Chapter 332: Academy Exchange Diary (3)

Three against one.

The proverb of Gehenna.

***

BOOM!

The shockwave from the clash of swords rippled outward.

The surroundings quivered as if a frigid wind had swept through.

Beneath the feet of the knights clad in black and white, dust rose in concentric circles.

Crash! Bang! Crash!

It was a simple clash. But the sound that echoed was not that of a mere crossing of blades.

Hadn’t it been announced that all events in this exchange competition would use only simplified weaponry? Unless I heard wrong, that’s what was stipulated.

But this force… it was comparable to an A-level combat or higher.

“Kuugh…”

The desperate struggle of the second-year Parsy student felt like it could burst out of the screen. She barely managed to block Chaerina’s attack.

Just that—block it.

The ground beneath her feet was caving in as her face twisted under the impact. The difference in power between the two was obvious. It seemed the Parsy girl was simply giving it everything she had.

I hadn’t been interested before, but according to Abel, that student was also of royal blood.

She looked nothing like Princess Victoria, so I never imagined it.

‘Whether through the maternal or paternal line, she’s still royalty.’

The Victoria royal house held immense power, even among the most influential noble families. Their strength came from inherited blessings.

Only the Nibelung family, to which Abel and the Swordmaster belonged, was considered superior in terms of blessing.

Even the Saki and Changseong families fell short of the Victorias.

‘Those clans were strong only because their members were individually powerful.’

In terms of averages, the Victorias ranked just below the Nibelungs. No one questioned it.

The Victoria royal family didn’t participate in the Second Great Human-Demon War.

Even so, no one criticized them. It was proof of how unshakable their foundations were in this world.

‘Criticizing royalty is nearly blasphemy.’

I agreed. Back to the present.

“Haa… damn…!”

A noble of that lineage was shouting while fighting.

She had surely already noticed the Joaquin crest on Chaerina’s chest.

The color signifying she was a special admission student.

They exchanged several more strikes. There was no defense—only offense. Blades swinging up, down, crossing.

It looked like a silver shield of pure pressure was forming between the two knights. It was worthy of academy representatives. Neither backed down.

Their clash of swords was both fiery and cold. It was more a test of strength than a tactical match.

A raw fight that would imprint itself in the viewers’ minds. Real fights stir the blood.

My eyes stayed fixed on one person.

‘Chaerina.’

I felt a chill. Her dual sword style was exactly like mine.

After discussing it with Yu Sein, I had decided to keep an eye on Chaerina for a while. Not to abandon her, but to observe.

The two things aren’t the same. Abandoning is turning your back completely.

Observing is paying attention without stepping in.

That’s why I wanted to use this opportunity to watch her without getting too involved.

‘But it seems I won’t be able to.’

Our connection was deeper than I thought. We were surprisingly alike.

Clang! Clang! Claaang!

While I thought about it, the fight reached its climax.

I forced myself to shake off the thoughts and turned my gaze back to the screen.

Parsy was beginning to fight back.

***

The black knight roared with fury.

“…Damn lowborn bitch…!”

She was being completely overwhelmed by someone she had always looked down on.

Her lips trembled with sheer humiliation.

Crack.

Her teeth ground together—and so did her sword. Sparks flew nonstop.

Between the crossed blades, their gazes met and clashed like fire. Compared to those eyes, the sparks were mere match flames.

“Your Highness!”

A first-year student from Parsy, a pawn, was restless at the unexpected balance of the fight.

The plan had been to quickly conquer the black island, then proceed to a 2-on-2 battle.

If the queen or the knight fell, he would use a Bifröst charge to revive them.

But…

“How can a mere special admissions student be evenly matched with Her Highness…?”

And calling it “even” was generous. Technically, the black knight was losing. Though visually it looked like a tie, their faces told the real story.

Chaerina, in contrast to her opponent’s desperation, was calm. More than calm—impassive.

‘How can she generate so much force with just two daggers?’

The pawn looked at Edward, the black queen.

Crack.

Edward clenched his teeth. He too was surprised by what he was seeing.

“Your Highness, should I go help her?”

“…No.”

After a brief hesitation, Edward shook his head. Then, with sharp eyes, he looked in another direction.

