The moment our weapons clashed.
I pulled my dagger back to prepare for my next attack and turned off Sword Lacquer at the same time.
Then I swung my dagger again and used Sword Lacquer right before it collided with Ares' sword.
This way, I reduced the amount of Mana I used by only using Sword Lacquer the moment our weapons clashed.
It was cumbersome, but by doing it this way, I could use a single Sword Lacquer three times.
“……It's like a skill.”
Even Ares couldn't help but be impressed.
Sword Lacquer can only be used by pushing one's concentration to the limit.
This technique is something that only I can use freely.
However,
‘……I have to finish this before I run out of Mana.’
I have to finish this quickly.
No matter how efficiently I use Sword Lacquer, I'll run out of Mana first.
Clang-.
I intentionally used Position Exchange to create some distance between Ares and me.
‘Designate.’
An arrow shot out.
My target was the sword Ares was holding.
‘Move.’
At that moment, the positions of my sword and the sword Ares was holding were swapped.
I arrived in front of Ares in an instant and swung my dagger.
“Ugh!”
Ares dodged the attack with incredible reflexes, arching his back.
Then he jumped into the air and kicked.
Bam-.
I barely managed to block Ares' kick by crossing my arms.
In that brief moment, a fierce exchange of blows occurred, but neither of us was injured.
‘I can't end it here.’
I need to find an opening.
The situation where Ares had lost his sword.
This was my only chance.
“……!!”
I immediately released my Killing Intent Trait.
Ares' movements stopped for a very brief moment.
I didn't miss that short window of time and created a daggers with my Darkness Trait.
“Black Blade.”
“Black Blade.”
“Black Blade.”
I threw three black daggers into the air towards Ares.
*Thud, thud.*
The daggers pierced Ares' body, but they didn't go in as deep as I thought they would.
“That's nothing!”
As Ares roared, the daggers that were embedded in his body fell out.
At that moment, he covered his body with Mana, using a protective aura.
It was almost as if he hadn’t been hit.
However,
The momentum had already shifted to me.
Unlike Ares, who was bleeding, my body was intact.
Of course, if it turned into a battle of attrition, I would definitely lose.
I wouldn’t be able to defeat Ares just by engaging in a meaningless war of attrition.
But if I didn’t fight until the end, it would be the same as me winning.
That’s why.
I looked at Ares, who was glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.
“I surrender.”
I raised both hands with a wicked smile.
Ares forgot to be angry at my composed appearance and asked.
“……Are you finally crazy?”
Ares looked bewildered.
In a normal situation, he would have been angry, but the current situation was far beyond his understanding.
It was natural for his emotions to change from anger to bewilderment.
“Why are you suddenly giving up?”
“Well.”
I looked at him mockingly.
I couldn’t tell him that I had surrendered on purpose to trick him.
That was one of the reasons why I surrendered in the first place, but the biggest reason was that I really didn’t have the confidence to win.
‘I’m running out of Mana.’
I was seriously running out.
So much so that I wondered if I had Mana deficiency.
I had already sent Kyle, who had now withdrawn from the Academy, to find out if there was any Elixir, so it would be a problem that would be solved soon.
In the current situation, if I entered a battle of attrition, I would definitely lose.
‘He may not have a sword, but Ares’s entire body is like a weapon.’
My arms, which had been hit by Ares’s kick.
I could still feel a throbbing pain from that blow.
If I had been hit directly by Ares’s kick, I would have definitely broken my arms.
So I told him the truth about why I surrendered.
"If we had continued fighting, neither of us would have come out unscathed."
Whether it was me or Ares.
With the invasion of the Human Realm approaching, our bodies were like our fortune.
If possible, it would be better to keep our bodies in the best possible condition.
Ares seemed to understand that now was the time to take care of his body.
He soon accepted my excuse and nodded.
“I understand. Return to your seat.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
“……Don’t say useless things.”
Even as he said that he glared at me until the end.
‘I can’t speak because I’m scared.’
I grumbled inwardly and stepped in between the students.
Then, the students’ murmuring voices buzzed in my ears.
― Did he win against the instructor?
― Nonsense.
― Even though he’s only half-Demon, he's still the class president…….
I heard the students’ admiring voices.
At that, I lifted the corners of my lips slightly.
The performance I had just shown was splendid and overwhelming enough to catch the students’ attention.
The students must be thinking that I might actually win.
Why?
‘Because I only used flashy attacks, but Ares looked like he didn’t do anything.’
It was the result I wanted.
The necessity for me to become the axis of the class before invading the human world.
If the midterm exam proceeds under Fron’s command as in the original story, Class A will be annihilated.
While I was thinking that.
A student blocked my way.
“Why?”
Samuel stared at me with bloodshot eyes.
“Why, you ask?”
“What are you talking about?”
I tilted my head at Samuel, who was gritting his teeth for no reason.
Is he asking why I surrendered?
“Well, I don’t think I can win if I fight any longer…….”
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
Then what is he asking?
I frowned and opened my mouth.
“What do you mean, why?”
“The reason you’re strong.”
Samuel was asking where my strength came from.
Ah, is that what it was?
Samuel has been feeling inferior and picking fights with me lately because he feels like I’m surpassing him.
Should I tease him a little?
“Hmm, isn’t it because I was born with it?”
Talent.
It was a word that geniuses often used to deceive the untalented.
Of course, there was a lot of effort involved, but it was also true that talent played a big part.
At my words, Samuel’s face twisted ferociously.
“Is that all there is to it?”
“Do you need another reason?”
“It’s ridiculous that someone like you is strong.”
Ha.
I was also taken aback.
A descendant of the Seven Deadly Sins, a household synonymous with the Golden Spoon, was saying such things.
Instantly, I was annoyed and retorted in an angry voice.
“Aren’t you also strong because you were born into a good household? If you had an insignificant bloodline, you wouldn’t have been able to use an ability like Gluttony.”
At these words, Samuel’s expression began to change with each passing moment.
“……You really do have a sharp tongue, you insignificant thing.”
In the end, Samuel responded with a cold face and turned his back on me.
It seemed as if he was about to say something more, but he seemed to have decided that I wasn’t even worth responding to.
I also had no intention of holding him back, so I started to walk.
“Hoo……”
Then, a deep sigh could be heard from somewhere.
Fron was looking at me with a complicated expression and clicking her tongue.
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I understand the frustration of Fron and Samuel; they have personal reasons to get stronger every day, to sacrifice sleep and health to train a bit more. Adel doesn't have that. Obviously, he has his own urgencies, but nothing compared to avenging a family that was brutally tortured and killed, as in Samuel's case.
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