Volume 5
Chapter 19
As midday passed and the first day of the exercise entered its latter half, Feo and his team completed their escort assignment and were at the operations headquarters' reception, completing the assignment.
"Hmm. That's the
assignment done for now. So, what should we do now?"
"Well... I just
checked the remaining assignments, and there's hardly anything left. For now,
why don't we tackle what's left and intercept any parties we encounter?"
"Eeh~, that's
such a pain! Instead, why don't we just ambush parties that probably have a lot
of points, like Irisdina's group? We'd earn points and cut down the competition
at the same time. Two birds with one stone, right?"
Shina gave a safe
answer to Feo's question. However, Mimuru voiced her dissatisfaction with the
suggestion.
Up until now, they had
not moved from the southern part of the exercise area in order to maximize
Shina's spirit magic. Her spirit magic, specialized in base defense, fully
displayed its capabilities, and combined with Feo's talisman arts and Tom's
alchemy, they were able to build a strong stronghold in the southern area that
could even be called a fortress.
Perhaps because of
this, most of the parties they had encountered so far were defeated by Shina,
Feo, and Tom's long-range attacks alone.
Shina's spirit magic
and accurate archery, Feo's talisman arts that allowed for long-range
surveillance, and Tom's magic, whose power was amplified by catalysts. With
these abundant surveillance and long-range attack methods, most enemy parties
were annihilated before they could even get close.
As a result, Mimuru,
who preferred close-quarters combat, had accumulated a lot of frustration.
"... Mimuru,
defeating the special target instructor went well, but that's no reason to let
your guard down, okay?"
"I know, Shina.
You're such a worrywart~."
Shina pressed her
temple with her index finger, perhaps getting a headache from Mimuru's usual
carefree attitude. Tom, who was smiling wryly at this familiar scene, spoke to
Shina.
"Now, now. But
Mimuru has a point. To earn points from now on, we have no choice but to fight
other parties..."
"That's true,
but..."
Indeed, as Tom said,
attacking was more efficient than intercepting to earn points effectively from
now on.
"More
importantly, I wonder where Nozomu is~? I didn't see him in the southern part
of the exercise area..."
Even with the three of
them present, Feo remained unperturbed, sticking to his own pace. Shina felt
her headache getting worse.
"Hey, why don't
we try going to the northern side this time? We haven't been there yet."
"That's a great
idea! Let's go!"
Mimuru and Feo began
to completely synchronize. The pace of these two troublemakers, who never
listened to anyone else in the 2nd Class, seemed to remain unchanged even in
this special comprehensive exercise.
"Haa, why don't
you two try to be a little more cautious?"
"But there's no
point in worrying too much, is there? Up until now, Shina has been making
spirit contracts in the southern area and intercepting enemies who entered the
contract range, but the number of parties has decreased, so it's not very
efficient anymore. That's why we completed the escort assignment, right?"
Finally, even Tom, who
was supposed to be her only ally, began to agree with Mimuru and Feo. However,
Shina herself understood that their previous method was no longer efficient, so
she could only nod at Tom's opinion.
"That's... haa,
fine, I understand."
"Yep, yep! That's
more like it! Thanks, Tom!"
"W-wait,
Mimuru... Uwahp!"
Mimuru said, seemingly
satisfied that Tom had persuaded Shina, and hugged him. Tom's small body was
completely enveloped in Mimuru's arms, and she began to nuzzle his cheek.
Tom, for his part, was
bewildered, but seemed genuinely happy to be held close by the woman he liked,
so he didn't resist and simply let Mimuru do as she pleased.
"But we're going
cautiously, because it's dangerous if we get ambushed."
Shina watched the two
of them with an exasperated but affectionate expression. Feo also grinned,
watching them as if they were an amusing spectacle.
Afterward, they headed
to the northern part of the exercise area. Coincidentally, it was the location
of the most intense battle at that moment.
***
As Shina and her team
headed north, the battle between Irisdina's party and Lisa's party was evenly
matched.
"Haa!"
Lisa swung down the
saber in her right hand. Her blade, backed by exceptional physical ability,
tried to catch Irisdina, but a flashing rapier struck the flat of the saber,
deflecting its trajectory.
"Your back's wide
open!"
"Kuh!!"
In the meantime, Ken
moved behind Irisdina and tried to sweep his longsword. Irisdina, without
killing the momentum from deflecting Lisa's saber, swung her rapier to parry
the incoming sword strike, but the force of the attack threw her off balance.
