Straf grins at the wraith, and it stares back at him with a vengeful, eyeless stare.

《I have to thank Lily later, she's indirectly saving the day… I wouldn't have upgraded [Translocation] to this level if not for our monster-hunting trip while Lia was busy.》

He thinks, and maneuvers closer to another obelisk. The wraith is now more cautious, the purple flames continue chaotically dancing along its dark silhouette, lighting the ground in a purple light.

《Still… This only buys me some time. I need to actually kill this fucking thing.》

Straf glances at the doorway leading to the main building, and sees Aria pop out through the door.

「Great timing! Get the fucking barrier up!」

He shouts at the professor, as more of them flood in behind her along with some students.

「The barrier!? It's not done yet! We've been at it since you broke it!」

Aria replies, and the wraith charges in at Straf. This time, it's more mindful of the obelisks, no longer blindly swinging its arms. Straf ducks behind the pillar, and keeps the wraith directly in front of himself.

「How long until you can get it up, then!?」

He asks, circling the obelisk along with the wraith. Some of the professors point their palms at the dark shape, and begin casting.

「Save your mana! Your spells won't do shit!」

Straf shouts at them, running back to the next obelisk when he sees the wraith's arms form scythe-like blades. It swings entirely around the pillar, but Straf is long gone by that time.

「All the duelist professors have been at it since the day you broke it, and we're only nine tenths done!」

Aria replies, watching him expertly repeat the maneuver while the wraith struggles to reach him. It appears to sink into the shadow beneath itself, and before she can even begin to shout a warning, Straf notices the flame's purple light to light the ground both from behind the pillar, as well as behind his back. He leaps towards the obelisk, and [Contextual Time Perception] activates. He runs up two steps towards its tip, and backflips over the wraith emerging from the shadowy ground behind him. It's elongated spiky arms once again dig into the obelisk's stone, and the dark shape locks up once more.

Tfwap!

「And how many professors is that!?」

Straf deftly lands on his feet, and backsteps to another pillar.

「Me, and four others!」

Aria shouts back as more and more professors run into the dueling grounds, keeping their distance from the arena. Professor Welz and Wolfskopf both run in at the same time, along with Selafina.

「You have more than double that here already! And looks like there's more coming! Can't you get it up real quick!?」

Straf asks, and Aria looks over her bare shoulder at the gathered professors.

「…It may be possible! But even then, it'll still take some time!」

「How long!?」

「Fifteen minutes at least, assuming we get a few more!」

She shouts back, and Straf clicks his tongue as he dodges the scythe-like blades coming for him around the sides.

「Then do it! I'll keep it busy!」

He yells, and runs to the center of the arena.

「Tsk…」

《…There goes my fucking comfort zone.》

Straf thinks, and glances at the wraith behind him. It recovers from its missed blow, and shoots across the arena towards him. Aria waves her gloved arm towards the obelisks, and runs towards the closest one.

「You want to lock yourself up there with it!? Is that your plan!?」

She asks, and begins pouring her mana into the obelisk. The rest of the professors do the same as soon as they reach the other ones, slowly circling around the arena.

「No, I want to lock it up here with me! Slight, but very important difference!」

Straf replies, narrowly dodging the wraith's stabs and slashes. Tisha, Damian and Cycelia run into the dueling grounds with a handful of professors more.

「Hey! Blondie! What's your sword made of!?」

He shouts, looking straight at Selafina while she aids the professors in charging the obelisks.

「Is it perhaps glimmer-!?」

「The finest dwarven steel!」

Her face snaps to Straf, and the drills at the sides of her face bob up and down like coiled springs.

「Fuck! Of course it's not!」

Straf curses out in anger, clenching his teeth while evading blow after blow in the center of the perimeter. Tisha and Damian join the rest at the pillars, while Cycelia stands by.

「Lia! Come help out!」

Tisha exclaims, nodding her head at the pillar while looking at her.

「I don't know how to!」

She replies, clutching onto her medallion with brows furrowed.

「Tsk… Lia, I'm giving you a personal lesson about this after!」

Tisha clicks her tongue, and shakes her head in frustration. Meanwhile, Straf continues dancing around the burning wraith in a deadly ballet, or perhaps a tango.

