SAINTESS [Chapter 144: Why did you provoke him?] (Patreon)

When Winnie saw what had happened, he fell silent. Even Brother was left speechless.

The worst thing was when the air suddenly went completely quiet.

“It’s all... all your fault!” Brother finally realized what had happened and glared at Winnie with resentment.

“My fault?” Winnie found it even more amusing.

“Brother, I didn’t even lay a hand on you the entire time. I have no idea how you managed to completely tear your own belt apart. You were the one who wasn’t careful, and now you’re blaming me?”

Looks like he'd been teleported back to the academy.

Wait… didn't he just say wolves in front, tigers behind?

Just as Winnie had this thought, a tremor coursed through the earth’s veins and reached them.

Winnie immediately shifted to the side, narrowly evading the earth-vein fluctuation that had unmistakably targeted him.

“Oh? An unexpected bonus.” A student carrying a long-handled ax swaggered over. Seeing Winnie's uniform, he bared his teeth in a grin. “Oh, another little second-year junior.”

“Sorry, Junior. You’ve only just arrived, and unfortunately, you ended up crossing paths with me. Bad luck, I suppose. This senior here is fighting for his ranking and future prospects, so don’t expect me to hold back.” With those words, the burly student let out a fierce roar. He raised his long-handled axe and lunged forward, bringing it crashing down. The blade tore through the air with a violent tremor as it descended toward Winnie.

This student was probably a third-year or fourth-year senior. Winnie didn't know him, and he didn't know Winnie either. Even if he did, he wouldn't believe a second-year ranked top five could do anything to him.

Third-year and fourth-years clearly had far richer practical experience than second-years. The moment he saw the ice spear in Winnie's hand, he deduced Winnie's next move.

He judged that at this timing, it'd be hard to cast a spell, so Winnie would most likely brace that enchanted spear horizontally to block the axe. And with those thin arms and legs, he definitely wouldn't have strength comparable to his. He'd follow up immediately, kick Winnie in the abdomen, then finish with magic.

This three-step greeting combo might not always take down third-years, but second-years definitely couldn't withstand it. To verify his theory, this senior had even tested it before the tournament, finding many second-years in the arena to try it on. Second-years, after all, were always eager for a chance to trade blows with a third-year senior.

Even if results differed from his estimate, they wouldn't be far off. Just look at their builds, these two weren't even in the same weight class.

What the old senior didn't expect was that this time, he'd kicked a steel plate.

The ax came down. Winnie didn't raise his ice spear to block at all, he simply lifted a hand.

“?” What was that supposed to mean? He wanted to stop the attack with one hand??

The third-year senior saw it and flew into a rage.

What an arrogant brat. Even among his own year, nobody dared to look down on him like this.

Being underestimated by someone a whole year below him made the senior's anger surge.

He decided he had to teach this arrogant kid a lesson today, young people shouldn't be so overbearing!

As for actually hurting him, of course not. The belt will absorb the damage. But that would still count as grievous injuries in a real fight, and the kid would be eliminated.

“Clang, clang!!” A burst of metal-on-metal rang out. The third-year senior felt as if he hadn't struck flesh, nor had he struck the belt's shield. It was like he'd slammed into a thick, solid tower shield.

In shock, he felt the force on his ax rapidly draining away. Then, despite gripping the long-handled ax with both hands, he couldn't hold it, his weapon tore free and flew out of his grasp.

“This is?!” The senior was stunned.

There'd been no sign of spellcasting. What on earth had blocked his ax? Don't tell him this kid had a body of steel, invulnerable like some vajra?

At a glance, the senior student noticed the luxurious armor covering Winnie’s arm.

A Soul Armament?

Judging by the form, it was an armor-type Soul Armament. But what kind?

He'd never seen an armor-type Soul Armament that protected its host and then disappeared instantly without causing any burden. If something like that exists, how could nobody be using it?

