——The current time was right before the start of the afternoon course.
High school division B-class’s male student — Onizuka’s figure appeared inside the gym warehouse.
“Why do I have to do such a thing...”
In the dark space, Onizuka was currently preparing the equipment needed for the live combat course.
After an investigation done by the Student Council, they concluded that the incident that happened on the first day of school in the B-class classroom was initiated by Onizuka. Thus, the Disciplinary Officers, following the results of the verdict, punished him with two weeks of preparatory work for all courses.
Although Onizuka didn’t want to be there, he still unwillingly followed the instructions the combat skill instructor gave him about preparing the equipment. The reason was obviously because of someone he could not defy.
The fact of him being downgraded to B-class made Onizuka both resentful and angry. Usually he would unreservedly vent his anger at his classmates, but he had not expected that such a trivial matter would actually get their attention. But after listening to the vice president Nanase Haruka’s explanation, Onizuka suddenly realized.
...It was that guy’s fault, damn it...!
Onizuka bitterly spat out that phrase. According to Nanase Haruka, Ousawa Akatsuki seemed to start a conflict with the Student Council due to this matter. In short, he was just an innocent victim caught up by their dispute.
“Enough...Ah?”
Onizuka, who was preparing the equipment, suddenly stopped his work, and looked at a door inside the gym warehouse. An idea flashed through Onizuka’s mind —— A despicable and evil plan.
Onizuka could not help but laugh.
At least he could return the favor to Ousawa Akatsuki.
The afternoon courses began.
The B-class students, who returned again to the second arena, were about to conduct a different live combat training compared to the morning classes. The course was roughly divided into two different parts. One was a one on one duel in the second arena, the other was to go to the nearby first arena, form a party with various students, and fight against the programmed summoned monster. Akatsuki did not hesitate and selected the latter.
“——Hey, let’s form a team together.”
Akatsuki said to Miu, Kuzuha and Chikage. All three of them had changed into clean gym clothes, perhaps even their body was washed completely clean.
But...
“————”
“————”
“————”
All three of them replied silently, and gave an icy stare.
“...Let’s go.”
“Yes, Let’s do that.”
“Agreed.”
The trio turned and left, leaving Akatsuki at his original spot. Akatsuki who held up his right hand froze on the spot, while his face showed a wry smile.
“...Ha ha, I can’t blame them.”
Of course. Recalling his actions from the gym warehouse, not being dissected into multiple parts was already very good. The trio’s cold reaction was only natural. It was likely that they would refuse to speak with Akatsuki for a good period of time.
“However, this is also a good opportunity.”
This could let Kuzuha, who intentionally suppressed herself, to have a temporary chance to relieve herself. Kuzuha’s age was the smallest, but her performance exceeded the others. Thus, she was often being alienated by the other students. She didn’t even have friends to talk with.
“——Moreover, it is the same for that fellow too.”
Akatsuki narrowed his eyes, staring far ahead.
Looking at Miu who was under the companionship of Kuzuha and Chikage.
The three girls left Akatsuki and advanced to the first arena. Their expressions all had a common point, they were all holding back on a proud smile of a successful prank.
“...What?”
“It feels like he is still looking at us.”
Chikage’s answer made Miu feel even more pleased.
...Must make him reflect upon his own actions.
Miu stuck out her tongue and made up her mind. Akatsuki’s action was too much. Only by completely ignoring and excluding him would he know where he went wrong.
After leaving the gym warehouse, Miu was showering and apologizing to Kuzuha and Chikage for her lawless brother. Originally, she thought that Kuzuha and Chikage would reply sarcastically, but both of them just shook their heads with a wry smile and did not add any more blame to them.
Kuzuha and Chikage were grateful for Akatsuki’s consideration, but his method was too much, and they could not forgive him that easily. Thus, the trio made a decision to make Akatsuki fully reflect upon on his actions. After the three of them looked at each other, and unanimously laughed, this laugh strengthened the friendship between the three of them.
Miu felt inconceivable. At first, she always felt that there was a barrier between her and the other two, but now they had become very intimate and very good friends.
“Miu, it must be hard for you. Your family having such a strange brother, it must be difficult right?”
The sound came from below. It was obviously the petite Kuzuha. Although the mature tone was slightly cold, Miu could feel the warmth she never experienced in those few words, making the pleased Miu narrow her eyes. Kuzuha had called out Miu’s name without any resistance, which meant that Kuzuha had completely accepted Miu.
Thus, even if Akatsuki’s action went overboard, Miu still felt grateful to him.
——Regardless of the method used, without Akatsuki, she could not laugh so happily in this world.
After watching Miu and them leave, Akatsuki began to look for another training partner. Since they had decided to select the team battle, he could only select the other course. So Akatsuki stayed at the second arena, preparing to participate in the one on one duel. However, Akatsuki did not have a good relationship with any of the other students, and they also deliberately tried to avoid Akatsuki’s gaze. Perhaps it was because of the trouble he had caused on the first day of school. As he had also showed off his strength in front of everyone, of course no one wanted to be in his group.
...What a pain.
This could be counted as he got what he deserved. At this moment, Akatsuki had two ideas float up into his mind. One was to find an opponent with considerable strength. The other was easily defeating his training partner. He had to select one out of the two. But after taking a closer look, he had already found his opponent, so Akatsuki could only pin his hopes onto the other person—who for a different reason could not find an opponent.
“Onizuka-san~~”
“O...Ousawa? W…What do you want? Don’t scream out so disgustingly!”
Onizuka was alert, but Akatsuki tried to pretend to be cute and slightly turned his head to one side.
“——Group up with me okay?”
“S...Stop it! Why should I pair up with you…”
“If you don’t pair up with me, I’ll kill you.”
“...!”
Akatsuki’s threat made Onizuka suddenly become very stiff.
“Relax, you should know that I still can’t use my AD right? At this time, the weapon I will be using is this borrowed model sword.”
After lifting up the model long sword, Akatsuki continued to speak:
“——Plus, I cannot use any magic at all.”
“R...Really...?”
Onizuka widened his eyes, revealing a surprised look.
Akatsuki nodded.
“That’s right, so there is nothing to be afraid of. Inside Babel’s barrier, you can’t be injured anyways.”
“...”
Onizuka pondered for a moment, and determinedly nodded.
The combat training was about to start. Standing 5 meters away from Akatsuki, Onizuka secretly considered. Although it was different from his original plan, the results were still acceptable.
Onizuka looked behind Akatsuki. The second arena and the first arena were only separated by a layer of wall. On the other side was the first arena, which should be currently holding a battle exercise regarding team training, including the trio Ousawa Miu, Doumoto Kuzuha and Izumi Chikage. Onizuka originally thought that Akatsuki would form a team with these people and participate in the training, so he specially prepared a big present for him. But this was still good. Anyway Onizuka did not have a favorable impression towards Akatsuki’s sister Ousawa Miu, the arrogant kid Doumoto Kuzuha and the self-centered Izumi Chikage. Letting them receive a bit of punishment wasn’t bad.
Onizuka gaze moved from the wall onto Akatsuki.
“Fuaaa…”
Akatsuki yawned lazily. Onizuka couldn’t stop snickering. He wanted to see how long Akatsuki could act without care.
The model sword used for practice was very blunt, there was no lethality at all, and most importantly Akatsuki could not use magic.
He was certain that he would win.
…Yes, certain for victory.
