Book 1 Chapter 724
724.
The nine magic students, excluding Lisinas, were wary of Chen Sia.
Chen Sia looked at those magic students with a relaxed expression.
“What is it? That face that shows not even a hint of tension? Does he think he can take us on alone, or what?”
As Ellig, a third-year magic student, furrowed his brows, Avad shook his head.
“No way. He must be planning to figure out our position and then retreat. It seems like he’s here for reconnaissance.”
“That makes sense. But if it’s reconnaissance, wouldn’t Illiana Laden be a better fit? She’s the fastest among the knight students.”
Chelsea, with her arms crossed, answered Ellig’s words.
“Do you really think that idiot can carry out a difficult mission like reconnaissance?”
“What’s so difficult about reconnaissance?”
“It’s difficult for that idiot.”
Chelsea spoke without mercy.
As several people nodded.
“It’s not me who looks relaxed; it’s you, isn’t it?”
When Chen Sia smiled and spoke, Ellig said.
“If you’d come secretly, maybe. But now that you’ve been found out, retreating won’t be easy, will it?”
Ellig drew his staff and aimed it at Chen Sia.
“Even in terrain like this, where concealment is easy!”
Kugugugugugu-!
The trees around Chen Sia attacked him as if they had a will of their own.
“Wow, as expected of Ellig. He displays incredible power in the forest.”
Chen Sia exclaimed in admiration.
Ellig Tuna.
As a master of plant magic, he uses powerful magic in the forest.
Although his combat power drastically decreases in places without a forest, if one only considers his combat ability in the forest, he was among the top five strongest third-year magic students.
Chen Sia performed an Aura Step with light footwork.
As if he were flowing water.
Dodging the tree roots that surged to catch him, Chen Sia tried to move out of Ellig’s attack range.
“Where are you going!”
Ellig unleashed his magic power.
Then, even more tree roots sprouted from the ground.
At that moment-
Flash-!
Crackle!
Bang bang bang bang!
As Chen Sia flicked his hand, a sharp flying dagger flew towards Ellig.
“Gasp?!”
Ellig was startled and stumbled backward, falling on his rear.
An ice wall had already been erected in front of Ellig.
Chen Sia narrowed his brows at the sight.
‘Not Chelsea… but Chloe?’
He had expected his attack wouldn't work.
However, he thought the one capable of blocking his attack would be Chelsea, whose forte was high-speed incantation.
Chelsea, who had reacted quickly to Chen Sia’s attack, also looked at Risinis with surprised eyes, as Risinis had reacted one step faster than her.
From a little while ago, Risinas had been continuously watching Chen Sia.
The moment their eyes met.
Chen Sia felt goosebumps all over his body.
And then, without delay, he disappeared into the shadows of the bushes.
‘She’s a perceptive child.’
Risinas smiled and moved her feet.
“Chloe, where are you going alone?”
A classmate grabbed Risinas’s shoulder with a puzzled expression.
At that moment.
Crackle-
“Ugh?!”
He was terrified and quickly took his hand off Chloe’s shoulder.
Because an intense cold swept over him the moment he touched Chloe.
At that moment.
Chelsea’s eyes suddenly changed.
Thump-! Swish-!
Chelsea’s staff touched Risinas’s neck.
Avad, too, had already summoned his staff and was aiming it at Chloe’s back.
“What are you doing?”
“Who are you?”
“I thought something was a little strange since this morning.”
Chelsea asked in a sharp voice, and Avad nodded as if he had expected it.
The atmosphere among the magic students also changed due to the siblings’ reactions.
Seeing this, Risinas asked with a curious expression.
“How do you all become so quick-witted?”
“You try being tormented by big brother Leo. You’ll get really quick.”
Creeping-
“Chelsea! Step back!”
“…!”
Avad shouted urgently, and Chelsea also flinched, creating distance from Risinas.
Chelsea and Avad’s feet were already submerged in black shadows.
“What is this?”
Chelsea, having escaped the shadow’s range, looked at Risinas in horror.
Avad’s face hardened.
“Is she disguised?”
Risinas smiled at his words and extended her hand.
Crackle-! Snap-!
Risinas plucked off a piece of ice that bloomed from her palm and dropped it to the floor.
Crunch crunch crunch! Crack! Crunch! Crackle!
The ice fragment that fell to the floor grew larger and began to take shape.
Soon, an ice golem identical to Chloe was created.
It was an ice clone, one of Chloe’s specialties.
“Please.”
The ice clone nodded at Risinas’s words.
Risinas turned and chased after Chen Sia.
“Where are you going!”
The moment Ellig deployed his magic.
“Ice World.”
Kwagagagagak-!
As the ice clone recited the incantation, an intense cold wave swept through.