Even if the kid was wearing armor, how could he possibly stop a two-handed axe strike with just one hand, and even catch the axe itself?

The senior couldn't make sense of it.

Naturally, he had no way of knowing that Winnie, whose compatibility with [Armour Fortress] was at one hundred percent, had witnessed his own [Armour Fortress] undergo sublimation after entering the Master Realm.

Every time Winnie broke through a major realm, [Armour Fortress] gained a special ability. The ones taking effect now were [Impact Resistance] and [Hidden Armor].

No one knew he was being protected by [Armour Fortress] at all times. When someone swung a weapon at him, [Armour Fortress] will automatically surface to guard its master, activate [Impact Resistance], shed the incoming force, and rebound it away.

That was how Winnie could block a much stronger opponent's two-handed weapon strike with one hand, and even potentially knock their weapon away.

It was like Winnie had equipped an automatic parry device, one that made physical attacks completely unable to get in.

And at the moment that senior's weapon was knocked away and his body stumbled with it, Winnie had one hand stopping the attack, and the ice spear in his other hand already primed.

The outcome was decided.

Winnie gripped the spear one-handed and swung at the unarmed senior. The blade came down solidly toward the senior's neck.

At the critical instant, a shield rose. The senior only heard his belt make a sharp cracking sound, and then the world in front of him twisted.

By the time the fog in his eyes cleared and he regained his senses, he found himself back on the academy's central plaza.

“Huh??” The senior looked left and right. It took him a long time to accept the fact that he'd been eliminated.

No, bro?

He'd just gotten in!!

“Student, you worked hard. You did your best, go back and rest early.” At that moment, a young woman in an advanced instructor's robe handed him a stamina-recovery potion and patted his shoulder in comfort.

“Me?” The senior glanced around and saw that after him, more and more students were appearing on the plaza. Many, upon realizing they'd been eliminated, wore faces full of unwillingness and regret.

But almost all the eliminated students were second-years.

“No, Instructor, this is over already?” The senior still couldn't believe it.

“Over? No. Only your run is over. Everyone else's isn't. Isn't it still ongoing?” The young woman gave him a look. When she saw the third-year badge on his chest, her expression turned a bit strange, although she didn't say more.

“Me? I'm out just like that?” The senior's voice trembled with disbelief.

“Of course. Your belt's shattered all over the place, what, you still wanted to stay in there?”

“But before this tournament, I prepared so many trump cards and newly developed techniques… I didn't even get to use them??” the senior blurted out.

She looked amused. “Look around. Who isn't the same? If this were a real battlefield, your head would already be on the ground. You wouldn't even have the chance to question your enemy. Still, don't be too down. In this tournament, it's not like you achieved nothing.”

“What achievements?” The senior looked utterly crestfallen. He still couldn't understand how a second-year had instant-killed him, was he too careless, or did the other guy just get absurdly lucky?

“You're the first third-year eliminated this year,” the young woman said cheerfully.

“No, what the fu-?!” The senior had thought she meant something impressive. Instead, the instructor was teasing him.

“Alright, alright, just kidding.” She waved it off. “You're still better off than those seniors and seniors-in-name who were one year away from the Chosen One Contest but had to graduate anyway. At least you got to participate. Just unlucky, first fight and you ran into a fourth-year.”

“It wasn't a fourth-year,” the senior said, miserable.

“Hm? Then an outstanding third-year?” The young woman was surprised.

To achieve a same-class instant-kill, that student's strength was obvious.

"Not that either."

“? Don't tell me it was a second-year.” Her expression grew even stranger.

Hearing that, the senior put on a face like he'd swallowed bitter melon, completely unable to speak.

That only makes the instructor more curious.

Which second-year was that strong, able to send a third-year out in seconds?

Was this third-year just that bad?

“Oh? Senior, you're out too?”

Just as the senior stood there in gloom, utterly unable to figure it out, a voice called to him.

