Ruin sat on the bench, wiping the blood flowing from his burst lip.
"It's like a dog."
I couldn't shake off my depressed mood.
Because there was no excuse to explain the result of the overwhelming defeat that was beyond our control.
Even if you take out the number of spleens.
Ruin, who felt that he could never win even if his physical condition was normal, sighed and wiped his face with the towel placed on his head.
"Fuck."
Today, for some reason, I feel like I can hear other people's voices clearly.
-Surrender?
-Was it all a bubble?
-My older sister said that my senior named Ruin was really strong, what is this?
-The pride of the Faculty of Magic? If that's the pride of the Faculty of Magic, then I must be the pride of the Academy.
The freshmen's chattering was particularly audible today. The criticism directed at him seemed especially loud.
I didn't have the courage to start again.
In the past, I would have shaken it off, thinking I'd win if I went all the way, but now I didn't have the energy to do that. It was to the point where I wanted to give up everything.
Ruin, sitting on the bench, had his head bowed with a dark expression.
"I guess it was all my fault."
“It was all my fault, Hans’s work, and not recognizing Yuria….”
I feel ashamed.
The wall of pride that I had built like an iron fortress collapsed in an instant, and I felt so pathetic and foolish when I was left alone inside.
I kept thinking that I was just looking down on others to this extent, and that I was just showing off with the skills that would be easily caught up to me.
"Really, what am I?"
I felt worthless and stupid for not having anything.
Unable to shake off his heavy heart, Ruin lifted his head with difficulty. He hoped that perhaps there was someone nearby who could comfort him.
-You're hurt again!? I'm going crazy because of you, Ruin!
-It's okay, you won.
-What?! If I win, it's okay to get hurt?
-Why! Yuria can just treat you.
-Oh my... I told you I won't be able to survive because of you and Mikhail!
-ha ha ha!
Ruin raised his head, thinking back to the happy days of the past. He hoped Yuria, who had always comforted him, would come find him.
Ruin raised his head with a complicated mind, but unfortunately, his expectations were not met.
"..."
Because Yuria turned her head away when her eyes met his.
'Doesn't he even want to see my face anymore...?'
The void left by Yuria, who had always comforted him, was greater than he'd imagined. He'd thought things would be okay, that he'd just find other friends. But when he returned from a bitter defeat, the void left by her comforting "Are you okay?" was looming larger than he'd imagined.
I just wanted to be the best, but now I had nothing left.
Friends too.
Talent too.
There was no honor left.
"ha..."
Letting out a deep sigh, Ruin lowered his head to the floor and covered it with a towel. Not wanting others to see his gloomy face, he lowered his head even further.
Has 3 minutes passed?
A small boy was walking in front of Ruin, holding a cold drink.
Ruin looked at the man with a stern expression.
"Why did you come? Did you come to brag about winning?"
"I came because I thought it was okay."
"...what an unlucky kid."
A slow guy.
After all that abuse, what did he come here to hear? Ruin chuckled in vain, looking at Mikhail's innocently smiling face.
"Idiot."
He was a guy you hated, but couldn't hate.
Even though he acted so bluntly, it was all for his own good. Knowing that Mikhail would hear harsh words, Ruin swallowed his bitterness and accepted the drink Mikhail offered him.
Ruin spoke without looking at Mikhail, who was sitting next to him.
"You're incredibly strong."
"No, there are so many people stronger than me."
"You unlucky bastard.
Ruin spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Was it really that bad?"
"what."
"My magic."
"...uh."
"Fuck."
Ruin smiled, suppressing his bitterness. Still, he felt strength in knowing his friend was by his side.
Thanks to Mikhail, rumors didn't seem to spread much. Rumors about the bubble and the poor condition of the tower were likely to spread, albeit slightly.
Ruin spoke quietly to Mikhail, hiding his embarrassment.
"thanks."
"what."
"Just understand, you idiot."
"..."
As the elated mood gradually subsided, Mikhail cautiously asked Ruin a sensitive question.
"Magic... Are you going to stop now?"
"..."
“Isn’t it a shame to end it like this? Think of it as starting from the beginning….”
Ruin sighed at Mikhail's nagging and threw the water bottle he had finished drinking on the floor.
“I can’t fold it. There are so many people who are expecting it… Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t fold it.”
At Ruin's words, Mikhail nodded with a small smile.
As time passed and his breathing gradually returned, Ruin's field of vision, which had been narrow, began to widen.
Now it was time to observe the younger players' performances. With plenty of time left before Mikhail's next match, we were able to enjoy some leisure time together.