Victoria was observing the battle, her hands resting on the inverted hilt of her sword. She didn’t respond, not even to Edward’s prolonged silence.

He clenched his fist tightly. His knuckles cracked audibly.

‘You’re always like this…’

Victoria was provoking an all-out war.

She had no intention of winning just by placing a flag on the mast.

She wanted a full-on battle. A spectacle to mesmerize the world. It still wasn’t clear why she chose to be a pawn.

‘She just wants to get His Majesty’s attention.’

She wanted to leave a lasting impression—probably aiming for a dramatic twist to shock the audience.

‘Stay calm. If you fall into her game, you’ll lose. If we stick to the plan, this is a game we can’t lose.’

Victoria had always been this way.

She would do anything to gain the King’s favor. A hypocrite who prioritized her own goals above all else. The fact that she enrolled at Joaquin Academy instead of Parsy proved it.

Edward lowered his gaze. Another student with black hair caught his eye.

‘Heavenly Sword.’

At some point, Victoria had become obsessed with him.

‘She thinks that if she finds the Heavenly Sword’s weakness and offers it to the King, she’ll win his favor.’

A pathetic delusion. Just another way to get attention.

‘I’ll crush you here, arrogance and all.’

He also intended to change the board of succession. To inflict total helplessness. To leave an unforgettable impression on the ignorant masses.

Victoria is incompetent. Edward is the rightful heir to the throne.

His thoughts were settled.

“The pawn’s Bifröst charge can only be used once. Using it to move would be a waste…”

Edward kept his eyes on the battlefield but couldn’t finish his sentence. The situation changed suddenly.

Whoosh.

The black knight rotated her wrists.

She tried to deflect Chaerina’s downward pressing daggers.

It worked. Chaerina’s body staggered.

Her torso dropped suddenly, off-balance.

Applying too much force means needing even more to recover it.

The black knight seized the moment.

She knew how to use her opponent’s power against them.

“An opening!”

She raised her sword with both hands. Ready to deliver a finishing blow, she let out a battle cry.

The blade descended, aiming to split Chaerina’s skull.

“Stop!”

Edward reached out—but it was already too late.

Whoosh!

Chaerina, who was nearly crashing into the ground, spun low using her right leg as an axis. As she spun, she drew a wide arc with her left, like unfolding a fan.

Tap.

The tip of her foot brushed the black knight’s chin like a breeze.

The upperclassman’s eyes dimmed, like a puppet whose strings were cut.

The trajectory of her descending blade suddenly veered off like lightning. She had lost her target.

Chaerina reset her stance instantly. The black knight forced the last of her awareness to regain her vision.

‘She’s gone.’

Gone. No sign of her. Where did she go? Where?

Then, a cold sweat traced down her neck. A lightning chill ran down her spine.

Tilting her eyes diagonally, she saw black hair and eyes.

A piercing sharpness stabbed at the backs of her thighs.

Chaerina, who had somehow appeared behind her, swung both daggers at once.

The blades slashed through flesh. A sharp, pained scream burst from her throat.

“Aaaaaaagh!”

Her hamstrings severed, the black knight dropped to her knees.

Whoosh!

A shadow fell over her face. Chaerina, standing behind, yanked her hair back hard.

“Words have power.”

Chaerina spoke with dry, lifeless eyes. Her other hand, which had held a dagger, was now empty.

“I don’t like people who say bad things. They make me feel like I’m a bad person.”

“What… are you saying… you filthy lowborn bitch?”

“I’ll give you a chance to apologize. If you take it back, I won’t have to be a bad person. I don’t want to be bad—not in front of the Sword God. Don’t make me become someone like that. If you apologize, I can stay good for the Sword God…”

The black knight’s expression turned completely white—pure terror. In the end, she spat a curse without thinking.

“Kill me! Just kill me already, you crazy bitch!”

“Bad words. Very bad.”

Crack!

“Guh!”

A bloodied tooth flew against Chaerina’s cheek. She casually wiped it off with the back of her hand and asked again.

“Why do you call me lowborn?”

“Ghh…”

Crack!

“Answer.”

Crack!

“Answer.”

Crack–!

“I said, answer.”

Crack! Crack!

“Why do you want me dead?” Chaerina asked as she kept hitting.

