I Got a Fake Job at the Academy

Chapter 675: The One Who Attacks, The One Who Defends (3)

Before Alex faced the Night Crawler Knights.

Pantos sat quietly in the center of the ruins he had created.

With his head bowed, he looked as if he were taking a nap to conserve energy before the fight.

The surroundings were still quiet.

In that moment, Pantos lifted his anchor and swung it powerfully behind him.

-Kwang!

The intense air pressure created by swinging the incredibly heavy anchor, and the huge collision that occurred upon impact.

Debris from the ground was pushed outward in concentric circles around Pantos.

The power of Pantos' attack was that strong.

But his expression wasn't particularly pleased.

'The sensation in my hand feels shallow.'

It was someone who had been quietly sneaking up to launch a surprise attack.

The attack he had swung was intended to finish such an annoying opponent quickly, but the sensation through the anchor felt unfamiliar.

It was like hitting cotton with an iron ball.

Pantos turned his gaze toward his attacker.

The opponent who had blocked his attack was thrown backward but landed lightly on the ground like a feather.

He looked like a young child.

With half-closed eyes and shaggy hair, he held a sword in his hand.

It was a straight sword, slightly longer than a dagger but shorter than a longsword.

The way he crouched with bent knees gave the impression of a snow leopard stalking prey in the mountains.

'A face I remember.'

Although Pantos didn't usually pay much attention to his opponents, this man particularly stood out in his memory.

And for good reason, as his opponent was certainly qualified.

Leonhart Kimbell.

He was one of the Empire's Master-level knights and the commander of the Coldsteel Knights who guarded the cold northern regions.

The corners of Pantos' mouth rose uncontrollably.

White fangs appeared through the gap in his lips.

Seeing this, Leonhart showed his annoyance through his half-open eyes.

"Ah. This is why I didn't want to take the lead. What is that thing? Who would have thought there'd be another monster like that in the world besides Commander Luther?"

And now that monster was looking at him while licking its lips.

Being particularly sensitive to troublesome matters, Leonhart could tell.

The enemy before him was stronger than anyone he had fought until now, excluding Luther Wardot.

"But since I've come this far, I can't run away."

Leonhart held his sword in reverse grip.

For now, he had brought Gladius Arts since he had to participate in the holy war on the surface.

Leonhart's figure disappeared from his spot as if he'd been erased.

It was a movement that deceived the opponent's vision for just a moment.

This was one of Leonhart's unique techniques, possible only because of his small build and nimble mobility.

Leonhart made no sound even as he approached within arm's reach of Pantos.

Such was the commander of the Cold Steel Knights.

The cold north.

A place where blizzards and extreme cold swept through for more than 200 days a year.

In the north, where proper transportation infrastructure was not established, to catch dissenters crossing the border, they always had to move diligently on their two legs.

Leonhart's movements were perfected by adapting to such an environment.

Moving without leaving footprints in the snow, rather sliding over it silently.

Moving more stealthily than the northern fox and catching prey more swiftly than a soaring hawk.

The Gladius Arts in Leonhart's hand aimed for Pantos' neck.

It was a strike that deceived the opponent's vision and approached without sound.

Since none of the five senses could detect it, the enemy would not realize it until the moment they were cut by Leonhart's sword.

That's how it should have been.

-Whisk!

Pantos turned his head and captured Leonhart's form precisely.

Seeing that gaze, Leonhart felt his heart sink for the first time.

'He knew I was coming?'

What was more surprising was that he seemed to have calculated exactly from where and how Leonhart would attack, and even the precise timing.

Leonhart quickly braked and rapidly distanced himself from Pantos.

It was because of his intuition that if he didn't, he would be the one to die.

Pantos quietly stared at the retreating Leonhart.

Even as he withdrew, Pantos made no move to pursue him.

He merely licked his lips as if slightly disappointed.

'Haa. This really doesn't make sense.'

