Chapter 22: Ranking Test (2)

Annex Building 11, Auditorium 5.

The venue for the 3rd Year, Class B, Group 3 match.

Inside the room, protected by a special barrier, four individuals, men and women, stood at circular starting points in the four cardinal directions, each holding their weapons.

Chayeon narrowed her eyes, observing the three men and women she would be fighting against.

To her left was Stra.

The younger of the two brothers who were with Ju Jiho on the first day of class jumping.

He held a wooden axe—a practice one with a blunt edge—in each hand.

Unique weapons.

Directly in front was a woman wearing glasses.

She noticeably held a book as thick as a dictionary.

She probably wouldn’t use it by swinging it, so it was likely a condition for activating her ability.

To her right was the older brother, Exta.

He also held an axe, but unlike his brother’s, it was a long one with a pointed tip.

It looked like something from a medieval movie; was it called a halberd?

Chayeon didn’t know the abilities of the three.

But the same was true for them.

Perhaps those three knew each other’s abilities.

It didn’t matter.

If she endured, she would win.

“Is everyone ready?”

The referee was Seohee, as scheduled.

All the referees for the 3rd Year, Class B matches were Seohee, or more accurately, Seohee’s clones.

“We’ll start in 30 seconds.”

Exactly on the hour.

Chayeon gripped her wooden sword tightly.

Although it was an individual match, it was her first time facing multiple opponents simultaneously.

She needed to read the situation carefully.

“3, 2, 1, Begin.”

The start signal sounded, and Chayeon observed the situation from her spot.

At the same time,

“Woah!”

Flames erupted from the woman’s book, splitting into three streams and shooting towards the other three contestants.

They resembled dragons made of fire.

Chayeon quickly rolled sideways.

Fortunately, her overwhelming physical abilities, developed from the fight with Lubrum-Luna, allowed her to easily dodge the flames coming from afar even while flustered.

Pang!

The older brother, Exta, swung his halberd down hard at the approaching fire dragon, creating a strong wind that scattered all the incoming flames.

Sparks flew everywhere like volcanic ash due to the wind.

Chayeon’s feet couldn’t rest as she dodged the sparks flying towards her.

Meanwhile, the younger brother, Stra, who had sunk into the ground and disappeared, suddenly emerged at the woman’s feet and shouted.

“Brother, let’s take care of this one first.”

“Good idea! Her firepower is annoying!”

Exta swung his halberd around, scattering the flames, and charged recklessly towards the woman.

“Cowards, ganging up two-on-one!”

The woman panicked, quickly retreated, and opened her book.

The pages fluttered as they turned, and the woman’s eyes gleamed.

A glint in her eyes.

One could guess something powerful was coming.

“Take this!”

Shouting a line straight out of an RPG character activating a skill, the woman extended her hand, and instantly, an incomparably fiercer inferno exploded, engulfing the surroundings.

“Kuk!”

Exta swung his halberd, but unlike before, he seemed to struggle blocking it, stumbling backward.

Stra also seemed unable to handle it and quickly retreated.

“Not bad!”

“Then how about this!”

Uttering somewhat typical lines, the two brothers charged at the woman again, swinging their respective weapons.

And Chayeon was watching the scene of the fierce battle quietly from afar.

“…Hmm, they’re fighting well among themselves.”

<<Indeed. In times like this, staying still and reaping the benefits is the best course of action.>>

Rarely did Chayeon and Heukgu’s opinions align.

Sparks flew, wind blew, shadows flickered, and fierce metallic sounds arose from the exchange of blades.

The vividness of watching a fantasy action movie right before her eyes.

‘It makes me think of popcorn.’

After competing fiercely for a while, the three suddenly created distance and stopped fighting.

The three, who had been looking at each other, all turned their heads to look in one direction.

At the end of their gazes was Chayeon.

“…But brother, there’s someone watching comfortably over there.”

“You’re right. It seems the new student lacks manners.”

“…Arrogant brat.”

The three glared fiercely at Chayeon, each uttering a remark.

“Hey, I think I’m fcked.”

<<Indeed.>>

“No, fck. Don’t just agree, show some power. Can’t you bring out that black aura from before?”

<<It’s a waste to use my power just yet. Handle it yourself.>>

“Son of a b*tch.”

As Chayeon held her wooden sword vertically, the three rushed at her simultaneously.

First, Stra sank into the ground and suddenly shot up right in front of her.

Chayeon’s extremely heightened kinetic vision pinpointed where Stra appeared.

It’s the shadow.

Following him, Exta charged in instantly like a boar.

I see, this one’s ability generates strong wind pressure by compressing and releasing air.

As she saw them, their abilities were analyzed.

