Extra's Descent

Brandon hurriedly scurried away upon realizing the fireball upon him.

But as soon as he did, another bolt of lightning was on its way.

Kracka! Kracka!

A myriad of attacks, consisting of flames and lightning were hurled towards him in rapid succession.

They seemed endless.

For that reason, Brandon surmised it correlated to Delton's zone.

Most probably, his zone allowed him to unleash a barrage of magic, completely disregarding the complexities of conducting a magic circle.

However, Brandon could do just the same.

Without a Zone at that.

At that moment, while swiftly dodging the sparks of magic, Brandon muttered.

"Phantasm."

Fog began to fill the room gradually, its monochromatic colors seeped in, obscuring the vicinity.

"Woah."

"What kind of affinity is this?"

Mixed reactions occurred from the cadets' present. A blend of awe and perplexion, trying to peer into Brandon's peculiar skill.

At that moment, Brandon saw the pathways in his peripheral vision, scattered through the fog.

And of course, he could see Delton's silhouette a mile away.

Then, he reached out and grabbed the pathways.

Swoosh—!

He appeared before Delton, Brandon cleaved down.

But in an instant, a small magic circle, just accurate enough to block the trajectory of his blade, materialized.

Clank—!

Both Brandon and Delton skidded back on impact, sparks flying in the air.

However, Brandon didn't give both of them time to catch their breaths as he appeared before Delton once again.

This time, he lowered the output of his attack. Sparks flew once again as his blade and Delton's barrier magic clashed.

Subtly maneuvering his fingers, enough for Delton to miss, threads loomed, latching onto Delton's muscles.

With a light tug of the string, Delton's arms abruptly raised up and he gnashed his teeth in frustration.

At that moment, Brandon swung forward, swiftly cleaving Delton's torso, sending him flying back.

Bang!

Brandon followed up, grabbing the pathway ahead of him, and appearing in front of Delton, who was down on one knee.

However, as soon as Brandon appeared, sparks of magic conjured from all sides. Lightning and flames stuck to him close and ignited

Boom—!

"Kh…!"

Brandon groaned in pain. He knew his defenses were lacking, but he didn't think it would hurt this much from a single attack by Delton.

He had to give him credit for it.

Trying to get up, Brandon felt several gazes on him. Most probably they began to question whether Brandon could actually beat the instructor or not.

While losing didn't actually amount to much since he was fighting an instructor, and most likely wouldn't affect his standing in the academy, regardless, Brandon wanted to win.

He had fought several opponents stronger than him in the past. The most notable one being Lumian, an S ranked mage. Most probably, of the sixth tier.

As long as he was thoroughly prepared, he knew he could beat anyone up to a certain point in the ranking's hierarchy.

Phantasm had two unique distinctives.

One was the emergence of fog, filling the vicinity with pathways in the manner of mist–like appearance, allowing Brandon to merge himself with the fog in a magnetic manner, pulling himself to the said pathway.

Second, a distinction he had yet to master.

To intricately contour the fog, forming a silhouette akin to his own figure.

He had only been able to use it during the fight with Lumian after boosting himself with sacrifices through binding vow, and setting the stage where Lumian couldn't fight back.

Hence, thorough preparations.

It was a pity how he had sacrificed most of his previous skills.

He was well aware of Skill Weaver's potential, giving him the flexibility to adapt to any fight with his skills.

But now that he had restricted himself, forbidden from ever using Skill Weaver, he could only rely on his sole affinity.

[Curse]

However, it wasn't all that bad.

After all, he now had to trudge each fight skillfully instead of relying on an abundance of skills he did not deserve.

For him, fighting with pure skill, calculating each of his movements and its effects was much better than repeatedly throwing skills around meaninglessly.

Clang! Clang!

Their attacks clashed continuously, not one side giving out as the audience watched in awe.

At that moment, chains appeared from all sides, repelled by an equal amount of magic circles—barrier magic.

Clang—!

Delton had let his guard down, his sole focus on the chains.

Then, Brandon's sword cleaved down. However, as if a miracle happened, another magic circle appeared and instantly blocked Brandon's attack.

Brandon could see the look on Delton's face, as if he were carrying weight, brows furrowed and teeth gritted.

However, one fatal mistake was all it took for Brandon to seize victory.

Delton hadn't noticed it.

