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“T—Teacher! Shouldn’t we stop them?!” With a terrified expression, a girl made a big fuss while holding onto the arm of the Teacher who was watching the battle between Sio and Davey. “That… That golem is abnormally strong!”
“That’s right! I’ve never heard of a golem move that fluidly and intelligently! On top of that, that strange weapon!…”
As the twin girls with light pink hair conversed with each other, a boy with an enormous physique and holding a huge ax on his back stroked his chin. He muttered, “He looks really strong. Amazing. Illyna, your friend over there. Is he a famous golem controller?”
“No…”
‘Golem controller my butt. He’s just a monster playing with a puppet when he can wipe out an entire land.’
The problem was that Davey’s puppet was also beyond common knowledge.
Hegg, a large boy, had asked Illyna with curious eyes. He found the situation rather fascinating. However, Illyna denied his question. Davey was more of an unknown being rather than a golem controller. While being a swordsman with a power above the Master level, he also had a stigmata that contained holy power. On top of that, he leisurely created golems that would make alchemists drool all over if they saw them. It was difficult even for her to decide what to call Davey, who was an unfairly talented lunatic.
“Teacher! One wrong move, and Sio!”
“No, Trainee Shayir. Sio is completely logical right now.”
“But!”
“Sio is unbelievably stubborn, but you know that his intellect in battle is one of the greatest, don’t you?” Teacher Sylia explained with a soft smile in place of Teacher Boris.
“But still, that’s exceptional. That golem’s movement is most definitely different from other ordinary ones.”
“You’re right. I could barely feel any mana inside him, but golem controllers can utilize golems even with just a little bit of mana.”
The advantages golem controllers had were the ability to move a large number of golems at once and to maintain their safety; this meant that getting rid of golems was pointless unless one was able to take out the controller themselves.
“However, his own defense is too weak since he’s only relying on the golem. He seems inexperienced,” Sylia mumbled.
Boris nodded in agreement. “It’s difficult to gain experience in times like this since the only evil beasts out there are unintelligent monsters.”
“He does pass the criteria based on his talent in creating and utilizing golems, but…:
“If he doesn’t know what’s happening to him…”
“I think that should be alright if we just teach him right. Can you see that? He has no difficulty in using golems; he’s probably trying to minimize movement to be as efficient as possible.
Boris and Sylia were still in a misunderstanding.
“He will show talent in patrol, support, and other aspects if trained right. And that… The fact that its terrifying chainsaw can be applied like that… It scares me to death just by watching it.”
“It is a golem that clearly has both exceptional attack and defense power. You know, it might be difficult to slash it, even with the [Aura Blade].”
The trainees looked more and more anxious as Boris and Sylia spoke as if they were judging the golem. On the other hand, Illyna was already out of it.
“I think the battle is coming to an end.”
“Yes. It is a huge mistake for a golem controller to not realize the state of their golem, which is like their hands and feet.
Megatron struck down toward Sio Howl with his large chainsaw as soon as the Teachers concluded their conversation.
“Kyahh!”
Some of the trainees kept watching even while some were screaming because Sio could be injured.
“It really is an exceptional golem, but you found an answer, Sio,” Boris spoke with confidence, as Megatron’s movement was gradually becoming slower as if it was freezing up.
“Sio froze the golem little by little, starting with its joints. Even a golem with joints that flexible won’t be able to do anything if they freeze from the inside.”
“That is one of the most important things to be careful of when dealing with an ice mage. And it wasn’t like Sio tried to freeze him in random places first, but he took caution to hide his intent.”
Many a little made a mickle; although it was weak, Sio’s frost gradually accumulated to freeze up the giant. Boris and Sylia thought the golem was amazing, but they were more impressed with Sio’s quick thinking; it seemed like they were blind to their own causes.
Then, Sio took a step forward toward Davey, who was staring at Megatron squeak like it had completely stiffened up.
“A close-range battle isn’t something for mages to do, but a member of Alpha Reinforcements should be able to do that much,” Boris mumbled quietly. “This marks the end…”
Crack!! Sio created a large, sharp ice sword in his hand and rushed toward Davey rapidly. At the same time, Davey put up his wooden sword after seeing his attack.
“It seems like you were overconfident in the golem’s powers and grabbed a wooden sword thinking that you wouldn’t be affected… But the wooden sword won’t be able to withstand even one swing.”
“Oh no!”
At the same time, Davey slipped and lost his balance on the frictionless ice when he stepped back to defend. To others, that slight window of opportunity seemed fatal. It was difficult for Davey to fight back, let alone regain his balance, since the ground was frozen like an ice rink.
The moment Davey flew into the air while his wooden sword just slashed the air, Sio Howl’s ice sword struck as if it was going to slash him. “Wheeze… Gasp! You damn vicious guy! This is the end!!”
“Kyahh!”
