Chelsea quickly moved, casting spells in rapid succession.
"Fast."
Haul, from Class 1, narrowed his brows as he deflected the swirling wind magic with his sword.
Seeing this, Iliana raised her arms and hopped around.
"Sure enough, Chelsea! Small but strong!"
"Who said I'm small!"
"Stop just watching and help! Raden!"
Chelsea and Haul shouted at Iliana simultaneously.
At this, Iliana flinched and shrank back.
"Wind Chain!"
Chelsea shot a chain of wind.
Haul lightly stepped with his Aura Step, dodging Chelsea's attack.
'Sure enough, he's a battle mage aspirant. He's no joke. To be able to cast spells while moving at this speed...'
Although Haul had already eliminated five magic students, Chelsea was different from the previous magic students.
'Even if he closes the distance, he's familiar with close combat.'
Unlike other magic students, Chelsea didn't fall even when Haul got close.
On the other hand, Chelsea was equally troubled by Haul.
'It's incredibly annoying how he moves like a snake and gets close!'
While Haul's Poison Aura might be a weakness against other mages, Chelsea, who specialized in wind magic, had the upper hand.
Because she could blow away the poison with wind.
However, despite the disadvantage in elemental compatibility, Haul continued to close the distance while dodging Chelsea's spells.
'I'm faster, though.'
Given that Haul was rated just below the top three in the knight class, the outcome of the match was not yet clear.
"Both of you, fight hard!"
"Stop just watching and help! Raden!"
"How long are you going to stand back? Join us quickly! Iliana!"
Haul and Chelsea shouted at Iliana simultaneously, causing her to scratch her cheek.
"It's too ambiguous to attack either of you."
"What's ambiguous! You're in the magic class, aren't you!"
"What are you talking about! I'm in the knight class!"
"No, I haven't chosen either yet."
Iliana wasn't the only student who hadn't chosen a class.
To be precise, among the dual-class students, a few were in an ambiguous position.
One of them was Iliana.
During the training for the inter-class competition, she focused more on the knight class lessons because the magic class emphasized mobility, which she already had as a sword mage.
So, she trained with the knight class students throughout the preparation period.
"Then help me! Haul is in Class 1, right?"
"Sorry, Chelsea. Haul taught me a lot in the knight class lessons, even though he grumbled about it. I can't attack him just because he's in Class 1."
Haul helped Iliana to firmly join the knight class before the inter-class competition.
Chelsea pressed her temples as she spoke.
"If you're not going to help either side, go away. Don't just loiter around here annoyingly."
"Agreed with Chelsea Levalin."
Haul sighed as he spoke, and Iliana laughed playfully.
"No, but. If you two keep fighting, eventually one of you will win, and the winner will be exhausted, right? Then I can take one of you down! Hehe! Good strategy, right?"
Chelsea and Haul's faces turned cold simultaneously.
"Just kidding! Kidding! I'll help one of you when one gets tired..."
"So, you're planning to hit us from behind?"
"Such a despicable strategy."
"Huh? Huh? I said it was a joke."
"Chelsea Levalin. I suggest you deal with Raden first."
"Heartily agree. I was thinking the same thing."
"Ah! It was just a joke!"
Iliana screamed.
Whiiing! Bang-!
Something fell behind Iliana from the sky.
Gwooo!
It was a creature with a massive body, about 3 meters tall.
Its thick hands, which could shatter a human body with just a touch, held a vicious battle axe.
Sssik- Sssik-
It exhaled a powerful breath from its nose.
A monster with a bull's head.
"Minotaur?!"
"Why is a demon here!"
Chelsea and Haul were shocked.
Gwooo!
The Minotaur swung its axe at Iliana.
Kwaang-!
***
"Sure enough, you came. Lord Gis."
"It's been a while. Since the entrance exam. Sir Rozes."
The people around Gis hurriedly stood up.
Rozes raised his hand as he looked at them.
"Every day, news of your nephew reaches the royal palace. Indeed, it's Zerdingger, and even His Majesty is impressed."
Rozes Levalin smiled as he spoke, and Gis smiled back.
"Abad and Chelsea also ranked first and second in the magic class midterm, didn't they? I think His Majesty would be even happier about that."
The eyes of those around naturally turned to the influential figures of the Zerdingger and Levalin families, who supported the strongest nation in the western continent, Lodren.
At that moment, the entire audience watching the inter-class competition began to murmur.
"That's... a demon?"
"Why is a demon appearing in the inter-class competition?"
"Was Negrang a demon-infested area?"
While the audience looked puzzled.
The professors also noticed the anomaly.
"Why did a demon suddenly appear?"
Sedjen's eyes widened.
Hallingd stood up and quickly headed to the control room where the inter-class competition was being managed.
"What's going on?"
"H, Hallingd professor! It's a big problem! We can't contact the control room in Negrang!"
