Chapter 123: The Price of Indifference

“Even if everyone else opposes him, even if they mock him, I will stand by Yalin without hesitation.”

Luminas’s words thundered, echoing in Celeste’s ears long after they were spoken.

‘Yes… how many times, in the past, had I not held such thoughts myself?’

She recalled the time when they first enrolled. Everyone had mocked Yalin, calling him a useless young master who couldn’t even cast basic magic, a fawning sycophant clinging to a genius, a toad dreaming of eating swan meat.

Whenever this happened, Celeste would step forward without hesitation, stopping their taunts and defending Yalin’s meager dignity.

However, as Yalin grew increasingly fanatical, Celeste’s patience began to wear thin, little by little.

The scornful gazes of those around them, the pity, even the looks laced with charity, pricked at her pride like needles, filling her with immense shame and making it increasingly unbearable.

Consequently, she began to unconsciously distance herself from Yalin. When others openly ridiculed him again, she gradually remained silent, pretending not to hear.

Reflecting on it now, perhaps her indifference truly was the final straw that broke Yalin, forcing him out of the Magic Division.

Celeste couldn’t help but clench her fists.

‘How… how arrogant, how foolish I was…’

Not long ago, she had even deluded herself into believing that Yalin had left the Magic Division intentionally, fearing to face her, fleeing from reality.

But in truth, she was the one who had been running away.

She had long harbored a vague awareness that she was the one who had driven Yalin away, but out of fear of bearing that guilt, she had tried her best not to dwell on it.

Still somewhat dazed, she returned to her original position, mechanically planting her feet.

Before Celeste could fully emerge from her emotional turmoil, the signal for the match suddenly blared.

Almost the instant the sound rang out, the air was ripped apart.

Luminas’s figure instantly transformed into a blur. The rapier in her hand, a silver streak of light, shot towards Celeste without the slightest hesitation.

So fast!

Celeste’s expression shifted. Luminas’s speed was astonishing, far exceeding her imagination.

Even a split-second of hesitation in that fleeting moment of brilliance caused her to lose the opportunity for the first strike.

It was common knowledge that in such a narrow arena, a Magic Swordsman, with their agile movements and diverse tactics, held a significant advantage over a Mage, who relied on incantations and large-scale, indiscriminate magic.

However, for Mages, there was one absolute advantage: the right to the first strike.

From such a distance, even the most ordinary Mage could unleash a torrent of spells the moment the signal sounded, provided they had already finished their incantation. This was especially true for Celeste, who could cast instant, incantation-free magic.

Once a Mage began to suppress an opponent, a continuous barrage of spells would follow, forcing the Magic Swordsman to constantly evade until they found an opening to close the distance.

Typically, victory was halfway secured the moment a Magic Swordsman managed to get close.

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, partly in awe of Luminas’s incredible speed, and partly at her decisive courage.

She had no defenses, no contingencies. From the very start of the match, she unleashed her full speed and power, charging straight at Celeste.

Had Celeste cast even a single spell during that sprint, Luminas would undoubtedly have taken the full brunt of the attack, being eliminated at light speed, perhaps not even lasting a second.

“She’s really gambling everything…”

The man beside him exclaimed in surprise, but Yalin knew that Luminas was not the reckless individual everyone imagined.

Future Observation, a power derived from Akacia, the Goddess of Wisdom, allowed Luminas to briefly predict the flow of the future.

It was precisely this ability that gave her the confidence to charge head-on.

Yet, Celeste was, after all, a protagonist destined for greatness. Even with the piercing rapier almost upon her, she remained unruffled, conjuring a crystalline ice barrier out of thin air.

Though significantly thinner than Aili’s ice crystals, it was more than sufficient to block the incoming attack.

Crack!

The moment it met the rapier, the ice crystal shattered into powder. However, Luminas seemed to have anticipated this, flicking her sword tip and continuing to thrust forward with renewed force. Still, compared to her initial overwhelming momentum, her speed had notably decreased.

Celeste tilted her head to dodge the strike, then gracefully pushed off the ground with one hand, leaping backward. When she stood again, a longsword forged from metal had appeared in her hand, which she used to parry Luminas’s powerful horizontal slash.

Clang!—

Luminas twisted her wrist, and the rapier slid along the edge of Celeste’s longsword, sparks flying with an earsplitting screech of friction.

White halos appeared around her body as Celeste cast a body-reinforcing white magic spell on herself, forcefully deflecting Luminas’s rapier.

Both combatants launched fierce offensives simultaneously, the clash of metal resounding through the arena.

However, after only two exchanges, Celeste’s offensive was instantly suppressed. She could only use her longsword to guard her entire body, passively enduring Luminas’s attacks.

“Wait… am I seeing this right? This is the Magic Division, yet they’re both competing in swordsmanship?”

“No way? Celeste is actually being pushed back?”

“Idiot, she’s a Mage. It’s already impressive that she can contend with the representative from the Magic Sword Academy like this.”

“Looking at this situation, could Celeste actually lose? Is that Luminas really so strong? Truly worthy of being a descendant of the Tingel family!”

Gasps of astonishment rose and fell from the audience, everyone dumbfounded by this unusual sight.

Yalin watched the two figures in the eye of the storm at the center of the arena with keen interest.

Honestly, this match truly exceeded his expectations. He never imagined Luminas could push Celeste to such an extent.

In the original story, Luminas had been completely overwhelmed from beginning to end, constantly facing setbacks or heading towards one.

At this moment, the battle in the center of the arena had reached a fever pitch.

Luminas’s speed grew ever faster. She was no longer confined to frontal assaults, but unleashed a storm of attacks on Celeste from every conceivable angle.

Her body moved so rapidly that it left afterimages, and the whitish-gold electrical currents, generated by her enchanted weapon, trailed long arcs of light, crackling loudly in the air.

Celeste, on the other hand, appeared far less at ease. She had completely abandoned offense, focusing solely on defense, using her longsword to protect her vital areas.

For other parts of her body, she relied on her body-reinforcing white magic to absorb the blows. Consequently, her trench coat soon bore countless scratches, and several bloodstains appeared on her skin.

However, even though Luminas appeared to have the upper hand and seemed poised to win the match with a little more persistence, Yalin knew that the tide was slowly turning.

This could be discerned from the growing anxiety in Luminas’s eyes.

Despite constantly pressuring Celeste, she hadn’t managed to inflict any significant damage.

This was her only chance to engage Celeste in close quarters; once the distance was created, she would undoubtedly lose.

Yet, even after seizing the initiative and relying on her exceptional swordsmanship and Future Observation ability, she was still barely fended off by Celeste, who wielded a casually conjured longsword.

This immense chasm in talent fueled a growing sense of frustration and despair within Luminas.

As expected, when the initial burst of power gradually subsided, Luminas’s speed inevitably slowed, a touch of stiffness entering her movements.

Seizing this opportunity, Celeste tapped her foot, and a blazing inferno instantly erupted from the ground, soaring skyward and separating the two.

Luminas gritted her teeth, knowing she could no longer press her attack, and thus retracted her longsword.

A single frame of the future flashed in her vision. Luminas hastily raised her rapier, holding it before her, and conjured a magic shield.

Almost simultaneously, Celeste raised her hand, and a condensed whirlwind mercilessly blasted towards Luminas. Despite her prior preparation, the powerful shockwave still sent her flying over ten meters.

After tumbling awkwardly on the ground for a few rotations, Luminas quickly adjusted her posture and stood up.

However, when she looked up, her vision was already enveloped by a crimson glow.

Innumerable fireballs blotted out the sky, raining down in her direction.

Now, it was Celeste’s turn to dominate the field.