Finally, the woman at the very back opened her book, and a huge pillar of fire erupted towards Chayeon.

This ability didn’t need separate analysis.

All of this happened in an instant.

In that brief moment, Chayeon’s mind automatically analyzed the abilities, and her hand, already prepared to swing the sword, was drawn back.

Compared to Lubrum-Luna, that crazy demon b*tch, they were all absurdly slow.

Fwoooosh!

She swung the wooden sword, but the sound was like swinging a giant bat.

The pressure generated from the tip of the sword, without even touching them, sent the two men approaching

Chayeon flying and scattered the fire dragon.

The immense sound that followed echoed throughout the entire auditorium.

Unable to withstand the pressure, the two men were thrown straight into the opposite walls.

“Keok!”

“Heup!”

“N-No way!”

Seeing her attack instantly nullified and everyone helplessly defeated, the woman was dumbfounded.

She quickly flipped through the pages, but Chayeon wouldn’t just stand by and watch.

“…!”

Chayeon, who should have been on the opposite side, had somehow appeared in front of the woman, crouching low.

Chayeon lightly swung the wooden sword upwards.

Pang!

But the effect was far from light.

Wind pressure spread out in concentric circles centered on Chayeon, and the woman was pushed back by the flow.

Pushed by the strong wind, the tumbling woman hit her head against the wall with a thud– sound and slumped forward.

“S-Stop!”

Seohee, who had forgotten her duty and was staring blankly at the instantly unfolded situation, hastily stopped the match.

She already knew of her strength, but seeing it directly like this for the first time had flustered her.

Seohee wasn’t the only one gaping with a surprised expression.

The few students who had finished their own ranking preliminaries and came to watch the rumored grade-skipping freshman were also too shocked, left dumbfounded.

Doctors and healers waiting on standby for emergencies were quickly deployed to check on the three fallen students.

“All three have simple bruises. Besides being unconscious, there seem to be no major issues.”

As the three were carried out on stretchers, Seohee declared the end of the match.

“Class B, Group 3, student Jeon Chayeon is the winner.”

“W-What was that just now?”

“I don’t know. What kind of ability was that? Physical enhancement?”

“What nonsense. Is that phenomenon something that can happen just by being strong?”

Ignoring the murmurs of the surrounding students, Chayeon inwardly sighed in relief and approached Seohee.

“Um, can I leave now?”

“Uh-huh. There are no other schedules, so you’re free to go. Anyway, I knew Chayeon was strong, but… that was amazing?”

“Um, yeah. See you tomorrow.”

Saying only that, Chayeon headed out the door.

Actually, it wasn’t just the other students here and Seohee who were surprised by Chayeon’s power.

Chayeon herself was also surprised.

She was surprised in real-time.

‘What the…? Was it that easy? Or am I just strong?’

<<Neither. I am the strong one.>>

‘Oh, of course, you are.’

Chayeon recalled the battle from moments ago.

She was surprised by the strange abilities, but compared to Lubrum-Luna, their power and speed were absurdly low.

No, rather…,

‘Purely in terms of skill, I think Arena was superior.’

<<Indeed, the witch’s sword is extremely sharp. Enough to cut the nails of that red demon, which even I couldn’t cut.>>

Arena’s ability is Absolute Severance.

It’s said she can cut any substance in the world if she holds her broom sword.

Furthermore, although Chayeon didn’t know, Arena’s pure swordsmanship skill was also at a very high level.

‘Come to think of it…’

Chayeon suddenly remembered her own words from the past.

After winning the first spar, she seemed to have called her a beginner or something.

And then she said she had never learned swordsmanship.

‘She had every right to be mad.’

Chayeon finally felt like she understood why Arena had been so resentful and clung to her.

<<Are you heading back?>>

“No, I need to be fully prepared. You can read my thoughts. Why ask?”

<<I initiated the conversation for the sake of natural communication.>>

The place Chayeon was heading to was Annex Building 11, Auditorium 9.

It was where the match for 3rd Year, Class B, Group 6, to which Ju Jiho belonged, was being held.

Since Chayeon’s match had ended very quickly, she was heading there hoping the match might still be ongoing.

“Auditorium 9, Auditorium 9, ah, here it is.”

Finding Auditorium 9, Chayeon opened the door and entered.

An internal structure similar to Auditorium 5, where Chayeon had been, came into view.

And.

“Hak! Keok! Stop!”

“…He’s going too far.”

“I heard stories, but seeing it in person, he’s certainly strong. But his personality…”

“That bastard, how does he see his seniors!?”

Murmurs from the spectators who had arrived earlier could be heard.

Just like during Chayeon’s match, it was filled with early spectators who came to see the skills of the much-talked-about freshman.

