ISBER 20

Chapter : 20

“I’ll Save You from the Bad Ending Route”

Sparring Match

‘There it is—Frea’s ace skill, Ice Breaker! This is so much cooler than the game graphics ever showed!’

Frea was the game’s strongest tank.

A tanker that could block attacks for her teammates AND deal powerful blows. Her ice walls and cutting frost strikes made her more formidable than any warrior.

And suddenly, I realized something strange.

Frea shouted the name of her skill before using it.

‘Then why didn’t my soul skill, Observer’s Sight, appear? Is there some activation condition?’

While I was thinking, Damian stepped back quickly, barely avoiding the jagged ice spikes erupting from Frea’s attack.

“Uh—Shadow Shield!”

He cast a defensive skill to block the ice damage.

‘Yes! He didn’t go berserk—he actually used a skill he wanted to use!’

I barely had time to be relieved before I realized his mistake. It was Frea’s turn again.

Frea’s skill, Ice Breaker, created several razor-sharp ice shields. They had to be destroyed before her next turn.

That was the trick to defeating Frea.

If you didn’t break them…

“You shouldn’t just defend.”

Frea scoffed and hurled her spear into the air. It transformed into a massive javelin, landing back in her hand as ice energy spiraled around it like wings.

“Time for a little sting.”

With her icy declaration, the enormous spear shot toward the ice shield. The moment it hit, the shield shattered with an explosive crack.

Shards of glittering frost burst everywhere as the spear smashed through the ice and slammed into Damian. A freezing storm swept across the training grounds so cold I felt frozen in place.

“Aaaaargh!”

Damian hit the ground and rolled. Scratches covered his face and clothes. But he didn’t give up—he leapt back up and opened his book again.

I watched the two with a trembling heart.

The spar continued. But Damian, who had attacked aggressively at first, gradually shifted into pure defense.

“Fight properly! Are you playing with me?!”

“N–no! Miss Frea!”

Sweat poured down Damian’s face as he desperately blocked her attacks with his book. He looked overwhelmed—like her sheer presence was crushing him. It was obvious he stood no chance.

“What is he so scared of? His magic power doesn’t seem bad,” Aron muttered.

I silently agreed.

Right—Damian’s level may be lower, but his magic stat is equal to, if not higher than, Frea’s. His specialty is high magic output.

I recalled Damian’s stats from the game.

His current HP was probably B- (248)—a number I’d seen countless times.

Meanwhile, Frea’s HP was easily above S- (2000). In pure health comparison, Damian had to lose. Add her insane defense… and Damian’s lower attack and evasion…

My mind scrambled to compare their skills and stats. I wanted to help Damian tap into his true power somehow.

Then suddenly, a cool wind blew through my head. Numbers I had been mentally calculating appeared before me as bright blue text.

‘Huh? What is this?’

Lines of formulas flashed through my sight, processing too fast for my brain to follow—and when it finished, the red bar over Damian’s head displayed 44.

I looked at Frea—her health hadn’t dropped at all: 2740.

‘These are… HP bars?’

The sparring ground filled with UI windows exactly like the game.

I hesitantly asked Aron:

“Sir Aron, what’s their health like right now?”

“No clue—you’d have to check after the match.”

He clearly couldn’t see the HP bars.

It hit me—this was Observer’s Sight. I didn’t know why it suddenly activated, but it had.

‘Is it triggered by my 9999 intelligence?’

My head spun, but it was an opportunity. I now had an even better vantage point than Aron, the referee.

I focused on Damian. After watching him for three seconds, a blue window appeared—his status screen.

His magic attack was A+ (432).

‘That’s six times mine! With that he could deal massive damage to Frea!’

Yet Damian wasn’t attacking—his HP had dropped below half and he was drenched in sweat.

A new window appeared.

[System. Trauma “Heretic Slayer” in effect.]

Heretic Slayer? Is he scared he’ll go berserk and kill someone again?

I thought of Professor Rivender and Damian’s rampage.

Damian’s dark magic had been stabilized with Raotis’s Tear. But his mind… was still trapped in that moment.

I checked Frea too. A window appeared.

[System. Trait “Queen’s Protection”]

Queen’s Protection—a buff activated when Frea wants to protect the weak.

More text emerged.

[I can’t entrust my friend to someone dangerous.]

So Frea did think Damian was dangerous. I couldn’t let this continue.

‘I need to make Damian attack—make him trust himself!’

I took a deep breath and shouted:

“Damian!”

He barely dodged another strike and looked at me.

“Why are you scared to attack?! Miss Frea is way stronger than you! She has way more defense than that professor ever did! And thanks to me, you can control your dark magic now!”

I pressed my hand to my heart.

“Trust me! You won’t lose control this time! No matter what—trust me! We promised we’d take the exam together!”

He collapsed to the ground, shaken, Frea’s attack knocking the strength from his legs.

It was the sixth and final turn—Damian’s move.

Sitting on the floor, he stared at me, then turned to Frea.

“You really think you can protect Airan? I don’t trust you. Are you sure you can control your dark magic?”

Frea glared at him. I yelled again.

“Show your real power—use ALL your magic!”

His eyes flared like a spark igniting. He slammed his hand onto the ground and gripped his book. Frea stiffened.

“…I don’t trust myself either. But I’ll trust Airan.”

He’d decided.

He chanted an incantation in a language none of us knew. Darkness spread across the arena floor, swallowing the light.

Purple-black light poured from his book, devouring brightness like a black hole.

Darkness engulfed the training grounds. Black mist spilled from Damian’s mouth.

“Struggle in Darkness.”

The final line triggered a blast. Black fog exploded outward and a hurricane howled.

“W-what?!”

Frea drove her spear into the floor to brace herself. The dark magic dyed the training hall black, draining both mana and health.

Frea’s HP plummeted to the 1000s in seconds.

The building shook. Windows shattered. Weapons fell from racks and shattered. Aron grabbed my hand and shielded me behind his back.

Incredible… Damian Belfet, the terrifying “Demon King”…

But I wasn’t afraid.

This was the moment.

“Damian! Stop! That’s enough!”

Damian gasped and froze. He turned to me and cut off his spell.

The massive energy pouring from his hands dwindled. The darkness swirling around the hall sucked back into his vortex and vanished.

Aron muttered:

“…Looks like you’ve tamed that problem child better than I thought.”

It had been perfect magic.

His golden eyes gleamed with curiosity as he stared at me. I grinned with confidence. Aron stepped aside so Damian and I faced each other.

Damian was a mess—scratched and torn from Frea’s magic and spear. But he laughed, relieved.

“I did it. I controlled my magic.”

My chest swelled with pride.

“Yes. You’re no longer a mage who can’t control his power. Congratulations.”

Damian ran toward me and suddenly wrapped me in a hug. I froze—he was like a huge dog tackling his owner. He was really, truly relieved. I patted him awkwardly, then noticed Frea slumped on the floor.

“Miss Frea!”

I ran over to her.

“Are you okay—”

And then I saw something horrifying.

Frea was fine. The training hall was not.

Weapons lay in heaps, shattered. Cracks split the walls.

I reeled from the sheer destructive power Damian had unleashed.

And I… chose this guy as my partner…

Well, at least the Orion exam won’t be a problem now!

Then something dinged—windows rose over the broken weapons like price tags.

It was Observer’s Sight again.

[Longsword — 150G]
[Shortsword — 100G]
[Greatsword of Glory — 800G]
[Student Bow — 50G]
…
…