Chapter 58: The Final Match (3)

Although they won the match, Allen still felt something was missing—like the congratulations from his teammates…
“Hey, Allen. I’ve known you for so long, but you’ve never mentioned this is a magically enchanted knight’s sword!” Jiang Zhe, who had never seen an enchanted weapon before, stared at the sword curiously. If it weren’t so heavy, he might have held it closer to examine it in detail.
“That’s because you never asked…” Slightly disappointed, Allen raised the knight’s sword and sighed, “I wasn’t planning to use it. Ah! Now it’s exposed…”
“Hm?” Jiang Zhe looked at Allen in confusion and asked, “Exposed? To our opponents?” Then, as if he understood something, he gave Allen a speechless glance.
“That’s right, buddy!” Allen said with a smile, slinging an arm around Jiang Zhe’s shoulders. “I kept this for you and Scott, right, Scott… Scott?”
“Hm?” Scott, who had been lost in thought, suddenly looked up, glanced around instinctively, and exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Allen, “Allen? Isn’t your match the third one? Hasn’t it started yet?”
“It’s already over, buddy!” Allen shook his head helplessly and asked, “Hey, what are you thinking about? So lost in thought?”
“Oh… sorry,” Scott said, lowering his head and pushing up his glasses. He forced a smile and added, “It seems like you’ve already won, right?”
“Of course,” Allen said proudly, patting Scott’s shoulder before shaking his head with regret. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to see my heroic fighting style…”
“Is that so?” Scott nodded with a smile.
This puzzled Allen greatly. He stared at Scott for a while and said in surprise, “Shouldn’t you say ‘I don’t think so’? Hey, buddy, you seem a bit strange today…”
“Do I?”
“Of course,” Allen said, patting Jiang Zhe’s shoulder and shrugging. “What do you think?”
“Indeed, a bit…” Jiang Zhe also felt that Scott was acting strangely today. Usually, whenever Allen became a bit arrogant, Scott would shut him down with a few sarcastic remarks. But today, surprisingly, he agreed with Allen…
“Did something happen?”

“No…” Scott shook his head, forcing a smile as he said, “Since Allen has already finished his match, it’s my turn next, right? Um, the tenth… the tenth…”
“The eleventh match!” Lailira reminded him softly.
“Oh, right, the eleventh match. My opponent is… is… Qidan from the fifth grade?”
“What nonsense,” Jiang Zhe said, shaking his head and looking at Scott with a mix of amusement and exasperation. “Your opponent is Gert Danzi, a fifth-grade student from the SaloniaMil Academy! Scott, not to mention not preparing in advance, you can’t even remember your opponent’s name. That’s not like you at all…”
“Ah, sorry. I just couldn’t recall it for a moment…”
“That’s exactly why something’s wrong! Who doesn’t know you have the best memory?” Jiang Zhe exchanged a glance with Allen.
Approaching Scott quietly, Lailira asked softly, “Are you really… okay?”
Scott took a deep breath and replied calmly, “Yes!”
“Oh… well, then good luck…”
“Hey, hey,” Allen said, looking at his teammates helplessly with a feigned aggrieved expression. “I just won a match, and no one congratulates me?”
Hearing this, Ravia glanced at Allen with a sneer and said, “If you had lost, I would have congratulated you! The wound on your back must be pretty serious, right?”
“Hey! Really?” Allen pouted in dissatisfaction, then looked at Jiang Zhe with hope. Jiang Zhe shrugged and said jokingly, “You still plan to hide your ultimate move to take on me and Scott. Just for that, I agree with Avi…”
“Tch!” Allen scoffed dismissively. Suddenly, he felt someone tug at his sleeve. Turning around, he saw Lisa lowering her head and saying softly, “Congratulations, Allen!”
“Lisa is the best, hehe…”
“Allen, but next time… the professor said underestimating your opponent will lead to failure…”
“Yes, yes. As your knight, I’ve taken note, hehe…”
As everyone chatted and laughed, time passed by. The tenth match had already ended.
The referee-professor, after congratulating the winner, took out the match list from his pocket, glanced at it, and shouted loudly, “For the first round of the finals, the eleventh match: Scott O’Gill, a second-grade student from our school, against Gert Danzi, a fifth-grade student from the Mil Academy! Please have the two contestants come to the field immediately!”

