Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – The Returner’s Promotion Battle (4)

Aster0x’s Notes:

[1] ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[2] “Senbonzakura Kageyoshi,” she said, as she tore off a mask, revealing a

handsome male face with long black hair held up by intricate white hairpieces .

[3] Pretty sure this qualifies as sexual harassment in America . . .

[4] ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Desir walked past Romantica and headed towards Pram .

“What’s my role, Mr . Desir?” asked Pram, with an oddly expectant light in his

eyes .

Desir paused as he said, “Pram, the role I’d like you to take is . . . ‘damage dealer . ’

But to better fit our party composition, let’s call your role ‘half-damage’ . ”

“Half-damage . . . ” Pram repeated, as if trying to engrave the words into his

memory .

“You’ll need to protect us . We’re mages, so we’re very vulnerable to melee

attacks . Your role as our sole melee attacker is very important . ”

“I’ll do my best!” Pram exclaimed, as he saluted playfully .

Desir couldn’t help but smile, seeing how insanely cute he was, and Pram

smiled back at him . [1]

Romantica piped up as she observed the exchange . “Desir, what will your role

be?”

“Hmm . My role is . . . ‘anti-mage . ’ Well, to put it simply . . . ” He paused, as he

pondered his choice of words, before finally speaking, “A playmaker, I guess?”

4

It was time . An announcement blared out .

| The Shadow Gate is opening . Students, please proceed into the Shadow Gate .

Desir took a step forward . The Shadow Gate bulged outward, enveloping him in

a blinding light . He closed his eyes reflexively .

When they opened again, the scenery had changed completely . Birds chirped

noisily around him, and a gentle, soothing fall scent drifted up from the fallen

leaves crumpled underfoot . The location was a forest, and the time was 11 AM .

Desir took a deep breath as another announcement sounded out .

[Objective: Locate the enemy’s base . ]

[Failure condition (an unknown input has been entered): Participants in

this world cannot die . Upon taking lethal damage, the failure condition

will be met, and you will be ejected from the Shadow World . ]

| You are a soldier . You have received information on the location of the hostile

forces’ base . As a soldier of the allied forces, you must find the hostile forces’

base . Pain limit is reduced to 20% .

He looked around, but couldn’t see either Pram or Romantica . As expected, the

30 participants had all started in different, randomized locations .

“Lucky for me . ”

Desir sensed the flow of magic power behind him simultaneous to the sneering

voice . He ducked, as an Ice Bolt flew over his head and stabbed deep into a tree

with a thunderous crack, chilling the air around him . He turned to see a girl,

around the same age as himself, smiling maliciously .

“Lucky I found you so quickly, that is . ”

5

Desir arched an eyebrow in response . “Was I that famous?”

“ . . . Not in a good way . ” A pulse of magical energy radiated from her as formulas

appeared in front of her . In response, Desir began casting his own spell .

“I’m Desir Arman, party nameless,” he said, almost casually .

“Lapras . Blue Moon party . ”

Their spells shot forward simultaneously .

[The throne of ice sinks into a freezing cold . ]

[Ice Blast!]

Lapras’s spell was Ice Blast, a higher tiered version of Ice Bolt . It was a spell

produced by encasing an Ice Bolt in an orb of ice, before shattering the orb and

releasing the bolt again .

The orb shot towards Desir, leaving forsty air in its wake .

[The road of flame burns stronger than any other . ]

[Fire Road . ]

Fire Road . A 1st circle flame spell that shot a ray of condensed heat . Desir had

expertly predicted the trajectory of the Ice Blast, and released the Fire Road

directly into its path .

But Lapras wasn't done yet .

[Aqua Wave!]

A stream of water shot up, rising nearly 2 meters into the air before washing

over the Ice Blast . With a dull sputtering and a burst of steam, the Fire Road

disappeared as it struck the water . At the same time, what remained of the

water froze from the bitter cold of the Ice Blast, forming a pillar of gleaming ice

that held the orb in place .

6

Desir looked at Lapras, who smirked as she looked back .

With a horrible crinkling, the ice pillar shattered like a sheet of glass as the Ice

Bolt encased within the Ice Blast exploded outward . Shards of ice sprayed

wildly in all directions, shredding everything they touched .

Several shards tore into Desir, and he staggered under the weight of the impact .

Without hesitation, Lapras continued her assault . Countless ice fragments

slicing through the air froze in place, as if time itself had been suspended .

Then, in synchrony, they gathered around Desir, surrounding him in a

whirlwind of ice knives . [2]

A terrifying rending roared through the air as magnificent, ancient trees were

reduced to sawdust in an instant . Around him, birds flew into the sky in panic .

Dust kicked into the air, before being blown away by the intense force . From

outside this trap of ice, Lapras looked on triumphantly . Her voice carried

confidence in every word . “Any last words?”

“Hmm, not a bad idea,” replied Desir lackadaisically, as if he were a professor

lecturing a student .

“Hmph . ” Lapras snorted at his response . She raised one hand slowly into the air

and squeezed it into a fist .

The whirlwind of ice began closing in on Desir . For an instant, he felt a slight

tugging as the shards of ice reached his coat, before being freed again as the

edges of his coat were instantly disintegrated, disappearing without a trace .

