Chapter 49

◈ Chapter 49: Anti-Magic (1)

The duel was over.

"Winner! Eidan!"

As the referee's announcement rang out, cheers erupted from the audience.

They were all shouts from the commoner students who had come to cheer for Eidan.

"Eidan! Amazing!"

"Totally awesome!"

"Great! When did you learn such a technique?"

Especially, Leo and Taishi's joy was considerable.

In contrast, the noble students openly showed their displeasure, glaring at Jeban, who lay sprawled on the ground after his defeat.

"Tsk. Jeban, that guy has disgraced the honor of the nobility."

"He's always been a nuisance. It's annoying how he tries to cling to everyone, acting like he's something just because he's from a viscount's family."

"To lose to a commoner. It's a disgrace to the nobility."

The words filled with disdain and criticism flew around.

Jeban looked around with a dazed expression.

‘Did I, lose?’

He couldn't believe this was really happening.

But no matter how hard he tried to wake up, it didn't work. This wasn't a dream but reality.

The hateful gazes and arrows of criticism directed at him were all real.

On this stage, the one basking in the joy of victory was not him, but the lowly commoner he had always looked down upon.

‘No. This, this must be a mistake!’

There was no way he could have lost.

Yes, there must have been some error. That dirty commoner must have used some cowardly foul play.

Otherwise, there was no way he could use magic while moving.

‘Damn commoner brat!’

Jeban erased from his mind the fact that he had secretly taken a potion to dope himself.

If he had known it was a shameful act, he wouldn't have done it in the first place.

All that remained for him now was endless hatred and a murderous intent towards the commoner who had humiliated him in front of everyone.

‘I’ll kill him!’

Jeban began to squeeze out all his magic power.

Everyone was focused on Eidan, who was basking in the spotlight as the winner, so no one noticed Jeban's actions.

Who would have thought that a loser would suddenly go crazy and use magic in an ambush?

Jeban poured all his magic power into a second-tier magic spell.

It took about 4 seconds for the spell to form.

Four seconds is quite a long time for the opponent to react, but in the current relaxed state, it was a very short time.

"Huh?"

Eidan was the first to notice something was off. He sensed an unusual aura from Jeban, who was bowing his head.

Just as he turned to look at Jeban, their eyes met, with Jeban glaring at him.

"Jeban?"

Jeban's eyes, filled with murderous intent, narrowed like a crescent moon.

Eidan saw the magic spell he was secretly casting.

The second-tier fire magic [Burning Wave].

Now that the duel was over, Eidan had already removed the safety device from his body.

Moreover, [Burning Wave] is one of the widest-ranging attacks among second-tier spells, making it practically impossible to dodge.

Defending was also impossible due to the lack of time.

The magic was activated.

Fiery red flames surged and rolled like waves.

"Huh, huh?"

The referee, who was about to check Eidan's condition, was equally stunned.

He hadn't expected Jeban to do something like this and hurriedly pulled out his staff, gathering magic power.

Although he was a servant of Seolron, he could still use magic to some extent.

But it was too late.

The magic was already right in front of him.

The scorching flames approached like a wave.

Sizzle.

Eidan's body moved before his mind could process it.

Like a spring, he leaped out, grabbing the referee by the back of the neck and pulling him behind him.

Then he firmly gripped his staff, which was in the shape of a sword.

In the slowly flowing time, he saw the audience's eyes widen in shock.

The teachers, who had belatedly realized the situation, began to stand up one by one.

But it was already too late for them to intervene.

The wave of flames was right in front of Eidan.

"Eidan!"

Taishi's shout echoed.

But Eidan didn't turn to look at her.

With his gaze fixed straight ahead, he raised his staff.

Charged with magic power.

He struck down.

Whoosh!

"Huh?"

"What, what is this?"

Then something unbelievable happened.

The [Burning Wave] spell that Jeban had used was precisely split in half and scattered along the trajectory of Eidan's staff.

Sizzle.

Eventually, [Burning Wave] lost its power and disappeared into the air.

"Just now... what happened?"

"He cut through magic?"

The students, who were stunned by the scene they couldn't understand, muttered to themselves.

Rudger looked at Eidan as if he had expected this.

‘He used that magic in a moment of crisis.’

Eidan is a magician who can use [Unique] magic.

Unlike the other four categories, [Unique] magic is not properly classified in modern magic and is not widely known.

Eidan's magic is no different.

[Anti-Magic], one of the [Unique] magic spells.

Another name for it is:

Magic that erases magic.

What Eidan had just used was exactly that.

"This, this can't be!"

Chris was on the verge of fainting.

Not only had Jeban done something despicable, but Eidan, whom he thought was a commoner, could use Anti-Magic.

‘Could it be, this guy knew...!’

Chris's gaze turned to Rudger.

He had remained seated without showing any surprise when Eidan was ambushed.

It wasn't that he wasn't surprised.

He had no reason to be surprised in the first place.

He knew everything.

That Eidan would win this duel and that Eidan was a user of [Unique] magic.

"My goodness."

Jeban Pelio was in the same state.

Seeing his [Burning Wave], which he had infused with all his magic power, vanish in vain.

And realizing that Eidan was the one who had cut it.

His face was blank with shock.

Eidan walked steadily towards Jeban, who had completely lost his fighting spirit.

"Jeban..."

"How, how could you... How could a commoner use such magic..."

