The Shadow in the World of Magic

by MagicName88

Hikigaya Hachiman's only goal is to find the wife and daughter of his deceased guardian in a wasteland filled with powerful monsters. For him to do that, he must become a knight and bond with others, but the first person he was forced to approach is a noblewoman who wants to do research with the power of science. The biggest challenge for the young mage's adventure begins.[AU]

8. Chapter 8: Intentional Or Not

Recap of the previous chapter: Hikigaya received a katana as a gift from Yukinoshita's fellow blacksmith, Hiroki as he told the story about how he met his wife, Sheila in the Kingdom of Raimei. After bringing the sword back to Hiratsuka's household, the homeroom teacher herself told him the difference between handling a double-edged sword and a katana. After knowing this, he asked her to teach him the ways of the katana but instead was led to interact with Totsuka Saika in a five-match battle royale as part of an activity on physical education. They became a pair to participate in the second match and won against Hayama and Miura while sustaining injuries. Yukinoshita and her entire class were also joined in this activity and in the third match, she and her partner won the third match with ease. In the fourth match, Yuigahama and her partner and fiancèe, Oliver, participated. However, the encounter with the hooded woman left a mental strain within the orange-haired girl but regardless, she resolved herself to fight.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Oregairu series as it is respectfully owned by the author and studios.

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Chapter 8: Intentionally Or Not, Actions Affect Either Thyself Or Others.

The fourth match began with one of the pairs participating were the engaged couple, Yuigahama and Seerwind. With newfound confidence and determination, the orange-haired girl walked forward with her fiancee and Ziel puppet. She held her sheathed sword firmly to prepare herself from enemies approaching. Their movements showed vigilance as their eyes looked at every possible angle while walking forward. Unlike the previous two matches where the highlight involved overwhelming magic power and unique talents, this match would be a battle of wits and cooperation. Yui and Oliver definitely didn't have any problems with that kind of battle. Oliver was smart and a talented mage so he knew how to plan before and during an encounter with an enemy pair. Yui, although lacked in intelligence and magic, was strong-willed, a capable combatant, and seemed to have latent abilities after she created Sablè. However, the biggest factor in this pair was trust. They met each other during childhood because Yui's mother in agreeing to the arranged marriage. At first, she felt uncomfortable around him because of that knowledge. But as time went on and Oliver showing kindness and respect as a friend, they became close. They were inseparable back then, and despite the changes in the present, their trust hadn't cracked.

Sablè suddenly growled which caught their attention. They looked towards the direction he was growling at to see bushes and trees.

"Is there someone there, Sablè?" Yuigahama asked.

"Two humans. However, they walked past us, unaware of our presence." Her Ziel puppet answered and looked at his master to ask. "Should we follow, master?"

"Should we?" Yuigahama asked her fiancee since she was unsure of the choices herself.

"Yes, but maintain distance, or else we could get caught by someone's form Enziel tracking spell." He suggested. They followed Sablè behind who was leading them to the opponents by smelling their scent. After walking through some bushes, the Ziel puppet stopped and looked forward. Yui and Oliver saw two people from a distance just casually walking on a clear path. They seemed to be discussing something without worry, not caring for the activity they were participating in. They couldn't hear their voices from this distance, but based on their body movement and how low their guards were, it safe to assume it was more about mundane topics and pointless discussions. "I see they're not taking this seriously. But still, that does not mean they will be easy to defeat. At least until proven when we attack."

"What's the plan?" Yui asked while watching the opponents still talking to each other.

"We attack them in long-range. I'll take the left person while you take the right." Oliver suggested and the orange-haired girl nodded in agreement to his plan. As they saw the opponents' retreating form, Oliver fired Breathing darts while Yui ordered Sablè to attack. Her fiancee's spell hit his target first in the head and before the partner could move his eyes, Sablè pounced at him. Just when the pair thought they got them, Oliver noticed their bodies became translucent until they disappeared. "They're illusions!"

"Oliver!" The orange-haired girl ran in front of him and drew her sword to block three pebbles flying at them fast enough to pierce through flesh.

"Thank you," Her fiancee appreciated her protection. They both looked to see the same two opponents they were targeting. One was wielding a chain sickle and the other had a sword and shield. Yui's Ziel puppet quickly ran back to her side and growled at them, preparing to take necessary action depending on who would make the first move. The mage with sword and shield charged headfirst and Oliver drew his sword to fight. Oliver raised its blade to swung it down. The opponent guarded with his shield and used his sword to pierce his stomach. Oliver moved his body to the side to evade and struck back, only for the enemy to parry with his shield. Before he could attack once more, the opponent's partner threw the sickle at him. Yui quickly commanded Sablè to catch the sickle with his mouth and pulled the wielder towards them with great strength. Yui focused on him as she attempted to strike with her sword, but the moment the blade touched him, he became a white light and vanished. All that was left was the weapon

"Eh?" Yui was confused until she saw her target standing at the same spot with his right hand touching the ground. "Did he cast an illusion spell before Sablè pulled the chain?"

"Earth Magic: Ground Pull!" An orange magic circle appeared under his left foot and the land around him was pulled like a vortex. The orange-haired girl tripped and fell on her back because of the ground moving as it quickly pulled her closer to him. The enemy's right hand glowed and stretched into his forearm, able to see the silhouette of the bones and preparing to punch her once she was close enough to his range.

"He's an embracer." Before she could do anything, Sablè jumped high and bit his left arm. He was glad that he noticed the Ziel puppet at the last second and already cast an Enziel spell on his other arm fast enough before his sharp teeth could sink into his flesh. However, it may not last long as Sablè persistently bit him harder until he felt the teeth were slowly sinking.

"Get this off me!" He screamed with a hint of panic and his partner with the shield heard him.

"Hold on!" The man said as he parried another sword swing from Oliver using a shield and hit him with it so he could help the chain-sickle wielder. He saw his partner struggling to shake off the gold-blazing dog from his left arm as it began bleeding from his teeth. The man with sword and shield tried to approach them but was immediately hit by rocks flying straight in a blink of an eye. He looked in the direction where they came from and saw Yui on her knee and holding her sword that was pierced on the ground at the center of an orange glowing magic circle. The rocks pierced into his flesh which was very painful. The enemy guarded himself with the shield while approaching his partner.

"Enziel Magic: Extended Flesh!" Oliver threw his hand forward and his arm glowed red with the silhouette of its bones. The arm stretched longer than it should be until he grabbed the leg of his current opponent.

"What the-?" The man with the shield looked down but before he could see what it was, Oliver lifted him and slammed him into the ground which created a crater and possibly broke the enemy's back. Meanwhile, his partner was still struggling to free his left arm from Sablè's painful jaws until he began punching him in the head until the Ziel puppet let go. Yui quickly approached him and hit his head with the pommel of her sword. The enemy tried to fight back, but because of taking a hit in the head, it seemed to cause his movement to be slow and wobbly. Yui ducked to evade a right hook and stopped an incoming kick to her head with a palm. She then finished the fight with a straight punch in the face. At least that was what she thought before noticing the enemy vanished into the air. Sablè turned into an aura of light and surrounded The orange-haired girl as protection. Spiky rocks flew towards them and shattered the moment they were even near the aura of yellow light. Yui saw the enemy from a distance spinning his chain-sickle to scrape the ground with its blade that was glowing orange. This caused to hurl numerous small debris that shaped into spikes.

"Elemental Casing..." Yui understood as she pierced her sword on the ground to cast her own Elemental Casing spell. The golden dog ran towards him while roaring to protect himself from the hurling spikes. He went for another bite and the enemy attempted to protect himself with his enhanced arm. The moment Sablè bit the arm and sank his sharp teeth in, it turned into fog along with the rest of the enemy. Yui looked around finding where the chain-sickle wielder was while preparing for his attack. However, she found him standing behind Oliver who was busy fighting his partner.

"Earth Magic: Scattered Shot!" The orange-haired girl pierced the ground with her sword once more to cast an orange magic circle beneath the blade. All the rocks and debris she defended against floated and flew straight at the chain-sickle wielder. Unfortunately, he noticed the attack and defended himself with the weapon before he could try to attack Oliver from behind. Oliver turned around to take a glimpse behind him and understood the scene before quickly focusing back on his own fight.

"Thanks!" Oliver thanked his fiancee.

"No problem!" Yui fired another Scattered Shot spell at the man with the shield in which he blocked the attack using it and then swung his sword at the son of Seerwind. Yui hoped she could make an opening for her fiancee but she had to accept the result and adapt. Meanwhile, Oliver blocked the sword swing with his own blade and his finger stretched very long to pierce through the enemy.

"Gah! I apologize if I sound rude, but this is quite creepy." The man with the shield commented while looking at Oliver's five stretched fingers that pierced his right leg and side, left shoulder, and his right arm where he held the sword. The enemy tried his best to hold his weapon tightly while resisting the pain and then, he stepped back from Oliver to free himself from the piercing fingers even if it would cause more bleeding.

"As an embracer, I'm only using my abilities in this battle." Oliver argued while pointing his blade at the enemy.

