Chapter 96: invisible battle
Alen wasn’t your typical webtoon protagonist. He wasn’t the kind of hero who decided to help absolutely anyone in need. But he also wasn’t the type who’d abandon this world just for his own sake.
He was the type of protagonist who’d protect the world, while still understanding well enough that he couldn’t save everyone. He understood how to make hard calls, like whether to kill a criminal with a tragic backstory, or show mercy instead.
So, Alen was fully capable of being ruthless when the situation called for it.
Stars flickered alongside a low, dim dark energy. In his hand, a thin sword materialized, its dark surface scattered with stars moving wildly across it.
Along with that, a wide-open mouth appeared, revealing sharp teeth and a tongue lolling out wildly, as though mocking whoever it faced.
The air shifted around him from the manifestation.
Across the way, Caeril did the same. The air around him shifted as he bowed his head slightly, a restrained smile crossing his face as his bangs fell over his eyes.
The next instant, a light, faint yet blinding, materialized in his hand, revealing a slender, simple white Estoc.
A pale white Estoc, with a thin blade and a golden guard.
Alen studied it for a moment, then an awkward smile crossed his face.
’There’s no clear information about his ability, but it’s known well enough that Caeril can nullify friction.’
A power capable of reducing the property of friction down to absolute zero. Alen genuinely needed to be careful of that kind of attack.
He drew his sword, and the moment he saw Caeril make his move, Alen immediately moved too.
The two shot forward, meeting right at the center of the arena. Alen swung his sword, revealing flickering star energy trailing behind his curving strike.
Caeril, his expression fully locked onto the fight, maintained his thin smile. He didn’t block or dodge in any conventional way—instead, he took the attack head-on with his Estoc, in a manner that would have hurt anyone else badly.
Clang—!!
Their swords ground against each other, leaving behind tiny sparks. Alen tried to push through, but as expected, this wasn’t nearly as simple as it looked. His sword seemed to slide right off the Estoc’s blade.
That made his eyes widen in shock. Caeril kept his smile, smirking as he grazed the sword aside, pushing it away, causing Alen’s body to tilt down to the lower right along with his sword.
Caeril raised his Estoc, then attacked Alen, intending to finish him off with a strike to the stomach.
Stab—!!
’Damn it.’
Alen spun his body, dodging with great difficulty. The Estoc left behind a fairly deep gash across his waist. Fresh blood seeped out, soaking the dry arena floor.
Wincing slightly, Alen bit his lip, steadying his footing, then leapt back to create distance between them.
He was about to catch his breath but—
Whistle!
Caelir was already right in front of him, his hand holding his Estoc above his shoulder, angled slightly behind him, his body positioned just above Alen’s.
Stab!
Clang—!
Alen used his sword to block it, but once again, he felt his blade slipping away. He hesitated for a moment, and right as his sword slipped, he bit down on his lip and released a burst of Soul Essence.
The air shifted, and with a movement that shouldn’t have been possible, Alen twisted his wrist, tossing his sword to his other hand and slashing at Caelir from the side.
If that Estoc was going to hurt him anyway, Alen figured he wasn’t going down alone. Caelir seemed to have caught on to that—unfortunately, being one of the best second-year students wasn’t a title Caelir had earned without reason.
The air where Alen struck left a faint white trail before fading away. He then stepped back several paces, dragging his Estoc across the floor.
A faint whitish trail lingered behind. Alen drew a breath for a moment, then, without anyone noticing, his hand became wrapped in star energy. Not just his hand—his feet, hidden inside his boots, were also wrapped in that same energy.
A broken, distorted whisper echoed through his mind. But Alen ignored it, bending his knees and shooting forward.
Just as he’d intended, Alen pushed out a little more power than he usually let himself use. He hoped it would be enough, but midway through his approach, he noticed Caeril wasn’t reacting at all.
He simply stood there in silence, which was enough to make Alen realize something was wrong. But whatever he’d noticed, it was already too late.
His foot landed on the exact spot Caeril had grazed earlier, and the next instant, Alen felt his footing give way entirely.
