Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Flame Racing Through the Wilderness☆ (3)
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A famous line from a movie villain I once saw.
He said that if you destroy the established order and make a mess of things, chaos will follow. And that chaos is fair, was it?
Indeed…
Though it was a line spoken by a fictional character,
seeing this pandemonium made it truly resonate.
‘To be precise, it seems less about fairness and more like everyone’s just gone crazy together…’
The kidnapper girl, trembling with fear at the situation, was twisting the motorcycle’s throttle. Her hands, gripping the handlebars as if they were a lifeline, had turned white.
“Ugh… Ughhh…!”
*Vrooom—!*
“Ahaha…☆”
Flustered by the escalating situation, I glanced back.
*Vrooom—!*
*Vrooom—!*
Hundreds of students were chasing us.
Having long since lost sight of the original objective and rules, the chase had devolved into a free-for-all, growing more heated by the second.
The multitude of red-haired girls were running wild, following the blazing instincts of their inner nature. That rampage became violence, erupting in a fiery release.
-Hiyaaaa—!!
-Fight!! War!! Race!! Hiyaaaa—!!
-The lead is mine—!!
-Who the hell are you?! Get lost!! Hiyaaaa—!!
The clang of metal began to ring out from all directions.
Unable to contain their inner excitement, they had drawn their weapons and started trying to stop one another from getting ahead.
“Stop with the weak jabs and let’s just blow it all up at once—!!”
“That’s what I’m talking about—!!”
Finally, the Ether Skills of the Scarlet Academy students erupted. Intense flames burst forth from the weapons they held.
“Take this—!!”
“Bring it on—!!”
*KABOOOOM—!!*
Flames flickered over the tracks left by the bikes.
Countless fires blazed red across the wilderness.
Hundreds of them gathered, forming a scorching sea of stars.
Another star went supernova.
*KABOOOOM—!!*
This place was now a red cosmos of madness.
They no longer even cared about the goal of rescuing me.
A festival for fighting had twisted into a festival for chasing,
and a festival for chasing had turned into a festival for defeating one another.
Everything was just a pretext to fight.
And amidst it all…
There was one who ran faster than anyone else.
*Vrooom—!*
Eir desperately maintained her position at the head of the pursuit. In one hand, she held a sword wreathed in vivid magenta flames; with the other, she gripped the bike’s handle, charging forward.
Weaving through the hundreds of bikes, Eir steadily closed the distance to us.
“Move!! Everyone, move—!! I was supposed to be the one in the martial arts festival—!!”
“Says who?! Once you’re here, the leader’s just another warrior—!! Ain’t that right?!”
“What did you say?! You little…!”
Did she hear that cry?
From the distant airship, Fiona’s heated reply came through.
[That’s right—!! On the battlefield, everyone is equal!! The leader is the one who taught us that, so we follow her teachings!! Therefore, we attack the leader too—!! Hiyaaaa—!!]
And like a wolf’s howl, the red-haired girls cried out in unison.
“Hiyaaaa—!!”
“Hiyaaaa—!!”
“Hiyaaaa—!!”
With everyone from Scarlet Academy running wild as one, a chaos more impartial than ever before descended. And that chaos, of course, came for Eir without exception.
*Vrooom—!*
Dozens of students steered their bikes to take down the most likely frontrunner. They shouted with gleeful smiles.
“Hiyaah—!! Take this—!!”
“Khahaha!! I’ve always wanted to beat the leader just once—!!”
“If we all stab her at once, even the leader’s butt is gonna hurt, right?”
“She’s graduating next year anyway!! Just attack!!”
“Hiyaah—!!”
Dozens of bikes approached, the weapons in their hands glowing with flames. Seeing this, Eir’s eyes burned with a warrior’s spirit.
“These crazy bitches, thinking they can look down on me just because I was gone for a while…!! Fine!! Bring it on—!! I am here!! I’ll show you why I am your leader—!!”
Eir roared defiantly.
“Hiyaaaa—!!”
“Hiyaaaa—!!”
“Hiyaaaa—!!”
The Scarlet Academy students charged.
The hundreds of pursuers had changed direction to chase a single person running through the wilderness. That person was the senior who had been running alongside them.
