Volume 5
Chapter 18
"!"
Irisdina reacted
instantly to the sound from the bushes behind her.
She immediately
generated three magic bullets with an instantaneous deployment ability and
fired them towards the bushes.
The magic bullets
disappeared into the depths of the bushes, and the next moment, an explosion
echoed through the area. At the same time, a shadow leaped out from the bushes
and lunged at Irisdina with a slash.
"Kuh!"
Irisdina swiftly drew
her rapier and parried the shadow's slash. The sword strike was heavier than
she expected, almost pushing Irisdina back, but she quickly deflected the
attack and shifted her body to avoid it.
"Kuh! It's
Blocked!"
"You, Lisa!"
The attacking shadow
was Lisa Hounds, also from the 1st Class, like Irisdina.
Irisdina tried to
thrust her rapier at Lisa, who was off-balance from having her attack
deflected, but Lisa continued her rotation without losing momentum and knocked
away Irisdina's rapier.
"Hmph!"
Lisa, who had knocked away
Irisdina's rapier, did not press forward again. Instead, she leaped back to
create distance.
Irisdina found this
curious, but the next moment, an ice spear flew from the bushes where Lisa had
emerged.
"! So, there were
other comrades after all..."
Despite the ice spear
hurtling towards her, Irisdina's expression remained unbroken. The reason soon
became clear.
Behind Irisdina, a
torrent of magical power suddenly surged. Vast amounts of magical power were
instantly converted into flames, and swirling wind gathered the flames, causing
them to flare up further and form a massive fireball.
"Ai! Here I
go!"
The voice of her best
friend came from behind her. Irisdina didn't turn around, simply nodding in
reply.
The spell Tima chanted
was "Calamity of the Condemned."
It was a spell that
converted one's magical power into flames, manipulated wind to accelerate
combustion, and then converged and unleashed them as an attack. It was an
advanced spell that controlled multiple attributes, and combined with Tima's
immense magical power, it was an extremely powerful spell that exhibited
extraordinary destructive force.
The next moment, the
fireball was launched. The mass of flame passed by Irisdina's side, then
engulfed the approaching ice spear, instantly vaporizing it.
Furthermore, the
fireball that had vaporized the ice spear flew directly towards the bushes.
"Oops!"
"Whoa!"
Ken and Camila hastily
leaped out from the bushes.
The next moment,
Calamity of the Condemned struck the ground. The raging flames and blast
instantly reduced the trees in the bushes to ashes.
"As expected of
Irisdina-san and Tima-san. It seems they won't be defeated easily."
Ken muttered,
impressed.
Lisa and her team,
hearing the sounds of combat, had hidden in the bushes to observe. They had
intended to launch a surprise attack when the opportunity arose, but Irisdina
detected them first and took the initiative.
However, they were not
perturbed by such a degree.
Ken blocked the magic
bullets Irisdina fired, and in that opening, Lisa charged in and Camila tried
to finish off Irisdina with Icicle Dance.
However, Irisdina and
Tima wouldn't be defeated so easily. While Irisdina held the front line, Tima
chanted a spell. Tima's "Calamity of the Condemned," a spell from a
Mage with abnormal talent, unilaterally nullified Camila's Icicle Dance.
Tima's magic seemed as
though it would finish off Ken and the others, but they managed to avoid it in
the nick of time. As a result, both sides faced each other head-on with neither
side suffering any damage.
"............"
"............"
The two opposing sides
remained silent, not uttering a word. There was no doubt that both were
top-tier parties in this class, and they understood that whoever won this
battle would leap to the top.
Irisdina pointed the
tip of the rapier in her hand, while Lisa and Ken readied their respective
swords.
Vast magical power
surged from Tima's body again, and Camila began chanting.
The next moment,
Irisdina, Lisa, and Ken each rushed towards their opponents.
***
While Irisdina and
Tima were facing off against Lisa and her team, Nozomu and his group were also
in the northern part of the exercise area.
Having narrowly won
their battle against Anri, they had temporarily left the area to regroup and
moved to this location.
"... Nozomu-kun,
what do we do now?"
Jin asked Nozomu.
"Right. Honestly,
I don't think setting traps and waiting for the enemy as we've done so far will
be very effective for earning points anymore."
With many parties
having dropped out in the morning, the number of surviving parties had
decreased, but in exchange, the points held by a single party had increased. As
a result, the points that could be earned in a single battle had gone up, but
at the same time, it had become harder to encounter other parties.
