Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 288

Chapter 288

League of Spirit (1)

***

A girl with pure white hair and brilliant eyes that seemed to hold the platinum light of the stars was floating in the blue sky.

She sat on a broomstick with her legs neatly gathered, a flying method unique to witches.

At a speed of 290 kilometers per hour.

It could be considered fast, but for her, who could teleport at will, this speed was merely a leisurely drive to enjoy the cool breeze.

– Ah, it’s so bland!

She shouted while speeding on her broomstick, and a voice echoed back as if in response.

This was because her body was not real, but an illusion.

– Even when I maximize my senses, 20% is the limit…

The White Witch and the Witch of the King.

Even Scarlet had ultimately failed to complete the cloning technique to create another body.

Creating a second body was an act that defied the natural order of the world.

– Should I go digging around in the graveyard too?

It had already been a hundred years since she refused to use the cloning technique, which involved giving a soul to a corpse, saying it was too vulgar for the Witch of the King.

She was starting to regret it.

– Well, I should be satisfied with this〜 I’ve been trapped for hundreds of years.

Lying on the broomstick and crossing her legs, her skirt rode up, creating a rather precarious situation.

But surely, no pervert would come up this high to peek under her skirt.

– Witch of the King.

That was until a telepathic message struck her ears like a straight punch.

– Kyaak?!

Startled, Scarlet flailed on the broomstick and began to fall, when a gray-haired man appeared in the air.

– Stop playing around.

At those words, Scarlet, who was falling, suddenly stopped as if hung on a clothes hanger, dangling in mid-air.

She pouted, adjusted her skirt in her falling posture, and flicked her fingers.

Then, the broomstick floating above flew down and supported her from below.

– Isn’t it your fault for peeking at a lady in the first place?

Struggling, Scarlet climbed onto the broomstick, crossed her legs, and folded her arms.

She twisted her body to express her dissatisfaction, but it seemed to have no effect on the seemingly emotionless ‘Grey Sky October’.

– So, why did you come looking for me? Grey Sky October. Why not just come directly to my house? I could have given you a warm welcome.

Gray long hair, gray eyes.

The handsome man with a cold yet neat impression casually ignored Scarlet’s playful words as she dangled her legs and snapped his fingers.

Snap-!

A simple action.

But the result was not simple.

The blue sky began to change to a deep purple, as if a curtain was being drawn.

And in that space, countless stars and the Milky Way were intricately etched.

一Hmm…

Scarlet frowned and looked at the numerous stars.

Some stars had lost their light, while others burned explosively.

However, strangely, not a single ‘newborn star’ could be seen.

– The scenery is quite different from when I saw it before〜

– The world is no longer being born.

– Of course! Because we are here.

– …That is not right. Even if we are here, another ‘us’ must exist in another world.

– Are you talking about parallel universes? Wow〜 I don’t believe in that stuff.

– Don’t change the subject, Witch of the King.

– Oh, come on〜 Serious talk is no fun. Can’t I take a break? Huh?

Grey Sky October neatly ignored Scarlet’s words and pointed somewhere with his finger.

There, a star that had lost its light was falling.

– Wow〜 It’s pretty. Right?

Despite her casual remark, Grey Sky October answered gravely.

– That is the world where the Black Dragon was born. It collapsed in an instant.

– Did you see it yourself?

At Scarlet’s question with sparkling eyes, Grey Sky October turned his head.

There…

Countless stars were pouring down like a shower.

They were too large to be simply described as a meteor shower.

– Every world is dying.

– Is that wrong?

– No. The birth and death of worlds follow the course of fate.

– Then what’s the problem?

– That new worlds are not being born. And… that this world we stand on is not heading towards death.

Grey Sky October’s eyes turned eerie as he took a step closer to Scarlet.

– That is the problem.

– Oh, really? I didn’t know.

– Last night, a law related to the death of this world was broken. It must be related to you. What happened?

– Hmm〜 I’m shy. It’s a lady’s secret. Do you really need to know?

– I didn’t expect you to tell me easily.

Grey Sky October spread his palm, and space began to clump together on it.

It was neither gray, black, nor white, but literally a lump of space itself.

– Huh? Are you going to fight me?

With a puzzled expression, Scarlet pointed at herself with her index finger.

– Why don’t you reconsider?

– It’s not a fight. It’s a threat.

– Oh〜 I’m getting a little scared now.

She dramatically expressed her fear, wrapping her arms around herself and shaking her head, then suddenly opened her eyes and grinned.

– But here’s the thing. This body is a fake!

At those words, Grey Sky October clenched his fist with all his might, twisting Scarlet’s body.

Crack!

Even as her limbs were broken and her body shattered into dozens of pieces, the smile did not leave Scarlet’s face.

– I told you〜! Come to my house. With your precious teleportation!

Cackling with a witch-like laugh, Scarlet’s body shattered into dust and disappeared.

Grey Sky October unfolded his palm with a hardened expression.

There lay a single ticket that read, ［If you don’t come, I’ll turn you into a frog!］

Crumple, shatter!

As Grey Sky October clenched his fist, the ticket was torn and disintegrated into atoms.

It was a shame to have missed Scarlet, who had been teasing him with a consistently relaxed attitude…

But in truth, he hadn’t really intended to capture her.

