“Huh? What, what? That’s a face I haven’t seen before?”
Surrounded by a crowd of students and giggling away, the female professor spotted our group and opened her eyes wide.
Pink twin-tails and baggy training clothes.
Rather than a professor, she gave off the lively vibe of a freshman who had just enrolled.
The moment she saw Evan, she bounced over like a child who’d discovered an interesting new toy.
“Hmm? You don’t seem to be my student, so what brings you here? Perhaps~.”
She narrowed her eyes and circled Evan’s wheelchair round and round.
She even pretended to sniff with the tip of her nose, then suddenly thrust her face right up against Evan’s.
“Did you come because you’re interested in me? Want an autograph? Or maybe you’re asking me out? Sorry, but I’m not into younger guys. Still, since you’re cute, I can give you my number!”
At the machine-gun barrage of words, Evan blinked in confusion.
“Ah, n-no. That’s not it….”
“Oh my, look at you acting shy! Your face is all red. How cute.”
The professor interpreted it however she pleased and burst into giggles.
Evan made a troubled expression and coughed.
“Ahem. Professor. I’ve come to challenge you to a battle.”
Only then did the professor’s eyes sparkle.
“A battle? Against me?”
She placed her index finger to her lips and tilted her head.
A playful smile spread across her face.
“Hoo. For a freshman, you’ve got guts? Fine! I was bored out of my mind anyway. All the kids have been running away with their tails between their legs.”
She winked and snapped her fingers.
“But you know what? If you want to take a badge today, you’d better steel yourself. I won’t go easy on you even if you cry for your mommy.”
Evan nodded with an unwavering gaze.
“I’m prepared. Please have a good match.”
“Okay! This’ll be fun. Then come at me!”
The professor jumped in place as if excited.
Hot heat began to rise around her like a heat haze.
The place she guided us to was a private arena that felt like an entire sauna had been moved inside.
The stands were already packed to the brim with students who had flocked like they were her fan club.
“Kyaaah! Professor! You’re beautiful today too!”
“Burn them all! Every single one of them!”
Cheers and shouts loud enough to make ears ring.
On the other hand, the side cheering for Evan was devastatingly empty.
In one corner of the wide stands, only Eustia, me, and Yurika sat alone.
“Evaaan! Fighting! Win them aaaaall!”
Yurika tore through that silence, jumping to her feet and shouting at the top of her lungs.
Flapping the hem of her maid uniform and cupping both hands to her mouth as she shouted, she looked quite passionate.
“Um, Yurika. Could you be a little quieter….”
Eustia tugged on Yurika’s sleeve as if embarrassed, but it was far from enough to extinguish Yurika’s already blazing cheering fervor.
“Oh my, you have a cute little cheering squad too?”
The professor giggled as if she found the sight endlessly amusing and lightly warmed up.
Every time she stretched, the air around her wavered and hot particles sprang up.
“Now then, shall we start soon? Ready, freshman?”
At her question, Evan slowly nodded.
Strength entered his hand as he gripped the wheelchair handles.
“Yes. Anytime.”
The professor’s eyes went wide.
Her gaze was fixed on the blue light enveloping Evan’s wheelchair gradually growing thicker and thicker.
Ssssh—
A transparent, bluish liquid like living jelly gently wrapped up from Evan’s slender legs to his waist, and then to his upper body.
That rippling form soon covered his entire body like solid armor, and strength seemed to fill the legs that had been resting powerlessly on the wheelchair.
“My…… so that’s what it was?”
The professor tapped her cheek with her finger as if fascinated.
“Spirit possession, you say? Kids these days are quite daring. That’s a rare battle style, isn’t it?”
Indeed, as she said, Evan’s battle style was one where summoner and caster became one and jumped directly onto the battlefield—a style with definite risks and returns.
Evan slowly pushed off from the wheelchair and stood up.
The water armor groaned as it supported his joints, and vitality began to return to the pale boy’s face.
“I’m ready, Professor.”
Evan’s voice echoed strangely, as if passing through a resonance chamber.
“Then, I won’t hold back.”
The professor smirked and snapped her fingers.
Snap—!
She lightly extended her palm toward the air.
Crimson flashes wrapped around the arena and tore through the air.
Within the intense red flames bright enough to hurt the eyes, the sound of massive wings flapping echoed.
What appeared, scattering red scales, was a butterfly far larger than a person.
“This child’s name is Scarlet Emperor. Pretty, isn’t it? It might be a little hot if you touch it, though.”
When the professor winked, the Scarlet Emperor spread its wings wide.
The splendid patterns on its wings flickered like blazing flames.
“Hoo….”
Evan took a deep breath.
“Go, Scarlet!”
At the professor’s signal, the butterfly charged with fierce momentum.
With a single flap, a firestorm raged.
Boom—!
The arena floor was scorched black in an instant.
But Evan was no longer there.
“Huh?”
The professor’s eyes went wide.
Shhk—
Evan had already leaped up near the ceiling, to the butterfly’s blind spot.
The steam emitted by the water armor seemed to have served as propulsion.
“Over here!”
When Evan reached out, a water whip extended like a snake and coiled around the butterfly’s wing.
Sizzle—!