"Shut up. Clench your teeth."

"Wh-what?"

Before Jeban could ask, Eidan moved.

Smack!

His tightly clenched fist struck Jeban's cheek forcefully.

Jeban's body tumbled ungracefully on the ground.

Eidan, looking down at the fallen Jeban, said sternly.

"I thought you would at least accept your defeat gracefully. But I didn't expect you to be such a piece of trash."

Jeban couldn't respond.

He had already lost to Eidan both physically and mentally, unable to maintain his sanity.

The referee, who had belatedly rushed over, checked Eidan's condition.

"Eidan! Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Are you okay, Referee? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

"Wh-what? Thanks to you. I really would have been in danger if it weren't for you."

Eidan, bowing his head repeatedly, reassured the referee and even apologized.

The teachers and audience, who had witnessed this, couldn't help but look at Eidan differently.

"Wow. They said he could use Anti-Magic, and it was true."

Mari Ross, who had heard vague rumors about Eidan, placed her hand on her cheek and smiled.

In contrast, Hugo and Chris had faces that looked like they had been chewed on.

Only Rudger had anticipated this and maintained a consistent attitude.

The students' reactions were intense.

"Did you see that? He cut through magic with a sword!"

"Idiot. It was a staff, not a sword."

"Whatever!"

"Even so, I didn't feel him casting any other magic. What was that?"

"Erasing magic? Is that even possible?"

For the students who didn't know about Anti-Magic, what Eidan had just shown was almost like something out of a fairy tale.

Jeban's unbelievable actions.

Eidan's magic was so impressive that even those actions were quickly forgotten.

Among the amazed students, some recognized what Eidan had used.

"That kid. He used Anti-Magic just now, didn't he?"

A beautiful girl with snow-white hair and a cold, icy demeanor stared intently at Eidan.

Her words seemed to look down on Eidan, but she was also a new first-year student who had just entered Seolron.

She was undoubtedly one of the top students in the first-year class.

The top-ranked student with the highest entrance score and a prodigy pushed by the Magic Tower.

Julia Plumheart.

She found Eidan's performance interesting.

‘I came here just to pass the time, but I saw something interesting.’

If it were her usual self, she wouldn't have cared about such a thing.

No one would be curious about the outcome of a student duel.

But this time, the incident had escalated, turning into a fight between a commoner and a noble.

Moreover, it had even turned into a battle of pride between two teachers, so she had just come to take a quick look.

‘When they first started fighting, it was so brutal that I almost left right away.’

She was glad she hadn't.

To see Anti-Magic here.

‘Eidan, right? How did a commoner learn Anti-Magic? Hmm. I'm a bit interested now.’

Julia left the arena after looking at Eidan, who had knocked Jeban down.

Besides Julia, there were others who took an interest in Eidan's magic.

One of them was Freuden, who held significant power among the second-year students and acted as the leader of the noble faction.

‘Eidan, was it?’

When Jeban, the son of Viscount Pelio, who wanted to join his faction, challenged someone.

Freuden didn't bother to stop him. He probably didn't care at all.

He thought it was enough as long as Jeban didn't show his fangs at him, regardless of who he fought.

He never expected that Jeban's opponent would be a commoner who could use Anti-Magic.

‘They say this year's first-year students are all formidable. It seems to be true.’

Freuden was the type to acknowledge what he should.

He highly valued the Anti-Magic that Eidan possessed.

Of course, he didn't know how skilled Eidan was at handling it, but the value of a human being was certainly higher than that of an average noble.

"Let's go."

Freuden glanced at Jeban, who was lying on the ground, with a look of disdain and stood up.

His faction's students also stood up and followed him.

Before leaving, Freuden glanced at Rudger, who was sitting in the teacher's section.

‘That teacher.’

After a moment, Freuden turned his gaze away and left the arena.

People began to leave one by one, discussing the day's duel.

The emergence of a new prodigy.

Eidan, the magician who could use Anti-Magic.

"Ah."

Eidan scratched his head.

He hadn't originally planned to use Anti-Magic in this duel.

In fact, he didn't plan to use it at all while at Seolron.

His teacher had said, "This magic is very important, so don't use it unless it's a real emergency. Otherwise, you'll get involved in troublesome matters."

‘This is exactly what my teacher meant.’

Seeing the students' eager gazes, Eidan instinctively felt that his academy life would be very tough from now on.

‘Oops.’

Eidan immediately turned his head towards the teacher's section.

He was looking for Rudger, who had helped him win this fight.

Fortunately, Rudger was still in his seat, and finding him was not difficult.

His black attire was quite noticeable.

Rudger had his usual expression. He didn't show any particular joy or excitement about Eidan's victory.

He just met Eidan's gaze silently.

Nod.

He gave a single nod.

"......!"

Of course, that was enough for Eidan.

With Rudger's acknowledgment, Eidan finally felt the reality of his hard-won victory.

"Eidan!"

"You did great! You won!"

Taishi and Leo approached Eidan with beaming smiles. Eidan smiled back at his friends.

After watching the three of them for a moment, Rudger finally stood up.

The duel was over, and it was time to attend to other matters.

"Teacher Chris."

At Rudger's call, Chris Benimoor, who had been standing uncomfortably, shuddered.

His gaze turned to Rudger.

"We still have some unfinished business."

Chris's face crumbled even more at those words.