As Abel headed off to his next class, Lisa Vulkan was in Professor Halvern's office.
He wasn't there, so she had to wait. She had been waiting for quite a while when she noticed a picture of him on the wall.
He was much younger than she had expected. It wouldn't have been difficult to mistake him for an academy student.
In fact, all the professors looked young despite their ages, even the headmaster. How was that even possible?
As she pondered this, she heard a click behind her and straightened up. A moment later, a black-haired man with a scar on his forehead entered the room and sat down behind the desk in front of her.
He was holding a book with a moon crest on the cover. He set it aside, then looked at her.
"Lisa Vulkan, I presume?"
His voice was cold and distant. It was as though he were speaking from the abyss itself.
"Yes. I'm Lisa Vulkan. It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor Halvern," Lisa responded.
"Hmm. So, what business do you have with me?"
Getting straight to the point, I see.
"All right, I'll get straight to the point. I heard you know about the Void Heart."
Void Heart. That was the name of the Primordial ore she was looking for, and apparently, only Professor Halvern knew its whereabouts.
"...Give up."
"Huh?"
"I said, give up. The Void Heart isn't something you can attain. If there's anything else you wish to acquire, I'll hear you out. If not, we're finished."
"...Excuse me? I came here for information about the Void Heart, so that's what I want."
"Young lady, the Void Heart's location alone is dangerous. If, by some miracle, you manage to survive the environment, there's a guardian protecting it."
A guardian? This was something she hadn't heard of before. That was when she knew she had made the right choice by checking with Professor Halvern.
"I don't care if there's a guardian. I'll personally find Knights to help—"
"Three years ago, a team of Arcane Knights led by Commander Reinhardt went on an expedition to find the Void Heart. That day, only Commander Reinhardt returned, and his memories of the expedition had been erased."
That was enough to silence Lisa. Commander Reinhardt was a powerful individual, one who was said to have conquered a country overnight, and even he had failed? Forget about him for a moment; the Arcane Knights in general were all quite strong. For no one but Commander Reinhardt to return, this guardian must have been truly dangerous.
Professor Halvern put his hands to his forehead before turning to his left.
"Do you see the danger now? I suggest ending this conversation here."
Yes, they should have ended the conversation there. Any sane person could obviously see that this was a death trap. But Lisa Vulkan, while sane, wasn't just any person.
"Sorry, Professor, but I need to know more about the Void Heart."
Professor Halvern's eyes widened. He stood up and quickly turned around.
"Did you not hear what I just said? Going there will only lead to your death!" he said sternly. His voice shook the room as veins bulged on his forehead.
"Yes. I heard your warning, and I'll take it into account. But I'm not going to stop."
"Why are you doing this?"
"I have a dream. I want to forge a blade. A blade that can stand at the peak of all blades. A blade known for its beauty and function. The Void Heart is only one of the materials I need to forge that blade. If I have to reach the depths of hell to attain it, then to the depths of hell I shall go."
"...You're insane."
"It's rude to call a lady insane, you know," she said with a grin.
Professor Halvern's face was now completely blank. He had probably just heard the most ridiculous statement in the world. Risking one's life to forge a sword? No human would risk their life for that.
No human, but Lisa Vulkan. Assuming she was human in the first place.
He sighed. The veins on his forehead disappeared as he sat back down, looking exhausted.
"Your dream is ridiculous, you know that?"
"Yes, Professor."
"And you're still going to risk your life to achieve it?"
"Yes, Professor."
He rubbed his eyes as he muttered something under his breath.
"If, by some miracle, you survive and forge that sword, show it to me sometime."
He grabbed the book with the moon crest on it and placed it in front of Lisa. He then covered his face with his hands and fell backward in his chair.
"There's a map on the first page. It shows a certain region on the continent of Noctara. If you follow the map, you should find the location of the Void Heart."
"Really?" Lisa said as she grabbed the book.
She held it against her chest and clutched it tightly.
Finally, it's here. It's in my hands.
She looked at the professor with a smile, then gave a light bow.
"Thank you."
She got up and headed towards the door. But then she remembered a question she wanted to ask. It wasn't anything important, just something that had been lingering in the back of her mind.
"Professor, how did you end up in that crater?"
According to her research, the Void Heart had a tendency to warp and distort the space around it. So she had begun looking for incidents around the world in which people had encountered or recorded spatial warping. Most of the people involved in those incidents were dead. The only recent case involved a boy who had been found in a near-death state. He had been discovered in the middle of a crater that appeared to have been broken apart.
That boy was obviously Professor Halvern.
"I wish I could tell you. But my memories of that day are quite foggy. Trying to recall even the slightest detail makes my head ache."
"I see."
So both the commander and Professor Halvern had suffered memory loss. Interesting.
Lisa Vulkan left Professor Halvern's office. As soon as she closed the door, she immediately opened the book.
