Ryuu Kusari no Ori -Kokoro no Uchi no 'Kokoro'-

Chapter 5 Part 20

Translator : PolterGlast

There were five parties that managed to defeat the special target in this special exercise. All of those five parties gathered in the same place. As a result, fierce battles broke out in the northern part of the training area.

"Haa!"

"Kuh~!"

"Camilla! Support me!"

"I know ... wha~, both of you, get down!"

Lisa tried to attack Tima with her [Niveei Witch] ability activated, while Ken and Camilla supported her.

With Irisdina's [immediate deployment] ability and swordsmanship, she managed to gain time for Tima to cast her magic. After Tima managed to use her powerful magic, they managed to repel the onslaught of Lisa's party in a coordinated manner.

=================================

"Tommy! Are you okay!?"

"Y-yeah. More importantly, If it stays like this, we will...!"

"I know! Anyway, we have to do something about Shina's party... Damn it! Mimuru, don't disturb me!!"

"Don't demand something unreasonable! If Mars-kun were to be free in this situation, I might be the one to be crushed instead!"

Mars, Tommy, and Hamria were attacked by Shina, Mimuru, and Tom. Mimuru made full use of her agility and disturbed Mars and the others. Moreover, Shina and Tom shot arrows and magic from behind regardless of Mimuru's movements.

However, the released magic and arrows did not hit Mimuru, and were aimed at Mars and the others accurately by weaving their way through the gaps between her movements. Like Irisdina and Tima, Shina's party also showed great coordination.

Near Mars and the others, Jin and Cami were fighting with the female student who had recovered with her own recovery magic.

"Take this! Why can't I put an end to this?! Even though they are just bottom class!"

"What's wrong with us being in the bottom class?!"

Before Shina's party interfered Jin and Cami were overwhelmed by the spearman, but since the spearman's injuries hadn't fully recovered from Tom's magic, the battle was now evenly matched.

Mars gritted his teeth while looking sideways at the battle of Jin and his friends.

"Damn it! If it stays like this then..."

Feelings of impatience gradually filled Mars' heart.

(What should I do! Nozomu and I have our hands full. Jin and the others are the same!)

The current situation was maintained in a fragile balance. He can't move badly because a slight change may lead to party annihilation. And that fuelled Mars' impatience even more.

(Should I just go straight to where Nozomu is? No, Jin and the others will be defeated in the meantime. How about plunges into Shina and the others…… no, they won't give me such a chance)

It wasn't just Kevin's party that was agitated by the sudden change of situation, but also Mars and the others.

(Damn it, what should I do… That's right. How about I use that…)

What came to Mars' mind was about the "technique" he had practiced.

Since it was incomplete and unstable, Tima asked him not to use it, but he needed to protect important things even at the expense of some sacrifices.

(They said I shouldn't use it yet, but in this situation, I should use every means I can. It's worked once before. I'm going to make it work again somehow!)

Even though it was only special training, Mars was exposed to such a battlefield atmosphere. Believing that his decision was correct, he began to send two forces into his greatsword.

================================

When Mars and the others were struggling in a turbulent battle, Nozomu, Feo, and Kevin were still clashing with each other's weapons and they would get mixed up with each other.

"Gosh! You're so persistent, Feo!"

"Don't say that, Nozomu! This is a good opportunity, so let's fight one more time...... oi, don't get in our way! Kevin!!"

"Shut up! I've been annoyed since a while ago! I'm going to crush you two here!!"

Kevin attacked Feo who was trying to hunt Nozomu down. Feo spun the staff with both hands towards the approaching fist to handle it, but Kevin shifted his body and attacked Nozomu in that gap.

(Damn! This situation is bad...)

Nozomu's mind gradually grew impatient. Nozomu's party had many members whose initial strength was low. Until now, they had used strategies and traps to win, but in such a fierce battlefield with enemies and allies mixed in, the strategies and tactics he had prepared beforehand were of little use. In such a situation, individual strength directly leads to the survival rate.

In other words, if the battlefield remained like that, the party most likely to collapse first would be Nozomu's party.

In fact, Nozomu had been using his tactics to keep up with Kevin and Feo's movements.

(If this goes on for too long, it will be bad… I can't carelessly use Qi techniques because I'm exhausted)

Nozomu who is currently fighting Feo and Kevin will most likely be defeated first.

