Bringing myself to my feet, I didn't let my eyes leave the opponent in front of me for even a single second. Everything from the aura she gave off to the way she carried herself gave me the spitting image of a predator. An Apex Predator. If I lost sight of her for even a moment, that would simply spell the end. She'd be quick and critical. Whether it would be clean was unlikely.
Hold on, why am I thinking like this is life or death? This is just supposed to be a regular old-school task with a little bit of a twist thrown into it. Right?
"Heh." I took note of the sadistic smile on the Bloodhound's face.
Right?
I then remembered Erika's death sentence of an attack, the look Touka was giving me, and the way Misa treated me while I was flying hundreds of feet above the ground.
Yeah, no. As much as I wanted to believe, if I wasn't mindful of everything, I was going to die here. What's worse is I don't even know if I'm allowed to play any sort of offense. I mean, Credo didn't specify any rules...
I quickly dismissed the idea, though, coming to the conclusion that trying to go on the offensive was useless. There were just so many people chasing me, and it would waste too much time. Realizing that coming into a prolonged battle with the girl standing in front of me was not a good idea, I began to take in my surroundings. Directly behind me was a door that led right back into the main classrooms for magical courses, which would only bring me right back to where the trouble was.
Looking upwards, I remembered that this section of the building led up to the first-year classrooms that were on the second floor. Considering that they were currently in class, if I headed there, there was a good chance that this whole debacle would be stopped if staff hadn't already moved to neutralize it. It was a gamble, because I didn't know if my pursuers would stop even with ongoing classes surrounding us, but it was the best option I had.
Taking a deep breath and stepping forward, I applied electrification to my body and faced the Bloodhound. When she saw that, her smile widened even further.
"You're not going to run? Coming straight for the hunter?" As she tilted her head, the bells in her hair jingled. "Is that really your best option?"
Unsheathing my blade, I replied to her questions. With another question. "Maybe I'm tired of running? My whole thing is why is everyone who's coming after me actually trying to take my head off? Or cremate me."
"You were the one to kill the untouchable White Knight of Pride. That deserves a high level of respect. I'm sure the others were just trying to test your skills. To see if you were the real deal or not. I know I am." She licked her lips.
Ariel: You think she gets off on the thrill of the hunt?
I know I get off whenever you aren't speaking to me.
I could hear her laughing in the back of my mind.
Gripping my blade tighter, I dashed forward. With the added boost from my electrification, it should have been impossible for someone to react to my movement.
However, the bloodhound was completely unfazed. She simply stood there, waiting for me to get close. And as I slashed, she ducked out of the way. However, my target had never been her in the first place. Landing on the wall behind her, I pushed off of it.
Just before I could rocket away, though, she grabbed onto my leg. Throwing out a bolt of lightning ahead of me, I used mana switching and was bursting through the door without looking back.
The shock from me using technique as well as the shock from the lightning should have been
JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE!
I didn't have time to finish that thought before she was on my ass. She was laughing manically all the while dashing after me, hot on my trail.
Pivoting, I sidestepped so that she would fly by me; however, she stopped on a dime and jumped towards me.
I dodged, and she nimbly bounced off of the wall. I avoided her next leap, but she just landed on the wall with the grace of a panther and jumped after me again. Bouncing from wall to wall, she was forcing me backwards and towards the stairway once more.
Thinking quickly, I threw out a smokescreen using a spell that generated smoke through extreme heat. It wasn't going to make her lose me because of mana sense. But at the very least it should have stunned her for even half a second.
She rushed right through the wall of smoke, not even losing an inch of steam. In the next second, a fist was heading straight towards my face. Tilting my head to the side, I just barely avoid the skull-crushing blow, wincing as it hits the wall behind me and leaves a crater the size of a watermelon. The rest of the wall shattered and cracked like glass. Throwing out another bolt of lightning, I aimed for the fork in the hall, hoping to make a quick escape.
As soon as I used Mana Switching, though-
CRACK!
The bloodhound had already anticipated it. She had seen me use the technique only once, a technique that could fool even the most experienced of fighters, and yet that was all she needed to figure it out. She predicted my move, dashed towards the bolt of lightning I switched with, and landed a vicious blow directly to my side. I felt the bones in my forearms crack from the force. If I hadn't gotten my hand up and fortified it with a defense spell along with strengthening it in mana-
She would have destroyed the entire left side of my body. I could feel my rib cage bruising and cracking just from the shock wave alone.