If they lost once,
they would lose all their points, so if surviving the exercise was the
priority, there was no need to move much.
However, since the
points obtainable at once had increased, rankings could change easily with a
single battle. Easy tasks would have been taken by other parties early on, so
if they wanted to maintain a high rank, they needed to continue earning points
and maintain their position.
"... You're
right. That means we'll have to fight against higher-ranked individuals
now..."
Hamuria murmured
uneasily. Tommy and Cami also seemed uneasy, their expressions not bright.
"Well, it depends
on the opponent, but I think we still
have a chance of winning."
"R-really?!"
Hamuria exclaimed at
Nozomu's words, saying there was a chance to win.
"Mars and the
others have joined us now. Deck was disqualified, so we're down one person, but
the other members can still fight. It's highly possible that other parties also
have missing members, and depending on the opponent's numbers, I think we can
definitely snatch a victory. ...What do you think?"
Indeed, Deck had been
disqualified in Nozomu's party in the previous battle, but that was entirely
conceivable for other parties as well. In this rapidly changing situation, they
couldn't always expect to continue fighting under the expected circumstances.
Hearing Nozomu's
words, Hamuria breathed a sigh of relief. She must have come to trust Nozomu
through their previous battles. Jin, who was beside her, also relaxed his
expression.
However, Tommy and
Cami still had stern expressions. They had indeed seen Nozomu and his team
defeat Anri, but they probably still felt uneasy about Nozomu. Nozomu knew
this, so he deliberately spoke his opinion in a questioning tone.
A slightly awkward
atmosphere began to form between Nozomu and Tommy and the others.
"... Everyone.
We've come this far, so why don't we try it?"
"Jin..."
It was Jin who spoke
up to dispel the atmosphere.
"Honestly, I'm
uneasy too, but at least we've made it this far. That means if Nozomu-kun and
Mars-kun, and us, combine our strengths, we can definitely fight, right?"
"You're right.
Just Mars and I alone would definitely lack numbers..."
Indeed, Jin's words
hit the mark. Nozomu, who originally had limited ki, found it difficult to engage
in consecutive battles. Even in today's exercise, he had ended up fighting
continuously, but Nozomu had managed consecutive battles using his accumulated
combat skills, traps, and tactics. However, even that was only possible with
the help of Jin, Deck, and Hamuria.
To win, the strength
of both Nozomu's party and Jin's party was absolutely essential.
"See? Besides,
since we've come this far, why not go all the way? We, from the 10th Class,
have fought this far. I think the teachers will understand our performance just
from that fact alone..."
Well, Jin's words
might not mean much in a results-driven academy like Solminati, but they should
at least have made an impression on the teachers.
"... Right. At
this point. Let's do it!"
"Yeah. It's a
good opportunity to repay them for all the things they said about us!"
Perhaps spurred by
Jin's words, vitality returned to Tommy's and Cami's faces.
If they considered
their grades, it might have been better to just get through this without
incident, but they had accumulated so much pent-up frustration from being
constantly looked down upon that they immediately chose to continue fighting.
"............"
Amidst all this,
Nozomu noticed that Mars had a strangely difficult expression. He put a hand to
his chin, seemingly contemplating something while gazing at his greatsword,
then glanced at the excited Jin and the others, and finally cast a fleeting
look at Nozomu and his katana.
"? Mars, what's
wrong?"
"... No, it's
nothing."
Mars was clearly
preoccupied. Nozomu asked about his state, but Mars simply said it was nothing
and averted his gaze.
"... What's
wrong? You've been strange lately."
"You're... No,
it's nothing. I'm really fine..."
Nozomu was concerned
that Mars had recently started his reckless training again after coming up with
the idea of simultaneous magic and ki technique use, but he couldn't push
further due to his guilt about not being able to reveal that he was a Dragon Slayer,
and his anxiety. Even though he knew he was running away, his mouth always
refused to speak the words.
However, Mars was
irritated that Nozomu wouldn't confide in him and that his own techniques
weren't improving, but he also couldn't confide in Nozomu.
For him, Nozomu was a
peer, unlike the hangers-on he had always had around him. For Nozomu, he was a
friend he had truly made at the academy after a long time.
But no matter how much
they felt that way, the things they were hiding from each other stood as an
invisible wall between them.
"............"
"............"