Lisa pressed her
attack on Irisdina. She reversed her swung saber and this time tried to deliver
a full-power blow to Irisdina's body.
However, Irisdina
deployed a magic barrier with her "Instant Deployment" ability,
completely blocking Lisa's follow-up attack.
"Not yet!"
Ken, trying to attack
by switching places with Lisa again. Perhaps realizing that being surrounded by
two people was dangerous, Irisdina tried to create distance with a backstep,
but Ken tried to hold her in place as if to say, "I won't let you!"
But Tima's magic
stopped his feet. A massive fireball attacked Ken from the side. "Calamity
of the Condemned" faithfully executed its master's command and flew
towards Ken, who was trying to pursue.
"Kuh!"
Ken hastily gave up
his pursuit and leaped backward with all his might to dodge it. The moment he
jumped back, the fireball struck the ground.
Tima's "Calamity
of the Condemned," woven with her immense magical power, exploded at once,
as if displaying the enormous power hidden within it. The scattered flames quickly
caught up to Ken, who should have been at a safe distance, and attacked him.
However, Ken was also
a student who had reached A-rank. He immediately deployed a barrier to block
the aftermath of Tima's magic.
"Kuh! The power
is still tremendous!"
However, the attacking
flames tried to swallow Ken's magic barrier with incredible force.
Tima was originally at
the top in terms of magical power alone. Her magic was not something that could
be easily defended against, even for an A-rank individual. Just as cracks
appeared in Ken's deployed magic barrier, Lisa cut in between Ken and the
approaching flames.
She immediately
deployed a magic barrier, pushing back the flames that were trying to engulf
Ken.
"Camilla!!"
"I know!!"
This time, Camilla,
who had been chanting in the rear, activated her magic. While not reaching the
size of the gigantic flame created by Tima, she created a fireball about the
size of an embrace and fired it at Tima, who had just activated her magic.
"You won't!"
Irisdina gathered the
surrounding wind with "Instant Deployment." She unleashed the wind,
which had gathered in a spiral, towards the approaching fireball aimed at Tima.
Irisdina's activated "Ravenous Beast of the Wind Tunnel" swallowed
Camilla's fireball, dispersing it.
Irisdina stood in
front of Tima, protecting her, while observing the scattering fragments of
flame out of the corner of her eye.
Lisa and Ken, in turn,
also stood with their weapons readied, protecting Camilla, who was using magic.
"An even
exchange, huh..."
"That's true. But
we have a numerical advantage. I thought it would be decided quickly since
Camilla is on our side, so if we continue this offense and defense, we'll
overwhelm them."
Lisa replied to
Irisdina's remark.
Indeed, Lisa and her
team had a numerical advantage, and normally, one would expect Irisdina's team
to eventually be overwhelmed.
In fact, no matter how
skilled Irisdina was, fighting both Lisa and Ken simultaneously was beyond
difficult; she had no chance of winning. Furthermore, Camilla would provide
magical support from behind them.
However, Tima, who was
positioned behind Irisdina, managed to maintain the balance by supporting her.
Despite Lisa's team
having a comrade like Camilla, Irisdina's team was somehow able to fight
because of their past combat experience.
Previously, for
Somia's sake, they had to fight a formidable S-rank opponent named Rugato. When
they fought him, who tried to take Somia's soul, using the contract as a
shield, they literally fought with their lives on the line.
They faced an opponent
who was far superior in magical power, experience, and technique. They fought
against an opponent who shattered everything they had cultivated up until then.
Even if they couldn't
reach Rugato's heights at that time, the experience of fighting for someone
important had truly become ingrained in their very being.
(Ai, what do we do? At
this rate, eventually...)
(I know...)
However, direct combat
remained disadvantageous for Irisdina's team. Irisdina racked her brain trying
to think of a way to deal with the current situation.
But Lisa and her team
gave them no such time. Lisa immediately doubled the effect of her
body-strengthening magic with the "Nivea's Demonic Hand." She charged
at Irisdina, aiming to end the battle in one go.
Ken followed Lisa,
activating body-strengthening magic as well, and Camilla also began chanting.
"Tima! Let's
escape!"
Seeing this, Irisdina
immediately activated magic with "Instant Deployment."
The next moment,
darkness scattered around them, instantly engulfing Irisdina's team and Lisa's
team.
"Kuh! This
is..."
Lisa abruptly stopped,
her vision obscured by the darkness that covered her. Ken, who was right behind
her, also stopped and became vigilant of his surroundings.