He glanced around, but the battlefield situation was getting worse everywhere, and everyone in this place had their hands full. In other words, if one battlefield collapsed, the other battlefields would be resolved in a chain reaction.

(The most effective thing to do is to break through with Mars' power ...)

However, his current state of being pressed by Feo and Kevin prevented Nozomu from reaching Mars and the others. To separate himself from them and to support Mars. Both must be done simultaneously.

(...well, there's still a way...)

Something came to his mind. However, Nozomu hesitated to use that method. First, if he did poorly, he would be disqualified. It could also directly lead to the defeat of his party in this chaotic situation.

Second, the danger of the technique used. Nozomu rarely used offensive Qi techniques in school, including mock combat. This was because of the killing power, including [Phantom], every single of his Qi techniques were too dangerous to be used within the scope of the school.

"Why are you looking away?!"

"Kuh~!!"

Kevin hit Nozomu, who had looked away, from a blind spot. Nozomu twisted his body to dodge it, but Kevin's Qi-enveloped fist grazed Nozomu's cheek with the wind pressure alone. After all, if this three-way battle continued, Nozomu's defeat would be almost certain.

(...It's a gamble, but... it can't be helped. In short, I don't need to hit anyone directly. If I can aim well, there won't be any problems.)

If attacking directly was not possible, then he only needed to attack indirectly. Fortunately, the target of his Qi technique was not a human.

When Nozomu decided to send Qi into his katana, a sudden gust of wind blew.

"W-what happened!?"

Nozomu, Kevin, and Feo who were fighting turned their eyes to the source of the gust of wind, the wind was gathering on the greatsword of Mars. Moreover, the gust of wind was definitely stronger than the one he always used.

If they took a closer look, there were two different forces swirling around in his greatsword.

No doubt. This was the simultaneous use of Qi and magic that Mars used in the last mock battle. The swirling wind, with the help of Mars' abilities, gathered on his greatsword with even more momentum.

"Guuuuuu!!"

"This is ..."

"Ma, Mars-kun!"

Nozomu was surprised by its power. The wind force it generated was certainly in a different league. Nozomu's spine was struck by a frozen sensation in a different sense. A power that was so strong that it lacked control. Such an uncertain power fueled Nozomu's sense of crisis.

Perhaps Mars was impatient with this situation because he couldn't see a way out and decided to use the technique he had promised not to use.

Maybe Tima also felt it was dangerous, she shouted at Mars to stop him, but instead, Mars pointed the tip of his greatsword at where Nozomu was.

"Nozomu!! Avoid this!!"

"What!!"

At the same time that Nozomu left the place with [Instant Move] as he was commanded by the sense of crisis that hit his head, the wind that had gathered was released all at once. A torrent of wind burst with a roaring sound. The combination of Qi technique [Dust Blade] and magic [Wind Tunnel of Hungry Beast] moves in a straight line while drawing spirals so that they are intertwined with each other. It rushed towards Nozomu, Kevin, and Feo. The ground gouged up and many trunks of trees scraped off.

"Wha~ !!"

"Wait a minute! What is this!!"

Kevin and Feo tried to escape from their place when they saw a huge spiral of wind approaching in front of them. However, they were a step shorter, and the two of them were swallowed by the torrent of wind.

"Kuh~ !!"

Nozomu was worried about the two who got hit by such a powerful technique, but Nozomu's vision showed Shina aiming for the defenseless Mars. He chose to break through this situation. He sent his Qi into his katana and fired a flying slash towards its target.

A flying slash cut the tree trunk behind Shina and Tom, and the tree fell on them.

"Wha! What the~!"

"Tom! Run!!"

Tom and Shina left their place in a hurry. The moment when the support attacks stopped. Mars, who regained his posture in that gap, used his greatsword to blast Mimuru away. However, while being flown, Mimuru, whose body was light, made a full spin in the air and landed on the ground with her flexibility. Meanwhile, Tommy went to where Jin and Cami were fighting with the spearman of Kevin's party.

"Kuh~ !!"

The female student tried to deflect Tommy's sword that had been swung by lining the spear along with the sword.

However, her movements were blocked by Tom's magic, and she had no spare capacity to deal with Jin, Tommy, and Cami's attacks.

The female student greatly lost her posture due to Tommy's slash.

"Teyaaaa!"

