"The 'prey' on the fifth floor is mine. Get the hell out of my way."
"…Ah, well, I guess I'll have to give in then."
Amon strode down the passageway with a brisk stride.
'As if…'
Amon had been avoiding Zetto all this time and hated the sound of his footsteps behind him.
"Get lost…?"
Amon swallowed the curse word that rose in his throat and spun around, eyes wide, but Zetto was farther away than he thought.
Shrugging his shoulders with a wicked grin, he had a strong feeling that Zetto was telling him, 'What do you want me to do?'
"Oh…"
Amon thought, turning his head away.
'If it weren't for the Labyrinth…'
That was it. Amon stopped thinking.
If only it weren't for the Labyrinth, he would have been able to smash that stupid face into the ground.
Amon's mind suddenly flashed back to the class placement test.
He hadn't been caught off guard by his opponent's blindness.
'He definitely used Dispel, and with a sword.'
Amon might be a rough person, but a Caligus was still a Caligus. He hadn't learned magic for nothing.
He didn't dismiss Zetto's dispel as a mere fluke.
'He'll be hard to beat, even if we fight again.'
Amon had seen Dispel before and knew how much of an advantage it could give a mage. After all, dispelling requires a deep understanding of the magic to be negated.
His father had dispelled his magic with ease and Amon had learned his magic from his father.
The one named Zetto dispelled his Earth Gauntlet but he was a swordsman, not a mage.
Even for Amon, the idea of dispelling with a sword was unheard of. It meant that there was a staggering level of difference between him and Zetto.
Many cadets were killed by an unidentified powerful monster on the fifth floor. He was going to defeat it in style and prove to the cadets of the Academy the greatness of House Caligus and who Amon Caligus was but then he met Zetto.
'He must be here for the monsters, too.'
Amon's impatience made him quicken his pace. He didn't want Zetto to follow him and take away his achievement.
Suddenly, Amon looked back and shouted.
"Get the fuck out of here!"
Luckily, this was the Labyrinth and even if Amon was being a little harsh, Zetto couldn't retaliate.
The whole reason he hadn't challenged him before was to avoid retribution since it would be embarrassing to challenge someone who was stronger than you.
Amon was a strong against weak and weak against strong person but even in the Labyrinth when he cursed at Zetto, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.
Zetto's expression hardened slightly as he heard Amon's curses.
'So, what if I offend you?'
Amon smirked at Zetto.
Finally, Zetto's mouth opened. But the words that came out of his mouth were nothing like Amon had imagined.
"…It's coming."
Zetto said in a very serious voice but Amon jerked his head forward at the implications of Zetto's words.
The darkened passageway was still eerily quiet and the smell of blood pervaded the floor, but nothing was different than before.
'No, it's coming…'
Amon didn't even have time to marvel at Zetto's ridiculous sensory abilities before he immediately assumed a combat stance.
[Bam, bam, bam!]
The sound of his footsteps reached Amon's ears. They were getting closer and closer, and the speed was incredible.
Amon couldn't even see him, but he had to be prepared.
"Earth Wall!!!"
Amon hit the ground and created a thick wall of rocks in front of him.
'Of course he'll break the wall.'
Footsteps soon reached the front of the wall, and Amon realized that the wall was crumbling.
[Boom!]
Just as Amon thought, the wall shattered, sending shards of stone flying everywhere, revealing the creature.
'A mane?'
The grayish mane of the creature snaps but Amon doesn't panic, swinging his gauntlet in time to strike.
[Whoosh!]
Amon's gauntlet is about to hit the creature in the face, but the creature dodges it.
"No way…!"
The creature's long nails then swung at Amon but Amon quickly blocked it with his gauntlet.
Luckily, the gauntlet didn't break.
Amon Caligus was the son of Maxim Caligus, the Shield of the Empire and one of the finest earth magicians in the world.
"Earth Spear!"
Amon summoned a spear of stone from thin air and hurled it at the creature, sending it flying with the force of the impact.
Even if he had dodged the gauntlet at close range, the speed of the Earth Spear was quite high.
[Kagang!]
He couldn't dodge it, so he moved his arm to block the Earth Spear as Amon confirmed the creature's identity.
'Lycanthrope…?'
A human with a wolf's head but the only thing that made him human was that he walked bipedally…
It wasn't a monster or a creature from the Labyrinth.