He slipped—he genuinely slipped!
"Ah."
Whistle!
Right then, Caeril didn’t waste the opening, lunging forward, raising his leg, charged with Soul Essence, and kicked straight at Alen’s right waist, left completely exposed and impossible to dodge.
Collision—!
"Eugh...!"
Alen protected his neck, since that area could prove fatal if struck. He chose to sacrifice his right waist instead, feeling the full force of that kick, coughing out the air in his lungs.
His body flew sideways. That pain left Alen’s mind blank for a moment, but he quickly regained his senses, immediately dropping his leg and steadying his flung body.
A trail of dust and thin cracks marked the path he’d been thrown along. Alen touched his waist, gasping for breath, while in front of him, Caeril gave him absolutely no time to recover.
He kept launching strange strikes from every direction, while Alen, hit repeatedly, found himself in a genuinely bizarre state.
He’d block Caeril’s attacks, but his sword kept slipping away, and the moment he stepped on a specific marked spot, he’d slip too. That made it genuinely difficult for Alen to think clearly on a battlefield his opponent had completely mastered.
Wherever he went, wherever he struck, the result was always the same—he’d slip. And by the time Alen realized it, he’d already been beaten black and blue.
Kick—!!
Thrown—BAAAM!!
He took a kick straight to the stomach, his body sent flying, crashing into the arena wall, leaving behind a crack pattern that resembled a spider’s web.
Alen squinted one eye as he coughed, blood spilling out. His cheek showed a bleeding gash, his left waist was torn open, his right waist bruised, and cuts covered nearly his entire body.
The fight hadn’t even lasted two minutes, and yet Alen had already been driven back completely, unable to land a single attack on Caeril.
Even Caeril had lost his smile, looking at Alen as though genuinely disappointed, losing interest, his expression turning completely flat.
Caeril touched the blade of his Estoc, brushing it casually as if playing a violin, not even looking at Alen, just standing there and letting out a sigh.
"Honestly... why are you so stubborn?" He sounded genuinely irritated, since Alen apparently still showed no intention of giving up.
Alen stood, his breathing ragged, his body swaying, but somehow, he managed to steady himself and fix his sword’s position.
With his sword drawn, Alen closed his eyes and let out a small laugh.
"That’s a genuinely infuriating ability..."
’Alright, guess I really don’t have any other choice.’
Alen felt genuinely irritated—not just because he’d been toyed with so easily, but also because he was being forced to give more than he had.
The thoughts that kept nagging at him grew louder too, but Alen shook his head, pushing that thought aside as though swatting away a pest.
The next instant, he raised his sword.
He had no idea which spots were safe, where he could plant his feet casually, or what and where Caeril had marked.
So, Alen decided to play the same game.
His star energy vanished, and that power then became colorless, except for a scattering of flickering stars, too small to even notice.
The nature of the star energy he’d been using this whole time was an inherent trait of his stigmata. Alen could control it, but that wasn’t its true nature.
What exactly was this star energy?
They were starlight so intensely bright it exceeded the visible color spectrum, becoming invisible, taking on a transparent white hue.
Like a flame so hot it turned blue-white, then nearly colorless entirely.
Alen’s behavior like that naturally drew attention. No one understood what he was doing, but to everyone watching, it looked like Alen had simply given up, since his star energy had vanished.
Caeril even tilted his head, looking at him with a pitying gaze, as though he’d just spotted trash not even worth fighting.
But Alen showed no reaction at all. Just as everyone assumed he’d given up, he swung his sword instead.
The next instant, to anyone who couldn’t see it, Alen looked like he was just fooling around, but Alen was different. In his eyes, he could see that starlight, slashing through the path ahead of him, then slipping on something invisible.
He kept slashing, again and again, until finally—
’There it is.’
He’d finally understood how this battlefield had been constructed. An invisible battle had finally begun.
Unless someone was sharp enough to notice, no one would ever understand what was actually happening.
Caeril’s brow furrowed.
***