Chapter 28: Witch of Restriction Part 1

Nova Aria

Occupation: Cadet at Athena's Institute

Focus: Soldier

Power: 10th HST

Special Characteristics: Witch

Known Abilities: Barrier Psychic, Runes

There was also a photo of a blue-haired, blue-eyed young woman in her late teens. Her delicate facial features were complemented by her serious and determined eyes. Most importantly, she didn’t have any animal characteristics, so aside from her azure hair, she resembled the Neo-Aris. However, despite their similarities, Witches were actually an UHigh sub-race...

[--Calla--: She's cute, m'lord. You're lucky.]

[--Marc--: ...]

Vorst’s gaze locked onto the opponent's M-Armor.

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M-Armors were built in the image of their users, and the one before him certainly had womanly curves. With a slender build, she had that distinct style... She was totally in his strike zone! Too bad he realized he was only 11. As he daydreamed, the other party called out to him.

[Nova: Golden Knight! Ever since I saw you in the Inter-School Tournament, I knew it was you! The one I’ve been waiting for all this time! Leave the White Wolf Princess and become mine! The Knight of Nova Aria!]

[--Marc--: ...]

[--Calla--: That girl doesn’t even know what she’s asking for.]

[--Lily--: Haha, so it begins.]

[--Calla--: Requests like those are rejected by default.]

[--Lily--: That’s right. At most, she can beg to become Marc’s, not the other way around.]

[--Calla--: *Nods* How can one take the <REGIS> for herself?]

[--Marc--: ...]

[AN: Regis (Latin) stands for King/Ruler; it is one of the main themes in the Flow World from which Marc comes.]

Marc was speechless. How dare that little girl ask for that... In his old world, he was the <REGIS>. It was where his authority reigned. That authority was his pride. Marc had only three principles. One of them was to protect his pride. Once anyone dared to touch it, he’d teach them a lesson... It seemed he’d need to beat her no matter what!

[Vorst: Rejected.]

[Nova: W-wha?]

[Vorst: I’m mine. I’ll never belong to anyone.]

[Nova: It seems I’ll have to defeat you. Once I beat you, you’ll be mine!]

[Vorst: Huh...]

[Nova: I-I-if by any chance, like a one in a million chance that I lose, t-then I-I’ll become y-yours...]

[Vorst: ...]

[--Lily--: Though that line was expected... How sly.]

[--Calla--: *Nods* A good move.]

The Golden Knight was visibly troubled. With resignation, he shook his head...

Vorst reached out and accessed his Photon Space.

<Summon>

Then, a sword appeared in his hand.

[--Marc--: I made this one for you, Calla, but I guess I’ll be using it first.]

[--Calla--: What’s mine is m'lord’s. *sweet smile*]

The slightly curved long blade was over 2 meters long and 30 centimeters wide. But that wasn’t all; the hilt was masterfully crafted. A grip adorned with dark golden scales made it lie firmly in his hand. On the tip of the wavy blade was a carving of the tail of a long golden serpent, ending with a dragon’s head biting into the guard. The one-sided undulating edge was darker than night. As the Golden Knight raised it, the black alchemical metal emanated pure blackness.

On the side of the edge was a minuscule inscription: Marcdrak - <Ragnarok>

One must know that once Marcdrak leaves his mark on an object, it shows he fully recognizes it as his creation. Hence, once he truly makes a weapon, it is no longer merely a weapon; it is also a piece of art. That mark is proof—it is his pride.

He took a side stance with both hands grasping that beautiful black blade. With the photons pouring into the alchemical metal, the black aura emanating from it reformed. Previously, it radiated indiscriminately, but now the flow was moving in one direction, forming an illusionary second edge.

Blink.

A golden line appeared.

As with previous encounters, he seamlessly closed in at an incredible speed...

Nova reacted a bit too late. She was mesmerized by the beautiful and elegant black blade. Though it was tardy, just before the black blade connected, she still managed to summon a psychic barrier.

One must know that shields and psychic barriers belong to two completely different worlds. No matter how strong shields are, they are only pure nano-photon protection meant to absorb some damage. Psychic barriers, on the other hand, are reinforced by the innate psychic power of the individual.

His first strike was blocked, but Marc immediately delivered a second strike. Then a third. Fourth. Fifth.

[Nova: (Restriction).]

Freeze. His movements halted.

It felt as if the air around him condensed, as if he were sinking into mud.

[Vorst: HAA!]

His response was immediate.

An explosion. An extreme radiance burst outwards. Nano-photons flew indiscriminately, disrupting the restriction barrier placed on him.

It was, however, still too late. BOOM. The Golden Knight was shot backward and crashed into the wall of the arena.

[Nova: Such a savage method...]

It was the first time someone used something other than psychic powers to break her (Restriction). And it was such a wild method. He simply overloaded the barrier with his photon pool. It was easy to say, but causing his photons to expand outwards in a second was incredibly difficult...

The Golden Knight walked out of the crater with minimal damage. At the last moment, he managed to shield himself with his tail. Several scars appeared on the scales of the vicious whip that swayed behind him.

Nova was quite shocked. In the last exchange, he managed to bring down 20% of her barrier. In that split second, he had dealt more damage to her than in any duel she had after reaching 10th HST!

[Nova Aria: Just as I thought, he’s really the one...]

As she muttered happily, the Golden Knight raised his double-handed sword again.

Dash.

This time, she was prepared to receive his charge. Only one of his strikes hit. After that, he was ensnared in the restriction barrier and pushed back by a sword strike empowered by the mysterious power of runes.

[--Marc--: (Impact Rune), and her swordsmanship is not too shabby either.]

[--Calla--: Though it’s not plainly bad, she needs tons of improvement. Even those shabby official swordsmen before were a level above her.]

The Demoness, seeing Marc in quite the predicament, whispered sweetly.

[--Lily--: What are you going to do, Marc? At this rate, you’re going to lose~]

[--Calla--: What are you talking about? She’s done as long as m'lord uses my 'Omen of Destruction'.]

[--Lily--: True, but is it worth using that power right now?]

[--Marc--: *Nods* It’s not the time to use that. I’ll just wait for the moment she makes a mistake. There is another method, though I don’t want to use it either...]

Nova, seeing that her opponent stopped attacking, smiled inside her M-Armor. That’s right—getting close to the Witch of Restriction brings you into the range of her (Restriction), but Nova also had a method for those who wanted to keep their distance.

[Nova: (Runic Shot)]

As she pointed her sword towards Neo-Aris, a white bullet flew out at incredible speed.

Vorst made a lightning-fast sidestep to avoid it. Compared to a normal photon bullet, it was like heaven and earth. This one was completely packed with nano-photons. That was the power of runes; as long as one mastered a particular rune, creating it was fast and easy.

[--Lily--: Combined rune of (Explosion), (Speed), and (Wind). Though it’s clumsily made, it’s not bad.]