"I understand," The man with the shield smirked and then clashed swords. Oliver swung his blade upward and he responded by using his shield to block. The shield blinked a red light the moment the blade touched its round piece of metal at the center, also known as the shield boss. Oliver took a few steps away speculating that his opponent was planning something with the shield. And so, he resorted to using long-range attacks.

"Wind Magic: Rise and Fall!" Oliver blew into a large white magic circle that appeared in front of him. The man with the shield quickly realized what sort of spell that was and jumped back from his spot where a tornado big enough to lift one human rose out of nowhere. He then ran to evade another rising tornado but he was lifted by a new one the moment he took another step. This happened because Oliver predicted where his opponent would move and made that favorable result. The man with the shield couldn't do anything but to be carried by the tornado and be spun around it due to the strong circular motion of the wind it emitted.

Meanwhile, Yui continued facing against the chain-sickle wielder. They were staring at each other waiting for the other to move while Sablè circled him from a few feet away for an opportunity to pounce. Yui made the first move by running towards the kusarigama wielder to which he responded by spinning the chain with the spiky weight at the end and hurled it aiming at her blade. The chain entangled her blade and he pulled to draw the orange-haired girl closer which caught her off guard and almost fell. The kusarigama wielder didn't waste the opportunity as he attempted to stab her abdomen with the sickle, but Sablè saved her in the nick of time by roaring loudly. The wave of sound that came from that made him tumble away and was about to crash into a nearby tree. However, he disappeared the exact moment his back made contact with the tree trunk.

"Behind you, master!" Her Ziel puppet's voice shouted loud in her mind and quickly reacted to turn around and saw her opponent about to throw a punch using a fist enhanced with Enziel magic. Yui tilted her head to successfully dodge and Sablè went towards them to attack. The kusarigama wielder noticed it but appeared to be too late as the golden dog bit his left ankle. Once again, he disappeared and reappeared behind Oliver for another attempt to take him down while distracted.

"Not again!" After Yui shouted, Sablè suddenly teleported between the kusarigama wielder and her fiancée's back protecting him from a punch to the back of his head by turning into an aura of light once again that surrounded him.

"What?" The kusarigama wielder was shocked but he had no time to be as Oliver turned around to face him. However, the son of Seerwind's current position put him at a disadvantage as the man with the shield was in front of him while the Embracer mage was behind. Oliver flew away as if he was being pulled by a mysterious force that surprised him, but he quickly recovered from his bewilderment. He then cast an Enziel spell that stretched his left arm to whip a backhand punch a second before landing on the ground. Meanwhile, Sablè transformed back to his original form and ran towards the enemy Embracer mage in an attempt to bite his ankle, but was immediately stomped by using his foot enhanced with Embracer magic. He was then been hit on the temple by that backhand punch from the son of Seerwind and that scene made Yui wondered.

"Eh? He didn't use that illusion spell? Why?" Yuigahama thought while observing the kusarigama wielder and immediately realized he left his weapon entangled on her blade. "He also dropped it after being pulled by Sablè and almost got hit by my sword... Wait... That head injury... and that bite mark on his arm. If we fought an illusion, then the real one shouldn't have those... Unless..."

"Master!" Sablè interrupted his master's train of thought to warn her about an incoming projectile from the man with the shield. He threw the shield like a flying disc and her Ziel puppet saved her in time by catching the thrown projectile. The moment he bit the shield, his teeth cracked a little which caused his eyes to widen. It wasn't serious since the damage immediately regenerated thanks to Yui's effort to maintain his form. The enemy who threw the shield clicked his tongue in frustration to his failed effort to hit the orange-haired girl and then blocked a sword attack from the son of Seerwind with his own blade. Sablè roared at him which made him flew away and almost hit his partner who ducked down to dodge. Yui quickly ran to her fiancee's side while the golden dog followed behind. Before she could speak, the shield that was lying on the ground flew back to its owner while the Embracer mage stood beside him cracking his knuckles. It was another staring contest between the two pairs.

"Oliver..." Yui whispered while maintaining eye contact with the Embraced mage. "I think that Embraced mage's Enziel magic is not an illusion spell but a teleportation spell. The weakness is his head because throughout the fight I noticed how he didn't use it to avoid the obvious attacks that aimed at his head."

"Most likely because he uses his literal head as a catalyst to cast that spell. Good job," Oliver praised You which made her happy. "But you are incorrect on one statement: His Enziel magic is not teleportation either but some kind of spell that transforms his body into pure magical energy and flows into the wind. I noticed the way he disappeared and reappeared during his fight against you. I mistook it for an illusion spell because of how similar they appear but thanks to you, we figured out it is actually a body transformation spell.

" Ooooohhhh..." She understood while being impressed by his intelligence. "And he was watching while fighting his own enemy? That's amazing~. What did Hikki call that again?... Mul... mooty-tossing?... No, Multi-tasking! That's it!"

"As for my dance partner, he's an Augmentor mage with the lightning element and he's seemed to be preparing for a spell by blocking attacks right at that shield boss. He's also the one with the illusion spell although he hasn't used it against me yet," He explained while preparing an Enziel spell on his left hand. "If you don't mind, may we switch dance partners? Can you take care of this man while I take care of that Embracer mage?"

"Sure, you can count on me." Yui agreed as the enemy pair was the first to break the standoff and charged towards them. The engaged pair did the same with Oliver taking the lead while Yui and Sablè followed him behind. The son of Seerwind gathered his mana in his left fist and punched the ground which created a shockwave as the ground cracked with debris flying. The enemy pair crouched as the Liberator mage used his shield to protect themselves from both the debris and powerful shockwave. While they were distracted protecting themselves, the golden dog jumped above Yui and Oliver's heads and pounced on the man with the shield. The kusarigama wielder attempted to stop him mid-air as he spun his weapon, but he noticed Oliver using wind magic as he blew through a white magic circle in front of him. Oliver cast the Breathing Darts spell but because the projectiles were as invisible as the atmosphere, the kusarigama wielder couldn't see them nor tell it was a long-range attack. And so, one breathing shot successfully hit his forehead while the other four hit his upper body, and then he fell down unconscious. Meanwhile, the man with the shield used his sword to pierce Sablè's large body. Unfortunately for him, Sablè landed on him and the blade had no effect. With one roar right at his face, the golden dog knocked him out unconscious, signaling the engaged couple's first victory. Yui blinked a few times and stared at the two defeated enemies lying on the ground. She was in bewilderment. It was just the first and a small battle in a huge activity. And yet a victory such as this brought her immense joy because of how she held her own and how much she had improved. Even the audience saw the importance of that one small fight. It showed that she wasn't just a girl who could be easily misunderstood as a weakling nor a student in the wrong course. Yui was a strong knight and she proved it.

"Ms. Yuigahama," Oliver called out her name, pulling her out of the trance. "Yes, we have won."

"W-well, you and Sablè did a good job, y'know? I was j-just keeping them busy."

"Yui, you did as good as we did." Her fiancée reassured her as held her shoulder and smiled. Calling her first name by Oliver meant his words were serious and he was very proud of her. The orange-haired girl couldn't help but scratched the back of her head while looking down with blushes on her cheeks.

"Thanks..."

"Your welcome. But it is not over yet until we truly won the match."

"Okay, let's win this!"

---

"She's doing well," Yukinoshita commented while watching the match on the magical cloud the teacher created. "I'm very impressed by her Ziel puppet. It protected its master and ally and follows her commands faster than any Ziel puppet I've witnessed so far. It's almost as if it had a mind of its own."

"Two spells." Hikigaya mumbled while watching the match which still reached the Ice Queen's ear.

"What?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and he turned to look at her.

"Yuigahama only used two earth magic spells on that fight. After that, she became more reliant on the dog"

"Give her time. She will improve... unless the routine you gave her is nothing but useless?"

"Of course not. I have faith in her."

"How much faith is that?"

"Enough to believe she can stand on the same pedestal as ours."

"Interesting, at what basis do you have to declare that?"

"That," He answered by pointing at Sablè who was licking Yui's cheek. "And... it's basically tradition for humans to cheer their friends."

"My goodness, is this the end times?"

"Shut up." Before the two science members could begin arguing, an explosion caught their attention along with the others. They watched the magical cloud to see other participants fighting in one large open area created from cutting down trees by an attack. "It's getting really crazy over there."

"And it seems we're not the only ones that were intrigued by that surprise. Yukinoshita said as she pointed at other participants running to the battlefield.

"And so is Yuigahama-san and Seerwind-san." Totsuka said and everyone in the platform noticed the engaged pair also going near to the battlefield.

"Wouldn't it be best to not go there?" Ebina mumbled.

"It's actually more strategic to go where all the chaos is happening instead of just going far away from it," Hikigaya answered. "It's the best yet at the same time worst opportunity to eliminate enemies."

"Best and worst?"

"It has the necessary merits to achieve victory in the match," The teacher explained for them. "However, the risks would outweigh them depending on their plan. You see, the strategy here is to observe the enemies in that chaos, finding out their strengths and weaknesses while waiting for them to finish the battle in their exhausted state."

