LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 199
TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 199
Beneath the arena where cheers echoed.
A nervous Ruin clenched his fists and looked up at the arena.
“Why does it look so high?”
The arena, tinged with a dull gray hue. The seat that had always been a place of victory and admiration now seemed impossibly high today.
He didn’t want to go up.
Because it felt like a guillotine made just for him. Ruin, unprepared for this, was terrified of stepping onto it. It was the first time since his match with Olivia that he felt this crushing weight on his shoulders.
The stares of everyone were overwhelming.
His rough breathing refused to calm down.
“Haa… Haa… Get it together. I just need to get a weak opponent.”
Above Ruin’s anxious head, the booming voice of the narrator began to echo.
-The first match of the day is none other than…! Senior Ruin from the Magic Department!
-Last year, in the first semester’s ranking tournament, he unfortunately lost to the rising star, Histania Hanna, and remained in the lower ranks. However, in the second semester’s ranking tournament, Senior Ruin achieved third place, becoming the pride and pillar of the Magic Department! Isn’t it exciting to see Senior Ruin in the first match of this ranking tournament?
-Now, who will be the first opponent for the top-ranking Senior Ruin from the Magic Department…!?
Ruin clenched his fists.
“Please…”
Cold sweat gathered in his palms as he desperately prayed to avoid the name of a strong opponent.
Please let it be someone he could beat. Ruin prayed earnestly, but the heavens did not side with him.
The narrator, pulling a hand out of the box filled with countless names, brought the microphone imbued with amplification magic to his lips in a surprised voice.
-Oh… This person shouldn’t have been chosen.
-The first opponent is… Senior Mikhail!
At the narrator’s trembling voice, Ruin’s expression crumbled as if the world had collapsed. Letting his tightly clenched fists fall limply, Ruin lowered his head and muttered softly.
“F*ck.”
Nothing ever went his way.
Ruin forced his unwilling feet to move. Mikhail wasn’t someone he could handle in his current state.
Even before losing strength, they had been evenly matched. To be honest, Mikhail had always been stronger. Meeting someone like Mikhail in the early rounds meant he would surely be eliminated without even putting up a fight. Ruin couldn’t think positively at all.
Ruin climbed up to the arena with heavy steps, not bothering to hide his dark expression.
“Haa… Seriously, f*ck.”
Mikhail was already on the arena. Loosening his waist and fiddling with the sword strapped to his side, Mikhail, as always, approached the battle with a serious attitude.
He didn’t seem to have any intention of going easy.
Lowering his head, Ruin slowly began to draw out his mana. At the very least, if he could show something before it ended, he thought he could preserve his honor.
Even if he had grown weaker, he still had a hidden trump card to grab the nape of his opponent. Slowly gathering his mana, Ruin awaited the signal.
‘The old man said this magic is unstable, but… Whatever, I’ll make it work somehow.’
Losing to Mikhail might not be the worst outcome. It was better to lose to someone acknowledged by everyone than to a weak person no one knew. To protect his fragile pride, Ruin waited for the narrator’s signal.
After a brief moment, the narrator’s booming voice rang out, and Ruin took a deep breath.
‘Let’s do this…’
-The match… begins nowwwww!
As soon as the narrator’s words ended, Ruin began casting magic from his hands.
The unique magic taught by the Tower Master of the Magic Tower.
A spell passed down from the first Tower Master through the generations. A magic taught only to disciples whose talent had been recognized.
[Green Generation]
The moment light green waves spread out.
Mikhail was standing right in front of Ruin.
“Focus.”
Mikhail effortlessly dismantled the magic Ruin had poured his heart into and walked forward. Like a small breeze brushing past, he stood lightly in front of Ruin, sword in hand.
Staring blankly at Mikhail, Ruin thought.
‘What the hell…’
Ruin couldn’t comprehend the situation.
The magic he had executed with all his might had been seen through. Even if it was a spell unfamiliar to his body, it was a magic he had learned from the old man. Yet, Mikhail had easily broken through it and approached him. He couldn’t regain his composure.
In a cold voice, Mikhail spoke.
“Do it properly.”
Ruin’s world began to crumble little by little.
*
Mikhail showed no mercy as he pressed Ruin relentlessly.
-Clang!
“Damn it…!”
Mikhail had returned as an even greater monster.
The Mikhail standing before him was so overwhelming that Ruin doubted whether he was even human.
