"The Match Begins!"
Simon immediately pulled the virtual lever.
Three skeletons armed with weapons sprang out from the void.
Haren drew a pitch-black magic circle behind him.
Moments later, with a clang, a devil's arm made of darkness shot up.
It was his specialty, 'Black Hand.'
"Simon Polentia. I have perfectly prepared my strategy against you."
Haren smirked as he moved the Black Hand to respond to any situation.
"Though I am a summoning student, the most threatening one is Matou. I just need to keep my distance."
Simon was a bit different from the typical summoner.
While the common strategy would be to avoid the skeletons and target the summoner directly, Simon was also skilled in Matou.
Rushing in recklessly would be dangerous.
"He'll probably try to attack me with the skeletons to lure me into a charge. He won't fall easily."
Haren did not move, maintaining his distance.
Surprisingly, it was Simon who made the first move.
"Here it comes...!" Haren watched with a tense expression, but Simon was not advancing.
Instead, he was stepping back.
Step.
Step.
He continued to retreat.
The skeletons surrounding Simon did the same, maintaining their position while pulling back the entire formation.
"... What is he doing?" Haren's eyebrows twitched.
Curious about how far Simon would retreat, he watched as Simon reached the very edge of the arena.
Now there was a wall behind him.
He had effectively backed himself into a corner.
"I don't know what strategy he has, but..."
Haren thought that if he also had a ranged attack, it would be possible.
He floated pitch-black magic circles in the air.
Four black arrows were rapidly forming and flying toward their target.
"Huh? What’s going on?!" Dick, watching the match from the stands, jumped up from his seat.
"He shouldn't be able to use other dark magic while maintaining the Black Hand!"
However, Haren completed the magic circle with a flourish and sent the black arrows flying.
Simon quickly responded.
Three shields sprang up from the void beneath him, and the skeletons dropped their swords to grab the shields with both hands.
"Block!" The skeletons rushed forward, shields raised, to meet the incoming black arrows.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The sounds of collision echoed.
The skeletons staggered back but successfully held their ground.
"Look at that?" Haren's lips curled into a smile.
His gaze shifted to the weapons that the skeletons had discarded on the ground.
"They have no intention of attacking now, do they?"
Simon had retreated, and the skeletons had dropped their weapons.
Feeling puzzled, Haren scrutinized Simon's appearance.
A dark blue shadow was rising from Simon's right arm.
It wasn't a magic circle, but it seemed like he was preparing something.
Or perhaps this was just a ruse.
"If you have no intention of attacking...!" Haren spread his palm.
The darkness flowing from his palm began to draw a curse magic circle.
Originally, this level of curse was beyond Haren's capabilities, but it became possible through Bahil's technique.
Using the property of darkness that seeks to remember, Bahil's secret allowed him to recreate the magic circle without needing knowledge or skill.
As the magic circle completed, Haren reached out.
"Sickness!" The black curse shot forth like lightning from the magic circle.
The skeletons jumped in front of Simon to block the curse, but it easily passed through the undead bodies and pierced Simon's chest.
"... Cough!" His vision spun.
Nausea and disgust surged, causing Simon to kneel on one knee.
The nausea curse, Sickness, was known to be quite effective against Matou majors.
"Is this what nausea feels like?" His head spun, and the world seemed to split into three before coming back together.
Simon gritted his teeth, trying to hold onto his sanity.
"Oh."
Haren smiled.
"Usually, one would lose their will to fight after being hit by that, but it seems you intend to continue?"
Simon, drenched in sweat, raised the corners of his mouth instead of answering.
Haren found it to be an incredibly annoying smile and moved the Black Hand.
Whoosh! The devil's arm extended from behind him, swinging like a whip.
Simon sent the skeletons holding shields forward.
Bang! Two skeletons were easily sent flying.
The Black Hand changed its trajectory in mid-air and swung toward Simon.
Feeling intense nausea, Simon raised his right foot, summoning darkness to leap into the air.
"I’m really going to die!" He avoided the attack, but jumping only intensified his nausea and urge to vomit.
Simon landed on the ground and wiped his mouth.
"You little rat...!" Haren moved the Black Hand again.
The attack swung like a whip, changing direction freely, and Simon rolled on the ground in a panic to evade.
Haren's one-sided assault continued.
"What are you doing, Simon?!" Meirin shouted, jumping up.