Jin slashed her in that gap. In addition, Cami also attacked from the side. As Jin and Cami's blades hit her body, the pendant glowed red, announcing her disqualification.

Mars tried to rush towards Shina while Jin and his friends defeated the spearman. However, Mimuru managed to stop Mars, but Mars' breakthrough power cannot be stopped by Mimuru alone.

However, when Mars tried to shake Mimuru off, Feo rushed in from the side. Maybe because of Mars' technique earlier, Feo's uniform was tattered and there were cuts here and there.

"What are you doing all of a sudden! If I didn't use my talisman technique in time, I would have become a rag!"

"Chi~, so it didn't work... Then, what happened to the dog guy?"

"Hmm? I don't know."

Perhaps Feo wasn't interested in Kevin, he just answered Mars' questions while focusing on stopping Mars' movement. As a result, Mars was stopped by Feo. Meanwhile, Shina and Tom regained their posture, and the battle would shift to Shina's party and Mars' team.

==================================

Nozomu activated his [Instant Move] while looking sideways at the scene where Mars' team and Shina's party were facing each other. He rushed to the place where Irisdina and Tima were fighting. His aim was Camilla, who was in charge of the rearguard of Lisa's party.

(Hit-and-run is my highest priority. After that, join everyone and defeat Shina's party!)

Nozomu's aim was to make a disturbance on the battlefield and then leave immediately. After all, his aim was only to disturb them.

Camilla changed her aim from Irisdina to Nozomu. She shot several ice spears, [Icicle Dance], at him.

"Fuh~!"

Nozomu slipped through the gaps of the icicles with [Instant Move -Curve Dance-]. An ice spear managed to carve a wound on Nozomu's body, but Nozomu kept pushing forward without stopping.

"Wha~! What's going on!!"

Camilla panicked because she couldn't stop Nozomu with her magic. The next moment, Nozomu broke through the magic, and Camilla couldn't launch any more ice spears at him.

Nozomu raised his katana overhead, but at that moment a shadow cut in between Nozomu and Camilla.

"What, so you can do it if you try, Nozomu"

"!!"

Ken cut in between them and swung his longsword with the same momentum. Nozomu managed to block it with his katana, but he was still blown away.

"Kuh~!"

Nozomu managed to regain his posture in the air and landed on the ground. However, Ken fired an ice spear as a pursuit. Nozomu managed to dodge the oncoming ice spear by rolling on the ground. Meanwhile, Ken narrowed the gap and swung his longsword again.

"Kuh~ !!"

Nozomu swung his katana to parry Ken's slash with all his strength and rotated his body to launch an overturned slash. Ken rotated his body to dodge Nozomu's slash, but Nozomu swung his katana again regardless. However, the slash was stopped by Ken with his flexibility. The two engaged in close combat. However, Nozomu, who was inferior in physical ability, gradually began to be pushed, and Ken's blade approached in front of him.

"Gu~u!"

"Fuh~ ........."

Nozomu tried to push Ken back desperately, meanwhile, Ken had a big smile on his face.

This showed the difference in pure physical ability between the two. Regret and impatience invaded Nozomu's heart.

Why. why! why!!

Such regret tried to wash away the hesitation in Nozomu's heart.

(Attack him with your deadly Qi technique such as [Phantom], and release the Ability Suppression.)

(Unleash your power now and trample him.)

"Isn't it nice? Struggle to your heart's content. It would be much amusing that way ..."

" !! "

The voice that suddenly echoed inside his head became a sweet temptation and tried to dilute Nozomu's reasoning.

Nozomu tried to resist the temptation by biting his lip. Maybe because he bit too hard, the taste of rusty iron spread in his mouth.

Perhaps Ken was feeling better with Nozomu's desperate appearance, he smiled with a distorted smile in a way that no one else could see. Ken ridiculed Nozomu with his face so close they could hear each other's breathing.

"Nozomu... you're pathetic."

"!!"

"But to be honest I was surprised. You still survived this training..."

Ken was probably very surprised that Nozomu is still surviving in this training. However, his face was ugly and distorted, and his tone contained a clear disdain.

"But you can't reach Lisa or me. You can't be by her side. It can't be helped. You're so weak and pathetic."

"~! Ken! Damn you...!!!"

