There was a strange feeling in the air at the Colosseo Academy, the Empire's best university.
The reason for this was the approaching date of a tournament for the Empire's top universities.
The National University League.
An annual event where the four leading universities of the Empire come together to determine their supremacy.
Colosseo Academy had always been the top-ranked institution in the annual evaluations, but the other three were formidable opponents.
(Colosseo Academy).
(Boot Camp Varangian).
(Magic Tower).
(Themiscyra Women's University).
Hot on the heels of the Colosseo Academy are three other prominent universities, Varangian, Magic Tower, and Themiscyra.
Varangian is a northern university known for its "Warrior Training Center," a specialized college that specializes in cold weapons such as swords, spears, axes, and bows.
Magic Tower is another eastern university known for its "law vocational school," where those who follow the path of the Mage gather to study.
They specialize in hot weapons, of course.
Themiscyra is a southern university with an educational system that most closely resembles the Colosseo Academy.
Students can choose to specialize in either cold or hot weapons, depending on their talents, aptitudes, and tastes, and can pursue other disciplines as minors, majors, or liberal arts.
The difference with Colosseo Academy is that enrollment is limited to girls only.
(except in very rare cases).
With a showdown between these two great rivals on the horizon, there is a sense of tension in the air at Colosseo Academy.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair, all first-graders at Colosseo, were among the first to admit it.
"It's my first time meeting people from other schools."
"It's hard to be first, because if you do well, you win, and if you don't, you lose."
"I'm a little nervous. Do you think I'll do well?"
"What's the point? You're doing so well in Colosseo."
"That's right, we're all the same age after all!"
As new students, they were curious about the culture and academic style of other schools.
Meanwhile, Sinclair and Sancho had taken entrance exams for other schools, so they were getting a lot of stares from other students.
"By the way, didn't Sancho get first place in the Varangian entrance exam?"
"If those kids see Sancho, they'll grind their teeth."
"Why would they grind their teeth?"
"Of course they will. They ditched their school and went somewhere else. Doesn't that look good?"
"Then Sinclair's in even more trouble, because she was first in her entrance exams at Magic Tower and first in her entrance exams at Themiscyra."
"I don't know, but I'm sure there are a lot of kids at other schools who are studying with her."
Sinclair was a monster, topping the entrance exams for all the universities with magical faculties, including Magic Tower, Themiscyra, and Colosseo.
I don't know, but it seemed certain that she'd get a lot of jealous glances.
Then. A boy in a black cloak appeared with an arrogant air.
"Don't worry, foolish friends. I will personally attend the tournament and educate you lesser beings."
It was Grenouille Leviathan.
He had recently been recruited into the Noble Faction and had become quite a contributor.
Tudor, who usually thought nothing of Grenouille, sneered.
"Hey, Pansy, are you going to the tournament too?"
"What kind of rude thing to say! Don't you know that there are no grade restrictions in this competition? Anyone who hasn't taken the same course more than once, whether they're a paid student, a deferred graduate, or a repeat student, is eligible to compete!"
"Who doesn't know?"
Tudor quickly lost interest and turned his head away, but Grenouille's admonishing and explanatory temperament seemed to remain.
"Allow me to explain the nature and rules of the competition to you idiots."
1. The official name of the competition between the four university leagues is the Olympiad Survival Contest, otherwise known as Battle Royale Ground Zero.
A total of 400 students are dropped into a large, randomized area called the Warp, where they are challenged to survive for a limited amount of time.
3. Everyone will compete in an HP suit, and the moment this HP reaches zero, they will be automatically eliminated.
4. The top 10 people who achieved good results in the survival competition will be awarded a world-class artifact stored in a treasure trove jointly managed by the four universities.
"Now that I've explained it to you in such detail, please refrain from holding me back at the competition site~"
Grenouille concluded his explanation with a pouting posture.
Then.
…Puck
Grenouille's shoulder was hit by something.
"What the hell, what kind of person dares to touch this jade body...."
Grenouille turned his head with an annoyed expression.
Standing there was a tall male student with black hair and red eyes.
"What."
Highbro Baskerville.
He stared down at Grenouille, the real head of Class B of the Cold Warriors.
"...."
Grenouille stared up at Highbro's face, which was at least two feet taller than his own, for a moment.