Ruin raised his head, shaking off his sweat-soaked hair.
"What, is that guy playing next?"
Mikhail looked at the person Ruin was pointing at with his finger and answered in a low voice.
"Uh... right."
"What the heck, why do you look so grumpy? Fuck, I should be making that face."
"..."
"Is it because you can't rematch what you lost last year? Hold on, you can't rematch since you're a third-year student."
Ruin said, patting Mikhail on the shoulder.
"You're not going to win now anyway."
"...no."
"what?"
Ruin looked up and saw the female student unwrapping her wrists below the stadium.
"You can't win?"
"uh."
“Fuck. How the hell does this academy work….”
The person Ruin pointed to.
Histania Hannah.
The young swordsman who had never missed first place in last year's Academy Rankings was warming up with a calm expression.
Ruin looked at Hannah with a bitter smile.
"Crazy bitch."
Since Hanna started hanging out with Ricardo, their senior-junior relationship has been going south, and Ruin has come to dislike Hanna.
-Hey, don't hang out with that kid.
-Don't mind it.
-You told me not to care? I told you to come and go because you’re my junior…
"Get on the field. I'll kill you. And if you call that kid one more time, I'll sew your mouth shut. Senior."
In the past, I used to follow you around and call you 'senior.' F*ck.
Ruin, who had somewhat relieved himself of the emotional weight of his conversation with Mikhail, looked at Hannah with a dark expression.
"I wish I could get shaved like a dog."
And that moment.
'what.'
It was an eerie feeling.
Ruin slowly raised his head and looked at the face of a male student standing across the stadium.
The boy's face, as pale as a deathly one, gave off a strange sense of alienation.
'It's definitely a familiar face.'
As Ruin's questions continued for a long time, the loud voice of the female student who was hosting the event began to answer Ruin's questions in an instant.
-The next match is between Histania Hanna, the Academy's rising star who took first place in all ranked matches last year, and Hobbs, a rookie from the Faculty of Magic!
-Will Hobbes become the signal that will overcome the stagnation of the Faculty of Magic…!
Ruin quickly rose from his seat at the mention of Hobbs. The professor who had made the ideal suggestion last night was none other than a student from the Faculty of Magic named Hobbs.
I had forgotten.
Drunk on the feeling of defeat, I had forgotten my own mistakes. I almost turned to black magic, and I hadn't told anyone that there was a spy in this academy.
Ruin raised his head and looked at Hobbes.
"Hehehe..."
Are you laughing?
Something was amiss. Ruin had a gut feeling, looking at Hobbs' face. He had a gut feeling that something was about to happen in this match.
"We have to stop it."
"what?"
"We have to stop it."
At that moment, the host's booming voice began to resonate without waiting for Ruin.
-The game... begins!
Through the wandering Ruin's sight, Shalltear's anxious appearance began to appear.
Shalltear, who was looking around the audience as if looking for someone, was pointing at the very first row of seats with her finger and shouting.
-Over there─ ── ────
Shalltear's voice was drowned out by the murmur of countless students.
Ruin calmly looked at the direction Shalltear's finger was pointing, and Professor Shulia was sitting there with a subtle smile on her face.
'Wow.'
Professor Schulia was smiling.
He was smiling and looking at Hannah with an eerie look, as if he was waiting for something.
Just as I was about to scream, thinking that I should stop him.
-Tsk...!
A loud, piercing sound began to break Ruin's thoughts. It was the sound of swords and magic colliding. A massive frictional sound and the clash of fire magic.
Ruin looked up at the stadium, his mind racing as if it was about to fly away.
"asleep!"
Above the stadium, where Hobbes's malicious roar echoed, nothing could be seen. Only the silhouettes of two people moving swiftly through the thick, billowing clouds of dust.
"Mikhail!"
"uh?"
"Go up and block it."
"what?"
Mikhail looked flustered at Ruin's words and said, "No matter how much I dislike Hanna, I shouldn't interfere with the game."
Ruin, who thought that it was not a situation where he could care about such trivial things, grabbed Mikhail's hand in confusion and shouted again.
"Stop it! That bastard is a warlock."
“What did you just say…!”
Before Mikhail could finish speaking, a loud vibration began to resonate from the stadium, accompanied by a loud 'Kwaaaang!'
Vibrations that can be felt in the audience.
The moment I was about to go up to the stadium, thinking that I had to stop him.
-Cough...!
A human figure emerged from the cloud of dust, accompanied by someone's scream.
Ruin clenched his fist and thought of the worst.