“Scott, it’s your turn!” Allen laughed and patted Scott on the back, causing him to stagger.
“What did you do?!” Scott frowned at Allen and headed straight for the competition area.
Glancing at his left hand, Allen murmured, “I… didn’t use much force…”
“It’s not your fault,” Jiang Zhe said with a frown as he watched Scott walk away. “This is troublesome. Scott is clearly not in form…”
“Will he lose? That guy… surely not?”
“It depends on who his opponent is…”
While Jiang Zhe and Allen were talking, elsewhere, Eddie and Geller from theMil Academy were also discussing the match.
“He’s really lucky to be facing a sophomore…”
“Not necessarily,” Eddie said gravely, arms crossed as he stared at the competition area. “Scott O’Gill, Scott’s opponent, isn’t easy either. I checked earlier—he shares a dorm room with that kid Allen and the previous one, Sos. There’s no reason only the other two would be strong…”
“So what? Though I hate to admit it, Gert is a really troublesome opponent…”
“Troublesome for you?”
“Hm? Eddie, what do you mean? Are you provoking me?”
“No, no, I was just talking casually, hehe…”
Gert Danzi, a fifth-year student from theMil Academy?
I actually got the opponent’s name wrong… How embarrassing…
Shaking his head self-mockingly, Scott took a deep breath, forcing himself to ignore his worries and carefully observe his opponent.
The opponent wore a white magic robe and a monocle; he didn’t look outstanding. But as Scott watched him stand silently, he had a vague sense that he might be dealing with a tough opponent!
“The match…” The referee professor glanced alternately at Scott and Gert, then raised his right hand before dropping it sharply. “Start!”
It had to be said that Scott, who could trouble even Jiang Zhe and Allen, was indeed superior in combat skills.
As soon as the referee finished speaking, Scott raised his right hand, and several strands of black energy flashed around Gert, the fifth-year student from theMil Academy.
“Blind?” Gert said expressionlessly, hands crossed over his chest. “A very standard textbook-style sorcerer opening…”

“Is that so?” Scott glanced at his opponent faintly, muttered a spell under his breath, then pointed at him with his right hand. Instantly, Gert was bound by black thread-like energy all over his body.
“Binding…” Gert uttered those two words calmly. “Is the next spell mana drain?” As soon as he finished speaking, a faint smile appeared on his lips as he said expressionlessly, “Sure enough, mana drain…”
What on earth was this guy doing?
He kept casting curses he knew on his opponent one after another, yet the opponent didn’t react at all, which surprised Scott greatly.
Not only him, but even the students present were extremely puzzled. In just one minute, Gert had already fallen victim to curses such as [Blindness], [Binding], [Impotence], [Mana Drain], [Silence], and [Imprisonment]. Among them, [Mana Drain], [Silence], and [Imprisonment] were deadly to mages— the first caused continuous loss of mana in the opponent, the second deprived them of the ability to cast spells, and the last was an enhanced version of [Binding] that not only prevented movement but also stopped the opponent from accessing mana; they were all high-level curse spells.
“What’s that fifth-grader, Milko, doing?”
“Does he even want to compete?”
As the students around them argued, Gert, with his eyes closed, said expressionlessly, “The silence duration… about four seconds. There are still [Weakening] and [Aging] left uncast. Does he not know how? Or is he saving them as trump cards?”
“…” Scott frowned at him and whispered, “Are you… calculating the duration of the curses?”
“No, you misunderstand,” Gert said expressionlessly, shaking his head slightly. “It’s not just the duration…”
“What do you mean?”
Gert didn’t answer Scott’s question. A strong white light emanated from him, instantly dispelling the black thread-like energy binding him. Then, he opened his eyes again and stared at Scott expressionlessly.
Staring at Gert in disbelief, Scott murmured, “Dispel… dispelled?”
“Dispel?” Hearing the surprised voices of the students around him, Allen scratched his head in confusion and asked, “What’s ‘dispel’?”