Silence flowed between
the two. Both could only remain silent, frustrated by their inability to
confide in each other despite worrying about the other.
"Hey, Nozomu-kun.
About what we're going to do now..."
Jin's voice echoed
between the two. Nozomu hurriedly turned his face towards them.
"Oh, yeah. What
is it?"
Nozomu answered in a
flustered manner, and while he felt a slight relief that the subtle tension
with Mars had eased, at the same time, a growing sense of disgust and
irritation at still running away welled up within him.
"For now, we want
to try our best. Since we've come this far, we want to fight until the very
end."
"I see... I
understand."
Jin and the others
declared their intention to aim higher. Their party members behind him all
nodded in unison.
Nozomu deliberately
ignored the burning impatience in his chest and tried to appear calm so as not
to be noticed by Jin and the others. Mars glared at his retreating back.
"Alright. For
now...!!"
Nozomu tried to speak,
as if escaping Mars's gaze from behind him, but his keen senses detected
something approaching. And it was multiple somethings.
Nozomu's expression
hardened instantly. Considering the nature of this exercise, the other party
were clearly enemies, and it was immediately apparent that they were superior.
"...
Nozomu-kun?"
"? Nozomu, what's
wrong... I see..."
Mars and Jin had been
looking at Nozomu with curious expressions when he suddenly became stern, but
Mars quickly sensed the approaching enemies from Nozomu's expression. He stood
next to Nozomu and readied his greatsword.
"!! Everyone! Be
vigilant!"
With Nozomu and Mars
entering battle stance, Jin and the others finally realized that enemies were
close by and formed their formation.
Eventually, the bushes
in front of Nozomu rustled, and three students appeared from within.
"... What. I
thought I smelled something annoyingly pungent and came to check, so it's the
absolute bottom-feeder and half-baked one..."
Appearing with
insolent words was a silver wolf tribe boy with silver ears and a tail, Kevin
Ardinal, and his comrades.
Behind him were a male
student with a sword and a female student with a spear. Both were likely
members of the 1st Class.
"And those behind
you are also failures... I'm impressed you've managed to run away this far. I'm
truly impressed by your speed!"
Kevin's mocking
laughter drew in his cronies behind him, who also began to laugh.
Nozomu's gaze
sharpened even further, and a vein throbbed on Mars's forehead. Jin and the
others also distorted their expression, finding Kevin's loud laughter grating.
"... You say
that, but what about you? It looks like your numbers have dwindled
considerably."
At Nozomu's words,
Kevin stopped laughing and glared at him.
Kevin's party had
clearly decreased in number compared to when he confronted Nozomu before the
exercise began.
Nozomu and his team
didn't know this, but Kevin's group had actually succeeded in defeating a
special target, but at that time, three of their comrades were incapacitated.
Furthermore, one more person was eliminated in a subsequent battle against an
attacking party. They had reduced their numbers to less than half.
"... Don't get
cocky, bottom-feeder. I can smash you with one hand."
Perhaps angered by
Nozomu's retort, Kevin glared at Nozomu as if to kill him.
Though prone to
provocation, he was indeed someone who had reached A-rank. Nozomu's danger
perception ability, feeling that oppressive aura, rang alarm bells loud enough
to be irritating.
However, Nozomu's
expression remained unbroken. He had originally only fought opponents who
exuded even greater pressure than this. Specifically, old woman with a katana,
old woman with a sweet tooth, shut-in old woman...
Therefore, Nozomu was
not overwhelmed by the alarm bells ringing in his head.
Nozomu glanced at Jin
and the others behind him. Tommy and Cami's expressions were a bit stiff from
tension, but Jin and Hamuria seemed adequately relaxed without being too rigid.
In particular, Hamuria's expression showed almost none of the timid atmosphere
she had until this morning.
"Tch! I don't
like it. You probably don't have many points anyway, but why would Irisdina
associate with someone like you..."
Kevin, growing more
irritated that Nozomu and his team showed no signs of flinching, lowered his
stance. It seemed he intended to crush Nozomu and his team.
"It's annoying to
have you hovering around. It's best to quickly crush annoying flies..."
Kevin didn't use a
weapon. His weapons were his fists and his body. He wore gauntlets on both
hands and greaves on his feet, but these were minimal. The leather of the
gauntlets creaked as Kevin clenched his fists, and he put strength into his
legs, planting them firmly on the ground.
Behind Kevin, a male
student with a sword and a female student with a spear were chanting spells.