「I'll kill you, kill the rest, and bring these wishes to fruition for the sake of those that can't!」

Clear and audible, a furious male voice from the wraith screams at Straf.

「It can talk!?」

Aria exclaims in shock, staring at the two combatants.

「Of course it fucking can! It knows other tricks, too!… Fido, flashback!」

Straf replies, grinning nervously a little as one of the blazing swipes comes too close for comfort to his neck.

「…No? I think he forgot how to do that one!…」

He scoffs, and rolls out of the way of a vicious slash. The wraith carves a large gash in the damp soil while Straf hops back to his feet. He reaches into his [Portable Storage], and pulls out the blessed sword.

「Buddy, how about we talk this one out? Don't you know being violent and vengeful is bad? This is the perfect moment to deliver a kid friendly moral-!」

CLANG!

Straf says, grinning as he rapidly backpedals. The wraith ignores him, and swings his arm slashing for his throat. He blocks it just in time, and ripostes with a quick stab in the wraith's supposed neck.

Though there is some feedback from the blow, it feels as if Straf just stabbed a strawman dummy when the tip sinks into its silhouette. The wraith completely ignores the strike, and prepares for double overhead blow.

CL-CLANG!

Straf leaps backwards, blocking both with the edge of his sword.

Thud!

His back impacts the dirt, and using inertia, he backflips back to his feet.

「Fuck!… I hope you're watching! This is your fault for making this sword a worthless piece of shit!」

Straf screams at the clouds above as he sprints away across the arena, throwing his weapon back into his inventory. He slides to a halt when the wraith emerges from the ground right in front of him.

[Contextual Time Perception] activates again, and he looks over his shoulder.

BOOM!

Thunderous noise shakes the windows in their frames when Straf disappears from its looming arms and reappears elsewhere in the arena.

「Hat! How much longer!?」

Straf asks, turning his eyes to Aria.

「Twelve minutes or so at this rate!」

She shouts back, and turns her focus back to the obelisk. Its channels begin to glow faintly.

「Are you fucking serious!? I thought it was ten already!-」

Straf spreads his arms, and feels time slow again. He glances at the wraith, and sees its arms extended into the shadow on the dirt, just outside the perimeter of its purple light burning away on its form.

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《Uh oh. That's not good-》

He thinks, and looks at his feet. Tips of hundreds of spikes emerge from the shadow below.

《Oh fuck. This went from a fighting game to a shmup in an instant!-》

Straf contorts his body as the spines shoot upward like a spike trap. Either by a miracle, sheer luck, or a combination of both Straf manages to perfectly squeeze himself between all of them, with only damage being to his clothing. He rips himself out of the spikes' grasp, and feels time slow again.

《Nope! Not doing this again!-》

Straf breaks into a sprint towards the wraith. Time briefly returns to normal as the spikes erupt from the ground behind him, then slows again. More appear in the dirt directly before him, intercepting his path. Straf kicks himself off to the side, ripping out a large chunk of the dirt with his feet. Dark spires rise into the air as he flies beside them.

He rolls along the dirt back to his feet. He looks at the wraith, its flame, and its arms sticking into the shadows

「I see!… Come here, you little shit!」

Straf shouts out towards the dark shape as he continues running. At least a dozen bright magic lights appear above him, orbiting him in a chaotic circle. Another patch of spikes appears in front of him, but he coats the ground in magic dust. The spikes make an attempt to jut out into the air as he runs over it, but they get stuck on the dust. He sprints to the perimeter of wraith's light, and stops. The two lights merge together on the ground, forming a shape akin to a symbol eight, or a headless snowman. The wraith's arms retract from the shadows into their normal length, and he feels its hateful glare intensify.

「What's the matter!? Light doesn't hurt you, but it pisses you the fuck off, doesn't it!?」

He grins, spreading his arms at the dark, burning silhouette. Straf feels its hatred coil up, like a snake preparing to strike. The wraith closes the gap in an instant, wildly slashing its arms away at him. He jumps back, sidesteps, pirouettes, and generally bobs and weaves with each blow seemingly missing its mark by less and less each time. Cycelia clutches tightly onto her medallion as she watches Straf leap about the arena, focused entirely on his enemy.