On the first page was a map. It seemed to depict an island near the Noctara Continent. It was located southeast of the continent, and the island itself seemed to be balanced.
On the second page was some sort of spell. She didn't know what it was, and despite her excitement, she didn't want to activate it just yet. She had no idea what it did, so the wise thing to do was to use it on that island.
Finally, after all this time, she had the location of the material she needed. Now came the question of how she was going to get there.
No, arranging the journey wouldn't be difficult. The real problem was what she'd do once she reached the island. According to the professor, a guardian was protecting the Void Heart.
Lisa Vulkan herself was definitely strong. She was more than qualified to join the Arcane Knights. Despite her involvement in politics, she also studied magic as a pastime, and her eldest brother had taught her swordsmanship. Granted, she would rather forge a sword, but she had an impeccable talent for it.
But if the Commander of the Arcane Knights hadn't succeeded, she wasn't entirely sure of her own chances.
So what do I do now?
Boom!
As if answering her prayers, a loud boom echoed from outside. Lisa noticed several third- and second-year students running out. Normally, she wasn't one to follow the crowd, but she was curious about the loud noise, so she followed them.
She reached the swordsmen's training area, where a large crowd had gathered. She heard cheering and booing as she made her way through the crowd.
When she finally reached the front, she saw a tall, seven-foot iron golem fighting another individual: a blonde boy who was five feet and three inches tall. The iron golem kept punching, causing shockwaves with each movement, but the blonde-haired boy continued dodging as if it were child's play.
Is that... Noir Drake?
Suddenly, several white beams of light were fired. Each was moving so fast that Lisa could barely follow them. But Noir dodged the beams gracefully, as if he were dancing.
Where did those even come from?
She looked around the training ground and spotted a person at the edge wearing a blue robe over some sort of outfit. Their pink hair was sticking out from the hood. Lisa could tell that it wasn't the academy uniform.
A little above the robed figure, a silver-haired girl stood on some sort of magical platform. She seemed to be holding something resembling a sniper rifle. She pulled the trigger, and a beam of white light shot out of the weapon.
Well, that answers that.
The robed figure raised a hand, and dozens of ice shards appeared in the air. They then aimed themselves at Noir before shooting toward him. But Noir had no trouble dodging them as well, even using a fireball to cancel some of them out.
...He's fast.
This was the first time Lisa had seen Noir fight. Due to his small stature, he was far more agile than average, allowing him to dodge the iron golem's punches without much trouble. But what really amazed her was how he was dodging those beams of light. If Lisa had to guess, she'd say each of them was traveling at least ten times the speed of sound. And yet he dodged them as if he had already seen them coming.
The ice shards launched by the robed figure froze whatever they touched. Each time Noir dodged, they would hit something and completely freeze the surrounding area. A single touch was lethal, yet Noir managed to grab one and throw it at another without much trouble.
He was amazing. Lisa Vulkan gave credit where credit was due. Noir was dodging the punches, beams of light, and ice shards, yet he wasn't struggling one bit. But as amazing as the entire scene was, Lisa Vulkan couldn't help but wonder why Noir was fighting.
And, better yet, who was he fighting?
---
I swear this is not my fault. Well, okay, it's not completely my fault.
I was walking to my next class, which was swordsmanship training. I had applied for a general class, which meant I was studying both magic and swordsmanship.
When I arrived at the training ground, I was told to wait in the corner with the other first-years. Apparently, there was a sparring match between a fourth-year and a third-year. Apparently, that fourth-year was a member of something called the Student Council. Apparently, they were the best students in the entire school.
During swordsmanship training, everyone was required to wear a white shirt, black pants, and boots provided by the school. They had some sort of defensive spell engraved on them to prevent anyone from getting hurt. The instructor handed them to us, then told us to get changed in a nearby locker room. I didn't exactly want to get naked in front of the others. I didn't exactly have anything underneath, and with my face, I would definitely get mistaken for a girl.
So I used Earth magic to create a stone barrier around me, then took off my clothes and mask. The spell engraved on the clothes wasn't exactly powerful, so I decided to create better clothing. Using Weaver, I took some Metal Qi, Fire Qi, and Wind Qi to create the exact same clothing, but with better defenses against physical attacks.
Once I put on my new clothes and mask, I put my uniform in my room back in Infinity's Domain, then let down the barrier.
Clang!
I turned around and saw the fourth-year Student Council member sparring with a third-year. If you could even call it sparring. It was more like a brutal onslaught—a massacre.
The third-year had bruises all over his face. His left eye was bleeding, and his right eye had a purple bump. It was clear that he wasn't in any shape to continue fighting.
But—
Clang!
The fourth-year continued his onslaught without a break. He punched the third-year in the face and swung his sword at incredible speed. All the third-year could do was block with his half-broken sword.