Thus, Onizuka began to concentrate, and silently waited for the instant that the duel began.
The cold mechanical sound spread throughout the entire second arena, announcing that the combat skill training had begun. Onizuka immediately released his pent up consciousness and in that instant—
“—”
After the muffled bang, Akatsuki was enveloped in flames. Instead of calling it a surprise attack, you could call it taking the initiative. That is because before the mechanical sound rang and declared that the combat skills training had begun, Onizuka had secretly begun to chant magic, cancelling the magic circle and the opening of the defense barrier, and caught Akatsuki off guard with an attack. This type of powerful attack far exceeding training — No, the course’s level, made everyone suddenly enter a state of commotion.
“—Ha…Ha ha ha! I win!”
Onizuka didn’t care and opened his mouth to laugh loudly. He did not care about the gaze of the others. Defeating the arrogant guy in front of him was what was urgent. Since he could not use magic, which meant it was impossible for him to cast a magic defence, Onizuka was sure of his victory.
After waiting for the fire to die out, he should naturally see an unconscious Akatsuki.
No, it should be an unconscious Akatsuki lying on the floor helplessly.
Onizuka bent his waist, pressed his forehead and continued to laugh loudly.
“Haha, Ha ha ha —“
“—!”
Onizuka’s consciousness suddenly stopped. He could not understand the phenomenon in front of his eyes, He only understood that his eyes clearly saw an unharmed Akatsuki standing at the original spot, as if nothing had happened.
Akatsuki hummed then glanced at Onizuka.
“— Using a surprise attack isn’t bad, but unfortunately I had long seen through it.”
“W.Waaaaaaaaooohhh—!”
Onizuka screamed out as he felt a sense of fear he had never experienced before. The AD on his wrist immediately reacted, and in Onizuka’s hands appeared four pieces of chakram, which he threw with Akatsuki as the target.
The chakram pieced through the air and proceeded in an irregular path, and headed to Akatsuki from all directions. Only to see Akatsuki swing the model sword to defend against the chakram.
“—“
The model sword bounced off the first two Chakram, but the amazing act hadn’t finished yet. The chakram that were bounced off changed their path and crashed into each other, then bounced off in midair and crashed with the other chakram, creating a chained crash. After a series of sharp metallic sounds, all the chakram dropped to the floor, and created a circle with Akatsuki in the middle.
“A…Ahhhhhh…”
Onizuka, who was completely surprised, could not even say a word. His trembling body took a few steps back. Until now, Onizuka understood the other students. He noticed that the man in front of him was not to be provoked. He was an untouchable, dangerous person. Unfortunately Onizuka was too late, and Akatsuki had already spoken:
“—So is it over now? Then it’s my turn.”
After saying this, Akatsuki suddenly shortened the distance.
“—!”
Hurriedly, Onizuka subconsciously created a fire wall in front of him to hide himself.
Blocked—Just as Onizuka felt relieved, the fire wall was cut opened by Akatsuki’s model sword.
…How is this possible…?
Onizuka, who was continuously contemplating, only realized that Akatsuki was swinging down the model sword towards his head.
The feedback of the impact was accompanied by a slight shock. Akatsuki’s sword made a crisp contact sound under the straight slash. After carrying the model sword on his shoulders, Akatsuki slowly said:
“Hey—Onizuka, are you okay?”
Akatsuki sighed, shaking his head, and looked down at the classmate who was lying down on the floor, unmoving. Looking at the unconscious Onizuka, Akatsuki scratched his face and regretted slightly. He had not expected that the winner would be decided that fast; it felt that something was missing. Once he thought that his own training course was over, he felt unsatisfied. At this moment, Akatsuki suddenly noticed one thing.
“Oh, looks like it can’t withstand it.”
Cracks appeared on the model sword.
Akatsuki sighed. Every time he used Renkan Keikikou, there would always be such an aftereffect. By inserting his body’s ki into the weapon, not only would it achieve the effect of the person and the sword becoming one will, the ki would also increase the durability and sharpness of the blade. But a body that was enhanced by Renkan Keikikou had amazing power, and during a battle, it would cause a great burden to the weapons. The result was that the model sword’s durability could not keep up with Akatsuki’s ki and his body’s strength—in other words, it could not keep up with Renkan Keikikou, and in the end it was shattered.
…If only I could use this toy. I really want to try it out.
Akatsuki looked at the AD he was wearing. The AD was a magic tool that the Babel was proud of, it could match the user’s ability and talents, and materialize the most suitable weapon. If the effects of AD were really that good, Akatsuki could safely combine his sword techniques with Renkan Keikikou’s power, just like the previous duel with Galious. Having the mentality of wanting to try once again, Akatsuki, again, focused his awareness to the AD, but it was still in vain. No matter how much effort Akatsuki used, the AD did not react at all.
“…It couldn’t be that this was already broken right?”
Akatsuki muttered to himself, then suddenly noticed that Onizuka, who was lying prone to the floor, also wore an AD. Akatsuki could not help but think, since the training is over, it should be okay if I borrow it, right. Thus, Akatsuki took off Onizuka’s AD, wore it on his hand, and tried to materialize his weapon.
“Mmmm….?”
The situation changed a little. Before, the AD did not give any response, but after wearing Onizuka’s AD, his right hand actually had a few light particles appearing. Unfortunately, the light particles only floated in mid-air, and did not form a concrete weapon.
This tiny change made Akatsuki further confirm his own judgment. Thus, he took off his own AD, and attempted to materialize his weapon again, fully expecting that he would soon master the trick. But Akatsuki frowned because the AD did not give any response.
“It can’t be, could it be malfunctioning again?”
…Could the problem be within my body?”
Akatsuki did not believe that he himself had a special constitution, the only difference he had compared to the others was probably Renkan Keikikou. While using Renkan Keikikou, his constitution would definitely become abnormal. But in the morning, while learning how to materialize a weapon, Akatsuki did not activate Renkan Keikikou, and the result still ended in failure. Even if he activated Renkan Keikikou, he still could not materialize the weapon. The instructor had insisted that materialization did not require magic, but it would only be a difficult task for people who cannot use magic. This problem had exceeded the range Akatsuki could solve, so Akatsuki could not help but feel worried.
“…Ah? Wait a minute?”
Regarding the tiny change that was created previously, Akatsuki suddenly thought of another possibility. His sight fell onto his own AD.
At this moment, a huge impact suddenly came from the nearby first arena.
And sounds of screams.
“Looks like they are having a lot of fun. Ahhh, I knew I should have gone off with them.”
After a sigh, Akatsuki began to try out the possibility that he had just thought of.
The origin of the screams that Akasuki could hear from the second arena was near Miu who was in first arena. The shrill cry originated from an extremely frightened female classmate.
The reason why they were screaming was in front of their eyes. Miu, Kuzuha and Chikage all stared blankly at the not-so-distant object.
A giant bird taller than a person—Cockatrice. Its body was 5 meters long. This was the training opponent for the team battle that Miu and the others were supposed to face.
However, the size of the giant bird was not the reason for the screams. In fact, the Cockatrice was a common opponent for a small team combat training.
“Why…!”
Miu’s expression was extremely serious. Along with Kuzuha and Chikage she took a few steps back, to maintain a distance from the Cockatrice. The atmosphere of the first arena had completely changed. The previous light-hearted atmosphere had instantly disappeared.
