“Guh….”
Evan’s stance collapsed.
Even the spirit of light enveloping him lost its strength, flickering faintly.
Like a lightbulb at the end of its life.
That was the end.
To my eyes, it was painfully clear.
His breath had risen to his chin, his fingertips trembled ever so slightly, and above all, his eyes were losing focus.
They were signs that anyone who had spent enough time getting knocked around in a ring would recognize.
It was the sight of a body pushed to its limit, barely holding on.
His muscles were already heavy with lactic acid, and his brain was surely crying out for oxygen.
“Hoo…… hoo…….”
Evan tried somehow to stand again, but his legs wobbled as if they no longer obeyed him.
When the Hell Hound’s scorching heat washed over him, his pupils shrank in instinctive fear.
“He can’t go any further.”
When I murmured quietly, Yustia bit her lip as if pained.
“Still… he did well. Taking down even one against the professor is amazing.”
But Evan did not give up.
“It’s not… over yet…… Gah!”
Kwaaang—!
The Hell Hound slammed down its foreleg.
Evan’s barrier was torn apart like a sheet of paper, and a massive shockwave swallowed him.
“Kyaaaak!”
Yurika screamed and squeezed her eyes shut.
Evan’s body floated into the air like a rag doll.
Kudangtangtang—!
His body was flung out of the spirit and rolled across the ground.
Evan collapsed limply, not moving in the slightest.
The spirit of light had already vanished without a trace.
“Over.”
The professor recalled the Hell Hound and snapped her fingers.
“What a shame. If you’d held out just a little longer, it would’ve been fun. Still, I’ll give you a passing mark. For a first-year, you managed to catch my butterfly. If you come find me around the time of the midterm exam, I suppose I’ll have to hand over a badge.”
She tapped Evan’s forehead with the tip of her finger.
“Next time, come looking for the badge. I’ll be waiting.”
Clap, clap, clap.
Applause that began somewhere spread like a wave.
Even the students who called themselves the professor’s fan club clicked their tongues at Evan’s miserable state, yet still clapped as if they had no choice but to acknowledge him.
“Hah… hah…”
Evan lay spread-eagled on the ground, gasping for breath.
His face, smeared with sweat and dirt, was twisted with emptiness and frustration.
I slowly stepped up onto the field, slipped my arms under his armpits, and guided him into the wheelchair.
“You worked hard, Evan.”
At my words, Evan gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
“I lost… Completely.”
“Still, you took one down, didn’t you? You did well.”
Just as Yurika was about to push Evan’s wheelchair off the field—
“Wait a moment, Professor.”
Yustia’s voice rang out, cutting through the noise of the arena.
The professor, who had just been about to leave, paused and turned her head.
“Hm? What is it?”
Yustia took one deep breath, then looked straight at the professor with an unwavering gaze.
“I would also… like to challenge you.”
“My lady?!”
Yurika’s eyes went round in shock.
I frowned as well.
She was going to go at the professor in that state?
Even after seeing Evan get crushed just now?
“W… wait. You mean right now?”
When I asked quietly, Yustia nodded with a determined look in her eyes.
“Yes. If not now, I don’t think I’ll get another chance. The possibility Evan showed… I want to confirm it for myself too.”
Her fingertips were trembling faintly.
But at the same time, it seemed the irrepressible blood of Rosenhart was boiling within her.
The professor narrowed her eyes with interest and curled up the corners of her mouth.
“Oh? You saw what just happened to your friend, and you still want to come at me? Admirable courage.”
She crooked her finger.
“Fine. I have no reason to refuse. But you’d better steel yourself, all right? My children are still hungry.”
Behind the professor, the red gleam in the Hell Hound’s eyes burned even more ferociously.
Yustia clenched her fists.
“Taesan, you’re ready, aren’t you?”
I let out a sigh.
If the master says jump, you jump. What else can you do?
“Of course.”
I stepped back into the center of the arena.
Heat rose around me.
“Puhahahaha! Are you serious? Truly with your bare body?”
The professor clutched her stomach and burst into laughter.
It was a hearty laugh, loud enough to make the arena ring.
Wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, she looked me up and down in disbelief.
“Oh my, so you’re him. The human summon I’ve only heard rumors about. That child from Rosenhart.”
She shook her head in an exaggerated manner.
Her eyes were like those of someone who had discovered some rare spectacle in a circus.
“When I only heard about it, I thought it was just some ridiculous rumor, but seeing an actual person stroll up here has left me dumbfounded. The friend before you at least came out wearing a spirit, so I could understand that. But what are you? Nothing at all, just your bare body?”
Grrrrrr—
At the professor’s gesture, the Hell Hound kicked off the ground.
Its enormous body reached me in the blink of an eye.
