If They Get Obsessed, I’m Doomed - Chapter 95

Chapter 48.2

With row five’s knight out of commission and the barrier destroyed, it was impossible to resume the sparring. The assistant stood frozen, clearly flustered and at a loss.

Only when Skylar shot him a sharp glare did he snap out of it and begin to speak.

“D-Due to unforeseen circumstances, the sparring session will be suspended. Students of row five, please…”

Just as he was attempting to steady his trembling voice to formally announce the suspension, he was interrupted. From the balcony encircled by white railings, a man leaped down gracefully. A light puff of dust rose and settled as his feet touched the ground.

Under the glaring sunlight, his fiery red hair revealed his identity.

Straightening his bent legs as he rose, Lexius’s towering height exuded an overwhelming presence. Every eye in the training field turned toward him.

Lexius, clearly relishing the spotlight, smiled casually. Yet, his sharp eyes remained fixed on one person.

“Skylar, come spar with me.”

Skylar, suddenly challenged by Lexius, responded with an exasperated expression.

“Why should I?”

“Since you picked a fight, why not see it through to the end?”

“….”

“You’ve been wanting to do this to me even before class started, haven’t you?”

Lexius grinned as he openly called out Skylar’s hidden thoughts, hoping to provoke him into action. He wanted to see Skylar lose his composure and charge at him.

However, Skylar wasn’t the type to rush into a confrontation. While he was known for his temper and sharp tongue, he was still a prince of the empire. No matter how much someone tried to irritate him, he would usually do no more than furrow his brows. Lexius knew this well.

If he wanted a reaction, he would have to press where it truly hurts.

“A prince and a grand duke are equal in rank, aren’t they?”

Skylar’s displeasure was evident in his expression, but that was all. It wasn’t enough to provoke him yet.

Lexius escalated his taunts, making sure Ariel could hear every word.

“In that case, whether she becomes the prince’s consort or the grand duke’s wife, wouldn’t the power and benefits be about the same?”

“…What?”

“I’m making a suggestion.”

Lexius glanced briefly at Ariel as he spoke. It was a deliberate, calculated move meant to provoke Skylar. However, the glance was so fleeting that Ariel, the subject of his glance, didn’t notice.

Skylar, on the other hand, standing directly across from him, caught the gesture instantly. His piercing blue eyes narrowed as anger surged within him at Lexius’s behavior, which reminded him of Devoncia. The ferocity in his gaze gleamed sharply, and the rationality in his expression began to slip away.

Responding to the provocation, he raised his arm, snapped his fingers, and waved his hand. In the next moment, a glowing sigil appeared on the back of his hand.

It was a branding spell.

A transparent, dome-shaped barrier, etched with blood-red vein-like patterns, enveloped the two of them. It was a barrier designed for brutal purposes, often used during torture to prevent prisoners from escaping while allowing only their screams and the stench of blood to seep out.

His anger toward Lexius had reached such a height that he didn’t hesitate to use such a barrier.

The assistants recoiled in shock, quickly retreating. The students, who had suddenly become spectators, widened their eyes in astonishment, horrified by what they were witnessing.

Lexius, the one at the center of it all, seemed not just unbothered but rather entertained. With a subtle glance, he motioned to the assistant outside the barrier and pointed at the weapon rack.

“Push that in here.”

“Yes? But this barrier…”

“Don’t you know that torture barriers are designed to let blades through?”

“Y-Yes, I’m aware!”

And that was precisely why the assistant hesitated. Pushing a blade into a barrier already notorious for its cruel use in torture would only escalate the situation further.

“I’m not asking you to take responsibility, so hurry up. This is a magic combat class, but if we fight barehanded, no one will believe this was part of the lesson later.”

He spoke as if it were the simplest thing, pressuring the assistant to comply.

Reluctantly, the assistant obeyed.

The weapon rack screeched as it was pushed into the barrier. With a grating metallic sound, the rack came to a stop between the two of them.

In an instant, Lexius drew a scimitar, and Skylar unsheathed a rapier in response.

As soon as Skylar gripped his weapon, Lexius kicked the weapon rack. The massive metal structure, essentially a giant piece of iron, toppled toward Skylar, and the weapons hanging from it crashed to the ground like a shower of jagged spikes. Several longswords struck the floor, embedding themselves upright in the ground.

Skylar easily dodged the falling rack and thrust his rapier forward. The thin blade darted straight toward Lexius’s eye.

Lexius swiftly lifted his scimitar, intercepting the rapier aimed directly at him. The rapier’s tip fell just short of reaching his eye, colliding instead with the wide blade of the scimitar. The clash of the two weapons sent crimson sparks flying like fiery embers.

The silver earring hanging from Lexius’s ear swayed, jingling softly. He deliberately wore the long earring, which was practically a vulnerability in battle, during fights to deceive his opponents.

This only made Skylar feel more irritated.

He grabbed a longsword embedded in the ground and swung it toward Lexius’s neck.

When Lexius turned the scimitar’s blade, which had been blocking the rapier, horizontally, it caused the rapier to lunge forward slightly, disrupting Skylar’s balance. Seizing the opportunity, he then swiftly ducked and slipped beneath the arc of the swinging longsword.

Skylar, refusing to let him escape, swiftly redirected the longsword and swung it again.

Lexius bent backward with almost unnatural flexibility, narrowly avoiding the blade. As he lowered his upper body, he raised his right leg and struck Skylar’s wrist with precision. The force of the blow loosened Skylar’s grip, sending the longsword spinning out of his hand.

The longsword soared through the air for several meters before colliding with the barrier, igniting a spectacular explosion of sparks.

Clang! Boom! Crackle!

The sound was like an explosion, even though it was just the sword meeting the barrier.

And it happened mere steps away from Ariel.

Crackle! Zap!

Bright bursts of sparks crackled and flared, filling the air with the acrid smell of burning.

Ariel swallowed dryly, her mouth parched from the tension.

The longsword, which had been sparking furiously against the barrier wall, crashed to the ground. Its blade was scorched black and damaged beyond repair.

The rapid exchanges continued every few seconds, moving so quickly that they were impossible to track with the naked eye. The prince and the grand duke moved at such speed that it was impossible for anyone to follow. The overwhelming intensity of the fight left the spectators paralyzed with fear.

Skylar and Lexius appeared as if they were genuinely trying to kill each other, or at least, that was how it seemed to Ariel.

If that were the case, then what could be the reason?

She replayed their earlier conversation in her mind, recalling phrases like ‘prince’s consort’ and ‘grand duke’s wife.’

‘Surely, this can’t be because of me, right? No, it couldn’t be…’

But unfortunately, her suspicion was closer to the mark than she wanted to believe. While Lexius may have had other reasons, Skylar wouldn’t have fought if it hadn’t been for her.

A sharp weapon hurtled toward Ariel, already fraught with unease.

Crackle! Boom!

The deafening sound and the bursting sparks overwhelmed her, rattling both her sight and hearing.

‘This isn’t a place for me to be.’

Acting quickly, Ariel decided to leave before she got caught in the crossfire. The last thing she wanted was to be tangled up in the intense clash between Skylar and Lexius.

But she couldn’t get far and came to a halt near the training ground’s iron doors.

Standing before the gates was the crown prince, his red cape billowing behind him.