Dekan's Soul Card

In the Shadow World where Dekan was.

Professor Arnold had already sprinted up to Dekan at top speed.

But he found that Dekan did not move at all. He merely stood there with his hands behind his back, his expression calm.

He had the air of an unrivaled master.

This instead left Arnold unsure of what to do.

Why was he not running?

Had he noticed the increased difficulty and decided to protest through his actions, simply giving up?

Arnold admitted that he had indeed raised Dekan's difficulty a little.

But it was still within the rules.

So it did not count as a violation.

"Where is your weapon?"

Out of a hint of guilt, Arnold did not attack immediately and asked instead.

Dekan did not answer. He merely raised his right hand and shook the Gothic Lolita Doll wrapped around it.

He did not seem to intend to forfeit.

Professor Arnold's brow gradually furrowed.

He looked at Dekan's outfit and posture.

He had seen unconventional warriors before, but never one this unconventional.

There were clearly many things worth criticizing, yet he did not know where to begin. The feeling caught in his throat.

But as an examiner, he should not delay the exam any longer.

Since this was the candidate's attitude, he could only send him out of the Shadow World as quickly as possible.

Professor Arnold took a deep breath.

"Though I am sorry, I hope you choose an academy better suited to you next year."

After saying that, Arnold raised the silver longsword in his hand and delivered a clean, decisive horizontal slash.

An icy chill carrying the threat of death instantly swept through Dekan's limbs and bones.

At this distance, there was nowhere to dodge!

But Dekan had no intention of dodging at all.

This was the moment he had been waiting for!

In his left hand behind his back, he had been holding a Magic Card all along.

His trump card.

It was also the core of his deck, the card that would secure his victory!

As he infused it with magic power, dazzling orange light instantly spilled from Dekan's palm!

Specks of light descended like divine radiance, suddenly shooting forth and forming a golden totem in the air!

The Magic Card in Dekan's left hand had already dissipated and materialized into reality.

Although this was not the first time he had summoned this card, Dekan could still feel the Terror power emanating from it.

The summoning was complete!

What followed was a mass of black mist filled with an eerie aura.

The black mist immediately surged across the ground, spreading in all directions like a tide and covering the entire land in an instant.

And the center of the black mist was right behind Dekan!

A man radiating an intense undead aura slowly emerged from the black mist.

The tome in his hands emitted a faint green glow.

His face was full of sorrow, and a mournful chant rang out.

"Boundless fog, the endless, infinite grief within me..."

The viewing area had already erupted in cries of shock! The scene was in complete chaos!

"Those effects... could that be an Epic card?!"

"My God! It really is an Orange Epic?!"

"Bringing an Epic card to an entrance exam is going too far, isn't it?!"

"Which young master was out here experiencing ordinary life?"

Orange Epic Magic Cards, even when they appeared, were usually only seen in high-level matches!

How could a card of this level appear in a freshman exam?!

The appraisal results for the Epic card Dekan had used soon appeared on the broadcast screen.

[Ruined Poet]

[Category: Summon Card]

[Grade: Orange Epic]

[Rank: 1]

[Attack: 0]

[Health: 100]

[Effect: Uses demonic poetry to disrupt the minds of all enemy creatures, multiplying the pain they feel by 1000%]

[Remark: "Pain! It hurts so much!"]

Professor Arnold's slash had already reached Dekan's chest!

Dekan had timed it perfectly, summoning the Ruined Poet just as Arnold was about to strike him.

With the effects of his three cards stacked together, the total pain feedback was multiplied sixtyfold!

Even with only one-quarter pain in Phantom Canyon, it was still fifteen times real pain!

The pain from that slash striking his chest head-on was reflected back to Professor Arnold at fifteen times the intensity.

Dekan was knocked backward, rolling several times across the ground before coming to a stop.

"It really hurts!"

Dekan clutched his chest and pushed himself up.

The Crown of Pain had locked his health in place, so the fatal wound had not defeated him.

But the sensation of his chest being torn apart and his breastbone shattered had still left him unable to recover his senses.

Yet Professor Arnold.

Was already foaming at the mouth and had collapsed unconscious on the ground...

Then.

Professor Arnold was judged to have completely lost consciousness and was teleported out of the Shadow World.

"Phew—"

Dekan let out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the examiner had passed out completely, so he did not need to finish him off himself.

Soon, he saw the prompt messages that followed.

[Shadow World cleared. Time taken: 57 seconds.]

[Special condition achieved. Defeated the examiner. Obtained an S-grade base evaluation.]

[Under special clear conditions, 29 minutes and 03 seconds remained. Additional points awarded.]

[Calculating score...]

[Score: 1.557×10^13]

[Final Evaluation: SSS]

[You are about to leave the Shadow World. Candidate, please prepare...]

Dekan had no idea that the discussion outside had already reached its peak.

"Which heretic made that rogue card?!"

"The Knight Academy found a demon this year..."

"This year, there is both that reckless idiot who chased down the examiner and this freakishly disgusting oddball. What a double celebration."

"He did not even bring the maximum number of cards..."

There was a limit to the number of bound Magic Cards a person's soul could carry.

For example, Dekan was Rank 2, so he could bind cards with a combined rank of at most 20.

If he reached Rank 3, he could bind cards with a combined rank of at most 30.

If Rank 2 Dekan brought only Rank 2 cards, bringing ten would already reach the limit.

But if he brought some Rank 1 cards, he could bring more cards.

Lower-rank cards could be considered to have lower "costs."

Therefore, some high-quality low-rank cards would not be phased out even after their owner reached higher ranks.

But for Dekan, three cards were more than enough to clear a mere entrance exam.

After all, his main Spell Cards had all been restricted by the exam conditions.

When Dekan walked out of the examination room, he saw that Professor Arnold had already been carried away by medical personnel.

He immediately felt relieved.

Fifteen times the pain should not be enough to leave any lasting effects.

Fortunately, this canyon had the one-quarter pain setting. Otherwise, Professor Arnold might have been on his way to heaven from that one hit.

"I was so low-key. No one noticed me, right?"

Dekan thought about it. There had been many candidates taking the exam at the same time.

His exam had ended in just over a minute, preparation time included.

He should have only flashed across the big screen for a moment.

At most, one or two shots.

Humming a tune and walking with light steps, he left the main building of the Knight Academy.

However, he saw Theresia waiting at the entrance.

She seemed to have run over and was still out of breath.

She anxiously looked around. Once she made sure no one else had set their sights on Dekan, she grabbed his sleeve and started running.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong, Theresia?"

Although Dekan had no idea what was going on, he still began running alongside Theresia.

"If we don't run now, you'll be surrounded and gawked at like some rare creature soon."

Theresia said.

"What happened?"

"Do you remember what you just did? The entire broadcast was focused on you!"

"Hey, hey, hey? That happened?"

"Of course!"

When the Plains Map and Professor Arnold as the chief examiner appeared, the broadcast director had already started paying attention to Dekan's side.

After that, Dekan's performance had been a completely unexpected surprise to everyone.

Dekan thought about it. If his battle against Professor Arnold had been watched from start to finish...

"Ah, how annoying!"

Dekan suddenly cried out, startling Theresia.

"What is it?"

"If I'd known the whole world would be focused on me, I would've taken the chance to run some ads! I lost out again!"

"..."

"Theresia, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Let's discuss what we're having for dinner tonight instead. To celebrate you passing the exam, my treat!"

Theresia smiled helplessly and said.