Chapter 85 |
Release
Caitlin had passed out.
For a moment, I just stared down at her.
“......”
The hand I held carefully was cold and stiff.
Her body was covered in sand, and pale frost crackled at her fingertips.
That whiteness had spread over patches of her bronze skin, steadily stealing her warmth.
The girl was a mess.
-If I lose this, I’ll kill you...
I rolled that rough echo over in my head.
Her arms and legs had clearly gone numb, and her mind must have been half-delirious.
Even in that state, Caitlin showed no sign of groveling or breaking.
“She’s relentless. Seriously.”
Heh.
A faint smile crossed my lips.
My hand moved on its own and settled over her sleeping cheek.
Her skin was so cold against my palm that I kept it there a little longer.
“You worked hard.”
I lent her my body heat to thaw her chilled cheek, even if only a little.
Touch was my own way of showing affection.
Caitlin had met my expectations perfectly.
That stubborn tenacity, that vicious envy and inferiority, I found it all strangely admirable.
“Get some rest.”
Right.
So this was the kind of person you were.
“I’ll make sure we win.”
I did say I trusted her, but what was I supposed to do if she looked this cool?
I almost fell for her on the spot.
-That’s how much I trust you.
-Your feet are the fastest, Caitlin-yang.
In the end, I really did like people like that.
People who cling to something even knowing it will break them. People who pour their lives into filling a bottomless jar even knowing it leaks. Even if it wasn’t bright emotions like love, happiness, or joy, even black and filthy emotions could still become a step forward.
If we acknowledged the value of those steps, if we stopped looking at fools’ foolish actions as merely foolish, if we accepted them, then it felt like anything could become a chance for someone to change.
I rummaged through my coat.
Soon, a brightly colored sword settled into my hand.
Caitlin lay sprawled over the brush, and her condition looked like this.
[Status Ailments]
-Overload
-Frostbite
-Mana Exhaustion
-Forced Frailty
She’d pushed herself so hard she was loaded with every debuff imaginable.
I swung my sword beside Caitlin, as if carving through empty air.
Right after, Status Effect-Parrying kicked in and stripped the debuffs one by one.
[Status Ailment Parrying]
-Description: Status ailment effects applied to a specific target are classified as ‘attacks.’ When the system user executes ‘Parrying,’ the status ailment effect can be removed from the target.
Piiik, piiik.
A few sounds rang out like air leaking.
Then I placed the tip of the sparkling balloon sword against the girl’s chest.
Ding!
[Balloon Sword+]
-Category: Growth-type Weapon
-Grade: D+
-Growth Limit Grade: None
-Status: Colorful, Squishy, Sparkling
-Description: A special balloon sword. It emits a faint purifying light from the blade. You can use the passive skill ‘Twinkle Twinkle!’ This is a weapon capable of growth.
[Skill Name: Twinkle Twinkle!]
-Heals the target you stroke with this weapon.
-As this exclusive weapon’s grade increases, this ability’s range and effects increase.
It was my first time using this skill.
A faint cluster of light from the balloon sword wrapped around Caitlin.
The blotchy redness of her skin subsided, and tiny cuts began to close.
Srrrk.
The sword’s grade was still low, so the effect wasn’t dramatic.
Still, it was enough to stabilize her.
Caitlin’s complexion had visibly improved too.
As I laid her down properly, an alert rang from the crystal orb in my coat.
Beep beep beep!
[The first dropout has occurred on your team.]
[Team member ‘Caitlin Lettuce’ has been ruled combat-incapacitated and removed from the match.]
[Sprinter absence confirmed. The team leader may adjust settings to fill the vacant Sprinter role.]
A message announcing a match dropout.
I casually switched off the orb.
We already had their flag anyway.
Gripping the thick flagpole, I slowly turned around.
“Lady Glacia.”
“......”
A blue-haired girl stood in front of me.
She had crossed all the way to the boundary of Zone 2.
Unlike Caitlin, who was in shambles, Rin didn’t have so much as a scratch.
[Team Rin]
-Sprinter: Dexy Cluise
-Assistant: Rin Glacia
-Keeper:
-Dropout: Gale Levint
She had already switched roles.
A few minutes ago, I had knocked Gale out.
It looked like Rin reassigned roles the moment the alert arrived.
A sharp chill leaked from her, as if cooling the muggy jungle air.
“......”
While I was tending to Caitlin, Rin hadn’t made any move.
She had only stood there and watched.
I threw a line at her expressionless face.
“Thank you for waiting.”
“Mm.”
Rin nodded.
Her blue eyes blinked without life.
“I didn’t know you had healing abilities too.”
“I’m a bit versatile.”
“I see.”
The reaction was doll-like.
