Chapter 136

Roan looked at the students with absurd eyes as they had already decided on the Heavenly Sword Peacock King’s name on their own.

At this rate, just like they called Bell ‘Yong-yong-ie,’ it was certain that Charlotte would be called ‘Spiky’ for the rest of her life.

Demona came over to Roan with a proud expression and boasted.

“Roan~ I took care of everything!”

“……Well done.”

Meanwhile, once the conversation between Roan and Harden was somewhat finished, Vulcan stepped forward.

“Principal! What brings you here…?”

Although it was hard to imagine Vulcan showing respect to anyone, since he was also a citizen and believer of the Empire, he was extremely polite to Harden.

Harden laughed heartily and spoke.

“Yes, Professor Vulcan. Today is the day we distribute holy beasts to the freshmen. I came to watch specially. However…”

He then glanced at the Heavenly Sword Peacock King and asked.

“Do divine beasts originally come out on this day too?”

“Ah… it seems the Richmond Merchant Guild paid special attention this time. If you look over there, there are also the Arbor Emperor Ape, Sunrise Nest Butterfly, and Dream-Eating Thousand-Mile Horse, and those fellows too…”

Vulcan replied while slightly avoiding Harden’s eyes.

The fact that his normally hearty words were dragging on made it obvious to Harden at a glance that he was lying.

Harden, who clearly understood the hidden situation, spoke.

“Well, I get the picture. In any case, I understand. That much is a professor’s freedom. However, as a professor who must set an example, I urge you again to refrain from illegal club promotion. Be careful.”

At Harden’s solemn tone, Vulcan brought it up as if he felt deeply regretful.

“T-Then, by any chance, if the captain here does it…?”

“Professor!”

Denver called Vulcan in surprise.

Harden, who usually respected the professors, glared at Vulcan contemptuously this time.

“Make sense, please. More importantly, since I’m already here, would it be alright if I observe the class a bit more before I leave?”

It was Roan, not Vulcan, who immediately responded to Harden’s proposal.

“Principal! You are busy with school affairs, yet you are observing our class. Shouldn’t you be going soon?”

“It’s my school, so it’s up to me, you rascal.”

Harden lightly ignored Roan’s words.

“Of course! It is rather an honor for me!”

Vulcan, naturally, welcomed it.

‘If the Principal also sees Darc participating in a Holy War, he might change his mind!’

…Naturally, that was not a reason Roan would be pleased with.

His calculation was that if even Harden, the Principal and Holy Spirit, joined the recruitment war, not even Roan would be able to withstand it!

Roan grit his teeth.

There was another reason Roan tried to prevent Harden’s observation.

‘Because if Harden stays here…’

“Even without that, since Darc’s divine beast and other rare holy beasts have hatched, we were planning to hold a small Holy War among ourselves!”

It was because they would inevitably have to hold a Holy War in a class that could have otherwise ended quietly.

Rumbleeee—!

The excited Vulcan yelled, throwing down streaks of lightning.

“Gather around, everyone! Since the Principal is observing, we will hold a light Holy War with the holy beasts hatched today!”

“Thank you, Professor Vulcan. Sometimes this kind of thing is fun too.”

“It is my honor, Principal!”

Harden headed toward the spectator seats, smiling contentedly.

…In fact, Harden also loved Holy War tremendously.

Apparently, when you live for five thousand years, all sorts of things become interesting.

However, he usually did not show it, wishing for the Acherandir students to focus on studying rather than Holy War.

‘Though looking at the curriculum, it doesn’t seem like he’s trying particularly hard not to show it.’

If Harden had disliked Holy War in the first place, there was no way all those numerous Holy War classes would have been conducted, right?

Thus, Roan and the students came to fight a Holy War under Harden’s gaze.

***

Normally, if a Holy War were conducted in Professor Vulcan’s week two class, it would look roughly like this.

─ Scatter embers!

─ Build a wall and block it!

