The host, whose judgment was clearly lacking, declared the start of the match after confidently predicting that a fierce, evenly matched battle was about to unfold.

Then Nidr did something even more astonishing than the host.

He raised one hand and beckoned at Reisir, blatantly provoking him to attack first.

I saw Reisir let out a hollow laugh.

Even in his eyes, Nidr's behavior must have looked utterly ridiculous. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Nevertheless, rather than responding to the childish provocation in kind, Reisir erased the smile from his face and kicked off the ground.

As soon as the distance closed enough—

Reisir swung his spear.

Nidr swung his sword with all his strength.

Clang!

A sharp, deafening impact echoed through the stadium.

The spear blade wrapped in golden Ether and the sword blade cloaked in ochre Ether collided head-on.

And remained locked together.

Reisir's expression didn't change in the slightest.

Nidr, however, couldn't completely hide his surprise.

I could more or less guess what he had intended.

He had probably expected to knock Reisir's spear aside and create an opening for a counterattack.

Instead, the spear hadn't budged at all.

Although Reisir's actual physical stats are much higher, Nidr has the larger build at first glance. It's understandable that he mistakenly assumed he was stronger.

Rather than forcing Nidr's sword away through sheer strength, Reisir tilted the spearhead back over his shoulder.

The rear end of the spear naturally swept forward in a diagonal arc.

Thud!

It slammed directly into Nidr's waist.

Nidr staggered slightly as though he had absorbed a surprisingly heavy blow.

But instead of retreating, he immediately swung his sword.

A reasonable decision.

The spear had a significant reach advantage over the sword.

Unfortunately, the attack was little more than a probing strike intended to prevent Reisir from gaining momentum.

After casually evading the blade, Reisir thrust his spear.

Nidr barely managed to avoid the spearhead aimed at his abdomen.

The side of his uniform ripped open from top to bottom.

Still, a dodge was a dodge.

This time he was able to regain his footing and launch a proper attack.

Of course, it failed.

The spear shaft intercepted his advance before he could complete his swing.

Nidr's sword couldn't reach nearly as far as he intended.

Even the Ether coating his blade failed to shine with its full intensity.

Compared to the dazzling golden Ether surrounding the original protagonist, the original villain's ochre Ether looked endlessly dull and shabby.

The colors belong to a similar family. That's probably why the contrast feels even stronger.

Nidr withdrew his sword and immediately thrust it forward.

Reisir casually swept the attack aside and neutralized it.

Then he drove the rear end of the spear straight into Nidr's solar plexus.

Nidr staggered backward, clutching his abdomen.

The spear shaft swung again.

This time he could neither block nor dodge.

He didn't even have enough time to activate 【Earth Control】 and raise a stone wall.

Well, after taking a direct hit to the solar plexus, breathing alone would have been difficult.

Only after being struck again did Nidr finally erect the wall.

Judging from that description alone, it might sound like he was simply shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted.

And while that wasn't entirely wrong, his purpose was different.

He wasn't trying to defend.

He was trying to create distance.

The stone wall blocked Reisir's follow-up attacks and prevented him from immediately closing the gap.

At the same time, Nidr retreated several steps.

He was trying to break the unfavorable flow of the battle and reorganize his stance.

Instead of moving around the obstacle, Reisir simply smashed through it.

Stone fragments exploded outward.

Yet he spun his spear with a whirring motion and deflected every shard.

Then he extended a hand.

Lightning erupted.

Thunder followed.

The attack shot directly toward Nidr.

Why is he just standing there and taking it?

Watching Nidr's body convulse under the electric shock, I couldn't help feeling puzzled.

No matter how special he claimed to be, could he really fail to defend against an attack that even I had managed to block?

...That wasn't sarcasm.

If he had raised a stone wall the moment Reisir lifted his hand, he could have defended himself.

He had done exactly that several times in the original novel.

Yet this time he made no attempt whatsoever.

No matter how I looked at it, it felt strange.

...What are they talking about?

When I was electrocuted, Reisir had immediately rushed in before I could recover.

Now he simply stood there with the butt of his spear planted on the ground and said something.

Nidr replied through lips still twitching from the shock.

Then golden lightning flashed from Reisir's fingertips once more.

The same thing happened again.

Nidr took the full blast without defending himself.

Don't tell me...

Did he try to imitate the way I blocked Reisir's lightning with pinpoint timing and fail because his reaction speed wasn't fast enough?

Nidr didn't know I possessed the Thought Acceleration Skill.

And he had always overestimated his own abilities.

The more I thought about it, the more likely that explanation seemed.

If so, I could roughly imagine the conversation that had just taken place.

Reisir had probably mocked him.

Something along the lines of asking whether he couldn't even defend against an attack of that level.

Nidr, unable to swallow the insult, had demanded another chance.

"... ... ..."

I saw Reisir's lips move again.

The very next moment—

Nidr charged forward with a face twisted by humiliation.

What exactly did the protagonist of someone else's novel say to provoke that reaction?

