The day of the duel came. Aiex and Étoile were facing each other with 10m in between them. Unexpectedly, the news of the duel spread out through the whole school and almost everybody was there to witness it, including the Headmaster himself. Lulli, Aero, and I stood besides him.

“Fufufu… What young fellow has incurred my daughter’s wrath?”

“That would be my friend…”

“Ho~... This will be an interesting match indeed.” The Headmaster said in low tone.

“... Lulli, who are you cheering on?”

“Hm~ Aiex is my friend but since Étoile is my teammate, I guess I’ll be cheering her on.”

“Fufufu… Thanks for always taking care of my daughter, Lulli.”

“No problem~! However, I think this match might be a bit difficult for her. I mean, judging from Aiex’s blue aura, he has strong affinity for water magic right? Even though it isn’t the weakness of earth magic, the magic that Étoile uses, she’ll have some difficulties.”

“You think so? I’m pretty sure this will be a harder match for Aiex though.”

“Hm~? Why is that?”

“... Aiex uses lightning.”

“Fufu… A lightning user with a blue aura? Now that’s interesting indeed.”

“You’ll understand when you see it.”

While our conversation was going on, Aiex was doing some stretches playfully while Étoile just stood there with an elegant aura. The match was about to begin. With Varelia as the referee, there were no worries about any injuries.

“Let’s have a clean match, you two. If I see that one of you is about to get their limbs ripped off, I’ll be interfering. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. Begin!”

With the announcement of the start of the duel, everyone was amped up. Excluding us, the audience was mostly filled with students that had no blessing.

The duelists started by exchanging blows in hand-to-hand combat. ‘No weapon?’ I thought. From what I saw, Aiex currently had the advantage. He fought like he was used to fist-fighting while Étoile was being pushed back. The female audience was cheering for Aiex with phrases such as, ‘Kyaaa! Aiex, you’re amazing!’ or ‘Please go out with me!’ while the male audience was infuriated. At the same time, the male audience was also enchanted by Étoile’s elegant combat skills. Their cheers were along the lines of, ‘Go Étoile! Beat the shit out of that womanizer!’ or ‘The grace in her techniques are absolutely stunning!’

As the two halted their attacks, they created distance once more.

“Hee~... You’re pretty good for a plebeian.”

“Now listen here… I don’t know why you insist on calling me plebeian but I have a name, you know! It’s Aiex, Aiex Tsukaru.”

“Doesn’t matter what your name is, you’ll be a plebeian in my eyes. Shall we continue with magic?”

“Sure.”

Like they said, the two started to cast magic. In front of Étoile appeared a dozen of sharp drills made from earth and were launched at Aiex, ‘Earth Bullets!’. As they were launched, Aiex countered with wind magic, ‘Wind Wall!’ A wall of condensed air appeared and blocked all the earth bullets heading towards Aiex with ease.

“Tch… Wind magic? I thought your specialty was water.”

“Hahaha. Don’t you listen during class? You can’t just think that I’d cast my specialty just because of my aura. Besides, water isn’t my specialty. This is! Gauntlets...On!”

Suddenly, blue lightning struck Aiex’s two arms and two blue gauntlets appeared. I was astonished

“Hee… So your specialty is lightning magic but… Why is it blue? I’ve never heard of such things.”

“According to Zeus, my lightning is more refined, pure, and destructive. Which caused the change of color.”

“Hee… Your weapons are gauntlets as well… No wonder you were so good in hand-to-hand combat. Well since you equipped your weapon, I might as well do the same.”

As she announced that she was going to equip her weapon, the crowd was trembling with excitement.

“I wonder what her weapon is going to be.”

“Since she’s so elegant and refined, it’ll probably be something along the lines of a rapier, right?”

“Mhm! I’m so excited!”

‘Those poor misunderstood souls.’ I thought to myself.

“... Jin, do you know what kind of weapon Étoile uses?”

“Mhm. Lulli told me about it yesterday. I feel sorry for those people with high expectations…”

“... What is it?”

As Étoile’s symbol representing Gaia glowed, a large light enveloped both of her hands and out came…

“A chainsaw.”

“EH?!” Everyone in the audience let out a shocked expression. Their eyes were bulging out of their sockets with their mouths opened wide as they witnessed the unknown phenomenon in front of them. The males had a more dejected look than the females.

“The elegant… beautiful Étoile… to use such a weapon…”

“This world is too cruel…”

“Fufufu! As expected of my daughter. She has to use a unique weapon afterall!”

“Oi, Headmaster… Don’t you think that weapon is a bit too unique?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Before she was even blessed by Gaia, I made her a chainsaw seal myself!”

“So you were the cause…” Aero, Lulli, and I said at the same time with a blank expression.

Preparations were finished and the real match was about to begin.

“Lightning Speed!”

Instantly, Aiex vanished and with insane speed, he appeared in front of Étoile, he thrusted his right fist into her abdomen which sent her flying a few meters backwards. Recovering from the blow, Étoile charged at Aiex.

“Nature’s Retaliation!”

Her chainsaw roared and she started to swing it at Aiex with blinding speed. Since Aiex wasn’t able to dodge it, he countered with his own skill.