The activated spell
was "New Moon's Dense Fog."
Its effect was simply
to deprive the opponent of vision with a black, dense fog.
"... They're not
attacking?"
"I see, are they
planning to run away?"
At first, Lisa thought
they would obscure their vision with the New Moon's Dense Fog and then attack,
but she questioned the lack of such an action.
Ken thought they might
have fled, but Lisa didn't think so.
"No... I see! I
understand!!"
Lisa turned on her
heel. Her destination was Camilla's location.
As Camilla's figure
began to appear in Lisa's vision, sure enough, a shadow charged from her side.
"You won't!"
"Kuh, I was so
close!"
Lisa, who had lunged
at the shadow approaching Camilla, slashed at it with the saber and dagger in
her hands, but the shadow parried the swung swords and leaped back.
The shadow that had
been creeping up on Camilla from the side, shrouded in darkness, was Irisdina,
who had closed the distance. Her intentionally loud voice was meant to feign an
escape and make the opponents let down their guard, but she gnashed her teeth
at being seen through.
Furthermore, Ken and
Camilla tried to launch a magical pursuit, but Tima's magic activated first.
The "Ravenous Beast of the Wind Tunnel" swept between Irisdina and
Ken's group, forcing a reset of the situation.
The two parties glared
at each other.
At that moment,
Irisdina heard a faint sound from a distance.
***
Nearby where Irisdina
and the others were fighting, Nozomu and his team continued their battle
against Kevin and his team.
"Oraa!!"
"Hmph!!"
Nozomu parried Kevin's
fist. He swung his katana with the momentum of the parry, but the blade was
blocked by Kevin's gauntlet and deflected with a high-pitched sound.
Kevin spun in place
and tried to deliver a forceful roundhouse kick to Nozomu's flank, but Nozomu
leaped backward to dodge the kick.
The moment he landed,
he tried to step forward again and unleash a slash, but the next moment Nozomu
tried to step in, Kevin was already right in front of him.
"Too slow!!"
"Tch!"
Kevin, who had closed
the distance in an instant, swung his fist at Nozomu's face. Nozomu, judging
that he wouldn't make it in time to complete his katana swing, instinctively
leaped sideways with Flash Step to dodge Kevin's fist, but Kevin, with superior
physical ability, quickly caught up to Nozomu.
"Like I said, too
slow!!"
"Kuh!"
Kevin, having caught
up to Nozomu, made a light leap without killing the momentum of his run. Using
all the springs in his body, he twisted his entire body and put force into a
kick to send Nozomu flying.
"Be blown
away!"
A roundhouse kick,
imbued with even greater force than before, was unleashed at Nozomu. If it
landed squarely, even a high-ranking student would suffer severe injuries.
While observing the
approaching kick that sliced through the air, Nozomu calmly assessed the
timing.
"Hmph!!"
The next moment,
Nozomu activated Flash Step - Curving Dance. Utilizing the circular motion
normally used for curvilinear movement, he slid his katana along Kevin's kick,
deflecting it.
"Wha!"
Kevin, who never
expected his kick to be parried while activating Flash Step, was greatly thrown
off balance by the sudden event. Furthermore, as Kevin lost his balance,
Nozomu, without killing the momentum of Flash Step - Curving Dance, squatted
while rotating on one leg and then delivered an upward kick from below.
"Guh!"
"Dei!!"
Kevin blocked Nozomu's
kick with his gauntlet, but Nozomu put his full strength into the kicking leg.
From behind Kevin, who
was slightly lifted by Nozomu's kick, Mars launched a further attack.
"Uwooooh!"
"!!"
Mars swung his
greatsword, wreathed in wind. Kevin instinctively twisted his body in mid-air
again, trying to meet Mars's slash with his greaves.
"Haaaaaaah!"
"Gah!"
However, Kevin, being
in mid-air, couldn't brace himself, and it was impossible to block Mars's slash
in such a state.
Kevin was sent flying
and slammed to the ground. But he also instinctively took the fall and sprang
back up. His face was stained with fury.
"Damn it! These
guys!!"
Kevin glared at Nozomu
and Mars with murderous intent.
He had thought he
could easily win, but the unexpected struggle had caused him to lose his temper
considerably.
On the other hand,
Nozomu was concerned about Kevin, but even more so about Jin and the others.
The four of them were
fighting Kevin's two party members in a 2-on-1 situation, but the battle was
not going well.
