I didn't shoot her. At this range, a shotgun blast would be messy.

Instead, I used my free hand.

[Flash]

A tiny orb of light exploded right in front of her face.

"Ack!"

Blinded, Elisha flinched, her landing disrupted. She stumbled as her feet hit the ground.

That split second was all I needed.

I swept her legs with a low kick.

Thud.

Elisha hit the ground hard, her bow clattering away.

Before she could scramble up, she felt cold metal press against her forehead.

I stood over her, the barrel of the shotgun resting lightly between her eyes. I wasn't even breathing hard.

The silence in the arena was deafening.

Elisha blinked, her vision clearing. She looked up at the gun, then at me.

"...You monster," she huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "You're faster than a rogue."

"I'm a marksman," I corrected with a smirk. "I just like to get close."

She sighed, relaxing her body.

"I surrender."

"Winner: Lucien Ashborne!"

The crowd erupted into cheers. It wasn't just the weapon anymore. They had seen the speed. They had seen the tactical domination.

I offered a hand to Elisha.

She took it, letting me pull her up. She dusted off her uniform, looking annoyed but respectful.

"You've been holding out on us during training," she accused, picking up her bow. "You never moved that fast before."

"A villain always keeps an ace up his sleeve," I winked.

"Whatever. Just win the whole thing, or I'll be pissed I lost to a loser."

She punched my arm lightly and walked off.

I watched her go, then looked up at the bracket screen.

The Quarter-Finals were set.

[Quarter Final 1] [Kael (Class A) vs. Bordon (Class A)]

[Quarter Final 2] [Lucien Ashborne (Class A) vs. Mariella (Class A)]

I frowned. Mariella?

I looked toward the tunnel. The timid mage was peeking out, looking absolutely terrified.

'Well,' I thought, reloading my gun. 'This is going to be quick.'

[Quarter Final 1]

The match between Kael and Bordon was brutal to watch.

They were best friends. They had trained together every day.

But Kael… Kael was different today.

"I'm sorry, Bordon," Kael said, his voice devoid of warmth. "I can't stop here."

Bordon raised his shield. "Come at me, Kael!"

It lasted thirty seconds.

Kael didn't use strategy. He used overwhelming force. He battered Bordon's shield with a barrage of [Golden Sword Arts] so heavy that Bordon's knees buckled.

Finally, Kael shattered Bordon's mana defense and kicked him out of the ring.

Kael didn't celebrate. He helped Bordon up, muttered a quiet apology, and walked back to his corner.

His eyes were fixed on the finals.

[Quarter Final 2]

[Lucien vs. Mariella]

Mariella stepped into the ring, her staff shaking in her hands.

"I… I won't give up!" she squeaked.

"I know," I said gently.

"[Fireball]!"

She cast a spell. It was decent. Fast.

I sidestepped it effortlessly.

"[Smoke Shell]."

Thump.

A canister landed at her feet. Grey smoke billowed out.

"Cough! I can't see!"

I walked into the smoke.

"Boo!" I whispered in her ear.

"KYAAAA!"

Mariella screamed, dropped her staff, and accidentally triggered her own emergency forfeit mechanism.

Pop.

She vanished and reappeared outside the ring bounds, looking confused.

"Winner via Ring Out: Lucien Ashborne!"

The crowd laughed. It was a comedy act compared to the previous fights.

I shrugged at the crowd. A win was a win.

The bracket updated one last time.

[SEMI-FINALS]

[Kael vs. Celestia]

[Lucien Ashborne vs. ... Samantha Hall (Instructor Proxy)]

I blinked.

'Wait. What?'

The announcer's voice boomed.

"Due to an uneven number of qualifiers in the bracket, one Semi-Finalist must face the Gatekeeper! Cadet Lucien Ashborne will face Instructor Samantha!"

The crowd gasped.

I stared at the screen.

Then I looked at the center of the arena.

Samantha stood there, drawing her rapier. She looked at me and smiled—a terrifying, sadistic smile.

"Prepare yourself, Cadet," she called out, her voice cutting through the noise of the arena like a whip. "I won't go easy just because you filed a report for me. In fact… I expect more from you."

I felt the blood drain from my face.

'Does the universe hold a personal grudge against me?'

I looked at her calm, predatory smile.

'Well, it seems it does.'

A cold shiver ran down my spine, settling in the pit of my stomach.

I racked the bolt of the Benelli. The sound was loud, but it felt insignificant against the aura she was emitting.

"Instructor," I shouted back, my voice steady despite my nerves. "What are the victory conditions? Surely you don't expect me to knock you out."

"Survive," she said simply. "Impress me. Show me that you belong in the finals with the monsters of this generation."

She raised her blade.

"Begin!"

I didn't hesitate. I pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

A slug tore through the air, aiming for her center mass.

Samantha didn't dodge. She flicked her wrist.

CLANG.

The lead slug was sliced in half mid-air. The two halves flew harmlessly past her shoulders, embedding themselves in the wall behind her.

