Freddie is seen flying towards Leragga, with indescribable rage in his eyes. The boy has completely lost himself to fury, his fist pulled back, ready to drive through the multiversal assassin who broke his best friend. Leragga, watching the approach of this high-speed, rage-fueled missile, simply smirks. He tracks Freddie with clinical precision, his eyes widening slightly with anticipation as he says, "Interesting."
He then motions to catch the incoming punch, planning to solid-phase his own hand inside Freddie's just to be cruel. But just as he's about to make contact, the air pressure shifts.
Above him, Super is seen. Having finally found his tactical footing, Super is dropping from the sky like a bomb, his own fist cocked back, aiming directly for the crown of Leragga's head.
Leragga's smirk falters for a micro-second as he detects the secondary threat. He thinks to himself, "When did he get here?"
He then begins to position his other arm to block Super's descending strike, but the ambush is far more complex than he realized. Behind him, Rems, Enzo, and MXO are flanking, cutting off his escape vector. Simultaneous to Super dropping, a fissure opens in the earth directly below him, and Bodega appears out of nowhere, rising from the subterranean layer to land a massive, devastating upper cut right into Leragga's jaw.
Leragga looks down at Bodega's incoming fist, then up at Super, and then to the side at Freddie. He thinks, his eyes gleaming with genuine excitement, "Brave little fools. You almost had me."
Before anything could happen—before Freddie's fist landed, before Super made impact, or before Bodega's upper cut connected—Leragga's Talent, Volant, activates. With movement faster than neural impulses, he moves. He redirects his core momentum, throwing Super to the side with an open palm. In the same fluid motion, he moves his upper body, making Freddie crash full-force into Rems, Enzo, and MXO, turning the boys into a chaotic pile of bodies. Right as he completes this redirection, he accepts the hit from below, getting punched squarely in the chin by Bodega. The force is enough to send him flying back, tumbling through the air.
But Leragga doesn't crash. He flips in mid-air, landing perfectly on his feet fifty paces away. He brushes dust off his uniform, looking completely unscathed by the coordinate ambush.
Freddie struggles up from the pile of his friends, looking at the older man in disbelief. He mutters, "There's no way..."
Leragga retorts, folding his arms over his chest, "You're right, there is 'no way' that you fools can defeat me. Your tactics are cute, but I've been agonizingly analyzing and dissecting variants of the BBC's lifetimes. I know your moves before you think them."
Nokukhanya, the Bridge Clan Princess, chimes in, appearing out of nowhere on the left side of the field. She wears a relaxed, polite smile that completely clashes with the life-and-death stakes around them. She says, her voice light, "Ahh... is that what you truly think of yourself? That you're special because you've used lifetime to be a bully?"
Nokukhanya is seen standing casually behind Leragga, having bypassed all of his sensory perceptions.
Leragga freezes, his senses failing to register her presence until she spoke. He simply says, his voice droping an octave, "Who are you?"
Nokukhanya replies, tilting her head, "I never put much thought into that, but... I suppose... I am someone."
Leragga moves. In a micro-second, he appears directly in front of her, closing his hand around her neck, ready to crush her neck. He says, "I really hate Happy-go-lucky characters."
But before he could apply any pressure...
Joy, a member of Nokukhanya's Royal Squadron, intercepts. Her fist, moving faster than regular physical perception, punches Leragga square in the face, the impact sending him flying backward, skidding along the gravel track.
Joy stands guard, her own Nzilo flaring. She then says, her voice full of a dangerous protective instinct, "You've got a lot of nerve, trying to put your greasy, uninvited paws on the princess."
As she says this, Sureina and Noligoa appear on either side of Joy.
They all enter their unique, coordinated fighting stance, surrounding the princess, as Leragga stands up straight. He looks at his palm, then looks at the three girls who just successfully landed a hit on him.
He then roars, a massive, deafening burst of violent energy echoing across the entire sports field, "Alright! No more games! BRING IT ON!"
The girls don't move. They hold their position, their faces impassive. Leragga lunges forward, his velocity approaching relativistic speeds, planning to obliterate them. But as he takes his first aggressive step, placing his foot down, his eyes violently widen with an instinctual, primal terror. He violently pulls his movement back, his Talent Volant screaming a warning as the actual ground beneath where his foot would have landed simply ceases to exist.
Leragga skids backward, the sweat breaking out on his brow as he mutters, "What the?!"
He touches his face. The very tip of his nose has been cut—a fine, precise slice that just broke the skin. He looks at the missing chunk of the school grounds, where a perfect, geometric vacuum has formed, eating into reality.
'The Touchless Blade, a coveted and legendary ability unique to the strongest members of the Mbatha clan. It unleashes an invisible slash moving at the absolute speed of light, defying the concepts of both space and time... Wielded only by those who have achieved the apex of their dedication and discipline, this elusive art does not just cut; it rewrites reality itself. Its destruction is absolute, bypassing defenses and distance. This is not a physical sword; it is a legendary technique meant to shape the destiny of the Mbatha Clan: The Touchless Blade.'
