Chapter 76 of the Weapon Replicator at the Academy

Chapter 22: Final Exam (5)

The first to reach the front of Frondier was, as expected, Aster.

His new Valdur enhances all of Aster's abilities. It's a simple yet overwhelmingly powerful ability.

"Frondier! No cutting in line!"

Frondier laughed at Aster's words.

"That's like you."

Clang!

Aster's hand, extended towards Frondier, was blocked by something. Aster retracted his tingling arm and looked at Frondier.

Strange. He saw nothing, yet something had blocked him. The sensation in his hand was clearly metallic.

Jane and Elodie began to deploy mana from behind. As mages, their spell casting speed was much faster than running. It took only a few seconds for the magic bullets to manifest. It was a smooth process.

Crack!

However, their magic bullets were blocked by an ice wall that suddenly appeared before them.

The scale, the chilling cold of the ice. The owner was obvious.

"Athen…!"

Elodie spotted Athen. Athen was casting a spell from a distant position, completely unrelated to Frondier.

'She must have secured her position from the start. For a spell of this scale, she must have been incanting for quite some time.'

This was probably Frondier's team's strategy. After all, Frondier wouldn't have the audacity to secretly carry a victim and escape alone.

However, if that's the case, what is the purpose of this strategy? Even if Elodie and Jane are blocked, there's Aster and Azje. Can Frondier handle these two alone?

As Elodie expected, Azje quickly reached Frondier.

Azje approached Frondier directly. Aster, who was nearby, needed to be cautious, but his priority was to secure the role of the victim again.

Azje extended his spear first. He already knew that Frondier had an invisible weapon. The spear, piercing through space in a straight line, deflected most of Frondier's conjured weapons.

"Ugh…!"

Surprised, Frondier took a step back. Azje wasn't someone to be left alone. Quickly closing the distance, Azje grabbed Frondier's collar and reached for the student he was carrying, who was playing the role of the victim.

──Why was Jane so certain that the student Frondier was carrying was the 'victim'?

Because Frondier was carrying them, they were wearing an upperclassman's uniform, and their appearance matched.

Just before Azje extended his hand, Frondier's hidden card smiled slightly.

Swish!

The student Frondier was carrying extended their hand. In that hand was a fan, and inside the unfolded fan, a blade was ejected.

"…!"

Azje quickly swung his spear to knock the blade away.

This blade, and the fan he was holding.

Could the woman Frondier was carrying be…?

"Would you dare to touch a lady so carelessly, Mr. Azje?"

Quinie de Vieux. Her black fan glinted.

Frondier wasn't carrying a victim from the start. He was carrying Quinie, making her look like a victim.

And at this moment.

The moment Azje realized that the 'victim' Frondier was carrying was actually Quinie.

'Do you understand what this means?'

Frondier didn't have time to say it. He couldn't even move his eyes freely.

'The situation has changed.'

Frondier gripped the necklace 'Heikyoku.' In the instant Azje retreated from Quinie's attack.

A rare opening for Azje, who is hard to catch off guard. However.

The one taking advantage of the opening isn't Frondier.

'Aster!'

Frondier called out in his heart, and as if in response, Aster suddenly changed direction and extended his blade towards Azje.

The person Frondier was carrying wasn't a victim. In other words, Frondier wasn't a competitor but an ally.

The situation, which had been against Frondier, suddenly reversed, putting Azje on the defensive.

Evans Family Martial Arts

Basic Sword Technique

Horizontal Slash

Aster's sword slashed horizontally again. Azje, who was retreating, lost his balance.

However, Azje always has one more move.

Azje's Unique Spear Technique

Falling Pole

Azje's spear touched Aster's sword. Instantly, the two weapons locked, and Aster's strike lost its power.

Aster's eyes widened.

'From such an unstable stance…!'

Due to the Falling Pole, Aster lost his sword.

Seeing this, Azje tried to regain his composure.

"Menosorpo."

A familiar voice recited an unfamiliar word. It was Frondier. Instantly, Azje felt mana surging in the area.