Perhaps as expected of
the 1st Class, the enemy party's swordsman and spear user were gaining the
upper hand against Jin and Cami, and Tommy and Hamuria, respectively. They were
fighting well, but it was probably only a matter of time before they were
defeated. And if Jin and his team were defeated, then their opponents would
turn to support Kevin. If that happened, Nozomu and Mars would have no chance
of winning.
(The problem is how
quickly we can break this situation...)
"... Mars."
"What?"
Nozomu spoke to Mars
in a low voice, keeping his eyes on Kevin. Mars, hearing his suggestion,
widened his eyes in surprise at the outlandish idea.
"... Are you
serious?"
Mars asked Nozomu, as
if confirming. Nozomu nodded in response to his question and began sending ki
throughout his body.
Realizing Nozomu was
serious, Mars seemed to hesitate for a moment, but perhaps having made up his
mind, he also began to raise the ki throughout his body.
As the two of them
raised their ki, Kevin also began to emit ki from his entire body. The next
moment, Nozomu and Mars moved.
Nozomu sent his raised
ki to his feet and explosively released it. The rising dust cloud enveloped the
three of them, obscuring their vision.
"Damn it! Are you
trying to blind us?!"
Kevin cursed, but then
instinctively braced himself at the sudden thud! that echoed.
The next moment,
something charging through the rising dust cloud appeared in his vision. Kevin
clenched his fist, preparing to meet the attack.
However, the charging
object simply passed by Kevin without doing anything to him.
"Wha!?"
The sight that leaped
into his eyes was Mars attempting to slash at his comrade, who was fighting Jin
and the others.
Mars unleashed his
body strengthening with ki at full power, and activated the ki technique
"Rending Dust Hammer" with the wind wrapped around his greatsword.
With a roar, he unleashed the wind and used Flash Step as propulsion, instantly
slashing at the swordsman Jin and the others were fighting.
The method Nozomu
suggested to Mars was to have him deliberately ignore Kevin and go to support
Jin and the others.
Normally, one wouldn't
think that Nozomu alone could hold back Kevin, who had reached A-rank. In such
a situation, no one would think of or try to have Mars, the greatest combat
asset in Nozomu's party, ignore Kevin.
That was precisely why
Nozomu dared to take that approach. Ultimately, because no one expected it, it
would take Kevin and his team by surprise.
In front of Kevin,
Mars sent the enemy party's swordsman flying with a single blow, incapacitating
him, and then slashed at the other one, the spear user.
"What... damn
it!"
Kevin, who was
ignored, frantically tried to provide support, but Nozomu cut off his path,
slashing at Kevin.
"This guy!!"
"Sorry, but this
road is closed!!"
Nozomu continuously
swung his katana. He slashed upward from a descending strike into a reverse
wind cut, then swung his katana horizontally.
"Don't get in my
way... Kuh!"
Kevin tried to slip
past Nozomu's katana. He attempted to rush past Nozomu's side, but this time,
his path was blocked by the sheath Nozomu had swung.
Nozomu used not only
his katana but also his sheath and close-quarters combat techniques like kicks
to hold Kevin back.
Nozomu slammed the
sheath with the momentum of his katana swing and used the recoil to deliver a
roundhouse kick.
Kevin was flustered by
the unexpected fierce attack. Each strike wasn't particularly heavy, but he
involuntarily retreated from the slashes and blows that precisely threaded
through the gaps in his defense.
In the meantime, Mars
continued to corner the spear-wielding female student. Perhaps flustered by the
sudden turn of events, her movements were clearly lacking sharpness.
Eventually, her spear was unable to block Mars's upward slash and was flung
away, exposing her defenseless upper body.
"Deiyaaah!"
Mars swung his
greatsword at her defenseless upper body. Of course, he angled the blade so
that the flat of the sword would hit her to avoid injuring her, but even so, a
direct hit would likely incapacitate her.
"Kuh!"
The female student
gnashed her teeth in a situation where she couldn't avoid it. But the next
moment, a fireball flew from somewhere and struck, engulfing Mars and the
spear-wielding female student.
"M-Mars-kun!?"
"Wh-what!?"
Cries of bewilderment
escaped Jin and the others at the sudden turn of events. Nozomu and Kevin, who
had been fighting, were also temporarily distracted by the exploding fireball
and stopped their hands.
"D-damn it! What
in the world was that!?"
Mars leaped out from
the smoke of the fireball's explosion. He seemed to have instantly imbued his
entire body with ki for defense, as he didn't appear to be disqualified, but he
had burns on various parts of his body, and his clothes were scorched in
places.