"Excuse me," I asked a nearby instructor. "Shouldn't you call off the match?"
The professor looked at me, then chuckled. "The student hasn't forfeited, so the match will continue."
What kind of crap is that? If this goes on any longer, that student is going to die.
Even if the instructor couldn't do anything, why wasn't anyone else stopping the match? Were they really all that scared of that fourth-year... or did they just not care?
Well, I didn't particularly care about the student on a personal level, but I didn't exactly want him dying here. So I took matters into my own hands.
Just as the fourth-year was going in for another strike, I jumped right into the middle of the battle and kicked him square in the solar plexus. He coughed up a bit of blood before tearing across the training field and crashing into a nearby wall with a loud thud.
I turned to face the injured student. I gathered the mana I needed into a ball the size of my palm, then imbued it with healing magic.
I threw it at him, and it splashed onto him like water. Just like that, all his injuries were gone.
He felt his face for a moment, then stared at me.
"You don't need to forfeit the match," I said. "Just leave this to me."
"Who are you?"
Just as he asked that question, something tore through the air like a bullet, aiming straight for my head. I caught it between my middle and index fingers. It was a sword.
In front of me, I saw the fourth-year student striding toward me. Guess I have to give him credit for tanking that kick. I was keeping my level around Shiro's but within that limit, I hadn't held back on that kick.
"Guess this year's first-years aren't all wimps," he said.
The fourth-year had black hair, which didn't seem that common at the school. He also had burning red eyes, though I suspected the burning part might have been because of me. He had a good physique, and the aura he gave off only emphasized it.
"I didn't think all my seniors would go around picking on weaklings," I said.
Then I turned to the third-year student.
"Respectfully," I added, trying to downplay the fact that I'd called him a weakling.
"He knew what would happen if he challenged me. Anyone I fight can only stop when they lose their ability to hold a sword," he said with a smirk. "That's just how it is."
"So this is what Student Council members are like. I'll remember that."
Suddenly, a voice called out from within the crowd that had gathered around us.
"Don't lump us in with that brute."
"Please don't."
Actually, make that two voices. Both were equally annoying, though.
From behind the fourth-year, two girls stepped forward. One was a beautiful silver-haired girl, while the other was a cute pink-haired girl.
"Most of us have the ability to think with our brains. This bozo over here couldn't think for the life of him," the silver-haired girl said.
"Well, at least we can agree on something."
The silver-haired girl nodded, then looked at the fourth-year. He didn't even bother looking at her and continued focusing primarily on me.
Then the pink-haired girl tugged at the silver-haired girl's arm. The silver-haired girl turned, and the pink-haired girl whispered something in her ear.
The silver-haired girl gasped, then looked at the pink-haired girl. She nodded before turning toward me.
"It seems our dummy here may have made an enemy he shouldn't have. Tell you what: if you leave, we'll pretend you never interrupted the duel," she said.
"I'm sorry. Are you implying that I had no right to interfere and save a student who couldn't fight any longer?"
"An instructor would have stopped them."
"Did you see what I saw? Your friend had no intention of stopping, nor did any instructor attempt to stop the duel."
Then we stopped talking. We could both see that we had different views of the situation. She wanted to leave and pretend it had never happened. Normally, I would agree, but my problem was that they were framing me as though I had done something wrong by doing what needed to be done. Had I not intervened, the student would have been dead.
"What's your name, first-year?"
"Noir."
"I am Mira," she said, placing one hand on her chest. "The brute over there is Kaizo, and the quiet beauty over there is Karisa."
All right, so at least I had some names to work with here.
"Let's make a deal. The three of us will fight you. If we win, we'll go our separate ways without any trouble. If you win, you may decide what happens to Kaizo. Do we have a deal?"
It seemed like a good deal to me. Kaizo deserved to be taught a lesson or three for what he'd done. The logic behind why she thought a duel could settle everything was beyond me, but I'd gladly take advantage of it.
"All right, I accept your deal. But don't you think it's a bit unfair to go three against one?"
"Pffff. Kha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Huh?
"Don't try playing the numbers card. You're clearly on a different level if you can lightly kick Kaizo into a wall."
"...All right, you got me there."
"Then let the battle begin."
As soon as Mira said "begin," Kaizo disappeared from view, then reappeared in front of me. On closer inspection, he was much taller than I'd given him credit for. He attempted to swing his sword vertically, but I took a step back, and his blade passed through the space I'd occupied a moment earlier.
Then I pulled my leg back slightly and punched him in the side of his stomach. A powerful shockwave spread through the training field. I was sure he was down for the count, but apparently, he had tanked it because he was still standing.
Then he proceeded to throw a punch of his own. I dodged by dashing backward, but as soon as I did, a magic circle formed beneath me.
I quickly used Trinity to pull myself out of there. A second later, the area where I'd been standing detonated with a loud boom.