"And that's when they will strike!" Tobe loudly said before having a confused expression. "But what are those risks you on about?"

"You can't be that stupid... Look," Hikigaya pointed at the magical cloud to see Yui along with the participants watched others battling each other in the open area while some of them were either still approaching the proximity or just thought it wasn't a good idea to go there. "A lot of them have that same idea and I bet they all knew that too. So if any of those participants knew what they all thinking, what's gonna happen?"

"They're... going to bring each other down while the others were busy fighting and some are distracted watching it."

"... You figured it out? And I thought I have to play charade to understand."

"Why, you-" Tobe got irritated at the young dark mage's ridicule and pointed his spear at Hikigaya's chest. Before anything escalated, the teacher quickly stood between them and pulled Tobe's weapon away from Hikigaya.

"That's enough. Mr. Hikigaya, for once, please show proper behavior." His criticism made Hikigaya clicked his tongue which made Tobe tried his best to hold back his laugh. However, it didn't last long as the teacher gave the spear-wielder a glare.

"And you, Mr. Tobe. Do not let such simple taunts and mockery get the best of you. It is unfitting for a knight to threaten someone because of insulting words."

"Sorry," Tobe looked away while scratching his cheek in shame. The sounds of explosions from the magical cloud gained everyone's attention back and saw the battle in the forest escalated.

"Oh, look it's going exactly as I predicted." Hikigaya said in a mocking tone and watched Yuigahama and her fiancèe sneaking in the bushes and behind the trees to slowly approach their enemies that were distracted watching the escalating chaos.

---

"Uwaahh~, it reminds me of that time we were fighting over the last piece of cake." Yui mumbled while watching two men clashing swords while their partners fired their own long-range attacks with a bow and arrow and Mana Shots.

"I do not think that the tea party we had years ago looked like this." Oliver said with a nervous laugh and a drop of sweat on his cheek.

"Of course it is. we threw rocks at each other and one guy tried to scare us by swinging his chair around like a weapon."

"T-That was because I played along with their antics and took it too far." Oliver looked at his fiancèe with an embarrassed expression.

"And then we all gave you the last piece so things wouldn't get worse. It's funny how you acted like you're the king after givin-"

"Ms. Yuigahama..." The son of Seerwind couldn't take any more embarrassment from the orange-haired girl reminding their childhood. "Please, s-stop. For my sake."

"Ehehehe~," Yui stifled her laughter to avoid exposing their location to anyone. She comforted him by caressing his head with a huge smile. "There~ there~. Hehe! You're still embarrassed about that, Baby Ollie?"

"Do not call me that!" Oliver whispered trying to resist the urge to shout to avoid exposing their cover and not upset her for manners. He grabbed her hand that was head patting him and turned his attention back to their surroundings while using the clairvoyance spell. He saw many people crawling under the bushes watching the chaos with some preparing to join in. After assessing the situation, he looked back at his fiancèe who was also scanning the area with her own clairvoyance spell because she de-summoned Sablè so they would have better stealth. She thought the reason they were caught by that pair earlier was because of her Ziel puppet's size and always glowing which did make sense. Oliver and Yui mistook their current state of behavior as careless and uncommitted when in truth the enemy pair noticed them and so pretended to be unguarded.

"Some of them are separated from their partners..." Yui said while trying to look at other people through the battlefield that was hiding. "The fog of magical energy on the battlefield is too thick. I can't find everyone with-"

"Thirty-four." Sablè's voice echoed in her mind.

"Eh?"

"There are 34 mages in this area. 20 of them are currently in the open area fighting while the other 14 are hiding in the woods observing the battle or silently defeating each other... There are now 12 mages hiding. Two of them are defeated."

"Then that makes it 32 enemies..." The orange-haired girl mumbled but it reached her fiancèe's ear.

"There are 32?" He asked which surprised her.

"Ah! y-yeah, Sablè said there are 34 mages here. Two of them are already down so that makes it 32."

"How did Sablè know that when he wasn't summoned?" Oliver asked in bewilderment and confusion. Yui looked up for a few moments and looked back at him with an equally confused expression.

"He said he... borrowed my sense of sight? What does that mean?"

"Sablè said that? Wait, you're not aware of his action?"

"Uhh... No."

"Interesting..." He held his chin in thought before shaking his head to focus back on the current situation they were in. "Alright, we're going for the obvious strategy. Silently take down the enemies who were distracted by the fight and after that, we enter the battlefield and finish the exhausted fighters off. Ms. Yuigahama, I need you to have Sablè teleport and take them down as a substitute for your long-range earth magic spell. Also, your Zirl puppet could-"

"Umm... I... uh... really like the idea but..."

"Is there something wrong?"

"I... uuhhh... don't know how to teleport Sablè."

"I don't understand. Then, during the previous battle, how is he able to-"

"I just don't know!" She whispered in frustration to her own lack of understanding. "To be really honest I don't even know how Sablè did EVERYTHING when we fought them back then. It's like he just does what I wanted things to happen."

"Are you saying none of what Sablè did was your doing? That none of them were Enziel spells nor your command?"

"it's just- look out!" When Yui shouted, Sablè just appeared out of nowhere and jumped behind Oliver. He roared to block incoming Mana shots from a Liberator mage which they didn't know where did he or she fire.

"We've been discovered. We will talk about this later," Oliver said as four mages from all sides were after the engaged pair. The other ten participants decided to abandon stealth and face each other head-on. Yui and Oliver were at each other's back to face each mage surrounding them. "Those two pairs must have agreed to cooperate with each other possibly until they were the only ones left."

"Is that allowed?!" Yui asked in bewilderment and also a little angry they did something she never thought would happen.

"There is no rule against such a tactic. We have to escape!"

"Good luck with that," A female mage with a black ponytail said while smirking. "We surrounded you. Nowhere to run. We also bribed the other participants to not interfere with our fight."

"Is that so? For what reason you would do this? Did my beloved fiancèe charm you? Or perhaps this is more of a competitive spirit?"

"More like the reason is that we're pissed off at you two." A male participant answered in an angry tone. "Mr. Oliver Seerwind. Damn, just saying your name makes my blood boil. I seriously don't get what makes you so special. I can get by on that Hayama guy, but you? You're all just smarts and that's it."

"You're... doing this because you're jealous of Oliver?" Yui asked as she tried her best to not show a sign of weakness in a serious and unexpected situation such as this.

"And I'm jealous of you," The girl with the ponytail shouted in anger. "My classmates always talk about you. When you just walk with your future husband, or when you just did something stupid in training or how weak you are, they would always say that you're cute and admirable to enroll in this course. You don't belong here."

"Umm... I-I didn't mean to-"

"To what? Seduce every man in the academy. That's what you did, right? It makes sense why the guys are still looking at you no matter how stupid you are at everything."

"If you think that, then you don't understand Ms. Yuigahama at all." Oliver rebutted with anger slowly growing inside of him. "Take your jealousy elsewhere, Ms. Agafonov. And please do not waste time blaming someone for your shortcomings."

"Shortcomings?! I got good grades both in academics and magic! I worked hard on this course!" The girl named Agafonov unsheathed her sword and pointed it at Yui. "But you! No matter how hard you work, you always get low to just average results. And yet, they still fawn over you! Especially after you created that stupid dog, all I hear in our Enziel class is about you as if they became a choir!"

"That's enough!" Oliver's anger burst out from within himself as his index and middle finger glowed red and the silhouette of the bones inside became visible. He put his two fingers together and pointed them at her. "Enziel Magic: Crimson Spear!"

"Tch!" She clicked her tongue while dodging a red beam of light that pierced through the trees. She raised her sword up in the air as a yellow magic circle appeared on the tip. Lightning came down from the clouds and hit the blade which resulted in being absorbed in the weapon. As if the weight increased, Agafonov struggled slightly to point the sword at the engaged pair. With all her strength, she prepared to swing the sword horizontally and the moment she swung, the blade extended into yellow light. Oliver pushed Yui's head down to duck with him, evading the stretched blade of lightning as it cut down trees. Agafonov began to adjust to the sword's new weight and quickly lifted it up in the air to swing it down at them. However, her movements were still considerably slow enough for them to jump away from the attack. Agafonov swung down the extended lightning blade to the ground which left a long charred crack that was smoking from the blade's heat. While crouching, Oliver fired more Crimson Spears at her in which her Ziel puppet appeared in front of her as a defense.

"Tch, a dragon." The son of Seerwind stood up while thinking about his next move. Agafonov's Ziel puppet was a blue-glowing dragon made of mana. its body was so long it could completely wrap around at most three humans from head to toe and as thick as a human leg. The dragon's eyes were a glowing yellow and its sharp teeth looked like tiny white flames. The girl with the ponytail grinned as she commanded her Ziel puppet to attack Oliver. Meanwhile, Yui had her own difficulties against three men. She didn't have time to assess their abilities as all she could think about was defending herself and evading whatever attacks they threw. The orange-haired girl didn't have any strategy other than using immense effort to last long against her three cooperating enemies. She was currently riding Sablè as a mount to gain an advantage in terms of speed while also thinking hard to command her Ziel puppet to teleport.