“Panzer!”

With that, his body glowed a brilliant azure color as his defense was raised to its maximum.

“Not so fast! Nature’s Blade!”

As Aiex activated his defensive skill, Étoile activated her offensive one. The blade of her chainsaw shown a bright jade color as she broke through Aiex’s defense. And with a slash, he was sent flying, colliding against the barrier that was set up.

“It’s not over yet! Gun of Gaia!”

Étoile continued her onslaught as she raised her hands and a cannon made of earth appeared, shooting earth bullets rapidly towards Aiex. Once the bullets made contact, they exploded. However, as the smoke cleared, Aiex was standing there with scratches all over his body as it glowed the same azure color when Panzer was activated.

“W-what?!”

“Hahahaha… Really now? Don’t just write me off that fast.”

“Well… They do say the revolting cockroach is only good at surviving. I suppose you are just a bit higher. A filthy cockroach with a neck.

“Haha… Then. How about this?”

As Aiex raised his hand, the duel was interrupted by a loud roar.

GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

A black portal appeared in the middle of the field, breaking the barrier, and something came crawling out… a Phantom! It was a Phantom Dragon, one of the strongest Phantoms there is. With its white cold eyes, it scanned the audience. The audience was in a state of panic. Then, some guards started to evacuate the students as others went to engage battle with the Phantom Dragon. Étoile was stunned from the sight of the Phantom and stood there, absolutely frozen in fear. Seeing this, Aiex quickly dashed towards her as an attempt to protect her.

“What are you doing?!” Aiex screamed.

“A-Aiex…”

“Get up and leave! We have no chance against this Phantom so we shouldn’t sacrifice our lives in vain!”

“D-don’t make fun of me! I’m the daughter of Gaeleath Terra! I won’t back down against a Phantom!” she said while trembling. Aiex reached his hand out to help Étoile start moving. Surprisingly, she took it. Aero, Lulli, the Headmaster, and I finally arrived at the scene.

“Aiex, are you alright?” I said as I saw him.

“Yep. To think a Phantom would invade the school…”

“... We need to dispose of it,” Aero said coldly.

“I will be helping too~,” Lulli said cheerfully.

While the three of us were conversing with Aiex, the headmaster was extremely worried about his daughter, Étoile, as he constantly asked if she was alright. She seemed pretty annoyed by it but was still smiling as she knew her father cared about her. ‘What a nice family,’ I thought to myself.

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“So what’s the situation, Headmaster? How did a Phantom break through the barrier in the first place?” Aiex asked after Étoile’s father-daughter reunion.

“Ahem. That, we don’t know. So, I’d like to ask all of you to evacuate and let us teachers handle this.”

“T-that won’t be happening, Father! I’m a proud noble and your daughter! I cannot run away from a Phantom that interrupts my duel!” said Étoile with a disgrunted face.

“B-but I can’t let my cute daughter go into real battle… I hardly allowed the duel today too!” the Headmaster said with teary eyes.

“Don’t worry, Father! I’ll take Aiex along with me. Even though he might be a filthy plebeian, he can still act as my meat shield when the time comes!”

“Really now? Don’t worry, Headmaster. I’ll make sure to protect Étoile,” Aiex said with a respectful tone.

“Hm… Very well! Without military weapon and no god blessing, I won’t be of help since my magic is no enhanced by a god’s blessing. I’ll go call for reinforcement. Varelia won’t be joining you since she’s busy healing the injured at the moment.”

“... Understood.”

“Roger~”

“Might as well.” I agreed.

That being said, the five of us headed towards the Phantom.

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As we headed towards the Phantom, the surroundings were dyed red with the blood of the fallen guards and their teammates tried desperately to keep the Phantom at bay. The Phantom had no regard for the guards and it slowly crawled towards the Academy’s exit while trampling on the guards standing in his way.

We met with the Phantom as it was closing in on the Academy’s exit with us blocking it. The Phantom Dragon stood 7 meters tall including its two long white horns, It was covered in ghostly white scales which were almost transparent, and had luminous white eyes. It casually continued his stroll, not giving a care for us. However, as the Phantom approached, Étoile started casting her magic and dozens of earth bullets flew towards the dragon, but they had no effect. Because of the Phantom Dragon’s strong scales, weak level magic could not harm the dragon.

“Tch… How about this?! Gun of Gaia!”

Étoile was growing impatient as she used her god skill to summon a cannon made of earth and shot out dozens of exploding earth bullets. This time, the Phantom flinched as the earth bullets exploded directly in his face. However, there was no major damage dealt to the dragon. We’ve only angered it even more.

It raised its front right foot, it stomped on the ground with tremendous strength, causing a tremor and we lost a bit of our balance. But, that wasn’t all. White spikes erupted in a line and headed towards Étoile. Aiex immediately ran in front of her and used his body as a shield.

“Panzer!”

He was then sent flying backwards.

“Aiex!” I called out to him.

“I’m alright.”

Even though he had a skill that could increase his defense, he still took a lot of damage. That was just how strong a Phantom Dragon was.

