The survivor was surrounded by a gray aura practically oozing out of his body. His clothes were torn and revealed not only black veins bulging out all over his body, but also something even more disturbing.
Besides the cobweb of black veins along its skin, the joints and even fragments of limbs and torso were clearly separated, similar to a doll, or rather a puppet, with black mass spreading them apart, adding to their size and potential reach. It was different yet similar to what Blanid already saw with Andrew and other seniors she faced… But with this one, the changes were far more advanced…
While the others could still be categorized as merely corrupted humans, so basically monsters, this one was most definitely a deofolized human… and judging by the sheer pressure of its presence, it sold its soul to the opponent Blanid had already faced.
…the former Arch Deofol and the co-creator of the swordsmanship magic system…
The difference in the aura alone but it far above the former Kyle Houndred.
Honestly, Blanid wanted to flee then and there, but there was no way she actually could.
Her instinct told her that attempting to escape would only make her the higher-priority target.
"..."
Still, that realization made Blanid shudder. Kyle Houndred was a huge threat in the first place, and now she was standing in front of a being much more dangerous!
There was no reason for hesitation.
Blanid swallowed her saliva and gritted her teeth while pouring mana into Caladbolg's shadow, with Polaris on her arm quietly layering her body with strengthening and protective spells.
*SHING*
Blanid unleashed an upwards vertical slash that sent forward a shockwave with the strength of an avalanche after using the same amount of mana as back when she damaged the Academy's great barrier, to end the encounter before it even properly began!
"Whoa there!"
"!?!?"
Yet just as she did, the deofolized human dodged the attack by shifting to the side, sounding shocked but moving as if he was politely making a space for someone passing him in a tight hallway…!
No, that wasn't exactly the correct comparison.
Its movements were unnatural… fast, sure, but also impossible for a human being, with joints and parts of the body moving, bending, and twisting in ways they simply shouldn't be able to.
Blanid's bafflement doubled when she saw the other profile of the deofolized human.
The side she saw first was difficult to recognize because of the veins and black lines, yet mostly intact. This one, on the other hand, was straight-up deformed and basically mostly melted off, with chunks of flesh and bones peeking out from beneath the remains of skin and charred hair.
"Look at what that whore did to me! Where did that lowborn bitch even get that!? That was some straight-up acid!"
The deofolized human glanced over at Blanid, but instead of attacking immediately as she expected, it pointed at its face and complained in agitation. Its eyes also dyed black, bulging out of their sockets, with spit flying out of its deformed mouth.
"Whar was her name again…? Eve? Evelin? Elisabeth, maybe? You know, that one who always wanted to compete against me, the blond one from some backwater barony in the South… Tsk! Whatever, I was going to offer her a deal since she was the best pupil of that female advanced swordsmanship teacher, but she got blown apart instead! A shame, really, originally she seemed interested in me..."
The deofolized human jumped off the building, landing softly and elegantly, and said, calming down a bit, and shrugged without showing any outward hostility towards the confused, disguised girl.
"...what the hel are you talking about…? What's with this ridiculous attempt at conversation… don't you want to get rid of me like Andrew and the others did…?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I did, but that's all in the past. Things changed."
Blanid asked while preparing herself to parry or dodge any surprise attack, and yet the defolized human, she still couldn't recognize, merely shrugged its shoulders and pointed out as if it was obvious.
Those comments about the best pupil of the female advanced swordsmanship teacher didn't help to make the distinction. Her name was Everly Sunderful. More than half of Blanid's fellow pupils would declare that she was worthy of becoming one of their wives, yet, surprisingly for their world's standards, she never showed any actual interest or affection towards any of them.
"...what exactly did change…?"
Despite the deofolized human looking as if it was full of openings, Blanid's intuition was screaming at her not to attempt a surprise attack. To add agency to her own feeling, the golden bear cub hanging from her arm was oddly quiet and even slightly shaking, so she merely swallowed her saliva through her clenched throat and prodded further.
"I learned a bit more about a certain trash… turns out even I won't be able to hold him back, much less defeat him. Therefore, I need someone at least close in talent to me to be by my side to make sure he's dead, and that someone would be you, Mister Commoner."
"...I wasn't your target…?
The deofolized human answered without issue, even attempting to smile, but accomplishing only making Blanid tremble in disgust and unease.
"Oh, you definitely were. One of them. Rotsard Vallhall, Victor Lazalarius, Saria Vallhall… and you, of course. Syon Gemleware was on the list also, but I've learned he had responded to the urgent summons to the royal castle together with our beloved headmaster. I guess that means they will get to live a little bit longer… Not that much, though, to be honest~"
"..."
The scarred deofolized human explained in a way that made Blanid think of the former Arch Deofol, which left her even more confused since she didn't recall any of her senior showcasing that type of behavior…
Or, maybe the contract with the former Arch Deofol influenced them so much…?
"Rotsard Vallhall is my number one target. That trash humiliated me more than any of you combined and must die. You, though? Getting you to submit and fight by my side will suffice. You merely have to accept my patron's power, and you'll be able to bring that trash down yourself! A tempting offer, wouldn't you say? You have your own issue with that trash after all."
The deofolized human revealed, its expression turning more vile with each word it spoke, while also giving Blanid enough context to piece together its former identity she couldn't pinpoint before.
"Senior Oliver…?"
"It's Lord Oliver Berdon for you, filthy commoner! Don't get ahead of yourself simply because I'm making you an offer!"
She muttered in disbelief, causing the former Oliver to snap back at her with fury and disgust, as if his earlier laid-back behavior was nothing but an act.
…Oliver Berdon…
Back when it was human… He… he was the only other pupil to never bully her.
Blanid really thought that because of his pride, Oliver Berdon would never stoop so low as to bully another student… She respected him greatly, even though he never spoke against the bullies, because he would often give her advice during training, and whenever he was around, others didn't dare to mess with her.
He was the image of an honorable hero that Blanid believed her persona of Justin should be.
She thought that…
Well, whatever she thought, it all turned out to be a massive lie.
"Senior Oliver…! Why!? It can't be! You…! Did… did losing to Rotsard break you…?"
"..."
Blanid's chin trembled a little as she asked, trying her hardest to keep the idealized image of Oliver Berdon alive, but her actions only made the former Oliver Berdon straighten its back and don a grim expression.
"I see the negotiations are over."
It said and reached for something behind its back…
"!"
What he pulled out were three burgundy fruit-like objects that didn't exactly seem dangerous to Blanid at first sight, but had to be something dangerous, judging by the fact that they were taken out as if they were the ace in the sleeve.
Since she wasn't hesitant to take action regardless of danger, in the first place, the disguised girl reinforced all of her internal spells, and the twelve pure white ephemeral blades launched at the deofolized human, among most of them at the burgundy objects.
Yet, despite the decisiveness and speed of the attack, all of the ephemeral blades were deflected by the deofolized human with the same unnatural movement he used when dodging Blanid's first strike.
Not simply dodging then, though, he deflected all seven with just his limbs, without even unsheathing the sword at his waist!
The blades kept attacking, but it kept deflecting them with such ease that the onslaught of attacks that was immense help for Blanid when dealing with the five opponents at the same time wasn't putting any pressure on him!