"Sablè, come on! Please!" She closed her eyes shut in hopes of him fulfilling her wishes. Sadly, she opened her eyes to see the current situation of them being pursued and attacked by those three mages. There wasn't even a response from Sablè which made it even more frustrating and confusing for her. "Just what in the world do I need to do!? Make a magic circle?! That's impossible! There's no way I can come up with the right runes on the first try! Not to mention, while I'm running away from them! Sablè, please! "

"What's wrong, Yuigahama-san!?" One of those men asked with an arrogant grin. "All you've been doing so far is running. What about your hubby there?!"

"H-He'll beat her!" Yui argued with faltering and fake confidence. " I just have to keep you three busy!"

"Interesting! But when you say 'keeping us busy'..." The man with brown spiky hair suddenly appeared above her and swung his staff. Yui raised her sword but she barely blocked it which resulted in falling off of her Ziel puppet. She quickly stood up to guard against several thrusts from his staff and the Liberator mage used that opportunity to hit her back with Mana Shot while she was occupied. The orange-haired girl fell down to her knees and the staff wielder held her chin to lift her face. A sense of dread almost overwhelmed her as he moved his face closer to hers. "... do you mean distracting us by showing off your exotic physique? It almost worked, I have to admit."

"GRRRAAAAAHHH!" Sablè's roar echoed through the forest which gained all the participants' attention in the area. He pounced at the spiky brown-haired man and bit his entire upper body.

"GAAAAAAHHHH!" The man screamed in pain while repeatedly hitting the golden dog's head with the staff. However, it had no effect as Sablè bit harder and sank his teeth into the upper body. A huge amount of blood spewed out which made his Liberator ally froze, but the other one quickly responded by stabbing Sablè's forehead with a sword. The golden dog's grip on the enemy weakened as he lost all the strength in his mouth to move. The Liberator mage shook his head to regain composure and created two mana spheres to fire one mana shot each for Sablè and Yui. While Sablè was hit by the spell which made him let go of the enemy, Yui ducked to evade. The brown spiky-haired man couldn't move as the huge deep bite mark given by the golden dog was severe. His consciousness faded because of too much blood loss and was immediately teleported into a floating platform with a doctor treating him.

"Sablè!" The orange-haired girl quickly ran towards her Ziel puppet and checked his current predicament. The golden dog was slowly fading away because of the two damages he received. The golden light on his body of mana flickered and its blaze shrank. His current appearance made her anxiety grow as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him gently. "Sablè, hang on. I'll-"

"It's pointless." The female voice came from Agafonov who pointed a finger at Yui as a command for the dragon to attack her. It was too fast for the orange-haired girl to dodge so the only option was to cast an Earth spell for defense.

"Earth Magic: Terra Prison!" Pillars of earth rose from the ground, surrounding herself and the dying Ziel puppet. The pillars twisted together and formed into a cube big enough to fit her and someone as big as Sablè inside. Agafonov's dragon crashed into the wall of that prison which only left a huge crack but he went back to its master only to flew once again towards the crack with the same speed. The dragon successfully broke through and attempted to bite Yui. However, the orange-haired girl let Sablè go to roll under the dragon as an evasive maneuver. Agafonov's Ziel puppet only bit the air and crashed into an inside wall of Terra Prison. Yui glanced back at Sablè before he disappeared and she began to run away into the woods. "I don't get it. I'm pouring my mana in Sablè with all I've got, so why isn't he h-healing? Was the damage too much? Was my magical energy not enough?"

"Hahaha! Are you serious, Ms. Yuigahama?!" Agafonov laughed at her failure. "You can't even maintain your own Ziel puppet after it took only small damage? A stab through the head doesn't mean much to Ziel puppets, you fool!"

"Ghh!" Yui made an evasive roll to dodge a swing from Agafonov's extended lightning blade. She stood up and ran while maintaining the momentum. The dragon opened its mouth and released a blue breath of light and everything it touched crumbled to dust and blown into the air. All the spots the trees that were touched were like carved or erased clean. Yui pierced the ground with her sword for a moment and quickly ran leaving an orange magic circle on it. She attempted to fire back with the Scattered Shot spell but the dragon used its own long body to protect Agafonov. Yui continued running to see her fiancèe lying prone on a pool of his own blood. The sight of it shocked her and tried to approach him but a fork of lightning completely stopped her movements. The lightning didn't hurt. In fact, she didn't feel anything when she was hit by it. The lightning just enveloped her and lifted her up in the air. She looked towards the source of this spell and it was Agafonov's doing.

"Lightning Magic: Shocking Grasp," the girl in ponytail grinned at her arrogantly and walked towards her while the dragon burrowed underground to cause cracks and a huge cloud of dust as the Ziel puppet dug under the two female mages. " Now no one can see us. I've been waiting for this moment for so long."

"You don't... have to do this." Yui tried to convince her to stop with a faltering voice as fear began to overwhelm her. The dragon rose beside Agafonov from the ground leaving a large hole. Its eyes glowed yellow even more as the blue Ziel puppet slowly flew beside its master who raised her sword to cast a simple Elemental Casing spell. Lightning came down from a cloud and struck her blade and enveloped it. Now Agafonov's sword sparked in lightning and her grip tightened while looking at Yui in bloodlust. The orange-haired girl's situation seemed hopeless. She couldn't move and her partner was severely injured until he was teleported into the medical platform. It was almost the same as that predicament two days ago. The time she first encountered the hooded monster. A nightmare that turned out to be real. A terrifying incident in which the only thing she was going far away from were the thousands of death's doors appearing whenever that hooded woman took at least one tiny step forward. And now, this entire scenario reminded her of that: Oliver was injured from the enemy, and he along with anyone that could help her were nowhere to be found; Her alone with a person with incomprehensible malice and killing intent towards her; The very sense of powerlessness and the thoughts of death in her own soul; And last but not the least, the dragon's eyes. Those familiar yellow and serpent-like eyes. With all her willpower, Yui tried to forget about that monster as she closed her eyes shut. If Agafonov's lightning spell didn't restrain her movements, Yui would be shaking right now. Her breathing became erratic. No hope, no light at the end of the dreadful tunnel. The forest somehow became dark as if nighttime had come. Agafonov and her blue dragon became blurry until they somehow merged into the same hooded monster that was trying to kill Yui. All an illusion from her weak mental state but she didn't notice that. The orange-haired girl screamed at the top of her lungs in horror of what was about to come. The hooded woman in her vision grinned as her yellow eyes flares in delight when in reality it was just Agafonov grinning in satisfaction at her "rival's" expression. An untimely and painful defeat for Yui to be remembered as the "poor fragile woman". Weakness was what she represented. The fruits of her labors became meaningless in her eyes. All traumatic thoughts resurfaced.

!#*=! * ##$( *&$( *$

"Submit... and accept your fate!"

#$#&!($ &(!$* ($*#*#(##* (#!

The words from that hooded woman echoed in her mind. The animosity was fresh in Yui's memory and she doubted it would be buried anytime soon. Perhaps it would be on the surface for as long as she lived. In her delusional mind, she saw the hooded woman's right hand with claws slowly moving towards her abdomen until it touched her. !#%^**%$# !$^&*((&%$ In reality, it was Agafonov's blade that touched her abdomen. Slowly and painfully, the- ! #$%#% claws sank into her flesh until they pierced through, blood spilled to the ground. She screamed louder in agony while hearing the evil, distorted laughter from ! # %&&!

"Don't cry," the hooded woman said menacingly with an evil smile on her face. "Once your injury is severe enough, you'll be teleported to where ! -$!% !$ is treating everyone else who lost. So let me enjoy this moment longer."

"P-Please, stop..." Yui pleaded but it reached nothing. The ##%% #- blade continued to slowly move forward inside her until it went outside through her back. It was too much for Yui. aN S!W#0#r&d entire arm pierced through her abdomen and it was too much. Her widened eyes rolled back as her consciousness fading as an act of death as coughed blood out of her mouth. Just when darkness began to surround her... The bizarre phenomenon occurred.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Yui screamed once more but her voice was so distorted, it was almost unrecognizable. The hole in her abdomen suddenly glowed a bright yellow and the blade that pierced her immediately shattered into pieces until it was nothing but dust. Agafonov was bewildered by this strange occurrence. She used clairvoyance to see what was happening and only saw a gigantic burst of mana within the orange-haired girl. It was humungous for a girl such as Yui. However...