I tucked the flag I was holding into my coat.
When I pulled out Wiggles instead, the girl who had been watching finally spoke.
“Trying to run?”
“Who knows.”
“Give up. I’ll catch you anyway.”
“I’ll get caught anyway? Aren’t you a little too sure?”
“I clashed with you earlier, so I know. You’re strong. But not enough to be my opponent.”
“You don’t know until you try, right? I wasn’t at full power earlier either.”
“It’ll hurt.”
“Pain is youth.”
“Mm. No hard feelings.”
“Same here.”
A brief stalemate.
That flimsy peace shattered after just a few words.
The moment we fell silent, both of us kicked off the ground at once.
“Just go down quietly.”
“Activate. Scythe.”
Kaaang!
Scythe and sword slammed together.
A heavy blast rang through my ears.
Rin flowed into her next sword form and muttered, sounding surprised.
“You’re not running.”
“Looks like I can take this.”
“You’re not trying to win?”
“I’m trying to do nothing but win.”
Chaeng! Kaggeuk...!
Only sparks scattered through the air.
Offense and defense traded by the second.
The pocket watch hidden in my palm ticked away.
Every time I pressed the button, I slipped past the girl’s sword strikes.
“Hup...!”
Piiik.
Piiik.
Parrying kept succeeding one after another.
Her attacks narrowly missed, again and again.
Of course, with the overwhelming gap in class, I couldn’t dodge everything.
Her flowing chain attacks continued, and I lost the tempo for an instant.
“Got you.”
She drove straight into that opening.
One mistake came back heavy.
-Rin Glacia-Style Offensive Swordsmanship, First Form-
‘Icebreaker’
Shraaaak!
A vicious sound tore through the air.
Trees standing nearby were cut down in a rush.
If not for the mask’s effect, I would’ve gone down in one hit.
Ding!
[Item ‘Evil God’s Mask’ has been activated.]
-Remaining charges: 2/3
-Time until charge recovery: 47 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds
The status window flickered.
The girl pressed in without pause.
“That’s strange. I was sure that would put you down.”
“I’m tougher than I look...!”
“I’m surprised. I didn’t expect it to leave no scratch at all.”
Kkadeuk!
My opponent was a powerhouse said to rival most faculty.
Not even the slightest mistake was allowed.
Click, the watch slowed the world.
After slipping her rushing strike, I swung my scythe deep in return.
“It won’t work.”
Chaeng!
The timing was perfect, but she blocked it as if it were obvious.
Not a trace of emotion showed in her eyes.
Her indifferent strike knocked my scythe away.
“You should’ve run. You might have made it.”
“You’re right, I should have. You’re absurdly strong.”
“Still not going to forfeit?”
“Sadly, no.”
I gave a small shrug.
After clashing this many times, both my arms throbbed like they might fall off.
But I didn’t show it.
“I got a death threat.”
-If I lose this, I’ll kill you...
“She said she’d kill me if I lost.”
Someone had lived up to the expectations I placed on them.
Then repaying that, as a person, was only right.
I gripped my scythe tight.
I stood straight and faced the girl.
“We have to win this practical.”
“You really don’t listen.”
The air sank cold.
White breath bloomed like a flower between her pale red lips.
“Let’s end this.”
Rin raised her sword.
She shifted from her usual one-handed grip and put both hands into it.
At once, blue sword energy surged through the jungle like a storm.
-Rin Glacia-Style Offensive Swordsmanship, Seventh Form-
‘Snow Calamity’
Pajik, pajijik!
Blue light spat out wildly.
The power in her body exploded and was compressed hard onto the blade.
She compressed the sword energy, compressed it again, stacking the layers into the hundreds.
A white heat haze pressed down over all of Zone 2.
“Sorry. This is going to hurt a little.”
Kugugugugu!
A level far too overwhelming for a student.
Even so, I had no intention of backing off now.
“I should be the one apologizing.”
I had been waiting for this.
The girl had decided this was the end and was ready to go all out.
I raised my scythe without yielding to that momentum.
The mask’s smile curled upward grotesquely.
“You’re going to hurt a little.”
A message rose before my eyes.
It was the joker I had prepared.
Ding!
[Exclusive Weapon ‘Black Mist’ Skill 2 is activated.]
[Skill Name: Predation]
-Stores damage applied to the user as is.
-Stored damage can be released.
A strike filled with Javert’s full power.
Damage inflated fourfold through a bug.
Shwaeaeak!
Rin was already right in front of me, swinging her white blade.
Click.
I pressed the watch, and the world slowed.
A freezing winter itself was falling over my head.
Inside that flowing scene, I spoke the promised trigger word.
“......Release.”
A faint echo.
The next moment,
a silent flash swallowed the entire field.
