𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟐
To conclude, the boundary stone was not destroyed.
“Too bad. . . . . .”
“Give it up.”
It was not only too noticeable, but it was not a positive thing to give the supervisors of the exam such an impression.
And, there was a better target if I was going to aim for one.
Now was the time to move quickly.
「𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝘽 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡.」
From the perspective of Black Bird that I had sent far away, I could see the boundary stone of the second-year Class B, which was left alone and shining.
Why did they give up on victory and leave the boundary stone, which could become points for another team, as it was?
The reason was simple.
「𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙞𝙩.」
First-year Class A and second-year Class A.
The two forces that could be called the strongest at the moment.
“What are we going to do now?”
“Let’s see the situation first.”
Both teams were serious about winning.
If there was such a delicious bait, there was no way they wouldn’t notice it.
“Black Bird.”
Puhwak!
『Squeak!』
『Chirp.』
I called out the remaining two black birds and had them scout the area around the Class B boundary stone.
「𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨, 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝.」
A few minutes later, the signal came.
The result was the same for both sides. In other words, first-year Class A and second-year Class A had confidently chosen to go head-to-head with each other.
“This might be decided within a few hours.”
“Did they both move?”
“It’s a considerable scale. Everyone except for the minimum number of people to guard the camp has been mobilized.”
Too bad. If both sides had chosen to conserve their strength, we could have easily stolen the Class B boundary stone.
「𝙄 𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤.」
I checked the situation on my terminal.
Ding.
『2-D Kong Hyuk-jin unable to fight.』
『2-D Yoon Ha-rim unable to fight.』
『1-B Baek Kang-muk unable to fight.』
It seemed that the battle was already in full swing over there. There was no turning back. If things went this way, there were only two options left.
「𝙃𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝘽 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙞𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝘼’𝙨.」
Neither path was easy.
However, I was able to glimpse one possibility after a while.
「𝙃𝙪𝙝?」
I moved Black Bird and took a peek at the second-year Class A camp. There were only two students left there.
It was Cheong Haram and the second-year top student, Sophia.
「𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙮.」
If there had been one or two more people there, I would have given up without a second thought.
However, with only two people, and one of them being Cheong Haram, there was a chance.
Recalling the safety device that I had set up for Cheong Haram during the midterm evaluation, I smiled and asked Cheong Juhwa.
“Second-year Class A, the opponents are Cheong Haram and Sophia, what do you think?”
“Cheong Haram?”
Cheong Juhwa asked back with a bright smile. Then, she immediately made a subtle expression and said to me.
“But Sophia? Isn’t she that person? She’s even in magazines as the next-generation rising star.”
“That’s right.”
“When I saw her during the last practical training, she was totally not human.”
“She’s a monster.”
The next-generation top-class prospect who had maintained the top spot with her overwhelming performance in the second year.
To be honest, even if there were ten of me, it would be absurd to say that I could handle Sophia if we were to compare individual ability scores alone.
However, there was a way.
“For us, we just have to break one boundary stone and it’s over.”
After saying that, I called out one more shikigami that had been in the shadows.
“Thought Fox.”
Puhwak.
Pop.
『Keeying.』
Then, a fox with ash-gray fur circled in the air once and landed on my shoulder.
“What is that? It’s cute, but it looks weak.”
It was even smaller than Black Bird.
Compared to the shikigami that I had brought out so far, it had a considerably cute appearance.
However, Thought Fox was one of the trump cards that I had mentioned along with Duduri. This shikigami was considerably high-ranking.
That’s why I confidently replied to Cheong Juhwa.
“A weapon to pierce through Sophia.”
This exam was harsh for Class A in another sense. They couldn’t afford to make a single mistake in order to achieve complete victory.
And, we were about to make that one mistake starting now.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
“Oh, it’s Kang Yoon. Hello~”
Sophia greeted me and Cheong Juhwa cheerfully as she appeared from the front.
It was her original nature, but it was also an expression of her undeniable confidence. It meant that she didn’t feel us as a threat at all.
「𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.」
Ding.
【Sophia Charlotte】
▶Level 37
▶Ability Scores
【Stamina: B-】
【Spiritual Power: S】
【Spellcraft: A+】
【Mental Strength: A-】
▶Traits (6/10)
【All-Embracing (S)】
【Sweeping Waves (S)】
【Spirit Absorption (B+)】
【Accelerated Growth (B)】
【Enhanced Output (B-)】
【Oppression (C+)】
Sophia’s spiritual power boasted a level that hardly ever ran out due to her S-rank spiritual power ability score and various traits that maximized it.
「𝘼𝙡𝙨𝙤, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩.」
The reason why the second-year Class A students had left only a small number of people and launched an all-out attack was simple.
It was because everyone knew that Sophia alone could sufficiently protect the boundary stone.
“. . .Still on the Class D.”
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