WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 86: ?X3

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The spectator stands.

Every student was buzzing with excitement.

A chase between the overwhelmingly dominant top student of Class A and the top student of Class B.

“They’re incredibly fast! It’s hard to follow them with my eyes...!”

“I’d only heard that the top student of Class B was fast, but seeing it in person is something else.”

“Can Lady Glacia even see them? How is she landing every sword-energy strike at that speed?”

“They’re both absolutely monstrous!”

The desperate battle could not help but draw attention.

Even more spectacular, more brutal scenes were being broadcast one after another.

“Is that... Domain Swordsmanship?”

“The field was definitely a desert, but it turned into a snowfield in an instant.”

“Changing the climate wasn’t enough, so she flipped the entire environment...?”

“No way. Are they really students like us...?”

Overwhelming power.

Rin’s swordsmanship drew gasps of admiration from the spectators.

Meanwhile, Caitlin continued forcing herself forward as that monster pursued her.

“Even one hit has enough power to knock someone out. How has she endured so many?”

“She’s relentless... Even while being swallowed by sword energy, she’s not slowing down. She’s getting faster.”

“She’s completely fired up. I’ve never seen Caitlin like that before.”

“But even so, getting away from that pursuit is...”

The girl ran with venomous determination.

Still, no matter how hard she persisted, she could not shake Rin off.

There was an enormous gap between Rin and Caitlin.

Rin had long surpassed the level of an ordinary cadet and was considered comparable to most faculty members.

In the end, Caitlin was eliminated near the boundary before she could leave Zone 3.

“Ah...”

“So she was caught in the end...”

“What else could she do? How was she supposed to escape that?”

“She only lasted that long because she was Caitlin...”

Caitlin was a complete wreck.

Rin, on the other hand, did not even look tired.

Overwhelmed by that cold nobility, the students fell silent for a moment.

““...””

They were on completely different levels.

There was no way anyone could face something like that.

Even though they were not the ones on the field, the students instinctively lost their will to fight.

That was why the spectators barely reacted when Viktor appeared.

“Hey... someone’s standing in front of Caitlin.”

“Isn’t that the top student of Class E? Was he waiting nearby?”

“I think he was fighting Gale earlier, then ran straight here as soon as he took Gale down.”

“Though I’m not sure what difference that’ll make...”

Gale, one of Class A’s top students.

Viktor had certainly made his presence known by overwhelming him.

Even so, it did not look like Viktor could turn the match around.

The field was under the queen’s control.

“What... it looks like the top student of Class E wants to fight her?”

“What? Isn’t that reckless? He has the flag, so wouldn’t it be better to run...?”

“He must have made his own judgment. Maybe he thinks fighting her gives him a better chance than escaping.”

“Still, doesn’t he stand a chance? They seemed fairly evenly matched when they fought earlier...?”

“Anyone could see that Lady Glacia was holding back then.”

Despite the students’ concerns, the two eventually clashed.

The scythe and sword tangled in the air, sending sparks flying.

Viktor parried Rin’s attacks remarkably well.

He moved by the narrowest of margins, never allowing her to land a blow.

“He dodged it...!”

“What strange movements.”

The tension was taut.

Of course, Rin was the one controlling the flow of the battle.

The boy seemed to be doing nothing but delaying his approaching defeat, one step at a time.

“He’s defending well, but he can’t attack at all.”

“He slips into openings now and then, but Lady Glacia blocks every one of them.”

“Still, this is insane. How is he holding out against Lady Glacia like that? He’s deflecting every one of her attacks.”

“I told you, he isn’t ordinary either. He overwhelmed Gale earlier, and look at how he’s moving now...”

“He’s only the top student of Class E in name. It wouldn’t be strange if he were the second-ranked student of Class A instead.”

“Ah... Come to think of it, he was from Class E, wasn’t he?”

Then Rin’s demeanor changed completely.

As though she were about to finish the match, the girl gripped her sword.

With both hands on the hilt, hundreds of layers of sword energy compressed over the white blade.

“W-What is that...?”

A strike that crushed all common sense.

The students watching turned pale.

“This is impossible.”

“That’s swordsmanship?”

“Wait, even if he’s the top student of Class E, if he gets hit by that...!”

“Shouldn’t they stop the match!? Why aren’t the professors doing anything...?”

The spectator stands stirred.

Yet even in that situation, the boy simply stood there calmly.

Had he frozen in fear? Just as the students began to think so,

《...》

The boy’s lips moved.

Even through the screen, the words rang out clearly.

《Release.》

There was no sound after that.

No image appeared on the screen, only blinding white that went on and on.

The students could not see what was happening within.

“Ugh, it’s too bright...!”

“What happened? Can anyone see anything?”

“I don’t know! I-I can’t hear anything either. Did something explode or what...?”

A few uneasy voices rose.

Before long, the light faded, and the hologram showed the field once more.

The sight that met the students’ eyes was as follows.

““...?””

The jungle had been completely swept away.

The field had sunk in as though a massive crater had formed.

The countless trees, vines, and deep river that had once filled it had all vanished.

Not even a fingernail-sized trace of the original landscape remained.

At its center, there were two figures: a girl sprawled across the ground, and a boy standing calmly where he was.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...Huh?”

The spectators could only stare in utter disbelief.

* * *

Javert’s amplified strike.

Devour. Release.