Rather than being flashy, it felt like baby holy beasts showing off their tricks as they cast skills alongside their owners.

Rather than deciding a victor, the main purpose was to strengthen the bond between the owner and the holy beast through the Holy War.

It was not a particularly interesting scene for a player, but the citizens of the Empire watched it with great interest.

Crunch— Crunch—

The same went for Harden, who was sitting next to Roan in the spectator seats eating popcorn.

Harden’s theory was that Holy War was not simply about watching holy beasts fight, but about seeing the harmony of natural phenomena.

Roan’s friends did not dare to be near them and sat far away.

As a result, only Roan, Harden, and Vulcan sat side by side here.

“Assistant referee Pavilto speaks! Is everyone ready?”

For reference, since Hector naturally had two banned beasts, he was acting as a referee alongside Denver.

It was not particularly a problem for a casual Holy War, but Vulcan was thorough in that regard.

Perhaps because he could participate in the Holy War even as an assistant referee, he seemed quite happy.

Roan narrowed his eyes and asked Harden.

“Principal, how are you eating popcorn?”

“This? I made it with holy power. Why? If it looks delicious, should I share some? Popcorn eaten while watching Holy War is a delicacy. Tsk, why didn’t I know this in life?”

“……It is fine, how could I dare.”

Roan shook his head.

Popcorn made from Harden’s holy power.

Unless he needed poison in a moment of desperate crisis later on, he did not particularly want to eat it.

“Well, everyone’s skills are just so-so.”

Harden, who had been quietly watching the Holy War except for chewing popcorn, tossed out a word.

“I will train them harder.”

Vulcan spoke, breaking into a cold sweat.

“It is fine. They should study hard; what’s the use of wasting energy on Holy War. They will do it on their own anyway, even if they aren’t told to.”

“That is…”

At such extremely reasonable words, Roan had no choice but to nod this time.

Just then, it was Sherry’s turn.

Sherry and the holy beast she hatched this time, the Flame Boar, appeared in the arena.

‘She got a good holy beast.’

They were truly a well-matched pair.

─ Shorts Girl Sherry!

─ Go! Win!

Her followers made a fuss again.

Harden also reacted as if his interest was slightly piqued.

“Oho, is that a child of the Hershey family?”

“Yes.”

“It should be worth watching.”

However,

“Flame Charge!”

Dashdashdash— Crash! Squeeek…

This time too, Sherry frantically ordered charge attacks, only to crash her head and self-destruct.

“……”

Harden just blinked his eyes with a look that said he didn’t know what he had just seen.

Vulcan spoke sheepishly.

“Hahaha… they will gradually become more experienced over time.”

“Train the students a bit harder.”

Vulcan swore he would do so.

A while later, a match between Sion and Demona was held.

…The two of them somehow got paired up often.

‘Is it because their attendance numbers are similar?’

Watching the match quietly, Vulcan stood up and shouted.

“Students possessing two divine and holy beasts will proceed as a pair!”

“Understood!”

As popular as Holy War was, there were also many match formats.

A complete individual match where one person uses only one beast.

An individual team match where one person uses two or more beasts.

A complete team match where multiple people form a team and use multiple beasts.

An annihilation match where multiple people gather and clash together, and so on.

Here, it was further divided by weight class, and by age…

Because the Holy War League utilized various match formats like this, the overall strength of a team had to be evenly good.

In any case, Sion and Demona stepped onto the arena.

“Sion, we meet again~ Let’s have fun, fun~ Your problem is that you are too serious about everything.”

“……I get it.”

If only she couldn’t speak!

Sion, the Sunset Shadow, and the Sunrise Nest Butterfly.

Demona, the Adamant Beetle, and the Fanatic Rabbit King.

Thus, the two teams met face to face.

Since the lineups of the divine and holy beasts were so splendid, not only the students but also Harden and Vulcan could not hide their anticipation.

“Hoo, a pretty decent bunch has gathered?”

