Chapter 93
‘Why wasn’t he collapsing? Why, just why?’
Dave let out a painful groan as he stared at the male student before him.
Everyone he had fought until now usually collapsed after just a few attacks.
That was how powerful the Graphite was, and very few had ever endured it.
But Gideon Kyrgram—he endured it to the very end.
He either avoided or blocked every single strike Dave threw.
Even while blocking, he minimized the burden on his body and reduced the shock as much as possible.
‘…It wasn’t strange at all that Lady Sara lost.’
When Sara had been defeated in a duel between swordsmen at the beginning of the semester, Dave had doubted his own eyes. But now that he had personally faced this male student, he could fully understand.
Gideon’s defense was unbelievably solid.
Dave had to draw out an enormous amount of Graphite’s power just to manage a single punch to Gideon’s face.
But when he saw Gideon still standing after taking that punch, Dave could only move past disbelief and feel a reluctant sense of admiration.
‘I need to end this quickly. I can’t hold out any longer. But…….’
Dave stared closely at Gideon.
He stood holding his sword, still looking immovably firm.
‘He’ll endure the same power again. Then I’ll have to draw out even more… but can my body withstand it? No—forget the body, will I even be able to keep my sanity?’
Just maintaining the current Graphite was already too much, and even now Dave was suffering.
His body being eaten away by the black smoke in real time was one issue, but the real problem was his mind.
To maintain Graphite, he needed to constantly create negative emotions, and to do that, Dave had to face his most terrifying memories throughout the entire fight.
‘…I need to end this fast so I can stop seeing that memory.’
The moment he summoned Graphite, the most horrific memory replayed vividly in his mind.
The black smoke that strengthened him was what pulled that memory out.
When he canceled the Graphite, the memory stopped.
‘How long… how long do I have to keep seeing this memory?’
Even now, in this very moment, the memory replayed in Dave’s head.
A dark basement, his family watching him with indifferent expressions, and himself trembling in fear.
Then the scorching hot brand pressed against his back…
“Huff, huff, huff.”
The memory surfaced again, painfully vivid.
The excruciating pain from that moment spread once more from his back.
And with it, the emotions he felt back then—rage, fear, resentment—rose up from deep within his chest.
‘I need to control it. If I feed Graphite too much, it’ll consume me.’
The more negative emotions he fed Graphite, the stronger it became.
But if its power grew too strong, he would lose control.
In other words, Graphite could seize complete control of his body and mind.
Because of that danger, members of the Bonscora Family always exercised extreme caution when managing their emotions while using Graphite.
They focused solely on using its power “moderately.”
‘…No. Don’t control it. I need more power. If I want to end this quickly, this won’t be enough.’
But right now, Dave wanted nothing more than to end the fight with Gideon as fast as possible.
To end it quickly—so he could stop seeing that horrifying memory.
So he began feeding Graphite even more negative emotions.
The tightly controlled lines of emotion loosened little by little…
“Dave-nim, your back seems to be hurting quite a lot. Are you all right?”
“…What?”
“Your back, sir. Are you all right?”
The body part tied to his most traumatic memory.
When that topic came out of Gideon’s mouth, Dave lost his composure in an instant.
“…How do you know that? How do you know anything about my family…?!”
“I have no idea what you mean. I merely mentioned it because your back seemed off, and I was worried.”
“Are you mocking me?”
Dave was already overusing Graphite—he wasn’t in a state to make rational judgments.
And with Gideon’s comment just now, the last thread of his reason snapped halfway.
“I’ll kill you. Gideon Kyrgram.”
Dave concluded that Gideon was mocking him using his most horrific memory.
Rage toward Gideon surged through him, feeding Graphite even more.
The black smoke grew thicker, and Dave’s breathing became increasingly strained.
His fury toward Gideon and the negative emotions stirred by his horrible memories…
Because of all that, Dave reached a point where rational thought was impossible.
Watching that spectacle, Gideon raised his sword.
The sword stained with his own blood.
“I shall end this in one strike.”
‘Well, at least I succeeded in provoking him.’
I had come up with a plan on how to end the fight with Dave.
The first step was to agitate him enough to make him charge blindly at me.
