Chapter 553

“Then let the second-year combat studies class’s Basterra match begin.”

Professor Rifen placed the special Basterra ball in the center of the arena.

The first team to seize it would gain the opening attack.

“One, two. One, two.”

Chelsea warmed up, bending and stretching her knees.

The fastest person on Chelsea’s team was none other than Chelsea herself.

'The other side has Duran. Eliana will probably support him.'

Chelsea watched the fastest members of the opposing team warily.

Duran Moira.

As a wielder of the Aura of Lightning, he competed with Chelsea and Eliza for the title of fastest among their classmates, excluding Leo.

Eliza would become an easy target if she summoned a beast, so she had been excluded from the struggle for the opening move.

'Anyway, I have to get the ball before Duran. I’ll grab it and then...'

Chelsea’s eyes darted around before settling on Eliana.

'I’ll hurl it right into Eliana’s face.'

With the ferocity of a predator, Chelsea recalled Eliana’s earlier words.

'But surely the Class Rep wouldn’t stay out all night, would he?'

Ever since Chelsea heard that Leo had skipped class to go on a date with Elena, the thought had been bothering her.

'I know the date was Elena Zeron’s condition for accepting the position of Vice President.'

Even so, it still irritated her.

It reminded her of when she was younger and had watched love letters from the young noble ladies of the Lordren Empire pour in for Abad every day.

'No, this bothers me even more!'

Leo had been popular ever since their first year, so that was nothing new.

Yet for some reason, it bothered her far more this time.

She had been doing her best not to think about it.

Then Eliana had succeeded in provoking her perfectly.

'She’s so annoying. Just one hit! I’ll only hit her once!'

Chelsea ground her teeth.

Meanwhile, Professor Rifen raised the whistle to his lips.

Seeing that, Chelsea tensed every muscle in her body.

Fweeeet—!

Whoosh—!

Kicking up a powerful gust of wind, Chelsea sprinted toward the ball.

Crackle—!

Duran dashed toward it as well, lightning crackling around him.

They reached for the ball at exactly the same moment.

Flash—!

A brilliant light burst forth as someone snatched it away.

Chelsea and Duran stared wide-eyed at the person holding the ball.

Even Eliana, who had seized it first, looked between the two of them and the ball with a bewildered expression.

“Why are you two so slow?”

Crack—!

Crack—!

Without the slightest ill intent, Eliana had once again managed to provoke not only Chelsea but her own teammate, Duran.

“What? Did Eliana just get the ball before Chelsea and Duran?”

“Eliana’s fast, but she was never a match for those two, right?”

Chelsea and Duran’s speed was famous not only among the second-years but throughout Lumene.

When Eliana overwhelmed both of them with pure speed, the entire second year descended into confusion.

“Maybe Chelsea and Duran were holding back?”

“Those two embodiments of competitiveness? No way.”

“They’ve been competing for the title of fastest in our year since we were first-years.”

“Exactly. They’re rivals who would rather grind their teeth than lose to each other. Do you really think they’d hold back?”

The murmuring second-years soon reached the same conclusion.

“Hey, when was our last year-wide speed test?”

“Halfway through the first semester.”

“Hasn’t Eliana been practicing some kind of acceleration magic recently?”

“If that’s the case...”

Everyone stared at Eliana in astonishment.

“Does that mean she’s become faster than those two?”

===

“That’s it!”

Eliana grinned.

“The magic I started learning a while ago is finally showing results!”

Eliana wore an exceedingly smug and triumphant expression.

“It must be because of Lady Luna’s magic. You’ve become incredibly fast.”

“Hmph. I see. Does this mean you’ve finally become somewhat useful?”

“Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!”

Hearing Chelsea and Duran’s conversation, Eliana covered her mouth and burst into laughter.

“The era of the great Eliana, the Lightning Flash Sword, has begun!”

“That epithet is awful.”

As Chelsea frowned, Eliana excitedly pointed at her and Duran.

“That means you two are slowpokes compared to me now! Ho-ho!”

“...”

“...”

Chelsea and Duran stared at her with terrifying eyes.

Carr clicked his tongue at the sight.

'She’s too excited to realize she’s about to die.'

“That means Eliza is slower than me too!”

Flash—!

“I understand what you mean now. I want to rush over there and thrash her this instant.”

Veins bulged on Eliza’s forehead as she pulled her whip taut.

She looked ready to pounce on Eliana at any moment.

“Hey, hey, hey! Restrain yourself and maintain the formation!”

Carr broke into a cold sweat.

Just then, Chelsea lunged at Eliana.

“Give me the ball!”

“No! You’ll never catch me with those slow movements—”

Crackle—!

“Hand over the ball, Eliana Laden!”

“W-Wait! We’re on the same team... Aaaaaagh?!”

Eliana fled in terror when Duran charged at her with murderous momentum.

“Why are you running away?! Hand over the ball!”

“You look like you’re trying to beat me to death!”

Just as Eliana screamed, Celia frowned and approached her using Aura Step.

“What are those idiots doing?”

“Eliana! Pass!”

“O-Okay! Pass!”

“I don’t think so.”

“What?!”

Chen Xia had closed in on Eliana without her noticing and now smiled brightly at her.

They were close enough to feel each other’s breath.

“Xia, when did you—?!”

“No matter how fast you are, I can predict your path by reading your movements. Hup!”

Still smiling, Chen Xia swung her foot.

Thud—!

“Argh! The ball!”

With an acrobatic motion, Chen Xia planted one hand atop Eliana’s head and flipped into a handstand.

Then, with one fluid movement, she kicked the ball from Eliana’s hands.

The ball clung to Chen Xia’s foot as though it were attached to her.

Crackle—! Whoosh—!

“Eek!”