…2 minutes ago…
On the other side of the campus, Vanessa, Milner's Head Girl, is seen on a balcony, calmly overseeing the crumbling perimeter where the EXCOs are struggling to contain the Lower Grade Students during the takeover. She looks over her shoulder.
Noligoa, one of Nokukhanya's Royal Squadron, appears behind her. Tsiane, the Deputy Head Girl, stands beside Noligoa, looking nervous.
Noligoa chimes in, her posture respectful but urgent, "Miss Vanessa, we have a catastrophic problem on the field. The boys... they are failing against an unknown entity."
Vanessa then says, her voice low and composed, staring out at the chaotic quad. "I can already sense it. The Nzilo waves are all wrong. It feels like someone is walking on the grave of reality. And of course... Hakuna really likes being attacked by these weird, conceptually broken enemies. It's his defining trait."
Tsiane queries, looking between the Head Girl and the Squadron member, "So... what should we do? The EXCOs are holding the lower grades still, but we can't ignore the field."
Vanessa then ponders, a thoughtful look on her face. "Hmm. Noligoa... you think Princess Nokukhanya would help if we asked?"
Noligoa replies with a confident nod. "Most definitely. Prince Hakuna's entire royal clan is now under our clan's special care. We have a dimensional obligation to protect them from external threats. We would be conceptually wrong not to intervene."
Vanessa then says, a calm smile touching her lips as she develops a strategy on the fly. "Alright. I have a plan. Tsiane, as my deputy, I want you to stay here and oversee the perimeter. The lower grades need to know that they still have to follow school rules. Noligoa... you, Joy, and Sureina will have to go to the field and distract the enemy. Give the Princess a moment to assess the situation—maybe she will know what to do. Your primary objective: create an opening. When you do that, and the Princess is engaged, get to a specific tactical coordinate where you can draw his ire. Do not move. Stay exactly where you are for that single moment."
Noligoa mutters, her brow furrowing with confusion. "I... I don't understand, Miss Vanessa. Why would we stay still against a speedster? That sounds like suicide."
Vanessa retorts, her voice sharp with authority. "I did say that I have a plan, didn't I, Noligoa?"
Noligoa jolts, her hand snapping up in a salute. "Eh, yes! You did! I understand! It's just... that enemy. Their power... I'm literally on the other side of the school from where they are clashing, yet every single fiber of my being is screaming, 'Run, hide, do not go near that field!'"
Vanessa then says, placing a hand on Noligoa's shoulder. "Don't worry. You're my successor as Head Girl, right? You're destined to rule this place. You can handle a little existential dread."
Tsiane then queries, looking for clarity on the battlefield roles. "What will Gorata and Phumaphi do while I'm overseeing the perimeter?"
As Vanessa concludes, turning back to look over the sports fields. "They will assist you..."
The girls are now seen hatching their plan, each moving to their assigned positions... Noligoa, Joy, and Sureina speed toward the field, arriving just as the boys' ambush is dismantled...
Nokukhanya, the Bridge Clan Princess, chimes in, appearing out of nowhere... and the entire previous scene plays out, leading to Joy's punch and the Royal Squadron's synchronized stance. Noligoa holds her ground, thinking to herself, looking at Leragga's roaring face. "I don't know what Miss Vanessa is planning, but she put her trust in me, so I'll put my trust in her..."
Leragga lunges forward, his fist ready to solid-phase through Joy. But as he places his first step, his eyes violently widen as the ground before him just ceases to exist. He violates physics to pull himself backward, skidding in panic. He mutters, "What the?!" The tip of his nose has been conceptually cut.
Meanwhile…
Vanessa Mbatha is seen standing on the roof of one of the taller school buildings, the highest point overlooking the fields. Her uniform is unbuttoned, and her expression is a mask of absolute focus. She looks to where Leragga is, watching the Royal Squadron through the scope of her strategy. She sees the girls taunting him, and she sees the precise micro-second they lock their feet into position as per her instructions.
She then says, a dangerous, low hum of divine energy building around her body. "Looks like I'm up... Woza... AMAHLE." She hovers her right hand to her side as her legendary Katana, Amahle, appears from the concrete roof in a swirl of shimmering dark liquid before solidifying into her hand.
She then raises her arms above her head, grasping the katana firmly in a high guard (Jodan-no-Kamae), preparing to deliver a vertical slash aimed across the school grounds.
Vanessa then declares, her voice echoing with an internal force that causes the roof to vibrate. "This is my stamp of destiny. This is the pride and the proof of my clan, the Mbatha. Nsuku Yethu, Phantsi Kwami!"
As she says this, her sword, shimmers with energy that seems pure and divine, crackling with raw, conceptual force. The entire atmosphere around her building distorts, warping like heat on a highway. The sky itself seems to acknowledge the threat, a soft roar of the cosmos responding to her presence as she declares the name of the technique: "Touchless Blade!"
She then slashes her sword downward at what seems to be nothing... she just slashes the air above the roof... however...
