Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Cold Boy and the Hot Girl (4)
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Dark smoke billowed from Amy's face. But upon closer inspection, it was rising about a finger's width from her skin. It was a spell called Air Shield, which compressed the air to create a localized barrier.
“An ambush right after changing the meeting spot. You’re as petty as ever.”
Amy straightened up from her landing pose and looked back. The man who had handed her the note was standing there with a smug grin.
“Heh heh, I’ve got quite a bit of a grudge against you. If you’d just let it happen, I would’ve had the honor of taking Amy’s first kiss.”
“Stop with the filthy talk that matches your face. Where’s Shirone?”
Five figures dropped from the sky, surrounding Amy. Among them was Jake, the leader of the Black Magicians. He looked around and spoke, feigning surprise.
“You really came alone. Was that bastard that precious to you?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? I can handle scum like you all by myself. I asked, where is Shirone?”
“Hahaha! That weakling is probably at the library, of course. Oblivious to what’s about to happen to his woman.”
Only then did Amy realize she had been tricked. But in a way, this was better. Without a hostage, scum like them couldn't lay a single finger on her.
“Summoning me here means you’re prepared to die, right?”
“Such confidence. But do you think it’ll be that easy? You wouldn’t be saying that if you saw the list of guys who went to their graves for underestimating the Black Magicians.”
“There’s a limit to how slow you can be on the uptake. You talk too much.”
Amy entered the Spirit Zone. As she transformed it into a Quadrant-style Targeting form, Jake, recalling the previous day’s events, immediately deployed his own Quadrant Style.
But again, the price for failing to land the first strike was steep. Amy ignored Jake and targeted the members behind him first.
She cast her signature Fire Strikes in succession, and the men hurriedly dove out of the way. Strike-type spells added physical force to the magic, making them too powerful to block even with an Air Shield.
Amy rapidly rotated her Spirit Zone to aim at her targets. However, human movements were unpredictable, so she couldn't achieve the 100 percent accuracy she had in practice. Her head throbbed each time her Spirit Zone rotated and counter-rotated.
Jake whipped up a gust of wind and shot into the sky. If Amy’s primary skill was fire, Jake’s was wind. In one-on-one combat, a single ultimate skill often decided the outcome. He cast his most confident spell, Wind Cutter, and a sharp blade of wind sliced through the air toward her.
Amy didn't sense the Wind Cutter approaching. The cross shape of the Targeting form could dramatically increase her range, but it was defensively weaker than the spherical form that could sense all directions. An attack from the air, in particular, was a fatal blind spot.
Amy detected the Wind Cutter penetrating her Spirit Zone and immediately twisted her body. But it was already less than a meter away.
Just as the Black Magicians were about to cheer, her body contorted at a speed invisible to the naked eye. The Wind Cutter grazed past, slicing through her red hair. Jake was aghast.
“What? How did you…?”
“It’s called Schema, you bastard.”
Amy raised the cross of her Targeting form to a ground-to-air angle. In response, Jake whipped up a wind and hastily moved away. But her targeting speed was the best in the advanced class.
“Fire Strike.”
A fireball the size of a cannonball shot out. Realizing he couldn't dodge it, Jake enveloped himself in an Air Suit, a high-level air-type spell.
Struck by the Fire Strike, Jake plummeted to the ground with a deafening roar.
“Aaargh! You annoying bitch!”
He shot back up and glared at Amy. The flames flickered, consuming the oxygen from his Air Suit. Standing like an incarnation of hell, Jake detonated the Air Suit, and the flames fell away like flower petals. However, the physical force of the strike had already landed, and his insides churned.
“I’ll kill you.”
“Hohoho! You thought you could beat me with skills like that? You’re at a level perfect for flunking, let alone graduating. This is what happens when you waste your energy on pointless things.”
Amy, the genius of the Carmis family. The gap in their skills was as overwhelming as her reputation suggested.
But Jake just smirked wickedly.
“Is that so? Your confidence ends here.”
As if to prove it wasn't a bluff, the members of the Black Magicians extended their hands in unison. At that, Amy's face turned pale. A strange sensation she had never felt before washed over her. Something was entering her mind, disrupting her focus.