A magic circle? Activating a magic circle without drawing it on the ground?

However, before he could finish that thought, Azje saw a sword thrust at him.

──It was Gram, Ampere's sword.

"…!"

Azje's eyes widened, and he dodged the strike. Frondier, who had slashed vertically, twisted the tip of his sinking sword.

Azje's Basic Spear Technique

Modified Frondier Sword Technique

Diagonal Slash

As if knowing Azje would dodge, the Diagonal Slash was relentless.

"Stop it!"

However, the Diagonal Slash Frondier used was Azje's original. He had completely read the trajectory of the technique.

Azje thrust his spear forward to parry. It was the perfect timing to parry.

Crack!

However, Gram disappeared. Or rather, it scattered like a liquid.

'──?'

Azje's spear swiped through the air. Such a complete miss was a mistake he hadn't made in years.

Quinie took advantage of the opening.

Swish!

Quinie ejected a blade from her fan and aimed at Azje.

Despite showing such an opening, Azje used his shoulder and arm to knock the blade away.

However, immediately after.

"The real one is this."

The tip of Quinie's fan was right in front of Azje's neck. He tried to turn his head to avoid it, but.

"…!"

Already surrounding Azje, four floating spears in the air were aimed at his neck.

"…Pant… Pant… Finally got you."

Frondier panted heavily.

Azje looked at the spear tips aimed at his neck.

Azje thought for a moment. With his own strength, he could still turn the situation around. If he had used his full power, he wouldn't have been cornered like this in the first place.

However, he was the 'monster' in this exam. Knowing it was an exam, Frondier and the other students also stopped here.

If he were really a monster, could he turn the situation around? Or could he prevent this situation from happening in the first place?

After thinking about it.

"I lost."

Azje admitted. His face, acknowledging defeat, looked rather relieved.

Azje looked at the four floating spears. It was a mysterious technique. Creating spears in mid-air, where there was nothing before, was impressive.

"Frondier, is this your technique?"

"Huff, huff… Yes, it is."

Frondier's breathing was still rough. Among those present, only Frondier looked this way, showing his lack of stamina.

"Hmm."

Aster released his divine power. The white light faded, and he returned to his original form.

"Frondier, if I had attacked you, what would you have done?"

"I believed you wouldn't. I thought I wouldn't have a chance to catch you if I didn't deceive you to this extent."

Aster smiled wryly.

It wasn't the safest strategy, but since it worked, there was nothing to say.

"By the way, what about Elodie's side…"

Aster turned around.

There, Jane was standing with her hands raised.

"Hey, can you guys calm this kid down? She won't listen to me even though I'm surrendering."

Jane pointed at Elodie. She was extending her hands towards Jane.

She had already completed an enormous mana formula, and mana was surging. The wristbands she wore were glowing.

"Elodie! It's okay now! It's over!"

"I know! But it's harder to cancel a spell mid-cast!"

Elodie shouted while slowly lowering her hands. The mana slowly subsided, and a hissing sound of air escaping from the wristbands was heard. Smoke even billowed out.

Frondier approached and asked.

"Elodie, is that Bipang?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it is."

Elodie said nonchalantly. Frondier had seen her take Bipang at the auction.

Hearing Elodie's answer, Frondier looked at the metal wristbands she was wearing.

His gaze was so intense that Elodie hid the wristbands.

"What, what? Don't look at me like that, I won't give it to you."

"You don't have to."

Frondier's response was a bit strange. "You don't have to" what? "You won't give it"?

Elodie suddenly remembered and asked.

"By the way, didn't you buy something strange back then?"

"Something strange?"

"You bought cursed cloth. What did you need it for?"

At Elodie's question, Frondier said, "Ah," and pointed to his tie.

…What about the tie?

"This. The cursed cloth."

"Ew?"

"Hehe, cursed."

"Eeeek."

Elodie took a step back, her face showing genuine disgust.

* * *

Everyone watching the screen saw the victory of Aster's