Book 1 Chapter 729

729.

"Uwaaaaaaak!"

Iliana was running at an incredible speed.

Hot on Iliana's heels was none other than Chelsea.

"Stop right there!"

"Would *you* stop if you were me?!"

Iliana, looking back while running, cheekily stuck out her tongue.

Chelsea, who had pulled out her staff, had an even fiercer look in her eyes.

She aimed the tip of her staff at Iliana.

But hitting the rapidly moving Iliana was not an easy task, even for Chelsea.

*Whirr! Bang-!*

The magic Chelsea shot barely grazed over Iliana's head.

Compressed air exploded, scattering fragments, but Iliana didn't care and increased her speed even more.

"Argh! Seriously, how long is that leech going to chase me?!"

Iliana made a fed-up expression.

In fact, if they had faced off 1:1, Iliana wouldn't have been fleeing so unilaterally.

Even if Chelsea's skill was superior to Iliana's, Iliana also possessed a skill level in the Knight Department that made it hard to find a match among third-year students, excluding Chen Sia, Celia, and Duran.

Therefore, even for Chelsea, who was a battle mage nicknamed the "Knight Killer," unilaterally overpowering Iliana was bound to be difficult.

But for now, she had no choice but to flee from Chelsea.

This was because Chelsea wasn't the only one chasing Iliana.

'I wonder if I've shaken off Abad by now?'

Tonight, Chelsea had teamed up with her older brother, Abad.

As a result, Iliana had no choice but to flee the moment she encountered the Lwaryn siblings.

*Whoosh-!*

Iliana, who was accelerating more and more, flinched.

*Hwoong-!*

A strong wind blew, and Abad appeared before her.

"Huh! How did he get ahead?"

As Iliana, surprised and frozen in place, made a bewildered expression, Abad smiled faintly.

"Iliana, because you're honest."

"Hehehehe. Even if you praise me like that, nothing will come out."

"Idiot. Does that sound like a compliment? It means your movements are simple."

*Chuck-!*

Chelsea, who had blocked Iliana's escape route, sighed.

"I deliberately cornered you here."

"Ah! That's cowardly!"

"What's cowardly in a fight? And what's cowardly about it? It's strategy! Isn't it your fault for falling for such a simple strategy?"

Chelsea snorted at Iliana's protest.

Iliana, looking indignant, drew her sword.

*Swoosh-!*

Seeing the sharply gleaming sword, Abad also raised his staff.

It was then.

*Whoosh-!*

"Brother!"

Chelsea, startled, shouted at Abad.

Abad also flinched and swung his staff.

*Pwoong-!*

As the wind barrier repelled the flame aura, sparks flew everywhere.

"Gap found! To show me your back! You're fearless! Abad!"

"Oh no, you don't!"

As Iliana aimed for Abad's back, Chelsea, eyes blazing, quickly closed in on Iliana and swung her staff.

*Chaeng-!*

Iliana's sharp sword and Chelsea's staff, armed with wind blades, clashed.

Iliana, seeing Chelsea pressing her, put her strength into her sword.

*Hook-!*

Chelsea, pushed back by the force, used Iliana's strength to spring back and create distance to regroup.

But Iliana, as if determined not to give her a chance, closed the distance.

'Ugh? She got faster, didn't she?'

Chelsea was flustered by Iliana's speed, which surpassed her expectations.

*Chaeng-!*

Every muscle in her body tensed tightly, and all her nerves focused on the tip of Iliana's sword.

*Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaejaejaejaejaejaeng! Kagagagak-!*

Blow by blow,

sparks flew every time the sword and staff clashed.

And as the offense and defense continued, Iliana's sword grew even faster.

"What?"

Soon, a gasp of astonishment burst from Chelsea's lips.

Chelsea, too, was second to none when it came to attack speed.

High-speed incantation was her specialty, and based on that, her forte was overwhelming opponents with excellent physical combat techniques.

Chelsea's close-quarters combat was literally akin to complex acrobatics.

And Chelsea managed to do it without much difficulty.

The insufficient destructive power of high-speed incantation was compensated by targeting the opponent's vital points with quick movements.

Conversely, her relatively weaker physical combat techniques compared to knight classes were supplemented with magic.

