<251 - The Inflated Ones>
Three participants from the First and Second Year Four Kings have been eliminated.
First Year.
Second Princess Masugaki.
Second Year.
Fearsome Deadcat.
White Knight Roe.
And now, while Oknodie’s gaze drifted away, another victim has emerged from above the court.
Zzzp!
Sparks and lightning erupted in the air, scorching the space without discrimination.
When Kasia, who wields electricity as her primary attribute, clashed with Io of the Blue Fist, an electric hell was bound to unfold.
“Ouch, that hurts!”
“I didn’t even get close, and this is what happens?”
“Oof. I got a burn mark on my hand.”
“At this rate, someone’s really gonna die. Forfeit!”
“I want to forfeit too.”
The spectators and supporting characters had already long since forfeited.
The dodgeball match between the two, which sent three hundred students running away, held a level of ferocity that was different from Oknodie and the other students’ confrontations.
“I heard from an instructor. There’s an experimental subject who can handle tremendous lightning among the First Year students.”
“…Don’t call me an experimental subject.”
“Want to wash away your past? If that’s the case, you need to be careful. No matter how much you want to stay off the radar, there are definitely organizations keeping an eye on you. The moment the world’s interest drifts away from you, they will snatch you up in an instant.”
Exorcist Io.
A person who walks the path of faith, dedicating his life to exterminating all unvirtuous beings.
Due to his profession, he grew up seeing the hidden darkness of the underworld, unknown to ordinary people, even before entering the academy.
What he saw most were the words of victims ensnared by malevolent beings.
Or the watchdogs forced into leashes.
Kasia’s abilities and combat prowess were particularly appealing to the most nefarious organizations.
“Handle it well, senior. Luckily, we have Oknodie in First Year.”
“…Oknodie. A child so strong it’s unsettling. One like Oknodie is enough for the First Year.”
The sudden electric charge surged beyond 1 ampere (A), creating static phenomena.
To kill a person, even 0.1 A is sufficient.
Usually, static electricity occurs in brief moments and vanishes, but what if an electric-type ability user artificially caused static electricity?
Indeed.
Static electricity can be deadly.
Thundering storm
Blue Fist
The fierce lightning with the potential to instantly kill with one hit struck at the Exorcist Io, who absorbed the blue lightning in both fists.
The moment control slipped, he charged all current that could kill him into his fists, boosting their power!
A smirk emerged on Kasia’s lips.
You think your skills are exceptional?
Well then, let’s see you handle this.
Thunder Calling
Immense lightning descended like a bolt onto Io’s body.
Boom!
The ground shattered, sending a dodgeball flying into the air.
Yellow Metal Ball
Despite its seemingly conductive name, this ball is an electrical insulator.
Io unleashed all the electricity he had charged against the ball made of a high-resistance alloy that doesn’t conduct electricity.
Insulation Breakdown
Superconductive Transformation
Insulating materials normally do not conduct electricity, allowing even electric users to hold it comfortably.
However, under certain conditions, its properties can break down, forcing electricity into it.
For instance, high temperature and high pressure.
The punch filled with energy comparable to lightning forcibly broke the insulation, sending the ball flying like a meteor.
Sparks ignited in the trail as bright yellow electricity shimmered like an afterimage.
For an ordinary First Year student, even a brush against it would spell instant death.
Standing at the end of that trajectory was Kasia.
She was unafraid.
‘I can’t win with just electricity, so I’ll drive him outside the court with the physics involved in this ball… That’s a kind and shabby scheme, I don’t mind it.’
But she was no First Year who should be treated with kindness.
Moreover, the energy emerging from above her dispelled any such thoughts.
“Dark Mana…? The Empire’s princess, the next generation’s powerhouse, openly revealing her power without a care?”
Muttering.
A grim expression marred the face of Warrior Ishtar.
The anger emanating from her shattered the demeanor of Second Year Top Student Mandela, who had been battling the warrior.
If she unleashed that anger on the Second Year alone, the warrior would be of little concern.
The problem was, no matter how you looked at it, that bloodlust was aimed at the innocent Oknodie, not the angry princess.
‘Is she planning to take her anger out on him? Does she think Oknodie seduced the princess?’
The reason didn’t matter.
The warrior’s killing intent spoke clearly.
She intended to strike Oknodie.
Sure, there’s a rule against attacking other students from the same year, but that warrior didn’t seem to care about her reputation or standing at all.
If that warrior could act so recklessly, you never knew what might happen.
Thus, the original plan of casually relying on kindness to dodge was thrown out the window.
Self-Magnetic Hysteresis Loop
Forced Polarization
Multi-Polarization Domain
The absurd life of the research facility.
Yet the knowledge they instilled was genuine.