"Well then, let's get this over with now. I have to hurry back to Lisa, and I can't spend my time with you forever. Then Nozomu. Better know your place and scram quietly. It's a piece of advice from your "best friend" ... "

The moment Nozomu heard those words, something broke in Nozomu's head. The wicked impulse emerged from the depths of his heart and burned in an instant. It was as if a dead leaf had burned.

"~!!!"

Nozomu jumped back. Ken also got back with a big smile.

"What are you going to do if you can't even use magic?"

Ken decided that Nozomu's actions were meaningless, and chanted magic while mocking him. A huge ice spear appeared in front of Ken. The huge ice spear, which exceeded Ken's height, pointed its tip at Nozomu.

Nozomu leaped back while sheathing his katana, sending his Qi towards his katana with all his might, and compressing it extremely.

At the same time as his landing, he activated his [Instant Move]. Nozomu thrust towards Ken head-on.

"Haha! Have you finally lost your mind!? ...Okay. I thought you were quite annoying, so I'll end you here and now."

Ken shot the huge ice spear while showing his hideous smile. The released ice spear flew towards Nozomu to counter the approaching Nozomu.

" ! "

Nozomu thrust in regardless. After the Qi he sent into his katana completely enveloped and took the shape of the katana, he glared at the approaching ice spear in front of him.

The next moment, the color of his field of vision changed.

Nozomu exerted extreme concentration. In a world where color had disappeared, he took out his katana and swung it at the huge ice spear approaching in front of him.

"Wha~ !!"

The next moment, a startling voice escaped Ken's mouth.

The huge ice spear he created with all his might was slashed in half in front of Nozomu's katana and shattered in vain.

Nozomu didn't even look at the ice spear he just slashed and kept running towards Ken while moving past the ice shards.

"Take this!!"

Ken shot his sword down at Nozomu who rushed at him.

Despite being shocked by the unexpected situation, Ken's body subconsciously swung the sword at the right moment. Ken's longsword was longer than Nozomu's katana, and Nozomu's katana wouldn't be able to reach Ken.

Maybe Ken knew that, his face still looked impatient, but his mouth lifted into a smile. However, his mind was instantly blown away by Nozomu's next action.

Nozomu stomped his right foot on the ground and twisted his body. The next moment, Nozomu's body spun at an extremely high speed, along with a shocking explosive sound.

"Wha~!"

Nozomu's katana launched like a flash of light. The katana blade shot Ken's longsword down, and the longsword pierced the ground in vain. The aforementioned explosive sound was the sound produced by the release of Qi that was extremely compressed into Nozomu's sword. The release of this highly compressed Qi accelerated the speed of Nozomu's katana in an instant. The speed of his katana accelerated to a speed he would normally never be able to reach. Furthermore, he twisted his body in the opposite direction and fired a reverse slash. Nozomu's katana approached Ken, if it went like that, the slash would definitely cut Ken's throat and kill him. Nozomu was watching the sight of his katana blade approaching Ken's throat in a world where color had disappeared.

(If I keep going like this, I can kill this guy! but…….)

What came to his mind as he thought so was the horrific sight he might cause. A tragedy because he used his powers with his wicked impulse. The nightmare he kept seeing might become reality. The him who kept swinging his katana and killed everyone while being engulfed in flames.

"~! Aaaa!!"

Realizing what he was trying to do, Nozomu diverted the blade that was about to be sucked into Ken's throat. But he couldn't divert it completely and his katana cut into Ken's cheek.

"~!!"

"~! Ken!!"

Ken's face was distorted by the pain running down his cheek. Lisa was crossing swords with Irisdina, but when she heard Ken's voice, she plunged into Nozomu. Her face was tinged with hatred, and she was literally glaring at Nozomu with her eyes full of resentment.

"Get away from Ken !!"

Lisa invoked [Niveei Witch] and made a huge fireball in her hand. She fired it at Nozomu as if to slam her hatred towards him.

"Kuh~!"

Nozomu flew to the side to dodge the fireball, but the burst of exploding flames approached as if to swallow Nozomu.

"Nozomu!"

However, [Wind Tunnel of Hungry Beast] flew from the side scattered the flames that were approaching Nozomu. In addition, Tima activated her magic, and a wall of fire appeared between Nozomu, Irisdina, and Lisa. Meanwhile, Irisdina rushed towards Nozomu.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yes. I'm fine."

Irisdina spoke while looking at Nozomu with worried eyes. On such a battlefield, Irisdina's beautiful white face and jet black eyes seemed to be able to suck up whatever was reflected in Nozomu's eyes.