"Attack! You need to counterattack too!"
"Hey, quiet down!" A voice from the back seat interrupted, causing Meirin's face to flush red as she lowered her head.
It was a perfect moment to tease Meirin, but Dick seemed too focused on Simon's battle, sweating profusely.
"... This is strange. Really strange."
"Hey, Dick."
Meirin shot him a glare.
"The information you brought! Not a single thing is correct! You said he couldn't use other dark magic while casting Black Hand? You said the maximum length of Black Hand is only two meters? You said he’s only good at dark mechanics and terrible at curses! Not a single thing is right!"
Dick scratched his head in confusion.
"I don’t know! Maybe he’s hiding his power? Was he actually a power-hider?"
"What does that even mean?"
"I don’t know!" Dick shouted back.
"What’s clear is that Haren Cork right now is several times stronger than what’s known!"
Boom! Simon dodged the swinging Black Hand, covering his mouth.
He felt like he was about to throw up.
"... Damn, he dodges so well."
Haren grumbled.
By now, a new Sickness magic circle was being prepared in his left hand.
"But once this is complete, it’s over. Let’s see if you can withstand it even at 2 stacks."
......
Meanwhile, Bahil watched the match quietly from the stands, arms crossed.
As he had expected, the match was unfolding in a one-sided manner.
"Interesting."
Bahil muttered, turning his head.
"Is this your first time watching the first-year duel evaluations, senior?"
From the stairs, Aaron, dressed in a shirt and shorts, was making his way up to the stands.
He tried to pass by Bahil without responding.
"Feeling guilty?" Aaron's steps halted abruptly.
"Isn’t that the reason you don’t take on direct disciples? You know all too well what hardships await those who choose summoning. Most of your disciples couldn’t overcome those hardships and transferred out, so you can’t bear to see it anymore."
Bahil shrugged.
"But now, are you feeling greedy?"
......
Aaron turned to Bahil with a cold gaze.
Bahil met his gaze without flinching, smiling.
"Let’s see."
Bahil spread his hands.
"What kind of fate our disciple is facing."
Now Haren was actively closing the distance, swinging the Black Hand.
Simon was on the defensive, focusing solely on defense and evasion.
The shields held by the skeletons were eventually shattered.
Following that, the skeletons broke apart, but Simon stubbornly resurrected them again.
"When Haren’s second Sickness is complete, this match will be over."
......
"Am I wrong, senior?" Aaron looked down at Simon and Haren's match without speaking.
Then he turned his back and began to descend the stairs he had just come up.
"Senior, where are you going?"
"The outcome has already been decided."
Aaron glanced back at Bahil, adding one last remark.
"I came just in case, but there’s no need to watch any longer."
......?
Bahil watched Aaron's disappearing figure with a puzzled expression.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The arena was shrouded in a thick fog from Haren's onslaught.
Haren, his face flushed, gasped for breath.
"What is this...!" He couldn't comprehend Simon's strategy.
The darkness continued to ripple from Simon's right arm, but it was neither a magic circle nor anything else.
"No, I don’t need to know. It’s really over now!" Haren stretched out his right hand.
As Simon lost his balance while dodging the Black Hand, the second Sickness struck.
"Ugh!" This was the second stack.
Simon felt the world twisting horrifically around him.
Dizziness and nausea surged to their limits.
He was in no condition to fight.
"How does it feel? Pretty awful, right? Special exception number one."
Haren grinned, showing his teeth.
"Of course, I came thinking I could easily crush someone like you, but it’s not so simple, is it? Crawling on the ground like that is the reality."
"There’s nothing that’s guaranteed in this world."
Simon pressed his left hand to his forehead and slowly rose to his feet.
"Hoo."
The darkness that had been swirling in Simon's right hand vanished.
Haren's mouth curled into a wide grin.
"You’ve given up. Are you going to surrender?"
"No." Simon slowly brought his hand to his neck, loosening the tense muscles.
A cracking sound echoed.
"It’s now complete. Time to counterattack."
......?!
Was that what he had been preparing all along? Haren quickly looked around the arena.
There was no change in Simon or the arena.
His own condition was the same.
It wasn’t a curse or an illusion.
"This is just bravado until the end...!"
"Do you know?" Simon clenched his fist and thrust it into the air.
Boom!
"Whoa!"
"Ahhh!"
