How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game

Testing Lucas's will was what I said, but…

Am I doing this too roughly?

All around me, the training grounds had fallen into a suffocating silence—except for the strained groans and occasional gasps from the students who couldn't even lift their heads.

"Ugh…"

"Agh…"

One by one, they dropped to their knees, their bodies instinctively bowing beneath the force of my Commanding Presence.

Some tried to resist, but it was like watching leaves struggle against a storm.

Futile and Pointless.

This outcome… was expected.

And yet—

"…Fuck…!" Kagami growled, his voice raw from the effort.

I turned slightly, spotting him from the corner of my eye.

He was on one knee, fists digging into the ground as if trying to anchor himself against the crushing pressure.

The look on his face wasn't one of fear, but frustration.

The kind that came from realizing the gap between effort and reality.

"Hey… What's going on?" Janica's voice cracked beside him.

Confused and Alarmed.

She hadn't fully processed what was happening yet—but the way mana flickered unsteadily around her showed just how much the pressure was affecting her core. She couldn't even stand properly.

"Riley…"

Lucas's voice was barely a whisper.

But it reached me.

I looked toward him.

Even now, even with the divine suppression smothering everyone else… Lucas was still standing—barely.

His legs trembled, the holy sword in his hands glowing faintly, radiating a barely-contained surge of divinity.

The light around him flickered in protest against my overwhelming presence.

His blade responded first. Then his body. Slowly.

His fingers tightened around the hilt. A single step forward. No—half a step.

The divine light flickered brighter for a moment… then dimmed.

That was it.

That was all he could manage?

I sighed internally. I didn't expect a full counterattack. But still… if that was his limit right now, then it was—disappointing.

No… maybe unfair.

He's grown, I can tell. His aura, the divine resonance inside him—it's more refined than before. But right now, it's like asking a newly-forged blade to cut through a mountain.

"Uhm… Riley? I know we're supposed to treat this test seriously," Alice said softly, "but… shouldn't we at least give them a chance to perform?"

There was no judgment in her voice—just a hint of worry, maybe even guilt. She wasn't criticizing me. Just reminding me.

"…Right," I murmured, glancing back at the crowd. "Maybe I overdid it."

Alice smiled faintly and reached out to touch my arm. "You always get a bit carried away when you're too focused. It's cute. But sometimes, you forget how overwhelming you really are."

I exhaled through my nose, slowly releasing the suppression of my skill—letting the pressure in the air fade like mist being drawn back into the void.

But even then, the effects lingered.

Some of the students remained collapsed on the ground, their limbs twitching slightly as if their bodies were still caught in the echo of that divine weight.

A few had even fully lost consciousness, foamy spit trailing from the corners of their mouths as they trembled in place.

I could hear the sharp, uneven breathing of others, like they'd just climbed a mountain with broken legs.

They looked less like students now… and more like casualties of war.

I heard a small sigh beside me.

"Did you want to fight, Alice?" I asked quietly, keeping my eyes ahead.

"Not exactly… maybe only slightly?" she answered, sounding conflicted. "But looking at them now, I just feel kinda bad…"

I glanced at her.

She was fidgeting slightly, her expression caught somewhere between guilt and boredom. A familiar mix.

"They made their choice," I replied calmly. "Ending this efficiently would help cement our strength properly as well. No point dragging it out if they already know where they stand."

Alice pursed her lips, hesitating. "I guess so…"

There was a small pause before I gave her a side glance.

"How about you end it, then?"

"E-Eh?! Me?" she blinked, clearly not expecting that.

I shrugged. "This whole charade is about performance, right? And I know you've been holding back. You want to let loose a little, don't you?"

She looked away, lips tugging into a slight pout as if she wanted to protest—but couldn't.

"I guess… it's better than standing around doing nothing, hm~?" she mumbled, raising her wand slowly as she started to hype herself up. "Alright then. I'll make sure to end it in one go!"

I chuckled under my breath as she began to focus. Her voice was playful, but I could already feel the shift in the air.

She was serious.

I gave her a gentle pat on the head before she moved forward. "Hehe~" she giggled at the gesture, cheeks slightly pink, but eyes sharp with concentration.

Her wand spun in a graceful motion, like a dancer performing her final act. Scarlet light began to dance across its surface, flaring brilliantly as it responded to her will.

No chants.

No delay.

Just pure, refined intent.

That's the thing about Alice now—she doesn't need to speak her spells anymore. Her magic bends to her thoughts, almost instantly.

It wasn't even magic anymore, not really.

It was reality warping—disguised under the innocent veil of a girl with a wand.

A part of me felt a quiet pride stir inside.

She's becoming more and more attuned to her Red Queen nature.

Warping the fabric of the world to fit her vision, bending causality with a flick of her fingers… and she still tries to mask it as simple magic.

Adorable, really.

And terrifying.

In the best possible way.

BZZT!

BZZT!

As the crimson runes spiraled upward, dancing like threads of fate woven into the sky, they locked themselves into place above the dome.

A second later, they flared—intense, radiant, alive—like a blooming field of red wildfire.

