“I WILL KILL YOU!!!” Ryuuki’s roar was filled with a despair, a last-ditch effort to avenge his fallen comrade.
“Get stronger then,” I replied, my tone almost mocking as I raised my black sword. With a swift, calculated motion, I swung it toward him. Ryuuki attempted to counter with his own strikes, but the sheer force of my blow sent him hurtling backward, his attack deflected with ease.
“What?!” The shock in his voice was evident as he struggled to comprehend what had just happened. But I didn’t give him time to recover. In an instant, I closed the distance between us, my speed overwhelming him. Before he could react, I drove my foot into his stomach with a brutal kick.
Ryuuki’s body bent in half as the wind was knocked out of him, blood spurting from his mouth. He was sent flying, crashing into Medea’s barrier with a sickening thud. The impact reverberated through the air, but I wasn’t done with him yet.
Before he could even slide to the ground, I grabbed his arm, yanking him up and slamming him back down with a force that cracked the ground beneath him. He was gasping for breath, struggling to stay conscious, but I could see the fire of defiance still burning in his eyes.
“Ryuukiiii!!!” A horrified scream pierced the chaos as Yumiko rushed toward me, her face a mask of terror.
But she was too late.
“Black Rain,” I murmured, summoning another Master Rank Magic without even sparing the Heroes a glance. The sky darkened as sharp, blade-like droplets of black rain began to fall, each one as deadly as the sword in my hand. The Heroes who had been rushing to Ryuuki’s aid cried out in panic.
“Kyaa!”
“Run away!!”
But there was no escape. The rain cut through their ranks, sowing chaos and fear. My attention remained fixed on Ryuuki, who was still trying to rise, his will to fight unbroken. I sneered at his persistence, and with a swift motion, I punched him square in the face.
“Guhh!” Blood splattered onto the already stained ground, but he refused to submit. Even as he staggered, he glared at me, summoning what little strength he had left. A golden light began to shine from within him, engulfing me in a radiant glow. But it was futile. My darkness absorbed the light effortlessly, snuffing it out as if it had never existed.
“You are weak, Ryuuki,” I said, my voice laced with contempt. I caught him by the throat, lifting him off the ground as if he weighed nothing. His struggles were pitiful, a far cry from the defiance he had shown moments before. With a cold smile, I hurled him into the air.
As he soared upward, I planted my feet firmly on the ground, raising my black sword high above my head. The air around me crackled with dark mana as I gathered an enormous amount of energy into the blade. “I will kill you, and your classmates will soon beg me to let them live,” I declared loudly, my voice echoing across the battlefield.
The words sent a shiver of terror through the ranks of the Heroes.
“Noooo!!!” Yumiko and the others screamed, desperately trying to reach Ryuuki as he plummeted back toward the ground.
But they wouldn’t get the chance. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ayaka moving, her sword aimed directly at me, determination etched into her features. She intended to end this, to kill me before I could deliver the final blow.
But before she could act, Medea appeared in front of her, a sinister smile playing on her lips.
“Celestial Magic.”
The words reverberated through the air. Liphiel had nearly killed me once with such magic, and his warning still echoed in my mind. Killing a Hero wasn’t a simple task; it required something extraordinary, something capable of cutting through the very essence of their strength.
Even though I was a Hero myself, facing Ryuuki, who ranked among the strongest, demanded that I use a spell of immense power.
“Blade of Black Hell.”
With a swift motion, I thrust my black sword upward, channeling the dark energy that coursed through me. A blade of pure darkness erupted from the sword, its edges crackling with malevolent power as it surged toward Ryuuki, intent on ending his life.
BADOOOM!
But just as the blade was about to strike, a triple-layered barrier materialized before him. The first barrier shattered instantly upon impact, the force of my attack tearing through it like paper. The second barrier fared little better, cracking under the pressure before exploding into shards.
The third and final barrier resisted the longest, but even it began to crumble under the relentless assault. Yet, as the last fragments of the barrier fell away, my attack was neutralized, its energy dissipating into the air.
I frowned, annoyance flickering in my eyes as I surveyed the battlefield. My gaze first landed on the bespectacled boy who had been summoning barriers throughout the fight, but it quickly became clear that he wasn’t the one responsible for this particular defense. My eyes then shifted to a stunning girl with honey-blond hair, her presence almost out of place amidst the chaos of the battlefield.
She wasn’t clad in the flashy armor that most Heroes wore, nor did she exude the same aggressive aura. Instead, she stood calmly, almost regally, as if the battle was beneath her. Surrounding her were three small, floating creatures that hovered protectively, their eyes never leaving her side.
“Rena-sama! Why?!”
“Rena, we should run away!”
“Please, I don’t want you to die, princess!”
“Shut up,” Rena snapped, her voice as icy as her expression. Her classmates recoiled at the sudden change in her demeanor.
I didn’t know Rena, so their surprise meant little to me. I could only speculate about the nature of her powers. Were those creatures some kind of spirits aiding her? What kind of Skill did she possess to warrant such fear and respect from her peers?
As these thoughts raced through my mind, Ryuuki’s body finally hit the ground with a dull thud, and Yumiko rushed to his side. But my focus had shifted entirely to this girl, Rena. Despite being one of the strongest Heroes, she hadn’t lifted a finger until now. The question nagged at me—why act now?
Without a word, I began to walk toward her, my gaze fixed on her and her strange entourage.
“Rena-sama! Run!!” The three creatures hovering around her panicked as they saw me approaching, their voices filled with fear.
Her classmates, already unnerved, began to flee, leaving her standing alone. Rena clenched her fists, and suddenly, a surge of blue mana exploded from her body. The energy swirled around her, and more of the tiny creatures began to materialize, their numbers growing rapidly from ten to thirty to a hundred, all forming a protective barrier around her.
“Interesting,” I murmured, my curiosity piqued by this unexpected display of power.
In a flash, I vanished from where I stood and reappeared directly in front of her. Rena’s eyes widened in shock, and she instinctively took a step back. But I was too quick. I reached out my hand toward her, only to be met by an invisible barrier. With a swift punch, darkness engulfed the barrier, absorbing it entirely, leaving nothing between us.
“Leave Rena-sama alone!” one of the creatures cried out.
“Monster!” another shouted as they all unleashed their attacks in a desperate bid to protect their master.
“Shut up,” I said coldly.
An icy wave of dark energy erupted from me, sweeping across the battlefield. The creatures’ attacks were instantly frozen in mid-air, and a thick layer of frost spread outwards, freezing the ground beneath me. The tiny creatures, along with the heroes who had dared to oppose me, were encased in solid ice, their movements halted in an instant.
Rena backed away from me, her steps faltering until she was pressed against Medea’s barrier. There was nowhere left for her to run. I reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Kya! Leave me! Don’t touch me with your filthy hands!” She shrieked, thrashing wildly in a futile attempt to escape my grip.
Ignoring her protests, I effortlessly hoisted her over my shoulder. “Medea, we are leaving,” I said.
Medea, who had been watching the scene with a faint hint of darkness, nodded reluctantly. “Yes… milord.” With a snap of her fingers, the barrier surrounding us dissolved, the energy dissipating into the air like mist.
Without wasting another moment, I leaped onto my dragon, Rena still struggling in my grasp. Medea followed suit, her expression unreadable as she mounted her own beast. Together, we took off into the sky, the wind whipping around us as we ascended.
“RENA!!!” The anguished cry of Ayaka echoed through the air, the last sound that reached us before we disappeared into the clouds.
