Chapter 95

“Hiiiiieeeek───!”

El moved backward like crazy, terrified as if he had seen an actual demon king.

It was praiseworthy that his crotch did not become wet.

“Uh…… it seems he is not okay.”

Roan also realized that things had gone horribly wrong and stealthily stepped back.

It would be a bigger trouble if El went into shock because Roan went forward for no reason.

Beleck, who had hastily gathered the reagent bottles he had thrown in his urgency, spoke to Roan with an awkward expression.

Since he was the one who had urged Roan to use it by mentioning his classmate’s pride, it was difficult for him to say anything more.

“Well, student Darc, please take some rest. Everyone, the Borrowed-Name Holy Art can be this dangerous. Therefore, you must never use it on each other without the presence of professors!”

For some reason, Beleck looked at Roan when warning them not to use it on each other.

‘I clearly tried to stop it!’

Receiving this kind of treatment even from Beleck, who was one of the most decent individuals in Akerandir, made Roan want to cry.

Actually, it was not Roan’s fault.

Except for almost burning his classmate alive.

But was that not just an accident anyway?

Meanwhile, Demona was chattering among the students.

“Hey, fanatic. Did Roan try to kill the black mages with that magic?”

“Uh…… no.”

“Then?”

“It was more than that…… well, larger and more threatening……”

“……Hector, stop.”

Rafia, unable to listen any longer, covered Hector’s mouth, but of course, the students who heard this went into a frenzy.

— Hieek! It was larger and more threatening than that fire?

— How did the Headmaster block it?

Roan had a lot to say, but he quietly returned to his seat and sat down.

Sion whispered to Roan.

“I mean…… well…… to rebuild your family…… that could happen……”

She clearly had nothing to say but was straining herself to comfort Roan.

“It is fine, so stop.”

“Yes.”

***

Not long after Roan and El’s turn ended.

“Student Beatrice and student Wicronon, come forward.”

The turn for Sion and Demona had come.

After sending each other a look that said, ‘Of all people, why this person and me?’, the two stood on the platform.

The one who spoke first was Demona.

“Haha, as fellow light attributes, let’s do well.”

It was a normal greeting that other students often exchanged, but for some reason, Sion got irritated.

Roan had a similar impression.

‘She is truly a master at teasing people.’

Sion burned with competitive spirit as she looked at Demona’s relaxed face.

‘I will definitely beat that girl!’

She felt that this was actually for the best.

If she could deal a blow to Demona here, she would be able to prove that she was better than her.

“I also have high expectations for both students. For student Beatrice, it is Licht, the goddess of thunder; for student Wicronon, it is Deprua, the god of earth.”

Beleck taught them gods of quite high difficulty even among the gods.

Sion, who had prepared sufficiently in the Holy See, mastered the holy art at once and finished preparing.

On the other hand, Demona:

“Uh…… so……”

She seemed to struggle quite a bit with the relatively complex holy art.

Sion smiled inwardly.

‘At that level, I can easily win!’

Even if they shared the same light attribute and the same price of 3,000,000 gold, there was clearly a difference in level.

Beleck smiled gently at Demona and encouraged her.

“It is fine. Actually, using a Borrowed-Name Holy Art in one go is a difficult thing in itself. Trust me and do it comfortably.”

At that, Demona showed a slightly tearful face.

“But if it turns out like it did with Roan, I will die……”

“……That was a special situation, a special situation. And in any case, I blocked it, did I not?”

Beleck made excuses, his face flushing slightly.

Only then did Demona feel relieved, preparing to exchange offense and defense with Sion.

“Now, begin!”

At Beleck’s signal, the two of them raised their respective holy power.

Actually, Roan had guessed the result to some extent.

‘Sion will be pushed back a little, though it won’t be severe.’

Sion’s weakness in the early stage was indeed the Borrowed-Name Holy Art.

To her, who had lived realistically and fiercely, the Borrowed-Name Holy Art that relied on the power of a god was slightly unfavorable.

Even so, her talent stats were so outstanding that she was far better than average students.

‘But this Demona is unusual.’

Ever since she borrowed the name of the god Ephrise earlier, Demona’s potential was considerable.

*God & Devil* randomly assigned the stats of characters within a certain range each time to prevent overly uniform strategies using multi-play, and this Demona seemed to have rolled quite well.

……The only problem was that a screw in her head was loose.

“Here I come!”

Sion, who completed the holy art first, released her holy power.

From the small dark cloud created in front of Sion, a single bolt of lightning shot directly toward Demona.

“Hey, wait! Wait a minute!”

Meanwhile, Demona, still flustered, hurriedly completed the holy art.

“Hieek!”

Rumble—

A slightly clumsy-looking earthen wall rose in front of Demona.

Its thickness was like a wooden plank, looking as if it could be pierced with a finger.

— Wicronon is going to get hit!

From the look of it, it was natural for Sion’s lightning to ignore the compatibility and break through.

Yet, for some reason, Beleck did not seem to have any intention of casting defense magic.

Crackle—

But Sion’s lightning could not pierce that earthen wall.

No, it blocked it perfectly without even a single scratch.

‘Why!’

“Oh, I blocked it?”

— Oh, it was blocked?

An unexpected result not only for the watching students but even for the parties involved, Sion and Demona!

Beleck praised the two of them with a satisfied smile.

“Everyone was very splendid. Shall we swap roles then?”

Sion clenched her fists in frustration, but soon prepared to use Deprua’s holy art.