Its power was absurd.

Even though I was the one who had swung it, the backlash washed over me in full force.

The high-pressure flash swept across the entire jungle, ruthlessly tearing apart the carefully arranged field.

The snowstorm Rin had unleashed was swallowed up helplessly.

Ding!

[The item ‘Mask of the Evil God’ has activated.]

-Remaining Uses: 1/3

-Time Until Uses Recharge: 47 hours 54 minutes 39 seconds

The mask canceled out the backlash.

As the light and dust cleared, an unbelievable sight came into view.

I stood before the mangled remains of Zone 2.

“...”

That was practically a real nuclear bomb.

I quietly shook my head in disbelief.

Its original power had been inflated fourfold.

Good thing I’d only grazed her. If it had landed cleanly, I might’ve become a murderer.

“Activate. Gloves.”

With a small flick of my hand, the scythe form unraveled, and Wriggler coiled between my fingers.

“Whew...”

I crossed the devastated field.

Soon, I reached the center of the crater.

Blue hair spread beautifully across the ground.

Covered in dirt and dust, the girl blankly blinked her eyes.

“Lady Glacia.”

“...”

Rin was still faintly conscious.

Even if I’d only grazed her, that had been a strike powerful enough to destroy an entire jungle...

‘Just how strong is she?’

I was reminded anew of her true strength.

She had clearly taken considerable damage, yet not a crack appeared in her blank expression.

She simply lay there, apparently without the energy to move, staring up at the blue sky projected above.

Her eyes were lifeless.

‘No response, either.’

A brief silence fell.

Then her dust-covered lips moved weakly.

In a cracked voice, the girl murmured a single question.

“H-How...?”

She seemed to be asking what that previous strike had been.

“Hehe.”

Instead of answering, I pressed a finger to the lips of my mask.

“It’s a secret.”

“...I see.”

Rin closed her eyes with a listless response.

Her consciousness soon faded, and she passed out as though she had fallen asleep.

A notification appeared from her crystal ball, which had fallen nearby.

Beep, beep, beep!

[The second member of a team has been eliminated.]

[Team member ‘Rin Glacia’ has been removed from the match after being judged unable to continue fighting.]

I turned my back on the girl.

Since she had been judged eliminated, she would soon be recalled from the field.

Caitlin, whom I had laid down nearby, also seemed to have been recalled and moved to the infirmary long ago.

I dragged my weary feet onward.

‘Then... let’s wrap this up.’

It had been an unusually long match.

It felt as though eight hours had passed, but the crystal ball showed that only one hour had gone by.

“I’m dying. I’m dying here.”

The field could no longer really be called a jungle.

Crossing Zone 2, I finally arrived at Zone 1.

A wide grassland and an altar standing at its center came into view at once.

“Sir Viktor!”

“Miss Ranne.”

Ranne welcomed me right away.

She held her spear and kept watch over the surroundings.

“The flag is safe! However, we have not subdued the opposing team’s sprinter yet. They may be using some kind of stealth spell, because they have concealed their presence well even in this grassland with nowhere to hide. We had been at a standoff the entire time.”

“It seems they could not break through Miss Ranne’s ironclad defense.”

So that was why.

I had wondered why there had been no news from this side, but it seemed she had carried out her role as keeper perfectly.

The sprinter had been unable to enter and had spent a long time waiting for an opportunity.

Then the rest of the team had been eliminated one after another, leaving them in a hopeless situation.

“Well... it doesn’t matter anymore.”

I climbed the steps and reached the top of the altar.

Whoooosh.

A blue flag fluttered vigorously in the grassland wind.

Beside it, I planted the red flag Caitlin had brought.

Thud!

At the same time, a faint glow surrounded the altar.

An announcement soon rang across the entire field.

Leaning against the altar, I listened to the faint words.

《The flag has been captured.》

《Team Viktor wins.》

It was over.

An overwhelming victory.

《Congratulations to the winning team.》

《Viktor, Ranne Kihano, Dexi Cluise.》

《Students still remaining on the field, please comply with the recall request.》

Amid the warbling voice, the blue window I had been waiting for appeared before my eyes.

Ding!

[You have cleared a sub-quest!]

-Title: I’ll Stand at the Flag.

-Details: Achieve an overwhelming victory in the practical exam, ‘Capture the Flag.’

[You put on an astonishing performance and led the match to victory!]

-A reward will be issued. Please check your inventory.

Ding!

[You have cleared a hidden quest!]

-Title: The Academy’s Superstar!

-Details: Take first place in the year rankings.

[You proved your abilities before the entire student body!]

-A special reward will be issued. Please check your inventory.

I skimmed the messages.

Then one window suddenly caught my eye.

[Special Reward]

-You have obtained the item ‘???-Rank Reward Selection Ticket.’

-You may choose and obtain two of the rewards presented.

“What...?”

I could not help but put a question mark over my head.

[???-Rank Reward Selection Ticket]

A selection ticket, a type of reward I had never seen before.

That alone was interesting, but what caught my attention was the rank displayed before it.

Not letters, but three question marks.

I had seen this somewhere before.

Ding!

[Mask of the Evil God]

-Category: ???

-Rank: ???

-Status: ???

-Description: Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away, please. Throw it away. Throw it away. Throw it away. Thro.

“...Huh.”

Something interesting had fallen into my hands.

Footnotes:

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