“That’s a form of white magic,” Ravia said in a low voice, frowning as she watched the battlefield. “I’ve seen it in magic books—using the energy of holy light to remove any positive or negative status effects from oneself or others. That’s called dispelling! If the caster has strong control, they can even dispel already-formed spells!”
“Everything? Including enhancement spells?”
“Yes!”
“Then… does it include Thors’ fireball as well?”
“Yes. As long as the caster has enough control and can locate the fireball’s position mentally, they can unilaterally dispel it!” As she spoke, Ravia glanced at Jiang Zhe beside her. Clearly, she was addressing him primarily.
“Surprised?” Gert adjusted his monocle on his nose and said expressionlessly, glancing at Scott, who stood there frowning. “If you know anything about white magic, then you should know that dispelling isn’t some advanced spell… Since you’re surprised, I can assume you didn’t research your opponent before the match, right?”
“…” Scott frowned and fell silent.
“It seems I was right,” Gert said in a low voice, shaking his head slightly in disappointment. “I’ve analyzed your previous matches. During them, your curses were always cast just right, leaving your opponents helpless… Although they didn’t cause much actual damage, by gradually weakening your opponents, you managed to win… I’m not very interested in others, but I’m intrigued by opponents like you who can assess both sides’ strengths. It’s fortunate we met in the first match, but… you’ve really disappointed me!”
Frowning at Gert, Scott calmed himself down and snarled, “Stop talking nonsense. Do you think you’ve won?”
“No, not really…” Gert looked up at Scott and said calmly, “I only have an 80% chance of winning!”
“You!”

“Angry? Do you think I’m trying to provoke you?” Gert shook his head in disappointment and whispered, “Don’t get me wrong—I have no intention of provoking you. On the contrary, I hope you’ll approach this match calmly… Listen, my 80% chance of winning is well-founded. First, I know what kind of opponent you are and what magic you’re good at, while you haven’t even tried to understand your opponent. So, facing someone you don’t know already means you’re half lost—meaning I have a 50% chance of winning you. And just now, I didn’t do nothing. I carefully calculated the time it takes for you to cast your curses and their duration. All you knew was that I would dispel them. That gives me another 30% advantage…”

“You…” Scott stared at his opponent in disbelief. “You calculated the time it takes for me to cast my curses and their duration? How is that possible?”

“Don’t believe it?” Gert adjusted his monocle on his nose and said expressionlessly, “Consider it a special gift! The time it takes for you to cast your curses: Blindness—1.5 seconds; Binding—1.8 seconds; Weakness—1.8 seconds; Mana Drain—2.9 seconds; Silence—2.2 seconds, with a duration of 3.8 seconds; Confinement—2 seconds, with a duration of 3.5 seconds. Among these spells, except for Mana Drain—so as not to waste too much mana—I cast Dispel right after the end of Confinement’s duration. I’m not sure exactly how long it lasts, but it’s over ten seconds…”

Scott stared at his opponent in shock, murmuring, “How… how is this possible?”

“Still not convinced?” Gert took out a delicate pocket watch from his pocket and said calmly, “Then let’s give it a try. See if I’m lying!”

“Hmph, of course!” With a cold snort, Scott raised his right hand. Almost instantly, a streak of black light flashed across Gert’s body, but it was quickly dispelled.

Gert glanced at his pocket watch and said calmly, “Binding—1.8 seconds, just as I calculated!”

“You… how is this possible?!” Scott couldn’t believe what he was seeing. If the other party had simply used Dispel to remove his curses, that wouldn’t be surprising at all. But after seeing that spell just once, he could accurately calculate its casting time without error. Was this guy… was this guy a monster?

Damn it!

“Weakness—1.8 seconds!”

