42 – Duel 3
People watching the arena couldn’t believe the situation unfolding before their eyes.
Naturally, they assumed Rofry would win.
No, they were convinced.
Of course, before the duel began, they had also heard about Loki.
The story of massacring demons while flying around during the entrance ceremony.
Those who heard the story thought it was exaggerated.
Even if it were true, they believed Rofry could handle Loki with a sword.
But Loki didn’t use a sword.
As soon as the duel began, he ran back, sat in the chair, and threw only a dagger.
“Did he just throw a dagger because he was scared?”
“Yeah, did he chicken out, after all?”
At first, students thought Loki was scared and threw the dagger. However, as they witnessed Loki’s skill and the precision of the dagger attack, they were impressed.
“He calculated all that before throwing it?”
The special class students were not surprised by attacks using real and practice daggers. It was a method often used by Rocky when facing Professor Elysia. However, the tools used afterwards were new even to the special class students. Enormous daggers that emitted light and sound, bombs that exploded when stepped on, frogs that sprayed water, and arrows that carried electricity. They even created fake walls using real walls and unique magic to deceive Lopri.
Meanwhile, there were people who were not watching the duel in the arena. Through the communication device held by Lucas, the Emperor, Empress, and Erika were watching the duel.
“Right now, the clown is winning, isn’t he?!”
Erika said in an excited voice. Upon hearing that Rocky was fighting against the top students of the third year, Erika was worried that Rocky might get hurt. However, Rocky didn’t even take a hit, let alone get hurt. The opponent, Lopri, was a mess unlike Rocky, but that was not something Erika cared about.
“hehehehe.”
The Empress looked at Erika with a smile.
“Mother, isn’t ‘our’ clown amazing?”
Erika said, raising her head while being held by the Empress.
The Emperor, upon hearing the word ‘our’, was about to say something to Erika, but the Empress glared at him, and he closed his mouth.
“hehehe. He hasn’t even moved from his seat yet. I can understand why Your Majesty allowed him as a bodyguard.”
The Empress, after glaring at the Emperor, petted Erika in her arms and spoke. She was surprised when Erika said she wanted to make the academy student her bodyguard.
The Emperor was even more surprised when he allowed it.
“I didn’t use such traps and magical tools when fighting with you. The reason I allowed Loki as my bodyguard goes beyond the use of magical tools.”
“But deliberately not attacking, isn’t that too arrogant?”
As the Empress said, Loki’s current actions could be seen as arrogant.
If Loki had attacked when Rofree was hit by a flash bomb, the duel would have already been over.
However, for some reason, Loki did not attack and instead provoked Rofree.
“Empress, that child is not arrogant. It’s Rofree who was careless. He underestimated Loki, thinking he could easily defeat him, so he keeps falling for Loki’s provocations.”
Rofree arrived in front of Loki, who was sitting in a mess.
“Now we can see the child wielding a sword.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen.”
Loki in front of Rofree disappeared for a moment and reappeared in the opposite direction.
“Did Your Highness notice?”
The astonished Empress said to the Emperor.
“I noticed it in the middle too. I don’t know when he started making fakes.”
All the magical tools Loki used were flashy and loud.
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In such a situation, it was difficult to know when Loki had created a fake.
“It seems Prince Rofree has already lost his composure.”
Rofree sat down, letting go of his sword.
After experiencing much humiliation and pain to get here.
“Do I have to go through all that again?”
As Gedra, who was observing the judgment, realized that Lofree had lost her composure and was about to announce the end of the duel, Loki intervened.
“It’s a shame to end it like this.”
Loki descended from his seat and walked slowly toward where Lofree was.
It couldn’t end like this, not the duel with the Burgers.
There was still much to prepare, and giving up already was out of the question.
“I haven’t even swung my sword yet.”
Loki said, reaching his hands high and tossing a thread.
The students couldn’t understand what Loki was up to.
But when Loki pulled the thread again, the students gasped.
“There were so many of these?”
“When on earth did he set up so many traps?”
Dozens of traps were entangled in the thread, rising from below the ground.
