/Third person perspective/
"Glory" pills, which enhance physical strength and magic power rapidly and are known to be highly addictive and cause consciousness disorders, are illegal drugs traded in the underworld.
B-class leader Steven, who obtained these pills, planned to conduct human experiments using yonhishi.
The drug is said to be used to keep soldiers working non-stop in battle, but at a great cost to their bodies and mental state.
Steven's plan was to try the drug himself if it successfully enhanced yonhishi, in order to gain the same power. If the drug had strong side effects, he believed it would confirm that it was a dangerous drug and put an end to yonhishi.
"Damn yonhishi, always making me do his bidding," Steven muttered.
He had been playing the role of yonhishi's lackey since entering this school and had no choice but to follow him due to his parents' work.
"I'm not a puppet... B-class isn't just a stepping stone for you," he thought, planning his escape from yonhishi's grasp.
Steven mixed Glory powder into yonhishi's water while fetching it.
"After you quench your thirst, would you like a bit of this?" he offered.
"Tch!" yonhishi clicked his tongue in frustration at the failed class battle, then gulped down the water Steven handed him.
"It seems there was a slight irregularity, but yonhishi-sama's glory is undoubtedly authentic," Steven said.
"Don't state the obvious!" yonhishi threatened Steven, throwing a paper cup at his head.
"Sorry about that," Steven apologized politely.
(What will happen now? This drug obtained from the underworld. Will this man gain power, or will he be ruined? Either way, I don't care. In every sense, I will be the one who comes out on top.) Steven thought to himself, smirking inwardly.
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.
.
Around the time when the sun was starting to set, the top spot in the D class rankings had come to an end after a brief stint at the top. One hour later, the A class had regained their position at the top.
Even the ABC alliance was beginning to crumble, with their numbers dwindling. The collapse of the B class was particularly severe, with a score of only 82 points. It seemed like they were sacrificing themselves to the A class students, as they had hardly acquired any points. Only a few students seemed to have survived.
Although the D class had experienced a mysterious increase in points earlier, they had not increased since then and had gradually decreased. By estimation, there were only about 15 surviving students left in the D class.
One male student collapsed and his eyes rolled back as he received a fatal blow from a slender sword pierced from his ear canal to the top of his head. "Adjusting points is becoming extremely difficult," someone commented.
Shaking off the feeling of excitement, I sheathed my slender sword and began running at a moderate speed towards the Yonhishi stronghold that Kakko had told me about.
"Oh dear, it's come to this," I muttered to myself when I came across all the surviving members of the E class. The leader and sub-leader, along with the single point players were all present. There was even a small student wielding a magic shield and I could see Inori Masaka's figure as well. There were a total of eight students with a score of 46 points in total. As the class battles entered the final stages, it became more apparent that the number of students was dwindling. Even the current second-place D class had lost half of their students.
Individual strength was becoming more important as the final stages approached.
"You're the representative from the D class... Amachi, right?" one of the E class students said.
"Yeah, that's me," I replied.
In front of me was a huge beastman student with a mane of lion-like hair that must have been two meters tall. He was the leader of the E class, Ikkyu-kun.
I drew my slender sword, but they didn't seem to take a battle stance, perhaps because they thought I was beneath them.
"Do you not need to hold your weapon in preparation?" I asked.
"You're not a threat," he replied.
"I see," I said.
Despite being the lowest ranked class in the class battles, they still had this kind of confidence. It was a reasonable opinion that I was a small fry, but their carelessness was unacceptable. That's why I would always be a small fry.
"I'm sorry, but you need to leave here. Amachi."
"I don't feel like it. Why don't you all come at once? It's not like you want to waste your time, do you?"
I wonder how I should adjust the score.
It's going to be extremely difficult.
"You don't even need to wait for me."
That attitude towards me, who is the perfect prey.
"It's okay. Hmm, then anyone is fine. Anyway..."
You can't even scratch me.
I play with my rapier in my hand.
"I'll go."
A slender beastman with a wolf-like atmosphere, about the same height as me, drew his sword in front of me.
A wolf-man with a bad look in his eyes carrying a sword.
It seems that he can fight one on one.
"Okay, let's do it."
I instantly switch my rapier to a sword with my hidden weapon arts.
"!?"
The man with the bad look in his eyes couldn't understand what had happened.
There was a commotion among the other E-class students.
"Is it magic?"
"No need to understand."
I haven't even reached the level of "understanding."
"Shall we start already?"
"You're making fun of me, you trash!"
The wolf-man roared, and I ran in to close the distance by kicking the ground.
The path the wolf-man takes is a true circle.
The moment I closed in, the wolf-man swung his sword.
―――A close call―――
The sword passed over my head.
