Chapter 82 |
Snow Blossom
[Sprinter]
-Role that targets the opposing team's flag.
-Can move through all zones.
[Assistant]
-Role that supports team members.
-Can move between Zone 1 and Zone 2.
[Keeper]
-Role that defends the team's flag.
===
《Enter.》
The field loaded in with a pure white flash.
What came into view next was a vast meadow carpeted in brush.
"So this is..."
Zone 1.
The zone where our team's flag was placed.
We stood there on softly rustling greenery.
As I looked around, a fresh breeze brushed across my cheek.
'So Zone 1's concept is a grassland.'
The field was rendered with extreme realism.
It felt less like a built set and more like they had cut out a piece of the real environment and dropped it here.
'Where's the flag?'
At the center of the plain.
A lone altar stood tall among the wild weeds.
At the top of the worn stone steps, something blue fluttered.
It was the flag we had to protect.
'Simple.'
Defend, and steal.
Ranne and Caitlin stood on my left and right.
Without needing any extra explanation, I gave them both orders.
"We move now."
The match had already started.
The timer began the moment we entered the field.
"Ranne-yang!"
"Yes!"
"I'm leaving the team flag to you!"
"Leave it to me! I'll defend it no matter what!"
A reliable answer.
She was our Keeper.
Her role was to protect the flag here in Zone 1.
Leaving Ranne behind, I sprinted across the field with Caitlin.
"Let's go, Gai-teeth-lin-yang."
"I told you, stop saying my name like that...!"
Shwaaaak-.
The scenery streamed by like fast-forward.
We dashed for the far end of the meadow.
Caitlin went without saying, and my speed wasn't bad either. In pure movement, I could keep up with Class A.
Since the field was easy to run on, we broke into Zone 2 in no time.
"Caitlin-yang, Zone 2."
"I can see that myself, you know?"
Zone 2's concept was jungle.
A wave of damp heat slammed into my face.
Thick leaves crowded every side, and the trees stretched high enough to swallow the sky.
Unlike Zone 1, the dense growth made sprinting difficult.
"Damn it, too many obstacles...!"
Kwa-jijijik-!
Caitlin swung her fist lightly.
A blade-like surge of electricity shot out and felled the thick trees.
"Follow me! I'll clear the path."
"Good. Let's push to the midpoint of Zone 2."
Kwachik, udeudeuk-!
We cut across the rough path she carved.
Of course, we couldn't wipe out every obstacle we met.
Neither Caitlin nor I had great fuel efficiency for our speed.
Caitlin burned out easily, and if I overclocked too hard, my glass body couldn't take it.
"We need to save as much stamina as possible! Especially you, Caitlin-yang. You'll have to infiltrate Zone 3 alone!"
"I know that...!"
Her yellow hair whipped in the headwind.
Before long, we reached the midpoint we'd been aiming for.
Behind the crackling sparks, I sorted out the situation.
'As expected, Zone 2's terrain is bad for us.'
It was about time to prepare for contact with the enemy team.
Their firepower was overwhelming, so we'd have to win on speed.
"We split here. Caitlin-yang, stay quiet, circle around, and cross Zone 2."
"What? We split here? Then what are you doing?"
"I'm staying behind and acting as bait."
"Bait?"
Rin Glacia.
The rest of their members were Class A too, but she was the one we truly had to watch.
Even though she could've taken the Sprinter role, she deliberately chose Assistant, same as me.
'So she really is aiming for me...'
She'd said herself that she wanted to face me.
-During this Midterm Practical Exam, fight me.
-The top seat you took from me in practical training, this time I'll take it back properly in front of the whole school.
I replayed those few words.
This was also the right call to make Caitlin's role work.
If I pinned Rin in Zone 2, grabbing their flag would be much easier.
"Go, Pikachu! Quick Attack!"
"Are you actually insane?"
"Go, now!"
"Shit, fine...!"
Chwaaaak-!
Unable to resist my urging, she kicked off the ground at once.
The sizzling light quickly receded from view.
I also made sure to tell her to twist her route so she wouldn't run into the enemy team head-on.
'Smooth so far.'
For Zone 3, there was no choice but to leave it entirely to Caitlin.
Only one Sprinter could approach the flag.
Still, it was fine.
Caitlin was, in every sense, the best freshman speedster.
And if she was the Caitlin I knew, she'd live up to expectations.
"Hoo..."
At the center of the forest,
I steadied my breathing alone.
The thick jungle was silent.
In the muggy air, I waited for winter to charge in.
"......"
Cold air.
A faint cutting wind seeped between the broad leaves.
Soon, frost spread across the once-deep green landscape.
Pure white crystals formed everywhere.
In this heat, in this jungle, flowers that should never bloom began to bloom.