Leonhart didn't even think to wipe away the cold sweat trickling down his forehead.

He had just nearly died.

Before he could have embedded his sword in Pantos' neck, the anchor would have erased his upper body.

'He didn't sense me with his five senses. That guy has an incredible intuition. That's how he figured out where and how I was going to attack.'

Leonhart thought that in terms of talent, he wasn't inferior to anyone.

He was lazy by nature and hadn't really put in much effort.

Nevertheless, he had become the youngest commander of the Empire's three major knight orders and had reached Master-level knight status.

Because he was a genius.

Because he had never been hindered by the wall of talent.

But now for the first time Leonhart felt that he was facing an enormous wall.

Luther Wardot had also been a wall for him, but he never felt it was a wall he needed to overcome.

Since they were fellow citizens of the Empire and colleagues, his competitive spirit hadn't been triggered but Pantos was different.

He was an enemy that had to be defeated.

And he was also a monster who wanted to kill him, harboring murderous intent.

Now, facing Pantos and unable to ignore the wall of reality any longer.

For the first time, Leonhart lamented his laziness and complacency.

"...Really, I have no choice."

Leonhart's half-closed eyes suddenly opened wide.

Pantos' smile deepened as he saw Leonhart's change in spirit.

He could feel that the guy was going to fight seriously now.

The tingling battle spirit made his skin prickle.

Pantos liked this sensation.

He was simply delighted by this situation that might drive him to death because if he succeeded in this hunt, he would once again take a big step forward.

-Cha-rururu.

Pantos stretched out the iron chain at length, yielding the first attack.

Leonhart responded to the provocation that seemed to say, "Come and show me how great you are if you're serious."

-Puhwaak!

Aura rose thickly from Leonhart's center.

It looked like fog, or perhaps like a swirling blizzard.

That aura's gale surged toward Pantos like a wave.

Leonhart's form was not visible. All that could be seen was a blizzard scattering like sharp crystals.

That was all aura.

'His aura manipulation is on a completely different level.'

He had heard there were knights with special constitutions who could imbue attributes into their aura, but what Leonhart showed was a bit different.

He had simply made his pure aura appear like a blizzard.

Instead of freezing upon contact, it was clear that the entire body would be shredded by the crystal-shaped aura.

'The dangerous part of this technique is that the blizzard is not the main body.'

The real threat was Leonhart hiding within the blizzard.

Concealed within the snowstorm, he would reveal his sharp fangs the moment this side lowered its guard.

What made this possible for Leonhart was largely the help of Gladius Arts.

Solo Numbering Series [Avalanche]

A weapon that helped disperse crystal-shaped aura widely around, it was an item made specifically for Leonhart.

"Good."

Pantos' pupils elongated vertically like those of a beast.

-Woong. Woong.

The iron chain held in his right hand began to rotate.

The anchor attached to the end of the chain spun like a windmill, its form becoming blurry.

Before long, a tornado formed around Pantos.

The tornado sucked in the crystal-shaped aura like a vortex.

Then, Leonhart's form hidden in the snowstorm was revealed to all.

He wore an incredulous expression, as if he hadn't expected Pantos to break through his technique with such a brute force method.

"You really are a monster."

Pantos, as if responding to those words, swung the rotating anchor like a whip.

-Cha-rururu!

The elongating iron chain and the anchor hanging like a meteor at its end.

It was clear that if hit directly, bones and flesh would not only separate, but even a knight's sturdy body would leave no trace.

Leonhart jumped high backward to avoid it, but this time, Pantos had no intention of letting him escape.

-Cha-rururu!

The anchor lodged diagonally into the ground, but the chain connecting it did not.

The massive anchor chain moved like an anaconda, surrounding Leonhart who had retreated.

With front, back, left, and right blocked, Leonhart jumped upward.

Leonhart belatedly realized his mistake.

'Damn. He deliberately left a path open upward from the beginning.'