—Before the beginning of training, the combat instructors had specially warned them of the precautions.
A real Cockatrice was a monster with the ability of petrification. To make it closer to its real nature, they had specially configured attacks from its beak to cause a state of paralysis. Aside from Miu, the other students had already experienced many times of live combat training, so they were tired of the instructor’s reminder. Thus the combat training soon started.
At the beginning, Miu and her classmates were prevailing. The magician type students stood far away and activated magic attacks, while the warrior type students dodged the claws and used the weapons in their hands to directly attack it. Everybody was constantly changing their positions, trying to find the most favorable attack angle and surround the Cockatrice. The giant bird was already a familiar combat opponent, so everybody had already worked out a method to achieve victory. Everyone thought that they would easily defeat the enemy this time again.
However, after dealing a certain amount of damage to the giant bird, the situation quickly changed. The Cockatrice’s reaction speed suddenly rapidly increased, and two female warrior type students had already become its sacrifices. The Cockatrice easily dodged the attacks from a dead angle, and instantly went around to the back of the two female’s students. Under the attacks of the claws of the Cockatrice, the two students immediately lost consciousness.
“—Retreat! Quickly find cover!”
The combat skills instructor’s reaction was very swift. A normal training program could not have this type of reaction, and the combat skill instructor immediately noticed the severity of the situation. But there were several male students who had defeated other monsters and didn’t listen to the instructions, and confidently stood in front of the Cockatrice. Perhaps they were bored of the same training program, and wanted to prove their strengths. These male students courageously fought the Cockatrice.
However, the results exceeded their expectation. Magic chants were useless, even weapons could not cause it any harm. Even if they used all their power, the results were the same.
They were deeply appalled and faced an attack from the Cockatrice’s beak.
“Guuu…!”
The male student, who was holding a sword, took a few steps back, attempting to avoid it, but was shot in the right shoulder. His entire body fell onto the ground, causing dust to float around.
Luckily, he had managed to retain his consciousness, but as the paralysis was about to start, he probably could not re-enter the battlefield. Just when everyone felt sorry for him, the male student who had received the attack suddenly became a stone statue. This caused everyone to notice that the terror wasn’t just with the Cockatrice’s speed, but also the dangers involved. Everyone understood how urgent the situation was, and understanding turned into fear, which of course was followed by an incoming large scream.
“I…Instructor, How did this happen!”
Miu concentrated and turned her head to ask the instructor, but only to see an anxious and puzzled look on his face. The combat skills instructor’s fingers were constantly sliding on the control system’s crystal ball.
“I…I don’t understand! The emergency suspension program cannot be activated, the system is out of control! Looks like someone has forcibly changed the data of the Cockatrice and made it much more powerful.”
The instructor had an incredulous expression.
“But it should be safe to say that after being harmed by it, at most it should cause only a temporarily paralysis. The original role was to make a hypnotic suggestion to a person’s mentality… In addition, the barrier is working fine, so it should not cause substantial harm to the body.”
“Mmm—!”
Miu was no longer listening to the instructor’s explanation. Since the instructor was not clear about the current situation, she should not waste any time on him. Miu had more important things to do, that is to buy time for the others to take cover.
“…Wind!”
Miu activated her long prepared magic. The atmosphere replied to Miu’s summons, and multiple wind blades formed near the ceiling. Followed by a swing of her staff, the wind blades traced a beautiful arc and headed towards the Cockatrice. All the blades hit the target, but—
Miu gasped. The moment the wind blades hit the Cockatrice, it immediately dissipated into fog.
… It was actually completely unaffected by it…!
Miu’s attack revealed her own position, and the Cockatrice’s attention suddenly focused onto her body. The giant bird’s sharp claws pressed onto the floor, it tilted its huge body forward and headed to Miu swiftly. It was hard to imagine that such a huge Cockatrice actually had such an alarming speed. Miu and the Cockatrice were separated by roughly 20 meters, but this kind of distance didn’t mean much to the Cockatrice.
… Not good, I have to hurry and avoid…!
In peril, Miu twisted her waist and attempted to dodge the enemy’s attack. But after giving it a thought, she gave up on this idea. Kuzuha and Chikage were both standing next to her, and behind her she also had the instructor and the other students. She must think of a way to protect them. Thus Miu began to chant her magic. The AD on her wrist could shorten the chanting time, so a simple wind magic should still make it in time. Miu planned on making everyone fly up into the air and avoid the enemy’s attack. At this moment, the approaching Cockatrice suddenly stumbled and fell to its side. A closer look showed the Cockatrice’s right leg fell into a several meter deep hole, as if it had fallen into a trap.
“…Direct magic attacks do not have any effect, but this kind of tactics seem to still be working.”
Kuzuha coldly said.
“If that’s the case, let me try it as well.”
The fallen Cockatrice suddenly had a large water block covering its head. The ball-shaped water block emerging from midair stole away the Cockatrice’s ability to breathe. Its huge body tried to stand up, but the water block seemed to have its own consciousness, always covering the head of the Cockatrice. The water block also gradually expanded. Finally it covered the entire body of the Cockatrice, creating a water cage for the Cockatrice to be imprisoned in.
“Ah ha, looks like it really is effective.”
The long range attack really worked. Chikage smiled proudly and immediately turned to Miu.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, thank you.”
Miu stared at the two people, her face in disbelief.
…Why did I think that I had to do everything by myself…?
Deep down, Miu regarded those two as people she had to protect, but this was obviously only Miu’s thinking. In fact, Kuzuha and Chikage’s strength was comparable to herself. Both were reliable partners.
“Magic being useless is no problem, but even the petrification effect came out…Izumi, what do you think?”
“I’m guessing the system went out of control, therefore affecting the meaning of causing harm to a human body.” Chikage supported her chin, and replied to Kuzuha’s question.
“The Cockatrice created by the training program should only cause paralysis on the mental level, but this kind of paralysis does not cause harm to the human body. The system will follow the student’s abnormal condition to make a judgment. If the system accepted petrification as part of an abnormal condition, then the events that happened today should be reasonable.”
“If that is true, then our current situation may not be very optimistic.”
Kuzuha glanced at the petrified male students.
“If the barrier determined that petrified students are normal stones—“
“T…Then won’t it…!”
Miu was surprised. According to the assumptions given by Kuzuha, a petrified body could possibly be destroyed and was excluded from the protection of the barrier. The body’s damage was not the issue anymore; they could die instantly on the scene.
“How do we return them to normal?”
Miu was very anxious, but Chikage only gently nodded.
Based on past experience, as long as you beat the Cockatrice, the training course will come to an end, and the paralysis effect should also disappear—
After saying half of what she wanted to say, Chikage suddenly shut up. Miu and Kuzuha didn’t understand why but followed Chikage’s gaze and looked forward, and immediately their faces paled.
“Impossible…”
Both of them could hardly believe what they are seeing.
The imprisoned Cockatrice was rapidly expanding in the water cage.
Its sharp eyes stared directly at the three of them.
Miu and the others immediately entered their battle postures. The other female students screamed.
The Cockatrice suddenly broke through Chikage’s water cage.
All of this happened almost simultaneously.
“Damn, it failed!”
Chikage snarled, angry at her own misjudgment.
“It isn’t afraid of magic, but rather it can absorb magic!”
The Cockatrice’s body rapidly grew. From the original 5 meters, it swelled to 7 or 8 meters. The personality became more violent and it used its deadly petrification as an attack.