Once I appeared a bit farther away, a beam of white light suddenly shot out of nowhere. Thankfully, Khaos must have detected it and activated Zero Hour. Thanks to that, I had time to dodge the beam of light. It pierced through the wall behind me, leaving a smoldering hole.
When I turned around, I noticed Mira was gone, and Karisa had changed into some sort of strange robe and was holding a staff. As far as I knew, she was the weakest, so I'd get rid of her first.
I quickly dashed toward her, but Kaizo appeared in front of me. This time, he imbued his sword with some sort of reddish-black lightning and struck at me. I jumped over him, but the residual energy from the attack managed to come into contact with me. My Resistance skill reacted, and thin purple veins spread along the area where the energy had hit.
Once I landed, I continued my assault on Karisa, but the moment I got near her—
"I'm sorry," she said, wearing a pitiful expression.
The next thing I knew, magic circles formed behind me, in front of me, below me, to the sides—in every direction. They were all blue and appeared to be double-layered, as though they were some sort of cannons. I heard a roar, and then a blue light enveloped me.
It managed to pierce through my clothing, and my Resistance skill reacted. The light was powerful enough to knock me backward, but I was met with another white beam. This time, I didn't have enough time to dodge, so I would have been hit head-on.
But—
"Agh!"
Instead, I was struck by a kick from Kaizo, which sent me flying into the air. It was only then that I noticed Mira standing on a magical platform above me. In her hand was a sniper rifle, but instead of a scope, it had three perfectly aligned magic circles. The sniper rifle was white, with a diamond pattern all over it.
Her clothes had also changed. She now wore a white scarf tied around her neck, a white coat with a white vest underneath, white pants, and boots. She wore a black belt filled with different tools, such as knives and cartridges.
Now that I knew where she was, attacking had just gotten a lot simpler.
I prepared a lightning bolt in my hand and got ready to fire it. But then three triple-layered magic circles formed above me. They shot out lances made of fire. Below me, Mira took aim and fired the white beam. This time, though, the blast separated into dozens of needle-like beams.
Kaizo wasn't just sitting around, either. He released his mana and aura together, weaving them to create Chi. Then, using that Chi, he wrapped his entire body in it. He began to grow in size as the Chi hardened into iron armor.
He must have added Metal Qi to it.
Before I knew it, a seven-foot-tall golem had formed and was attempting to punch me.
I had to admit, I was cornered. Everywhere I turned, an attack was coming straight at me.
I activated Zero Hour to give myself some extra time to think. I wasn't exactly sure I could get out of this unscathed. I mean, I wasn't going to die, that was for sure, but if possible, I wanted to get out of this without any injuries.
But my mind was drawing a blank. Since I had no ideas, I turned to someone who might be able to save me from this situation.
Got any suggestions, Khaos?
So, would you have called on me if you hadn't gotten yourself into trouble?
Truth be told, no.
...Brutal answer.
You'd do the same.
I wouldn't... Okay. Maybe I-I'd... Yeah, you're right.
So, any suggestions I can use, or should we just take the hit?
Here's an idea. We'll do this together.
Oh?
---
Throughout the battle, Khaos had been watching his master play around with these idiots. To him, there was no point in all of this. From the very beginning, Abel could have blitzed them with a single strike of his sword. But he didn't. Why?
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Years ago, before he could speak to his master, there had been an incident involving Claudia and an assassin. His master had found the assassin, but rather than get rid of them quickly, he had played around with them. The same thing had happened during the academy entrance exam.
Khaos wanted to understand what made his master prolong battles like this and reduce himself to his opponents' level. That's why, when Abel asked him for advice, he suggested a synchronization method. With this method, Khaos would gain control over Abel's body while Abel remained conscious but was reduced to a spectator. He could still issue commands and take back control whenever needed. He could even turn his attention to someone completely different while Khaos fought another opponent.
Once Khaos explained this to Abel, his answer was:
"All right, if you're sure it'll work, then let's test it out."
If something could help in any way, Abel was always willing to try it out. That was one thing Khaos had learned about Abel. It was a very bad habit that could get him killed.
Same old Abel.
Initiating Dual Sync Mode.
Once it was activated, Abel's body came completely under Khaos's control. Unlike Abel, Khaos wasn't one to play around. There were attacks coming from every direction. Abel might have deflected the needle-like beams with his sword and sent them toward the iron golem before dodging the incoming fire lances. Khaos, on the other hand, found a much simpler solution.
He simply vanished using Trinity.
The needle-like beams, the fire lances, and the incoming punch all collided with one another, triggering a massive explosion that sent a shockwave across the training ground. The nearby students were blown away, and the ground crumbled under the pressure.
"Good call there."
It was the simplest solution available.
Oh, wait. I was trying to figure out why he plays around so much. I guess that means I shouldn't eliminate them too quickly.