The punch was so powerful that it sent me flying straight down the hall, crashing straight into the janitor's closet, and crashing into multiple shelves of tools before the back wall of the room finally stopped my momentum. I felt an immense pain in my left arm, side, and back. I coughed out blood onto the floor of the now destroyed janitor's closet.
Jesus... She's freakishly strong. Not only that, but she's fast. She can easily keep up with me in electrification. I was only using it around 45% in order to avoid any problems with my heart, but even that should have been enough to outpace most people. Along with having absolutely insane physical attributes, she had the adaptability of the Eight-Handled Divine General. Except she didn't need her wheel to spin 3 times to adapt. She just needed to see something once.
And what made it even scarier was the fact that, just like me, she was holding back. She hadn't processed a single spell or shown off her ability. And I could tell that she was faster and stronger than she was letting on even now.
Why hadn't I heard of her until now?
Ariel: Blame your lack of socializing with your peers at the beginning of the school year. I'm sure she's notorious around the school. Someone with that level of strength ought to be.
It was clear that I wouldn't be able to hold back any longer. This was truly a battle. A hunt. Whatever you wanted to call it. If I held back any more, I'd be devoured by the hound.
JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE.
With every step she took, I could hear the bells in her hair jingle. Suddenly, it clicked to me why she wore them. Along with all of that jewelry.
"Whether you run or whether you fight doesn't matter to me. Hunting something is fun either way. But you know what I can't stand?" She turned the corner slowly, her hair covering both of her eyes. She was giving off an imposing aura, and something about her just gave me the chills.
The reason she wore those bells could only be described as arrogant. Pretentious. Sadistic.
"Someone who holds back." She looked up, her one eye staring straight through my soul. There was anger. There was a primal hunger there that you could only find in the eyes of a beast that had been chained up.
She wore those bells because she didn't care for the element of silence.
She wanted her prey to know that she was nearby. That they weren't safe. That they would never be safe.
She wanted her prey to know they were being hunted.
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"HEY! What the hell did you do that for?" Erika screamed while waving her sword angrily in the air. Up high in the sky, flying on a broom, were Misa and Aven. "Who do you think you are, stealing someone else's catch!"
Charging up a flame spell, she threw out flame-imbued slashes at them, but they were harmless. Not only had Misa teleported Raiden away into the first-year sector of the magic academy, but Aven had also put up a barrier around the section, essentially ending the bounty hunting prematurely.
Aven just shrugged and smirked cockily from where he stood on the broom. His hair was flowing wildly in the wind. "Sorry. But you have to do what you have to do to win. This is just what we had to do."
In the field, Touka and a boy with white hair sat on the ground in frustration. "Seems like things have come to an end already. A shame."
"Less work is better. I-I think." The white-haired boy next to him said, while holding his head and staring at the ground. Above him stood the knight summon that he'd used to trap Raiden for a few seconds.
"You don't need to repeat yourself, Blade." Touka replied with a cruel joke that earned a glare from the slightly trembling young boy. "Can't believe you seem so excited to skip out on this. You do realize that chances to impress are slim, right? Do you not want to make it into that joint training camp?" It was rhetorical. Or at least it should have been. Everybody wanted to get into that camp.
"No." Blade didn't even stutter.
Erika was still uselessly throwing flame spells at Misa, who was cackling while flying her broom in wild ways. Nova just sighed and turned around, noticing the fact that Masayoshi had finally arrived.
"Finally decided to join us, huh? You just missed the exciting part. That witch right there threw Raiden around like a pinball, and then Erika tried to give him an early cremation."
"I AM NOT A WITCH!" For how high up she was in the air, her scream still sounded out pretty loud.
"Well, I at least saw Erika's shenanigans. Couldn't miss that..." Masayoshi still looked a bit distant; however, Nova decided not to comment on it. She trusted that if he needed it, he would come to his friends before things got bad. Hopefully. If he didn't, she would have some words for him.
"You know there's no point in this, right? Aven asked. "He's been trapped in the building in a one-on-one with Myra Kazuichi. The Bloodhound. This is all but over." Aven said with full confidence.
"Are you sure about that?" Masayoshi challenged that confidence.
"No matter how strong you think Chisaki is, you don't think he can stand up to the person who is unanimously decided to be the physically strongest and fastest in the second year?" Aven raised an eyebrow.