"This... This isn't hers...No, this IS her magical energy and yet, it's not. W-What in the...?" The girl with the ponytail stepped back as she watched in bewilderment and fear at the screaming orange-haired girl who was floating still in the air. The yellow light in the injury of her abdomen turned purple and something of that color came out of that injury. The purple light of mana shaped into a familiar being to Agafonov. It appeared to be a dog but the sharp teeth were pure purple mana and its eyes were glowing red. It had no body, only a head that was connected to Yui's stomach, and Agafonov noticed it grew in size. The dog grew even bigger with no signs of halting and its expression became more menacing and monstrous. Shivers ran down Agafonov's spine as her mind screamed mentally to run away. She didn't have the instincts of an animal but from what she could gather from watching this horrific scene, the danger was too obvious to not notice. Before she could even take another step back, the dog roared while continuing to grow and flew towards Agafonov. Its jaws opened wide and the monster bit down the woman which caused her to be teleported into the medical platform. The doctor quickly tended to her condition and noticed three huge wounds on her upper body, most likely from that monster's sharp and huge teeth. What strange was that it didn't look deep enough to be fatal despite the size.

"Her Ziel puppet must've protected her in the last second." She speculated as the shocking phenomenon continued to escalate which caused the entire audience to gasp in horror. The monster dog was now at a size bigger than trees and began flying through everything in its path without regard to collateral damage and human life. The mages in the area ran away as fast as they could in fear of this monster of magical energy. On the floating platform where three teachers stood to observe the battle, two of them went down in the simulated forest to save the students because the teleportation spell that was cast would only work when the participant was unable to fight either by forfeiting the match or receiving severe injuries. Meanwhile, the other teacher's main priority was the students watching the whole event. The tile she was standing on lifted her up and flew towards the nearby audience. The teacher on the victor's platform followed suit and they cast barriers to protect the students from harm. One used a staff as an Augmentor mage while the other created mana cubes as a Liberator mage.

"We have to cancel the training feature and get the students out of here!" The Liberator mage teacher suggested.

"No! If we dispel the simulated forest, that thing will cause destruction not just on the training grounds but in an area of this city," The Augmentor mage teacher rebutted. "We have to stop that monster now while it's trapped in here or the damage will be devastating."

"Easy for you to say. Even they are having a problem facing that beast." The Liberator mage teacher pointed at the two teachers in the forest. One was saving the students and lead them to platforms that will lift them to safety while the other was stalling the monster with great difficulty.

"Just what is that thing?" The Augmentor teacher mumbled while watching the battle. He noticed Yui who was floating lifeless in the air with purple light of magical energy was released on her abdomen. He realized that the purple monster was attached to her abdomen but the monster could stretch far and wide no matter the distance. One teacher attempted to approach the orange-haired girl. However, the close he got, the harder it was for him to approach even further because of the immense mana emitting from her creating strong wind to blow away anyone or anything that tried to reach her proximity. "This was Ms. Yuigahama's doing? I never saw her as someone capable of achieving terrifying feet such as thi-"

"Sensei, look!" A student called them and pointed their attention towards the blue simulated sky. What shocked them was that they noticed a small crack up there and it seemed to be continuing to grow larger.

"The simulated world is falling apart!" The Liberator teacher shouted with widened eyes.

"Impossible?!"

"T-The barrier!" Another student shouted as the barriers both teachers cast cracked. There wasn't an attack nor someone casting a spell that would break them. It just happened.

"W-What is going on..." Even the Liberator teacher couldn't help but be terrified at these unexpected problems occurring. "Is that monster really that powerful?"

"Whatever it is, we have to do everything we can." The Augmentor teacher said with determination clearly shown in his voice and expression. However, it was short-lived as the sky and even space itself cracked everywhere. The nature in the forest was slowly cracking and shattering as if it was made of glass. Space became distorted until some spots cracked to reveal a blank white of nothingness. All of these are signs that their time was too short for them to stop the monster and save many people.

"I'm going down there." Hikigaya suddenly declared which gained the attention of all the victors in the platform and the Liberator teacher who was near enough to hear such nonsense.

"Fool, you may be a special student but there is no guarantee even for someone such as you to fight against that." She argued.

"Sensei is right," Yukinoshita agreed to the teacher's argument. "Even with your extraordinary talents, this situation is impossible. I doubt I can do anything either."

"I can't stop it but I can at least weaken that thing," Hikigaya's suggestion made the Liberator teacher open her ears.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You mean to use Essence Eater?" Yukinoshita guessed correctly as the young dark mage nodded as an answer.

"It's a spell that can absorb anything. If I can-" His explanation was immediately interrupted by the sounds of cracking from the simulated sky. It shattered and opened a white hole above the forest as the shattered pieces fell. What many thought was the sign of hopelessness was actually the opposite as someone came down from the hole. The person appeared to be a woman with long black hair and her attire consisted of: a black kimono, a hakama, and the signature teacher's black robe with gold trimming and a golden crest printed behind it in which she worn it over her shoulders like a cape. That familiar appearance made almost everyone shouted in joy.

"Hiratsuka-sensei?!" Hikigaya and Yukinoshita both shouted at the same time as Hiratsuka assessed the situation while still falling.

"What the fuck is that?!" The homeroom teacher gasped at the monster made of pure mana. She then noticed Yuigahama's current state and fully connected the dots. "Yuigahama? Is this her doing? Or maybe someone else might've done it by using her for some goal? Either way, this needs to stop."

"Ms. Hiratsuka!" The two teachers who were protecting the students with their barrier spells tried to help her from falling as the tiles flew quickly towards her.

"Stay back!" Hiratsuka stopped them from approaching any further. "I got this!"

"But how-" Before the Augmentor teacher could ask, the Liberator teacher intervened.

"Okay, we trust you!" She said her trust as she already turned around and flew away while the other hesitated before following suit. Hiratsuka looked down once more and saw the huge dog noticed her as It growled and flew straight up.

"Magus Vermillion!" The homeroom teacher summoned her Ziel puppet which was a red glowing large bird creature made entirely of mana that appeared on a magic circle she cast behind her. She inhaled deeply as Magus Vermillion hugged its master and merged together in her body.

"Enziel Magic: Crimson Unity!" Red glowing feathers grew on her arms until the backhands. Her long black hair glowed red and red transparent wings appeared on her back as if they were made of painted glass. Then, her legs also grew red glowing feathers and her feet transformed into bird's dark brown feet with talons. Hiratsuka curled her right hand into a fist and runes appeared everywhere on her arm. Suddenly, her entire right arm burst into flames, the sleeve burned into ashes as her arm grew longer and the fist grew larger.

"Enziel Fire Magic: Flame Of Magus Fist!" Her fist of fire grew almost as huge as the beast and pulled it back preparing to throw a massive, incinerating punch. The beast of magical energy tried to open its mouth in an attempt to bite the flaming hand. However, thanks to the magic wings, Hiratsuka was able to move to the side and evaded the monster's teeth. She then threw the huge flaming right fist at the left side of the monster's face and shouted: "ROLL OVER!"

"What... power!" One of the teachers flying with a tile said as he along with his other colleagues covered their faces with their arms to block the strong gust of wind emitted from the impact of Hiratsuka's punch. She plummeted the beast to the ground as it skidded through the forest and left a huge trail of red flames. Hiratsuka flapped her red transparent wings and flew above the destroyed woods to find Yui. She wasn't really sure if she truly defeated the beast of magical energy, but that full-powered attack she used would at least affect it in some way. She then found a long large string of purple light which was attached to that giant head and so she followed the trail and finally reached the orange-haired girl. Hiratsuka saw how... lifeless she looked from the way her body levitated in the air. It was as if Yui became a doll made of real flesh and blood and was lifted by puppet strings. The homeroom teacher then noticed the purple light of magical energy emitting from Yui's stomach and she concluded in stopping the girl with one and perhaps the only way.

"RISE AND SHINE!" Hiratsuka shouted as she flew towards Yui before hearing a loud roar from far away. The beast of pure mana suddenly appeared next to her right and devoured her. Everyone watching the whole scene was left in horror. But seconds later, the beast's mouth was forcefully opened and relief came over them as they saw Hiratsuka lifting the upper mouth and using her feet for pushing down the lower mouth. After lifting the mouth high enough, she escaped and didn't hesitate to attack. She used the same Enziel fire magic and threw a right uppercut. The beast was launched into the sky by that uppercut as its face was burning in red flames. Hiratsuka then returned her focus to the orange-haired girl for another attempt to wake her, but in one second, her Crimson Unity spell was canceled which surprised her. Hiratsuka and Magus Vermillion divided, and the beast reappeared in front of her ready to devour once again. She wanted to wonder why it happened but she didn't want to waste time and just recast the spell a second later. The moment they merged, the homeroom teacher cast Flame Of Magus Fist as both arms burst into red flames and fists grew. The beast didn't stop and just continued to charge towards her at full speed while Hiratsuka struck a fighting stance in preparation to make her move. As the distance closed by four feet, the monster of magical energy opened its mouth in an attempt to devour, but Hiratsuka grabbed both upper and lower teeth and kept the mouth open. She then slowly pushed the beast and struggled. "If you can talk, is it okay if I ask you what in all gods' names are-..."