My jaw tightened. Parrying a bullet? That was high-level Knight bullshit.

"Too slow," she taunted. "Reloading takes time, Cadet."

She vanished.

No, she didn't vanish. She just moved faster than my eyes could track.

Danger!!

My instincts screamed.

I threw myself to the right, abandoning dignity for survival.

SWISH.

The air where my head had been a microsecond ago split apart. Samantha was there, her blade extended.

"Good reflexes," she praised, her voice right in my ear.

I spun, firing from the hip. BOOM!

She sidestepped. The movement was so minimal, so efficient, it looked like I had simply missed.

"But your aim is sloppy when you panic."

She lunged.

I brought the shotgun up to block.

CLANG!

The force of her rapier hitting the reinforced steel barrel was like a sledgehammer. My arms went numb. I skid backward five meters, my boots carving grooves into the stone floor.

"Is that all?" she asked, taking a leisurely step forward. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

I gritted my teeth.

"Not even close."

I reached into my pouch.

[Smoke Shell]. [Flashbang].

I threw the grenade high and loaded the smoke shell.

BANG!

The arena was flooded with blinding light.

BOOM!

I fired the smoke shell at her feet, enveloping her in a thick grey cloud.

Visuals gone.

Now.

I activated [Movement Arts: Dash]. I circled to her blind spot. I drew my daggers.

If I couldn't shoot her, I had to get in close while she was disoriented.

I leaped into the smoke, aiming a strike at her arm—just a scratch. Just one touch to prove I could.

My dagger sliced through the smoke.

And stopped.

Samantha's fingers were wrapped around my wrist. Her eyes were closed. She wasn't blinded; she just didn't need to see.

"Visual deprivation," she lectured calmly, holding my arm in a vice grip. "A classic rogue tactic. But against a master swordsman, intent is louder than noise."

She opened her eyes. They were grey, calm, and terrifying.

"Punishment time."

She threw me.

I flew through the air, crashing into the stone floor.

Cough!

Before I could stand, she was on me.

Slash. Slash. Slash.

She wasn't cutting my skin. She was cutting my uniform.

Her rapier moved like a blur of silver light. My jacket sleeves were shredded. My collar was sliced off. My pants were slashed at the thighs.

I rolled, dodged, scrambled, fired wildly.

BOOM! Clang. BOOM! Miss.

I was breathing like a dying horse. Sweat poured down my face, stinging my eyes. My mana was bottoming out from the constant use of [Haste].

She, on the other hand, looked like she was taking a stroll in the park. Her uniform was crisp, unwrinkled. Her hair was perfectly in place. She wasn't even breathing hard.

'Damn it. She's not even using 5% of her strength.'

I was at my limit.

"Ten seconds left, Cadet!" she announced. "Do you have anything left? Or will you die here?"

I looked at her.

I looked at the finals bracket where Kael was waiting.

'I'm not losing here.'

[Skill: Adrenaline Surge – ACTIVATE]

THUMP.

My heart stopped, then hammered. The world turned grey. The sound of the crowd stretched into a low drone.

Samantha moved toward me. In this slowed time, she was still fast, but she wasn't a blur.

I saw the path of her blade.

I dropped the shotgun.

I stepped into her guard.

She widened her eyes slightly in slow motion. She hadn't expected me to close the distance.

I dodged the rapier by a millimeter—I felt the cold steel graze my cheek.

I reached out with my hand, fingers glowing with the last dregs of my mana.

[Discharge.]

I didn't have a spell. I just blasted raw mana from my palm directly at her chest plate.

Time resumed.

BAM!

The impact wasn't strong enough to hurt her. But it was strong enough to make her slide back. One inch. Two inches.

She stopped.

I collapsed to my knees, gasping, my vision swimming.

Silence filled the arena.

Samantha looked down at her chest plate. There was a faint scorch mark on the silver metal.

She looked at her feet. She had been forced back.

She looked at me—bruised, battered, my uniform in ribbons, bleeding from a cut on my cheek, but eyes still burning with defiance.

Slowly, she sheathed her rapier.

Click.

A smile broke across her face. Not the sadistic smile from before, but a genuine, terrifyingly proud grin.

"You have guts, Ashborne," she said loudly. "And excellent tactical awareness."

She brushed a speck of dust from her shoulder.

"I acknowledge your strength. You pass."

"Winner: Lucien Ashborne!"

The crowd roared. They had just watched a student survive three minutes against the Demon Instructor.

"Medic!" Samantha called out casually.

I tried to stand up to bow, but my legs gave out.

"Don't push it," Samantha said, catching me by the collar before I hit the face-plant. "Save that energy for Kael. You're going to need it."

Two medics rushed in with a stretcher. As they loaded me up, I looked at Samantha.

"Did I… pass the test?" I wheezed.

She smirked.

"Barely. Now get out of my sight before I assign you detention for ruining my shoes with that smoke bomb."

As I was carried away to the infirmary for a quick heal, I stared up at the sky.

'I made it.'

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