Chapter 33 – The Ranking (3)
"HAHAHAHA! You—what's your name? Let's be friends!"
Rouge laughed as her body crashed through the air, flung back by one of Malrik's grotesque undead giants.
Blood gushed from her mouth, her limbs cracked and bruised. But she didn't care.
Because every drop of blood made her stronger.
Every wound—every moment on the brink—awakened something deeper inside her.
Malrik smirked, standing tall as decay spread around his feet. His blue hair fluttered wildly.
"I'm Malrik. Yes… let's be friends."
He raised his hand.
"Come forth, my undead. Serve your lord."
A portal of shadows opened, and undead spilled out like a swarm. Giant skeletons with burning green eyes, malformed beasts, twisted knights—dozens of them. As if they had always been waiting in another realm.
The crowd roared.
Rouge's smile widened, something primal gleaming in her eyes.
And for the first time, she pulled out a weapon—
Twin gauntlets, forged black with blood-red veins pulsating through them.
"You ready, walking corpse?" she whispered.
Malrik smirked with the same maddened grin. "Come at me."
BOOOOOOM!
The ground cracked as Rouge blasted forward, her fist trailing a blood-red arc behind her.
A hail of blood spears erupted in the air—dozens of them—launched at both Malrik and his army.
Malrik simply gestured, and his undead shielded him, intercepting the attack like loyal servants leaping to take the hit.
The battlefield turned into chaos. Blood exploded. Limbs flew. Undead were torn apart only to be replaced. Rouge fought like a beast possessed—unrelenting, explosive, utterly brutal. A blend of martial mastery and blood manipulation.
But Malrik… he was a necromancer.
Not just any necromancer.
A one-man army.
His mana seemed endless. His will unbreakable. The moment an undead fell, another took its place. He drowned her with corpses.
And so, it became a war of attrition.
And no one wins a war of attrition against a necromancer.
…
Eventually, Rouge collapsed onto the ground, chest heaving, blood caking her skin. Her eyes stared up at the sky, wide open, a crooked grin stitched into her face.
Malrik walked up to her and offered a hand. "You're a monster, Rouge. If you work on your stamina, I'll be the one in trouble next time."
Rouge's grin stretched wider.
"I'm loving this school… I might be having an orgasm right now. I want to fight every day, all day, forever."
Malrik blinked, then shook his head. "You're more insane than I am."
"WINNER: MALRIK."
He offered his hand again.
This time, Rouge grabbed it, her bloodied fingers locking with his. They walked back together—two lunatics, side by side.
The crowd exploded.
"YESSSS!! TWO MANIACS TOGETHER!!"
"NOOOO MY ROUGE!! FIGHT ME INSTEAD!!"
Noah watched the chaos unfold from above, his expression unreadable.
Malrik and Rouge… those two were always close in the novel. It's already starting.
He leaned back, unconcerned.
He had no interest in being close to that blood-hungry woman.
Too much trouble.
He already had enough problems.
Then—his name echoed.
"NEXT MATCH: YUKI VS NOAH!"
Noah blinked.
Ah. Now this was something else.
…
Standing in the arena opposite him was a girl with orange hair, matching eyes, and a katana strapped to her back.
Yuki.
A sword prodigy?
No. That word didn't do her justice.
She wasn't a prodigy. She was a phenomenon. A monster with a blade.
And absolutely clueless in every other aspect of life.
'Hopefully that makes her easier to win over…' Noah thought, trying to stay optimistic.
He stepped forward, his voice calm.
"Hello. I'm Noah Weaverheart. Nice to meet you. Let's have a friendly spar?"
Yuki stared at him.
"Yuki," she replied flatly. "Yes. Friendly spar."
His lip twitched.
'Yup. This is going to be a pain.'
…
"BEGIN!"
Yuki unsheathed her sword.
And the moment she did—
Her aura exploded.
It was razor-sharp. The kind of presence that cuts by existing. Even being near her felt like standing inside a blade.
She lowered into a stance. Focused. Still.
Noah didn't move. He wanted to see it with his own eyes.
In the novel, she was known for one thing:
One stance.
One skill.
One slash.
And then—
Her voice echoed, as calm as her blade was deadly.
"One Slash Technique — Slash of Space."
No warning.
No build-up.
Just—
SLASH.
And the attack was there.
Not traveling through space—just existing at the end point. The slash ignored distance, like it had always been in front of him.
Noah's instincts screamed. He raised a wall of ice in front of him.
SLASH!
The ice shattered instantly. And blood leaked from Noah's palm.
The crowd gasped.
"What was that?!"
"Did she just… bypass distance?!"
"This girl's unreal…"
But in this academy, where children wielded A-rank and S-rank talents like toys, no one should be shocked.
And yet—
Yuki said nothing. Her eyes didn't change.
She lowered into the stance again.
Noah narrowed his eyes.
This time, she moved faster.
"One Slash Technique — The Heavy Slash."
SLASH!!
BOOOM!!!
The force crushed downward. Noah's knees hit the ground.
A suffocating weight bore down on him like a mountain had collapsed onto his shoulders.
"This is absurd…"
He looked up at Yuki, her gaze still dull and detached. Her expression never changed.
Noah smiled through the pressure.
"Okay. You want serious?"
He raised his hand.
"Ice Lotuses."
Instantly, dozens of delicate ice lotuses bloomed around the arena, floating, spinning in silent beauty.
The crowd stared in awe. Girls sparkled with admiration.
But Yuki…
Her eyes widened—just slightly.
Noah saw the reaction.
He whispered—
"Explode."
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The arena turned white.
Everything became ice.
—End of Chapter 33—