Once he made up his mind, Khaos looked up and found Mira staring at him with her jaw hanging open. The same could be said for nearly everyone else watching the fight.
Did I do something wrong?
"You teleported out of what seemed to be an impossible-to-escape attack. What did you expect?"
Oh, I see.
Despite the shock on everyone's faces, Kaizo didn't seem to care as much. He lunged forward and began attacking Khaos with his fists. But Khaos, using the least amount of movement possible, dodged gracefully, as if he were dancing.
Then Mira began shooting white beams from her sniper rifle while Karisa launched ice shards at him. By combining Trinity and Zero Hour, Khaos predicted where the beams would travel, allowing him to dodge them with ease. As for the ice shards, he dodged the ones he could, threw back the ones he caught, and used fireballs to intercept the rest.
For the moment, he calculated that the best course of action was to eliminate Kaizo first. The two ranged fighters behind him were a problem, and if Khaos tried to attack them, Kaizo would protect them. But if he attacked Kaizo, he would have to deal with the other two supporting him.
Khaos had to admit that their teamwork was excellent.
So he had to expand his horizons. Instead of thinking logically, he began trying to think creatively. Or at least, he tried to. But it just wasn't working. All Khaos could come up with were logical plans, which Mira could potentially predict.
"You having a little trouble there, partner?"
...Maybe.
"Want some help?"
---
Lisa continued watching the fight. She had asked one of the students who had been there from the beginning to explain everything to her. From what she could tell, both sides had a point. Despite that, she had to side more with Noir. Mira wanted to walk away without causing a scene, despite the enormous scene they were already causing, while Noir wanted Kaizo to face the consequences of his actions. If they had gone along with Noir's suggestion, they could have avoided all of this.
Yet, despite learning about everything that had happened, Lisa Vulkan was happy. Now, she could finally see what her potential wielder was capable of, not to mention what the Student Council members could do.
So she watched, taking notes.
For a while, it was a simple exchange. Punch, dodge, shoot, dodge. Lisa was getting bored.
Then, finally, things changed when Noir went on the offensive. Five black spheres materialized around him.
At first, Lisa thought they were an attack from the Student Council, specifically from the one known as Karisa, who seemed to be the group's mage.
But she soon realized that this was one of Noir's abilities when Mira fired another beam of white light. The beam raced through the air, attempting to hit Noir, only to be absorbed by one of the black spheres. Mira seemed unable to believe her eyes, because she fired another beam, which was absorbed just like the previous one.
Noir lowered his head slightly, then raised his hand.
"Gravity Field."
Immediately afterward, the iron golem, who was actually Kaizo, began to glow purple. Noir pulled, and Kaizo fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Noir began walking and passed by Kaizo. He knelt down and whispered something to him before getting back up.
Karisa was the closest, so going after her seemed like the most logical choice. She could see that as well. She immediately began to run, but Noir didn't bother chasing her. As she fled, Karisa fired a bolt of lightning at Noir, but one of the black spheres absorbed it without any trouble.
Once she had gained enough distance, Karisa turned around and cast a protective barrier around herself. Then, dozens of magic circles appeared in the sky. They were triple-layered, but there was something different about them. Each layer had a different color and formula.
Was this perhaps some sort of fusion magic Karisa had created? If so, what types of magic had she fused? Lisa couldn't wait to find out.
Once Karisa gave the signal, a barrage of spells rained down upon Noir. One of the layered magic circles combined fire and lightning to form plasma. Another combined ice and wind, creating blizzards. Each spell was simple, but extremely effective.
Yet Noir made it all look like a joke. He absorbed the spells using his black spheres. As long as those spheres remained around him, the spells couldn't even touch him.
By the time the barrage had ended, the ground was completely crumbled, yet Noir remained completely untouched.
He then threw one of the black spheres toward Karisa, which completely absorbed the barrier around her.
Frightened, Karisa backed away and unleashed another spell. This time, it was some sort of black beam. Unlike the previous attacks, this one pierced through the sphere, reducing it to ash.
For a moment, Noir stood completely still, and Mira took advantage of that.
She pulled a special cartridge from her belt and loaded it into her gun. Then she aimed directly at Noir's back and fired a beam of white light.
Nothing special, Lisa thought.
Then the beam split into dozens of multicolored beams of light, tearing through the air like lightning. With all his attention focused on Karisa, Noir had no time to dodge the attacks. In fact, he hadn't even noticed them yet.
Or so Lisa and everyone else thought.
Suddenly, magic circles appeared. Dozens of them, each positioned directly in front of the incoming beams of light, as though they had been calculated in advance.
The beams struck the magic circles and came to a complete stop. Only a few managed to break through the circles placed to stop them, but their attack power had been reduced. They wouldn't have the same effect.