Amy glared at Jake, her eyes filled with rage.
“This is… Anti-Magic?”
“Hahaha! Surprised? This is the specialty of the Black Magicians. It’s also the very magic that has sent countless talented students packing.”
“You despicable bastard.”
It was truly a despicable act. Anti-Magic, a spell forbidden by school rules. But once that forbidden line was crossed, for a student, it was like having their Achilles' heel torn apart.
The resonant waves from the five of them violently scrambled Amy's Spirit Zone. It felt as if someone was grabbing her head and shaking it uncontrollably.
Unable to withstand it, Amy fell to her knees. She feared she might go insane if she tried to maintain the Zone any longer.
With a victor's smile, Jake cast Air Chains. Chains made of air wrapped tightly around Amy's limbs and lifted her up.
Bound in mid-air, Amy struggled with all her might. But the binding was so strong she couldn't escape even with Schema.
“Heh heh, finally caught you. The feisty little she-cat.”
Jake took out a dagger.
“Now, what should I do to you? For your information, I still haven’t forgotten what happened a few days ago. If I had my way, I'd do something you'd regret.”
“I’m warning you. If you so much as scratch me, you won’t get away unscathed either.”
“Puhahaha! So the great Amy resorts to her family name when cornered? I told you. We’re the same. Without your family, you’re just a helpless little girl.”
“And I believe I told you? Don’t lump me in with trash like you. I will finish you with my own hands.”
A murderous glint filled Jake's eyes. Her refusal to bend her pride even in this situation grated on him. The hand holding the dagger trembled, as if ready to strike at any moment.
“You’re in no position to talk big. Should I draw on your face? If you become ugly, you won’t have guys bothering you anymore.”
Seeing the unhinged look in Jake's eyes, Amy felt a flicker of fear. A bottomless inferiority complex. He was really going to do it.
Jake touched the blade with the fingers of his other hand. He wasn't skilled in fire magic, but heating metal was a simple task. A crimson glow began to emanate from within the blade.
“Let’s do this. The arrogant Amy lost her eye while studying magic alone. She dropped out of the magic academy and lived the rest of her life as a failure. What do you think, isn’t that a great scenario?”
Jake showed her the blade, which looked as if it was about to drip molten metal. When he suddenly thrust it at her, Amy turned her head away. Her hair sizzled and burned.
“Hoh! So even Amy can get scared. I’ll give you one last chance. Beg me to spare you just once. It would be even better if you cried. Then, if you promise to leave the academy, I’ll spare your eyes.”
Amy realized why Tyra had dropped out. They had subdued her with foul-play magic that exploited loopholes in the school rules and inflicted upon her a humiliation from which it was difficult to recover.
They committed these acts simply because they felt inferior, simply because they were in a bad mood. Filled with fury, the Red Eyes of Carmis glowed crimson.
“Do it if you can. But don’t you dare think you’ll get away with it.”
Jake sneered. He’d heard that once or twice before. The kids he’d chased away before were also from respectable noble families, stubborn as mules. But the moment the blade was at their throats, every last one of them couldn't help but scream for their lives.
The more prideful a person is, the harder it is for them to recover once broken. Watching those students leave the academy, Jake soothed the inferiority complex in his heart.
“Well then, shall we get started?”
The dagger slowly approached Amy's left eye. Amy intended to endure it. But as the intense heat drew near, her eyelids squeezed shut against her will.
“Wait, you bastards!”
The sudden shout made the members of the Black Magicians flinch. Amy’s eyes widened when she saw Shirone, his fists clenched and panting with rage. Jake, too, turned around with a look of surprise.
“Hoh! The prince on a white horse appears? A pity. If you’d come just a little later, your woman could have become even prettier.”
“What are you trying to do to her?”
“Hmm? What was I trying to do? Why don’t you ask your girlfriend yourself?”
“You idiot! Why would you come here alone!”
Amy shouted. But Shirone was more stunned by the scene before him than by her words.
Older students had surrounded a girl with her limbs bound and were about to harm her. And that bastard Jake was even brandishing a dagger, cackling.
