Chapter 77: The Upcoming Showdown
“Yeah, what a great joke…”
After realizing that the female examiner’s comment about compensation was merely a joke to ease the tense atmosphere, Nagi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Who would have thought that the once savior could not even afford a magic power detector now?
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Nagi is currently “as broke as a church mouse,” to the point where she has to carefully budget for her meals, relying on discounted items to survive.
Under the dual scrutiny of the planned light and the potential existence of the β system, she has temporarily lost contact with the End, and naturally, she can’t receive any financial assistance from them.
Nowadays, her life depends largely on her meticulous budgeting; from daily necessities to living expenses, everything is barely sustained by the mentality of “saving where possible” and “delaying where possible.”
After this little interlude, the bald instructor finally recovered from the chaotic situation.
He looked at the shattered magic power detector and first displayed a moment of complex emotions, then seized the rare opportunity to decisively announce that Nagi would be granted an exception to directly participate in the “combat assessment” under the pretext of “equipment malfunction.”
At the same time, he announced that due to sudden equipment failure at inspection point three, no further students would be admitted today, and the remaining candidates would be redistributed to other examination points by the instructors.
Although the onlookers were still filled with doubts, faced with the seemingly reasonable explanation of “equipment failure,” and the unified statements from the two senior examiners, they accepted this explanation.
With the flawless cooperation of the two examiners, the small commotion caused by Nagi was ultimately smoothed over.
A few students later expressed some regret—after all, how often do you encounter an opportunity like “the crystal ball breaking”? If it had happened to them, they might have bypassed the magic power test and directly entered the combat assessment.
However, not everyone accepted this outcome.
At that moment, in the backstage area far behind the testing point, a tall and poised woman with a cold demeanor stood silently in front of the monitoring screen.
She had long, emerald green hair that shimmered delicately under the lights, giving off a refreshing and clear impression, exuding an icy vibe akin to that of a “snake.”
At this moment, she stood frozen, intently watching the scene on the screen, absorbing everything that had just unfolded.
Her name is “Misa Lopez,” a member of the “X-Class Ability User Team” affiliated with the Star Academy, the team leader of Squad B, and the most trusted member of Mana.
However, since the “X-Class Project” has yet to be formally implemented and is still under strict confidentiality, her special status as “X-Class” has not received official recognition from the Special Circle SEMA or the three major academies.
Therefore, she is currently still operating under the identity of an “ACE-Class Ability User” and has been assigned as one of the examiners for today’s “combat assessment.”
However, her true purpose in attending was not merely to fulfill her duties, but to get as close as possible to and successfully recruit— the girl named “Kamishiro Akine.”
To put it more bluntly, her primary goal was to ensure that this girl successfully passes today’s “combat assessment” and becomes a true “ability user.”
This was a direct order from Mana.
So even though she was somewhat reluctant and unwilling about it, she could only accept this “special arrangement.”
Initially, Misa did not have high expectations for Kamishiro Akine.
In her eyes, the girl was merely a “vase” with a somewhat special soul nature—someone who had yet to awaken any abilities and couldn’t even sense the most basic magic fluctuations.
This had troubled Misa for quite some time.
After all, even as the chief examiner, giving a student an “advantage” had to come with a reasonable justification.
Allowing an ordinary person with no magical response—someone who couldn’t even be classified as an ability user—to participate in the “combat segment” and battle against ACE-Class examiners was a nearly absurd idea.
No matter how much mercy she showed by “limiting herself,” it was impossible for such a person to pass the assessment.
Burdened by this frustration, she once expressed her concerns to Mana.
However, unexpectedly, Mana merely replied in a nonchalant manner—
“Don’t worry, that girl… won’t let you down.”
At the time, Misa did not understand the true meaning of that statement.
Until now.
When she witnessed the “magic power detector” inexplicably explode in front of the girl, she finally comprehended Mana’s words—
Kamishiro Akine was anything but ordinary.
She had been deliberately hiding her true power, and the cleverness of this disguise had successfully fooled even someone like her, an “X-Class Ability User.”
However, compared to Misa, Mana had seen right through the girl’s disguise at their first meeting.
Misa realized how much of a fool she had made of herself in front of Mana, who had always trusted her.
This revelation was both good news and bad news for Misa.
The good news was that she no longer had to worry about how to ensure the girl passed the assessment.
But the bad news was that this seemingly “vase” girl might truly have the ability to snatch the only “King” position in the Star Academy from Mana’s hands.
Even though Mana had personally told her that she didn’t care about that position,
In Misa’s heart, only Mana was worthy of sitting on that “throne.”
Just then, her terminal suddenly vibrated, displaying a command message.
The content was brief: Please proceed to the main gymnasium, the combat assessment is about to begin.
She said nothing, slowly closed the terminal, took a deep breath, and then turned to leave.
A cold glint flashed in Misa’s eyes.
—Since that’s the case, let me thoroughly test your strength…
—Let’s see if you can last three minutes under my hand…
—————–
On the other side.
Having secured her qualification for the “combat assessment,” Nagi followed closely behind Shiraishi as they entered the main gymnasium of the Star Academy.
To Nagi’s surprise, Shiraishi had also signed up for the “combat assessment.”
After all, she was supposed to only accompany Nagi in line today.
However, ever since witnessing Nagi “break” the magic power detector, Shiraishi seemed to ignite with fighting spirit, her blood inexplicably boiling.
It was said that the “crystal ball” had always been her nightmare and shackle.
She had tried countless ways to internally sabotage that “magic power detector,” but none were successful.
Her research had hit a bottleneck, and she had even completely given up on the route of “power.”
But Nagi’s earlier blow seemed to rekindle the flame of hope within her.
“Thank you, Akine-chan!” Shiraishi said, gripping Nagi’s hands tightly with tears brimming in her eyes. “I will never forget your efforts today—!”
“Um… I’m still alive, you know?” Nagi reminded her somewhat helplessly.
“I will inherit your will and continue onward!” Shiraishi declared passionately, like giving a speech at a hero’s memorial.
“So, um, I’m still alive, right? Your tone makes it sound like I’ve already sacrificed myself…”
“One day, I will not dishonor the mission and fulfill the ideals and beliefs of the ‘Fashion and Design’ club—!”
“…Are you sure it’s not the ‘Destruction and Explosion Design’ club?”