Even if it meant facing everyone's condemnation, he felt compelled to tell the truth. People would assume Hannah had been fatally injured in the match. He felt compelled to reveal the truth.
Ruin clenched his fists and swallowed hard as he saw the silhouette of a person emerging from the dust cloud.
'shit...!'
Ruin was certain that the person falling was Inyoung Hanna. Even if she was a prodigy from the swordsmanship department, he didn't think she could withstand an attack that would cause such a large amount of vibration.
-Turtle...!
The moment the shadow of the person holding his breath and falling fell to the ground, Ruin made a foolish expression and let out a dumb sound.
"What? Why did you fall..."
The person who fell to the floor was not Hannah.
The boy, no, Hobbs, was trembling in fear with his wrists cut off, and he was looking up at the stadium with his shoulders shaking.
"Cough... monster..."
Hobbs had intended to inflict a fatal wound on Hannah, after suffering a bitter defeat in the last ranked match.
In order to avenge the shame of that time when I had knocked myself down in a second without any consideration, I prepared by touching places I shouldn't have touched.
-Kill him.
-yes...?
-I gave you strength, so you should repay me.
-I don't hate you to that extent.
-You don't like it? Then I guess I'll have to take it back.
I used magic with the intention of killing him, but I collapsed without any strength.
Hobbes was completely unaware of Hannah's sword. The look in her eyes, as she swung her sword, glared at his hand until the very end, was terrifying.
“It’s a monster… How can I defeat it….”
I was so scared I couldn't get up.
Ruin frowned at the lingering scent of dark magic emanating from Hobbes's hands.
"Are you crazy..."
And he let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Hannah, who was looking at Hobbs, who had fallen under the stadium, with cold eyes.
"You're a real monster."
The moment Ruin breathes a sigh of relief at the thought that the work has ended safely.
-Phew!
A huge roar began to be heard from the audience.
The sound of the leader running to the spot where Sharltia's hand gesture had landed.
A shadow of a single man and several students fighting was visible, along with a thick cloud of dust.
and.
-bothered.
At the woman's small gesture, a thick scent of blood began to flow from the cloud of dust.
A fleeting moment, as fleeting as the blink of an eye.
A lone figure fell limply toward the stadium through the clouds of dust.
"what."
A female student fell to the stadium floor with a thud. The screams of students could be heard from the chaotic audience.
Ruin spoke with a trembling voice as he looked at the female student who was spitting out blood.
"Student president...?"
Shartia, coughing up blood, spoke in a trembling voice.
"Run away..."
"what?"
"Everyone run away!"
Dark clouds begin to gather over the circular stadium.
Thick dark clouds, thick enough to obscure everything, began to cover the stadium below where the ranking matches were taking place.
As Ruin looked up at the darkening sky, the image of a woman coming down with light steps began to gather before his eyes.
The woman walked toward Ruin with a small smile. She approached him slowly, neither fast nor slow, while looking at Mikhail, Shalltear, and Hannah.
Mikhail said in a trembling voice.
"professor?"
"Yes, student Mikhail."
Schulia said with a smile.
"I didn't think I'd get caught this quickly."
He opened his mouth with a bright smile as he looked at everyone.
"Wouldn't it be better to kill it if it turns out like this?"
It was a very malicious act.
Malice like I've never felt before.
Ruin thought to himself.
I want to run away.
*
Same time.
Hans was fidgeting as he looked at me.
"Can the students defeat the Archbishop?"
I answered, putting down my teacup.
I didn't want to answer Hans' obvious question, but I felt like he'd keep asking if I didn't give him a definitive answer.
"Of course I can't win."
"yes...?"
"How can we win? He's an archbishop in name only, and honestly, even Hans alone wouldn't be able to handle one."
"It's strange to win."
Hans looked at me as I spoke calmly and asked, "What are you thinking, doing something like this?"
"Shouldn't I go too?"
"Why are you doing that? He was an archbishop in name only. And if Hans goes to the capital, he will definitely be captured by the imperial army."
"..."
Being with such a kind person made me feel like my heart had become kinder. As they say, being too kind can be a problem.
I smiled slightly and said to Hans.
"You can leave me alone. My disciple is there."
"Are you a disciple?"
"yes."
I smiled and cheered on my student's growth. Thinking of him, who might not win, but was capable of buying enough time.
"It's incredibly strong."
He smiled.
*
-Kaang...!
Hannah swung her sword without a moment's hesitation.
The target is Professor Schulia's neck.
I wanted to achieve my dreams by making achievements.