The spear-wielding
female student seemed to have been unable to fully block the blast, as she was
sent flying several meters away.
Her pendant wasn't
glowing red, so she didn't seem to be disqualified, but she seemed to have
taken considerable damage and was struggling to stand up.
Furthermore, this
time, multiple arrows rained down on Nozomu and Kevin.
"Kuh!!"
"What the
heck!"
Nozomu and Kevin
leaped back simultaneously as the arrows pierced the ground. Furthermore, a
shadow leaped out from the bushes and attacked Nozomu. The true identity of
that shadow was...
"Found ya,
Nozomu!!"
"Feo! It's
you!"
The attacker was Feo,
a member of Shina's party. The fox-tailed boy, who charged at Nozomu with full
force, swung the staff in his hand in a single flash.
"Damn it!!"
Nozomu instinctively
leaped back to avoid the staff, but Feo spun his body with the momentum of his
swing and stepped in again, sweeping his staff once more.
Nozomu ducked to avoid
the staff. As the staff swept over his head with force, Nozomu slashed his
katana upward.
"Don't ignore
me!"
"Damn it! This
one too!!"
But from Nozomu's
side, Kevin now attacked with a punch. Nozomu changed the trajectory of his
katana, which he had been trying to swing up, to meet Kevin.
Nozomu's katana and
Kevin's gauntlet clashed, scattering red sparks.
"Oraa!!"
"Guh!!"
Furthermore, Kevin
followed up with a straight punch, an elbow strike, a palm strike, a low kick,
and a high kick. Nozomu blocked the elbow strike with his katana guard, parried
the palm strike by twisting his body with the katana still in his right arm, and
deflected the low kick's trajectory with his sheath, but he was too late for
the final high kick.
The greave approached
Nozomu's face. Kevin's kick was aimed at his face, but Feo, who was next to
him, batted away the high kick with his staff.
"You fox bastard!!"
"Could you stop
interfering?! Nozomu is my opponent!"
Feo interfered with
Kevin, who was trying to finish off Nozomu. Kevin, in turn, also decided Feo
was an enemy and tried to defeat them both at once.
The three continued
their offense and defense, intertwining with each other. Before they knew it, a
three-way battle had unfolded.
Mars and his group's
battle also turned into a three-way entanglement.
Mimuru charged into
the existing battle between Mars, Jin, and the spear-wielding female student,
stirring things up with her characteristic agility.
Jin and the others
tried to surround Mimuru using their numerical advantage, but Shina's archery
and Tom's magic from the rear prevented Mimuru from being surrounded.
Mars, whose weapon was
a greatsword, was unable to swing his sword with full force due to the chaotic
battle with Jin and the others around him.
The situation changed
even further.
Suddenly, an explosion
echoed through the surroundings, gouging out the ground and pulverizing the
nearby trees. Amidst the rising wood splinters and earth, five shadows burst
through the dust cloud.
"Tima! Are you
alright?!"
"Y-yeah!
Somehow!"
"Lisa! Did you
get them?!"
"No, I
missed!"
Bursting through the
rising dust cloud were Irisdina, Tima, Lisa, Ken, and Camilla—five people.
"What!? I-Iris?!
And... Lisa!?"
"No-Nozomu!?"
"This
is...!!"
"... Hee."
Nozomu, Irisdina, and
Lisa cried out in surprise as they recognized each other. Kevin and Feo's
groups also couldn't hide their astonishment at Irisdina and the others, who
had suddenly joined the fray.
Nozomu, Irisdina,
Lisa, Shina, Kevin. All five parties that had defeated special targets in this
exercise had gathered in this place.
***
"Grrr..."
The sleeping entity
was still in slumber. The surrounding darkness that enveloped him never
changed, embracing his body as if protecting his sleep.
His body moved
slightly. He stirred as if a human was uncomfortably tossing and turning in
their sleep.
What bothered him?
Looking closely, something was falling from above him. Perhaps bothered by it,
falling onto his body like drops, interrupting his sleep, he shook his head as
if to brush away what had fallen.
He was not awakened,
his eyes remained closed, and his eyes did not open just by moving his neck.
And then, he tried to
return to his deep slumber. But this time, a thud echoed in the darkness.
With that sound, his
body moved again, and his neck was raised as a snake would raise its head. And
then, his eyes, which had been closed for a long time, opened. His gaze was
directed straight up. Towards the ceiling of the cave where he had been
sleeping.
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