Nozomu couldn't meet her eyes directly and quickly turned his face away.

“…………”

“…………”

Nozomu and Irisdina couldn't say anything to each other.

At that moment, the wall of fire was blown away. Lisa's party emerged from the remnants of the flames fluttering around.

"!!"

Lisa sent her hateful gaze towards Nozomu. Behind her, with the same hateful gaze as her, Ken did it to show off that he was by her side.

When Nozomu saw Lisa's angry gazes and his former best friend behind her, Nozom's chest hurt, and an indescribable emotion rose in his heart.

(Gurururururu ……)

"~!!"

However, Nozomu's expression changed as "that" voice echoed in his head. He forcibly swallowed the wicked emotions that were starting to surface and tried to pretend to be calm. At that moment, Irisdina offered him an unexpected suggestion.

"Nozomu, why don't we cooperate during this battle?"

"Eh?"

Nozomu was perplexed by Irisdina's suggestion. He had promised to have a party with her on the second day, but today he was her enemy.

However, as Irisdina said, it would be better to work together when facing Lisa's party and Shina's party.

"... Is it okay?"

Nozomu asked Irisdina to make sure, and she nodded without hesitation.

"... Alright. Thanks for your help, Iris."

Nozomu accepted Irisdina's suggestion. Irisdina smiled happily. Nozomu was mesmerized by her smile. The wicked emotions that had been boiling in his chest until a moment ago gradually faded away.

Lisa's party held their respective weapons. Irisdina also held her rapier while getting closer to Nozomu.

At that moment, Nozom felt as if the core of his body was getting warmer.

It felt like he felt Irisdina's body temperature. The heat inside Nozomu's body, which seemed to be burning earlier, gradually turned warm.

Nozomu was holding his katana while slightly loosening his cheeks, but at that moment, a burst of explosive energy suddenly wrapped around the area.

"W-what happened!?"

While feeling uneasy about what had suddenly happened, Nozomu and Irisdina confirmed that it was a flow of Qi emitted by someone. Mars' team and Shina's party who were fighting were all looking in the same direction.

"... You bastards. You've finally done it ..."

It was Kevin. He was the one who should have been swallowed up by Mars' technique earlier. Due to his anger, he could not control the excessively released Qi and it leaked out of his body.

"You made a fool out of me ..."

In response to his anger, a huge amount of Qi gathered in Kevin's hands. The palms of his hands were quivering and made a creaking noise. His appearance was like a floodgate that was about to collapse. Kevin's angry eyes shot through Nozomu.

"First, the bottom. Next is that half-baked guy, I will crush you so that you can't stand up anymore!"

The next moment, Kevin's body transformed. His hair began to grow on his body, and his muscles bulged. His mouth protruded forward, literally transforming into the face of a wolf.

It was the same ability as Mimuru, [Beastification].

Like the Wildcat Tribe, the Silver Wolf Tribe's beastification increased their physical and Qi abilities.

However, just as his transformation was about to complete, shock suddenly ran across the ground and the ground was pushed upwards.

"Uwaa!!"

"W-what is this!? An earthquake!?"

Everyone present there was shocked by the sudden occurrence. Kevin, who was about to become a beast, was also surprised and released his beastification. At the same time as countless cracks appeared on the ground, a rotten odor began to drift through the air. The next moment, the ground turned over and something appeared on the towering ground. Its claws and fangs were as big as an overgrown tree and were so strong that they could most likely tear a diamond.

"Gurururururu ..."

Its growl reverberated as if announcing its true intentions. It's a threat in a nutshell. An existence that should be at the pinnacle of demon beasts, which is rarely seen here.

"Dragon……"

Someone muttered so.

But the dragon looked very strange. One of its wings that should have been used for flying was completely gone, and the other wing was almost completely melted down. Its scales that were reminiscent of steel were peeled off in several places, and some of its muscles were exposed.

At that moment, the dragon's eyes caught Nozomu and the others. His eyes were also cloudy white and definitely not the eyes of a living creature.

"Guaaaaaaaaaaa !!!"

While making a roaring sound. The dragon spread its rotten wings, sprinkling rotting gas, and rotting flesh all around.

An Undead dragon, an existence that was once a dragon. It attacked Nozomu and the others in an attempt to quench its thirst that couldn't be satisfied even after it died.

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