“…”

“Magic power loss… Hm? Two point eight seconds?”
“…”
“Silence… Huh, two point one seconds. It seems you weren’t focused just now…”
“…”
“Confinement: two seconds, exactly as I calculated…”
“Damn it!”
Frowning at the arena, Ravia whispered to Jiang Zhe, “Bad news—Scott has encountered a tough opponent!”
“Hmm…” Nodding, Jiang Zhe murmured, “Today’s Scott isn’t as calm as usual. His magic fluctuations are chaotic, and he can’t concentrate his mental energy either…”
Staring at Jiang Zhe in shock, Lelira asked incredulously, “Will… will Scott lose?”
Glancing at the flustered Jiang Zhe, Ravia said softly, “I’m afraid… Normally, Scott would constantly assess his opponent’s strength and adjust accordingly. But he’s faced an opponent of the same type—and this opponent is… extremely tricky!”
“Well…” Watching Scott, who was in disarray on the field, Lelira’s eyes showed concern.
“Huh, this guy…” Allen, clearly unable to stand by, shouted at the arena, “Scott, what the hell are you doing?! Did you win to make it to the finals just so you could be mocked by your opponent?” Indeed, his voice was loud enough to drown out the noise in the arena.
Against the rules of the competition, the referee professor pointed at Allen and said sternly, “Students outside the arena, please be quiet and don’t disrupt the match maliciously! First warning, second-year student Allen!”
Yet even this shout calmed Scott, who was in chaos. He turned to look at Allen and sneered, “Do I need you to worry about me? Stay back!”
“Hehe!” Allen laughed mockingly, pretended to salute, then patted Jiang Zhe’s shoulder and said, “Still, my method works, right?”
“Hehe,” Jiang Zhe smiled slightly. Just as he was about to speak, Ravia whispered, “But even if Scott calms down, the situation won’t improve much. His reckless use of magic earlier has depleted most of his magic power, while his opponent only used a few dispelling spells… Maybe this match was doomed from the start—Scott, an expert in curses, facing a white magic apprentice who can dispel spells…”
“Will he lose?” Lelira asked anxiously, holding Lisa’s hand.
“Maybe…”
Meanwhile, on the field, the match resumed after being interrupted by Allen’s shout.

Glancing at Allen below, Gert wore a rather strange smile and said calmly, “It seems you have a troublesome companion as well…”
“Yes,” Scott took a deep breath, calming himself down, and said in a low voice, “If I let you win too easily, that guy will laugh at me!”
“Can’t let me win so easily?” Gert’s expressionless face showed a faint smile as he said, “Then let’s see!” With that, he pulled out his left hand, which had been hidden in his sleeve. In his left hand was a milky-white wand, its tip embedded with a layer of sterling silver, and at the center of the silver was a crystal that emitted a faint multicolored glow.
“…” Scott glanced at him calmly before gently raising his right hand and pointing.
“It’s useless…” Gert’s words were cut off mid-sentence. With a look of surprise on his face, he glanced around and murmured, “It’s a illusion?”
“Surprised?” As he spoke, Scott rushed forward a few steps to his left. At the same time, a black light flashed from his right palm, and a black energy sphere resembling a miniature fireball shot toward Gert. Where Scott had stood before, a white magic sword descended from the air and pierced the ground, emitting hissing sounds.
[White Magic—Sword of Light]
Under Scott’s hopeful gaze, just as the black energy sphere was about to reach Gert, a barely visible white barrier appeared around him. The black energy sphere collided head-on with the barrier, scattering countless lightning-like black energies before disappearing.
[White Magic—Wall of Holy Light]
Scott frowned slightly as he saw Gert scanning the surroundings warily. Gert said calmly, “So you deliberately made noise to lure me in?”
“Surprised?” As he spoke, Scott quickly left his position. At the moment he left, another magic cross sword made of holy light descended from the air.
“Not really. I just wanted to give it a try. It turns out you’re no ordinary guy…” Gert quickly recited a few spells, and a barrier suddenly appeared around him, blocking the black energy sphere.
“Oh? What kind of opponent am I?” It seemed like he was trying the same trick again, but the observant Jiang Zhe noticed a cold glint in Scott’s eyes.
“Didn’t I say you’re a tough opponent…” Gert only said half a sentence before suddenly realizing in shock that he couldn’t make any sound.