Some couldn’t bear to watch the situation and closed their eyes, and some criticized Illyna, who was standing while maintaining a fed-up expression.
“I—Illyna! You have to stop…!”
“Stop who?” Illyna answered like she was tired of it. “Stop Davey?”
As soon as everyone heard Illyna’s confusing answer… Thump!!! A loud and clear sound of something being hit resonated through the training field.
There was silence. Then, without being able to do or say anything, everyone’s jaws dropped at the ridiculous situation in front of their eyes. The wooden sword left Davey’s hand and rotated with seemingly random movements and hit Sio right on the top of his head as it aimed for an opening. It was a fast attack, but the wooden sword struck down while aiming for one perfect opening.
Everyone was silent for a moment at the unbelievable coincidence. Then, Megatron stomped on Sio, who had been struck by the wooden sword, with no mercy and overpowered him.
“He’s playing tricks again…” Illyna muttered to herself.
It was as if the appearance of Megatron freezing up before was just an illusion.
“Keugh?!” Sio exclaimed.
“Hm… Did I win? You spoke like you were so good.”
-Déjà vu…
Listening to Davey’s calm response, Illyna felt like she had heard that detestable phrase somewhere.
* * *
“Caldeiras,” Illyna called.
[Yawn… Huh?]
“That guy. I think he has a really bad personality, but he’s pretending to be calm.”
[I know that he has a bad personality, 100%. I knew it from the moment he ripped your clothes and took me!]
“That’s also true…” Illyna wondered what that nasty swordsmanship was. She didn’t notice it at first, and it was still hard to believe even though she had seen it now. She had felt a discrepancy only because she knew Davey’s true powers; otherwise, she would’ve wondered again if it was a coincidence.
“Uh…” Someone let out a foolish gasp.
‘That guy, he intended for that!’
For a split second, Illyna saw a hint of an eerie smirk on Davey’s face. Now, she could see it all; Davey was screwing with the enemy without attracting everyone’s wariness by unnecessarily revealing his power.
[I know it! I saw it, okay?! That asshole is a Sword… No, what should I say? Anyway, I saw that asshole achieve Divine Union!]
Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Illyna didn’t need to hear it from Caldeiras herself to know; what kind of an insane Swordmaster could overpower a divine sword with a wooden one?
There was no significant difference between basic physical abilities between her and Davey; however, his way of responding was so different than any other Swordmaster she had faced. It was like a max-level warrior had become weak due to a curse.
“They say there is no right or wrong to swordsmanship, but… That is truly an evil sword technique…”
Davey wasn’t a wicked person, but his actions were devilish.
Illyna, who was fed up with Davey, thought it was unfortunate that the people staring at the battlefield in bewilderment weren’t able to notice Davey’s little trick.
* * *
Everyone was left dumbfounded by the unexpectedly flat result of the battle. The crowd who was watching the battle began to respond only after Davey retrieved Megatron and lightly clapped his hands as no one was saying anything,
“A—Amazing!” Boris, the Teacher with a giant physique, spoke in astonishment.
“A coincidence? It strangely looked too targeted to be a coincidence…”
“…Sio Howl. You haven’t trained enough!”
It seemed that the three Teachers, who couldn’t easily come to a conclusion and were murmuring amongst themselves to discuss this outcome, were thinking that they should first put an end to this situation.
“Everyone is dismissed for now! And it was Davey, right?”
“Yes,” Davey answered.
“Hahahaha! Although it was a coincidence, outstanding! Well, let’s say that luck is also a skill. We will acknowledge your gift as promised.”
“I’m flattered.”
It was only right to accept a genuine compliment with a good heart.
On the other hand, Sio Howl was criticized for the fact that he had been struck by an attack so ridiculous.
“Sio Howl! You were lazy with your training! You were hit with a directionless sword the minute you let down your guard after becoming confident that you had won!”
“This makes no sense!” Riled up, Sio Howl, who was clenching his jaw, stood up and shouted. “It’s the golem that was strong, not him. Teacher! You saw his swordsmanship, did you not!”
The swordsmanship Davey showed was definitely that of someone who looked like they had never even held a sword before.
“Stop being a sore loser, Sio Howl. Golem controllers are for the back line. You’re saying that it’s unfair when you dueled with someone like that in the middle of a battlefield?”
Of course, Illyna didn’t just stand around. She still stood up for Davey, her friend, even though she looked fed up with Davey’s sword technique.
“Illyna!!”
“Wake up. Davey made that golem, and that’s a clear fact. Originally, you should have just fought that golem alone.” Illyna didn’t stop her hurtful criticism. She was honest and ruthless, because she wasn’t hiding her personality. “And yet, you put Davey in the middle and attacked him to buy time whenever you were in danger. Why, are you going to say that was also a tactic? Did you even check that golem you froze in the first place?”
Just as Illyna had said, Sio wasn’t even able to defeat the golem.