Academy Battle (6)

Baek Yu-Seol and Jeliel changed their location to a rare and quiet private space, where they could concentrate.

Between them was a table crafted from high-quality wood, and on top of it was an expensive Soul Chessboard made of finely cut crystals.

As Soul Chess was a premier intellectual sport in the magical realm, it often appeared as a gimmick in many dungeons and served as a means for individuals to compete with each other's skills in various situations.

Sure, betting on Soul Chess wasn't much of an issue...

'Soul Chess against me?'

Jeliel fiddled with her chess pieces with a slightly relaxed expression compared to before.

Of course, even though she seemed more relaxed, she maintained her poker face.

'Does he really know nothing about me?'

The daughter of the Starcloud President's chairman was a genius girl, who received the qualifications of a high elf during her teenage years, and entered the Astral Flower Magic Academy as the top student.

And…

A Grandmaster of Soul Chess.

Truly, her rating was at a level which could be considered the pinnacle of Soul Chess achievement among Grandmasters.

Of course, even among Grandmasters, ratings were divided based on win rates and experience, and due to her young age, Jeliel might be considered lower-tier, but she was far from being a pushover with only a student's skill.

If you think about it normally, she should win.

'I must win.'

'I am a Grandmaster.'

However, she wasn't confident.

She kept a 0.1% chance of failure in mind.

'Why did he challenge me to a bet in Soul Chess?'

No matter how much she thought about it, it didn't make sense that Baek Yu-Seol didn't know about her own chess skills.

By chance, Baek Yu-Seol hadn't heard of the reputation of 'Grandmaster Jeliel,' and then coincidentally challenged her to a bet in Soul Chess?

And not just any bet but one involving such a large stake?

'No, absolutely not.'

There was something fishy going on.

Nevertheless, she accepted this bet because... she believed she could win.

The magical pact was absolute.

And in this pact, there were no rules other than Soul Chess.

No trickery was allowed.

Since Soul Chess could only be played purely with skill, no other tricks could be used.

So, there remained only one possibility.

'Baek Yu-Seol is better at chess than me.'

She had some knowledge about his chess skills.

She had heard news before that he defeated the stella's top Soul Chess player.

'Edmon Atalek.'

Being the honored Stella Academy's top student, Edmon Atalek's skill was at least semi-professional level.

If he overwhelmingly defeated someone like him... Baek Yu-Seol's skill was undoubtedly at a professional level or even beyond.

'At least on par, or perhaps superior.'

After taking a deep breath, she exhaled.

'I must never let her guard down.'

'No matter how confident the opponent was in their chess skills, I, with an overwhelmingly powerful skill in the world of true professionals, have crushed all competitors and earned the title of Grandmaster.'

With the skills she honed all these years to play Soul Chess with the soul in the ancient Carmenset, if she played as usual... she would surely win.

"You seem to have a lot in your mind. Are you scared?"

Baek Yu-Seol playfully said, rolling the Soul Orb with his fingers.

The Soul Orb contained within her pendant was the proof of the enchantment she had made.

"No, I'm fine."

It was a single-game match.

In just one game, her fate will be decided.

"Shall we start then?"

————

Whew.

As Baek Yu-Seol and Jeliel began Soul Chess, Anella came out and leaned against the wall.

The sweat covered her whole body due to the exertion brought about by her quick movements.

'Ugh, is it not too much to ask me to prepare for Soul Chess…'

Since Anella's identity was revealed by Baek Yu-Seol, she had been listening to his commands as much as possible.

It wasn't because he destroyed her abilities and even had the power to kill.

'The ability... still hasn't been activated. Ever since I failed to cast [Rebirth of Nightmare] on Baek Yu-Seol, for some reason, my ability completely disappeared.'

'It felt quite strange.'

'It was as if the existence of 'me' had been partly erased.'

'Why was this ability so important to me...?'

'Well.'

'If I didn't have this ability in most of the missions I've undertaken so far, it would have been quite painful.'