Then—

KRRRRRRRAKABOOOOOOOM!!!

They erupted all at once, exploding into a torrent of red lightning that split the air.

Streaks of crackling destruction rained down like divine judgment, the entire dome illuminated in crimson flashes.

The deafening boom echoed like a celestial war drum, and by the time the light faded, the only thing left were the scattered, panicked screams of the students caught in Alice's spellwork.

And amid that chaos…

A sharp, focused glimmer pierced through the storm—a concentrated white beam cutting straight toward me, moving too fast for the eye to track.

FOOOOOOOOSH!!!

My body moved on instinct, leaning back at the last possible second.

The blazing ray grazed my cheek—close enough to singe skin and leave a trail of heat-laced pain burning lightly across my face.

I blinked once, then smirked, my gaze already turning toward the source.

Well now…

Would you look at that?

Lucas stood tall—arms trembling, but eyes burning with defiance.

His white-bladed sword was glowing gold now, holy fire licking its edge like it had awakened from slumber.

That last beam—it was a full-powered [Sunstrike].

Even after being suppressed, even after being dropped to his knees earlier… he forced himself up.

His divine aura bloomed like a second sun, pushing back against the weight I had laid on him earlier.

"RILEY!" he roared, voice full of breathless fire. "This time—I'll show you the true meaning, of my sword!!"

His body surged forward, a golden comet sprinting across the battlefield.

And I saw it.

The first stage of his Holy Sword… it was beginning to open.

The color of his aura was shifting, deepening, becoming more refined.

Controlled.

No longer just raw power.

He could willfully awaken it now.

Good.

I grinned, a little rush of excitement humming in my chest.

My limbs itched with anticipation.

Finally—a chance to properly test his specs, in unfavorable conditions...

Slipping into my martial stance, I angled my body just right to meet him head-on, feeling the weight of the moment settle—

"EY~!"

A voice rang out, cheerful and panic-strained all at once.

BZZZZT!!!

KABOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!

Before Lucas could close the distance, an even larger bolt of thunder crashed down right on top of him.

It came from the heavens like divine punishment, a blinding red explosion that swallowed his figure whole in a burst of searing energy.

The shockwave rattled through the entire dome, momentarily blinding me.

I blinked through the white light, trying to refocus.

"Oh… I might've gone a bit too hard there," came Alice's sheepish voice from behind me.

"A-Alice?" I turned to look at her, blinking.

She was holding her wand with both hands now, cringing slightly, her lips pressed into a tiny line. Her shoulders curled inward in that classic guilty posture.

"I-I didn't mean it, okay? He suddenly directed killing intent at you and I just instinctively tossed a lightning bolt his way! I swear I was only trying to knock him out… b-but don't worry! I made sure it wasn't fatal… I think?"

I stared at her for a second, then back at the small crater where Lucas had once stood.

Smoke still rose lazily from the blackened floor.

"…Right,"

Sizzle…!!!!

The sound crackled through the air as the smoke slowly thinned, revealing the battlefield's aftermath in full.

The charred floor, scorched black from the red lightning's impact, was still glowing faintly at the edges.

And in the center of it all…

Lucas lay sprawled across the ground, half-buried in a small crater, his limbs twitching slightly.

His eyes had gone full spirals.

His once neatly-kept black hair now puffed out in a wild, cartoonish afro, static still snapping off it like he'd just lost a battle with a thundercloud.

And somehow, despite the sheer absurdity of his current state, his protagonist halo was still working overtime—because even now, the guy managed to look kinda cool.

Smoldered and smoked, yes, but still… weirdly photogenic.

This was probably the first time I'd ever seen Lucas treated like this.

I stared at him for a few more seconds before exhaling a quiet sigh.

"…Now I kind of feel bad."

Alice stood beside me, clutching her wand with both hands, visibly trying to hold back a guilty laugh.

'I guess cheats beat specs after all…'

A booming voice broke through the air, full of theatrical flair.

"GUHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I SOMEWHAT EXPECTED THIS OUTCOME," roared one of the professors—his voice deep enough to shake the air, "BUT TO THINK IT WOULD END THIS EASILY!"

He turned toward the rest of the collapsed students, who were groaning and rolling on the floor like they'd been hit by a divine calamity.

"WINNERS ARE RILEY AND ALICE!! I'M SURE YOU COLLAPSED LOT HAVE NO ROOM FOR COMPLAINTS ON THAT, RIGHT?! GUHAHAHA!! NOW THEN—TO THE MEDICAL WARD WITH YOU! LOOKS LIKE THE INFIRMARY'S GOING TO BE A LITTLE BUSY TODAY! HUWAHAHAHA!!!"

He turned back to us with a wide grin. "RILEY, ALICE—CONGRATULATIONS! YOU TWO MAY RETURN NOW. YOUR SCORES ARE ALREADY PERFECT AS IT IS. LEAVE THIS PATHETIC LOT TO US!"

I exchanged a look with Alice.

She looked somewhere between relieved and mildly horrified by the trail of unconscious bodies we were leaving behind.

And with that marked the end of our somewhat rushed Re-evaluation…