The normally arrogant Grenouille knew. Highbro, a member of Class B of the Cold Warriors, could have a hell of a temper.
"Oh, no."
"You're an asshole."
The Highbro glanced Grenouille up and down once, and then walked away.
"...."
"...."
To make matters worse, he was followed by the stares of Midbro and Lowbro.
Alone, Grenouille began to shake.
"Those crazy dogs! If there weren't three of them, I would've kicked their asses! You thugs, you thugs!"
Everyone was looking at Grenouille with salty eyes.
Then.
One more boy came walking down the street from where Highbro, Midbro, and Lowbro had passed.
When Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair saw the face, they shouted in delight.
"Vikir, over here!"
"Good morning again, my friend."
"Good to see you're so excited, Vikir~"
"Is that real or not? I mean, with the real student council president?"
"Ugh! Of course not, he said he wasn't interested in a relationship!"
The friends soon surrounded Vikir and started talking about the competition.
"But what about the real love story...?"
"No, Vikir, it's not, but this time, there are no grade restrictions. If there are 100 students from each school, there should be about 20 freshmen."
"Right, because the real aces are the juniors, and it's customary for the seniors not to participate."
"Maybe 50 juniors, 30 sophomores, and 20 freshmen?"
"We had good midterms, so of course we're in."
The conversation then turns to Vikir.
Tudor asks.
"So, Vikir. What about you? I read that the scores are evaluated individually, but you have to participate in groups. I think it's groups of five."
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, Sinclair, and Vikir.
With a group size of six, it's a little difficult to get everyone in a group.
They'd rather split into three groups of three.
"Yeah. Let's make it three-on-three and put two other kids in each group. Okay, Vikir, you'll be in our group."
"What's wrong, why are you taking Vikir?"
"That's right, it's a fair swallow!"
"I'll go with Vikir's group~"
"That's cheating! I want to be in the same group as him this time!"
Everyone wants to be in the same group as Vikir because they've been divided into two groups.
But Vikir has a different answer.
"Umm. I'm already in the other group."
"What? Again? You said that during the midterms!"
"That's a pre-arrangement. I'm sorry."
Vikir's friends were openly frustrated by his answer.
Sinclair was the most obviously upset.
"I really wanted to be in the same group as you this time."
"Well. I'm sorry again. This time, I have a very clear sense of purpose."
Everyone's eyes widened at Vikir's words.
"...Purpose?"
This was the first time Vikir had ever revealed his true intentions, so everyone forgot about their embarrassment and expressed their curiosity.
And for some reason, Vikir was happy to answer.
"I heard that if I place in the top 10 in this competition, I'll get one of the treasures stored in a treasure trove jointly managed by the four universities."
Vikir said with a rare twinkle in his eye.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair all shook their heads in surprise.
It was the first time they had ever seen Vikir so blatantly want something.
"Is there some kind of treasure you're after?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"It's a secret."
"Oh, come on, I thought you were going to tell me!"
The impatient Tudor is the first to speak up.
Sinclair, who is usually secretive, also has a glint in her eyes.
"I'm guessing you've got your own artifact you're after, and so do I. But you know what?"
"?"
"It seems that just because you enter the treasure room doesn't mean you can get the treasure. You have to be chosen by the treasure."
Artifacts that can be considered world-class treasures are stored in the treasure troves managed by the four major universities.
All of these artifacts are said to have spirituality and do not wait for their owners to choose them, but instead choose their owners and come to them.
Once an artifact finds its owner, it stays with them for the rest of their lives, after which it is returned to storage.
Sinclair smiles broadly.
"In other words, you have to choose between artifacts that choose you. You can't always have what you want. Apparently, if you go into a warehouse and you're not chosen by any artifacts, you just have to come out empty-handed."
But for Vikir, who has memories from before the regression, none of these restrictions mattered.
'I just need to be able to get into the treasure room.'
He was right, for Vikir's ultimate purpose was not to possess artifacts, but to destroy them.
Vikir had an idea of the object he should choose when he entered the treasury.
'The Seventh Corpses. It must be sleeping in the treasury.'
Among the ten demons, he is the only one that exists in the form of an object.
That was the existence of 'Dekarabia', the seventh corpse.