So I intentionally poked at Dave’s trauma.
‘If things go like the game, Dave’s worst memory should be… when the brands were burned into his back as a child.’
Reliving that pain vividly.
That was the source Dave used to draw out Graphite’s power.
And by lightly touching that memory, I knocked his reason off balance.
‘Now all that’s left is to try.’
Dave dashed at me with his sword, shrouded in black smoke.
I raised my blood-soaked Mistcatcher with both hands.
‘I just need to endure.’
To execute my plan, I needed to keep Dave locked in one spot.
And to restrain someone using the brutal force of Graphite… I only had one idea at the moment.
“Die!”
His usual stony expression was gone. Dave charged with a beast-like scream and brought his sword down at me.
KWAANG—!
With a deafening crash, our swords collided.
Dave crushed down on me with far greater strength than before, and I barely managed to endure.
‘This might be stronger than Lisa back during entrance days…….’
It was a wonder I could withstand it—if I hadn’t grown stronger since the start of the semester, I would’ve already been thrown off.
But I clenched my teeth and held my ground.
Dave pressed harder, and one of my knees slowly dropped.
Even so, I didn’t let go of my sword.
‘…Time to begin.’
Dave was half out of his mind now.
Focused solely on crushing the opponent before his eyes—me.
What mattered here was that Dave was completely fixated on me and staying still.
A perfect setup for lightning.
“Ugh.”
As Dave pressed harder, my wrists started to hurt under the strain.
So I quickly drew out Peregrie’s power.
“Ugh? Why’s there wind all of a sudden?”
“Huh? Hey, what is that?”
“Why are there storm clouds inside the gym…?”
With the wind swirling, a small dark cloud formed above me and Dave.
Everyone inside the gym stared in shock at the unnatural sight—but Dave didn’t notice.
He was still glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me.
‘…Now.’
I deflected Dave’s sword and leapt to the side.
After creating distance, I immediately struck Dave’s crown with lightning.
“GRAAAH?!”
His scream echoed, full of agony.
I had hoped inwardly that the attack would knock him out, but I already knew—
“…Cheap tricks.”
Dave wasn’t going to fall from something like that.
Since I expected it, I moved straight to the next step.
‘He took the lightning properly, so he won’t be able to move for a moment. Which means…’
I looked down at my blood-soaked Mistcatcher.
‘Let’s see if I can draw out the blood energy.’
Lisa had told me that the power of the House Balmuth had awakened inside me, and I instinctively recognized that as well.
But recognizing it was all—I still didn’t know how to draw it out.
So I’d been thinking about it constantly for the past few days.
I carefully observed Lisa whenever she used Blood Energy, and I also reviewed the settings of the House Balmuth that I remembered from the game.
And after sorting everything out, I reached one conclusion.
‘The activation condition for Blood Energy is letting blood flow outside the body. After that… I just have to believe.’
There was no deeper meaning—literally, I had to believe.
I had to convince myself that I could use Blood Energy, and through that self-suggestion, draw it out.
‘But no matter how much I practiced the last few days, it never worked… Will it really—no, stop the useless thoughts. Just believe. Believe you can use it.’
I lifted Mistcatcher over my shoulder and focused.
Like Lisa, I repeated internally that I could use Blood Energy—that I could turn this blood into power.
At that moment, Dave managed to stand up again.
He somehow looked worse than before.
“Just fall already… Please… This is exhausting…”
“I believe you wouldn’t want to be offered victory out of pity.”
“…….”
Dave no longer responded.
More accurately, it seemed like he couldn’t speak.
The black smoke around his body grew darker than ever.
“…Hm?”
While facing Dave again, I suddenly sensed something inside me.
The blood dripping from my palm.
From that blood leaving my body, something was…
“…Ah.”
I had no time to think further.
Dave began rushing toward me again.
He had completely lost his sanity—or rather, the focus in his eyes had vanished, leaving them hollow.
‘Now I get it.’
I focused on a certain energy I had felt in my blood.
The blood flowing from my hand.
The energy within that blood.
It enveloped Mistcatcher, my right hand, my left hand, and even my arms…
Bzmm—
Red light appeared around my sword and both arms.