As Chelsea and Duran closed in, Eliana reached out to snatch the ball back from Chen Xia.

Chen Xia pressed down on Eliana’s head and used the recoil to widen the distance between them.

Thud—!

She then kicked the ball high into the air with all her might before Duran could reach it.

Tap—!

Eiran caught the ball in midair.

Seeing that, Abad shouted toward the goal.

“Walden!”

Walden was serving as the goalkeeper.

He gathered his Spirit Power.

At the same time, Eiran hurled the ball with tremendous force.

“Mommy?!”

The ball plunged straight toward Eliana, who threw herself out of the way with a scream.

Boom—! Crash—!

The ball slammed into the ground, leaving behind a massive crater.

Having narrowly avoided it, Eliana gaped like a fish.

“Why did you do that?! You should’ve aimed for the goal!”

Tide shouted urgently.

“I-I’m sorry! I did it without thinking...! I just felt like I had to eliminate Eliana...!”

“E-Eliminate me?!”

“It’s a good strategy. Walden is firmly guarding the goal, after all.”

Chen Xia smiled as she retrieved the ball from the crater.

“Since getting past Walden and scoring will be difficult, reducing the opposing team’s numbers first would be more effective.”

“Y-Yes! Exactly! That was the strategy! It definitely wasn’t because Eliana was annoying me!”

Eiran clenched her fists and smiled brightly.

“So, Eliana, prepare yourself.”

She was smiling, yet the sight somehow sent a chill down everyone’s spines.

The students in the spectator seats shuddered.

“S-Scary.”

“I thought Lunia El Lunda was the only frightening one, but Eiran is terrifying too.”

===

Chelsea’s team maintained control of the attack from that point onward.

Chelsea, Chen Xia, and Eiran focused all their attacks on Eliana.

Eliana’s movements as she narrowly avoided them using acceleration magic were nothing short of extraordinary.

For some reason, however, every move she made only provoked the three of them further.

“She’s remarkably good at dodging.”

Carr let out a hollow laugh.

Tide approached him.

“Carr! Is this really okay? We’re not exactly specialists in offense. If we get swept up in Eliana’s ‘tactic’ and lose the ball, we’ll be in trouble!”

“That doesn’t look like a tactic to me.”

“You have a point.”

Carr and Tide shook their heads as they watched Eliana flee, screaming for someone to save her.

“Well, it’s true that our team has the advantage when defending.”

“Right? If we let them score first, this is going to become difficult!”

“Yeah, but it won’t be easy for them either.”

“What?”

“Getting struck by a shield hurts quite a bit, doesn’t it?”

Carr grinned.

“If those three keep running wild like this, the opposing team will be too busy defending to launch an attack. Besides, we have the best goalkeeper on our side.”

Carr gave Chloe a thumbs-up.

Chloe smiled faintly at him.

“Carr, I’m moving to the front line too.”

“Please restrain yourself for once!”

Just then, Eliza approached from the air atop a Wind Wyvern.

“Stop your idle chatter.”

Whoosh—!

“Possession has changed.”

Celia had stolen the ball before anyone realized it and was now spinning it in one hand as she ignited her Aura of Flame.

Seeing that, Chloe gathered her Magic Power.

Crack, crackle—!

Ice spread around the goal.

At that moment—

Crunch—!

'He countered it with spirits.'

“...!”

Earth spirits covered the ice.

Chloe stared coldly at Walden.

“Chloe, will you be all right?”

“No problem.”

“Tide! Help Chloe! Eliza, keep an eye on Abad from the air!”

“Got it!”

“Hmph! Don’t order me around.”

Tide headed to the rear while Eliza flew upward to pursue Abad.

'Celia’s attack power is great enough to break through Chloe’s defenses in a single strike.'

Celia specialized in offense, and her attacks were powerful enough to overturn the entire match with one blow.

'We must keep the ball away from the opposing team as much as possible.'

A team specialized in defense was also better at maintaining possession.

In fact, stealing the ball from their core attackers—Chelsea, Chen Xia, and Eiran—was no easy feat.

'And we need to score first if possible!'

'Our team may specialize in defense, but that doesn’t mean we’re incapable of attacking. Likewise, if the opposing team commits to defense, breaking through won’t be easy. A counterattack in that situation would be even more troublesome. For now, stopping their attack takes priority.'

Carr narrowed his eyes.

'Using Eliana to provoke us... No matter how I look at it, that wasn’t Celia, Abad, or Duran’s idea.'

All three came from the most prestigious families.

They were intelligent, but unconventional schemes were not their forte.

They had never needed tricks.

The three of them possessed enough power to break through anything head-on.

'...Was it Walden?'

Carr shifted his gaze toward Walden at the rear.

Walden had the largest physique among the second-years.

Combined with his overwhelming strength, which could bring nearly any opponent to their knees, most students considered him a taciturn brawler.

However...

'He’s a sly fox through and through.'

Carr clicked his tongue.

'If Leo weren’t here, Walden would be the strongest in our year.'

His intelligence was just as formidable as his strength.

'First, I need to read the flow of the battle and find an opening...'

As Carr observed the movements of his allies and enemies, Tide’s urgent voice rang out.

“Carr!”

“What?”

At that instant, Carr realized that the ball Celia had thrown was already directly in front of his face.

'What? They’re sacrificing an attack just to target me first?'

Carr stared in incomprehension.

'Why?'

Boom—!

===

Watching the opposing side’s territory disappear beneath the flames, Walden muttered,

“Checkmate, Carr Thomas.”

(T/N: Seriously, Carr should stop thinking of him as some noob strategiest. That will be his fatal weakness like this one. If he thought of himself like how the others think of him, he might have included himself in the strategy. What a waste.)

***