A symbol of fear was rapidly ascending in front of their eyes.
“—!”
Everyone issued a high-pitched scream and attempted to flee from the scene, but the Cockatrice’s deafening roar swallowed the wails, shaking the atmosphere. The Cockatrice opened its wings and released countless feathers. Under the influence of the strong wind, the Cockatrice’s feathers fluttered everywhere, turning into sharp arrows.
“Waaaaaa…!”
Miu hurriedly activated her wind defence magic, placing Chikage and Doumoto under her protection.
She could not worry about the others and could only watch as the fleeing students got hit by the feathers, and in the presence of the trio, turned into cold hard statues.
“Impossible…”
…Its feathers also have the ability of petrification?
When Miu had fallen into despair, the Cockatrice approached and raised its giant claws.
“~~!”
The sharp claws collided with the defensive barrier. Even Miu who was in the barrier could clearly feel the huge impact. Miu grinded her teeth and endured it.
Noticing its claws being bounced back, the Cockatrice was slightly shocked. It immediately launched a second wave of attack. The huge beak and claws took turns and continued an endless stream of attacks.
“…Uh! …Ah!~~ Ah!”
Miu tried to defend against the giant bird’s attack at all costs, but the situation where they were evenly matched would not last long. The Cockatrice’s attacks became heavier each time, and Miu felt that she was slowly lacking.
…Could it be that it is absorbing my defensive barrier’s magic power?
Her foreboding really became true. The Cockatrice’s body gradually swelled. Miu had no other option; if she removed the defensive barrier, it meant revealing them directly to the threat of the giant beak and claws. Even if they were lucky enough to avoid the attacks from the beak and claws, it was unlikely that they would be able to avoid the fluttering feathers, and at that time, it would still be the end for them. Kuzuha and Chikage also seemed to carry similar thoughts, but they could only frown and desperately think of countermeasures. As the Cockatrice’s attack power became stronger and stronger, Miu’s internal magic power rapidly decreased, and finally she could not withstand it anymore.
“…Ah!”
Both of Miu’s legs gave out and she had no power in her body. Her magic power was completely depleted and the wind defensive barrier also vanished. But the Cockatrice did not stop its attack. She could only watch as its neck went down slightly and the petrification attack from the beak pierced the air. Miu, who was completely powerless, had no response as countermeasures.
At this moment, Kuzuha and Chikage stood in front of Miu.
“—Hmm!”
“Take this…!”
The two of them simultaneously created a earth and water barrier, forming a brand new defensive barrier. Under the effects of the two barriers, they managed to withstand the first wave of attack from the Cockatrice.
However, the earth and water defensive barrier also collapsed.
“Ah—!”
“It can’t be…”
The two of them exclaimed. Miu was feebly lying on the floor, her heart filled with remorse. The barrier was created by her, it blocked the Cockatrice, but at the same time, her own magic power was absorbed completely, turning into the Cockatrice’s strength.
“Quickly escape…!”
Unfortunately, she was a step too late. Kuzuha and Chikage did not even have the chance to catch their breath, and the Cockatrice’s giant claws pierced the air once again.
The two of them attempted to re-activate the defensive barrier, but it was too late. The unformed earth and water barrier was not its opponent. A strong impact made the two of them fly away like broken kites. After rolling on the floor a few times, they lost consciousness. The amount of damage they received was far more than what their mental state could withstand.
“Chikage…! Class rep…!”
Miu struggled to get up. Even if she had no power in her body, she would still bravely raise the holy spear and face off against the over 10 meters tall Cockatrice, in order to protect the unconscious Kuzuha and Chikage — The first friends she made in her life.
… I won’t let you get away with this, monster…!
“Guuu…”
After gripping her hands slightly, she suddenly fell to the ground weakly. But the Cockatrice did not give any mercy. She watched as the giant claws swept towards her rapidly.
Although she knew it was impossible, Miu still held gritted her teeth and raised her holy staff, attempting to block off the attack from the Cockatrice. She would definitely never give up. She stared straight at the sharp claws, her eyes unblinking.
Suddenly, a figure jumped in between.
“—”
As it was so sudden, Miu’s eyes widened in surprise. The familiar silhouette was in front of her eyes, a wide, strong, confident male’s back. He did not even open his mouth, but his back told her everything.
—Don’t worry, I’m here now.
She watched as he calmly raised his left hand.
After a huge noise erupted, the Cockatrice’s giant claws were firmly blocked.
A nostalgic feeling. It was as if the atmosphere had changed, a single breath caused stinging pain in the body.
Akatsuki was very used to this — It was the atmosphere that only battlefields had.
After his left hand blocked the Cockatrice’s giant claws, Akatsuki looked up at the giant body in front of him.
“Cockatrice…A chimera made out of a chicken and a snake.”
Akatsuki swiftly moved and took a few steps forward.
His right palm was against the giant body, his right leg stepped firmly onto the ground.
“—Let me see you fly away!”
After a loud noise, the Cockatrice’s giant body was lifted into the air, and flew backwards.
This was the activation of Renkan Keikikou. The cockatrice flew a certain amount of distance in the air, then fell down heavily on the floor.
A powerful impact shook the entire first arena.
Akatsuki turned and looked behind him at Miu.
“Sorry, I made you wait, I didn’t expect that there would be such a situation…Are you alright?”
“Yes…”
Akatsuki’s appearance made Miu feel relieved. But her legs were still soft, and it looked like she was about to topple down any moment.
“—Be careful. Are you really okay?”
Akatsuki immediately supported Miu up, and let her slowly sit down on the floor.
“You’ve worked hard enough, you did well. Just leave the rest to me.”
Then he turned again to face the Cockatrice.
“It will end soon.”
“J…Just the strength of one person is not enough, you must first think of…”
The gasping Miu tried to stop Akatsuki, but Akatsuki shook his head.
“Sorry, but there’s no time left — Look.”
“—?”
Akatsuki lifted his left hand. Miu was completely shocked. The lower part of his arm was completely petrified, all the way to his elbow. It looked like the Cockatrice’s petrification ability had already extended from its beak and feathers to the claws.
The petrification effect was slowly eroding into Akatsuki’s arms. It should be said that Akatsuki should have already turned into a stone statue, but luckily Akatsuki used Renkan Keikikou to manipulate his body’s ki, and was barely able to slow down the petrification speed. Of course, this was not a permanent solution.
There’s no time left. Akatsuki turned around, but the sound of “stop” suddenly appeared from behind.
“—Don’t try to be a hero, Ousawa Akatsuki!”
The sound came from the combat skills instructor who had luckily avoided the mess.
“The system is already out of control, there’s no way anyone can take it down. The only way is to forcibly stop the training program to let the Cockatrice automatically disappear.”
But Akatsuki shook his head.
“Sensei, I advise that you give up on this train of thought. Since the system is already out of control, how could we place our hopes on the system? What if it causes serious consequences, can you afford to take this risk?”
So Akatsuki stepped towards the Cockatrice, only to notice that his petrified left wrist was held by someone behind.
“W…What do you plan to do?”
Miu tried to conceal her inner fears.
“Do you really understand the situation? Just by a person who can’t use magic… No, a person who can’t even use an AD, how would he be able to defeat his enemy who isn’t afraid of weapons and magic. Even if you attack it unarmed, it will only speed up the petrification process…”
Akatsuki listened, then looked at Miu and laughed.