Before she could finish her question, the Crimson Unity was nullified once again as Magus Vermillion split from her. The huge fiery fists dissipated leaving the beast's mouth free to devour. However, right before the moment it chomped, Hiratsuka's Ziel puppet grabbed both her arms with its talons and lifted her up, escaping possible death. Blood splattered from her shoulders due to its sharp claws, but she fully ignored it and merged with Magus Vermillion for the third time. She quickly cast Flame Of Magus Fist and punched down the beast on its forehead. While it plummeted on the ground, the homeroom teacher flew and attempted to dropkick the orange-haired girl in the face. Unfortunately, the beast teleported in front of her by surprise and as always attempted to devour her. Hiratsuka flew away from its jaws and analyzed her current predicament.

"No matter what, that thing will just teleport near Yuigahama as if it's protecting its master... Then..." She flew into the woods and as she expected, the monster of magical energy chased. She flew in circles around Yuigahama while the distance wasn't too far away for the homeroom teacher to reach. After a few seconds, she purposely slowed down as the beast was getting closer to her. It opened its jaws wide prepared to finally devour her for the umpteenth time. What the beast didn't know was that it was part of Hiratsuka's plan as the moment the beast was close enough, she flew up above its head.

"Enziel Magic: Captured Prey!" The homeroom teacher's right feet down glowed red and had white outlines. She thrust it down which caused the glowing bird feet to stretch and grew in size until it was large enough to grab the beast's "neck". The result was that the beast had been restrained to the ground as the talons stuck unto the deep soil. Hiratsuka pulled up her leg and severed the giant claw from the limb. She then grew a new foot while the gigantic one remained to immobilize the beast. She then used this opportunity to wake Yuigahama. However, as if the world decided to poke fun at her expectations, the monster of purple magical energy teleported right in front of her before she could even get close to its master. "You've got to be kidding..."

"GHRAAAAAHHH!" The monster's roar emitted a gust of wind strong enough to blow Hiratsuka away as she struggled to flap her wings. As if the world brought one final cruel jest, Magus Vermillion separated itself from her undoing the Crimson Unity once again. The beast then flew at her to finish the whole chase once and for all. This seemed to be the end of her if not for the several water snakes crashing into the monster's side which forced it to be recoiled and prevented her untimely fate. While falling, Hiratsuka turned her head to see where that came from and found the Ice Queen herself standing in the middle of the destroyed and shattering woods with a giant sphere of water floating behind her. Before the homeroom teacher could say anything, she was immediately caught by someone in bridal style. She looked up to see the face of a certain lone dark mage with dead-fish eyes.

"Hikigaya?!" Hiratsuka was surprised by his action. She knew this was an inappropriate time to be having such thoughts... However... "Honestly, looking up this close and carrying me like this, I'd say he is good-looking. I imagined he would scare women if he is doing a romantic scene in novels but damn I'm so wrong. Or maybe I'm thinking like this because I'm getting too desperate to find a man and the only option I could think of is him? Possibly but honestly though, I don't see anything wrong with that. I watched him train and grow since his childhood like a good older sister. Nope, not a mother. Older sister because I'm still a very young maiden. So yeah, also seeing that he doesn't have many options either for finding a woman, it would hurt to-"

"Sensei? Oi, sensei. Are you unconscious?" Hikigaya brought her back from her daydreaming.

"Nope, I'm fine."

"You're drooling. Are you sure?" Hikigaya pointed it out and she quickly wiped the drool away.

"Yup, now put me down," Hiratsuka requested nicely which was odd but he still complied. After tidying her attire, she held both his shoulders and inhaled deeply. " WHAT IN THE DAMN GODS ARE YOU DOING HERE! AND HOW DID YOU EVEN BREAK A BARRIER CAST BY A TEACHER?"

"The barriers were weakened possibly due to the beast's mysterious power," Yukinoshita answered while running towards them. "We've come to aid you, Hiratsuka-sensei."

"I appreciate the love for your pretty sensei, but this is something beyond your powers," Hiratsuka said as Magus Vermillion flew back to her and attempted to merge. However, the process was much slower than before, hence why the condition of using the Enziel fire magic finally occurred in the form of her right arm growing red burn marks even though they weren't on fire. Despite that, she still felt the excruciating pain of burning from intense heat. And she was resisting that pain with a calm and serious expression. "You idiots need to get out of here."

"Denied," Hikigaya refused to comply as he drew his sword. "Don't worry, we have a plan."

"We can't defeat the monster, but we may have a chance to put its attention away from you, sensei." Yukinoshita declared as the massive water sphere shook and created more water snakes. Hiratsuka wanted to question more, but the beast already came back flying towards them. After a few seconds of thinking and merging with her Ziel puppet once again, she sighed.

"Alright, I trust you," The homeroom teacher finally accepted their aid as she flew. "Be careful, that thing might be able to dispel magic somehow."

"We will," Both science members said in unison. Hikigaya was the first to charge at the beast by propelling himself forward with the explosion of the Hearten spell. Pointing her sword, Yukinoshita manipulated the water snakes to follow him and took the lead as they were slightly faster than him. The monster of magical energy didn't hesitate and continued its charge. The water snakes flew down to evade its jaws and then rose to crash into the monster's chin. Hikigaya crouched and cast a purple magic circle on the ground.

"Dark Magic: Essence Eater." A black substance spread in the ground and shaped into a figure of a gogmagog's face. It opened its mouth, revealing the shadowy shape of sharp teeth and a red light glowing inside. The air was being absorbed along with the mana that made up the monster's body. Then, the monster's shape slowly distorted as the spell was consuming it as if the beast was air. Hikigaya struggled to maintain the spell but with persistence, he pushed through and made the spell stronger as it was absorbing the beast faster. With the opportunity in sight, Hiratsuka flew towards Yuigahama to save her and stop the mysterious creature. The claw on her right foot grew longer and she fell down with a front flip. Hiratsuka did an axe kick using the long sharp claw to cut the thinnest part of the string of purple mana, separating the orange-haired girl from the beast. Hiratsuka wasn't sure if this was the correct solution as there were still too many unknowns, but this was the best she could think of at the heat of the moment.

Fortunately, it worked.

The purple trail of light disappeared and the beast that was still being absorbed by Hikigaya's Essence Eater burst into nothingness. Yui fell to the ground and everything went silent. The students on the floating platforms stared at the entire scene as Hiratsuka breathe heavily from exhaustion while tolerating the excruciating pain of the burn she took from casting that Enziel fire magic. She canceled the Crimson Unity spell willingly this time, as Magus Vermillion separated itself from her and disappeared. Hiratsuka fell on the ground in a sitting position and looked up in the simulated sky that was disappearing along with the forest area because the teacher disabled the training grounds feature. The familiar walls of the training ground reappeared and the simulated blue sky was replaced with the true celestial roof that lied above the world.

"That worked quicker than I thought," Hikigaya commented while panting as his left eye was all black. He sat down to rest. "Great, the eyesight on my left is blacked out."

"The equal feedback, I see. Well, you are not the only one," Yukinoshita also breathed heavily from exhaustion as her own equal feedback occurred within her. The Ice Queen began to have difficulty balancing herself due to dizziness and the mana inside her were shaking as if the blood within her body waved like the sea. She sat on the ground next to him as the massive sphere of water disappeared into nothingness along with the simulated forest. "I did everything in my power to prevent the beast from escaping your spell."

"Thanks for that," He expressed his gratitude while waving a hand. "I can't believe you followed me."

"Who would be the one to make sure you don't become food for that beast?"

"Your worries flatter me."

"Don't get that into your head, fool."

"Yeah, yeah," The young dark mage stood up and walked forward while trying to maintain balance from exhaustion from using a large amount of mana. "Let's go. We need to check on Yuigahama."

"You do not have to tell me." Yukinoshita stood up but the dizziness was too much to balance herself. Hikigaya noticed that and caught her in his arm before she fell backward.

"Do I have to carry you as well?" He asked with a teasing grin.

"Silence, I can-" She persistently tried to stand up with her own two feet, but the equal feedback proved it to be an impossible task as she fell back on his arm.

"I'll take that as a yes." He then lifted her with one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. Yukinoshita averted her gaze from him while clicking her tongue in irritation and a blush formed on her cheeks. "What humiliation."

"What? I thought you didn't care for such things."

"I care about my pride, you barbaric pervert."

"Uhuh." While the two were arguing and making their way to where Yuigahama and Hiratsuka were, the teachers and doctor came to them to treat the heroes. The rest of the students just stared and watched as the two science members stopped their bickering and check on the orange-haired girl in worry.

"Phew, it's been a while since I used my full power," The homeroom teacher sighed and looked at the orange-haired girl who was lying prone on the ground unconscious. Two teachers who battled the monster all tend to Yuigahama to check her condition while the other two who were protecting the students tend to Hiratsuka instead. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just give me a few minutes and I can walk on my own."

"Years have passed since I last saw you fight and you're still quite the monster, Ms. Hiratsuka," The Augmentor teacher said while sighing in relief that the danger had ended. "But for you to go this far against that creature, I doubt the combined strength of us four supervisors couldn't fight that."

"In one second when I was ready to punch that thing, I thought I couldn't stand a chance either," Hiratsuka claimed while staring at the orange-haired girl being treated by the doctor. "My ultimate spell was nullified for just one second then I recast it back."