「Hey, how much longer!?-」

Straf shouts a question, and just as he turns his eyes to Aria, a golden dome stretches out from the glowing obelisks and encloses them both by merging at the top.

「Now!… What's your plan!?」

She replies, and asks as the rest of the professors stumble away from the obelisks, some falling to their knees and panting from exhaustion.

「I don't know yet! But at least I'm on even footing now!」

Straf grins as he leaps back with his eyes focused on the wraith. Another orb appears in front of him.

FWWOOOMM!

The golden barrier turns completely opaque and milky as a massive blue beam shoots across the arena, engulfing the wraith in its entirety.

A rainbow scatters outside the dome, washing over a group of professors, forcing them to flee out of the way in panic.

「We barely brought the barrier back up, and you're trying to break it again!?」

Aria screams in anger in Straf's general direction through the opaque barrier.

Inside, Straf grins when the beam of blue light disappears, and the wraith is now a burning mist floating into the air. It accelerates towards the Academy, but then bounces off the golden dome like a fly bumping into a window. Straf places his hands in his pockets, and approaches closer while the flaming black dust chaotically flies around above.

「Looks like it worked… Now it's stuck here with me! Keep the barrier up until I figure out a way to get rid of it for good!」

Straf shouts back in the professor's general direction, and the lights around him disappear.

「It's not going to last if you're going to keep hitting it like this!」

Her voice replies from the other side through the cloudy barrier.

「Tsk… When I'm out, I want your fucking hat! Just keep the fucking thing up!」

He shouts, and tracks the black, burning dust above with his eyes. It begins to descend, and reforms a humanoid shape.

「Took you long enough.」

Straf remarks, casually standing with his hands in his pockets in front of the fully reconstituted wraith.

「…You're shit out of luck because I know all your weaknesses…」

Straf's voice from the wraith says at Straf. He raises his index finger.

「…You use my voice again, and I'm going to sue your ass off, prick. I'm the only breath of fresh creative air in this absolute garbage pile of a world-」

Straf replies, pointing at the wraith. It slides across the distance in the blink of an eye, holding its blade-like arm up and ready for an overhead swing. Straf reacts, leaping an inhuman distance backwards.

「…A little too slow there, buddy. Or is that the best you can do, now that I blasted you with a deathray?」

He asks as the wraith slowly lowers its arm, and morphs its back into a spike. It cocks them both back and shifts forward, telegraphing a large charge attack.

《Did he turn into an actual video game boss? What's wrong with this guy all of a sudden?》

Straf furrows his brows, and easily jumps aside out of the way. However, the wraith made no real effort to actually attack him throughout the charge.

《…Something's wrong. What the fuck is he doing?》

He narrows his eyes in suspicion. The dark shape forms a blade out of its arm again, and quickly sinks into the ground.

《Shit! Behind-!?》

With his teeth clenched, Straf looks over his shoulder and finds the wraith standing there with its arm raised.

He leaps backwards across the arena, and slides to a halt while it leisurely lowers its arm back down. His eyes widen, and the wraith slowly slides to the center, clearly in no rush.

《Wait…》

Straf thinks, staring at it with a serious expression as the golden barrier slowly becomes translucent once again. He realizes that none of the wraith's supposed attacks slowed time like before.

《…This guy is fucking dangerous. He figured it out. Did he just realize how my ability works?》

He clicks his tongue in frustration, clenching his teeth. As the interior perimeter slowly becomes visible, the wraith stretches its arm towards the shadow outside of its flame's light. [Contextual Time Perception] activates again, and a spike is pointing at Straf's back. He sidesteps out of the way, and realizes the sharp point extended just far enough to just lightly poke him if he hadn't dodged.

《…He definitely fucking knows. He's just testing for its limits now.》

Straf grins at the wraith, taking a combat stance with his feet wide apart, and his center of mass low to the ground.

《Now, I wouldn't say afraid, but I definitely feel in danger now. It's been a while… [Translocation] still in a cooldown for a few minutes, huh?》

He and the wraith glare at each other. Straf raises his fists.

「Aha ha ha… Afraid?」

The burning dark shape brings its pointy arm up in front of itself as it asks.