They were once again racing to win.
One girl menacingly launched a writhing, snake-like flame from her spear.
“This is the flame the leader taught me—!! And now I use it better than her—!!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Did you forget I told you not to *only* use flames?!”
Eir decisively swung her spine-like sword, slicing the long flame in two. Then she kicked away the charging bike, subduing it.
*Thud—!*
The girl who had swung the spear protected herself with Ether, giggling even as she fell to the side.
“Khahat—!! As expected of the leader—!!”
“Shut up! Next!”
The countless red-haired girls then charged at their senior, each with their own weapon drawn.
Even amidst all this chaos.
In their hearts, there was only one person they wanted to defeat more than anyone else. That’s why they instinctively rushed toward Eir.
“Hiyaaaa—!!”
“Hiyaaaa—!!”
“Hiyaaaa—!!”
Everything else was merely a pretext for that.
There, Eir swung her sword so fiercely she seemed to forget herself. She faced the journeys embedded in the weapons her juniors wielded, reacting in a state of self-annihilation.
“This is the swordsmanship the leader taught me!”
“Sloppy! When did I ever tell you to swing like such an idiot?!”
Another supernova exploded as she pushed forward.
“Then try taking on this greatsword, personally trained by the leader herself!!”
“Have you still not changed at all, just doing as you’re told?!”
Fight.
Win.
Fight.
Win…
How many times had she repeated this?
Eir faced and overcame countless traces of ‘herself’.
From the airship, a girl with a husky voice, who had been watching everything, burst into a maniacal laugh. She, too, was a student of Scarlet Academy, and couldn't help but be swept up in the situation.
[Hahaha!! Then you’d better take this attack from your second-in-command, Leader!! If you still think you’re the strongest in Scarlet Academy—!!]
“Bring it on—!!”
For them, everything was just a pretext to fight.
Inside the airship, Fiona tossed aside the megaphone terminal, gripped a red spear, and shot down like an arrow.
A great diagonal line.
A straight line of fire.
*Thwip!*
It was an attack that carried everything, her body wrapped in an aura of fiery Ether from high up in the sky.
Fiona poured her all into a genuine attack against Eir.
“Hiyaah—!!”
“Hehehe…!”
With her eyes now half-lidded, Eir chuckled softly and reached a hand toward the massive fire arrow. At her gesture, flames with a will of their own began to spin her sword.
Before she knew it… Eir was no longer wielding a sword. She was controlling the flame beyond it.
“Hoo…! Hoo…! Hehehe…! Hahaha!! This is what our school is all about!! Nothing but crazy bitches—!! You really can’t see this anywhere else—!!”
The spear and shield of flame collided.
A deafening roar.
An inferno.
Another ‘self’ flashed by.
And finally, in the vast cosmos of the wilderness, only a single flame remained. There was now only one vividly burning trajectory.
After hundreds of clashes and dozens of collisions… only the crimson flame remained, still racing on.
*Thwack!*
Eir aimed the sword, now spinning in mid-air and following the flame, at me. The sight was like a fiery chariot wheel racing across the wilderness.
Just like her title, [The Crimson Trajectory].
“…I see it now—! [Spiral]—!! Even the faint scars left on your body!! I can see all of it now, even the Ether that brushed past within them—!!”
Eir shouted, leaving countless versions of ‘herself’ behind.
“I’ve finally caught up—!!! Thanks, you bastards—!!!”
*Thwack!!*
Hearing that roar,
the red-haired girls lying fallen on the wilderness raised their hands.
After wandering through so many places.
In the end, Eir reached the state of Apex by fighting with those she cherished most, in the place she loved most.
“…”
It was a scene filled with heart-pounding growth, but…
“…”
‘We’ could say nothing as we watched it unfold.
While the Scarlet Academy students were busy beating each other up,
Alvitt’s group had caught up and were watching the scene beside me. The kidnapper girl, too, was watching Eir’s struggle with her mouth agape and eyes sparkling.
“This is… Scarlet Academy…? So cool…”
Somehow, it seemed her future path was already set.
That aside…
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Well…
That’s all well and good.
But what the hell did I just do?
It felt like I’d gotten fixated on something strange in the middle of the night and taken a game of tag with the kids way too far.