Cold water and hot fire met, causing an enormous amount of steam to explode.
“Kyak! What is this!”
The professor panicked and screamed as her vision was obscured.
Evan wasn’t one to miss that opening.
“Water Slicer!”
Sharp blades of water shot out from Evan’s fingertips in a cross shape.
Shhk—!
One of the butterfly’s wings was helplessly severed.
The Scarlet Emperor lost its balance and staggered as it fell.
“Oh my, wait! Scarlet!”
The professor shouted urgently, but it was already too late.
Evan mercilessly poured water bombs onto the falling butterfly.
Rumble—!
The arena shook as a massive column of water shot up.
The jaws of the students sitting in the stands dropped open.
“Did he…… win?”
But beyond the thick steam, red light was writhing once again.
“Hoho, not bad? For a freshman, that is.”
The professor’s voice was overflowing with composure.
“But you’re still far off. Scarlet, show them! True beauty!”
Fwoosh—!
Red flames gushed from the severed wing’s cross-section, and in an instant, a new wing regenerated.
No, it was a flame wing much larger and more splendid than before.
The heat created by the red butterfly’s wingbeats was engulfing the arena.
Whoom—the heat wave blowing in was enough to take one’s breath away, but the area around Evan alone remained cool.
Sizzle—!
The fire bullets shot out by the Scarlet Emperor slammed into Evan’s body.
But the water barrier instantly boiled up and neutralized the heat.
Even within the fierce flames, Evan stood firm.
“Hoo…… persistent.”
Beads of sweat formed on Evan’s forehead.
The water armor blocked the heat, but in exchange, it was devouring an enormous amount of mana.
“Take this!”
Evan clenched his teeth and stomped on the ground.
The moment the butterfly tried to spew flames once more, Evan’s body bent flexibly like a water current and dug into its blind spot.
Boom—!
A massive water cannon erupted from Evan’s hand and struck the butterfly’s body directly.
The Scarlet Emperor screamed and staggered.
It was the decisive blow.
But instead of falling, the butterfly desperately flapped its wings and soared into the air.
“Ah……!”
Evan’s pupils shook.
He had lacked the final blow.
The butterfly that had fled into the air seemed enraged and burned even more fiercely as it dove.
Thud—!
A heavy body slam came without any time to dodge.
The water armor shattered and scattered in all directions.
“Kuk!”
Evan rolled across the floor without even letting out a scream.
The blue water form that had freed him from the wheelchair lost its strength and spread out like a puddle.
“That was a good match. If you were my student, I might have given you a passing score?”
“Not…… done yet.”
White light swirled over Evan’s fallen body.
The light spirit kin that he originally wielded approached and gently embraced its wounded master’s body.
As if comforting him.
“Wow…… she’s really strong.”
Eustia clicked her tongue and muttered.
Her gaze couldn’t leave the fallen Evan.
“Holding out that much against such a monster is amazing. Definitely not ordinary.”
She turned her head and looked at me.
A strange sense of anticipation lay in her eyes.
“What would you have done if it were you, Taesan? You should think about it in advance. If you meet an opponent like that, or an Evan like that again, I mean.”
I crossed my arms and silently watched the arena.
A spirit beast with a fluid body unaffected by physical attacks and overwhelming firepower.
Both were formidable opponents.
Chit—!
The white light enveloping Evan’s entire body flashed like lightning.
The brilliant radiance blinded the red butterfly’s vision, and through that opening, Evan’s body shot forth like an arrow.
Paaat!
A shotgun of light rained down from midair.
Under Evan’s relentless barrage, the Scarlet Emperor’s flame wings were torn to shreds.
“Now!”
Along with Evan’s shout, a spear of light pierced the butterfly’s abdomen.
The massive red mass screamed and crashed into the floor.
Thud—!
The arena shook as dust billowed up.
The fallen butterfly could no longer fly.
“Haa, haa…….”
Evan breathed heavily and staggered.
The light spirit enveloping his entire body also seemed to have exhausted its strength and faded.
But on his face spread the ecstasy of victory.
The sense of accomplishment that he had done it.
The pride of having overcome the massive wall called a professor.
“I won……!”
Yurika, who had been watching from the stands, jumped to her feet and let out a cheer.
Eustia also clenched her fist tightly in admiration.
“Oh my god, he really did it! Against that monster-like professor!”
But I furrowed my brow with arms crossed.
Because the professor’s expression was far too calm.
“Oh my? Not bad? To think you caught my cute butterfly.”
The professor dusted off the dirt and smiled brightly.
It wasn’t the expression of a loser.
Rather, it was the expression of a child who had found an even more interesting toy.
“But freshman? Isn’t it a bit too early to celebrate?”
She snapped her fingers with a sharp click.
“You used two spirits too, didn’t you? The water spirit, and now that light spirit.”
A massive red magic circle rose majestically behind her.
The air in the arena instantly sank heavily.
“So I’ll use two as well. Fair, isn’t it? That’s the rule, so don’t complain too much.”
Crimson flames swirled at the center of the magic circle, and the form of a massive beast slowly rose up.
It was a wolf.
A massive wolf that seemed to have crawled up from hell, its entire body covered in burning fur.
“Now, say hello. My second child, Hell Hound.”