Magic Academy Mayhem: A Class Full of Maniacs - Chapter 45

The day of the second round arrived.

After the eliminations in round one, only forty teams remained.

The matchups were once again decided by random draw.

Eclipse Moon Team was unlucky enough to be assigned the first match.

With so little time before it began, they had no chance to discuss a battle plan before they were urged onto the field.

The host floated in midair with levitation magic and announced with great enthusiasm, “The second round opens with Moon Soul Academy’s Eclipse Moon Team versus Myriad Forms Academy’s Heaven’s Judgment Team! First, allow me to introduce the current Sequences and ranks of both teams.”

As he spoke, their information appeared on the Magic Crystal display.

The academy admitted nobles and commoners alike. It advocated equality for all, so surnames were generally omitted from the public roster.

**Moon Soul Academy / Eclipse Moon Team**

**Captain — Cynthia**

Sequence 622: Five-Form Spirit Weapon
Rank: First Order Six-Star

**② Sangmo**

Spirit Sequence 618: Staff of the Dead
Rank: First Order Six-Star

**③ Eli**

Spirit Sequence 620: Lunar Ring
Rank: First Order Seven-Star

**④ Richter**

Spirit Sequence 621: Ice Prism Sword / Soul-Eating Chain
Rank: First Order Seven-Star

**⑤ Vernel**

Spirit Sequence 619: Azure Feather Bow
Rank: First Order Eight-Star

After their long stretch of training and combat, all four members apart from Sangmo had advanced.

However… the opponents they faced this time were far stronger than average.

One could even call them the strongest freshman team in this year’s competition.

**Myriad Forms Academy / Heaven’s Judgment Team**

**Captain — Ashara**

Divine Sequence 16: Scythe of Death
Rank: First Order Nine-Star

**② Shumis**

Divine Sequence 39: Ghost Fiend Sword
Rank: First Order Eight-Star

**③ Percy**

Divine Sequence 51: Holy Light Shield
Rank: First Order Seven-Star

**④ Gavis**

Divine Sequence 78: Nine Nether Lotus
Rank: First Order Seven-Star

**⑤ Kidael**

Divine Sequence 101: Nether Dream Bell
Rank: First Order Seven-Star

The moment Heaven’s Judgment Team’s information appeared, the spectator stands erupted.

“Holy hell, First Order Nine-Star!”

“What are you making such a fuss about? Ashara took first place in the singles competition.”

“I didn’t expect all her teammates to be this strong, too. Honestly, I’m a little jealous…”

When the students enrolled, the academy system had assigned them to academies and teams according to their individual Sequences and elemental traits.

This made extreme distributions rather common.

A team might consist entirely of high Sequences—Divine Sequences—or entirely of low ones—Spirit Sequences.

Only forty percent of the allocation was truly random. In other words, someone from a low Sequence had only a forty-percent chance of being paired with a high-Sequence student.

The two teams before them were a textbook example of the extremes.

Every member of Eclipse Moon belonged to a low Sequence. Every member of Heaven’s Judgment belonged to a Divine Sequence.

“There’s no need to fight. The result is obvious.”

“Exactly. Whether you look at rank or Sequence, Eclipse Moon is completely outclassed.”

*

The audience continued predicting their defeat.

On the arena floor, Cynthia also knew this match was nearly impossible to win.

Before the host finished the starting countdown, she sent a voice transmission to her four teammates.

“They have every advantage. There’s no point fighting to the death. Winning doesn’t matter—treat this as a match for entertainment.”

Their eyes answered that they understood.

At that moment, the countdown ended.

“Begin!”

The host immediately evacuated the field and flew to the referee’s area to watch.

Both teams manifested their Spirit Weapons.

In the very first second, Ashara, captain of Heaven’s Judgment Team, vanished.

To everyone’s surprise, her first target was not Sangmo, the main attacker positioned in the rear, but Cynthia at the edge of the formation.

When Ashara reappeared, she was already behind Cynthia. The bloodred scythe in her hands came slashing down.

Sensing the fluctuation of magic, Cynthia transformed her Spirit Weapon and pivoted, cleaving to the right with a matching scythe blade.

In an instant, the ringing clash of weapons tore across the sky.

Ashara was surprised.

Despite being a full three stars beneath her, Cynthia had detected her position immediately and even caught the strike.

Interesting…

Interest brightened Ashara’s eyes. She stopped holding back. With a twist of her wrist, her scythe carved out a half-moon arc.

Cynthia withdrew her weapon and dodged, but Ashara gave her no room to breathe.

She pressed forward without pause. In her hands, the scythe seemed as weightless as a ribbon, spinning and lashing wherever she pleased.

The blade skimmed Cynthia’s abdomen and severed several strands of hair caught by the wind. Intense magic erupted from Ashara, and in that moment Cynthia truly understood the meaning of disparity.

Ashara was extraordinarily fast, and her control of strength was exact. Not a single movement contained the slightest excess. In every respect, her technique was so perfect that Cynthia could find no opening.

Cynthia knew that even if she ignored the backlash and released every skill she possessed, Ashara would dismantle them with ease.

She could barely contend with a two-star gap. Three stars was a chasm—and her opponent was also a high-Sequence mage.

In that case… she might as well play along and use the opportunity to study Ashara’s technique.

As long as her opponent was not an idiot like Abel, Cynthia had no great obsession with winning.

The moment she accepted that defeat was inevitable, she shifted her priorities. Every ounce of attention went toward studying her opponent’s fighting methods.

She abandoned attempts to resist with brute force and focused instead on consolidating her new rank.

*

After Cynthia repeatedly copied Ashara’s own techniques, Ashara finally realized what she was doing.

She nearly laughed from sheer exasperation.

“You really are…”

Apparently unable to find a word adequate for Cynthia’s cunning, she considered for a long moment before saying, “Should I call you a fox?”

Cynthia smiled faintly. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Ashara raised an eyebrow. “You may.”

Her words were easy, but her wrist did not relax in the slightest. The scythe swept toward Cynthia once more.

Cynthia ducked beneath it and opened the distance. She hurled her scythe like a throwing blade, but Ashara did not evade. She stood perfectly still.

Just as the audience’s hearts climbed into their throats, Ashara’s body turned incorporeal.

The scythe passed through her harmlessly.

Then she caught it with one bare hand.

Cynthia stared at her captured weapon. Ashara’s magic held it so completely that Cynthia could not summon it back.

She fell silent.

…So this was a Divine Sequence?

“Holy hell! That’s a Divine Sequence for you!”

Someone in the stands seemed to have heard the complaint in her heart and shouted it at impressive volume.

“An exceptionally rare incorporeal skill! No wonder she didn’t bother dodging.”

“As expected of the singles champion!”

Cynthia glanced toward her teammates’ battles.

Vernel had successfully eliminated the opposing support mage.

Sangmo, meanwhile, had been eliminated by the opponent named Shumis.

The eight-star Shumis was now locked in combat with Vernel.

Eli and Richter had remained in a stalemate with their opponents since the opening bell.

Magic Element filled the sky. Skills collided in every direction, plunging the entire arena into chaos…