Sera and Iria, after exchanging a few words, stood in front of the Saint who had turned the academy into a mess.
Boom!
Just in time, as the Apostles of Justice, they had come to stop the villains disturbing the order of the academy.
“Saint Klana, that’s as far as you go.”
Sera spoke in a tone as if to halt the villain. Iria, clueless as ever, stood proudly beside her, nodding.
As unexpected figures blocked Klana’s path, the attention of the surrounding students began to be drawn towards them.
After all, they were all quite famous in the academy, so it was only natural for passersby to be curious about what was going on.
Sera felt like she and Iria were heroes, but from the perspective of other students, they were just… well, the same.
Sera was already known as a madwoman, and Iria was an even crazier one.
Nothing could be scarier than two lunatics teaming up. In fact, they were scarier than Klana herself.
Perhaps they were the scariest combination in the academy.
Of course, both didn’t seem to be aware of it since they weren’t the ones to care about others’ opinions.
Anyway, they stood their ground.
“Y-You…”
And seeing this, Klana exclaimed,
“The, the source of all evil! H-White! Unwarranted kindness! Strong just by being alive! You, you torment me and then appear in front of me like this!”
Cue awkward silence.
Klana reacted fiercely upon seeing Iria, as it was Iria who had caused her to be so worked up.
But Sera, unaware of the situation, couldn’t understand what Klana was saying. She tilted her head, confused.
“What is she saying right now?”
“I have no idea.”
Iria answered with a flat expression, unlike Sera who was lost in confusion.
It was a rather shameless attitude on her part, as if she had a plate of steel on her face.
Iria felt emotions less intensely than others. Perhaps it was because she was not human, but a monster.
Regardless, Klana, excited by Iria’s presence, made a loud proclamation.
It seemed she was recalling the humiliation she had suffered and the money she had lost in the last week because of Iria. Pointing at Iria while huffing angrily.
“You! You! I won’t forgive you! I’m challenging you to a duel! This time, I will take my revenge!”
“If it’s a duel, this person will take my place.”
In front of Klana, Iria casually nudged Sera at her side.
“Uh, huh?”
Sera, who was shoved, found herself in an awkward position, facing Klana head-on.
“W-What’s going on? Are you here to steal my wallet too?!”
“No, that’s not it…”
“That’s right! We came to steal your wallet! But the duel will be fought by this person.”
“Hey! You’re really something!”
“I’m not wrong, though.”
Iria, having pushed Sera into the battlefield, had retreated and blended in with the audience.
Pretending not to care, she seemed to subtly encourage the duel between the two.
This was the game she had set up from the start. She decided to watch from the crowd now, as she was tired of battling herself.
Sometimes, watching from a distance can be nice.
Eventually, receiving everyone’s attention, Sera wore a panicked expression before regaining her composure.
Though she had been pushed into it, this was ultimately what she wanted.
“Hmm… Right. If it’s a duel, I’ll accept. I have been wanting to fight a Saint at least once.”
There were some personal feelings mixed in, but…
In this way, Iria, as the Seed of the Demon King, successfully caused turmoil within the academy.
That was why the two were to duel.
*
In the end, the two officially set a duel date and reserved the largest dueling arena in the academy.
The professors remembered how the arena had been left in shambles during the last duel between Sera and Iria.
Sera’s flame potential could rival even that of the academy professors. In fact, during the monster invasion, she accomplished feats that even the professors couldn’t manage.
For a normal human, catching and returning flames emitted by the Seed of the Demon King was nearly impossible. Sera managed to do it in front of everyone, theoretically.
Twice, to be exact.
That’s why she had earned recognition from the professors present. They unanimously evaluated her.
Regarding flame magic, there was nothing left to teach her.
In that field, she had surpassed even the professors.
It was thanks to this recognition that they could borrow the dueling arena. If it were somewhere ordinary, it would result in another disaster like last time.
“Hmm, good. I’m ready.”
Sera confidently said after stepping onto the dueling arena.
Facing her was Klana, a girl with silver hair resembling Iria.
