Chapter 40
A standoff with Drener’s team.
Drener wielded a greatsword, Sonia carried a staff as tall as herself, and Ceres held a book.
I drew both my wand and sword from inside my robes.
Drener asked,
“Are you aiming for a Magic Swordsman?”
“It just kind of turned out that way.”
“Interesting.”
The moment he finished speaking, Drener charged at me, and Reina countered with Ignite.
Clang!
Drener frowned in irritation.
“I have no intention of fighting you.”
“Why? You’d rather clash swords with a mage? That’s pretty cowardly.”
“Kh!”
While Reina and Drener clashed, Sonia buffed Drener, and Ridipin fired a supporting shot. But before the arrow could land, Ceres cast a translucent sphere that intercepted it midair.
After exchanging a heavy blow with Drener, Reina was forced back. But she only laughed, looking delighted.
“As expected of the vice–top student, you’re no pushover!”
Meanwhile, Ridipin grimaced.
“Laplace’s dimensional magic really is troublesome to deal with using a bow.”
The truth was, Drener’s team was a hard counter for us.
The protagonist Drener and his supporter Sonia had never appeared as enemies in the original story, so there was almost no established strategy to deal with them. Sonia’s patterns were at least somewhat known, but with Drener, no one could predict what he would pull.
On top of that, he wielded a greatsword—a weapon almost no one used unless he was their favorite character. Apart from high attack power, it was nothing but drawbacks.
And then there was Laplace’s dimensional magic, which countered ranged physical attacks. Even if Ridipin enveloped her arrows with aura, unless it was on the level of Tri-Radiance, they would always be nullified.
So we needed Reina to carry, but since Sonia was continuously buffing Drener, it was difficult to tilt the battle in our favor. No matter how much I supported Reina with buffs, we couldn’t match Sonia, who was a pure support specialist.
Still, I had prepared a tactic for when we eventually faced Drener’s team.
“Reina, Ridipin. We’ll use the Anti-Jerk strategy.”
The two nodded. Drener scowled.
“Don’t tell me… I’m the ‘jerk’ you’re talking about?”
“You already know the answer. Why even ask?”
“You bastard…!”
Drener charged again, Reina intercepting him. Sonia readied another buff, channeling mana into her staff.
Ridipin didn’t miss that opening and sniped Sonia—but Ceres, as expected, quickly cast her magic. That’s when I moved.
3rd Circle Fire Magic – Fire Spear.
A blazing spear shot from my wand, intercepting Ceres’s translucent sphere midair.
“……!”
I had already memorized Ceres’s patterns, even if not Sonia’s or Drener’s.
Countering her counter-counterattack swung momentum sharply in our favor.
Sonia, injured by Ridipin’s arrow, couldn’t finish her buff. With Drener lacking support, Reina—superior in swordsmanship—slowly overwhelmed him.
Reina finally landed a hit in their exchange, and the two backed off a step, glaring at each other.
Reina grinned in excitement.
“Wow, it actually worked?”
“Y-Yes, just as planned!”
My strategy was simple: if someone was struggling against a particular opponent, switch.
I would face Ceres, whose patterns I knew. Ridipin would handle the slower Sonia. Reina would crush Drener head-on. Reina was our strongest fighter, after all.
Unlike Drener’s team, who preferred individual fights, we specialized in coordination. If we leaned into that advantage, we would win.
“Go, Reina! Crush that jerk!”
“This feels a little weird, but I’ll go anyway!”
Reina charged again, Drener meeting her. Sonia’s buffs were cut off, and I exchanged spells with Ceres.
At first, Ceres cast only to block Ridipin. But gradually, her spells began to target me directly.
“This is fun. Take this one too!”
I barely managed to counter her increasingly powerful spells, but eventually, she cast a 4th Circle spell.
4th Circle Space Magic – Gravity Field.
Unlike barriers, this was an outright offensive spell—something I couldn’t counter.
Rumble!
The spell targeted both me and Reina at once. Reina’s movements slowed drastically, and Drener slashed her, sending her rolling across the ground.
She sprang up, glaring at me.
“What the hell, Ban! You told me to trust you!”
“I’ll start handling things properly now, so just fight without worrying!”
I rushed Ceres with Ignite, my sword colliding with the book she swung up as a shield.
Physically, I was stronger. But she was reinforcing her book with space magic, letting her block my strikes.
Then I feinted—alternating Fire and Ignite, forcing her back. But instead of being frustrated, she looked pleased.
“As I thought, I like you.”
She meant she liked how I could read and counter her moves.
“Not the time for a public confession, thanks.”
“Then let’s set a time and place. I’ll confess properly then.”
“That’s… not what I meant!”
I had been joking, but she’d taken it seriously. I was caught off guard.
Then she smirked, opening her book.
“Just kidding.”
She cast 2nd Circle Space Magic – Bouncing Side, the space between us rebounding me backward.
“Kh…”
Even knowing her patterns, she had too many tools to keep me at bay.
I landed, quickly checking on the others. They were having just as tough a time.
Sonia had buffed herself to barely dodge Ridipin’s shots, while Drener—receiving fewer buffs—was just barely holding against Reina.
“I’d planned to conserve strength until the boss room…”
Apparently fed up, Drener drew out more power.
Golden energy flared from him, concentrating into his blade. Sword of Evil’s Bane.
The Evil-Bane Sword, or Evilbane for short, excelled at shattering magic, while also strengthening physical attacks like aura.
Reina only laughed and powered up in turn.
