Episode 817

“…I was wrong, it seems.”

“What?! Senior, why are you standing around? You would’ve ditched me and escaped without hesitation!”

Lee Han cried out in surprise at Yukveltire’s words.

Catten watched the exchange and thought to himself.

‘Are they on bad terms?’

He’d assumed they were friendly, since they were in the same tower, did research together, and even worked together on things like this, but there was no sense of camaraderie at all.

“I blocked him.”

Direte answered awkwardly.

No matter how it was, she couldn’t just prioritize the duke and run while her junior fought.

She’d blocked Yukveltire’s way and shoved him back so he couldn’t leave.

“Oh, so it was thanks to you, Direte senior.”

At Lee Han’s “as expected” tone, Yukveltire felt that mysterious emotion well up again.

Catten was puzzled by the rare sight of a friend in the same year trembling like that.

“Are you angry, by any chance?”

“…Catten of House Jahan. Petty emotions like anger…”

“You seem angry…”

“I’m not.”

With those words, Yukveltire resumed attacking.

The swords Catten had dodged flew in from behind once again. Direte’s undead monsters charged in, making vicious noises.

‘Hmm. Looks about right.’

Blinking his eyes, Catten thickened his senses and honed his instincts.

Amid pitch blackness, with flying swords emitting illusory sonic attacks, and an invisible junior lurking and aiming at him—

The refined senses of a trained swordsman found his way.

People disparage mages as oafish and simple, but the sword’s path, tunneling into one’s own body and soul, is not to be underestimated.

Now to rush those mages up front and steal the duke—

Catten instinctively unleashed a secret sword technique. Incoming telekinetic strikes from the front clashed with his blade.

Surprised by the solid impact, Catten exclaimed:

“A noble-blooded Yukveltire. When did you learn this magic…?”

“I didn’t cast it.”

“A feint, then?”

But before he finished, another volley of telekinesis pounded in.

Fending off the fierce, invisible attacks, Catten realized something was off.

Neither Yukveltire nor Direte, busy controlling artifacts and summons, could spare this kind of magical offense.

“Junior of the Wardanaz family! I was too biased against you!”

‘Tsk.’

Lee Han clicked his tongue inside.

He’d hoped Catten would keep blaming Yukveltire, but it seemed he’d figured out Lee Han was the culprit.

Taking the front in such a battle as the designated battle mage was natural, but it wasn’t something Lee Han really wanted.

“Got you!”

-■■■■!

Just then, the undead beast closed the gap and leapt at Catten with a roar. Direte breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m not sure it’ll work, but…!”

As Catten spoke softly, Lee Han felt a chill run down his spine.

Pop!

Suddenly, multiple doppelgangers of Catten appeared, blocking the charging undead beasts and artifacts.

The real Catten, fierce, lunged straight for Lee Han. Direte cried out in disbelief.

“He’s making doppelgangers with swordsmanship?!”

‘I know, right.’

Lee Han didn’t have time to reply. He shot off a triple telekinetic volley -Wardanaz’s Telekinesis- at point blank and leaped back to widen the distance.

Catten raised his unarmed forearm like a shield and charged with a shout, his aura blazing, colliding with the telekinesis.

Once, twice, three times!

He knew if he paused to swing his sword for a clean hit, Lee Han would vanish, so he forced his way through.

Though his arm was reinforced with aura, after blocking three 5th-circle-class spells, Catten’s arm was shredded and twisted at a weird angle.

He didn’t care. He’d acquired his desired prize.

‘I’m in range!’

Lee Han, preparing for such a moment, activated two preloaded spells: -Enchanted Lightning Cloak- and -Gonadaltes’s Boiling Strength-, then tossed his staff aside and drew his sword.

From here, the sword was faster than any spell.

Bang!!!

Catten’s aura-shrouded sword collided with Lee Han’s guard, and he laughed, delighted.

“Excellent, junior! Such destructive power, and you don’t even use aura yet!”

Thanks to the reinforcement spells learned from the Skull Principal, his own unique bodily reinforcement through fortunate mana overflow, and his sword Morningstar, which absorbed enemy mana—

With all that, Lee Han could directly block a blow from Catten’s aura-enhanced strike.

But while Catten was impressed, Lee Han was shuddering from the impact.

‘What kind of monster…!’

With multiple enhancement spells, including -Gonadaltes’s Boiling Strength-, he still felt like he’d been struck by a shock magic head-on, a surging wave through his body. Such destructive force was insane.

Just as mages become elites upon manifesting a Personal World and mastering high magic, swordsmen capable of using aura were a class apart.

Suddenly, his foresight spell warned of the next move. As a storm of attacks poured in from all sides, Lee Han gritted his teeth and rushed in.

If he faltered now, he sensed it would be even deadlier.

“Hmm!”

Catten, going for a one-armed move, stepped back at Lee Han’s sharp counterattack.

‘Is he using precognition?’

Even if he couldn’t use magic, Catten was well-studied. For a junior learning all the schools, using foresight magic was believable.

That explained the sharp counter. For an inexperienced junior facing Catten’s sword, such reaction was rare.

‘Seniors are only human. If I buy enough time, things will go my way!’

Lee Han quickly reasoned.

Catten was human too.