"I see, that's why the drawback of that fire fist spell occurred way earlier than usual." The Liberator teacher said while holding her chin and staring at Hiratsuka's burned arms. "You must be getting a little weaker because of the years of not fighting."

"Oi, I'm still in my prime. I never skipped training once." Hiratsuka retorted and then wore a serious expression. "So what happened."

"Well..." Both two supervisors turned around to look at the unconscious Yuigahama and returned to the homeroom teacher and explained what they had witnessed in the fourth match. The more they explained, Hiratsuka's expression first turned confusion and then in thought about the information she had received so far from the teachers.

"So when Yuigahama and Agafonov fought, that's when it happened?" She asked for confirmation.

"Yes, but we don't know how or even what exactly happened." The Augmentor teacher added. "Near the end, Ms. Yuigahama and Ms. Agafonov are completely hidden from the smoke so we cannot say for sure."

"I see..." Hiratsuka went silent in thought for a moment before the Liberator teacher asked.

"By the way, how did you know we were in trouble?"

"I along with everyone in school felt an immense magical energy that sent chills down our spine." The homeroom teacher answered. "While the rest are busy following orders to 'stand by' and 'call the knights', I took action first and ran as fast as I could. I couldn't get in the entrance so I thought going over was the best option and thank goodness the dome cracked so much I broke through with my enhanced fist."

"Looks like the knights finally arrived." He said as the knights entered the training ground which caught everyone's attention. Along with the knights' presence, also brought a huge relief for the students. The day so far had been what everyone would never expect nor would anyone want to happen. Fear was engraved into their core but none wished to show them at the thought that everything would heal with time. However, the question was how long for that to occur or better yet, would it ever happen when they and the citizens of Villfalt were already worried about the powerful hooded woman. What started a normal day became a horrific mystery. While the knights brought order to the terrified students and had them exit the training ground, Yuigahama being carried by a teacher and doctor with a stretcher. Hikigaya and Yukinoshita followed them behind in worry of the orange-haired girl's current state.

"Just what in every god's name is going on?" Hikigaya asked. "It hasn't been one week since that monster freak showed up in the forest, now Yuigahama has her own monster literally inside of her."

"The powerful monster from two days ago isn't the only strange anomaly," Yukinoshita speculated while following alongside the young dark mage on the two people carrying the unconscious Yuigahama. "Roughly a month ago, a gogmagog appeared inside the city's boundary in the mountain. Usually, monsters can only be seen on the other side of the mountains until one giant entered our territory. And then there is the mystery with Shadow craves and goblin horde killing and skinning massis wolves."

"So you also guessed they are all connected too, huh?"

"It is a stretch but a noteworthy one."

"I have a theory on what that thing was."

"Really? Pray tell."

"I believe that monster Yuigahama created might be..."

---

Three hours had passed after the whole chaos at the training grounds ended. Many students that were injured from either the battle on the fourth match or from the rampaging beast, were resting on the infirmary. However, because of the lack of bedrooms and space in the room, some of them were still in the training ground resting with others still being treated either by healing spell or potions. One of the students resting in the infirmary was Yuighama as her closed eyes twitched and slowly opened. It took a few seconds for her vision to become clear enough to see colors and figures, and the first thing she noticed was two familiar science members sitting next to her on chairs. When her sight recovered, Yuigahama could see those two were Hikigaya and Yukinoshita. She noticed they wore their normal attire and Hikigaya's left eye was pure black. The two science members seemed to be talking to each other about a serious topic based on their expressions, or they could be bantering once again since it was quite difficult for her to read their emotions. Her hearing slowly recovered as she could finally understand their words.

"Such a possibility is nonsense, Hikigaya-kun. The ritual and process should've been the same as her classmates as their teacher instructed them to." Yukinoshita said with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"But what she created doesn't make sense either," Hikigaya retorted. "Magic that is empowered by extreme emotions can only end in two ways: the spell overexerts and could cause harm to the mage himself, Or the spell fails completely and just disappear. That thing we just witnessed didn't follow both consequences and instead went on a rampage."

"And we would just confidently assume that- Yuigahama-san?" Before the Ice Queen could argue any further, she noticed the orange-haired girl was awake. Hikigaya also looked down to see her staring.

"You're awake, huh?" He said with a tone of relief. "How are you feeling?"

"Where...?" Yuigahama tried to finish her question but Yukinoshita already answered fully understood what she was about to ask.

"You are in the infirmary. Are you alright?" She asked with a worried expression. Yuigahama responded by trying to sit up straight but was stopped by surprisingly, Hikigaya as he held both her shoulders.

"Easy now, you sure you can move well?" He asked with a blank expression, although the tone of his voice opposed that. He sounded worried. It was a tone that felt nostalgic for her.

"How long was it since the last time he treated me like this?" Without even thinking, the orange-haired girl held both of the young dark mage's wrist and traced his arms to the shoulders, and then hugged him. This action froze Hikigaya for a moment and thought whether or not should he respond with the same gesture.

"I'm great." Yuigahama whispered her answer and continued to hug him for a few more seconds. Her answer caused the young dark mage to return the favor and hugged her back. It was uncharacteristic of him to do so, but the orange-haired girl was happy. They stayed in that position until they heard a light cough from the Ice Queen.

"Ahem, Hikipervy-kun. Stop this sexual harassment this instant or I will enforce punishment for moral rights." Yukinoshita demanded while giving him her signature icy glare. Although her voice was as cold as the hundred blizzards, he noticed something odd through that vocal manifestation of disastrous weather but he couldn't figure out what exactly was. Yuigahama, on the other hand, somehow understood the meaning behind Yukinoshita's words. Even though it was directed at the young dark mage, it felt that it was an urge towards her with a different emotion.

"Please don't assume every physical contact I made with the opposite of my gender as sexual harassment. Besides, she hugged me first and I just returned the favor," Hikigaya retorted with a deadpanned expression though the Ice Queen could only see the back of his head. "Or do you want to hug her too? Just say so than trying to find false accusations for me to kill every knight who would dare arrest me."

"Strong words assuming you have fought with an actual knight at all."

"Ehehehe..." Yuigahama could only laugh awkwardly at their banter and let go of the young dark mage to stop it without escalating further. Hikigaya did the same albeit seconds longer than it should have and she looked around to see other students resting unconscious here in the infirmary. All the beds were occupied with a few guardians and/or parents by their side. Some students had bandages wrapped around their limbs or in different other areas while others had no injuries yet still remain unconscious. She looked to her left side and finally noticed her fiancèe resting on a bed next to her. He seemed to be fine with no bandages and injuries whatsoever. Suddenly her mind flashed on memories of a battle in the forest, most likely the battles she had on the fourth match. The rest of it was quite blurry so she didn't understand the entirety of her current circumstances.

"What happened?" Yuigahama's question made both science members looked at each other with serious expressions before looking back at her.

"Do you not remember?" Yukinoshita asked with curiosity and worry mixed in her voice.

"I remember I was fighting in a battle royale with Oliver..." Yuigahama looked down at her bedsheets trying to remember. "We fought two guys... and then we fought... four?"

"Keep going." Yukinoshota urged her to continue.

"And... gghh!" The orange-haired girl suddenly had a headache as she clutched her head in an attempt to ease the pain. Memories came back in pain-inducing flashes of images. From their fight against the man wielding a sword and shield and the kusarigama wielder to being ambushed by four people that had grudges against the engaged couple. She then remembered her one-sided battle against Agafonov and her Ziel puppet that was a blue dragon. Yuigahama's eyes widened and she held her mouth with both hands to resist the urge of releasing her digestive contents.

"Oi! What's wrong?" Hikigaya asked as his and Yukinoshita's worry grew from seeing the orange-haired girl's current state. She then put a hand in front of him as a gesture for him to stop.

"It's fine," She answered and took one deep breath. She raised her shirt slightly to look at her stomach where she was stabbed and now there wasn't a single scar. "I remember now. The last thing before I passed out, I was fighting a losing battle against that girl and then... I got stabbed here... slowly...so... painfully..."

"She did what?" Yukinoshita asked in bewilderment and both science members emitted a menacing aura at the thought of Agafonov doing such a thing to someone like Yuigahama. The way the lighthearted orange-haired girl described the act was the exact opposite of her personality. From how she clutched her stomach to the cold sweat dripping on her face, Hikigaya and Yukinoshita deduced that what Agafonov did wasn't for competitive reasons nor something that the situation demanded.

Pure malice...

...plain and simple.