“Then I’ll go all out too!”
Scarlet aura engulfed her sword.
Gold and crimson clashed, lighting up the battlefield.
If only Ridipin could quickly finish Sonia and help Reina. But her trauma still weighed her down, preventing her from fighting at full power.
At this rate, we might win—but we’d be left too exhausted to face the boss.
And the longer the fight dragged on, the more likely it was that Lesta—blocking the dungeon’s entrance—would let enemies slip through.
So I decided to gamble.
Right as Ceres flipped another page, she said,
“Don’t get distracted. I’m not done yet.”
Screw it.
“Ceres! Bind Drener for me.”
“Why should I—”
“Then I’ll grant you one wish. Anything you want.”
If Ceres really did have feelings for me, she’d take the bait. It was a spur-of-the-moment offer, but her eyes lit up.
“Really…?”
“Really.”
“Anything at all…?”
“Anything. Just once.”
She smiled silently, closing her book.
In an instant, space froze around Drener. His body was locked in place, the very air solidified. Even Reina’s sword bounced off.
“What the—?”
“Reina! Stop wasting energy, let’s go!”
Sonia tried to cast after us in panic, but Ridipin blocked her and regrouped with us.
“Alright, let’s finish this dungeon fast!”
After Ban’s team fled, Drener dispelled the magic with Evilbane and roared her name.
“Ce-Res!”
She hung her head, knowing she’d gone too far.
“Yes, I messed up. But I couldn’t help it.”
“What do you mean you couldn’t help it?”
“Ban promised me a wish if I bound you. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Drener pressed his temples, headache worsening. He knew she had a crush on Ban. But he’d expected her to still act rationally.
“You could’ve bargained for the tournament prize instead, couldn’t you? That’s what Ban’s team is after anyway.”
They themselves didn’t care much for the prize; their goal was to solidify their faction standing. So Ceres negotiating with that prize wouldn’t have been unreasonable.
But Ceres blinked wide.
“Drener… are you a genius?”
His headache worsened at her nonchalant tone.
Not to be outdone, she raised her voice.
“But! I couldn’t think rationally in the moment. It’s Ban’s fault.”
“What nonsense—”
“Think about it! If Sonia offered you a wish, would you be able to refuse her?”
“W-What are you saying, Ceres!”
“That’s—!”
Sonia blushed in outrage, but when Drener hesitated, her cheeks turned red.
Ceres crossed her arms, nodding smugly.
“See? You couldn’t help it either. So really, I’m not at fault.”
“You little—!”
As their bickering escalated, Sonia finally cut in.
“Instead of arguing, let’s just catch up to them.”
At that, both Ceres and Drener fell silent.
“See? Sonia really is the genius, not Drener.”
“Haah… Let’s just move.”
Having shaken off Drener’s team, Ban’s team cleared the remaining rooms quickly and reached the boss chamber.
Before entering, they reviewed their plan one last time.
“As I told you before, according to secret info I got, the boss this time is the Stone Snake.”
The Stone Snake was a massive serpent with a body of stone. At first glance, it seemed physically tough—but in reality, it resisted magic more than weapons.
It attacked by burrowing underground and ambushing, making it tricky to deal with.
And as a mid-tier magical beast, it was far too powerful for students to fight unaided. So the professors had weakened it beforehand.
Since Ban had already drilled its attack patterns into Reina and Ridipin, as long as they didn’t slip up, it should be manageable.
“Remember the strategy?”
Both nodded.
“Good. Then let’s go.”
But what awaited them was nothing like they’d expected.
The chamber was filled with icy chill. Frost drifted through the air, the floor beneath soaked in green blood. Following the trail, they found the Stone Snake’s body—torn to pieces.
And atop its corpse, seated on a throne of ice, was a woman gazing down imperiously.
From beneath a wide white hat flowed long, sky-blue hair. Her dress, embroidered with elegant white patterns, looked fit for a ball. At her side rested a pure-white staff, like the embodiment of winter.
The moment Ban saw her, he froze.
“Why is she here…?”
She wasn’t supposed to appear yet.
She was meant to debut in the second main event, alongside Hazen—an unbeatable foe.
Ban quickly recognized her first attack pattern and shouted,
“Everyone, out of the chamber!”
But it was too late.
She extended her hand, frost sweeping through them.
“……?”
Reina and Ridipin blinked in confusion as no damage came. But Ban knew exactly what had just happened.
The woman compared the photo in her hand to Reina, then asked,
“Are you Reina Serenia?”
Sensing something was off, Reina gripped her sword tightly.
“Who are you…?”
“I asked first. Kids these days… but fine, I’ll let it slide.”
She burned the photo and rose gracefully.
“I am Elpior. Ellicia Rockspell. I was once affiliated with the Mage Tower… but now I belong to a place called Lost Paradise.”
At the words Lost Paradise, Reina’s expression stiffened.
Elpior stepped down from her icy throne.
“Now that you know my affiliation, you must know what I’ll propose, don’t you, Reina Serenia?”
Ban cut in before she could answer.
“We refuse.”
“…What?”
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists. That’s a rule.”
Elpior tilted her head briefly, then smiled, stepping off the corpse.
“My, how unfortunate. But you were never the one I wanted an answer from anyway.”
She looked at Reina, smirking.
“And you… I suppose you’ll refuse too, judging by your face.”
Her staff pulsed with mana, the dungeon rumbling around them.
“Very well. Then I’ll crush you first. If you change your mind later, just say the word. I’m very generous, after all.”