By overcoming her weaknesses with these greater strengths, Chelsea had grown stronger.

'If I could do that, it would be the easy way. But if I do it like Chelsea, I'll just get tangled up.'

Iliana pouted her lips as she looked at the astonished Chelsea.

Unlike Chelsea, Iliana didn't pay much attention to her weaknesses.

More precisely, she tried not to think about them.

Iliana's attacks were certainly fast and menacing, but that was all.

'Because I only have speed. I don't have destructive power like Celia or Duran, or the versatility like Sia.'

There was only fast speed and the impetuousness of charging at the enemy.

And in some ways, that was one of the factors holding back Iliana's growth.

Excluding Celia, Duran, and Chen Sia, it was difficult to find an opponent among the third-year Knight Department students.

As such, to the top three in the Knight Department, Iliana was an easy opponent who posed no threat at all.

Iliana was so powerless against the three that she sometimes heard jeers in the Knight Department, joking that she was "massacring commoners."

No, it wasn't just those three.

'I was also powerless against the tops of other departments.'

*Kaang-!*

Iliana, having created distance from Chelsea, caught her breath.

'I didn't care in my first year.'

After all, she grew rapidly in her first year.

And when she became a second-year.

Iliana sometimes complained to Chen Sia and Chloe.

Saying that the gap between her skills and those of the 'tops' seemed to be widening even further.

'Sia and Chloe told me to be more serious about everything.'

That was true.

In reality, Iliana was very lighthearted.

Not only her attitude towards everything but even her attitude towards combat.

Iliana's biggest weakness was that simplicity.

'If you move heavily with long thought instead of acting rashly, you won't just blindly charge.'

'If you seriously look at your opponent, you can think of various attacks.'

If she followed their advice, she could certainly overcome her weaknesses.

But even so, Iliana couldn't do it.

Because thinking complicatedly slowed down her sword speed.

She didn't like that.

Iliana, who had many worries in her second year, eventually asked Leo what she should do.

And what Leo told her was unexpected.

"Wouldn't it be okay to just keep doing what you're doing?"

"Aha! Does that mean I'm doing well now?"

"No."

"What?! What was that?! You said to just keep doing what I'm doing!"

"It's good to add complex variations to high speed. But in my opinion, you don't have the personality for that."

"Ugh!"

"So, just keep doing what you're doing."

"Then the skill gap with the other kids will keep widening."

"Anyway, it's good if you become a hero, and if not, it's fine, isn't it?"

"That's true."

"But why are you trying to follow the other kids?"

"I really like my peers. So I want to keep going with them."

Iliana said it as if it were no big deal.

"To do that, you'll at least have to keep up with the rear, won't you?"

"There will be many dangerous things ahead, won't there?"

"Huh? I don't like that… Hmm… Hmm…"

Iliana, who was agonizing with a troubled expression, crossed her arms and shouted.

"Bah! What the heck, then it'd be great to achieve great feats and become a hero! Everyone around me would just naturally support me my whole life, wouldn't they?!"

Leo burst out laughing at Iliana's words.

"So, just keep doing what you're doing."

"Huh?"

"Moving in a complicated way, in other words, can also mean taking a roundabout path to reach your destination."

Leo smiled faintly.

"Simplicity is certainly your weakness, but it also means you can get to where you want to go quickly."

"Oh-ho. Oh-ho."

"When you become faster than anyone else. Your weakness will become your strength."

"Alright! Then I'll just keep doing what I've been doing!"

'After listening to the class president's advice, I just kept doing what I was doing. But I still couldn't see the path forward easily.'

So she decided to just work hard enough.

Anyway, the distance between her and the 'tops' would only widen.

And even doing it like this provided enough help.

Just as she was thinking that.

Iliana saw Dweno and Enniha.

The great hero who had tried to turn his back on the world for his goal.

Enniha, who had pushed that great hero forward.

That scene was a great stimulus.

Her flighty and lighthearted personality was still the same.

Iliana was still a childish girl who loved to fool around.

But.

The image of a hero who sacrificed himself remained in her mind.

'Wouldn't it be nice to just become a hero?'

The simple girl who vaguely thought that learned what a hero truly was.

And what it meant to become a hero.

