Caught off guard, I involuntarily swallowed hard, with a wry smile playing on my lips.
It was probably because I was staring at her for too long.
Before I could comprehend the situation, I was pointed at the throat with a spear made of ice. The goddess— I mean, the girl with an inexplicable aura pulled an ice spear from nowhere and pointed it at my throat.
…Her gaze matched the frostiness of that weapon.
“E-Erm… does this mean you are avoiding me? I just got transferred today and was hoping to ask for some direction to the Student Council…” I attempted to break the tension with a wry smile with my hands raised in a gesture of harmlessness.
Shoeless;
Casual clothes;
And an eerie smile.
I guess anyone would be either convinced or suspicious of me.
“……………………”
The silence stretched until she retracted her spear with a short sigh. She pointed her spear towards her right, a precise 2 o’clock diagonally downwards.
“…You will see a path around there. That leads you to the Student Council.” She spoke with an air of nonchalance; her ability to discern directions surprised me.
“…Thanks,” I said, yet was met with uninterested silence.
My gratitude was met with indifference as she swiftly gathered her lunchbox, adorned in a cherry blossom cloth, and leapt down hastily.
As she left, something dawned on me— the blue tie, and especially that white blazer— this means… she’s a First Year and a Special Class Student…!?
The highest class in Imperial Knights Academy, which excels both in academic and combat class, is Class S, also S-ranked students— who stood at the top of the academy.
Yet, even among them, there was one that far surpassed even the S-ranked students.
The Imperial Knights Academy even established a special class just for her alone.
…And this student— is Kuroyuki Shiroha.
This means— she’s Kuroyuki Shiroha…?
…She’s really pretty.
Ah, I better stop reminiscing. It’s time to hurry.
Thinking of that, I leapt down the Pink Drop tree.
But the moment I passed the flowers— I was immediately engulfed in a thick fog. A sudden chill accompanied the obscurity.
…Crap, I can’t see the bottom. I can’t time my landing like this…!
Desperation prompted me to swing my fist, attempting to disperse some of the fog.
“Hup.”
As I landed, the impact from my land thinned out the fog, revealing the girl just now— Kuroyuki Shiroha, and…… five male students from Class C were pointing their pistols at her.
“K-Kuroyuki Shiroha— p-p-please go out with m—”
“…Begone,” Kuroyuki uttered with a shuddering cold look.
PAK.
The moment I heard the snap of her fingers, a vague impulse drove me to jump backwards.
I witnessed the fog swirling around us, enveloping the five guys and blooming into an ice rose with intricate ice vines spreading outwards— a chilling masterpiece.
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…Those guys are frozen. That was scary.
“…Are you the one who brought them here?”
“W-Wah…!?”
Surprise struck me when Kuroyuki, who was supposed to be at a distance— suddenly murmured from behind. It’s quite frightening how her voice could be so soothing and scary at the same time.
“I-I-If I say I’m not, would you believe me?” I replied with a wry smile.
“…What do you think?”
Her response is as cold as the ice that surrounds us. I don't need to see her expression to know what she's implying.
RUN.
BAM!
Instinct propelled me away from her with a colossal leap.
“…Where do you think you are going?” She said.
The sudden restraint sends a jolt of panic coursing through me. I felt my body shackled in ice chains, connected to her hand.
When did she even—
“WHA—!?” I cry out in surprise as she yanks me back with a strength I hadn't anticipated.
She pulled me back!? She could pull me back…!?
POW!!!
I reluctantly bent my waist backwards, dodging her straight right by a hairbreadth, crashing to the ground right beside her.
Even though her fist misses its mark she swung at nothing but air, yet— that’s not the sound of a normal punch…!
“…You dodged it?” She said in an innocent tone that belies the danger lurking beneath while raising her foot.
Like hell I’d want to get hit by that…!
BAM!
I scramble to evade her next attack, a powerful stomp that leaves a crater in its wake. Rolling aside just in time, I narrowly avoid being crushed beneath her heel.
“Mmgh…!”
Mustering my strength, I break free from the icy chains that bind me, the cold biting into my skin with each movement.
CLACK.
But there's no time to dwell on the pain as an ice spear lands inches from my face, a warning of the danger that surrounds me.
“...You are not getting away,” She declares, her voice sending shivers down my spine.
I instinctively looked up— only to see more than a hundred spears waiting to rain down upon me.
With a sense of urgency, I change direction, aiming to confront her head-on.
Yet, with a simple tap of her right foot, a snow tsunami that spans four meters high and fifty meters wide suddenly emerged.
“Aarghh…!!!”
Clenching my fist, and mustering my strength— I swung my fist towards the snow tsunami, punching a big hole right in the middle and slipping through its icy g.
Emerging on the other side, I find myself confronted by five spears hurtling towards me.
I deliberately twisted my waist to avoid most of her spears and caught one during the spin, blocking the spears raining from above and then the front.