"What?"
Hallingd's face hardened.
"Immediately halt the inter-class competition and return the students."
"Huh? What...?"
The staff members, taken aback by Hallingd's sudden words, looked confused.
"Are you saying you'll leave the students in a dangerous area without control!?"
"But, Professor Hallingd, if we do that, the higher-ups will..."
"I'll take the responsibility! Stop talking and return the students!"
"Y, Yes, sir!"
The staff members, startled by Hallingd's fierce demeanor, activated the teleportation.
"A, It's not working! The teleportation isn't activating!"
Hallingd's eyes widened at the staff member's urgent cry.
"What's happening! Hallingd."
"It's an emergency. All connections with Negrang have been severed!"
"What?"
Sedjen's face turned pale.
Several hours had passed since the inter-class competition began, but a hundred students were still in Negrang.
"You take command here. I'll go to the principal."
"Understood."
Hallingd left the control room and his face twisted as he looked at the magic transmission screen.
'What the hell is going on!'
***
The students who survived the inter-class competition also began to notice the anomaly one by one.
"Haap!"
"Krk!"
A knight class student was aggressively pressing a magic class student.
"Even though you moved incredibly fast, that's as far as you go! Don't blame me for eliminating you! I'll treat you later!"
The two students from the same class were close friends.
So, they had agreed not to hold grudges if they had to fight each other during the inter-class competition.
The knight class student, who had created an opening, grinned and thrust his sword at the abdomen.
Puuuk!
"Kuh?"
"Wh...?"
Both the knight class student and the magic class student widened their eyes at the unexpected situation.
"W, What... Kuh?"
Seeing his friend spitting blood, the knight class student's hands trembled.
"What's this? Hey! Snap out of it! Snap out of it!"
With a pale face, he hugged his friend and shouted, tears streaming down his face.
"Hey! Is anyone there! Help! My friend is hurt!"
Meanwhile, outside the castle walls, the monsters in the surrounding area suddenly began to gather at the castle ruins.
The students guarding the gate looked puzzled.
"What! What's happening?"
A summoning class student looked surprised at the situation outside.
While the classes were fiercely battling each other, a large number of monsters suddenly launched a surprise attack.
As a result, chaos erupted in front of the gate.
"Monsters?"
"Wait, there are too many!"
A large number of monsters.
They should have combined their forces, but since it was during the inter-class competition, they couldn't work together.
"Lucky break!"
A summoning class student cheered.
While struggling to hold back the knight class and magic class students, the monsters attacked at just the right time.
It was a very advantageous situation for those guarding the gate.
At that moment, Woredden, who had been sitting on the wall above the gate, narrowed his eyes.
He had never participated in the battle.
He had just been sitting there, watching the inter-class competition as if waiting for someone.
He had ignored the summoning class students' requests for help.
Suddenly, Woredden stood up.
"What? Finally going to help?"
The summoning class student, who had been commanding, clicked his tongue, as if saying, "About time."
But Woredden just stared at the monster horde.
'Strange. Why are the monsters suddenly acting in unison?'
Woredden, a summoner, sensed something odd about the monsters' movements.
'They're being controlled by something.'
Thinking this, Woredden looked up.
In the high sky above the castle ruins, he spotted the black wyvern he had seen during the midterm exam, and he summoned his spiritual energy.
"Huh? Woredden?"
Gooooo-!
Woredden's body was enveloped in a red glow.
Whoosh! Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga!
A massive explosion occurred in the middle of the monsters attacking the knight class and magic class students.
"What, what is this?"
"Woredden? Why are you helping us?"
During the inter-class competition, a student from another class.
Especially one who didn't get along with his own classmates, helping them left the other class students stunned.
"Open the gate."
"What? Are you crazy? And why are you suddenly helping them!"
"Stop talking and open the gate. This isn't the time for the inter-class competition."
"Out of the blue, what are you talking about! And why should we listen to you... Kuh!"
Woredden grabbed the neck of the student who was commanding.
"No time to explain. Now."
"Kuh-!"
The student, whose neck was being choked, rolled his eyes and fainted.
Amid the shock of the surrounding students, Woredden spoke coldly.
"From now on, I'll take command. Open the gate."
Woredden moved the unconscious student to the side and continued.
"From now on, our enemies are the demons and monsters. If anyone is still fighting among classes, I'll deal with them first. Got it?"
"Y, Yes!"
"I'll pass that on to the other class students too!"
"And you."
"Y, Yes? Why did you call me?"
A female student, called by Woredden, was frightened.
"Have you made a contract with the Wind Elemental?"
"Y, Yes!"
"Then go tell the other gate guards."
Woredden looked up at the sky and summoned his spiritual energy.
Fafnir began to descend at a terrifying speed.
"Tell them to stop the inter-class competition due to the unusual situation."