She learned it through Enniha, a hero from a distant 5000 years ago.

'Could I become a little more serious too?'

Iliana, who had merely wanted to become faster without a goal.

Now had a clear goal.

She learned that even great heroes can wander.

If so, wouldn't her friends also wander someday?

When that time came.

'Could I also push them forward, like Lady Enniha?'

Iliana, who had only been able to go straight.

Set a direction and began to run swiftly towards it.

*Flash-!*

Iliana's sword gleamed like a flash of light.

Chelsea, startled, deployed magic as she watched Iliana close the distance at an incredible speed.

Her movements could be predicted.

But her speed surpassed that prediction.

Simple, but too fast to respond to.

She was different from the Iliana before.

'Stay calm.'

The advantage of wind is not only its speed but, more importantly, its variability.

No one can predict where the endlessly changing wind will go.

No matter how much faster Iliana had become than imagined.

Chelsea had no intention of losing to Iliana at all.

'If I lose, I'll have to see her triumphant face until graduation! I absolutely won't lose!'

She vowed and vowed again within herself.

Iliana, looking at Chelsea, gripped her sword tightly.

Before she knew it, several doors were visible in the long corridor.

Chelsea and Iliana, who were facing each other with the door between them, moved simultaneously.

And just as the two were about to charge.

*Bang-! Whooshhhhhhh-!*

Suddenly, an explosion occurred inside the room, and flames poured out of it.

Chelsea and Iliana, startled by the sudden situation, recoiled in fright.

"Wha- what? Celia and Abad were fighting in *that* corridor, weren't they?"

"This isn't Zeldinger's flame. It's a flame created by magic."

Due to the sudden incident, Chelsea and Iliana momentarily stopped fighting and cautiously approached the door.

Looking inside the door, they saw the devastated interior of the room.

Inside the room, Leo was holding his face in his hands.

Lil was repeatedly bowing her head beside him.

Just then, Elena appeared from above the room.

"Huh? Why is it connected to Leo's room? And…"

Elena looked around Leo's room.

Due to the explosion a moment ago, all the doors inside the room had been blown off.

The spaces beyond the revealed doors, exposed as they were blown away, were connected to various parts of the school.

In the sudden situation, the faces of students looking into the room, wondering what was happening, like Iliana and Chelsea, were visible.

"…What is this situation?"

It was when Elena tilted her head in confusion.

"Ah!"

Iliana let out a scream.

"It's the stamp!"

Iliana pointed with her hand at the stamp rolling on the floor.

While everyone was momentarily frozen.

*Whoosh-!*

Iliana ran at an incredible speed and snatched the stamp.

Starting with that, people from various parts of the school began entering Leo's room.

"Hohoho! This body is taking the compliment stamp!"

"Catch her! Catch Iliana!"

"Stop right there!"

"Uwaaaak! Celia! Pass!"

Iliana hurriedly threw the stamp to Celia, who was outside the door.

Celia, who caught it, started running.

"This looks fun."

"I'll participate too!"

Just as Elena and Lil were about to chase the stamp.

*Grab-*

"Where are you going?"

Leo grabbed them both by the scruff of their necks with a chilling voice.

"Cut it out."

"Yes, sir!"

"Y-yes…"

Not only Lil, but even the great Elena couldn't utter a peep and hunched her neck.

In the room where only Elena and Lil remained, Leo sat on what was once a sofa and fell into thought.

'First Iliana barging into my room yesterday… and then suddenly various dorm rooms connecting to mine.'

It was clear that something was wrong with the entire Clock Tower dormitory.

It felt like someone had intentionally opened the entrance to his room.

'It's impossible with just a high level of magic. This is the work of someone with an excellent understanding of space.'

Leo, narrowing his eyes, sifted through those in Lumen who might be capable of such a feat.

The complex magical formulas of the Clock Tower dormitory were enough to make even Leo click his tongue in awe.

'Even if the Lumen Magic Department professors are geniuses, controlling magic to this extent is difficult. Furthermore.'

Leo looked at the open entrance.

'I sense malice.'

Anyone could clearly sense the intention to mess with him.

Leo, having thought that far, paused.

A sudden thought made Leo contort his face.

'Could it be that damn lizard?'