After all, Brandon was subtle with it, pretending like each his sword was the main attack.

"It's my win, Sir Delton."

"....?"

At that moment, the threads revealed themselves as Brandon expended quite a bit more mana, enough for Delton, who focused everything on blocking the chains and his sword, to perceive them.

The threads had been wrapped around Delton's neck. All Brandon needed to do was clench his fist, and the threads would do their job.

"I guess it is…."

A defeated look spread across Delton's face as his head dropped down.

"Damn!"

"That's crazy…."

And the cadets began to react, murmuring with one another.

***

There was absolutely no reason for the spar to even occur. It was nothing but the instructor's ego hurting

That's how it seemed to Brandon anyway, judging by how the fight went.

He could swear Delton was out for his blood.

However, Brandon was given clearance for that reason.

If he would rather ascend to Class A, learning what the other cadets' who were well on their way to breaching the S rank.

Of course, Brandon didn't want to miss the opportunity.

To be in the same class as Amelia and Belle.

But he had some conditions in mind.

That was the reason why he was now standing right before Bellion, who was seated on his desk.

After checking the documents, Bellion raised his head and looked at Brandon.

"I can approve this. There was no reason for you to be in that class anyway."

"You're the one who assigned me there…."

"Well, it was requested by your sister."

Ah.

So his conjectures were correct.

It really was Belle who set it all up.

"But can I make a request?'

Brandon asked.

"If it's not too tedious, then it's fine. What is it?"

"I'd like to take Raven Blackheart with me. And since you've asked me to observe Reinhard closely, would it be possible to set it up?"

"Raven Blackheart, huh? It's possible, but he might not be able to keep up. As for Reinhard, I don't think it's possible."

"Then what do you expect me to do about him?"

"You don't have to watch him 'too' closely."

There was a heavy emphasis on 'too' in Bellion's tone.

"Just look out for him like a friend. You two are close, right?"

"Yeah. Okay, I can do that."

"Okay, that's all I need. For Raven…. Hmm…. He'll need to prove himself first."

"I see."

Then, Brandon changed the topic.

It was time for 'that' conversation.

"Anyway, about Zeke. I've got evidence."

"Oh? About time. I was just about to throw you to jail for abducting in broad daylight."

"You would've died if you had done that."

Brandon's lips pulled up into a grin after those words left his mouth.

Hearing those words, Bellion clutched his chest.

"When is this…. curse gonna lift?"

"Give it three weeks."

That being said, Brandon presented the recording device on Bellion's table.

Bellioned looked at it intently.

The recording device….

Knowing what was recorded in the device, if Brandon had to be honest, it was the most valuable item in this country at the moment.

Then, he played the recording.

The first audible sound was the rattling of chains. Clang! Clang!

Then, Zeke's hoarse voice echoed shortly after.

—I don't know. I've been merely following orders.

Brandon's cool voice echoed as he asked questions, and Zeke would answer each of them, his tone carrying hopelessness.

The exchange between the two continued like that for a while, until the words naturally flowed out of Zeke's mouth, to the point where Brandon didn't even need to ask.

—You….

Zeke's voice trembled.

—You have no idea what they are…. They…. I…. I've seen them only once….

—Monsters…. Monsters that transcend all reasoning…. Our military aside…. It's way more superior than what you folks have here….

—But they aren't even the main thing…. Those monsters…..

Then, Brandon's voice followed.

—Spit it out! What are you talking about!?

Brandon's voice, a bit panicked.

He could recall the entire ordeal, and he knew just what he felt at that moment.

Fear.

Despite sacrificing the fear emotion, he knew that was what he was supposed to be feeling.

—They…. They call themselves the Sin of Archbishops…. They have these powers…. I can't explain it…. But…. Wraiths….

Yes, similar to Wraiths!

—But no, they aren't Wraithbounds…. Far from it…. Far stronger…. Humans, yet not humans….

—Stronger than anything I've ever seen….

Brandon knew just what those entities were.

Not exactly what they were, but who they served, and where their power came from.

The Circles of Hell

The strongest Wraiths, consisting of; Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Gluttony, Envy, Lust, Greed, Melancholy, and Vainglory.

And it had to be said….

His memories of Raven Blackheart of the previous regressions.

He had only met one of the Circles.

The Sin of Melancholy.

And ultimately,

….It led to Raven's death in one of the progressions.