“I guess this is enough for a fight, right?”
Loki said, looking down at the hesitating Lofree.
“This guy!!”
Unable to bear Loki’s mockery, Lofree grabbed her sword and swung it.
Swoosh.
But Lofree’s sword couldn’t reach Loki and only cut through empty air.
“You should watch and swing. Did you intentionally swing like that to cut through the air?”
Loki was right behind Lofree.
Loki caught up with Rofree, but instead of swinging his sword, he had his hand in his pocket.
“Are you mocking me?”
Rofree aimed the sword right behind, but once again, it sliced through the air.
“Did I tell you to watch and swing? Why do you keep cutting through the air? Is the air hurting you?”
This time, Loki, standing behind Rofree, spoke with his hand in his pocket again.
Onlookers reconsidered what they thought just moments ago.
If they fought with swords without using traps, Rofree would win, they believed.
However, the unfolding scene shattered that belief.
Despite Rofree swinging the sword multiple times, Loki, with his hand in the pocket, stood behind.
“Shall we finish this slowly now?”
Continuing to stay behind Rofree, Loki increased the distance between them.
Rofree concentrated as much as possible with the distance widened. Everything would end here.
‘First, I need to maintain the distance and swing the sword.’
Rofree tried to lift the sword and get into a stance, anticipating Loki’s movement, but his body wouldn’t respond.
“?????”
No matter how much effort he put in trying to move, his body wouldn’t obey.
“Oh no. Since it seems like you can’t move, let me help you move.”
Instinctively, Rofree looked at Loki and found a thread wrapped around Loki’s finger.
And that thread was connected to himself.
As Loki moved his finger, Rofree raised both hands.
When Loki moved his finger again, this time, he knelt down.
Lofree was now on his knees, hands raised as if a child receiving punishment.
“It’s amusing.”
Loki sneered at Lofree.
Lofree felt shame, like a child being scolded for misbehaving, but there was nothing he could do.
After that, Loki continued to toy with Lofree as if he were a plaything.
The spectators in the audience seats fell silent at the shocking sight.
A freshman from the academy was playing with a senior in the third year as if he were a toy.
Each person harbored different emotions as they observed the scene.
“That guy, how strong is he exactly?”
“He’s just a first-year?”
Someone expressed admiration.
“If you enter the special class, can you become that strong?”
“If I had entered the special class…”
Someone expressed jealousy.
‘If I were to fight, could I win?’
‘This can’t continue. I have to become stronger.’
Someone quietly ignited their determination.
“Now, it’s time to finish.”
Loki moved his finger.
Rophry picked up the fallen sword following Loki’s finger.
“What are you trying to do!”
Rophry’s hand was holding the sword against his own neck.
As he felt the sword getting closer to his neck, Rophry felt fear.
“I’ll die if I stay like this.”
Struggling to move somehow, but his body wouldn’t respond.
Just before the sword touched his neck.
“That’s enough. The match is already over.”
Gedra, the judge, announced the end of the duel, and Loki untied the rope.
“Hah… hah…”
He could move now, but Rophry sat down hesitantly, breathing heavily.
Then he glared at Loki.
“You said you would end the match by swinging the sword once, but you never did.”
Despite Rophry’s body being a mess, Loki was so clean that it was hard to believe he had fought a duel.
“Do I really have to swing it like that?”
Loki grabbed the sword and roughly swung it in the air.
“I’ll kill youuu!!!!!!”
Unable to contain his anger, Rophry charged towards Loki, infusing mana into the sword.
“The duel is already over!”
Ropli, consumed by anger to the point of losing control even over his mind, couldn’t hear Gedra’s voice.
Watching Ropli charge towards him as if intent on killing, Loki smiled behind his mask.
Yes, he had been waiting for this moment.
The moment when Ropli, after the duel, would rush to kill him.
Therefore, despite being able to end the duel, he continued to play with it.
“I’ll turn you into a half-wit.”
Creating mist as an illusion, he enveloped both himself and Ropli.
From the outside, nothing would be visible, and no sound would be heard.