「Of what? I've got a flawless duel score, unlike you.」

Straf returns a smug grin, one foot in front of the other, standing in an almost boxing stance. The instant he replies, he feels great enmity build up in the wraith.

《…That being said, how do I deal with this fucking asshole for good? Think.》

Straf watches the burning ball of hatred stand still for a few seconds. Without a warning, it crosses the entire arena in a nigh-instant. [Contextual Time Perception] activates.

As he bobs away from a stab directed at his face, something jogs his memory. As he loses focus, he recalls the dim demonology hallway. The wraith rips his attention back from his mind, directing a diagonal slash at his torso. He sidesteps beneath it, turning his body away just in time. In his mind, he remembers a flurry of spells coming straight at him. The dark shape raises its blade-like arms high up, threatening to slash his arms off at the shoulders.

Straf leaps backwards, nearly slamming his back into the barrier to gain distance. The shadowy blades carve through the empty air, but the wraith wastes no time and slides towards him.

He recollects a familiar stranger's angry face focused on him, pointing his palm at him. A memory of a duel cuts off, when he remembers a spell hitting him.

「Hey, loser!… Remember this one?」

Grinning, Straf extends his arm out towards the speeding wraith.

「『Forcebolt』!」

He shouts, pointing his hand at the burning shadow's center of mass. A whirling, purple conical shape forms around his hand up to half of his forearm.

The wraith visibly hesitates in its attack, and the spell abruptly shoots out towards it. The cone simply flies through its wispy form.

「…Urgh!…」

The dark shape lets out an ethereal, distant-sounding grunt as it acts out being knocked backwards. Its form appears to be soaring backwards through the air, yet remains connected by a pedestal-like shape to its base.

「What!?…」「That hit it?…」

Damian and Aria exclaim, watching the wraith fly backwards.

「No… Look closer, professor. The spell passed through it normally.」

He notes, pointing at the milky patch on the barrier directly behind the wraith.

「…Ungh!…」

It lets out another pained grunt in the same manner as it soundlessly impacts the ground and slides back a few paces. Straf takes a step forward, but the wraith snaps upright.

「You will pay for this…」

A male voice growls out as its enmity becomes almost palpable. Its arms extend into the shadow once again.

「Trying the same shit?… Time to teach you a lesson!」

Straf exclaims with a grin, cocking his arm back as hundreds of spikes appear directly beneath him.

BOOM!

He smashes his fist into the wraith's face with a thunderous noise. A large cloud of black dust kicks up, and the wraith slides backwards, seemingly clutching onto its missing face with its pointy arms. It silently falls over on its back, writhing around as if in pain.

「…Is he out of his fucking mind!?」

Damian exclaims when he sees Straf jump onto the flaming wraith.

「I have something like a grudge myself.」

Straf says, and begins throwing rapid punches into the wraith's featureless face. It attempts to shield itself with its arms, but it makes absolutely no difference as it slowly loses cohesion of its form with each impact. Its sponge-like constitution slowly turns into something akin to the interior of a watermelon, then the surface of water. Straf ignores the purple flames licking his body, and simply continues mauling the wraith.

Thud! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!…

Moments later, Straf realizes the wraith's head is now thin enough for him to hit the damp dirt beneath it, and his fists leave massive craters. Straf rears his arm back for a powerful blow.

THUD!

He punches through the wraith's face, digging his arm into the dirt. The shadow beneath him begins to slowly dissolve into dust, and the fire attached to each speck grows smaller and weaker, before the dust itself fades out of being. Breathing heavily and on his knees, Straf looks around. There is no sign of the dematerialized wraith in the air, nor on the ground, nor behind him. It simply has disappeared, and the barrier is still up.

「…He did it?」

Aria asks, furrowing her brows at Straf as he slowly gets up to his feet, and approaches them.

「…My headache is gone.」

Damian blinks in surprise, and lets out a relieved sigh. The gathered professors and students alike begin to chatter, then cheer, clapping wildly. Aria pulls her hand away from the obelisk, and the barrier drops.

「Ahhh… What a fucking asspull. I'm done… If the headmaster wants something from me, tell him to fuck off. Quote me.」

Straf says, as he shambles past Aria and the rest. Cycelia lets out a relieved sigh when he glances at her with a fatigued face, and she joins his side on the way back…