【Curse——Silence】
At the same time, another black spherical energy mass rushed toward Gert at high speed. Trapped in the illusion, Gert seemed to sense the approaching danger as well; his right hand had just risen when his entire body was bound by black thread-like energy.
【Curse——Confinement】
“Hiss!” The black spherical energy mass struck Gert’s shoulder, releasing countless black energy bolts like lightning. Gert instinctively let out a groan—it was clear he was in great pain.
“Whoosh!” A strong beam of holy light spread around Gert, dispelling all the dark energy. Holding his magic wand in his left hand and pressing it against his right shoulder, he panted slightly and said, “I was careless… But it’s only battles like this that give victory meaning! How long can you maintain this illusion now?”
“Five minutes, I guess… Tch! I almost managed to strike!”
“Lying, right? Tch! Losing magic power? I really don’t want to calculate how long this spell will last right now…”
“Hey, are you keeping your defense magic active the whole time?”
“Of course. I certainly don’t want to experience being hit again…”
As the two fought while talking on the battlefield, the entire arena fell silent. All the students were stunned—fighting? Could it really be like this?
“That brat is quite tough too!” Looking at the battlefield, Geller scratched his head and said with schadenfreude, “It’s so unexpected—someone could make Gert work so hard…”
“Indeed,” Eddie nodded in agreement, a faint smile on his lips as he said softly, “But… though it’s difficult, Gert will win…”
“What?”
“Oh no!” While the two were discussing, Ravia whispered to Jiang Zhe beside her, “Sos, have you noticed? The energy swords are becoming more accurate in their targets and faster in speed…”
“Hm? Really?” Jiang Zhe glanced at the battlefield, looking astonished.
“Yes! I’m puzzled too—how can he, trapped in Scott’s illusion, pinpoint Scott’s exact movements…” As she spoke, Ravia’s expression turned serious as she frowned. “It’s not just the lightsabers getting faster; it’s Scott’s speed that’s slowing down. Right… Moving around like this must drain energy!”
Sure enough, Ravia’s intuition was correct. Not only her, but Scott himself on the battlefield had also noticed it.

“What? No more sounds to lure me? Do you have other plans?” Under the protection of a layer of holy light, Gert kept scanning the surroundings. Rather than trying to determine his location, he was actually trying to pinpoint where Scott was making sounds. But twice in a row, Scott didn’t make any further noise. “It seems you’ve figured it out!” With a wave of his hand, another light-guided sword sliced past Scott’s body and pierced the ground. Gert said expressionlessly, “As humans, we have a habit: when faced with danger and trying to evade it, we always dodge in one direction, with few exceptions. When you were luring me earlier, I was also testing you! During that time, I used eleven light-guided swords in total. Judging from your sounds, you moved left ten times and only right once. So this time, the chances are high… left!” As soon as the word “left” left Gert’s mouth, three lightning-fast light-guided swords appeared above Scott. These three swords descended in a triangular formation, trapping Scott perfectly in their midst. Gert raised his right hand and pointed in Scott’s direction. Instantly, the three light-guided swords released a ring of lightning-like energy, which then formed a white halo surrounding Scott. Before Scott could react, the white halo transformed into three circular energy bands that locked him tightly around the chest, abdomen, and legs. [White Magic—Light Guided Prison] Looking at the energy shackles on his body and the several light-guided swords floating around him, Scott slightly opened his mouth before whispering with a hint of disappointment, “I… I lost!” As if sensing something, Gert glanced around. This time, his eyes accurately pinpointed Scott’s location—clearly, he had broken free from the illusion. Gert stared deeply at Scott, nodded, then shook his head, saying expressionlessly with an indescribable sense of regret, “As your opponent in this match, I’m glad—and yet disappointed—by your mistakes in the first half. If you hadn’t used magic recklessly earlier, you would have had enough mana to pair with various curses, and this match would have been even more interesting! I hope to meet you again next time…” “Next time, you won’t be so lucky! And…” With that, Scott looked up at the opponent’s wand and frowned, “I won’t forgive you!”

“Hah, that’s not what I meant. I’m just trying to make you understand that even if you hadn’t made those mistakes in the first half, I still wouldn’t have taken advantage of you! If there’s another chance to compete, make sure you prepare a high-quality wand! Otherwise, you won’t be able to defeat me!” With that, Gert gave Scott a deep look.
In the silent competition arena, the referee professor raised his right hand and shouted, “The winner of the eleventh match in the first round of the finals: Gert Danzi, a fifth-year student at theMil Academy of Sciences!”