He should have wedged through the gaps in the anchor chain, but it was already too late.

Because Pantos had already approached within arm's reach of the airborne Leonhart, holding a harpoon.

Just as the dark harpoon was about to pierce Leonhart's heart.

-Swoosh.

The sound of waves echoed in Pantos' ears.

"Waves?"

He hadn't heard wrong.

This was definitely the sound of waves.

Like waves crashing against a coastal cliff and surging high, blue aura surged toward Pantos from below.

Pantos retrieved the harpoon that was targeting Leonhart and rotated greatly in place.

It was a nimbleness that didn't match his bulk.

The harpoon, drawn vertically and at length, split the surging wave in half like firewood.

The wave split left and right and dispersed.

Thanks to that, Leonhart was able to safely distance himself from Pantos.

"Huhuahaha! Leonhart! Did you see! I saved your life!"

The newly revealed person laughed boisterously.

Leonhart responded to him indifferently.

"We were supposed to ambush him together in the first place. Why are you late?"

"The protagonist always appears last!"

"...Yeah, sure."

Leonhart drooped his shoulders as if he didn't even have the energy to respond.

Pantos widened his eyes as he looked at the newly appeared enemy.

'Another one of the three knight commanders.'

That man was also in his memory.

The knight commander leading Stella Siren, one of the Empire's three knight orders.

Johann Oceans.

Judging by his appearance, he was a narcissist with severe self-absorption, but the wave-shaped aura from earlier was unfamiliar to Pantos.

At the appearance of another Master-level Pantos emitted an even stronger battle spirit at that fact.

He's happy.

Too happy to bear.

How wonderful that such delicious prey would come to find him on their own.

Feeling that battle spirit, Johann dripped cold sweat and asked Leonhart.

"Hmm. Am I the type that's popular with large beastmen? That beastman seems very pleased to see me."

"That one is no ordinary madman. He's enjoying the fight itself."

No, he wasn't even thinking of this as a fight from the beginning.

He just thought of it as a hunt to satisfy his desires.

To consider Master-level knights as prey would normally be an insult, but neither of them got angry because the strong had that right.

They had to acknowledge that Pantos was stronger than them and that they had no chance in a one-on-one fight.

"Where's Terina?"

"Seems she went to face the other side."

"Hmm. Should I go there too? I don't really want to fight that kind of bulky, sweaty battle. Besides, my fighting partner is also a man."

"Do you think he'll let you go?"

"He doesn't look like it. Sigh. This is the sad fate of a popular man. The whole world won't let me go."

"...He's coming."

Leonhart didn't even bother to respond to Johann's nonsense.

Indeed, Pantos was charging toward Johann with his anchor raised.

Johann looked at Pantos' anchor and exclaimed boisterously.

"Haha! You dare use an anchor as a weapon in front of a man of the sea?!"

At the same time, the ground beneath his feet turned blue.

-Swoosh.

Seeing the water rising around him, Pantos involuntarily stopped in his tracks.

'Water?'

The splashing with each step was definitely water.

At the same time, Pantos felt his movements become sluggish, as if he had entered the sea.

'Did he turn the aura itself into water and spread it across the field?'

Pantos' gaze turned to the sword in Johann Oceans’ hand.

His sword, curved like a wave, was stuck in the ground, and a blue aura was pervading the floor through the sword.

Solo Numbering Gladius Arts [Torrent]

"Isn't water a weakness for beastmen?"

Johann was convinced that in terms of compatibility, he had the advantage in this fight.

The water had already risen from ankle to calf level and the once calm surface began to form waves.

If more time passed, these waves would surely grow massive enough to swallow even ships.

Johann thought Pantos would be frightened.

Because all the beastmen he had fought until now had shown the same reaction.

"Huh?"

But looking at Pantos' expression, Johann couldn't help but utter a dumbfounded sound.

Because right now, he was.

"This is magnificent."

Wearing an expression of utter ecstasy.