“You’re right, if I only had unarmed attacks. But right now I’ll accept your advice, and use a weapon that belongs solely to me.”
After saying this, Akatsuki raised his right hand. Black light particles immediately began to gather.
His AD seemed to be responding. Miu widened her eyes in shock.
“D…Did you learn it? How do you do this?”
“I didn’t do anything, I simply increased the amount only.”
Akatsuki raised his sleeves. On his right arm were seven ADs.
— According to the combat skills instructor, the feeling of using AD to materialize a weapon was equivalent to chanting magic.
Akatsuki did not know magic, he could only use Renkan Keikikou to follow the concept.
…The results were disastrous.
What magic really was was by borrowing the chanting actions and concentrating into your consciousness, then slowly increasing the magic power, enhancing its power. In short, magic activation was to allow the magic power gradually increase from a minuscule value to its maximum, but Akatsuki’s Renkan Keikikou was to release the large amount of power inside the body to the outside. It could also mean that the power released was already at its maximum state. If the AD’s characteristic was to start from a low gear, Akatsuki’s Renkan Keikikou started at a high gear, thus they did not correspond to each other well.
…But in the end, he finally found a short cut.
Onizuka’s AD made Akatsuki discover this possibility, thus he borrowed the ADs from the other students in the second arena, attempting to materialize his weapon. After each attempt failed, he added another AD, until he was wearing 7 ADs. Those were finally able to accommodate Akatsuki’s Renkan Keikikou.
“Come.”
Akatsuki muttered. At the same time, following a black flash of light, Akatsuki’s weapon appeared out of thin air.
“—“
A greatsword with an abnormal look and a pitch black blade. Its length was nearly 3 meters, and the blade was wider than Miu’s shoulders. It was wide in the front and the rear ends of the sword, but the middle section was slightly recessed, making its appearance look complicated. In the center of the hilt and the blade were various red crosses and crystal balls, creating a ghostly atmosphere.
<Demon Sword> — Anyone who saw this weapon would naturally blurt it out.
Akatsuki held the great sword in his hands, and leisurely walked towards the Cockatrice.
The Cockatrice seemed to recognize the sudden appearance of Akatsuki as a threat. It immediately spreaded its wings and prepared a petrification attack.
“Be careful, that is…”
From behind, Miu cried out aloud. She saw a flash of light pass by and Akatsuki’s black great sword swung across the air.
The petrification feathers did not come. The wings on both sides of the Cockatrice were cut apart by the black great sword. Feeling the pain, the Cockatrice suddenly cried out.
“How is this possible? Shouldn’t weapon and magic attacks have no effect against it?” Miu could hardly believe her eyes, but Akatsuki only smiled calmly.
“Of course it will work, this sword contains my own ki inside of it.”
Then he looked at the hand holding his sword.
…Looks like he hit the jackpot this time.
A suitable weapon for him must take a lifetime’s worth of time before he could find it. Some people would spend a lifetime and still not be able to find a weapon truly suitable for them. Akatsuki did not imagine that he would be able to achieve his wish in this world.
—AD, matching the user’s abilities and talents, and providing the most suitable weapon to materialize.
Was this really true?
“Once I try it out, I’ll know.”
Akatsuki took a few steps. His right hand held the hilt, his petrified left wrist held onto the right wrist. He pointed the sword tip forward, and assumed an assault posture.
The Cockatrice moved its long neck, its hard beak aimed at Akatsuki, and pecked. A large noise occurred, and the ground suddenly had a huge hole.
But as the huge hole appeared, Akatsuki’s demon sword was already stabbed into the Cockatrice’s body. Holding the sword hilt, he activated Renkan Keikikou and inserted his body’s ki into the sword and then into the Cockatrice. The Cockatrice’s giant body suddenly swelled up.
“—Ohoh, this toy is pretty useful.”
Thus Akatsuki turned his back towards the Cockatrice and slowly walked towards Miu.
“W…Wait! It’s dangerous!”
“It’s not dangerous one bit, it is already over.”
Holding Miu’s hands, Akatsuki pulled her up from the ground.
Then he wrapped his hands around Miu’s waist, and turned to look at the Cockatrice, his face filled with a gloating smile.
“Three seconds before countdown. Three, Two, One…”
Once Akatsuki counted to one, the Cockatrice’s huge body suddenly shook the ground violently.
“—“
The next second, the humongous body suddenly exploded into pieces. Akatsuki used Renkan Keikikou and inserted his own ki into the Cockatrice through the Demon Sword, successfully destroying it from within. Before the Cockatrice’s fluttering pieces landed on the floor, it all disappeared as a puff of smoke, representing the end of the training program.
“—See, I told you so.”
With a smile, Akatsuki held up his left hand. The black demon sword drew a beautiful arc in the air and landed slowly. Akatsuki held onto the hilt and successfully caught the demon sword that was coming down from the sky. Signs of the petrification had already disappeared from his left hand.
In the first arena, there was a room with a view of the entire stadium. It was a small room with glass windows and a high ceiling. Only a few people could freely enter this special viewing platform. At the special viewing platform, a few people were witnessing the first arena’s situation, that is JPN Babel’s four student council members.
“—Yes, I understand, you’ve worked hard. We would like to know more details, please contact us after he regains consciousness.”
After the call, the vice president Nanase Haruka sighed.
“Found the suspect.”
“The guy called Onizuka?”
The secretary Ryouhei asked.
—According to various evidence, the student council had determined the reason for the abnormality in the training program.
After a quick investigation, the key lending records determined that Onizuka had borrowed the keys and went to the gym warehouse to prepare the training equipment. But Onizuka had already fallen unconscious during the training and was sent to the medical building to receive treatment. After he regained consciousness, he would then have to face the Student Council’s questioning.
“It can’t be because he was humiliated in front of his classmates, so he wanted to get his revenge? A male’s jealously is really ugly, they do not think about how many people they will harm. There’s no difference between a male and a terrorist.”
“Yes.”
Kyouya calmly smiled. Mishima was still staring at the first arena under their feet.
Haruka could not help but curiously ask.
“Mishima, what are you looking at?”
“…He really is strong.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Everybody unanimously looked downward. Ousawa Akatsuki, a <True Hero> confirmed by Norn Screening. Although he could not use magic, his martial arts were simply unfathomable. Using his martial arts as a basis for his superior swordmanship, plus the giant Demon Sword that required 7 ADs, it completely impacted the Student Council’s knowledge.
“…But he still isn’t a threat to us. That level of Cockatrice is simply not a problem to us.” Haruka calmly made this judgment.
“As for his last attack, Mishima can easily block it.”
“Perhaps.”
“Ueseki’s fire magic can also give the effect of a pre-emptive attack in a duel mode in training.”
“That… ah ha ha …”
Ryouhei scratched his cheek.
At that moment, Kyouya finally spoke. His tone was extremely calm.
“However, facing different opponents, he should also change and use different strategies.” “That’s true, but…”
Haruka didn’t seem to want to give up.
Ryouhei placed his hands behind the back of his head.
“Anyways, A-class also have some powerful returnees. According to this, he should not be our opponent.”
Thus, the Student Council Members all walked out of the viewing platform. They did not have any reason to continue to stay there.
“—President, where are you going?”
Noticing Kyouya going in the opposite direction alone, Haruka hurriedly asked.