If my guess was correct, this was definitely…
“That’s…!”
From the spectator seats, I heard Lisa’s shocked voice.
I wanted to see her expression, but for now, all my focus needed to be on Dave, who had already reached me.
‘…I can win.’
For a brief moment, I was certain.
Normally, there was no way I could overpower Dave.
But with this red light… it seemed more than possible.
I felt certain my arm strength was greater than ever.
‘Here I go.’
My Predictive Counter Skill activated, showing me where Dave’s blade would strike.
I quickly twisted my body to dodge and then swung Mistcatcher with all my strength toward his sword.
KWAANG—!
A thunderous crash rang throughout the gym as our swords collided.
Dave and I locked blades briefly, pushing against each other…
“…What?”
This time, Dave started losing in strength.
His charging momentum reversed as he took a step back, and then—
Kakang—!
His sword snapped in two, and he lost his grip on the hilt.
His eyes widened in shock at the unexpected situation.
I didn’t miss the opening and moved immediately.
I drove my elbow into his face, making him stagger, then swept his legs to knock him down.
“Urgh?! Kyrgram, how dare you—”
“Dave-nim. It’s over.”
“…What?”
“I mean exactly what I said. I won.”
With my sword against Dave’s neck, I spoke firmly.
His once vacant eyes slowly regained clarity.
At the same time, the black smoke around him gradually faded.
“That’s enough, both of you!”
At that moment, Luke rushed over and stepped between us.
“Calm down, both of you. Especially you, Dave. Look into my eyes. Is anything wrong with your body, or…?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, Instructor, did I… lose?”
“Yes, you lost. You were completely disarmed just now.”
“…Understood.”
Dave’s gaze returned to normal, and the Graphite that had been swirling around him disappeared.
He stood up and glanced at me briefly.
“That lightning earlier… and now Blood Energy? You really use all kinds of powers.”
Muttering barely loud enough to hear, Dave picked up his broken sword and walked toward the gym exit.
I watched his back quietly for a moment—then felt compelled to speak.
“Dave-nim. You don’t have to become a swordsman.”
“…What?”
Dave froze mid-step and turned slightly at my words.
“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to use your family’s power either. You also have the right to choose what you want to do.”
“…Mind your own business.”
Dave replied coldly and turned away, continuing on his path—but I had expected that much.
Still, I figured saying things like this from now on would be better for him…
“Gideon. Was that Blood Energy?”
“Hmm? Ah, yes, Instructor. I believe so.”
“So you really can use it through Lisa? Just like Dave said, you really make use of a wide variety of abilities.”
“Well… it just sort of happened.”
I let out a small laugh as I looked at my arms.
Red energy was wrapped from my elbows all the way to the sword.
‘It’s probably weaker than what true members of House Balmuth can use, but… it’s better than nothing.’
I dispersed the Blood Energy and sorted my thoughts.
It was the power that allowed me to defeat Dave strengthened by Graphite.
Considering how strong Graphite was in this world, this was more than enough…
“Gideon!”
“…Lady Lisa?”
“That was Blood Energy just now, right? It was, wasn’t it?!”
Lisa rushed toward me, clearly excited.
Her sudden appearance startled me a bit, but I soon smiled and answered.
“Yes, I believe it was.”
“See! I told you you’d be able to use it.”
Lisa nodded vigorously, then cupped my face with a worried expression.
“By the way, is your face okay? I think you got hit pretty hard earlier.”
“I’m fine. A bit of medicine will fix it.”
“Hmm, I don’t think that’ll be enough.”
“Yes, that alone isn’t enough. On that note—Lisa, take Gideon to the infirmary.”
Luke cut in with a comment.
“I have to meet with Dave separately anyway, so I’m going to take a short break. It’s almost lunch time, and we only have three participants left. We still need to draw lots to decide who gets a bye.”
“Oh, right. I was the last match of the top 6, wasn’t I?”
With my victory in the final match of the top 6, the remaining three were…
“Yes. Now it’s you, Sara, and Jason. Just the three of you. And that combination… will be interesting in several ways, don’t you think?”
I couldn’t help but agree with Luke.
Even I thought it would be quite an interesting matchup.