A mile away, Leragga lunges forward. As his foot places down, the ground beneath where he would have stepped simply disappears, leaving a perfect, conceptual void. He skids backward, the tip of his nose having been perfectly sliced.
Vanessa lowers her sword, exhaling a long, steady breath. She then says with a slight sigh of frustration. "Damn. I missed."
Below, the Royal Squadron is in awe. Noligoa, having stared death in the face and watched it get sliced away, thinks to herself. "Incredible. Miss Vanessa Mbatha... she's just... incredible!"
Leragga stops trying to kill the Royal Squadron. He tracks the trajectory of the conceptual energy and looks toward Vanessa Mbatha on the distant roof.
He denotes, looking at the tiny figure in the distance and then touching his bleeding nose. He thinks to himself, analysis complete. "That cut... that technique... that was at relativistic light-speed. And she has absolute range on her side as well. She is the most dangerous tactical variable currently present. She dies first."
But before he could even finish his analytical thought, a shadow falls over him. Vanessa, using the sheer momentum of the dimensional void she just created, appeared directly in front of his face as she casually said, "Hello."
Leragga's eyes widen as she immediately slashes Amahle in his direction. The subsequent impact is so massive that it doesn't just destroy the ground around Leragga; it conceptually removes the next three football fields behind him in a perfect line, erasing everything before and after him.
Leragga vanishes right before the conceptual void can consume him. He appears further down the field, coughing. He scoffs, trying to regain his arrogance. "Heh. Conceptual removal, huh? Good thing I can naturally move faster than light."
Vanessa pops her head up from the smoke, her expression neutral. She looks at the older man, who is actually breathing hard for the first time. "Oh, really? Faster than light? Well, that's great news. This will be great practical training for my clan."
Without warning, they both vanish in a synchronized flash of motion. They reappear instantly in the high sky above Milner, hundreds of feet in the air.
Leragga, realizing he cannot solid-phase her due to the divine nature of her blade, attempts to deliver a massive physical punch to her chest to knock her back to earth. Vanessa, rather than blocking, simply sends a horizontal slash. The blade is still distant from his fist, and yet, the invisible, relativistic strike lands—or so we thought.
Leragga vanishes in a flicker of movement before the effect of The Touchless Blade could fully manifest on his physical form. As he vanishes, the horizontal line of the technique continues on its light-speed trajectory. With a massive, silent crack, the literal stratosphere of Earth is cut open. Pure, black space, dotted with distant stars, can be seen from Earth during the broad daylight, as the technique conceptually removes a swath of the planet's atmosphere.
Vanessa mutters, looking up at the void she just cut in the sky, a slight flush of embarrassment on her face. "Oops."
Oops? Really?! That is your reaction to cutting open the planet's atmospheric layer?! Writer, do you have a personal crush on this girl or something? You're just letting her violate reality like it's a standard school regulation!
The cut in the stratosphere is already closing as the planet's core resonance forces reality to heal itself. But Leragga uses the atmospheric chaos as a distraction. He reappears directly beside Vanessa, moves faster than her defensive guard, and grabs the hilt of her legendary sword, planning to disarm her.
Oh, great. He's completely ignoring me.
I do NOT.
Leragga grins, the divine hilt of Amahle firmly in his grasp. He then says, looking at the Head Girl, "I'll be taking this..."
He succeeds in yanking the sword from her grasp, pulling it back. But as soon as he tries to wield it, to turn its power against her, the legendary katana stops moving midair, refusing to respond to his neural input.
"Huh?" Leragga utters in confusion, pulling on the hilt, but it's anchored in space.
As he looks at the blade, the divine hilt and razor-sharp metal melt. The entire sword turns into a deep, dark liquid that splashes into a small dimensional portal that opens next to his feet.
Leragga mutters in genuine, scientific confusion, "Woah... What is this sorcery?"
On the other side of the sky, Vanessa is seen with her hand by her face, her palm facing away from her head in a specific mudra gesture. Her legendary katana, Amahle, appears from the portal near her feet in its liquid state before solidifying and floating vertically into her waiting hand. As her fingers wrap around the hilt, she speaks. Her voice is no longer compositional or polite; it is cold, deep, and intimidating—the voice of a warrior maiden. She says, staring at Leragga. "Amahle is bound to my genetic and spiritual code. It will only be wielded by me..."
She vanishes.
She then appears directly above Leragga, dropping down with conceptual force, ready to cut him conceptually from the sky. As she descends, she concludes her thought. "Is that understood?"
She then kicks him hard in the chest to force him to the ground, using his own velocity against him, and slashes the air above him.
As Leragga slams into the field with seismic force, the ground beneath where he lands disappears into a conceptual vacuum. The high-speed camera catches the image of Leragga, seemingly, having been cut in half by the conceptual void she unleashed as he landed.
Joy mutters, her eyes wide as she looks at the crater, then up at Vanessa floating in the sky. "No way!"
Enzo queries, from where he's helping the boys up. "Did she...?"
Fade out…
End of Episode 71…