Kyouya nodded.
“I have to clean up the aftermath.”
At the same time Akatsuki defeated the Cockatrice, the system returned to normal. The petrified students all regained their original form, and the chaotic and disorderly scene was gradually brought under control. However, there were still many students who had not regained their consciousness and were currently waiting for medical personnel to arrive on stage.
During the confusion, a single figure swiftly left the scene.
—It actually failed.
Taking advantage when everyone was not paying attention, he quietly left the arena and immediately headed towards Babel’s landfill. There was a building there that had an incinerator that could destroy every object in the world. The current him must immediately rush to the landfill as soon as possible because he was holding a mysterious object that no one else was allowed to find out.
…Ah, the original plan was a mess.
I did not expect Ousawa Akatsuki’s strength to be that formidable.
Passing through the corridor, he opened his shoe locker and took out the outdoor shoes.
At this moment —
“—The key storage room isn’t in that direction right?”
“—!”
Turning around to carefully look, the figure appearing in the hallway made him feel nervous. When did he chase up to him?
The figure in the corridor was Ousawa Akatsuki.
“…Ousawa-kun, I don’t understand.”
Suppressing his inner panic, he exposed a puzzled smile.
“I was injured during the previous training course, so my body isn’t feeling too well, I was about to head over to the medical building for an examination.”
“Really? But there is an infirmary here too right? If your body isn’t feeling well, you should select the closer infirmary instead. Why do you have to specifically go to the medical building?”
“That’s correct. Due to the training system going out of control, the infirmary’s personnel are all hurrying to help perform emergency aid to the unconscious students. They do not have time to take care of me.”
“Yes, that makes sense…”
Ousawa Akatsuki nodded, and did not continue to speak.
He still was unclear about the meaning of Ousawa Akatsuki’s words. This was the first time he initiated the conversation with Ousawa Akatsuki. After a moment of silence, he quietly asked:
“…What do you mean?”
“—Yes? What are you referring about?”
“What you just said, Ousawa-kun, Why do you think that I must head over to the key storage?”
Akatsuki suddenly understood.
“The reason is simple. Because you are the one behind all this, right, Tanaka?”
Ousawa Akatsuki stared at Tanaka, carefully observing changes in his expression.
“To be honest, I actually quite admire you. On the first day of school, you were selected by Onizuka. Even if Onizuka punched and kicked you, you still decided to endure it silently, and completely disregard it.”
“…If I was to violently resist, it would only be worse. Silently enduring is a better choice.”
“If it was just simple bullying, I would say that your words are indeed correct. However —“
Akatsuki stared into Tanaka’s eyes.
“However, aren’t you stronger than Onizuka?”
“…”
“I actually noticed it a while ago, I noticed it when I first saw you. Do you still remember what I said to Onizuka?”
After a short pause —
“—Aren’t there always people who believe that they are stronger than others, and look down upon them.”
From that point on, Akatsuki was interested in Tanaka, who was hiding his strength. He originally thought that Tanaka wanted to have low exposure and was someone who did not want to stand out. Even though they had never had a conversation, Akatsuki was still very curious about Tanaka, and even considered that he could possibly become good friends with him.
“Unfortunately, it seems I thought too much, you aren’t that type of person. To hide your strength, you allowed yourself to become an invisible man, making the other students nearly forget about your existence. Today’s combat skills training was the same, and you were completely unnatural.”
What is his goal for doing this? After pondering through, only one possibility came into mind. Thus, Akatsuki silently waited, waited for the instant that Tanaka revealed himself.
“If the terrorist organization that opposes Babel snuck into the campus preparing to cause trouble, the best way is to directly kill people, so their own identity would not be exposed. So I thought, Onizuka’s strength isn’t bad, he also had an arrogant personality, sooner or later he will cause trouble. Since I could come up with that, the terrorist organization would also be able to think of it, what do you say?”
“…Your meaning is that Onizuka intentionally changed the training program for revenge, then after that I took the opportunity to make the training program go out of control? But how can I do that? You may think that the key is on my body, but there are records for borrowing the key, so there is no room for fraud.”
“That’s true, but the school does not have a rule that the person who borrowed the key is the one who returns it right? If the person who borrowed the key had an emergency, or perhaps was just too lazy to make that trip, so he asked someone else to return it, this kind of situation isn’t impossible.”
Saying up to here, Akatsuki suddenly smiled.
“But even if you were the one who returned it, you should still need to write down on the key borrowing record. As for the culprit, who was determined to become transparent, he could not select such a dumb way to reveal himself. So I think that besides changing the program data, and allowing the Cockatrice to rampage in the first arena, the culprit wanted to slip the key into Onizuka’s pocket. But an error appeared in your plans. I was a step ahead and knocked out Onizuka. He did not lose his petty life, did not get petrified and was directly sent to the medical building.”
Akatsuki paused slightly.
“— So I believe that the key still remains somewhere with the culprit.”
“…Even if the key is really with me.”
Tanaka’s tone was extremely calm.
“It is not evidence that I’ve changed the program data.”
“True, that makes sense. Most of the people will probably blame Onizuka, believing that he was the one changing the program data and causing the unexpected loss of control. No one would believe that it was a terrorist that snuck into the school.”
Akatsuki shrugged, his expression was very serious.
“But as long as someone becomes suspicious, as long as someone notices this possibility, do you think that Babel would simply think of this as an accident? Terrorists are the number one enemy of Babel. Plus he is also an alternative world returnee. Based on the two reasons, Babel can not simply ignore it. If you noticed that the training program data was changed twice, at that time, there will be a formal investigation and the students who were deliberately concealing their strength would definitely become the prime suspects.”
“…”
Akatsuki’s prediction was extremely impressive, Tanaka was completely speechless. After a moment, he gently sighed.
“…Looks like there is no choice.”
Finishing his statement —
“Gu —!”
Akatsuki’s body suddenly flew away.
Barely adjusting his posture in midair, after landing, he slid for quite a bit of distance.
Then he looked up.
“…”
From the path between the shoe lockers, Tanaka walked over.
With a distance of ten meters between the two of them, they confronted each other in the hallway.
“—“
What was that attack just now? Akatsuki did not underestimate his enemy, but instead raised his alertness, but he couldn’t believe that he still wasn’t able to react to it. Was it magic? Tanaka’s attack was completely silent. Akatsuki’s had one possibility in his head.
“…Space magic?”
The magic attributes did not only consist of fire, water, earth and wind. These four elements are the most commonly seen magic. Others include manipulation of light and darkness, and even space and gravity magic.
But compared to the elemental magic that requires borrowing the power of elves and gods, magic that controls space or even gravity requires spatial cognitive ability and mastery of laws of physics. This increases the burden for the user. His consciousness must be even more focused. However, Tanaka did not show signs of concentrating, and from the fact that he was caught opened-handly and was still perfectly calm to continue his conversation, Akatsuki considered this to be unlikely.
…Even though the possibility is low, it does not mean it is not impossible.
Akatsuki thought about the other possibilities. Activating a magic that requires physical without warning — Could the world really have someone that strong?
JPN Babel’s Student Council President Hikami Kyouya and the COCOON members who rule this world should be able to do it.
However, Tanaka who rebels against Babel should not be a COCOON member. Among the terrorists, is there someone that strong?
