Chapter 226
Charlotte is strong.
That was a fact everyone knew.
And now, once again, someone experiencing that fact firsthand was standing before Charlotte.
A girl with red hair and healthy skin.
Karandis Poseus.
Her legs were trembling like aspen leaves.
She had already blocked Charlotte's sword and rolled on the ground more than ten times.
Thanks to that, her body was close to being a wreck.
"Hah, hah."
She let out a rough breath and barely lifted her head.
There, she saw Charlotte clashing with a man.
Someone whose presence was faint even among the Special Class and avoided interacting with others.
Arthur Gramalte.
Though he hadn't stood out even within the Special Class, he was performing better than expected.
It was because he was facing Charlotte's sword head-on.
His sword was quite peculiar.
Wrapped in light, his sword was sometimes destructive, sometimes swift, and sometimes incredibly flexible.
As if he had lived life in countless ways.
The various techniques and know-how contained in his body felt strangely distinct from one another.
However, the result of all those things coming together to form Arthur Gramalte was outstanding.
This was because Karandis had never thought there would be anyone who could face Charlotte head-on in her lifetime.
Perhaps, with Arthur, there might be a slight chance of victory.
Clang!
It was when she thought that and caught her breath.
The light from Arthur's sword, which had clashed with Charlotte's, scattered for a moment.
As the light scattered, Arthur pulled his body back significantly and let his sword droop.
"The output is......."
Arthur, who wrapped his other arm around the arm holding the sword, opened his eyes slightly.
"Arthur!"
Taking advantage of that moment, Charlotte immediately closed in on Arthur.
Seeing this, Karandis quickly threw her body between Arthur and Charlotte.
Clang!
A shield made of water collided with Charlotte's sword and was torn apart.
However, it fortunately prevented Arthur's sword from reaching Charlotte.
From behind Karandis, Arthur once again swung his sword, now gathering light, at Charlotte.
It was a move that cleverly utilized the obscured vision caused by Karandis's water shield.
But to Charlotte, it was blocked with remarkable ease.
'Opportunity!'
Judging that now was the opportunity as Charlotte blocked Arthur's sword, Karandis threw herself at Charlotte.
However, the swirling airflow of the sword repelled her body entirely.
Even while facing multiple opponents, Charlotte didn't let her guard down for a moment.
Karandis bit her lips tightly.
What kind of monster like this exists, she wondered.
"......I'm indebted."
At that moment, Arthur's voice reached Karandis's ears.
Arthur, who usually showed disinterest in Karandis, looked at her a bit differently today.
"What do you mean! If you collapse, I'm done for on my own!"
And Karandis responded brightly and confidently.
"I have to do everything I can."
She was someone who, relying solely on endurance, clashed with Charlotte without any particular finesse.
She knew well enough that, from Charlotte's perspective, she was no different from a boar.
Without Arthur, she would have already been retired.
So she fulfilled her role diligently.
"If your output is unstable, I'll buy you some time."
After all, everyone has a role they can fulfill.
Even a boar can buy a second of time.
"Charging in is my specialty."
Whether it's romance or battle.
Whatever it is, charging in is what suits her.
Arthur's eyes briefly looked at Karandis.
"So that's the kind of person you are."
Arthur quietly muttered to himself.
Hearing those words, Karandis shouted confidently.
"Yes, this is who I am! So let's get to know each other better from now on!"
In the Special Class, he was someone who stood apart.
Taking this opportunity, she shouted, suggesting they get closer.
"I've given you plenty of time to talk."
And once again, Charlotte began approaching them.
Arthur, taking his eyes off Karandis, looked at Charlotte.
"......Is it Kraush's influence?"
Once again muttering to himself, his sword was enveloped in light.
And for some reason, that light shone even brighter than before.
It was then.
Charlotte, who had been approaching, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Raising her head abruptly, she silently gazed at the sky.
Rumble!
At that moment, the entire mountain shook violently as if an earthquake had struck.
Karandis, startled, quickly steadied herself.
And soon, Karandis realized the source of the vibration.
The source of the vibration was none other than the sky.
The place where she had raised her head.
There was an enormous fireball large enough to engulf the entire forest.
It was absurdly gigantic, reminiscent of the sun.
Karandis's eyes widened.
The heat radiating from the small sun made her feel her face burning.
And she realized who was responsible for it.
Aslan Igrit.
As someone from the Igrit Direct Line, he was a master of Flame Magic, and he had created this 7th Circle Magic.
7th Circle Magic.
Parva Solara.
Such magic had been formed in the sky without a single sign.