White petals lined up and blossomed across the field like bouquets.
"Well now..."
I smiled faintly.
"I don't remember hearing there'd be snow."
Snow began to fall.
The dense forest withered as a cold season covered the area.
Leaves froze and dropped, stripping the trees bare.
Their rough exposed trunks made the place feel hollow.
She had only let out a trace of sword aura, yet her control was enough to dominate the entire area.
"This is why you can't trust weather forecasts from the Magic Tower."
"......"
"Don't you think?"
Whiiiiish-.
A savage wind blew.
As if dyed by that temperature, blue hair whipped in the storm.
A girl who didn't even crease her brow in that vicious cold.
"Lady Glacia."
"......"
Rin Glacia.
Winter stood before me with a sword in her hand.
In the swirling snowfall, I followed that pale figure.
"Class E top seat."
"As expected, you came straight to meet me."
"So you were waiting."
"Of course."
Kkook-.
I adjusted the glove stuck to my palm.
Wiggles reacted at once, swelling into the shape of a pitch-black scythe.
"What do you think? Want to warm up with some small talk?"
"No."
"How cold of you."
"It's a waste of time."
Srrrng-.
She gripped the sword at her waist too.
A clear ring followed as the pure white blade slid out of its scabbard.
The jungle temperature had dropped to extreme cold, to the point every breath made my lungs ache.
"I'm coming."
A detached declaration.
I raised my scythe toward Rin.
"Come."
Tak-!
Someone leaped through the snow blossoms.
The next instant, sparks burst in the pure white winter.
Chaeng-!
A sword strike closed the distance in an instant.
I barely kept my neck from being taken off.
With sword and scythe locked, the girl stared at me with an emotionless gaze.
"Fast."
A plain observation.
I pulled out my pocket watch and gripped it.
"Thanks for the compliment."
"Mm."
Click-.
With one press of the button, the world slowed for a moment.
I calmly deflected Rin's follow-up chain.
Each time sword and scythe met, a heavy ache slammed through my arms.
Chaeng! Kageuk... teong!
I gritted my teeth behind the mask.
People said she could stand shoulder to shoulder with most faculty.
The pounding in my body made that weight class painfully real.
"Hup...!"
Tadadak-!
Then, while catching my breath, I sensed movement cutting across nearby.
Without sparing us a glance, it moved away toward Zone 1.
The back of someone running flickered into view.
Maybe it was the enemy team's Sprinter.
Either way, I kept my focus on the opponent in front of me.
"You're not worried about your flag?"
"It's fine. Our Keeper is someone I trust."
"Your Keeper... the year runner-up, right? Yeah, then she might really be a hard matchup for our Sprinter."
"Besides, our Sprinter probably stepped into Zone 3 long ago. If anyone steals a flag first, it'll be us."
"Doesn't matter. Your whole team will get stopped in front of me anyway."
Kang-!
Cold sliced into flesh.
Her sword scattered in dazzling lines, my scythe spun.
The exchange was so fierce that even breathing felt like a luxury.
Yet even in the middle of that, not one twitch crossed her face.
Her sword tip was vicious and cruel, but the surface she wore was calm, almost lyrical.
That was why she resembled winter.
"Whoops!"
"That one was close."
Snow Queen.
She looked like someone cut from a single scene of winter and pasted here.
The cleaner the lines her blade drew, the heavier the falling snow became.
'I have to hold.'
Had Carmilla reached the altar by now?
They had a Keeper over there too, so she was probably fighting in front of the flag.
I mixed the watch into time.
I melted the scythe into the blizzard.
I blocked a few more blades, a few more winds.
Mixed in Parrying, slowed time, and slipped past the girl's attacks.
Teong! Kageuk, chaeng, chaeng-!
"Hm."
Then, after at least five minutes,
the tension between us had been stretched taut.
Breaking that stillness, Rin suddenly stopped her sword.
"...Annoying."
"Well now."
"Strangely, my attacks keep missing, and angles that should be impossible to block, you block like it's natural..."
"Thank you."
"I'd like to fight you more properly."
"You haven't even used half your strength yet, have you?"
"So you noticed."
A flat exchange.
Rin only blinked her lifeless blue eyes.
"I'd like to keep fighting you like this, but..."
Beep beep beep-.
She held up a Crystal Orb ringing with alerts.
It was one of the items issued for this practical, used for team communication.
"That'll be difficult right now."
"Sorry?"
"I got called."
A call?
Before I could even ask what she meant, Rin's figure blurred.
Her face turned hazy and translucent like water mist.
She sheathed her sword, then flicked her hand casually.
"See you later."
"What do you mea-"
Srrrk-.
Before I could ask anything else, Rin dissolved into mist and disappeared.