And beyond them, inside the arena,

“Keok, huhat, st-stop it!”

“Hmm, no. You’re not incapacitated yet, are you? Right? Teacher?”

Ju Jiho was seen holding a woman’s face in his large hand.

Seohee was silent.

But that silence implied affirmation.

Around Ju Jiho, two other men lay collapsed.

They seemed to be already incapacitated, as healers were attending to them.

“Senior, they say demons enjoy torture to break an Ineungnyeokja’s spirit. We learned that in the first-year class, right?”

Whoosh-

The woman’s face was pushed away from Ju Jiho’s hand.

But immediately,

Smack!

The woman’s face, pulled back again, collided directly with his palm.

Blood splattered with a wet splat– sound.

“Senior, your hands and feet are fine, aren’t they? You don’t have major internal injuries either. You should resist more.”

“St-stop it. I-I lost… Please…”

“See, that’s not it.”

Whoosh-

“Ah, st-stop…!”

Smack!

“Puheup!”

Ju Jiho’s control over his strength was exquisite.

If he had applied just a bit more force, breaking the woman’s nose, knocking out a couple of teeth, or causing an orbital fracture, Seohee would have had to stop the match right then.

Conversely, it meant the match couldn’t be stopped recklessly unless the participant was deemed incapacitated.

However, the force Ju Jiho applied seemed strong yet wasn’t.

Moderate yet repetitive pressure.

Subjected to that pressure, the woman had to smash her face into his palm dozens, even hundreds of times, blood pouring from her nose.

Splattered blood stung her eyes, and tears and saliva flowed freely, leaving her face drenched.

And yet, she wasn’t incapacitated.

If she chose to, she could use her ability at any time.

The reason the woman wasn’t using her ability was purely psychological.

Torture that inflicted exquisite pain whenever she resisted.

Due to this repetitive act, the woman could no longer even think of resisting and could only beg.

“…That’s too much.”

“But I heard high-ranking demons use methods like that. It might be a good experience for her.”

“This is just a ranking match!”

Opinions were divided among the spectating students.

Some said sparring with Ju Jiho allowed for more practical, combat-oriented experience.

Others called it unnecessary sadism.

However, they all operated under one clear premise.

Ju Jiho’s current actions were closer to those of a demon than a human.

“…Ah, boring. This is why weak women are…”

Ju Jiho’s smiling face gradually turned cold.

He had subdued the two men early on and had been tormenting just the one woman ever since the match began.

But seeming bored even of that, Ju Jiho kicked the woman’s lower abdomen with all his might using the tip of his shoe.

“Keok!”

“Stop!”

An attack powerful enough, unlike before.

As the woman fell to her knees, Seohee stopped the match.

The waiting healers quickly entered to check the woman’s condition.

“…No problems.”

The healer examining the woman meticulously frowned, gritted their teeth, and reported.

This cruel guy, despite driving her mentally into a corner in such a painful way, hadn’t left any serious injuries.

“…Alright. Student Ju Jiho is the winner.”

“Yes~ thank you for your hard work.”

Ju Jiho wiped the blood off his right hand onto his pants and headed for the auditorium door.

As he headed out, his eyes caught sight of Chayeon.

“Yeah. A woman should be at least this level.”

Step, step.

Ju Jiho stood in front of Chayeon.

The overwhelming difference in physique was noticeable.

“Shouldn’t you be at least Chayeon’s level to suit me? Rough with blowjobs too, I bet.”

“…Crazy bastard.”

Chayeon’s voice trembled slightly as she cursed.

‘Were the remnants of that emotion still lingering?’

‘Hoo, calm down.’

‘Don’t be intimidated by a bastard like this.’

<<I was curious what kind of formidable being could make my vessel tremble in such fear, but what is this?>>

At that moment, Heukgu’s words came through.

<<Isn’t this just a male mutt in heat? Pathetic. Do not fear.>>

The moment she heard that voice, Chayeon felt her mind calm down.

‘A male mutt in heat.’

That’s exactly right.

This bastard is nothing more and nothing less than a pervert who enjoys tormenting women.

She could deal with him tomorrow.

It was a pity she couldn’t see the details of his match, but she didn’t think she would lose.

As Chayeon ignored him and turned away, a gloomy voice came from behind.

“Leaving already? Let’s talk a bit more. We need to get closer.”

“…Go wipe your d*ck. Get ready to be broken.”

“Hahaha, still got the guts to talk like that? See, my eyes weren’t wrong.”

The way his eyes crinkled as he grinned down at Chayeon.

It somewhat reminded her of Lubrum-Luna.

“I look forward to your feisty side.”

Chayeon left the auditorium without answering.