“You just had a bad matchup,” continued Desir, seemingly undeterred . He

spread his hands . The ice shards that were inches from tearing him into pieces

stopped and began gathering in front of Desir .

7

Lapras’ eyes widened in shock as she watched each of those thousands of tiny

fragments fall out of her control, and gather in front of Desir, like iron dust

pulled by a magnet, until a single, perfect ball of ice floated in front of him .

“That’s . . . . !” she sputtered .

“Watch and learn . ” Calmly, Desir raised his right hand, letting the fist sized orb

hover inches above his palm . Without hesitation, he grabbed it and threw it at

Lapras .

The orb flew across the air before it split apart into an incredible number of Ice

Bolts flinging in every direction . It was the most powerful ice projectile spell in

existence: Ice Orb .

Before Lapras could react, dozens of Ice Bolts burst into existence and impaled

her all over her body .

“KUUAAAA-!” She shrieked in pain as her body was struck again and again –

And then, as the fifth Ice Bolt struck, the screaming stopped as she disappeared

and her body fell to a pile of ash .

| A contestant has been eliminated . 29 contestants remain .

Romantica felt her mana surge as she created the formula .

[The wind lies in my embrace, becomes the eyes and ears of the hawk as it

hunts its prey on the ground . ]

A detection spell formula formed in front of her . It was a 2nd circle spell, but,

depending on how much she wanted to boost the range, the mana consumption

could rise to that of a 3rd circle spell . Since the moment Romantica had entered

the Shadow World, she had been casting this detection spell without regard for

her mana .

[Detect . ]

8

A heavy wind radiated from Romantica’s position, and everything the wind felt

was transmitted to Romantica; trees, rocks, and, most importantly, living

creatures . She could sense five people within 1 kilometer so far .

The spell hadn’t even been completed, but Romantica didn’t hesitate in the

slightest as she instantly shot a Wind Bullet at the nearest target .

Chantless, ultra long-range sniping . There was almost no delay between the

detection and the shot . She hadn’t liked it at first, but the chantless magic Desir

had taught her to use was definitely bearing fruit .

The bullet tore through the air . She had little problem controlling the power;

after all, the ball she’d been training with this whole time had been around the

same strength as a human head, so all she had to do was match that same level

of power .

She heard the slightest thump, before an announcement sounded .

| A contestant has been eliminated . 26 contestants remain .

“Okay, that wasn't him,” she vocalized, before preparing to cast her detection

magic again .

“Is the search for Mr . Desir going well?” interrupted Pram, who stuck tightly to

Romantica . Fortunately for the two of them, Romantica and Pram had ended

up with fairly close starting locations . Romantica had found Pram the first time

she’d cast her detection magic, and now, there was only one member of their

party left to find .

“Not yet . But we’ll find him soon,” assured Romantica . Once again, the heavy

wind spread from Romantica, transmitting what it felt back . There were four

living creatures, in total, within range . She raised her hand and a bullet formed

in front of her . Once again, she fired and began counting down the seconds

until the inevitable . “3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . ”

9

She waited for a moment, but the expected announcement never came . Instead,

she felt the bullet slip out of her control before dissipating into a light breeze

that blew back past her cheek . Romantica grinned as she spoke . “Found him . ”

“Found what?” called an unexpected voice from behind the pair . They whipped

around to see a two man group, comprised of a swordsman and a mage . “You’re

broadcasting your own location by flinging around detection magic like that,

you know,” said the mage, haughtily .

Romantica smirked at the mage’s mocking attitude . “Even if you know . . . ”

“I wonder why you’re so sure you can take us down,” finished Pram, as he drew

his rapier .

“Stop spouting bull . . . ” the swordsman started . He had just grabbed the handle

of his blade as he spoke, but before he could finish his word, Pram had already

closed the distance . In an instant, the rapier pierced through the swordsman’s

heart . “Huh . . ?”

Simultaneously, Romantica fired a bullet at the totally unprepared mage

standing behind him . It was perfect coordination . Both bodies vanished into a

pile of white dust .

| 2 contestants have been eliminated . 24 contestants remain .

“Now then, should we go find our stupid party leader?” Romantica asked

rhetorically as she stretched her shoulders .

Dark clouds rolled across the sky as an ominous rumbling rang out through the

air . The light breeze from before had quickly grown into a powerful gale, and

the temperature had begun plummeting rapidly . Rain was all but inevitable .

10

“I took out two people by myself,” Romantica preened as she looked at Desir

with a smug expression on her face, her arms folded across her chest .

Desir smiled and patted her head . “Looks like you haven’t been slacking off on

your practice . ”

Romantica looked up at Desir, annoyed . “Wa-wait! Don’t touch someone’s head

without getting permission!”

Desir hurriedly retracted his hand . He had pet her head without thinking

because of how cute she looked, [3] but wisely withdrew .

“Mr . Desir!” Out of nowhere, Pram slipped in between Romantica and Desir

like a ghost . “I took out someone too!” He quickly moved Desir’s hand on top of

his own head, and stood quietly, patiently waiting . [4]

Romantica looked at them as if she were annoyed, and turned away .

“Stupid Desir . ”