Noir turned and noticed the beams of light heading toward him. He abandoned his attack on Karisa and attempted to absorb them using the black spheres, but the beams pierced through the spheres, forcing Noir to dodge entirely.
---
How does he keep dodging? Mira asked herself as Noir evaded her final bullet.
"How did he dodge that?"
The voice speaking to her belonged to Karisa. She had a Core Skill that allowed her to send information to anyone, and she had used it to send Mira an analysis of Noir's orbs.
When the orb struck the barrier, Karisa had been able to analyze it and immediately synthesize a counter. She had sent the data to Mira, who had used it to create a new round of bullets capable of piercing the black orbs—the Voids, as Karisa called them.
And yet, Noir had still managed to block the attack.
From her vantage point in the air, Mira had seen that Noir hadn't even turned his head to look at her. She had taken advantage of that opening, yet somehow, the moment she fired the new bullet, magic circles appeared and blocked most of her attack.
It was far too perfect. Almost as though Noir had calculated everything in advance and simply waited for her to make her move.
Was that why he hadn't bothered to turn around?
Mira was at her wit's end. She felt as though she had been pulled into some sort of trap, one she didn't know how to escape.
Karisa had managed to gain some distance from Noir, but Noir still had Kaizo pinned down. In fact, their entire formation had fallen apart the moment Kaizo was taken out of the fight. That meant they needed to free him.
"Karisa, use your magic to restrain Noir for a few moments."
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm going to free that idiot."
Karisa immediately began casting. She created chains from Earth magic and used them to bind Noir's limbs. Then, using Gravity magic, she formed layer upon layer of magic circles to pin him down. The intense gravitational pressure caused the ground beneath him to cave in, and Noir fell into a hole created by the force.
Meanwhile, Mira raised her sniper rifle and aimed at Kaizo. Her Magic Scope could analyze magic to some extent, provided she understood the magic behind it.
Fortunately, the magic restraining Kaizo was the work of the Voids. Once Mira understood that, all she had to do was pierce through the magic.
Using the data Karisa had sent her, she prepared a round resistant to Void magic. She had created Anti-Void bullets.
She loaded them into her sniper rifle and took aim. Noir had only three Voids left, so she locked onto them and fired.
This time, beams of black light shot out before splitting into three separate projectiles. Each was roughly the same size and speed, and they had no trouble piercing through and destroying the Voids.
Once that was done, Mira looked toward the area where Kaizo had been.
He was gone.
Perfect, she thought.
Boom!
An explosion erupted from the pit Noir was in. Two figures leaped out of it and into the air: Noir and Kaizo. It seemed Kaizo had reduced his size while keeping his armor intact.
Kaizo began infusing his fist with black lightning, a special form of magic unique to him. It could erode the target's body and inflict a stun effect.
Kaizo pulled back his fist, then punched Noir directly in the solar plexus. The air crackled as Noir tore through the air and crashed into the ground.
But Kaizo wasn't finished. Using the black lightning, he propelled himself toward the ground and slammed his fist directly into Noir's face—or his mask, in this case.
Booooooooom!
The boom echoed across the training ground.
Dust exploded outward as Noir's body slammed into the earth, carving a shallow crater beneath him. Black lightning crawled over his chest and cracked mask, eating away at the surface of both his clothing and armor.
At this point, most of the crowd had already fainted from the pressure of the battle. All, except a certain crimson-haired girl who kept her eyes open the entire time. There were a few others, still conscious, but she was paying attention the most.
Mira had wanted to defeat Noir so they could all go their separate ways. However, this wasn't what she had in mind.
"You idiot! You killed him!"
"Huh?"
Kaizo straightened up, then looked at the concerned Mira.
"He was stupid enough to challenge us. He should have seen this coming. We are the strongest, after all."
Mira looked at Karisa, who seemed as though she was about to throw up. Personally, Mira felt the same way.
The president is going to chew us out.
While Noir's death was concerning, she was more worried about what the president would do to them if he found out about this.
"Well, at least it's over."
"What's over?"
Mira wasn't thinking clearly because of the stress she knew she was about to face. That's why she turned around and answered without considering who had spoken.
"Obviously, the fight," she said.
That was when she came back to her senses.
Behind her stood a figure she didn't recognize. He had long black hair, smooth as silk, and pale skin that glistened in the sunlight. His face was young and beautiful enough to pass for a girl's. But most importantly, his sclera were as black as night. One eye burned red, while the other shone purple.
The figure wore a smile innocent enough to deceive anyone. Yet his presence alone made Mira feel as though she were standing face-to-face with one of the Ten Dragons.
Despite the face reveal and the difference in hair color, it only took Mira a few seconds to know exactly who he was. That was why she immediately jumped off her platform. Her instincts told her she would be in danger if she stayed.
