The duel between Descartes and Serena ultimately came to an end in an almost comical fashion. To some, it felt like an anti-climax—starting with a bang and ending with a whimper.
Serena, in particular, was far from convinced. He believed he hadn't displayed his full strength in the fight and that Descartes' victory was entirely a cheap trick rather than a true win. But a loss was a loss. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he couldn't very well play the sore loser, or he would be losing more than just his own face. So, even though Serena was indignant and gave Descartes the cold shoulder, he had to keep it bottled up for now, waiting for the next opportunity to reclaim his pride.
In contrast, Descartes accepted the victory quite naturally. The fact that Dragon Slayers have a weakness to transportation was no secret within the academy; anyone who reached middle school would know that. From his perspective, he had simply targeted Serena's—or rather, the Dragon Slayer Magic's—weakness and laid out a rational strategy. It wasn't cheating, and it certainly wasn't playing dirty.
Thus, with both sides harboring their own private thoughts, the day's duel concluded.
As the great show ended, the audience began to disperse. Everyone leaving had a lingering smile of satisfaction, replaying every moment of the battle in their minds. It was certain that this afternoon's duel would be the hottest topic at Fairy Academy for the next ten days or more! Whether it was Descartes' Space-Make or Serena's eight-attribute Hybrid Dragon Slayer Magic, both were incredibly rare techniques in the magical world. Having witnessed a duel between these two was a massive gain for them; they were more than satisfied.
However, at this moment, it was no longer appropriate for them to stay. Staying meant seeing the "unsightly" state of the experts after their duel, which would likely shatter the heroic image they held in their hearts.
Why "unsightly"? Because the fight between Descartes and Serena had left the duel arena unrecognizable, and they had to stay behind to take full responsibility! As exciting as the fight was earlier, they looked just as pathetic now.
Only after the crowd had mostly gone did Serena do a "carp leap" to spring back up from the ground. In fact, Descartes had dispelled the seawater and the wooden boat the moment the duel ended, so Serena had actually recovered from his "motion sickness" quite a while ago. He simply didn't want to face the reality of his defeat, nor did he want to see or hear the reactions of the Fairy Academy students:
"Look, that's the guy!"
"Yesterday he said he was the strongest exchange student and claimed he'd defeat Descartes first before challenging Gildarts. Then today he gets beaten so bad he's vomiting in the arena—no dignity at all, totally pathetic!"
"I heard he's the Number 1 of the Royal Capital Magic Academy, with some title like 'Leader of the Four Heavenly Kings' over there!"
"Number 1? Four Heavenly Kings? And this is his level?"
"If the strongest one got beaten like this by Descartes, wouldn't the others be even worse off?!"
"A clown, a total clown!"
"I say don't call him 'Leader of the Four Heavenly Kings' anymore, just call him 'Leader of the Clowns'!"
"..."
The people of Fairy Academy were generally very polite and moral; they wouldn't actually say such things—at least not to Serena's face. However, in Serena's mind, that was exactly their attitude. Therefore, he had simply pretended he hadn't recovered from his motion sickness and lay there until now.
"How are we settling the matter with the arena?"
"Paying for it directly?"
"If we're paying for repairs, it should be half each, right?!"
Hearing this, Descartes looked around. "Actually, if you ask me, you should just use your magic to level this place again!"
Facing the daunting task of "rebuilding the arena," the first thing Descartes thought of was the Cavern Dragon's magic. The Cavern Dragon was an earth-attribute dragon, and every spell was closely linked to the ground. If Serena were willing, leveling the ground—or even building a stone castle here—would be a piece of cake.
"I could... but why don't you use Space-Make to just create a duel arena?"
Descartes tilted his head. "Are you stupid? My molding magic has a time limit; it can't exist forever! Once I stop focusing my attention here, the arena I made would vanish instantly, and everything would be for nothing."
"Your magic doesn't have that flaw, so it's more than perfect for infrastructure work!"
Serena was momentarily left speechless. Just then, Ur, Layla, Silver, and Bluenote walked over as a group.
"Oh dear, oh dear... you lost the duel!"
"Now we're losing face right along with you!"
Unlike the perpetually stoic Bluenote and the trembling Layla, the expressions on Silver and Ur's faces were quite lively. With all their winking and gesturing, one might have thought they were performing a comedy routine.
Losing the duel was already upsetting enough; now, hearing his companions' teasing, Serena's face darkened further. "Did you all come here specifically to mock me?"
"Hahaha... is that not allowed?"
"You probably didn't think you'd see this day, did you kid?"
"Anyway, I've been waiting for this day for a long time!"
Even though Serena lost and the other exchange students lost some face by association, Silver and Ur weren't the types to care about such things. This behavior—choosing to tease rather than complain—made Descartes take a second look at them. They're from the same academy; is it really okay to talk like that?
However, their next words quickly cleared up his confusion.
"Before, you always paraded around with titles like 'Academy Number 1' and 'Leader of the Four Heavenly Kings,' acting all chuunibyou in front of outsiders. You made things awkward for us so many times; seeing you suffer a setback today makes me feel completely refreshed!"
"Me too! I feel like I can eat two people's worth of food tonight!"
"Speaking of eating, you said yesterday that if you lost the duel, you'd treat everyone to a meal. Don't forget!"
Oh?! It seemed he had heard something interesting.
"Are you treating?" Descartes' eyes lit up with anticipation as he looked at Serena.
Serena's face turned black with annoyance. "Not you!"
"Don't be like that!"
"After this fight, we're basically friends, right?!"
"Isn't it great for friends to have a meal together and bond? Right?"
He directed that last "Right?" toward Ur and the other three. Not wanting to miss another chance to mess with Serena, Silver and Ur chimed in.
"Right, right, right... we're already friends!"
"Layla and Bluenote shouldn't have any objections either, right?"
"Of course not!"
"I have no objections."
Serena: "..."
What is this feeling of being the only outsider here?!