*Because of me...*
Feeling an intense rage for the first time in his life, Shirone picked up a thick branch from the ground and yelled.
“Let her go! Or else I won’t let you get away with this.”
“Puhahaha! Did you hear that? What’s he going to do with that piece of wood?”
Ignoring their mocking laughter, Shirone charged at them. After all, he was skilled enough to have beaten Rian in a sword fight. His plan was to use his synesthesia to its fullest to buy time until the teachers arrived.
“Here I come!”
“Boys, we have a guest. Open the door for him.”
Even as Shirone ran toward them, not a single one moved. Instead, they wore sneering smiles, as if they wanted him to hurry up.
The moment he thought something was wrong, Shirone’s mind reeled as if struck by a hammer.
“Keuk!”
“Idiot! Dispel your Spirit Zone! It’s Anti-Magic!”
Anti-Magic? From Amy's words, Shirone understood. The reason why she, the top student of Class Four, was caught helpless by these thugs.
The shock, the vibration, was immense. The resonant waves generated by five people at once shook his mind.
Shirone raised his head. The world was a blur of colors, as if smeared with water. But he couldn't give up here. Clinging to his fading consciousness, he slowly took a step forward.
“I'm coming to save you.”
“I told you not to come! You could lose your ability to use magic forever! You’ll become an idiot!”
“It’s because of me… that this happened…”
“Get out of the Spirit Zone! Quickly!”
She knew Shirone was in no state to hear her, but all she could do was scream. With every step he took to save her, she felt her heart breaking.
Shirone gritted his teeth and maintained his Spirit Zone.
*No! I have to endure. I need more frames.*
Following his powerful will, his Spirit Zone gradually began to transform into the Quadrant Style's defensive form. This time, it was the Black Magicians who were flustered. Casting Anti-Magic was becoming difficult. It felt as if they were being crushed under a heavy rock.
“W-What? What’s happening?”
Shirone expanded his Spirit Zone to its maximum. It trembled precariously like a dewdrop on a blade of grass, but he used all his mental strength to maintain its shape.
*Harder. So it won’t collapse. So it won’t be destroyed.*
Finally, the frames connected, and the Spirit Zone began to regain its stability. Then, as if in a seesaw game, the members of the Black Magicians began to cry out in pain one by one.
“Kuh! What’s going on? My head hurts!”
At that moment, Shirone's eyes flew open. The Quadrant Style's defensive form was perfected, and the massive sphere tightened into a polyhedron. The pain of the Anti-Magic vanished, replaced by a feeling of solid strength. It was a pressure that felt like it could shatter diamonds.
“Aaaaaargh!”
The five who had cast Anti-Magic screamed and collapsed. They couldn't even twitch a finger, as if crushed by something, and every one of them had a nosebleed.
This was why Anti-Magic was forbidden at the academy. Unless one’s mind was trained to be almost inanimate, Anti-Magic would become a poison that destroyed its caster.
Amy watched the struggling Black Magicians, consumed by shock. He had single-handedly crushed the Anti-Magic of five people. And he was a Class Seven student who hadn't even been enrolled for a month.
Shirone felt as if a small lizard was squirming under the sole of his foot. He could feel it wriggling, but it was a resistance that amounted to nothing more. After a while, even that resistance faded. They had dispelled their Anti-Magic just before their minds collapsed.
Amy burned away the Air Chains with fire magic and landed on the ground. Through her own Spirit Zone, she could feel the shape of Shirone's. It was so cold, so hard, and so heavy.
*My god. How is that possible...?*
Shirone’s gaze was still fierce. As he took a step forward, Jake instinctively backed away. It was the result of an instinct that screamed not to clash with Shirone's Spirit Zone.
But he couldn't escape a Spirit Zone with a 15-meter diameter just by backpedaling. When their two Spirit Zones finally overlapped, Jake asked with a horrified expression.
“You… Just what are you?”
He couldn't believe it. But the synesthesia of a Spirit Zone does not lie. The Quadrant Style's defensive form. A massive polyhedron made of 88 faces surrounded Shirone.
(End of Volume 1)
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