Of course. A terrorist organization that composes of young elites, their strength could be said to be on par with COCOON, it is said that a normal army, police, even the New United Nations and Babel are helpless against them
“…”
Akatsuki swallowed. This isn’t true right?
His mouth shook slightly.
“Perhaps I am wrong, but —“
The Demon King’s daughter’s name was similar to his sister, JPN Babel Student Council President Hikami Kyouya was also a member of COCOON, these series of coincidences seemed like it was the mischief caused by the goddess of fate, maybe this was not an exception either.
Ousawa Akatsuki slowly opened his mouth —
“—Are you Scarlet Dusk?”
<Scarlet Dusk>, the strongest terrorist group, rivaling Babel in strength, that rejects COCOON’s belief. A group formed by elite youth alternative world returnees, and currently the only organization with power that is capable of competing against the ruler of this world, COCOON.
At the same time, it is a target that Ousawa Akatsuki was searching for.
If Tanaka was really part of <Scarlet Dusk>, it means that Akatsuki took a major step forward towards his target. Seeing Akatsuki activating the AD, waving his right hand, a giant black demon sword appeared in the air shining ominously. Akatsuki held the hilt tightly and stared at Tanaka.
“…This was unexpected.”
Facing Akatsuki’s questioning, Tanaka revealed a wry smile.
In Akatsuki’s eyes, this was the true appearance consoling himself after being found out.
“—“
Akatsuki pushed off with both feet, swiftly moving forward. Under the effects of Renkan Keikikou, Akatsuki did not need to accelerate; his first speed was already his fastest speed. The distance between the two instantly disappeared, and he was about to enter the demon sword’s attack range.
At this moment —
“Gu—!”
Akatsuki once again had been hit, this time from behind. The strong impact pushed out the air from his lungs, his feet flying in the air, causing Akatsuki to lose his balance and fall forward.
However, Akatsuki did not release the demon sword. Falling forward caused him to enter the attack range of the demon sword, so Akatsuki endured the pain, and strugglingly swung the demon sword in his hands. The giant blade flashed through the air, and he saw a slash that was going to cut Tanaka in half, but Tanaka’s magic attack was a step faster and accurately hit Akatsuki in the jaw.
His brain violently shook. When he was about to lose consciousness, Akatsuki accelerated his body’s flow, forcibly reviving the nervous systems and regaining control of his own body.
“—It’s not over.”
Tanaka said. Akatsuki received another attack on his right side. Sounds of his ribs being hit could clearly be heard.
Under Babel’s barrier, magic damage would not affect the body. But the damage mentally could not be removed, the person being attacked will feel intense pain.
“Guuuuu…!”
However, he could still endure this degree of pain. Akatsuki’s feet landed on the corridor wall, his body was coincidently vertical to the wall, then he pushed off to once again attack Tanaka. Before entering the demon sword’s attack range, Akatsuki swung the demon sword, cutting the space in front of him.
A solid feeling, and a crisp metallic crashing sound.
Tanaka was taken aback, but Akatsuki did not relax.
“—Next is below!”
Seeing through Tanaka’s mind, the demon sword slashed downwards, resulting in accurately hitting the target, and preventing the attack that was difficult for the naked eye to see.
—When Akatsuki was being pummeled from behind earlier, he still swung the sword, an attack with all his strength. At that time, Tanaka’s counterattack from below was barely able to avoid it. Akatsuki believed that at that time, the attack and defence should be imprinted into Tanaka’s head. As long as he shortens the distance, Tanaka will follow his own experiences and counter them from below.
Akatsuki was confident in his own judgment. Two consecutive attacks were broken so Tanaka must be feeling anxious deep inside. Space magic requires a cool judgment and sophisticated calculations. Once he noticed that Akatsuki, who was thrown far away, would actually come back up, the user would naturally lose his calmness, and would not be able to activate his planned magic.
Right now, Akatsuki and Tanaka’s distance had already entered the demon sword’s attack range. If he swings the demon sword right now, he would be able to accurately hit his target before Tanaka’s counterattack. So he should do it, an unavoidable blow!
The demon sword swung across Tanaka’s body.
“—?”
But it felt like it was cutting through air. After he was aware that his attack was dodged by his opponent, Akatsuki noticed that Tanaka rapidly moved backwards, leaving the demon sword’s attack range.
The reason lay upon the magic activated on his body. It should not be space magic, Tanaka did not have enough to spare. Akatsuki vaguely remembered that when Tanaka avoided the attack, the field suddenly had a gust of wind blow, this was the best evidence. He could not be wrong, this must be the wind attribute high speed movement magic that the vice president Nanase Haruka specializes in.
Once this thought flashed through his mind, Akatsuki’s body once again flew off to the air.
… How did this happen?
His body’s hard ki immediately provided a timely protection, but his thoughts were thrown in disarray. Using a variety of different attribute magics is not rare, in fact, Miu who specializes in wind magic can also use fire and water magic. But no matter air, water and fire all belong to elemental magic, all of them require the gods’ or elves’ power to chant, basically the nature of the product is essentially the same.
However, space and gravity magic that is physics-based magic is completely different than elemental magic. Due to its special nature, the user should only be able to learn one type of magic, also learning elemental magic is almost impossible.
“Could it be that <Scarlet Dusk> was able to do it…?”
“—You’re mistaken.”
Tanaka saw through Akatsuki’s thoughts.
With a tone that was devoid of any traces of emotions, like a cold machine.
“The real <Scarlet Dusk> or COCOON are monsters, so they are able to learn magic with different nature. I cannot learn physics-based magic and elemental magic at the same time, but defeating you isn’t a big problem.”
“What—…Guuu!”
Tanaka’s speech made Akatsuki completely surprised. At this moment, a powerful impact once again came to attack. Akatsuki, who was in midair, revealed a painful expression.
Seeing this, Tanaka revealed a slight smile.
“Looks like your hard ki can only correspond to one direction, and cannot defend against unexpected attacks. That being the case—“
…Behind?
Akatsuki forcibly changed his posture, and swung his hand holding the demon sword behind him. Feeling a sense of a solid hit, a sharp metallic sound came out in the air, but his back still received a direct hit.
“W…Whoaa! To activate two attacks from both sides!”
“Did I say I can only attack from one direction? Sorry, but that was only your own thinking.”
The reason was simple.
“My own created wind-based magic has no dead angles.”
After saying this, Tanaka immediately released consecutive attacks. A strong impact came from all directions: front, back, left, right, up, down. It did not give Akatsuki any time to catch his breath.
“Don’t imagine you can win!”
Akatsuki, who was being attacked by multiple waves of impacts in midair, desperately swung his demon sword. Although the demon sword’s blade was huge, the range it could counter attack was limited, as it could only face one direction at a time. With correct timing, perhaps it could simultaneously counter two directions, but it was impossible to counter the other four directions.
“…Uhhh! Kuuuhh~~!”
Tanaka did not show any mercy. Akatsuki was rapidly accumulating damage. His actions suddenly slowed down and it was difficult to block attacks from two directions.
“…!”
Finally, he completely lost the ability to counter attack, becoming a sandbag that could not fight back.
A period of time passed.
Akatsuki’s right hand loosened, the demon sword dropped from midair and disappeared into multiple black particles before hitting the ground. The release of the materialization meant that the user had lost his consciousness.
However, Tanaka did not relax, but rather accelerated the pace of his attacks.
“If I continue to attack like this, I’m afraid that others would discover it.”