“Yes. Wychronon also joined the Holy War Club this time.”

“Tsk. What’s the use of only the holy beasts being good… but still, this will really be worth watching.”

Even Roan, who had guessed the outcomes at a glance until now, found it hard to easily predict the winner of this match.

‘The difference lies in whether the person is competent or if the divine/holy beast’s combat power is slightly better.’

In particular, the Sunrise Nest Butterfly was a holy beast for high-level players, whose power differed greatly depending on how it was utilized.

“Both sides, if you are ready… start!”

The Holy War began in accordance with Denver’s command.

“Pal-lang-ie, fly up and charm!”

Rustle—

The first move belonged to Sion.

The Sunrise Nest Butterfly flew high, scattering powder to charm Demona’s holy beasts.

“Eh? It already knows how to do that? What do I do?”

By the textbook, the Adamant Beetle should have flapped its wings to scatter the powder, but there was no way Demona would give such an order.

Ultimately, the two holy beasts fell helplessly into the charmed state.

Thump— Thump— Thump—!

The frenzied Fanatic Rabbit King began to beat the dizzy Adamant Beetle, failing to recognize even its own teammate.

“Black Knight! What are you doing hitting only your own teammate~”

“……?”

The situation was so absurd that even the opponent, Sion, was taken aback.

“S-Sunset, you strike Sparky first too!”

Thanks to that, Sion could comfortably attack the Adamant Beetle.

“You see, no matter how good the holy beast is, it’s no use if the person can’t keep up.”

Harden clicked his tongue as if the outcome was expected.

“Not yet.”

However, Vulcan withheld his judgment, scanning the arena with sharp eyes.

Roan knew when Vulcan wore that kind of expression.

‘Eye of the Great Commander. It is Vulcan’s unique trait.’

Vulcan was the miracle of the underdog, having successfully won the Imperial Holy War League leading a weak team.

There was a reason he said it was not over yet.

Meowww—!!

Clang, clang—!

Although the Fanatic Rabbit King and the Sunset Shadow kept kicking, the Adamant Beetle was actually not taking much damage.

Though it stumbled repeatedly, that was merely the effect of the charm.

The claim that it had the highest defense among all divine and holy beasts was by no means an exaggeration.

It was just that the situation was so absurd that few realized this fact.

‘I won!’

Even Sion herself thought so.

‘Unless they have a defense-penetrating skill like Sharp Claws or Piercing Scratch, in that state…’

Until the charm effect of the Sunrise Nest Butterfly ended, the Adamant Beetle held on firmly despite stumbling.

Flap, flap—

And the moment the charm effect ended, the Adamant Beetle flapped its outer wings powerfully, shaking off the Sunset Shadow and the Fanatic Rabbit King.

The Fanatic Rabbit King, regaining its senses, immediately pounced on the Sunset Shadow this time.

“Sunset, dodge!”

Swoosh—

Thanks to Sion’s quick response, the Sunset Shadow transformed into a faint shadow and retreated far away, dodging the immediate attack, but.

Hop— Patpatpat—

‘It is a mistake to think one can shake off the Black Knight to that extent.’

In the blink of an eye, the Fanatic Rabbit King kicked off the ground multiple times and caught up with the Sunset Shadow in an instant.

Then, it leaped even higher than the Sunset Shadow and delivered a dropkick just like that!

Whack—! Meowww!

Having its location discovered, the Sunset Shadow had no choice but to be defeated helplessly due to the compatibility.

The Fanatic Rabbit King truly possessed an outstanding majesty.

“P-Pal-lang-ie! Illusion!”

The remaining Sunrise Nest Butterfly tried to hold out somehow by using clones, but having insufficient combat power in the first place, it was easily suppressed by the airborne Adamant Beetle.

‘Sion’s best choice would have been to attack the Fanatic Rabbit King first.’

Sion and Demona’s match, which ended in an instant.

“Demona Wychronon wins!”

─ Waaaa!!!!