She was right. A momentlater, the platform she had been standing on was replaced by a pillar of ice. Standing atop it was none other than the black-haired figure, Noir Drake.
Mira created another magical platform and landed on it.
Then she thought she heard Noir mutter something.
"We'll do this together."
His sclera returned to normal, but his eyes continued to glow purple and red. This time, however, both eyes glowed with a mixture of the two colors.
"Look down, pretty boy!" Kaizo screamed. "I'm gonna ruin that face of yours!"
By now, Mira could tell that somethinghad changed about Noir. She was ready to surrender, but Kaizo, on the other hand, was thinking only about fighting.
She didn't know what was going through Karisa's mind, but Karisa was logical. She was most likely thinking the same thing Mira was. For now, neither of them would interfere.
This was Kaizo's fight.
But just as Mira tried to back away, Kaizo leaped into the air and attempted to punch Noir with his black lightning.
Noir responded with a kick—a simple roundhouse kick aimed directly at Kaizo's side. It was an incredibly basic move, but—
Crack!
It was enough to pierce Kaizo's armor with ease and send him flying toward the ground.
However, just before he hit the ground, Noir appeared beneath him and kicked him upward, further penetrating his armor.
A shockwave erupted as Kaizo was sent flying. Immediately afterward, Noir appeared beneath him and kicked him toward the ground.
Kick after kick, Kaizo was being toyed with as though he were a ball. Each strike was more powerful than the last, and they tore through his armor with little effort. Noir remained expressionless as he delivered blow after blow. Anyone still conscious had to admit that he looked cool doing so.
Finally, with one last kick, Noir sent Kaizo flying through the air, his armor completely destroyed.
Then he smiled.
"For surviving this long, I'll reward you."
As soon as he muttered those words, the surrounding air began to heat up to an astronomical degree. Flames erupted around Abel as both his eyes began to glow crimson red. He looked toward the sky and smiled—a very ominous smile.
His clothes burst into flames as they began to change shape. His shirt and pants turned obsidian black, while a white belt marked with blood-red flames appeared around his waist. His boots became white, with blood-red flames decorating their surfaces. Over his clothes, a long white coat materialized, along with a pair of crimson katanas attached to the back of his waist. The coat had a hood that covered Noir's head, and a full-face mask materialized over his face.
Noir grabbed the handles of his katanas and unsheathed them. As the blades emerged, blood-red flames enveloped them, spreading across Noir's entire body.
He then brought the crimson katanas together, leaving a small gap between them.
Three magic circles bloomed in the space between the blades. One appeared near the tips, another in the middle, and the last near the guards. A fireball formed within the circle closest to the guards before spreading toward the middle circle, where it was compressed. Its size dwindled, but its energy continued to increase.
The grass around Noir began turning to ash, and everyone still conscious in the training ground began to sweat.
Noir raised his swords and aimed them at the sky. The magic circle near the tips separated into three layers—the outer, middle, and inner layers—each transforming into something resembling a cannon.
"Cameal: Ex Solkariel!"
The magic circles folded inward before releasing a massive beam of white-hot flames into the sky, aimed directly at Kaizo.
The beam didn't sound like ordinary flames. Instead, it produced a low hum reminiscent of the Halo Resonance from the Aether Ark.
Kaizo's battered iron armor stood no chance against the flames. It was completely vaporized, leaving not even a single piece of scrap behind. Kaizo didn't even have time to scream before the flames consumed him. His body flickered for a moment then disappeared. To everyone watching, Kaizo was dead.
Once the beam had fulfilled its purpose, the flames surrounding Noir subsided completely. His clothes changed back to normal, and the weapons he was carrying disappeared into flames.
He looked up at the sky once more and smiled, satisfied with what he saw. He then turned his attention toward Mira and Karisa.
After witnessing that display of power, Mira was no fool. She dropped her sniper rifle and raised her hands.
"I surrender."
"Me too."
Karisa followed her lead.
"But you didn't have to kill him, you know. He was an idiot, and quite frankly, he deserved that beating, but killing him was going too far, ya know?"
Noir looked at them, then laughed. He laughed for quite a while, too. Mira was terrified.
"All of you are quite gullible."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Noir threw something that resembled a corpse. A burned-up corpse. He held out his hand, and some strange energy began to leak out of the corpse. The energy wrapped around it like a cocoon. Then the cocoon opened, and out came a beautiful girl with long black hair.
The girl lay on the ground for a few seconds before opening her eyes. She then sat up, leaving her chest completely exposed. She looked around, all mopey, then spotted Noir.
She smiled and spoke.
"Hey, pretty boy. What do you—"
"Take a good look at yourself before you start judging my face."
Noir then created a mirror of ice and handed it to the girl. She looked at herself, then screamed in shock.
Naturally, it wouldn't take a detective to figure out that this girl was Kaizo in girl form.
"Hope you like your new body," Noir said with a smirk.
