A C-Rank Magic Student Who Deludes Himself into Thinking He Is SSS-Rank

After Eliza Loredo left the arena, Shion Kurosaki remained alone inside. Leaning against the wall, he sat with his right leg stretched out and his left knee raised. His face was unusually filled with a smug grin.

He tried to maintain his usual cool expression, but it was no use. His facial muscles relaxed, and he couldn’t suppress his smirk, his lips curling into a smile.

This uncharacteristic expression was a result of his recent duel with Eliza Loredo. Crushed by her “Giant’s Frozen Fist,” Shion had conceded defeat. This outcome was exactly the victory he had envisioned before the duel began.

His plan had been to dodge all of Eliza’s magic, making it appear as a display of overwhelming strength, and then, deliberately take a hit from her magic and surrender. This was his vision of victory.

The key conditions were to create an impression that he could have delivered the finishing blow at any time and to fulfill her desire to beat him up as retribution for seeing her underwear.

Moreover, it was crucial that he took a hit in a situation where Eliza would be convinced it was unavoidable. If it appeared that Shion had deliberately lost, Eliza would not have been satisfied, prolonging the resolution of the duel.

Successfully fulfilling these complex conditions, Shion played out the duel exactly as he had envisioned.

Eliza Loredo won the duel feeling defeated, while Shion Kurosaki achieved the outcome he had planned. It was a classic case of losing the match but winning the game. Shion, a mere commoner with no innate talent for magic, managed to score a virtual victory over the vastly superior Eliza Loredo.

Such an impressive underdog victory justified his inability to suppress his smug expression.

However, it’s crucial not to misunderstand: in terms of actual power, Shion was indeed inferior to Eliza. He had schemed to create the impression that he could have delivered the finishing blow at any time, and he succeeded in doing so. But the truth was, this was merely an impression; it was not a fact.

Using “Limit Acceleration,” Shion dodged her magic and seemed like he could easily land a finishing blow. In reality, that was impossible. At the moment he declared “Checkmate” to Eliza, Shion was already suffering from magic exhaustion, barely able to stand.

“Limit Acceleration” is a powerful magic that consumes a lot of magic power, and Shion, with his limited reserves, could only sustain it for a few seconds. He hadn’t mastered the control of “Limit Acceleration” and couldn’t move his body satisfactorily while it was active.

Perfect control of “Limit Acceleration” would allow him to move at subsonic speeds, but Shion was far from achieving such a feat. He was merely walking and dodging at his limit.

His acting as if he deliberately took a hit from the “Giant’s Frozen Fist” was just a facade; in reality, he couldn’t have dodged it due to his magic exhaustion.

If Eliza had not focused on hitting him with “Annihilating Whirlwind Rain Shot” and had kept her distance, Shion would have run out of magic and been unable to approach her. Or, if she had continued her attack for even a second longer, he might have been reduced to nothing.

If Eliza had calmly continued the duel after his “Checkmate” declaration, Shion would have embarrassingly lost due to magic exhaustion.

His achieving the planned outcome was nothing short of a miraculous coincidence.

In short, the entire duel had progressed favorably by sheer luck.

Yet, despite this, he interacted with Eliza post-duel as if he had graciously allowed her to win and was now thoroughly enjoying the belief that everything had gone according to his plan.

Having exerted all his power and successfully pulled off a “hiding true strength” move, he couldn’t help but revel in his accomplishment, still unable to suppress his smug smile.