***

Meanwhile.

Ares, who was on the stage with Idea for their joint performance, had a hesitant look on his face.

You always make me do these troublesome things.

Come on, what's the big deal? At least try to smile for the students! Stop making that grumpy face!

Ares sighed again at Idea's sharp words.

He was often tempted to punch Idea in the head.

And today,

Ares was going to teach Idea a lesson.

Of course, this match was orchestrated by the Headmistress to boost the students' morale.

Ares, who was nothing more than a powerful instructor, had no choice but to obey her orders, even though he didn't understand why she would arrange such an event.

And inwardly,

That incident

He was also curious to see how much Idea had grown since then.

Let's just start.

Okay!

Ares drew his sword from its sheath.

It wasn't the sword he had used before, but a newly prepared one.

His previous sword had been broken during his spar with Adel, so he had no choice but to get a new one.

Ares didn't usually draw his main weapon unless it was an emergency.

The precious sword was given to him by his close friend.

He had given one to Adel, but Ares still kept the sword his friend had used before being devoured by the Bloodlust.

It was a sturdy sword made of excellent materials, but it didn't have any special magical enchantments.

Anyway.

*Vwoom*

As Ares drew his sword and released his fighting spirit, Idea stepped back ten paces.

Ares waited for her until then.

He knew what Idea was about to unleash.

Her unprecedented special ability.

Spirits of the dead, answer my call!

As Idea chanted the spell, hundreds of skeletons rose.

Ares let out a gasp of admiration.

Certainly impressive.

Idea had become far more powerful than she was during the war.

This was the moment he realized it.

She had just summoned hundreds of skeletons without much effort.

At her peak, she had summoned thousands of skeletons.

Perhaps now

She might be able to summon tens of thousands of skeletal specters.

But this was just a friendly match, so that wouldn't happen.

And Ares also had to show a result worthy of the skill Idea had just displayed.

However.

*Woong*

Ares withdrew his fighting spirit.

As the fighting spirit that had been distorting the space disappeared in an instant, Idea frowned and shouted at Ares.

Hey, take this seriously!

I am taking it seriously.

However, that didn't mean Ares was going to go easy on Idea.

He had simply withdrawn it to conserve his strength and for dramatic effect.

With a faint smile, Ares moved his feet.

In that split second.

*Clang*

The head of a skeleton in front of Ares fell to the ground.

*Thud, thud, thud*

The heads of all the skeletons began to fall to the ground.

He intended to subdue all the skeletons without using his fighting spirit or coating his sword with it.

.!

Unwilling to back down, Idea released her mana, floating black spheres in the air.

The spheres rained down on Ares, who was swiftly cutting down the skeletons.

*Boom*

The ground shook as the spheres Idea had launched crashed down.

W-What was that?

Whos winning?

The students in the audience struggled to regain their balance as they stared at the arena, now filled with black mana.

Soon.

*Crackle, crackle, crackle*

As the black mana scattered in all directions,

*Smirk*

Hundreds of skeletons were flying through the air around a grinning Ares.

Idea was clutching her head, seemingly having lost consciousness.

.

A moment of silence fell over the audience, stunned by the overwhelming performance.

And then.

Waaaaaaaah-!

A wave of enthusiastic cheers erupted.

Thus began the final exam, the inter-year competition.

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