"Your form is okay. Practice another million times before you come back."
I dodged his awkward trajectory with a sliding motion, then slipped under his legs and severed everything below both knees.
The man, whose legs were severed, fell forward in agony.
"Nuggi!?"
At my feet, people were panting and sweating profusely.
Looks painful...
"...You won't heal?"
I asked the E-class students around me.
"It's pretty good, but..."
Ikkyu glanced at me, but still didn't seem like a threat.
"That's a hassle."
Scratching my head, I heartlessly decapitated the werewolf.
Then, an elf man drew his one-handed sword and pointed it at me.
"I'm up next."
It seemed like we were going to have another one-on-one fight.
"I don't have time for this. That's enough for now..."
Adjusting the score freely is too difficult.
As long as there are multiple people involved, the score will keep changing.
It's nearly impossible to adjust it perfectly like a god.
I wanted to have a one-on-one match with the top class leader...
"Well, I guess I'll have you all annihilated here."
I can't lose sight of my objective.
Since I'm not aiming for anything other than victory.
"What are you muttering? Are you scared?"
With a sword covered in lightning, his hair standing on end and his body clad in thunder.
"Sorry. Just thinking for a bit."
"You have some strange techniques and sword skills, but no talent for magic, huh?"
The elf man was mocking me.
"Well, that's true. I can only float."
...That's just the setting they gave me to work with.
I floated a small rock at my feet and spun it around to demonstrate my floating magic.
"Huh. That's small. It's just a tiny bit of magic."
"Yeah, I don't even need to use magic on you."
Sword skills and arts alone are enough.
Anything more could break your self-esteem.
"Heh. You can't win a magic battle with sword skills."
As the purple lightning danced in the air, it signaled the start of the battle.
"I wonder about that."
Like the elf man, I switched my one-handed sword to an art. We both started running, and I began preparing for acrobatics through weapon switching.
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/Hisui Perspective/
I was monitoring the actions of Yonhishi and Steven.
And just now, Steven did something inexplicable.
"What did he put in there?"
I dove into the sea of thoughts and combined memories and speculation.
--- The surface of the water ---
The surface of reasoning.
I sharpened my consciousness and took shallow breaths.
I accelerated my thinking speed.
That blue tablet... Search for drugs that can be known in the brain.
"Illegal drug Glory."
It's a drug that forcibly activates all physical, ether, and magical reactors, transforming a person into a madman.
In the battlefield, it is said to have produced disabled soldiers who were mercenaries or disposable soldiers and was a special drug distributed to them.
It is something that gives you the power of many times your latent abilities temporarily, but shortens your lifespan in return.
"That should be banned from trading due to its high dependency and danger. Are there still people who are involved with the underworld...?"
The underworld... the criminal network COR. A criminal organization that controls the underworld of this world.
"The organization that killed my family and engaged in human trafficking. And the enemy of the Master."
Are there people who are involved with these people at this school?
Honestly, I don't really understand what's going on in the Master's head.
Because he's my benefactor, I'm also investigating a person named Yamamoto, but it's unclear if he really exists.
I think it's a crazy story that evil called Maniacs is trying to destroy the human world.
"But..."
It doesn't sound like a lie.
I actually saw Steven mix something that seemed to be Glory with his own eyes.
COR... I confirmed with my own eyes that the organization led by those called Maniacs had created an illegal drug.
Is this just a coincidence at this timing?
"Who is he... Amachi?"
I shake my head.
"My thoughts are disturbed. Let's think about it later."
Glory is said to take time to penetrate the body due to the nature of the drink. If it is excreted before it is digested, its effect is not zero, but almost nonexistent.
"What are you reading so many steps ahead, Master...?"
The sound of puzzle pieces clicking together echoed in my mind.
I felt like the reason why the Master had instructed to mix laxatives into the water supply finally made sense and fit together. Honestly, the reason for such a complicated action was unclear to me...
"Could it be that he was worried about this...?"
It was a shocking realization. The purpose was to prevent the spread of illegal drugs.
"No, he had taken into account the fact that someone might use it... He had investigated it that far?"
That man, Amachi, when does he sleep? His investigation and reasoning abilities far surpass mine. I couldn't keep up with the meaning behind each move and action.
I shuddered. I was afraid of his immeasurable strength and intelligence.
Furthermore, the Master's combat abilities are probably one of the best in this world. I have not found anyone else who could handle such a variety of magic in past literature, except in fairy tales.
"What is he seeing with those dark, stagnant eyes? What is his goal?"
He receives no praise and no reward. He faces danger and jumps into the fire alone to achieve something important.
The soot-covered back tells the story of someone who has been doing this alone for a long time.
"Amachi Suguru... are you a true savior?"