The tone sounded familiar. He turned, and it was the second-year student he'd eliminated earlier. The kid was grinning at him in that annoyingly smug way.

Getting kicked out the moment he entered had made him furious, but seeing that the third-year who eliminated him had been sent out right after? He instantly felt great, anger gone, laughing openly.

After all, he was only a sophomore. Opportunities were scarce, and his strength was near the bottom. Being kicked out by third-year and fourth-years was normal. As a second-year in the Chosen One Contest, he wasn't putting pressure on himself.

But this third-year senior? Different stories. Not only was he eliminated instantly, he was eliminated by a second-year.

‘Heh. You brought this on yourself. Why did you have to target me? Looks like karma caught up with you.’

When Winnie encountered this senior student, he already knew the man had noticed him in the plaza. He simply hadn’t expected him to make his move so soon.

‘Are you blind? Why would you go out of your way to provoke a monster like Winnie?’

“Tsk.” Seeing the second-year's smug face, the senior wanted to beat the crap out of him. But this was campus, with instructors watching. Even if he wanted to, he could only want to, doing it would violate school rules.

“What's wrong? Isn't this my defeated opponent?” the senior sneered.

“Nothing. There’s no shame in a second-year losing to a third-year. But when a third-year gets completely crushed by a second-year, heh... now that is truly embarrassing,” the second-year student said calmly, delivering the taunt with effortless precision.

"You little shit!"

“Student, do you know who defeated this third-year?” the instructor asked curiously from the side.

“Of course. Honestly, I'm surprised you don't recognize him.” The second-year looked at the third-year senior and laughed. The pride on his face made it look like he'd benefited from Winnie's glory, two second-years, and he felt honorable.

“Why would I recognize him?” the third-year insisted bitterly.

“Great question, Senior. Isn't it exactly because you didn't recognize him that you ended up like this?”

“Tsk!” This stinking second-year brat was infuriating. Every line boxed him into a corner with no comeback.

“It's Winnie Varelis.”

“Varelis? Wait, is it him?!” The third-year senior hadn't seen Winnie, but he'd heard the name.

"Yep. That's him."

Meanwhile, after dealing with the old senior, Winnie calmly began cleaning up the battlefield.

“Sorry, brother. Thanks for the puzzle pieces.” Winnie even politely addressed the neighboring student who'd just been killed by that senior, though of course the guy couldn't hear him anymore.

Then Winnie collected both of their packs and all their puzzle pieces.

Unfortunately, that second-year's puzzle piece overlapped with his.

In other words, even though there were two sets of loot, Winnie only gained one new puzzle piece. Together with his own, that made two in total.

But Winnie wasn't in a hurry. How long had he even been inside? The food was already served. There were still three full days until the end of the match, getting all the puzzle pieces would be absurdly easy.

After all, this was only the first fight.

Winnie soon realized collecting puzzle pieces was easy. The hard part was collecting them without getting eliminated.

Some weaker students might hide once they'd completed their set. But this world never stressed troublemakers, especially at the Carillian Academy, a place packed with geniuses.

Did they really think that gathering the puzzle pieces would make him lower his guard? Anyone who remained alive as an enemy in this round could easily become a threat in the next. There was no reason to let them off the hook. If he had the opportunity to eliminate them, he would naturally take it.

Winnie stuffed all the food and water from the packs into his own. After fitting the piece into place, he continued on in the same direction as before.

He couldn't help thinking of Shikondell. She'd entered together with him, yet she wasn't in the same place, so the teleport locations clearly had nothing to do with seating order.

He couldn’t help wondering if Shikondell was holding up. With Dark Dell surfacing so frequently lately, he just hoped it wouldn’t run out of power at a crucial moment and malfunction.

As for Aesphyra and Isatia, Winnie wasn't worried at all. Whoever ran into them, and didn't recognize them, and still provoked them, was in for a world of pain.

Winnie couldn't help recalling the scene from the entrance trial, when he'd run into Aesphyra.