After all, it had been hundreds of years since the Witch of the King had hidden her true body.

Just finding her clone like this was fortunate enough.

– Still… I learned something useful.

Grey Sky October murmured, observing the flow of the ground before turning and disappearing into the space beyond.

In the sky, hundreds, thousands of constellations were still falling.

Perhaps when all the stars had faded, the remaining star… would be only one.

***

As autumn arrives, a small event within the academy fills the students’ hearts with a peculiar sense of anticipation.

It’s because the intra-academy competition to select Stella’s representative ‘League of Spirit’ team is about to unfold.

One might think of an intra-academy competition as a small-scale event, but Stella is different.

From the beginning, there were students who enrolled specifically for League of Spirit matches and formed clubs.

When nearly a thousand elite Stella Magic Warriors in a single grade level start competing seriously, the scale becomes extraordinary.

Just to watch the intra-academy competition, over ten thousand spectators buy tickets and come to watch.

It would have more standing than most small to medium-sized regional competitions.

Flame submitted the application for the ‘Flame Team’ with a cheerful smile.

The members alone were Baek Yu-seol, Aiselle, Ma Yuseong, and Hae Wonryang.

There were no reserve members, but just the five of them were enough to lead the team through the matches.

For a hastily assembled team, they could be considered a strong contender for the championship.

The only problem was that most of the members had never experienced League of Spirit before.

This meant that they had to cram and practice from this point on, with less than two weeks left until the competition.

‘How interested were they in the competition in the original story?’

First of all, Baek Yu-seol was excluded since he didn’t even appear in the original romance novel.

Aiselle, with her [All-Rounder] and [Versatile] traits, was a complete cheat character.

The original story briefly mentioned that she became as skilled as a pro player just by watching League of Spirit for a short time.

She actually participated in the competition and won.

The thrill of defeating the rival Hong Bi-yeon’s team in the academy competition and advancing to the world championships to defeat even Zeliel!

She still couldn’t forget it.

The catharsis was so electrifying that she rewatched the winning scene more than ten times.

‘Ma Yuseong and Hae Wonryang…’

In the original story, there was no mention of them participating in the competition.

League of Spirit was just a side story, so Aiselle teamed up with various supporting characters, including Feng Hwarang, but the main characters rarely appeared.

‘Baek Yu-seol goes without saying.’

He’s just good at everything.

He said he had never done it before and didn’t want to, but once the competition starts, he will be the most reliable asset.

“Wow…”

The professor who received the application adjusted his glasses and shook his head.

“The members are formidable. This is going to be quite exciting. Stella’s representative team should be quite nervous.”

“Oh, we haven’t practiced professionally, so there’s no need to be nervous. Pure Magic Warriors and pro players are different.”

Still, it was important to be humble, so she said that, and someone tapped Flame’s shoulder from the side.

“That’s right. Pro players and Magic Warriors are different.”

“Huh?”

Flame wasn’t particularly hurt by the tap on her shoulder, but she was annoyed.

She rubbed her arm and looked at the person.

The girl, who looked to be in her mid-170s in height, was tall enough for Flame to have to crane her neck to look up at her.

Her neatly cut straight bangs suggested a sharp personality.

‘Gayurin…?’

She was definitely wearing Stella’s uniform, but she was a supporting character Flame had never encountered in the academy before.

Flame remembered the name.

Not because she was famous, but because in the original romance novel, the first opponent Aiselle awakened to defeat during the competition was none other than Gayurin.

“You may be great as Magic Warriors. But it will be different in the arena. I guess you gathered such members because you wanted to win… but give it up, it’s not going to happen.”

Gayurin spat out those cold words, submitted her application, and turned to walk away.

Her haughty gait was cool and sexy even to another woman, but her rudeness left Flame dumbfounded.

“What was that?”

“Haha, I’m sorry. That child is quite strong-willed. As you know, she’s preparing to be a pro player.”

“Oh, um. I know.”

Flame wasn’t annoyed because Gayurin came to pick a fight.

It was because the person she should have been picking a fight with was Aiselle, not her.

‘Sigh, I feel bad for Aiselle.’

Come to think of it, the original story had changed so much that Aiselle didn’t even have a chance to form a team.

Originally, this part included a determined narrative of participating in the competition to break free from the tangled relationships, including Jeremie Scalven and Hong Bi-yeon.

But now, none of that existed.

Even as the competition was about to begin, Aiselle was still studying in the practice room.

This showed how much more comfortable and stable her life had become.

“As you know, Spirit players are often looked down upon by Magic Warriors. That’s why she’s always on edge like that. And you haven’t even prepared for the competition. So she probably thinks you’re looking down on this arena.”

That was true.

There was even talk that those who couldn’t endure the life of a Magic Warrior escaped to League of Spirit.

But they weren’t really looking down on it.

The reason they formed the team in the first place was to escape from that jerk, Jeremie Scalven.

Why would they look down on anything?

“Sports are sports, and combat is combat. What’s there to look down on?”

“It would be great if all mages had the same thoughts as you. Here, take your application. From now on, the League of Spirit practice area will be open to you, and you will have the opportunity to train. It’s a short time, but do your best.”

“Oh, of course.”

Two weeks?

One day is enough.

End of Chapter