Masayoshi smiled. "I have confidence that Raiden can hold his own; no, he can win." That sent a wave of tension in the air, drawing the attention of most of the people who had gathered around and were waiting for things to end. Someone who could beat the bloodhound.
"Unless this guy has the same strength as the prince, there's no way he'd be able to win." Aven responded, meeting Masayoshi's gaze.
"But that's not my point. My point is that you can't be so sure this victory has been bagged by you guys yet."
"And why is that?" Aven asked. Misa stopped the flying of her broom, parking it just above Masayoshi. Close enough for him and Aven to have a conversation without shouting.
"Simple. Aren't you forgetting one factor?" Masayoshi held his hands out wide, gesturing to the wide crowd of second-year students gathered around. "You're forgetting someone."
Aven spent a second looking around in confusion, and that's when he noticed it. His eyes widened, and Masayoshi's smile grew.
"Alice." They both said it at the same time.
"Chances are, she read through your strategy and is lying in wait, waiting for the moment that battle ends so she can sweep in and take the victory for herself. It was, in fact, her question that led to Credo placing that bounty on Raiden's head after all."
Aven was shook. However, Misa, who was sitting next to him, didn't even bother to entertain the idea.
"It doesn't matter. When she sets her sight, no prey can escape or survive the hunt. What difference does it make if more prey comes" Misa gave a sinister smile. "They're just jumping onto the platter."
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I pushed myself off of the wall and into a standing position. The entire left side of my body was aching, but I ignored it for now. Directly down the hall, approaching slowly, was the bloodhound. With every step she took, the bells hanging from her hair and the jewelry she wore clinked together.
Her one visible eye was trained on me.
I gripped my blade tighter.
How much should I go up? If she can easily keep up with electrification at 35% while holding back, it was clear that I couldn't escape her like this. I couldn't go up past 50% without risking heart problems, but it was slowly looking like I would need to go way beyond even that to safely get away from here.
But now that I was taking a moment to think about it, she and I had been going at this for a little while. It was enough time for at least some of the students to find us, so why?
Honing in on my mana sense, I noticed a large barrier of mana was surrounding the first-year building we were in. It seemed like that Aven guy had erected a barrier to isolate me and the bloodhound.
So that was their plan. They acted quickly.
JINGLE! JINGLE! JINGLE!
I snapped my attention back to the threat at hand as the sound of bells jingling grew louder. If that was really the case, and we were isolated, then I didn't have to worry about other students interfering in our battle. And if that was the case, then I could take a bit more liberty in battling freely and going on the offensive.
Channeling mana into my blade, I slowly set up a space. It was a technique that I had been working on. Based upon the same technique I used to defeat Pride. Summoning my mana and condensing it around an area to essentially create a separate space/domain.
I was currently working on trying to find ways to coat my blade in that domain, but that was a difficult task. What I could do, however, was shatter that domain.
The Bloodhound looked around in confusion and apprehension as the space around her turned black and white. That was one of the effects of creating your own space, being able to filter out color, because you were essentially now in a different 'domain' than reality. That also meant that I didn't have to hold back. I could launch a full-power slash even while I was indoors, because the domain would just shatter, and everything in reality would be left alone.
"Since you're working so hard to catch me, how about I show you the technique that defeated Pride?" I said, stepping out of the janitor's closet. My blade was sparking with lightning that glowed purple and blue. The only color in this space of black and white.
Staring at me with her eyes widened, the Bloodhound smiled.
Turning my electrification up to 60% for a brief moment, I dashed forward in an instant. appearing right in front of her. She was shocked by the speed, but she managed to dodge the first slash.
However, because this was my own space, my own domain that was created out of my own mana I could use mana switching freely. I could literally teleport all around the space in an instant, so I used that fact to disorient her. Teleporting behind her before appearing in front, on top, and at her side, feinting each time.
Unable to keep up, her guard eventually slipped, and that's when I went for the slash.
Channeling as much power into my blade as I could that wouldn't end up fatally hurting her, I slashed the blade across her chest just as she put her arms up to block.
CRACK!
SHATTER!
The air around the purple slash shattered like glass, and the rest of the domain quickly followed. In an instant the black and white around us had completely shattered from the force, all around the central slash.
The domain was blown away by the force, and we were back in the real world, the color having returned. In front of me, the Bloodhound's arms and chest had a gash from my blade. She was bleeding profusely from her strong forearms and slightly from her chest. The shockwave of the attack blew her backwards, and she skidded to a stop 10 feet away from me.