‘This time, I just need to block it perfectly! If I make a more splendid wall, I win!’

……Sion failed to realize that even if she blocked it, she would at best break even.

Thus began the second round.

This time, Demona also succeeded in calling lightning quite quickly.

The problem was:

Flaaaash── Flaaaash──

Even though it was lightning discharging from a dark cloud just the same, it was somehow feeble.

— ……Is that really lightning?

— What kind of lightning is so clearly visible to the eye?

— It flashes like crazy, though.

The students also looked at Demona’s lightning with suspicious eyes.

On the other hand, Sion’s wall to block that lightning:

Rumble, rumble—

‘It is indeed splendid.’

As much as she had put her all into making it, it was sturdy and thick enough that even Roan had to acknowledge it.

At that level, it could easily be used at some large construction site.

Soon, Demona’s lightning and Sion’s wall collided.

Flash—!

Naturally, there was no way Demona’s lightning would pierce the wall.

— Ohh, is it indeed the Saint Candidate and Wicronon?

— Splendid exchange!

The students made a fuss and praised the two of them.

But Sion saw it clearly.

Clack— tap—

The crack that appeared very small on the opposite side of where Demona’s lightning struck, right at her eye level.

‘What on earth is this!’

Beyond being angry, it was to the point of being absurd.

To think a crack appeared from being hit by that ridiculous lightning?

Was Demona truly receiving the favor of the gods or something?

“Both students were splendid this time as well! I will give you talents later, so please wait a moment.”

Meanwhile, Beleck was pleased enough to clap his hands.

This high-level exchange was precisely the ideal class he wanted.

Hearing that, Demona asked.

“Aren’t you giving it to Roan?”

Actually, in terms of performance alone, both of them fell short compared to Roan.

However, Beleck spoke in a small voice, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Well…… student Darc was also splendid, but the cost of the reagents was higher……”

“Aha!”

It was a reason Demona could understand at once, since she knew the value of talents well due to her massive fines.

The professors were also in a position to cover their living and classes with the talents they received as salary or allowance.

Usually, research funds used to purchase things like reagents were provided, but since Beleck was a black mage, he was far from such things.

In any case, after completing their exchange, Demona and Sion returned to their seats side by side.

Demona spoke playfully to Sion, who was trembling next to her.

“Sion, because we are the same 3,000,000 gold, you did quite well. Of course, it seems slightly lacking compared to me and Roan~ I guess I must be about 3,005,000 gold~”

That snapped something deep inside Sion, who had been straining herself to maintain her dignity as the Saint Candidate.

“Eek─! Demona, what on earth did you do—”

Sion was about to pounce, as if to grab Demona by the collar right away!

But there was something faster than her.

Whirrr— smack— thud—!

“Ugh! Sparky, why are you only hitting me! We are in the middle of class right now~”

It was the Diamond Beetle that flew up from Demona’s back.

Although she was disappointed that she couldn’t hit Demona herself, Sion was satisfied with that much.

‘It must hurt more than me hitting her!’

***

“Now, everyone, please remember what you learned today. Of course, practice only in safe situations. Let’s all meet next week.”

After the basic holy art class ended.

“Oh, yes! Roan, it’s 30 talents, 30 talents!”

Having received 30 talents from Professor Beleck as promised, Demona was so delighted that she jumped up and down, fluttering the bills.

Sion, who received talents along with Demona, blushed in embarrassment and nudged Demona as the gazes of the students leaving the lecture hall gathered on them.

Because standing next to Demona made her look as if she was also jumping for joy over 30 talents.

Tap, tap—

“Hmm? What? ……Even if you are the Saint Candidate, I can’t give you talents.”

“I’m not asking for them!”

When Demona cast a suspicious gaze, Sion shrieked as if insulted.

She was in a fairly affluent situation, combined with the talents she brought from the Holy See and those she received from the sacred tree management volunteer work or other classes.

Furthermore, she was a model student who did not need to worry about fines like Demona.

“Just be quiet. What’s so great about 30 talents……”

At that, Demona suddenly became serious.

“Saint Candidate, have you ever earned even a single talent by your own strength?”

“……What?”

Sion asked back briefly, taken aback not only by the changed atmosphere but also by the absurdity.

‘Didn’t this girl do the sacred tree management volunteer work with me?’

It was not even a few days ago, but last Saturday.

Moreover, if they counted only what was earned by one’s own strength, Sion was bound to have several times more than Demona.

……Since Demona had literally free-ridden on the two of them during the sacred tree management.

“The portrait of the Holy Spirit engraved on each talent bill shouldn’t be that light. Also, you probably don’t mean to say that all the things one can buy with 30 talents are insignificant.”

“T-That’s.”

However, at the sound logic that would immediately classify her as an thoughtless person if she retorted, Sion was lost for words.

But does that mean I have to jump up and down every time I receive talents?

I don’t want to do that……

‘No, more than that, why does this girl change so much?’

Looking at this aspect alone, she was indeed worthy of being a member of the Wicronon family.

The problem was that she was only like this at unexpected moments.

“If you have nothing to say, why don’t you honestly be grateful that you are now able to live in a world worth 30 talents?”

“……. Wow…… 30 talents…….”

Sion could not bring herself to raise her voice and spoke just loud enough for Demona to hear.

“Roan~ let’s go buy food with this!”

But Demona was already running to Roan with a goofy smile before Sion could even finish speaking.

Sion was truly flustered, her mouth just gaping as she glared at Demona’s retreating back.