Avad flinched and used a protective spell, Wind Wall, to push back the cold wind.
The Wind Wall, which protected the nine magic students, disappeared when the cold wave ceased.
Along with it, everyone gasped at the sight of the landscape that had turned into an ice forest.
“What the hell! Chloe could conceive of such powerful magic?!”
“No! It’s clearly a spy pretending to be Chloe!”
The magic students became wary of the ice clone.
The ones who knew Chloe’s magic skills best were, of course, her magic department classmates.
Everyone knew her overwhelming magic skills, but this far surpassed the level the magic students knew.
She merely took on Chloe’s appearance and used magic similar to what Chloe used.
The being before them was completely different from Chloe Müller.
“Stop pretending to be Chloe and reveal yourself!”
Chelsea aimed her staff and shouted sharply.
In response, the ice clone covered its mouth and burst into laughter.
“What’s so funny?”
Wiping away a tear from laughing at Avad’s question, the ice clone rubbed its eyes.
Small ice particles scattered.
“Sorry. Sorry. I just thought kids are the same now as they were back then.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s true I’m not Chloe, but this power is Chloe’s.”
Risinas smiled.
“That doesn’t make sense…”
“You just don’t know.”
Risinas looked at each of the magic students’ faces.
“How amazing your potential is. How strong you can become if you properly use your power.”
Gooooooh-!
A cold wind began to blow, centered around Risinas.
Avad’s face hardened at the unusual sight.
“What’s your game?”
“Game, you say.”
The ice clone smiled.
“Leo Flobe.”
“Leo?”
“That bastard. I’m going to kill him.”
“Our leader is a busy man. It’ll be quite hard to meet him, you know?”
Risinas giggled at Avad’s words.
“Then, shall I struggle with all my might?”
Goooooh-
A fighting spirit erupted from Risinas’s body.
The bodies of the magic students trembled at the sight.
‘…This presence.’
Avad clenched his fist.
Someone’s image overlapped.
‘Leo?’
“Personally, I’m looking forward to it a lot.”
An enormous number of magic circles appeared around the ice clone.
“Don’t disappoint me, alright?”
***
Risinas, who was chasing Chen Sia, cast another ice clone.
And the place that ice clone headed was where the nine knight students were.
The knight students looked somewhat flustered upon seeing Risinas suddenly standing alone in front of the nine of them.
Even Duran, who was usually unflappable, looked stunned.
“Hello?”
Illiana snorted, letting out a puff of air, upon seeing the clone smiling and greeting them.
“You dare to invade our side alone, without fear?! And it’s you, Chloe, not even Chelsea?! I’ll defeat you in the name of the Knight Department! Here I coooome!”
As an excited Illiana drew her sword and was about to charge, Celia reached out and grabbed Illiana.
“Idiot! If you charge recklessly, you’ll be defeated! Do you think Chloe came without any preparations?!”
“Ah! It’s a trap! As expected of Chloe! Trying to completely fool me!”
Seeing Illiana’s surprise, Celia pressed her temples.
Then she stepped forward.
“Are you going to step up?”
Celia brushed her hair back at Duran’s question.
“I’ll figure out what her game is. I have the most advantage in terms of compatibility.”
Celia, who wielded fire aura, certainly had an advantage in a fight against Chloe.
Moreover, among the third-year knight students, Celia was the one who most often took on the role of vanguard in such situations.
In Illiana’s case, she was fast, but lacked destructive power.
Similarly, Chen Sia’s abilities themselves were not suitable for a mission that involved sweeping away enemies head-on.
Even in Duran’s case, who used destructive aura comparable to that of a mage alongside Celia, his pure destructive power was slightly less than Celia’s.
Duran’s strengths were speed and destructive power.
Thus, he often performed missions that utilized his mobility.
‘Whatever game she has, it’s useless.’
As Celia stepped forward, the ice clone’s eyes sparkled.
‘She definitely said in this life that she’s Kyle’s cousin, right?’
Her posture was clearly upright.
And from her red eyes, one could feel her integrity.
‘…The children of Lumen are truly fascinating.’
In a way, they were Kyle’s descendants.
But they showed so many different aspects.
The magic students’ vivacity, creativity, and uniqueness harbored Luna’s presence.
The knight students’ unwavering will and courageous demeanor reflected Dweino and Arion.
And in their never-giving-up gaze, one could glimpse Kyle’s appearance.
‘She resembles me too. Is it Kyle’s influence?’
As Risinas tilted her head with a curious expression.
“Do you have time to be thinking about other things?”
Whoosh-
Flames engulfed Risinas.
Seeing this, Risinas thrust her staff forward.
“What?”
Clang-! Whoosh whoosh whoosh! Crackle crackle crackle-!
Sword and staff clashed, and flames and ice covered all directions, blocking the vision of those around them.