'It's Haring's doing.'
Karandis realized who had helped Aslan complete that magic.
It was Haring who had hidden Aslan using Invisible until he completed Parva Solara.
The moment she realized that, Arthur passed by her side.
"Arthur?!"
Arthur, who had dashed forward at high speed, immediately swung his sword at Charlotte, who was looking up at the sky.
Clang!
The airflow of the flying sword blocked Arthur's sword.
But Arthur, undeterred by the airflow of the sword, continued to advance.
Charlotte's head tilted slightly.
Despite the wounds left on his body, Arthur had forced his way through the airflow of the sword.
"Are you planning to tie me down?"
The plan was to keep Charlotte from escaping until Parva Solara descended from the sky.
Because no matter how powerful Charlotte was, she couldn't remain unscathed if caught in Parva Solara.
"Ah!"
The moment Karandis realized that, she belatedly started running.
She, too, intended to somehow tie Charlotte down alongside Arthur.
As Parva Solara descended, Arthur and Karandis launched a fierce attack.
Bang! Clang! Boom!
Each time Charlotte swung her sword, Arthur and Karandis sustained more injuries.
However, Karandis clenched her teeth and relentlessly charged at Charlotte.
Her body was already battered and bruised beyond recognition.
Knowing she would soon reach her limit, she clung to Charlotte like a madwoman.
At the very least, to restrain her movements even once.
Karandis hurled her body forward.
And Arthur was no different.
He persistently swung the Sword of Light with relentless determination.
"What an unusual sword technique."
Charlotte realized that escaping Arthur's sword wouldn't be easy.
His Sword of Light continuously ensnared Charlotte.
Like an antlion trap, it kept pulling her inward.
Charlotte's dark blue hair fluttered once.
'It's true, it's pulling me in.'
His Sword of Light was indeed drawing Charlotte in.
It felt as if another wind was blowing, centering around Arthur.
As if he were the center of the world.
Rumble!
In the meantime, Parva Solara had approached directly overhead.
The force caused their clothes and hair to flutter violently.
"You'll get caught up in it too."
Charlotte warned Arthur as she looked at him.
She was saying that he, too, would be caught in Parva Solara.
But Arthur responded with an unreadable expression.
"That won't happen."
His words carried conviction.
Though she didn't know where his confidence came from.
Charlotte agreed with his words.
"You're right."
"Aaaah!"
With a wild scream, Karandis charged at Charlotte, only to have her face struck by Charlotte's sword and roll on the ground.
Her figure, rolling around in disarray, looked pitiful.
It was then.
In an instant, the surrounding air changed.
The airflow that had been directed toward Arthur suddenly shifted toward Charlotte.
All surrounding noise disappeared in that brief moment.
The sound of birds.
The chirping of insects.
Even the sound of grass rustling or sand rolling in the wind.
All of it vanished.
In that hollow space, Charlotte's dark blue hair gently fluttered.
The blue aura on her sword silenced all who saw it.
Her sword was that overwhelming.
Charlotte's sword slowly, very slowly, rose toward the sky.
Those who witnessed the scene could do nothing.
Because it was already destined to happen.
The moment her outstretched sword touched the edge of the sky.
The sky began to move again.
Peerless Heaven.
Secret Technique.
Flowing Heaven.
And the sight that unfolded was absurd.
The center of the 7th Circle Magic, Parva Solara, was empty.
Parva Solara, which had seemed about to burst with heat just moments ago, had been shattered with a single sword technique from Charlotte.
Rumble!
The destabilized Parva Solara scattered and split apart.
Beneath the embers scattering from the collapsing Parva Solara.
Charlotte smiled, as if to demonstrate what true strength was.
That smile was both grotesque and, in a way, noble.
And that smile wasn't because she had safely destroyed Parva Solara.
Inside the shattered Parva Solara.
From within, Aslan, with his hands crossed above and below him, was falling from the air.
The fireball formed in his grasp was even greater than Parva Solara from moments ago.
Just as Charlotte hadn't lost her fighting spirit while looking at Parva Solara.
Aslan, too, hadn't lost his fighting spirit despite Parva Solara's destruction.
He was preparing for the next.
And then the next.
"You're truly Kraush's friend."
As she said that, Arthur's Sword of Light swung beside her.
Charlotte lightly tilted her head to avoid his sword and continued speaking.
"You seem to know something peculiar about Kraush too."
At some point, her leg had swung and struck Arthur's side.
Unable to dodge in time, Arthur's body twisted and rolled on the ground.
At that moment, Charlotte realized something had wrapped around her leg.