Amon thought so, but the battle came first.
Suddenly the Lycanthrope's body twisted.
'It's coming…!'
The lycanthrope's claws slam into Amon's gauntlets as it approaches him faster than he can react.
[Kakak! Kaang! Kagang!]
Amon was blocking with his gauntlets, but he didn't think he could hold out forever.
The lycanthrope's menacing claws were aimed at Amon's lower body, where his gauntlets had failed to protect him.
"Earth Wall!"
In a flash, Amon summoned a wall of earth beneath his feet, narrowly avoiding Lycanthrope's claws.
[Boom!!!]
The lycanthrope smashed through the wall once more but Amon cast another spell.
"Stone Shower!"
At the sound of Amon's voice, a shower of large, sharp stones crashes down on the creature's head.
It was Amon's specialty, an earth mage who favored melee combat.
The lycanthrope hastily throws his arms up to block the shards, but he can't stop them all.
"Hmm…"
Amon's eyes fell upon the Lycanthrope with shards of stone piercing his body. He realized that this might be worth a shot.
[Awww!]
The creature looks up at the ceiling and roars ferociously then the stones that had been embedded in his body clatter to the floor with a loud thud.
The lycanthrope is healing its wounds as the torn skin sticks together, the blood stops flowing.
[Krrrr…]
Hot breath escapes from the lycanthrope's mouth and his red eyes take on a more sinister glint.
Amon thought he had done damage, but he had only enraged the creature.
The next moment, Lycanthrope's legs are dragged behind him.
[Boom!]
The creature slams into the ground, charging even harder than before and in the blink of an eye, he's in front of Amon's nose, and his razor-sharp claws are digging into Amon's face.
Amon quickly raises his gauntlet to block…
[Aaah!]
The tattered gauntlet cracks, sending Amon flying sideways.
[Thud!]
Amon is slammed into the wall and blood gushes from his mouth.
'My ribs…'
Amon's body feels like it's about to crumble and he can't stand up.
'I thought they said it was a monster…'
This was no easy opponent. It wasn't just because he was a mage and his movements were swift since Amon was confident in close combat but the lycanthrope was that powerful.
At this point, Amon had to admit it.
'I've overstepped my bounds.'
He'd always been one to figure things out after tasting bitterness.
Zetto in the placement test and the lycanthrope now.
The lycanthrope approached Amon, drooling.
'…I think I should go to the infirmary for treatment.'
Amon thought, and was about to give up.
"…It's my turn now, isn't it?"
Amon's thoughts were interrupted by an unpleasant voice from the other side, a voice he didn't want to hear, at least for now.
The lycanthrope responds to the voice too as if he'd only just noticed Zetto's presence.
Amon rolled his eyes from where he was lying on the ground and looked in Zetto's direction but Zetto's appearance was strange.
'The usual bandages around his eyes… Now they're covering his mouth as well…?'
With bandages and cloth wrapped around his face, Zetto looked like a faceless assassin.
The lycanthrope approached the new challenger.
"Perhaps…You'd better cover your nose."
Zetto leaves those unintelligible words to Amon and throws a pouch from his waist at the lycanthrope. Then, just before the pouch reaches the lycanthrope, Zetto draws his sword and slashes at it.
[Crunch!]
The sound of the pouch bursting open was heard, and the yellow powder from the pouch scattered everywhere.
'Powder…?'
The powder quickly spreads around and enters Amon's nose, which he hasn't covered because he can't move his body.
'…I can't move.
Whatever it was, it had a paralyzing effect.
'Lycanthropes don't use magic. That means he cannot dispel it.'
Zetto's swordsmanship that Amon had faced before was, to put it bluntly, ordinary.
It didn't even come close to the venerable ice swordsmanship of the Aisin family, who were the masters of water magic among the Four Elemental Families.
'What are you going to do, Zetto…?'
Amon decided to lay back and watch Zetto fight.
The lycanthrope sniffed at the powder, distracted, and his body temporarily stiffened but Zetto seized the moment.
'What's he doing holding the sword in, reverse grip…?'
Zetto, who is holding his sword in an unusual way, immediately charges at the lycanthrope and his red sword is aimed at the creature's head. But somehow, the lycanthrope's superior physical abilities override his paralysis and he reacts.