Thanks to the extraordinary skill which allowed her to invade anyone's mind, she managed to survive somehow with a lacking ability.

'Ugh, what on earth happened...?'

Now that her ability had completely disappeared, there was no point in trying to go back.

No, she was always on shaky ground, but now she might be expelled altogether...?

Knowing well what becomes of expelled dark mages wandering the streets, she hastily dismissed the horrifying thought.

'If I get chased away... should I resort to cannibalism?'

Dark mages sustained themselves by absorbing the blood of mages.

However, Anella had never engaged in direct actions like killing people or consuming corpses.

She simply survived by replenishing her vitality with blood packs provided after completing missions.

Life was a struggle with no money, and she barely supplemented nutrition with supplied blood packs, enduring each night in a building reduced to ruins.

Having lived this way for 20 years, she had nothing left.

If expelled, she would have to wander the wilderness, awaiting the day when she would be hunted.

'Sigh. If that's the case, it wouldn't be bad to make a living by being a bread shuttle…'

Of course, it was not for that reason that she stayed by Baek Yu-Seol's side.

'Don't you want to return to being human?'

An incredibly enticing statement he made before.

If someone else had said it, she would have scoffed, as there was no way to revert a dark mage back to human.

If another dark mage had heard it, they would have just laughed, as no dark mage wanted to return to being human.

However, this case was exceptionally unique.

Baek Yu-Seol was truly a versatile being who could do anything, and Anella... She really wanted to return to being human.

It wouldn't be easy.

She was a full-fledged dark mage, and to reverse that, she would have to sacrifice considerable effort and endure pain.

But if he did just that...

'You can go back. With your appearance intact, starting your life anew from your teenage years... that's what it means.'

It was a captivating proposition.

Baek Yu-Seol didn't provide any evidence.

He didn't casually mention having turned a dark mage back into a human before.

He simply stated that it was possible.

That he could do it.

'In return... you'll be my eyes and ears. Will you accept that?'

Anella seemed to nod involuntarily.

She was not sure why; perhaps there was nothing else for her to leave his side for.

'If I truly start a new life here…'

Could she be genuinely happy then?

"Sigh."

Anella thumped her stiff shoulders.

Despite becoming a dark mage, her congenitally weak body remained unhealed.

Well, it had improved a bit, considering she couldn't even walk when she was ailing in her human days.

Magic still couldn't be properly used, and her physical abilities were feeble.

Anella was weak by nature.

Moreover, her abilities were sealed, making her vulnerable even if she accidentally targeted a passing Stella student.

£'Well... no one should be able to figure out my true identity.'*

Thinking this, she turned her body slightly to take a moment of rest.

Just as she considered it...

Smack!

"You."

Someone touched her shoulder.

"Ah...!"

There were almost no people who would approach her for conversation.

Anella instinctively leaped back, clenching her fist.

She might accidentally release the seal of dark magic... Come to think of it, she didn't know how to undo the sealed dark magic.

"Hey, no need to be so on guard. Just..."

"What?"

As Anella made a wary expression, the other person raised both hands in a surrendering gesture and stepped back playfully.

The person was a man with a head of red hair and red eyes, and the energy emanating from his pupils felt familiar.

'A dark mage...'

"Yeah, we're of the same kind, you know? Sorry for realizing it late. Where are you affiliated? If you made it to Stella, you must have some standing."

After a moment of hesitation, Anella opened her mouth.

"... Infiltrating under the orders of Dark Knight. Don't interfere with my mission. If you don't want to trespass into the Dark Mage King's territory."

"Whoa, calm down. I have no intention of doing that. I'm in a similar situation as you."

He tapped the nameplate hanging around his neck.

It read 'Ka Baren.'

Whether it was a real name or an alias remained unknown.

"See this? I'm actually a staff member for the Academy Battle, so I have access to many places. Oh, is there any place you'd like to see? I can show you around, you know?"

"No, I'm busy."

"Oh, really? Too bad... I was going to show you something really interesting."

"Interesting... thing?"