Kakak-! Kakak-!
“What?”
Celia looked at Risinas, who was struggling with her, with a horrified expression.
Risinas easily deflected Celia’s sword and then plunged into Celia’s personal space.
Risinas spread her palm wide and struck Celia directly on the chest.
Smack-! Whoosh whoosh whoosh-
“Cough?!”
Celia quickly retreated.
If she had been even slightly late in deploying her Aura Armor, her entire body would have frozen.
“What is this martial art? Did you learn it from Sia?”
“Huh?”
“You resemble Sia!”
“Ah.”
Risinas’s clone smiled at Celia’s words.
‘If that child is a descendant of Bihar, then she might resemble me.’
The foundation of Berkhia’s swordsmanship and magic was Arion and Luna.
Leo taught Berkhia how to fight using the abilities he learned from the two of them.
Similarly, as a shadow, the foundation of Bihar’s techniques was Risinas.
‘More precisely, it’s the power of the Black Dragon.’
The abilities of the Black Dragons, who were guardians of the darkness.
Bihar made them his own and used them.
“You’re observant. But…”
Risinas tilted her head.
“Isn’t it you who’s thinking about other things while fighting?”
“What?”
Crackle crackle crackle-!
“Ugh?”
Celia’s body froze.
Risinas spoke in a cold voice, looking at Celia whose eyes were wide open.
“I’m a little disappointed. To be defeated by just this much, without being able to concentrate on the fight.”
Step- Step-
Risinas approached Celia.
Celia was indeed defeated too helplessly compared to the power she possessed.
Risinas spoke coldly, looking at Celia, who was biting her lip tightly.
“Is there something more important than fighting me?”
At those words, Celia hung her head.
Then she said.
“Chloe.”
“Why?”
“…You and Avad aren’t in any kind of relationship, are you?”
“What?”
“You’ve always maintained a clear line with Avad, as a friend and a competitor in the same department, right? But… this morning, something felt strange.”
“Did you have feelings for Avad?”
“What feelings could I possibly have for that butter-up?! He’s the heir to the Rwalyne family!”
Risinas internally gasped, watching Celia shout back as if startled.
‘Oh my, look at her.’
Anyone could see she had feelings, but she denied them.
Her bright red face and lack of honesty were cute.
And someone else came to mind.
A colleague and friend dearer than anyone else.
‘Luna.’
From Risinas’s perspective, having liked the same person, she couldn’t cheer for Luna.
‘So fresh.’
For some reason, she felt a sense of satisfaction.
‘These are the good old days.’
Laughing to herself, Risinas still felt like teasing Celia a little.
“Then.”
“…?”
“May I try to flirt with him?”
“…”
Celia’s eyes trembled slightly.
Normally, Celia would have felt something was strange, but today, due to her complicated feelings, she didn’t notice the oddity.
Gooooooh-
The ice began to melt rapidly.
“Do whatever you want.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Celia’s mouth twisted ferociously.
“I’m… fine. You two go well together. Very much so.”
Risinas smiled at Celia, who spoke as if chewing out the words.
“Yes, thank you.”
Kwahhhhh-!
“Thank you for what?!”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh-!
Celia’s flames engulfed Risinas.
“Hah-! Hah-!”
It was when Celia, freed from Risinas’s ice bind, was gasping for breath.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh-!
The Phoenix’s flames gathered into a single mass.
And with it, they blazed on Risinas’s palm.
Celia’s face hardened.
“Who… are you?”
Risinas smiled deeply at the question.
“Secret.”
The flames burning on Risinas’s palm took the shape of a phoenix and then enveloped Celia.
Kwagagagagang-! Thud-!
“Gah?!”
“Celia?”
“What’s going on?”
As the knight students gasped in shock.
Duran flinched-! and was about to swing his sword.
But Risinas’s index finger tapping Duran’s forehead was faster.
Tap-!
Flash! Kwagagagagang-!
A flash of light emitted from Risinas’s hand sent Duran flying.
Risinas, who had intruded among the knight students, smiled.
“Are you ready? You’ll have to do your best.”
Whoosh-!
A small sphere of light appeared on Risinas’s fingertip.
Illiana trembled at the sight.
“Because it’s going to hurt a lot.”
“It’s light magic! Everyone, dodge!”
At that cry, light particles burst from Risinas’s fingertip like buckshot, engulfing the knight students.
Risinas’s ice clone, who had swept away the knight students in an instant, stood calmly.
Celia and Duran struggled to get up.
Illiana, who had barely escaped the range of the attack and hid behind a rock, peeked her face out.
Goooooh-
As an unusual aura emanated from Risinas’s body, Illiana made a tearful face.
“What the heck is this. This class representative version of Chloe?”