Kaizo couldn't handle the shock and fainted.
Kaizo wasn't the only one who wanted to faint. How Kaizo had become a girl was one thing, but what Mira wanted to know was how he had survived. Had what they had just witnessed been an illusion? Or was Kaizo much stronger than they had given him credit for?
---
Well, things could have turned out much worse than they did. When Khaos was having trouble dealing with the trio, I suggested he use one of his old skills. He chose Void and used it much more efficiently than I ever had.
But with all his attention focused on Karisa, he completely forgot about Mira, who used that to her advantage. Luckily, he had me. I was able to deploy a few magic shields ahead of time and block most of those beams.
At that point, I was pretty sure they were some sort of magic bullets, and I really wanted to analyze them. I alerted Khaos, and he quickly attempted to use Void to absorb them, then use Perfect Control to analyze them. But somehow, this time, the beams broke through Void.
It was a bummer, but I knew I'd have another chance. Then Karisa used her magic to restrain us, and Mira shot through Void. The next thing I knew, Kaizo had managed to escape from the Gravity Field and attack me. He used that reddish-black lightning again and hit me.
This time, though, we took the full brunt of the attack and were hammered into the ground. As if that wasn't enough, he had to slam his fist into our face. If it weren't for my pain resistance, it would have been much harder to get up.
At this point, Kaizo was pissing me off. Greatly. So I decided to take back the wheel. Actually, it was more like I took half of it. For the moment, both Khaos and I controlled the body in sync. In that moment, we were essentially the same.
So, we beat up Kaizo by constantly kicking his armor. There were other ways to pierce through it, but I decided on kicks simply because I could release more power with them. But his armor was resistant. No matter how much we kicked it, it just wouldn't break completely.
And that's when Khaos suggested something I hadn't even considered.
Using Cameal, the Angel of Divine Flame and Forgery. I thought it was a ridiculous idea. Using Cameal for a task as minimal as this? Besides, I didn't exactly want to kill him. I wanted to beat him to a pulp, not kill him. There's a difference.
But then Khaos mentioned how we hadn't used it since we had acquired it and thought this would be good practice. He also assured me that once we vaporized the armor, he'd use Trinity to pull Kaizo away at the last second.
Besides, nearly everybody had fainted from the battle. He was my other half, and I trusted him. So I used Cameal for the first time.
I have to admit, it's been a long time since I've felt power like that. My body was surging with energy, and I felt like rampaging and destroying everything. Luckily, I managed to calm myself down and focus on destroying the armor, though. I kind of lost myself at the end there with that final attack, though. Luckily, Khaos delivered and used Trinity to send Kaizo into Infinity's Domain. Not before letting Kaizo burn a little, which I'll admit wasn't the worst thing in the world.
As punishment, I restored Kaizo's body, but I reconstructed it to resemble a girl's. He had insulted my face before, and I wasn't going to let that slide.
Mira looked confused, so I decided to speak up before it was too late.
"If I remember correctly, you said I could deal with him however I liked once the battle was over. Despite everything he's done, I've decided that this is his punishment. Pretty sweet deal, don't you think? If you're willing to accept this, then I can let it all go."
I held out my hands, offering to shake Mira's hand.
"Do we have a deal?"
"...Is that really all you want?"
"Yup."
She gave me a look that said she didn't believe me, but she still took my hands and shook on it.
"If that's really it, then I'll take you up on that deal."
Thank goodness she accepted. There wasn't really any way to turn Kaizo back. I'd altered his body at a genetic level. I could probably turn him back if I experimented, but I had no intention of doing so in the first place. This was Kaizo's punishment, to say the least.
"Although, I never expected you to look so beautiful and young yourself. Now your height kind of makes sense," Mira joked.
My mask had been destroyed during the battle, but I could make another one at any time. Besides, there wasn't anyone conscious enough to see my face anyway.
Mira walked over and picked up the unconscious Kaizo. Though I guess he needed a new name to match his new form. Next time I saw him, I was definitely going to laugh in his face.
Suddenly, I felt someone tug at my shirt and turned my head. It was Karisa. On closer inspection, she and I were practically the same height, with her outranking me by an inch.
"Uh, if you get the chance, could you share that gender spell with me?"
Is that really all she wants?
"Sure," I said. "The next time we meet."
Her face lit up, and she nodded. Then she ran over to Mira. Before I knew it, the Student Council was gone.
I'll admit, this class was a lot more fun than the last one.
As I turned to leave, I was stopped by a girl with fiery red hair and golden eyes. I recognized her. She was Lisa Vulkan.
Wait, was she here the whole time?
"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Lady Lisa. Although, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."
Suddenly, she handed me a letter with an emblem attached to it.
"Noir Drake. Will you please accompany me to attain the Void Heart?"
"...Void Heart?" I said, tilting my head.