The flurry of punches disfigured the black knight’s face. Being stabbed by a sword might have been preferable, but that was forbidden by the rules.

Chaerina’s striking style was brutally merciless. Ji Changhyeok, who was using the Bifröst to move to the central island, paused.

The sound of the blows intensified, and fear spread through the arena like wildfire.

“P-please… save me…”

“You…”

A dull, wet thud.

“…You told me to die.”

Chaerina kept striking like she was playing a drum.

“Then why do you want to live?”

The black knight’s head bobbed like a rubber ball on a string.

Her face became an unrecognizable pulp.

Edward finally reached his limit.

Unable to watch any longer, he shouted urgently to the first-year student.

“Let’s finish this fast! Use the Bifröst with me to that island and take out that first-year. I’ll go to the black island and plant the flag. Got it?!”

“Y-Yes!”

They activated the Bifröst immediately. Edward, sprinting like an arrow to the scene, gasped in horror.

The scent of blood. The thick iron smell soaked into his lungs.

Chaerina, slightly tilting her head, aimed at the black pawn knight, who raised his spear at her.

Edward, straining his patience to the limit, tried to brush past her and clip her shoulder.

“I can’t win unless it’s three against one,” Chaerina said as she passed him.

“……”

Edward paused for a moment, then pushed off the ground and slid forward.

If the plan got disrupted again, it would be the end.

“I’ll forgive you this round.”

•••

As they passed each other, Edward gave a warning.

“In the next battles… I’ll kill you.”

“…”

In truth, Edward had no intention of planting the flag.

He planned to crush the enemy Queen on the central island, pulverize Victoria, and then finish this arrogant girl with a flourish.

Boom!

He leapt over Chaerina and landed forcefully. For a moment, he wanted to stomp on her head with full weight, but—

‘If I do, I’ll drag Adriana into it.’

The second-year black knight was his younger sister. Even though the subspace prevented real injuries, he couldn’t treat her like just another enemy.

He ran toward the central island. Ji Changhyeok, regaining his senses, also charged at the flag.

The battle between the two Queens was about to begin.

The black pawn aimed his long spear directly at Chaerina.

The tip, once a distant dot, now filled his entire vision.

Swoooosh!

Only the participants knew what happened next.

The ground exploded into countless pieces, scattering debris. Amid the wreckage, a silver flash briefly appeared—then vanished.

Over the fallen black knight’s body, a burst of light sliced through the air, leaving the imprint of battle suspended above.

Meanwhile, Princess Victoria remained exactly where she had been at the start.

The moment she had patiently awaited was approaching.

With a calm gaze, she mentally called out to “him,” who surely watched from below.

“…Please, watch me.”

Then, she assumed the battle stance she had been taught.

***

At the same time.

Gahk.

A crow perched on a branch flapped its wings and flew away.

In the spot it left behind, only a few black feathers floated gently. Beyond that, the crystals shimmered.

Behind them, everything was blood.

The blood slowly dripping onto the floor had turned into a bright red mirror.

The room, which had just recently held the living, was now filled with corpses.

Splash, splash.

Each time the two figures—man and woman—stepped forward, ripples spread across the pools of blood, reflecting the images of the dead in overlapping layers.

“Looks like we’re almost done.”

Knox Auditore removed his mask as he spoke.

“…”

“What’s wrong, Chloe? Something bothering you?”

“I don’t know.”

Chloe replied while staring only at the floor.

“I feel nauseous.”

“Maybe because it’s been a while since your last mission?”

“No… that’s not it.”

She didn’t know what caused it. Her whole body simply felt like retching.

And whenever she felt that way, without fail, the parasites clung to Kang Geom-Ma.

In moments like this, her own position always faltered—and missing such moments pushed her further away from him.

‘I used to be the one at the front.’

Now she was becoming someone who arrived late, merely approaching him.

“Oppa.”

She lifted her head and parted her lips.

“I have to go.”

“So suddenly? Weren’t you the one who planned this operation?”

“Sorry. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Chloe passed the blade behind her knee and pulled it.

Blood stained the inside of her elbow, but the blade remained clean.

Caw, caw, caw.

The translucent blade reflected the silhouette of a crow disappearing into the mountain, bathed in the hues of the setting sun.