I gripped my blade tightly, breathing heavily. My heart rate was easily above 210 at this point. The edges of my vision were being blurred, so I was forced to release my electrification.
The Bloodhound wiped blood from her mouth and looked back at me, an angry expression on her face. "You still hold back. Did you not hear anything I said before"
I gritted my teeth. "We're not fighting to the death, you know. This is just some extra credit for the both of us, so there's no reason to go all out."
She just shook her head, however. "To not give it your all is a disrespect to your opponent, don't you think? It doesn't matter what this was before; it's a duel now. Show me your strength." She stood up, ignoring the fact that her tank top was torn and she had a gash on her stomach.
"Well, then I could say the same thing to you." I activated a small lightning spell to shock my brain awake. I couldn't be feeling fuzzy in the head right now. "You've been holding back this whole time as well. You're way stronger than this. And I know you're faster as well. Not to mention you haven't even been using mana to enhance yourself."
The Bloodhound nodded. "Then how about this? From this moment on, I, Myra Kazuichi, will give my absolute all to crush you. I'll show you should take everything seriously." She cracked her knuckles before putting her hands up in a fighting stance.
"Alright then. I'll do my best as well. Though I don't think it's necessary. You already know my name." I held my blade out in front of me.
The two of us faced each other for a few seconds before bursting off into a clash that shook the halls.
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The clash sent a shockwave through my hand that was so jarring the grip on my blade weakened. Taking advantage of that, Myra launched a spinning kick that knocked my sword all the way down the hall and lodged it into the opposite wall.
"That's dangerous. Let's get rid of it."
"Shi-" Before I even had time to curse that fact, I was dodging another devastating kick that obliterated the wall where my head once was. Sliding between her legs, I ran up the wall, jumping into a backflip to avoid her next punch.
She pivoted and then kicked the air, and I gracefully used her outstretched leg as a landing spot before launching a lightning-imbued punch at her face.
She blocked it easily with one hand and squeezed tightly. I could feel my fingers begin to break. She then twisted hard to the right, flipping me over. I went with the momentum of the flip, though, and used that to allow me to flip her over my shoulder, launching her into the air.
She landed on the ground with nimble grace, and we both dashed at each other at the same time, clashing fists midair.
BOOM!
The ground around us cratered and cracked, and even the walls began to crack. My already battered left side was screaming at me in pain for having to take another blow.
For a brief moment, I wondered about the damages and how the headmaster and Suijin would react to what the hell was going on.
It was only for a brief second, however, because the instinct to stay alive quickly pushed those thoughts out as I sidestepped a bone-crushing kick.
The side step ended up with me coming back-to-back with her, and she grabbed onto my arm with her free hand.
I pivoted and spun to try and lose her; however, she held on tightly, spinning to match my movement. I pulled away from her, and she leaned far back, her arm clinging to mine as one of her legs rose in the air, and the bells on her hair jingled loudly.
We were literally dancing in the halls. A serenade lacking any affection. Instead, it was a serenade done in honor of brutality and battle.
She pulled in close, whispering into my ear.
"Come on. We both know this isn't our all." She pushed back just as quickly as she had come in before grabbing the collar of my blazer and smashing me straight into the wall, pretty much destroying it completely.
Realizing that she was right, and I was in for a real beating if I didn't lock in, I decided to activate my electrification even with the risk. 65%. I immediately felt my heart rate rise to levels that were beyond just dangerous.
We launched into another hand-to-hand combat sequence, trading blow after blow. Both of us were looking for the one slipup in our opponent that would spell victory. However, I couldn't find one. She was foolproof. Her defenses left no gaps, and her offense was so oppressive that I didn't have time to do much of anything but dodge and block.
As the encounter pressed on, we went further and further down the hall until we were only a few inches away from my sword. As I reached out to grab it, Myra ducked, feinting to the right, then to the left, before landing a vicious blow to my side. I literally felt my ribs break as I coughed up a torrent of blood. I was launched to the left, smashing through the door of a classroom and landing on the teacher's desk.
The students gaped in shock, and the room went silent.
The teacher happened to be Ms. Lia. She must have been subbing for someone.
I was in excruciating pain, but more than anything I was happy that this battle was finally over.
"Sorry. I guess things got a bit carried away."
Ms. Lia just smiled down at me. "No, not all. You can continue."
"Huh?" I froze. I didn't just hear what I thought I just heard. There was no way.