Even when Akatsuki had lost the ability the resist, Tanaka’s attack continued for 3 minutes. During that period, probably over a thousand air bullets—which was Tanaka’s own created wind-based magic—hit Akatsuki. Now that he had finally stopped his attacks, Akatsuki’s body fell from the air and hit the ground.
…How vulnerable.
Glancing at Akatsuki who was lying down on the floor motionless, Tanaka turned away.
“—?”
Tanaka, who was planning to leave the scene, suddenly turned his head.
“—Too late!”
Akatsuki’s demon sword slashed downwards towards Tanaka’s head.
Tanaka immediately activated high speed magic to dodge from the right side. The huge black blade passed by Tanaka’s left side, and did not hit the target. But this was enough.
“Guuu—!”
His face revealing a painful expression, his right hand pressed onto his injured left shoulder, he stared at Akatsuki who was standing in front of him, waiting.
Only to see Akatsuki easily raise the demon sword to the back of his shoulder.
“Your speed is definitely fast, Very impressive.”
“Losing consciousness was only your acting…? You even made the AD materialized weapon disappear, your acting was really realistic.”
“There was no other way. It was the only method to find a counter attack chance.”
“But I don’t understand.”
Tanaka exposed a puzzled look.
“Under my magic attacks, how can you still stand up?”
Akatsuki shrugged, and easily replied:
“Thanks to my hard ki.”
His tone was saying that it was natural.
“Impossible.”
Tanaka did not accept Akatsuki’s response.
“My attacks came from six directions, how could your hard ki possibly —“
After saying half of what he was about to say, Tanaka suddenly understood.
Akatsuki helped Tanaka by saying the possibility in his head.
“My hard ki can only face one direction? That was your way of thinking.”
Akatsuki’s hard ki allowed his ki to surround his body, achieving the effect of hardening his flesh.
While moving and dodging, it was just as what Tanaka said, it could only respond to one direction.
However, if his body remained still, or when he was in a completely defenseless situation, then it was not the same. In this situation, he could harden his whole body, achieving a complete protection effect.
“Tanaka, what do you plan to do now?”
Akatsuki looked at Tanaka, who could not move his left shoulder.
“I can defend against your attacks, you can dodge my attacks, but cannot defend against it. Do you know what this means?”
In Akatsuki’s situation, it meant that he would either win or draw.
For Tanaka, it meant he would either draw or lose.
His identity as a terrorist was already exposed now, so a draw was equivalent to a loss.
Although it was currently in a stalemate, considering that the possibility of being seen by others would increase, the result was also equal to failure.
Akatsuki stared at Tanaka.
“Your strength is amazing, but I was going to challenge the monsters that you were talking about. If I even lose to you, won’t I lose the right to challenge those monsters?”
“…”
Tanaka fell silent. After some time passed, he slowly said.
“…I won’t lose.”
After saying this, Tanaka immediately surrounded himself with magic circles. Akatsuki was only prepared to defend against Tanaka’s surprise attack, and did not think he would confront him in a frontal charge. He frowned and retreated a few steps to avoid being caught by the defensive barrier. Only to see the magic circles rapidly increase, overlapping each other. Akatsuki understood how dangerous the magic circles’ power and range were, and at the same time noticed Tanaka’s true plan.
“You…”
Akatsuki’s face sank, Tanaka revealed a proud smile.
“Looks like you’ve discovered it. That’s right, my magic isn’t going to attack you, but rather attack the building of Babel. Perhaps you can resist it, but others cannot.”
“Babel has a defensive barrier, no matter how strong your magic is, it will only make them fall unconscious…”
“If that is the case, why is your face still so serious? I believe you also know, Babel’s barrier only protects against magic, AD materialized weapons and attacks from people. Rubble and debris caused magic attacks is not included. Once involved, their bodies would definitely get injured, and those that are unlucky will most likely die.”
Although Tanaka’s explanation made Akatsuki pale-faced, his mouth still had a hint of a smile.
“Did your previous magic activate?”
“You cannot use magic, so you naturally cannot use any magic barrier. Even if you can, you will not be able to defend against my magical attack. This magic is a type of impact magic, it has the effect of allowing the nearby air to rapidly expand to thousands of time larger. Even if you luckily avoid it, you will not be able to escape the fate of being buried in the rubble, just like the other students.”
“ A suicide attack…?”
“The purpose of my mission was to bring destruction to Babel.”
So—
“If you think you can still forcibly stop my magic, you can feel free and try. Perhaps that move against Onizuka will be effective, but unfortunately I am more cautious than Onizuka, I will not let you swoop in. Before your demon sword touches my body, I will activate the magic a step earlier.”
“Oh so you’re that certain? Then give it a try.”
Akatsuki’s hands held tightly to the demon sword. One slash was good enough. As long as he hit the target, he would be able to prevent Tanaka’s magic from activating. Destroying Tanaka’s defensive barrier would not be hard, but would Tanaka take advantage of the moment when the demon sword collided with his defensive barrier and activate his magic?
That being the case, there was only once chance, that is the moment Tanaka activates his magic and removes the defensive barrier. Right now, Renkan Keikikou had already significantly increased his physical ability. Ki was also injected into his sword. It wasn’t a battle without hope.
Akatsuki concentrated, waiting patiently for the moment when Tanaka removed his defensive barriers.
“—!”
Suddenly, Akatsuki felt another aura. It was not coming from Tanaka, but from a third party source.
“Kuuuh—!”
Although he was a step too slow, Tanaka also noticed it, but unfortunately it was too late.
“—It ends right here.”
A sharp piercing sound spread throughout every corner of the hallway.
“—“
A crystal-like icicle, Tanaka was imprisoned within the icicle. His entire body could not move, even blinking was a problem.
A genuine ice prison. Akatsuki noticed the icicle in front of him was tougher than the one he saw in the entrance inspection. Looking at this school, the person who had the ability to create such an icicle was —
“…Besides you, there is no one else I can think of.”
Akatsuki turned around.
JPN Babel’s Student Council President Hikami Kyouya was standing in front of him with a calm smile.
“—What are you doing here?”
“What you were doing is what I was doing, Ousawa Akatsuki-kun.”
Kyouya’s face revealed a wry smile.
“I did not want to spoil your mood, but the situation forced me to take action to prevent the innocent from being affected… Are you angry?”
“Nope. What you said is correct, affecting the innocent isn’t a good thing.”
After saying this, Akatsuki released the materialization of the demon sword. Kyouya, seeing this, revealed a surprised expression.
“That’s strange. There is only the two of us here, I thought you would charge over here like last time… Looks like I worried too much.”
“I really want to have a duel with you right now, but it will only attract more people to run over here to observe it.”
Akatsuki stared directly at Kyouya.
“If I really want to duel with you, I hope that I can select a location where no one else would interfere.”
“Yes, that may be so.”
Kyouya narrowed his eyes, as if he was looking forward to it.
“—Hey.”
Akatsuki’s tone suddenly changed.
“Are you really a COCOON?”
“Yes, is there a problem?”
Kyouya swiftly admitted that he was one of the top elite in the world.
Akatsuki nodded, and in a calm tone, he said out his ultimate goal that he came back for in this world.
“Within your comrades, there should be a man with golden eyes. Please tell him this for me.”
Akatsuki boasted—
“—I will definitely stop you, stop you and father!”
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