A Lucky Day (4)
The rain poured down in torrents, plunging the hallway into near-total darkness. The wind howled so fiercely it seemed the windows might shatter at any moment. In that slightly eerie atmosphere, broken only by the quiet stillness and the sound of approaching footsteps, Lucy's curiosity got the better of her. She stepped forward.
Step. Step.
"Is... is someone there?"
She rounded the corner at the end of the hallway to check. At that exact moment, a tremendous crack of thunder split the air, followed by a blinding flash of lightning.
BOOM!
In the brilliant flare, a figure came into view. It was a man with a pair of horns sprouting from either side of his head.
The light gradually faded, revealing the man's full appearance. He was gravely injured. Massive amounts of blood streamed from his arms and legs, and an alarming quantity also trickled down his forehead. The sight shocked her so badly that a gasp escaped her lips before she could stop it. She quickly clamped both hands over her mouth and began taking slow, careful steps backward.
'Hic...!'
An unidentified man, severely wounded and leaning against the wall in an academy that should have been empty except for the teachers. And those horns on his head... She realized something was terribly wrong and kept retreating. When she finally gathered her wits and looked forward again, the man had vanished. Only a pool of his blood remained on the floor.
She scanned the area, searching for where he might have gone. Then she turned her head.
RUMBLE—CRASH!
"Hello there?"
The man stood right behind her, smiling in a way that made her skin crawl. Sensing the danger in that unsettling aura, she immediately tried to counterattack. But before she could, something from his pocket clamped onto her in an instant.
'A magic tool? Handcuffs?'
She didn't panic. She finished her casting, but...
'My magic won't activate?'
She couldn't control her mana. It felt like it kept getting severed somewhere. It was exactly the same sensation she'd experienced during the last practical training session. The moment she realized she couldn't use magic, she twisted her body to counter with a physical kick. The result was devastating. The unidentified man blocked her kick and slammed her to the floor.
She struggled to resist, but it was impossible. The gap in physical ability between her and this stranger was overwhelming. She couldn't break free. He had her in a perfect mount position. Straddling her, the man began to stroke her face. Fear and the desperate will to survive overrode her embarrassment; she tried to scream, but his hand muffled it, preventing the sound from echoing down the hallway.
What the hell was happening? She couldn't make sense of it. Her mind couldn't keep up with the situation. It was terrifying. She'd only come back to grab her notebook. And now some deranged man was on top of her, muttering strange things.
Damn it. If only she could use magic... she might have been able to escape. Should she have used defensive magic instead of offensive? And who was this man anyway?
She forced herself to calm down and assess the situation first.
'The way he's preventing me from using mana is identical to what Requiem did last time... though the method is slightly different. And those horns on his head are one of the traits of the demon race.'
That meant there was a high chance this man was a member of Requiem. But why would someone from Requiem be inside the academy? And what could have happened to leave him so badly wounded? Too many unknowns. One thing, however, was crystal clear.
If she couldn't get away from him, something horrific was going to happen to her.
How could she escape? She couldn't use magic, and breaking free without mana against this man was... practically impossible. His combat prowess far surpassed hers. In this position, there was nothing she could do. Was she really going to die here without even putting up a fight? Just because she came back for a notebook? Killed inside the academy?
No matter how busy the academy had been lately, security couldn't possibly be this lax. There had even been a guard outside...!
Sudden terror, sorrow, and resentment surged through her at the same time. Maybe it was because she was on the verge of death, but a thousand thoughts flooded her mind. The loss to that guy in the sparring match. Not a single day at the academy had been comfortable. Not one day had been good. Her family back home was struggling, waiting for her. That's why she'd pushed herself so hard to get here.
But no matter how much she ran, how relentlessly she trained without rest, the gap between her and those with true talent never closed. In an academy where everyone shone, she couldn't shine. Her light had faded. No friends, no skill, no money. Just thinking about it brought tears to her eyes.
It was scary. So terrifying it gave her chills. Why did she have to go through something like this? Why was this happening to her all of a sudden? Why her, of all people?
When the hot tears began sliding down her cheeks, a certain person suddenly came to mind. The guy she'd met during the spar. The weird one who'd kept pestering her to join his club. The strange boy with deep black hair and eyes. The one who'd been her only conversation partner when she had no friends and was exhausted from her harsh life. They hadn't talked that much, but whenever she spoke with him, something... something inside her felt at ease.
Yes. If it were him... what would he do? How would he handle a situation like this?
He never gave up, even when overwhelmingly disadvantaged. He always found a way. What could she do to overcome this?
No matter how hard she racked her brain, no answer came. That's right. She was different from him. He might have been disowned by his family after a broken engagement, but he had a talented and beautiful fiancée. He seemed to have good friends around him too. She could never be like him. Even if she wanted to overcome this, she couldn't win.
So anyone would do. Please, anyone at all. Help me... Please save me. I can't die. Not when my family is waiting...
She squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears. Then she felt a disgusting sensation. Something unpleasant licked her neck. It made her skin crawl. She was terrified. Scared to death. Please, help me. Anyone. For my family... No. That wasn't it. She simply wanted to live. Her family had been an excuse all along. She just wanted to enjoy a normal academy life like everyone else. Make friends, eat meals together, talk and laugh... fall in love at least once... Was she really going to die so meaninglessly...?
When she finally gave up and opened her eyes, the horned man was breathing heavily with excitement. He reached for something at his waist. It was a sword with an extremely sharp, keen edge. Though it was a relatively short dagger, it was more than enough to kill a person.
"Ah... haa... This won't do. Regrettable as it is, I cannot leave any witnesses. It seems I won't be able to enjoy myself. Farewell then, beautiful lady."
The firmly gripped dagger plunged toward her throat.
"Mmph!!!"
This is it. I'm going to die like this.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she saw a figure appear behind the horned man. Her vision was blurry. Was she seeing things? She closed her eyes. If she didn't look, maybe it wouldn't hurt as much.
But then a familiar voice reached her ears. A voice she'd only known for a short time, yet one that felt strangely familiar. When she opened her eyes again to confirm its owner, the black-haired man had caught the blade aimed at her nose with his bare hand. Blood flowed red from the hand gripping the naked sword. Those crimson drops fell onto her face with soft plops. The black-haired man, Vern Flame, spoke to her in a soothing tone.
"It's okay now, Lucy. I'm here."
Then, in a whisper only she could hear, Vern added,
"Ignition."
Ignition
Startled by the sudden intrusion, the purple-haired man—Naidus—froze. I gripped the blade aimed at Lucy and spoke.
"Ignition."
Having grown somewhat accustomed to mana control, I unleashed flames calibrated so they wouldn't harm Lucy. The Blue Flame that bloomed at my fingertips shot forward to incinerate Naidus's face. Narrow range, maximum power. A technique derived from my second skill, Fire Fist, called Ignition.
Naidus was already suffering from severe injuries. A mere threat should be enough. The priority right now was separating Lucy from him.
Sensing danger from the sudden burst of flame, Naidus leaped off Lucy. He reappeared about two meters away and spoke.
"Hah. It's you again? You interfered with me yesterday, and now you're interfering again today. If you keep this up, even if you are that person's son, I won't be able to overlook it."
He looked slightly angry. So he really had been trying to kill Lucy. If I'd arrived even a little later, it would have been disastrous.
"Lucy! Get down first! I'll hold this guy off! Elisha is downstairs, so hurry!"
Ha. Somehow this felt exactly like yesterday. Really... nothing ever goes smoothly.