Knocking away the final spear, I threw her spear back to her with three times the power. Yet— she swatted off that spear as if it were a mere bug.
“Hup.”
With an outburst at my right foot, I immediately closed our distance within a second to where I could reach her with my fist.
Yet, she took a step to the right and turned left, dodging my punch, and on top of that, she countered with a right palm strike to my lower jaw with bone-crushing force, sending waves of pain coursing through my jaw.
As expected, it’s a hefty strike— I’m nearly losing consciousness here…!
“Grk…!”
Enduring the pain and gritting my teeth, I grabbed her wrist.
Yet, it’s as if the girl expected my move— she responded with a sneer when I turned my head at her.
The girl then raises her left hand and blows a kiss—
“…Fu.”
—firing off a stream of cold air, blinding my vision in an instant.
In that instant, that girl got her hand off my hold.
“Geh—!?”
Out of reflex, I moved my right arm back to my head— and was hit by an impact at least three times more potent than her palm strike earlier.
If I hadn’t moved and blocked it with my right arm, I would probably be sent flying for a few couple of metres instead of diverting the power to the ground. I weathered the pain and deliberately threw a punch forward with my left.
POW!
“…!”
I missed!?
“WHA—”
BAM!!!
“—GAHACKK…!?”
When I came to, I was already flipped and thrown to the ground with a massive slam at my back. In that instant, not only did she deflect my punch— but she also grabbed it and did a one-arm shoulder throw…!
But thanks to that throw, the ice on my face is gone.
The moment I opened my eyes, I saw the sole of a shoe coming directly towards my face.
“Mrk…!”
BOOM!
I managed to evade that blow by rolling away at the very last second, but the shockwave blasted me away.
That was close! If my body isn’t sturdy enough, I probably would’ve been knocked out by that throw, and crushed completely by that stomp.
“Erk…!?”
By the time I got up on my feet, I was forced to fall down on my back in order to dodge the spears she fired as a follow-up.
By the time I managed to catch some breath and look, I saw one of her spears aiming towards my face.
“Mngh…!”
With another roll to the left, I dodged a spear that landed right next to me.
“Hah— hah—”
…I’m starting to get out of breath. All I did all this time was block and dodge; even if I managed to counter, she could easily deal with it…!
If only I still had my katana right from the start…!
I grabbed the ice spear and pulled it out from the ground. I knocked away the other spears that were aimed at me.
With a sidestep to the right, I moved away from her line of fire and closed our distance with an outburst of my right foot.
When she was within the range of my spear, I immediately stopped with my right foot forward and did a thrust towards her abdomen.
CLANG!
Yet, with a half counter-clockwise spin to the right, she pulled out an ice sword at her right hand while knocking my spear to her left side.
While pinning my spear to the ground with her sword backhanded, she then closed her distance with her sword sliding over the shaft, intending to cut my hand.
I reacted by letting go of the spear and deliberately bent my waist and neck backwards to avoid that swift slash that was slicing diagonally upwards to her right.
With my left leg acting as the only support, I forcefully threw a right kick— which she countered with her left elbow.
…She even reacted to that?! How about this?
I let myself fall to the ground with my back to push myself up again with my hands, or in short, a kip up, to follow up with a powerful double kick.
BAM.
For a moment there, I felt like I kicked something with absurd toughness. I even felt like part of my power had been rebounded back.
When I looked, the girl held a cracked ice shield taller than her on her left arm. Although she was pushed back by my kick just now, but the distance between us is at most, three steps.
I hurriedly took back the spear she pinned.
“Whoa—!?”
Suddenly, the girl threw her sword at me, which I dodged.
Then, she flung her shield at me, which I evaded.
…Is she tired? Those attacks earlier seemed like a princess throwing a tantrum.
PAK.
“BUGARGH!!?”
The moment I heard the snap of her fingers, multiple explosions occurred all of a sudden. When I came to, I was completely engulfed in ice, snow, and a thick cold air of white mist.
If I remember correctly, the explosions came from her ice— her spears, sword, and shield.
My arm, which was holding her spear earlier exploded. Not only did I feel a stinging pain across my arm, my entire arm was frozen in ice. Every breath I took was enough to make me shiver.
The worst thing is, I completely lost sight of that girl because of this snow fog.
The way how she created the ice and snow doesn’t seem like magic.
As I thought, is this the power of an
KRAK.
“!”
When I was thinking that, I heard the crunching sound of snow.
I immediately squatted— and an ice sword came slashing from behind.
BOOM.
Though I did a sweep immediately— slicing across the snow, but she easily dodged it by leaping back into the fog, hiding herself.
After two seconds, she appeared at my right this time, and intended to cut my feet— where I reacted by stepping away from her.
After another three seconds, she appeared at my left, throwing a quick stab with her spear towards my head, which I managed to evade by bending my waist forward.
…This is bad. If she keeps up with this, I don’t think I could last any longer.
But at the same time, although those were killing blows, it felt like she was testing me.