Sera reflected on the memory of her previous defeat at the hands of Iria when she saw the silver hair flutter in the wind.
Was having silver hair a condition for strength? She could feel an unusual energy coming from the girl before her.
But that was fine.
If the opponent was strong, Sera had grown stronger too.
Some would have seen her performance during the monster invasion; others would not.
But those who had seen her reflect flames at least once would certainly predict the outcome of this fight.
No matter how much of a saint she was, defeating Sera without proper combat experience was impossible.
‘I guess it’s going to be hard for Klana to win here.’
Even Iria, watching the scene, thought the same.
The fight would likely serve as a stepping stone for Klana, giving her some combat experience.
And Klana thought to herself,
‘The white-haired woman who tormented me must be the evil Demon King from the scriptures. That red-haired woman must be her loyal follower.’
In a very serious expression, she prepared on the dueling arena.
Klana’s sharp gaze myopically fixed on Sera.
“You evil demons! I will not fall for your trickery! In the name of the saint, I will purify you!”
Silence…
Sera still couldn’t comprehend Klana’s words.
While a flustered Sera stood dazed, Klana assumed a prayer-like posture with her hands together.
A massive amount of divine power slowly covered the dueling arena.
Klana focused the spread divine energy into one spot. It mixed the holy arts learned from the church and the star’s blessings that only a saint could use.
And Klana reached out, shouting.
“Light, come forth!!!”
Gah?!
She unleashed a blinding light directed at Sera.
Boom!
A gigantic flash blazed brightly.
Though it was purification light capable of harming monsters or fiends, it also offered healing miracles to humans.
Sera took the divine beam full on, powered by Klana’s genuine intent.
However.
“…Huh? That didn’t hurt at all?”
Far from hurting, it actually healed her wounds. Life began to course through Sera, who was blessed.
Contrary to Klana’s beliefs that Sera was a demon, she was actually human. Naturally, nothing was going to happen from being purified by holy light.
Sera raised a question, and the culprit of the light…
“Uh-oh…”
After nothing happened, Klana awkwardly scratched her cheek.
In truth, Klana had never attacked anyone with her divine power before. After all, it was not specialized for attacking like mana.
Perhaps she had no means to attack Sera at all.
“What the heck is this?”
Sera brushed off the golden sparkles that remained on the arena after the initial blaze.
Then she ignited flames.
Whoosh!
The flames that erupted from Sera’s hands showcased their presence.
“I don’t know what this is, but you did attack me, right?”
The saint, curious about what kind of attack was coming, waited for it, thinking she would take it on for once.
However, Klana’s “attack”? It couldn’t leave a scratch on Sera. Was it weaker than it looked?
That’s fine. Sera decided it was time to end the duel.
Like Klana had unleashed light, this time, Sera released flames. It was the same overwhelming firepower that flooded the arena.
While it was strong enough to harm an ordinary student, she didn’t hold back on the saint whose reputation preceded her.
This time, Klana shut her eyes tight.
Woosh!
The flames released by Sera possessed the highest firepower in the academy.
Besides Iria and Ariel, she was also one of the strongest students in terms of offensive ability.
As such, the colossal flames swallowed the direction where Klana stood.
Everyone expected Sera’s victory at this point.
If Klana took it directly, she wouldn’t come away unscathed, and it was her first duel, so she hadn’t even prepared a defense.
So, when the flame passed through…
Sera was standing on one side of the arena.
Blank stare…
And on the opposite side stood Klana.
Only her hair and clothes were slightly singed; her body remained unhurt.
“It’s hot.”
If Sera had the highest offensive ability among the academy students, Klana possessed the highest defense in the entire empire.
The blessing she received from the stars made it so.
She had endured the flames without even using divine power, completely unfazed.
Sera was astonished by her impenetrable defense.
Although both exchanged a few attacks, neither had sustained any injuries.
Sera’s expression shifted from confusion to a grin.
It seemed that this battle wouldn’t end quickly after all.
The flames rose again.
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