Étoile quickly rushed to his side and laid him down.

“D-don’t worry! I’ll heal you now. Nature’s Healing,” she said in a frantic. Aiex then got up as soon as his injuries were healed.

GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

The Phantom let out another ferocious roar as it stared at us while releasing immense killing intent.

“Looks like we can’t directly take on his attacks,” Aiex said as he let out some small gasps of pain.

“... How shall we proceed?” Aero inquired.

“Hm… This dragon is troubling indeed…” said Lulli with serious face.

“All we need to do is stall until reinforcement gets here. Aiex and I will be the vanguard because of his high defense and my regeneration ability. Since Lulli is proficient in magic, she’ll be the rearguard with Étoile who could cast healing magic. Aero will be the middle guard, in charge of protecting Étoile and Lulli. If there’s an opportunity, we can try to kill it.”

As I explained my plan, everyone agreed. That said, we engaged the Phantom once more.

“Gauntlets ON!”

“Come, Twilight Cutter.”

“Engulf everything, Underworld’s Darkness!”

Aero’s weapon was also somewhat unique: a scythe with a mysterious, ominous dark aura surrounding it.

“Let’s go!”

As the vanguards, we were to keep the Phantom at bay while the rearguards bombarded the enemy with magic. The middle guard’s job was to protect the rearguard while dealing with any stray attacks. Though I say I’m the vanguard, my role was to clear an opening for Aiex to attack with his god techniques and magic.

The Phantom was formidable. Its tough scales negated most of the physical damage Aiex and I dealt to it with our weapons. However, the scales were vulnerable to god enhanced magic and god techniques. With the constant bombardment magic and Aiex’s god skills, we were able to deal some major damage.

“Tch… This Phantom doesn’t know when to give up.” Étoile said.

“How many more spells can its body take?” Lulli said while gasping for air.

“... Tiring.”

“You said it, Aero. How much longer till the reinforcements arrive?”

“Hm… just a little bit more, guys. Reinforcements should arrive soon!” I said while trying to reassure everyone.

The fight dragged on and neither side was giving up. The Phantom had some parts of its scales torn off by magic, which was causing it to bleed immensely, while on our side we were only depleted of our energy. As we fell to our knees, the Phantom once more gave out a ferocious roar and it took to the sky.

In the sky, the Phantom stood tall and triumphant. It inhaled a vast amount of air and then…

“Everyone dodge! It’s a breath attack!” I yelled.

As Lulli and Aero used their last ounce of energy to put up a magic shield small enough to shield themselves and Aiex and I stepped outside the attack’s range, Étoile didn’t have enough energy to cast any more spells.

“Really now?! That dumbass!” Aiex yelled as he jumped towards her. With every last bit of strength, he activated Panzer once more and shielded Étoile. Protecting her with his body. As his body was engulfed in radiant white flames, Étoile stared at Aiex with a blank expression while tears flowed from her eyes.

Harry and Varelia finally arrived. As they looked down at Aiex’s burnt, destroyed body, their eyes were filled with rage. Instantly, claws of dark energy appeared on Harry’s hands and he jumped on the Phantom. With all his strength, he struck its head, sending it flying into the ground. As the dragon was flying towards the ground, Varelia stood there with her hand raised. A giant red circle appeared before Varelia’s hand as she casted an enormous spell.

“Explosion!”

Fire instantly engulfed the Phantom and with a ‘BOOM!’ the Phantom’s body exploded into pieces. The sky rained flesh and blood. As soon as the matter was taken care of, Varelia and Harry rushed over to Aiex. When I tried to assist Lulli and Aero, they told me to not worry about them and go check on Aiex. I did like they said and it was not a sight to see. His body was half destroyed, missing both legs and an arm. Barely breathing, Étoile used her lap to support his head as she tried her best to heal him while tears formed in the corner of her eyes. I guess this is what you’d call the suspension bridge effect.

“Nature’s Healing! Why isn’t it working?!”

“Étoile…” Harry and Varelia said as they looked down on Aiex’s condition.

“Ms. Aeros! You should be able to do something right?! With Angintia’s power you should be able to restore his body right?!”

“That… It’s impossible with my powers.” Varelia said as she turned her head away.

“... You idiot… Why did you save me... It’s my fault… Because of my incompetence… someone got hurt again…”

“There’s a way to restore him.” I said to appease their worries.

As I said that, everyone looked towards me with a shocked face.

“Really?! Can you do it?!” Étoile asked loudly.

“... Please Jin…” Aero said with a worried expression.

“Hee~ You’re full of surprises~.” Lulli said in a joking tone.

“Of course. He is a good friend of mine after all.” I said with a gentle smile.

As I raised my hand towards Aiex’s body, my seal shined a bright black color.

“Here I go. Beginning!”

A black aura released from my hand engulfed Aiex’s body and instantly, his body was restored. Étoile proceeded to hug the restored body of Aiex as she whispered.

“I’m glad…”

However, the moment the black aura dispersed, a burning shock struck my body. I let out an agonizing scream, waking up the unconscious Aiex.

“ARGH!!!”

“Jin!” Everyone yelled out as I lost consciousness.