The entire arena shook.
Screams erupted from the stands as people looked around in shock.
With an expressionless face, Simon pulled back his fist and struck again.
"Section 3, Article 4 of the duel evaluation rules."
Boom!
"Students conducting the duel evaluation will be disqualified if they leave the arena during the evaluation."
Boom!
Haren's eyes widened.
The wall behind Simon was being dented in the shape of a massive fist.
"But no matter how you look at the rules, there’s no clause prohibiting bringing something in from outside the arena."
Boom!
Finally, the wall of the arena shattered and collapsed.
The view outside became visible.
The judges, staff, and spectators all gaped in shock.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Something massive was charging into the arena from outside.
Each time the enormous legs touched the ground, the arena floor was scratched.
"...... Ha."
Haren let out a hollow laugh. "...... Kuh! Ha! Hahaha! What the hell is this crazy bastard?!"
A giant summoned beast, made from dirt and mud, centered around the 'core' of summoning magic.
The symbol of a summoner.
Simon, smiling calmly, faced Haren, who was screaming in desperation.
"This is the first-year duel evaluation! What the hell! Why is a golem here?!"
Summoned Mud Golem.
A summoning magic that gathers earth around the 'core of the golem' to shape it into a golem.
Waaaaah!
A first-year student bringing a golem to the first duel evaluation! The stands erupted in chaos.
Meirin and Kamibarez gaped in shock.
Dick, like Haren, let out a hollow laugh.
"When I went outside to look for Simon, I found him burying the core of the golem behind the arena. Simon planned to create the golem from the very beginning outside the arena."
Meirin turned her head sharply.
"No, I can understand the skeleton archer, but is it even possible for a first-year to create a golem?!"
Dick shrugged.
"You’re seeing it right in front of you."
Of course, the shock felt by Haren was greater than anyone else's.
"This is nonsense! It can’t be! Judge! That’s an external summoned beast, right? Disqualified for cheating...!"
The judge shook his head calmly.
"That summoned beast is moving with Simon's darkness. It is indeed his golem."
Having buried the core of the golem behind the arena, Simon headed toward where he had buried it as soon as the duel began.
To Haren, it must have looked like he was retreating and fleeing.
Then, he began to focus on defense while completing the golem beyond the wall.
Being outside, there was no worry of the core being attacked.
Without any visual aid, he raised the core of the golem with darkness and attached the surrounding earth to create it.
"Alright."
Simon smiled.
"Now it’s my turn?"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Simon gave the command, the golem began to charge forward at terrifying speed.
Despite its massive size, it was faster than one could imagine.
Feeling the tension of facing the giant monster alone, Haren clenched his fists.
"Damn it...!" Life is unfair.
People are born differently.
Talent.
Wealth.
Status.
Body.
Race.
Nationality.
He knew that.
That’s why he wanted to break through.
As a commoner with no talent, he wanted to prove what value he could create the moment he seized an opportunity.
But no matter what, "The golem is just too much...!"
The wall of immense talent was unimaginable.
Haren felt that Simon, standing behind the golem, was far larger and more imposing.
"Ahhhhh!" Driven by rage, Haren charged forward.
It was now a matter of life or death.
He pushed off the ground and soared into the air, spinning his body.
Then, with all his might, he thrust the Black Hand forward.
The air split violently, and the devil's fist collided with the golem's chest.
Boom.
But the golem’s body didn’t budge.
The mound of dirt shifted slightly, and the arm of the Black Hand bent like soft jelly.
"A straight punch is..."
From behind the golem, Simon could be seen pulling back his fist.
"You need to put your weight into it."
As Simon thrust his fist forward, the golem, connected by thought, also swung its massive arm.
Boom!
The world shook.
Haren’s body, struck by the golem’s punch, flew at the speed of light to the opposite side of the arena, crashing into the wall.
The wall shattered, collapsing like a crater, and the arena floor cracked in multiple places.
A wild wind, like a runaway horse, swept through, causing everyone in the stands to huddle down.
"Hoo."
Simon slowly lowered his arm.
The curse that Haren had cast was lifted, and his vision cleared.
[Simon Polentia: 76%]
[Haren Cork: 0%]
The judge, who had been dazed, finally regained his senses and stretched out his hand.
Sweat beaded on his forehead.
"The winner is! Simon Polentia from Class A!"