Ch. 39.2

The rustling of green leaves could be heard from somewhere, and tough vines sprouted from beneath the Mac Giant's body.

Kuwoooahh!!

Thud! Thump!

The vines couldn't overcome the Giant's strength and were quickly torn apart, but as they became increasingly stronger, the Giant found it difficult to tear them apart.

"Metal Manipulation."

Grrrgle! Grrgle!!

As the vines grew harder and harder like a rock and Mac Giant's movements became sluggish, Edna summoned three clusters of light above her head.

The small clusters of light, which were summoned in the shape of a diamond, gradually increased in size.

Zii!

As the clusters of light converged into a single point, their brightness increased, and as soon as Mac Giant broke free from the tough wooden vines.

Bang!!

A massive beam of light was fired, piercing through Mac Giant's abdomen.

Kuwoooahh!!

"Uh...?"

"What, what is it...?"

In just one moment, everything changed. Using only three combined magic spells, the Intermediate demon was dealt a fatal blow.

"Tch, weak."

However, the wound didn't seem to be fatal, and the demon was still alive. As the Mac Giant screamed and charged at her, Edna extended thick vines in all directions and rode atop them.

Though she couldn't use Hyper Jump since she wasn't a Knight, she had diligently trained her stamina and practiced controlling vines, so demons like Mac Giant without long-range interception skills couldn't catch up to her.

"Rolling Wave Whips."

Riding the swaying vines, Edna fired a beam of light. While some branches were torn apart by Mac Giant's raw strength, and she nearly fell a few times, but eventually, the demon with the fatal wound couldn't last long and fell to Edna's final strike.

"Paang!!"

A thin beam of light pierced through the neck of the Mac Giant.

"Wow, seriously?"

"A first-year... Oh my god."

"Does that even make sense...?"

Everyone was amazed and their mouths were left wide open.

External officials of the magical world repeatedly took off and put on their glasses, and the second-year students who were mocking Edna were left speechless.

"... It was a perfect performance. Well done."

Hanwol acknowledged that his words were somewhat exaggerating even as he spoke.

But, he was speaking the truth. Edna had managed to single-handedly tank, hold, and deal damage, so she had successfully fulfilled her role.

"Thank you."

When Edna descended, the first-year students let out a collective sigh and sang a song of despair.

"We couldn't even defeat a Intermediate demon properly with five people... That's crazy!"

The students from classes F~B of the first-year were allowed to watch the battles, and they were filled with self-doubt and disappointment, as they recalled their own failed attempts.

"Next, please come up."

The next group hesitantly approached the stage, lacking the confidence to take on the challenge. Although they managed to succeed in their attack, their performance was lackluster compared to the other groups.

Edna's performance had set the bar high, leaving little room for error.

"Group 31, come up."

Edna, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly raised her eyebrows when she heard the moderator announce Hong Bi-Yeon's turn.

"Eh?"

They had originally completed the task with six members, but something had changed.

The barbarian Hong Bi-Yeon unexpectedly climbed up with Mayuseong.

"What the hell is that combination?"

As the two characters had no connection even in the original novel, Edna became more and more confused.

While a demon was summoned in front of Hong Bi-yeon.

As soon as the identity of the demon was confirmed, cries of surprise erupted from all around.

"Spectral Fish...?"

"Oh my god, that's a special Intermediate demon!"

"They dared to challenge a demon that's hard to suppress...?"

"Wait, don't they have opposite attributes?"

"This is insane."

Some of the professors and mages quickly took out magic charts to search for Hong Bi-Yeon and Mayuseong's attributes.

Many teams had challenged special Intermediate demons, but all of them had failed and most had only attempted it with the right elemental attributes.

However, they had completely given up on the elemental advantage. It was an obvious attempt to sabotage the scores.

"But, wouldn't they score only if they succeed in conquering it?"

When everyone expressed doubt, Lee Hanwol's signal for the start was given.

At the same time, the Spectral Fish howled and soared high into the sky.

The demon was an extreme opponent with a tough exterior, the ability to manipulate water, and even the power to fly!

However, it was highly susceptible to ice magic, which placed it on Level 3 at the danger scale.

Without that, it would have been at least a Level 4 or 5.

"Let's begin," said Hong Bi-Yeon, slamming her staff down. Mayuseong spun his wand around, which was shorter than his forearm, and backed away.

"Why is the knight retreating behind the priest?"

"What's going on?"

Thump!

As the mages watched with round eyes, Mayuseong made a Hyper Jump and leaped diagonally into the air.

"Wow... for a first-year, he's got an impressive Hyper Jump."

"But, he can't reach the demon with just that. After all, you can't use the Hyper Jump in mid-air."

"What's he trying to do?"

As if to quickly dispel their doubts, Mayuseong summoned a square rock platform beneath his feet.

Right after that, at the perfect timing of the jump, the fireball thrown by Hong Bi-Yeon exploded precisely at the spot, propelling Mayuseong's body forward once again.

He reached an incredible speed, resembling a rocket!

"At maximum range, he planned to leap twice in a row and reach the target at once!"

As they had anticipated, Mayuseong, who had reached the top of the demon in an instant, summoned a giant rock fist in the air.

It was called the "Titan's fist."

Kuwoong!!

As a tremendous physical impact caused the demon's shell to crack, its bulky body fell to the ground.

Without missing the chance, Mayuseong used the Earthbind Skill to tie up the demon's body.

Although he was not a suppressing-type mage, he had gained enough time since the demon was temporarily immobilised.

Hwarruruk!!

The magic spell of Hong Bi-Yeon, who could be called the strongest first-year student in terms of firepower, was now complete!

A huge fireball, which appeared like a small sun, had been unleashed upon the demon, and an enormous explosion sound engulfed the vicinity.

"Oh my goodness...."

"That's a Class 3 magic spell."

"I can't believe it...."

Although Spectral Fish's mucous layer had the effect of withstanding fire-attribute magic, it was useless against overwhelming firepower.

As the layer melted away and its skin started to burn, Spectral Fish screamed in agony.

However, its protective layer was stripped away, and with its shell also peeled off by the physical force of Mayuseong, it was no longer a threatening demon.

With Hong Bi-Yeon's fireball exploding inside the shell, Spectral Fish was finally defeated.

A moment of silence followed.

Then, cheers erupted.

"Wow, wow!!"

"They're crazy, this year's freshmen are really crazy!"

"That freshman who killed a Intermediate demon alone was impressive, but those guys are no joke either."

"Yeah, they seem to have the same level of ability as 'that senior' in Class S of the third year."

"Wow, seriously… He's a genius."

The performance evaluation showed how impressive it could be when those with overwhelming talent also have a competitive spirit.

After the evaluation was over, Hong Bi-Yeon looked around and saw the seats where Eisel and Baek Yu-Seol were sitting.

He was just about to meet her eyes, but Hong Bi-Yeon turned her head abruptly, avoiding eye contact.

"Heh, they can't beat us, can they?"

Feeling immensely confident, Hong Bi-Yeon returned to her seat, puffed out her chest, and shrugged her shoulders high.

Perhaps the afterglow of the previous round had not yet faded. Even though Baek Yu-Seol and Eisel had taken the stage for the next round, nobody paid them any attention.

Hong Bi-Yeon felt a great sense of satisfaction in that situation. A perfect sense of victory.

'No matter what demon Baek Yu-Seol chooses, he won't be able to show a great performance like myself.'

"Please summon five demons."

Silence fell over the area at Baek Yu-Seol's unexpected request, until everyone in the room froze in place.