His injuries were serious, and after space magic and clones, his mana had to be running low.

If Lee Han dragged it out, Yukveltire and Direte would intervene.

“Hmmm.”

But Lee Han realized, too late, that his assessment had been naive.

While others spent college days on research, this senior had spent his in the punishment room swinging his sword. Even injured and mana-depleted, he was a monster who’d still hunt Lee Han.

Bang, bang, bang—!

‘His sword trajectory… is twisted?!’

Lee Han struck first, firing full-power attacks that should have shattered the walls.

Yet, in each clash with Catten’s defensive sword, Lee Han’s weapon was pushed further off its line.

After his fourth blow failed to land as intended, Lee Han realized:

‘He’s redirecting my sword!’

Unbelievable.

In ordinary circumstances, perhaps. With a few more years, Lee Han could deflect attacks from his seniors with eyes closed, just like he did to Gainando fighting over snacks. For a swordsman of several ranks above, like Catten, such a redirection, even when injured, would be routine.

But not in the middle of a battle bombarded by spells from all sides!

And Lee Han wasn’t just swinging normally, either—it was all-out with every reinforcement he could muster.

Yet Catten was, with composure, redirecting those blows and maneuvering Lee Han into a perilous situation.

It was chilling swordsmanship. Lee Han looked into Catten’s eyes—vertical pupils, unique to feline beastkin, were watching for an opportunity.

Despite injury and exhaustion, that hunter’s sharp focus promised he’d never let prey escape.

‘This can’t go on!’

Lee Han instinctively bet everything. His pocket watch flared with mana, speeding up his time.

With his speed now on another plane even from mere enhancement magics, Catten was caught off guard.

‘How enviable—such magical power!’

Yet even as he admired it, Catten’s body moved on its own.

His aura-clad sword tracked the oncoming attack’s path.

Lee Han didn’t know it, but Catten’s technique—the Flowing Willow Blade’s secret “Defeated Willow, Remaining Flower”—was at work.

The art of redirecting an enemy’s strike and leading them into a trap!

Even battered and exhausted, Catten wouldn’t be easy to overcome by brute force.

Lee Han adjusted his posture swiftly and launched three slashes—each redirected by Catten.

Two more—again deflected.

“…?”

For the first time that day, Catten felt something off in his blade.

The junior wasn’t moving quite where he aimed to send him.

‘What?’

Just then, Lee Han’s invisibility wore off. Seeing his eyes, Catten was startled.

Far from being overborne, Lee Han was still watching for an opening.

‘He dodged my lead—that’s impressive, but with an attack like that, he can’t break through this defense…’

Kwaarung!

There echoed the sound of mana compressing unnaturally—a sound only those sensitive to magic could hear.

Catten was shocked.

Aura was forming on the junior’s sword.

Crisis.

Reinforcement.

Foresight.

Acceleration.

Willpower. That focus, built of dire circumstances, merged with disciplined intention to form a plasma shape no normal mana concentration could produce.

Aura flared out, merging with the Wall Rock Sword Lee Han had mastered. The blow shattered Catten’s defense and sent his blade flying.

BAM!!!!!

“!”

More startled than Catten, who lost his sword, was Lee Han, who had blown it away. He hadn’t expected to actually break his senior’s defense.

“…Excellent, junior!! You can already use aura!”

Catten declared, delighted, as if the defeat were his own joy.

Lee Han wanted to return the compliment handsomely, but couldn’t. The rebound from time magic and other spells was slamming into his body.

“Urgh… Ahh… Th-thank you… But aura… what do you mean…?”

“That strike you just threw. That was aura. Ah, and it broke your invisibility too.”

Catten nodded.

Since aura is an abnormal mana phenomenon, he’d heard it could disrupt surrounding magic. To see it in action—magic truly was a wonder.

Grinding his teeth through the throbbing in his body, Lee Han managed to ask:

“But there wasn’t any change with my blade…”

Shouldn’t the sword burst into some kind of flame if it was aura?

To that Catten replied, also mystified,

“Indeed. It looked about to ignite but fizzled out—ah.”

“?”

“…You’re using a sword that absorbs mana, aren’t you?”

“…Ah. Sorry.”

Lee Han flushed with embarrassment.

Come to think of it, to ask “Why doesn’t aura light up?” while holding a mana-sucking obsidian-bladed sword, Morningstar, was stupid.

“Um, but senior—”

“Ask me anything.”

“But maybe you should check behind you first…”

Catten turned his head.

All of his vital points—neck and more—were targeted by Yukveltire’s flying swords and above him loomed a blood-drenched undead horror summoned by Direte, ready to bite his head off.

“Ah. I lost. I surrender.”

“As a fellow third-year, can’t you let me off?”

“Shouldn’t you at least offer something?”

Seeing Direte and Yukveltire about to tear Catten apart, Lee Han worried and interjected.

Catten answered dejectedly.

“Junior, I’ve nothing left. I spent most of my time in the punishment room, so I couldn’t take commissions or do research.”

“…Just hand over your broken arm, then.”

“And with healing magic too—junior, you’re so amazing, unlike me…”

“Let’s keep it quiet, please.”

Lee Han quickly clamped Catten’s mouth shut, glancing at his two seniors.