"Yeah, Credo called to inform the headmaster and the rest of the staff that he would be holding some sort of large-scale bounty hunting event and that he was sorry for the damages caused. The headmaster ordered everyone to be prepared and not interfere unless lives were on the line.
"So my beatdown wasn't just something decided upon on a whim, but instead something that was literally in the plans from the very moment I walked in here?!?"
"I guess when you put it like that, it does sound pretty bad. But the headmaster and Suijin both said they had faith in you, and your sister even vouched for you even further."
I was just being lathered in the bad news. Literally everyone was in on this except for me.
"Well, I think we can stop now, considering I've attained some pretty life-threatening inju-"
Before I could even finish speaking, Myra was on me again, and we were back to battling hand to hand.
"Students, watch closely. This is the level of combat that the Mage's Association will expect you to be at while holding back."
So now my fight to the death is literally being treated as a learning opportunity. Fucking great.
What made it worse was that now Myra was holding back no longer. She was going hard, enhancing her body with mana as well. I was forced to raise the level of my electrification again. I was at 70%. My heart was beating out of my chest.
I blocked an attack and sidestepped to dodge, but the blow was just a feint, and Myra literally jumped on top of me, wrapping her legs around my neck and flipping me over, causing me to crash straight into the desk. She was on top, her thighs literally squeezing the life out of me.
Ariel: Isn't this where you're supposed to say something really perverted?
I couldn't even insult her back, because I was literally having the life force squeezed out of me.
Instead of my family, my last thoughts while the life was being squeezed out of me were remembering reading some forum where a guy had commented:
'Thick thighs save lives.'
Met with this situation in real life, I could confidently say
No! No, they don't. In fact, they do the opposite!
Just before I died, I imagined what my obituary would read.
And that's when I realized I really couldn't go out like this.
Releasing a massive wave of lightning to knock her back, I stood up on my feet.
I was going at 80% now. I could feel my hair standing up on edge, and the air around me was sizzling from the heat of the lightning. I can't believe I was pushed to this extent.
Myra was laughing, pretty much cackling. There was joy and hunger in her expression.
And before I even knew it, we were locked in battle once more.
I wasn't even thinking or calculating any more. I was just moving. Acting. Throwing out attacks and reacting.
Is this what they called the zone?
All the while the level of my electrification was steadily increasing.
80%, 85%, 90%, 90%, 100%
And just as I reached full power, I reached my limit. In a singular second my heart literally stopped beating, and I collapsed onto my knees, my electrification being dispelled completely. A sharp pain erupted from my chest.
I was sweating buckets and breathing heavily. I stared at the floor, my eyes wide, and my hand gripping my chest. Waiting for the killing blow. But it never came.
Slowly looking up, I saw that Myra had stopped her next punch as soon as I had collapsed. We were in the center of the hallway, facing off against each other. I couldn't even form words because of how much pain I was in.
Myra straightened her back, exiting a battle stance. She stared down at me. "That was truly amazing. All the way up until the end, I could tell you weren't really going full power. Without a doubt, you are just as strong as I thought you should have been. I believe it. You defeated Pride."
"A-aren't you going to, k-knock me out, and show me to Credo?. You w-won this battle anyways."
She shook her head. "I can't claim a win in a battle where my opponent collapsed defenseless."
"So a draw?" I asked, feeling horrible. She was essentially taking pity on me. All because my heart failed on me mid-battle. I didn't want that sympathy.
"A draw. But the next time we meet, I'll be sure to show you my true strength." She reached out a hand.
And just as I accepted her help. I felt something clip around my wrist.
"I win!"
Looking up, I saw that my hands were clipped into a handcuff. My mana and strength felt like they were being sapped. Looking at what it was connected to, I saw Alice standing right behind me. Blonde hair, glasses, and wearing a white blazer and skirt. A cocky smirk on her face. The other end of the handcuff was on her hand.
"Ah. I forgot about you."
She pushed her glasses upwards. "And that was your mistake! Now I've won. I even have you locked in these mana-sealing handcuffs that also have the ability to sap strength from someone as well. Courtesy of Ayung."
"Yep. Sounds like her." I said with a sigh.
"Well, I have no strength to fight anyway, and I really want to see a nurse, so you can just unlock the cuffs. I won't resist."
"ahahah. heh." I didn't like the way he was laughing.
"One slight problem."
"How slight is this slight problem?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I may or may not have lost the keys."
Good fucking god. What did I even expect?