's wearing something special."
"We can't tell from here. What was that kid's name again?"
The professors began to whisper.
The boy's battle was that shocking.
A fighting style that was utterly unpredictable.
There was no madman like him.
"Hanon Airey."
At that moment, the boy's name spilled from someone's lips.
The one who called the boy's name was a female professor who looked very uncomfortable in her suit.
Indeed, a faint alcoholic scent, characteristic of a heavy drinker, emanated from her.
And that professor was well-known to everyone.
In the past, a central figure of the Azure Sky generation.
Veganon Mercia.
Veganon was smiling broadly.
"He's my kid."
She was a doting professor, bragging about her student.