It was a string of light.
Arthur had tied it just before reaching her leg.
Thud!
At that moment, she felt as if a heavy iron weight was attached to the end of the string of light.
The Sword of Light, connected to the string of light, was deeply embedded in the ground.
As Charlotte moved her sword to cut the string of light.
Flinch-
She instinctively turned her head and swung her sword to the left.
Crack!
Haring, who had appeared to her left, frowned deeply.
'I definitely used Invisible.'
Yet Charlotte turned her head to dodge the dagger and.
In the process, struck Haring's wrist with the grip of her sword.
From that blow, Haring realized the bones in her right wrist had been shattered.
It was a situation where the tendons were on the verge of snapping.
Haring forcibly gripped the dagger in a reverse grip before her wrist completely gave out.
Then she immediately extended her left arm.
Her left hand wrapped around the right hand holding the dagger.
Then Haring poured all her strength into her arm and stabbed downward with the dagger.
"Hng."
Charlotte didn't expect her to launch an additional attack with her broken right hand.
Perhaps because of that, Charlotte blocked the dagger with her sword a step too late.
Flash!
Then, the malice imbued with cold air from Haring's dagger seeped into Charlotte's sword.
At that moment, Charlotte's eyes faintly widened.
Whoosh!
From the sky, Aslan, who had been falling, shot a condensed White Hot Sphere.
The white sphere streaked straight toward Charlotte.
Though small in size, the power contained within it clearly surpassed Parva Solara.
In a dire situation.
Charlotte wrapped her free hand around Haring's neck.
Bang!
Then she immediately slammed her into the ground.
"Gah!"
Without even a chance to react, Haring's consciousness faded instantly.
Meanwhile, the heat was already right above her head.
Aura once again enveloped Charlotte's sword.
In an instant, her bent sword intercepted Aslan's White Hot Sphere that had come right in front of her.
Ziiiiing!
The edge of Charlotte's aura-laden sword was so sharp.
Aslan's White Hot Sphere split in half.
The sphere's heat rays scattered around, melting the ground and sending up acrid smoke.
However, the ground wasn't the only thing the sphere melted.
Charlotte's sword, which had been frozen by malice just moments before, also melted from the sphere.
No matter how strong Charlotte's aura was, it was impossible for her sword to completely withstand the impact of a White Hot Sphere of such power.
As a result.
Crack!
Cracks began to form on Charlotte's sword.
Although her aura remained intact, her sword could not endure.
The moment she realized this, she immediately adjusted the trajectory of her sword.
At some point, Haring's dagger was now in Charlotte's grasp.
"Damn!"
By the time Aslan realized this and cast Defense Magic, it was too late.
The dagger, shot like a bullet, was already right in front of his nose.
Clang!
The dagger pierced through his Defense Magic and embedded itself deep into Aslan's side.
The force contained in the dagger was so immense that Aslan, who had been soaring through the air, crashed into the forest far away.
In an instant, the situation was resolved.
The forest, now quiet once again.
Charlotte stood tall in place without a single scratch.
After filling the String of Light, Arthur lay collapsed on the ground, showing no signs of movement.
Haring, whose body was embedded in the ground, seemed to have completely lost consciousness.
Aslan, injured in the side and having suffered a fall, could no longer move.
"Hoo."
A sigh escaped from Charlotte's lips.
Crack!
And soon, her sword split apart.
Clatter!
It shattered completely and turned into fragments.
Charlotte, who was staring blankly at the scene, looked at the empty hilt of the sword.
Since coming to Rahelrn Academy, she had never once lost her sword.
But today, for the first time, her sword was broken.
It was the desperate strength of the Second Year Students.
"Who do they fight like?"
As Charlotte's gaze turned subtle, thinking their fighting style resembled someone's.
Something lightly touched her back.
Momentarily, she failed to notice the presence due to the heightened tension from the battle and turned her head.
There stood Karandis, battered and bruised.
In a punching stance, she was breathing heavily.
Her fist carried no strength.
She simply extended her arm.
That was all.
Karandis was in such a terrible state that she could barely stand.
Even performing any action was now beyond her capability.
Because of this, even Charlotte failed to notice her presence for a moment.
She posed no threat to Charlotte at all.
Yet Karandis's fist touched Charlotte.
For the first time, Charlotte allowed an attack, and as she blinked, Karandis collapsed.
All the Second Year Students were retired.
"Hng."
Charlotte let out a very short snort and looked around, curling up the corners of her lips.
"Our youngest friends are quite something."
It was the highest praise she could offer.