I really should learn lip-reading during vacation.

It would make my duties as a first-person narrator much easier.

While I was entertaining that thought, sparks began dancing along Reisir's spear.

Until now, he had merely wrapped the weapon in condensed Ether.

Now he infused it with the Lightning Attribute.

Since Nidr's sword was also coated in Ether, simply crossing blades wouldn't electrocute him.

At most, the contact would sting.

And yet—

Nidr hesitated.

Only for an instant.

Did getting electrocuted twice leave him instinctively afraid of the lightning?

Even the briefest hesitation in a duel could be fatal.

Although, considering his opponent, Nidr would have lost regardless.

The hesitation merely accelerated the inevitable by roughly ten seconds.

Nidr had been the one to charge first.

But Reisir struck first.

Instead of cutting with the spearhead, he swung the shaft into Nidr's side.

Of course, since lightning-infused Ether covered the entire weapon, I wasn't sure whether to call it mercy or cruelty.

In the end, Nidr collapsed unconscious before he could even scream.

Unlike in the original novel, there was no opportunity for the two of them to shake hands afterward.

The moment the host announced the result, Reisir left the stage without sparing so much as a glance for Nidr, who lay convulsing on the floor.

The two of them were originally destined to become enemies... but now the relationship has become completely irreparable.

If anything, things had deteriorated even further than in the original story.

A complete disaster.

At this point, I honestly hoped Nidr would leave the academy alongside Reisir in the future and devote himself entirely to revenge instead of academics.

Most importantly—

I sincerely hoped he would never come anywhere near me again.

"Wow..."

Vigdís's voice drew my attention.

When I turned, I found her staring blankly toward the arena.

Her gaze followed Reisir as he made his way through the audience seating toward us.

If nobody else had been nearby, I might have asked whether she'd fallen for him.

Unfortunately, there was no way to make it clear that such a question would be motivated by curiosity rather than jealousy.

So I kept my mouth shut.

"Reisir, congratulations on winning."

The first person to greet the returning champion was his childhood friend.

Helga's tone remained calm.

Not because she was pretending.

Simply because she had never doubted that Reisir would win.

To her, the outcome was obvious.

Still, the pride and happiness on her face proved her congratulations were genuine.

"Student Nidr is already exceptionally strong for his age, but you're on an entirely different level! To win that overwhelmingly... it was incredible! I couldn't stop admiring you throughout the whole match!"

Unlike Helga's composed praise, Vigdís couldn't conceal her admiration.

Every sentence practically ended in an exclamation mark.

Since she had personally crossed swords with Nidr before, Reisir's one-sided domination must have looked even more extraordinary.

"I-It was amazing...! R-Really! H-How are you so strong? It feels like you've already surpassed the level of a student...!"

Ríolíkin joined the chorus of praise as well.

Even students I didn't recognize from nearby seats applauded.

Clap clap clap.

Others whistled.

Fwee! Fwee!

Several even gave him enthusiastic thumbs-ups.

The victor of a match won by such an overwhelming margin just walked over to them. These reactions aren't strange... but...

Why did it remind me of Chapter 61?

The chapter where random extras suddenly rediscovered their consciences after Reisir delivered a speech that wasn't really a speech and began behaving unnaturally.

"Ahaha... Hmm... Thanks, everyone."

Perhaps receiving praise from so many people embarrassed him.

Reisir scratched his cheek and smiled awkwardly while blushing faintly.

Then he quietly sat down.

Right beside me.

"...Why are you sitting next to me instead of your childhood friend?"

"Because it looks like you have a lot you want to say to me."

Was Reisir always this greedy for praise in the original novel?

He'd been embarrassed by the attention of countless strangers.

Yet somehow that still wasn't enough.

Considering his persistence, remaining silent would accomplish nothing.

Rather than waste time arguing, I decided to simply tell him what he wanted to hear.

"You said you would win this tournament. And you did. So... congratulations."

"Thanks for the congratulations. But isn't there something else you want to say?"

"...I suspected it before, but you're genuinely strong. To an absurd degree."

"Thank you for the compliment too. But that's not all, is it?"

I had congratulated him.

I had complimented him.

Yet the protagonist of someone else's novel remained unsatisfied.

Even more irritating, the embarrassment that had colored his face moments ago had vanished completely.

A radiant grin had replaced it.

As though he'd never been embarrassed in the first place.

Watching him, I began feeling embarrassed on his behalf.

"...What exactly are you trying to get me to say?! Since I managed to reach the Top Sixteen thanks to training with a talented person like you, do you want me to thank you too?"

"You were actually thinking that? Somehow that's incredibly touching. I'm so proud right now~ Hahaha!"

The more I spoke, the deeper I seemed to sink into a swamp.

If there was something he wanted to hear, he could simply say it directly.

Why did he insist on testing people like this?

Vigdís had done something similar back in Chapter 109.

Was this some kind of noble culture problem?

Did aristocrats simply have an unhealthy obsession with speaking in circles?