‘I’m sorry…’
As I pressed a hand to my forehead, wondering if I should perform a naked apology in front of Scarlet Academy…
“…Senior.”
“Hm?”
Alvitt smiled as she drove her bike alongside me. Her dark eyebrows curved slightly upward, and her troubled smile held the warmth of someone looking at a mischievous younger sibling.
“Fufu. It’s the same this time, isn’t it?”
“Uh, um…?”
“This time, you did it to give Eir a chance to grow, right? Really… if you’re going to do things like this, please give me a heads-up instead of acting so suddenly.”
“…”
There wasn't a hint of doubt in the brown-bobbed girl’s eyes as she looked at me. And in the vehicle that had pulled up, Kara and Lotha also nodded in understanding.
“Oh, is that what it was? I had no idea…”
“Well, when Senior gets an idea for a solution, she tends to just go for it, pretending it’s a joke.”
“Haha, now that you mention it, at Mimir Industrial High School and Public Vana Boarding School… Comrade Senior was always the first to step up.”
…
I guess…
No one would want to see a naked apology from a scarred, pink-haired girl, right?
‘Yeah, let’s go with that.’
I replied with a bright smile.
“Ahaha☆ You caught me~☆ It was a sudden idea… Ah, ahaha…☆ Hey, you shouldn’t judge people by their appearances either♪ And a proper lady doesn’t take hostages, you know—☆”
“What, so that’s what this was—?!”
“Yep♪”
“Then, I won’t take hostages or anything again, so please ask them to go easy on me! I’ve decided to quit my delinquent life and transfer to Scarlet Academy!”
“Yep♪ Of course—☆ I’ll explain everything so they understand—☆”
…
Anyway, let’s just go with that.
***
We all gathered to rest at the delinquent camp where the kidnapper girl had made her nest. It seemed she hadn’t been particularly rowdy here, as their hideout was like a very clean campground.
“Hahaha! So that’s what it was!”
“Heh, well… whatever. It was fun.”
“Ah, I wanna do it again sometime.”
“What should we put up as a prize?”
Either they were having a post-battle moment of clarity… or they were just such chivalrous, cool girls that they magnanimously accepted my clumsy excuse.
Like well-fed beasts,
the Scarlet Academy students were full of余裕.
They even started patting the kidnapper girl on the back, telling her they should go get her measured for a uniform.
Eir was showing off the new technique she’d awakened during the fight to her juniors.
It seemed to have evolved from a sword aura to telekinetically controlling her sword.
Eir could now attack by throwing her sword through the air, even at mid-range.
“Hah!! [Shearing Flame Wheel]—!!”
*Whir, whir, whir—!!*
“Ooooh!! It’s like a wheel floating in the air!”
“Hiyaaaaah!!”
*Clap, clap, clap…*
“…Heh.”
Alvitt let out a dry laugh watching the scene. She was sipping on some black tea brought by students from another school who had also arrived, soothing the aftereffects of the grand game of tag.
“Seriously, I can never keep up with this school’s atmosphere.”
“Yeah… B-but♪ Isn’t that part of Scarlet Academy’s charm?”
“I suppose so. Living as your heart dictates, without a second thought… there’s a certain romance to it.”
I had to admit that.
If it weren’t for Clara, I think I might have come here myself. But I didn’t say that out loud in front of my junior.
‘Living as my heart desires is nice, but I should probably refrain from impulsive actions from now on…’
Anyway… I was just glad it all ended well.
“I’m so glad it ended well—☆”
“What, exactly, has ended, Lara?”
“…?!”
“I heard you were kidnapped… so I rushed over, and yet…”
“…?!”
…
No way.
Ei… No way.
“…”
I slowly turned around.
“…”
“…”
A silver-haired girl was staring blankly at me. Beside her, a wolf-eared girl was muttering, “Kuh… The Chairman’s affection…!” as she watched.
“…”
“…”
Ah.
Looks like I’m in for a round of kisses until my lips are bruised today.
Or maybe I have to do that naked apology after all.
Or perhaps both…
“…”
“…”
An awkward silence.
“…”
I scratched the back of my head and winked.
“Te-hee…☆”