When it opened its jaws, crimson flames surged out, along with the nauseating stench of sulfur.
“Taesan! Professor Rachel’s Hell Hound specializes in head-on breakthroughs! The first attack is usually a straight-line physical attack, followed by a tail swing as a special counterattack!”
Yustia’s urgent shout pierced my ears.
“Oh? As expected of the Rosenhart young lady, you seem to have prepared quite a bit. All right, try blocking this!”
Together with Professor Rachel’s sneer, the Hell Hound’s massive jaws rushed toward my neck.
Kwaaang—!
Instinctively, I raised my arm.
Its sharp teeth tried to tear into my forearm, but I tensed my muscles to the limit and forced its jaws open.
“Grrgh…….”
It was hot.
Wherever its saliva touched, pain surged through me as if my skin were burning away.
On top of that, this damn field.
The geothermal heat rising from beneath my feet made it hard even to breathe.
I wanted to dodge, but flames were everywhere.
There was nowhere to retreat.
I clenched my teeth and seized the Hell Hound by the scruff of its neck.
Crack—
An unpleasant snapping sound came from its neck bones.
I took the full weight of its body with my own.
Strength against strength.
Simple, but the surest method.
“Kraaaang!”
The Hell Hound screamed in pain and thrashed, but I had no intention of letting it go.
Instead, I dug in deeper, more relentlessly.
“Oh my…… How is that……?”
The professor’s eyes widened.
For the first time, a crack appeared in her confident smile.
“T-that crazy…… He stopped a Hell Hound with his bare hands?”
“No way! Is that thing really human?”
Crack—!
A chilling snapping sound rang out, as though its spine might break.
The Hell Hound’s enormous body rose into the air.
It struggled, but it could no longer escape my grip.
Kwaaaang—!
The arena shook, and cracks spread across the ground like a spiderweb.
“Yelp!”
The Hell Hound screamed and tumbled away.
With its tail tucked tightly between its legs, it crawled all the way back to the professor’s feet.
Its arrogant majesty was nowhere to be seen; it crouched like a terrified puppy.
“Uh…… so…….”
Professor Rachel could not continue speaking, as if she could not believe the scene before her.
Confusion rippled through her eyes.
“My Hell Hound, overpowered by strength…?”
But her bewilderment lasted only a moment before the corners of her mouth rose again.
“Interesting. Very interesting. For a human to possess this much strength.”
When she stretched out her hand, a red magic circle enveloped the Hell Hound’s body.
Whoosh—!
The flames that erupted swallowed its entire form.
Fire ran along every strand of its fur, blazing fiercely.
The terror in the Hell Hound’s eyes vanished, replaced once more by a savage killing intent.
Grrrrrr!
Clad in hellfire, it charged wildly.
Its speed was incomparable to before, and the heat seemed capable of burning flesh to ash.
“Taesan! Dodge!”
Yustia’s scream-like cry rang out.
But I did not move.
‘Dodging won’t solve this.’
If I moved carelessly against that mad ball of fire, I would only expose an opening.
A head-on fight.
That was the only answer.
I took a deep breath and lowered my stance.
As if drawing the energy of the earth up through the soles of my feet, I firmly strengthened my lower body.
‘One, two…….’
The crimson flames closed in right before my nose.
My vision turned red, and the heat scorched my skin.
Now.
Bang—!
My fist cut through the air.
The wave created as compressed air burst forth met the Hell Hound’s flames head-on.
Kwaaaaaang—!
With a roar that seemed to tear the eardrums apart, the entire arena shook.
A shockwave spread out from the point of collision, rattling even the protective barrier around the spectators’ seats.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Wh-what is that?!”
Thick smoke obscured my vision.
From within it, there was no scream from the Hell Hound.
Only rough breathing and the crackle of burning embers remained.
“What happened?! Taesan! Are you all right? You’re alive, aren’t you?”
Yustia’s voice, mixed with a scream, cut through the arena.
Her eyes searched the crimson dust for me.
“Cough…….”
The dense smoke slowly, ever so slowly, cleared.
The sight revealed through it was disastrous.
One side of the arena wall had been crushed.
And buried in the rubble was the Hell Hound, whimpering.
Its massive body had lost all strength and shriveled, and the blazing flames had died down like an extinguished matchstick.
“Oh my……? Did my baby lose?”
Professor Rachel stared blankly at the Hell Hound embedded in the wall, her mouth hanging open.
Her expression was one of disbelief.
After all, the monster she was so proud of, one that had crawled up from hell, had been sent flying by a single punch from a mere human.
“Hah, hah…….”
I walked out through the hazy smoke.
White smoke rose from my clenched right fist.
A stinging burn ran across the back of my hand, but the bones were fine.
“I’m alive. Thanks to you.”