[Aaaah!]
His wrist is sliced off in place of his head.
Zetto's sword slices through the seemingly solid mass of muscle as if it were water.
Having lost a hand, the lycanthrope quickly leaps backwards, putting distance between him and Zetto.
Reverse grip and a red sword that could be called a masterpiece even from a distance. Something about Zetto had changed.
'He only just entered the school, and he already grew so much?'
Amon realizes that the gap between him and Zetto has widened even more.
The lycanthrope, meanwhile, has put some distance between himself and Zetto, and is waiting for something.
His severed wrist is dripping with blood and even he could not recover from a severed wrist but as far as Amon could see, he wasn't waiting to heal.
He was waiting for the strange powder that stopped his body to dissipate.
Whether it was instinct, intelligence… Amon couldn't tell.
Zetto removed the cloth covering his mouth and nose, and waited for the creature.
The confrontation didn't last long as the lycanthrope snorted, then lunged at Zetto.
[Aaahhh!!!]
He roared, leaving his severed right hand behind, and swung with his left.
Even though it was a one-handed attack, it was much faster than the one he had used against Amon but Zetto deflects it off with a light flick.
'Surely… He can't see… How…?'
As if he could see, he was dodging all of the lycanthrope's sharp claws attacks with an amazing array of movements.
The lycanthrope's attacks grew faster and faster as each sweep of his arm was followed by a fierce crashing sound.
The barrage was too much for Zetto to dodge, so he parried the claws with his sword.
[Aaah!]
Zetto's body, unable to withstand the impact of the blow even if he had blocked it with his sword, flies backwards but Zetto stops his body by putting his sword in the ground.
Despite this, he still maintained a relaxed demeanor.
Zetto brushes his sword off once and smiles wryly.
'You can't win by dodging. What are you hiding that you can make that expression?'
Amon swallows hard and stares at Zetto who raised his index and middle fingers and swept them across the blade.
It was a meaningless gesture but Amon's eyes saw Zetto's mana flow change for an instant. It was so eerie that Amon wondered if his eyes were deceiving him.
Zetto's manipulation of mana was beyond Amon's comprehension.
Soon enough, Zetto was positioned to swing his sword.
[Krrr….]
The lycanthrope was panting, he was exhausted from all the fighting.
Now there was a distance between Zetto and the lycanthrope, a distance where their attacks would never reach each other.
Zetto ignored this and struck again and again with the sword he held in his reverse hand, drawing fluid curves.
The red trajectory of his sword as it cut through the air was beautiful but the problem was that it cut through thin air.
It was bizarre. How could he swing his sword through the air without releasing any sword Aura?
Sword Aura was not something that could be simply drawn out. It was something that only swordsmen who had reached a certain level could control.
Amon thought to himself.
'I heard that the lycanthrope attacks make people confused…He must have gotten caught in the crossfire.'
Amon would have clicked his tongue if he hadn't been struck paralyzed by the sight. But right after Zetto swung his sword, a loud noise pierced Amon's ears.
[CRACK!!!]
With a loud crash, giant sword marks are carved into the passageway.
As if defying space, the walls and ceiling of the passageway are slashed.
Amon rolled his eyes in surprise and checked himself first. Luckily, none of the blades had passed through his body.
Amon was so surprised that had forgotten that attacks between cadets were not allowed in the Labyrinth.
'So… this mysterious 'sword aura' slashed through…'
Amon's trembling eyes caught sight of the lycanthrope.
He stood still but only for a moment, as Zetto's blade shone through his body, and then his body slowly disintegrated into pieces.
[Tuduk.]
First the head.
[Thud.]
Then the arms and torso.
[Thud…]
And the final half of his lower body was sliced in half.
The lycanthrope was completely torn to shreds, and only his ankles remained where he stood.
Zetto flicked his sword diagonally, sending blood splattering all over the place. The blood he shook off was definitely the lycanthrope.
Amon stopped thinking about it as too much had happened in one moment.
Zetto is much stronger than me.
That was all Amon could think about.
The next moment, Zetto lurched forward and shouted with a smirk on his face.
"Amon, are you still alive?!"
'That son of a bitch…He deliberately slashed everywhere…'
Amon wanted to curse, but his paralysis kept him from doing so.