"Yeah! Since we're comrades, I was going to show you something special. Something very, very fun is about to happen in 'Magic Survival'~!"

Anella twisted her lips in apparent disinterest.

Frankly, she wasn't intrigued at all.

Just because they were both dark mages didn't mean they were all the same.

The acts committed by other dark mages from different affiliations were nothing more than distant stories.

But Stella Academy might have something significant involving dark mages.

'Terrorism.'

What kind of terrorism was it?

Dark mages' acts of terror were no longer like the old days.

They were more intelligent, and capable of causing chaos in the magic world all at once.

It was that kind of terrorism.

'... Baek Yu-Seol probably doesn't know about this.'

This was an opportunity, a chance to gain Baek Yu-Seol's trust.

To uncover what this dark mage was planning and inform him.

The life of a dark mage, which revolved around repeating vile deeds and spreading suffering to survive, had become tiresome.

She firmly resolved to look straight into Ka Baren's eyes.

She twisted her lips mischievously.

"Lead the way. I'm really looking forward to this interesting event, aren't you?"

"Good, good! I've been wanting to show this to someone! Hehe, let's go! Let's go!"

Following Ka Baren with his bizarre strides, Anella made a promise to herself.

'I must go back.'

Back to the time when she found joy in small, simple things.

———

"Ah..."

Jeliel stared at the chessboard with blank eyes.

Unbelievable results unfolded before her.

'The king has fallen.'

Due to Baek Yu-Seol's move, her king collapsed.

'How...?'

It was difficult to accept the result.

She had undoubtedly done her best, employing all the experiences and strategies she had accumulated to thoroughly strategize against the opponent.

But... she couldn't do anything.

It felt like being stripped bare and exposed, as if every move, weakness, and secret of hers was meticulously unraveled by the opponent.

It was more embarrassing than being undressed.

With intellectual concepts nearly overwhelmed by sexual notions, the intellectually inclined Jeliel felt an overwhelming sense of shame as if every thought of hers was laid bare.

She had to admit that he had better moves and strategies than her.

However... for Jeliel, who believed herself to be the smartest in manipulating the human chess pieces, this was an unbearable fact.

'It's just a game of chess. Really, Jeliel.'

She tried to regain composure by assuming a calm demeanor; but she couldn't prevent her pupils from trembling.

"I won."

Baek Yu-Seol said with a calm and composed expression.

It was almost unbelievable.

As if it was just any other game of Soul Chess for him.

"Well, you'll keep your promise, right? Well... I'll keep the secret too. As long as you keep that promise, I can overlook your little trick. Oh, and I'll have this as a gift."

He put the Soul Orb back into the pendant, and stood up.

It was an item which could be used anytime.

At least, he could use it as an entrance ticket to meet the Elf King later.

"I'll be going now. The Magic Survival is about to begin. Were you a participant too? Don't worry, I won't touch you there. Oh, and this is a gift."

Baek Yu-Seol left a strange shaped fragment which appeared like a tombstone on the table.

"It might become something precious to you, so keep it in mind."

As Baek Yu-Seol finally left, Jeliel felt empty inside, and leaned back slowly in her chair.

She had lost.

She must abide by the terms written in the Magical Parchment as the price.

It was somewhat absurd, yet for Jeliel, it was the most significant wound.

[First, do not love your father.]

[Second, if the first condition is impossible, do not face your father for three years.]

[Third, if the second condition is also impossible... love someone else.]

Human emotions were not easily changeable, especially love.

In other words, since the first condition was impossible, she must fulfill the second condition...

'Not face my father for three years?'

Jeliel gently caressed the Magic Parchment with trembling hands.

Both the first and second conditions were impossible.

Even the third condition…

Seemed utterly impossible.

A life lived solely for her father, and now, filling that void with someone else was inconceivable.

'How can I...'

She bit her lip, holding back tears that seemed ready to fall.

She was originally emotionless, but she felt unusually complicated today, and her heart pounded.

Baek Yu-Seol.

He imposed the harshest punishment on her and left.