The swordsmanship that once had openings now showed none, and Mikhail’s sword, which had once focused solely on defense, was no longer passive.
Ruin felt wronged.
He was so frustrated that he couldn’t even speak.
“What the hell is this?!”
Even if he hadn’t lost his strength, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to defeat the current Mikhail.
They had spent the same amount of time, and Ruin had undoubtedly put in effort as well, but Mikhail had grown several times stronger than him. The sight of himself being utterly overwhelmed made him feel unbearably small.
-Thud!
Mikhail, who had kicked Ruin’s stomach during a moment of carelessness, spoke in a low voice.
“Ruin. Don’t answer, just nod.”
“What…?”
“What did Hans do to you that day?”
“…”
“That’s why you can’t use your strength right now, isn’t it?”
In a small voice, Mikhail said.
“Normally, you weren’t this weak.”
“…”
“So tell me. That way, I can go easier on you.”
“F*ck…”
Watching Ruin claw at the ground in unbearable humiliation, Mikhail asked seriously.
“Honestly, there’s a limit to holding back, Ruin.”
“…What?”
“I tried to go easy because we’re friends, but honestly, it’s hard. Even that last attack, I held back, but you still collapsed.”
In a voice filled with regret, Mikhail muttered softly.
“I thought I had gotten stronger, but I guess not.”
Ruin clenched his fists.
He was so ashamed.
Hearing such words was humiliating and maddening to the point of insanity. What made him even angrier was the fact that he felt grateful for those words.
‘Don’t talk nonsense.’
‘Don’t talk nonsense. How could you call that weak? He’s already monstrously strong, so what’s weak about him?’
Ruin broke down.
‘Then what about me…!’
‘F*ck, then what am I… If I can’t win even with strength, if I can’t win no matter what I do, then what am I supposed to be?!’
‘I even considered turning to dark magic…! F*ck, then what am I. What am I…!’
Ruin arrived at a single conclusion. The pride that had allowed him to hold his head high and look down on others was the problem.
‘Was I just talentless all along?’
Ruin stood up and began firing magic.
“Shut up!”
“Ruin!”
“I said shut up! Going easy on me?! You’re holding back against me?! Don’t f*ck with me! Just say it honestly!”
As Ruin unleashed his magic in a fit of rage, Mikhail let out a forced groan, “Kuh,” and took a step back.
Despite their bickering, they had always acknowledged each other’s pride and been friends. Moreover, they had both been victims of Olivia and Ricardo’s evil deeds.
That’s why Mikhail understood Ruin. He knew Ruin’s pride was strong and that he was obsessed with others’ perceptions of him. For that reason, Mikhail had been deliberately pretending to lose while facing Ruin, who was now pouring out his magic.
“How about now? How does it feel?! Isn’t it different now?!”
“…”
“Doesn’t it make you lose the will to hold back?!”
Ruin shouted as he looked at Mikhail, who was pretending to struggle.
“F*ck! Stop it! Don’t look at me with that expression!”
Seeing Ruin’s pitiful state, Mikhail tilted his sword halfway and pretended it was difficult to avoid Ruin’s attacks.
Mikhail muttered in a small voice.
“Let’s stop.”
“…”
“I’ll let you win.”
“What did you say?”
“The ranking tournament results can be improved during the semester anyway, so I’ll…”
“…Damn.”
Ruin let out an empty laugh and muttered.
“I’m done.”
“Ruin.”
“I’m so disgusted by this that I can’t do it anymore.”
Ruin pushed Mikhail’s shoulder away and shook his sweat-soaked hair.
He was utterly disgusted with himself.
Being pitied.
The students being moved by Mikhail’s act and exclaiming, “Wow…!”—he couldn’t stand it.
Raising his hand, Ruin slowly walked out of the arena and said.
“I surrender.”
Winning like this was worse than just giving up. He felt too humiliated to continue.
*
Shulia was smiling.
“Hmm… There are too many budding sprouts.”
Mikhail included.
Yuria included.
Even the Crown Prince was growing in a way that was irritating to watch. If left unchecked, they would undoubtedly become threats to their cause.
Especially one person.
-The next match is Histania Hanna…!
That student had been an unbearable presence in Shulia’s eyes. Even if her existence was discovered, she had to be erased—or perhaps, she was worth possessing.
“Well… she’ll die today anyway. It should be fine.”
Shulia let out a small laugh as she looked at Hanna standing in the arena.
And Hanna was also looking at Shulia.