Kasia opened the door.
A door to knowledge she had intentionally avoided using, even though she knew about it.
It changes a certain part of the ground to exhibit a polar character.
What if she marked it so that the opponent’s electric shock could be converted to opposing or similar forces?
By exploiting the property where like poles repel and opposite poles attract, she could perform such a trick.
Absolute Separation
A fist imbued with lightning power couldn’t overcome the force created by the polarization on the ground and was lifted off the ground, while a ball floated upwards began to orbit around Kasia, following her outstretched hand.
Magnetic Field
Rebound
The counterattack unfolded as naturally as breathing.
The power that Io of the Blue Fist had unleashed was now directed back at him through Kasia’s hands, along with the dodgeball.
Magic Field
Switch
Polarization Reversal
When the ball approached, it exhibited an attractive force between dissimilar poles, and the moment it crossed the intangible magic field, it reversed the force to show a repulsive force between similar poles.
The double acceleration struck Io like lightning, along with the dodgeball.
Ka-boom!
The blinding flash and explosive noise caused all battles occurring elsewhere on the field to pause, as every student, instructor, and professor turned their attention to the scene.
Wow, what a talent!
An impact strong enough to earn praise from the Dragon Principal!
“Is Io… dead?”
“The ground is pitch black.”
“It’s gouged like it was scratched by a whip.”
The students trembled in fear, questioning how such a force could come from a fellow student.
“Could we have prevented that… if we had intervened?”
“Impossible.”
“Not even the dedicated Alexo could have managed that.”
The instructors glanced nervously at Olnor’s instructor, Alexo.
“This is boring. There’s nothing to teach her.”
“The results are good, but that kind of skill is a burden for professors.”
It was so intense that even the professors were scratching their heads!
“Is Kasia really that explosive? Even the principal is drooling over her like she wants Oknodie?”
*What nonsense.
Of course, I was talking about that hands-on mischief.*
“Yes?”
At the question from First Year Class Representative Mahabharata, the Dragon Principal pointed with his finger at the last trajectory of the ball that no one had noticed.
“Kasia! Since you’ve been eliminated, can you use this?”
“Oknodie… If mishandled, it could kill.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t kill!”
With not an ounce of hesitation, she grabbed hold of the ball she wouldn’t even dream of catching without inflating herself, hurling it into the air in a continuous loop.
Despite her ambitious plan to use the shock of detonating electricity to expel the ball out, the continuous loop turned into an explosive hell with a manic lightning rainbow ball accelerating in random trajectories.
The principal burst into laughter while Mahabharata was left utterly in shock.
Now, it was no longer about pulling the ball out but rather ensuring it didn’t come out—stopping it was the priority given its rising speed.
“Should we stop it?”
*Let it be.
That way, even against the warrior, the levels will match up.*
They are still first-year students…?
Mahabharata’s hollow words didn’t even reach the ears of the Dragon Principal, who was no longer concerned about student rank.
Of course, neither did it to the warrior Ishtar, who was clearly expressing her intent to kill Oknodie.
The princess used Dark Mana.
This was a matter of an entirely different degree than Oknodie using it.
The Empire began to be tainted by darkness.
From the very top.
Admiration, already glimmered in the eyes of the nobles.
If the absolute quantity of Dark Mana and its safety were issues, couldn’t it be solved with the power of money?
Princess Masugaki showed the solution.
Who would the princess, having amassed more mana than the Demon Minions desperately gathering Dark Mana for a lifetime, submit to?
Even if the nobles who followed her could not surpass her Dark Mana, so what if they obeyed her orders?
It simply added strength to the loyalty they should offer.
All students.
All nobles.
Thus, the wariness of Dark Mana faded away.
The warrior felt fear.
Because she understood how reckless that thought was.
Let’s take the Demon Minions as given.
What about the Demonic Clan that lured people into the path of corruption?
What of the races that aren’t human addicted to the dark?
Their lifespans far exceeded that of humans, whose lives rarely reached 60 years.
Dwarves lived for 200 years, Elves for 500 years.
Dryads lived for 1000 years, and Dragons lived for 5000 years.
Could she dare claim superiority over those who had spent those enormous years amassing Dark Mana?
‘They will become enemies.’
The moment a figure from the Demon King’s Army appeared on the horizon.
One day, all of them will become enemies.
From the Imperial Princess to the nobles under her, the Chief Student of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation and all others.
There was only one way to prevent it.
To demonstrate how meaningless it is to devote oneself to Dark Mana through her own abilities.
The showdown with Second Year top student Mandela didn’t matter at all.
Ishtar’s goal was clear.
Today, within this match, she would crush Oknodie.
So thoroughly that the Empire’s nobles would never dare think of harnessing Dark Mana.