"............"
Nozomu also raised his
katana. He focused his consciousness on Kevin and the two comrades behind him,
keeping the blade of his katana centered in his vision in a seigan stance.
Next to Nozomu, Mars
readied his greatsword, its blade wrapped in blades of wind.
Jin, Tommy, and Cami,
the three of them, held their weapons behind Nozomu and chanted spells along
with Hamuria.
"But well, if we
fight like this, the outcome is obvious. I'll let you go if you crawl away and
never approach Irisdina again."
Kevin, who was
infatuated with Irisdina, disliked Nozomu, who was currently closest to her.
Kevin thought of
Nozomu as a fool who was near the best woman despite having no great power.
Thinking that he could now thoroughly beat that fool, Kevin's lips curved into
a joyful smile.
"............"
Nozomu, on the other
hand, did not respond. Kevin's words did not reach his ears as he was already
in battle stance. He continued to concentrate, not wanting to miss their every
move.
Realizing that Nozomu
and his team had no intention of backing down, Kevin unleashed the ki within
his body at once. The explosively swelling ki attacked Nozomu and his team like
a gust of wind.
The next moment, the
students behind Kevin activated their spells. A mass of flame as large as a
human torso and blades of wind attacked Nozomu and his team.
In response, Jin and
his team also activated their spells. Jin and Tommy fired fireballs, and Hamuria
and Cami struck with ice spears.
The fireballs and
blades of wind, the ice spears and mass of flame, collided head-on, and two
explosions ravaged the surroundings.
"Hey, what is
that, a magic equally matched against two people?!"
"Kuh! As expected
of the 1st Class!"
The result was a
stalemate. Tommy and the others cried out in surprise at the opponent who had
nullified their magic, which was for two people, alone.
But their opponent
didn't wait. Kevin charged through the dust cloud raised by the magic
collision. His speed was clearly faster than Irisdina's.
"I'll show you
the difference in our ranks! Bottom-feeder!!"
Nozomu also activated
Flash Step to intercept the charging Kevin and lunged at him.
Kevin frowned slightly
at Nozomu, who had charged head-on, but he wrapped his fist in ki, then turned
it into a hand blade and tried to thrust it at Nozomu.
Combined with Nozomu's
own charge, Kevin's hand blade approached in an instant. Nozomu activated Flash
Step - Curving Dance while sliding his katana against the approaching fist,
deflecting Kevin's hand blade.
"!!"
The two crossed paths
in an instant, but Nozomu's uniform on his shoulder tore, and blood spurted
out. Kevin's hand blade, imbued with the momentum of his charge, was heavier
than expected. He hadn't been able to completely deflect it.
However, Nozomu
immediately used Flash Step - Curving Dance to get behind Kevin and tried to
bring his katana down on Kevin's defenseless back.
"Haa!!"
However, Nozomu's
blade did not reach Kevin's body.
Kevin leaped like an
acrobat, then knocked away Nozomu's katana with a roundhouse kick. Furthermore,
he shifted his feet in mid-air and tried to bring a heel drop down on Nozomu's
head.
"Not on my
watch!!"
"Tch!!"
However, Mars struck
Kevin away with a wind-wreathed blade. Kevin blocked Mars's greatsword with his
gauntlet, but he couldn't maintain his footing in mid-air and was sent flying.
However, Kevin spun
once in the air, landed on the ground as if nothing had happened, and charged
again.
Nozomu and Mars also
activated Flash Step. Nozomu, Mars, and Kevin intertwined, crossing paths.
The other members also
clashed their weapons.
When Irisdina and her
team began fighting Lisa and her team, Nozomu and his team's battle also began.
***
Around the time Nozomu
and his group began their battle, the area remained quiet, as if completely
unrelated to the commotion.
"............"
In the deep, dark
abyss, only firefly-like lights scattered here and there illuminated the
surroundings like starlight.
Numerous shadows, far
exceeding human height, could be seen around. He was there.
When he stirred, the
shadows, connected like a mountain range, swayed precariously.
He had simply slept in
this place.
Slept, and slept, and
slept... Honestly, he himself had lost track of how long he had been sleeping.
"Grrrrrr..."
He slept. Until that
time came. And when that time came, he would move. For what he sought. To
satisfy his thirst.
For that purpose, he
continued to sleep relentlessly. The thirst and impulse within him. They had
already become himself...
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