Hikigaya had obviously experienced being a subject of malice while Yukinoshita's was far from his level of experience, it was still tiny enough for her to understand how foolish and despicable people could be. They then unconsciously released their magical energy which caused every conscious individual to feel as if their entire body was being crushed by a powerful force. The windows cracked and a small earthquake occurred as some of the furniture shook and they could feel the ground shook beneath their feet as well. Yuigahama gulped at the sight of the two science members making an expression that they were out for blood. Hikigaya gritted his teeth and the pupils in his eyes disappeared. Veins popped out on his face and stood up with his head down covering his eyes with the bangs of his hair. Meanwhile, Yukinoshita just sat in the chair, looking straight but it was obvious she was focusing on her sight as she clutched the lower fabric of her dress. Her expression was just blank as her eyes appeared lifeless, but that made Yuigahama and anyone who saw that face even more terrified. After a few seconds, The three students noticed a small bulge in Yuigahama's bedsheet, making the young dark mage and the Ice Queen stop their malice and paid attention to it. They wondered what it could be and so Yuigahama lifted the white fabric to reveal a small puppy glowing in gold and had blue-glowing eyes.

"Sablè?" The orange-haired girl mumbled her Ziel puppet's name which only responded with a bark. It was odd because he usually responded via telepathy but this time, Sablè began behaving like a real domestic animal from the way he panted with his tongue out and how his gold-blazing tail wiggled. Despite Sablè's adorable act, she couldn't be allured to it as her thoughts were full of curiosity. There were still parts of her memories that were unclear such as what happened after she was stabbed. And so, she tried to touch Sablè only to be stopped by Hikigaya who grabbed her hand that was reaching towards the Ziel puppet. "Hikki?"

"Don't," Hikigaya warned and Yukinoshita nodded in agreement. "Your Ziel puppet could be dangerous."

"Eh?... What do you mean?"

"Allow me to explain," Yukinoshita told her everything that had happened at the training ground without leaving a single detail. After finishing her explanation, Yuigahama was shocked and couldn't believe what she heard.

"Sablè... did all this?" Yuigahama asked in bewilderment while looking at all the students that were hurt by the Ziel puppet she created.

"We can't say for certain," Yukinoshita answered with reassurance. "Hikigaya's theory is too much nonsense but we will investigate this further."

"Yuigahama," Hikigaya called out to the orange-haired girl which she gave her attention to him. "This morning, did Sablè appeared out of nowhere without you summoning him?"

"Y-Yeah, he did."

"And did he talk to you telepathically without your command?"

"Yeah,"

"During the fourth match, how did he behave?"

"Umm... He behaved quite nicely?"

"You need to give more details. Things such as how he followed your command, how he performed the spells you cast."

"I... I don't think you'd believe me..."

"I have faith in your words." Hikigaya declared and Yuigahama looked at him for a few seconds before nodding.

"You see... he doesn't exactly follow my orders. He just did all that by himself?"

"What?" Yukinoshita was bewildered by her words.

"It's like he has a mind of his own. All the powers he had are not from my Enziel spells. I haven't even mastered a single one yet."

"That is ridiculous... but then again," Yukinoshita held her chin in thought. "It is also ridiculous that you mastered quite a variety of spells and gave him abilities. Your level so far is still below average."

"Yeah, you're still an idiot so you can't learn that quickly, not to mention when you've created Sablè only two days ago."

"Ahaha... r-right," Yuigahama said while a drop of sweat ran down her head. Their remarks hurt her and It was even more hurtful when they said it as if it was a matter of fact. "So what does this mean?"

"It means my theory is correct." The young dark mage claimed.

"Don't draw the conclusion so quickly, Hikistupid-kun." The Ice Queen argued.

"But it makes sense after hearing all this."

"Hikki, what is your theory, anyway?" Yuighama asked in curiosity. Hikigaya looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping and after assessing that they were clear, he leaned closer to her and whispered loud enough for both ladies to hear.

"I think what you created isn't a Ziel puppet," He answered while staring at the golden puppy. "Sablè might be a being with an actual living consciousness."

"Eh?" As he expected, Yuigahama's eyes widened in disbelief at his theory.

"Or at the very least, you gave Sablè a consciousness," Yukinoshita answered differently though the implication was still there. "The ability to think on his own, to make decisions without the master's command but still followed her wishes, and to learn and create his own powers and spells for you."

"But... is something like that possible?" Yuigahama asked with doubt in her eyes while staring at her small Ziel puppet. "There's no way someone like me can give a Ziel puppet consciousness. I don't I've heard of anything like that."

"Neither do I," Yukinoshita agreed while also looking at Sablè with Hikigaya. "But it is a theory worth noting."

"Right from the day you created Sablè, he already has a strange trait... which is?" Hikigaya said in a question form for Yuigahama to find the answer.

"Telepathy?"

"That is correct," Yukinoshita revealed. "It is not really strange for a Ziel puppet to have telepathic communication. There were records of mages who had Ziel puppets with telepathy that is used as a huge web of communications for groups and even armies. Basically, they act as messengers. What IS strange is that you are communicating with a Ziel puppet and not people."

"As if the dog has a mind of his own." Hikigaya interjected his comment.

"Initially, I thought at that time was just you being the usual poor foolish girl who needs help from a doctor..." Yukinoshita said nonchalantly while folding her arms.

"Ouch," Hikigaya said while caressing a pouting Yuigahama's head, something that he wouldn't do.

"...But after that chaotic activity earlier, it is a different case." The Ice Queen admitted her mistake. Before they could discuss any further, the door flung open to reveal an exhausted Hiratsuka. "Eh?" The homeroom teacher scratched her eyes in disbelief and looked again closely at the scene. Unfortunately (for her), it wasn't an illusion. "You always surprise me in unexpected ways... Geh! Never mind about that! Oi, Hikigaya! Come with me!"

"You here, Hikigaya?!" all the people conscious were surprised by her sudden entry as she scanned the infirmary until her eyes caught a certain dark mage with dead-fish eyes who was staring at her in wonder and... giving Yuigahama a head pat?

"Just give me a few-"

"Nope, get over here!" Hiratsuka demanded without giving him any choice as she grabbed his head and dragged him out of the room while ignoring his complaints and grunts of pain. The people in the infirmary blinked a few times until they decided to go back to their own worries. Yukinoshita and Yuigahama stared at the door where the teacher and student left for a moment, wondering what Hiratsuka wanted from the young dark mage.

"...Did Hikki just pat my head?" Yuigahama asked after fully realizing late of his previous action to comfort her.

---

"Okay! Can you let go now!" Hikigaya asked with irritation growing the longer she dragged his head.

"Alright then," She let go and began walking. Hikigaya was about to start complaining and sharing his twisted thoughts of how teachers oppressed their students, but then he noticed the bandages covered in both her hands that reached her neck down to the chest. The homeroom teacher noticed what he was staring at which made her scratch the back of her head and sighed.

"Yeah, I'm not fully healed. One of the conditions to my Enziel fire magic: the parts of your body where you cast the spell will continuously burn even if there is no fire to put out. Meanwhile, the doctor is running out of mana so she's trying to save up to heal the others. In case she ran out, they'll have to make do with healing potions. I also have to take healing potions once a day until the condition ended" Hiratsuka explained her current state and reason, and continued walking in the corridor followed by Hikigaya.

"So where are we going?" He asked.

"To the headmaster's."

"And what does the headmaster want with someone like me?"

"He wants your thoughts on this matter."

"Mine? What made him think that my thoughts are important?"

"He knows, Hikigaya. About your circumstances. I told him everything." Her answer made him stop walking as he stared with widened eyes of bewilderment at the homeroom teacher's retreating form. She then also stopped and turned around to see his expression and for a few seconds, Hiratsuka explained the reason. "It's not easy convincing him to enroll you. Duel, money, and one long and intense argument were all it took. If none of that even worked, I could've served my body to him as one final resort. Thank the gods that didn't happen."

"I... see," He looked down at the floor to contemplate what she said. If the headmaster knew everything, then that meant he was also one of the people who knew the Guardian of the Forest's true identity: From where his birthplace to family relations. The headmaster would also know who Wylfrid was and his relationship with Hikigaya as parent and child. But to confirm the worst, he asked. "How much exactly is 'everything'."

"Well, the only thing I didn't tell him was your family background since even I don't know about that. Of course, I didn't tell him about your dear 'you-know-who'."

"Komachi... That's good," He thought in relief of his younger sister's safety. After walking through the corridor, they climbed the stairs to go up to the fourth floor even and reached their destination. The teacher and student stood in front of a double wooden door with a fancy design and heard voices inside the room. "Am I having an audience?"

"Uhuh, try not to get stage fright." She said with a smug grin.

"In a serious situation such as this? That won't happen." Hikigaya gave her his own grin and Hiratsuka nodded at his confidence. She knocked on the door to politely enter the room.

"Come in," The voice of an old man answered and Hiratsuka opened the doors for them to enter. Once they were inside, Hikigaya assessed that he underestimated the atmosphere in the room. There were six people in the headmaster's unusually large room: Two ladies in yukatas were sitting on the couch in his left; Three men sitting on the couch in his right with one being a teacher based on the standard attire teachers wore and the others being visitors. The one sitting next to the teacher had brown hair slicked back to the right side, and wore a blue tailcoat jacket with golden decorative buttons and dark brown trousers. The other had a black beard and wore a charcoal gray surcoat fastened by bronze tags, a black tunic, and a blue mantle. Last but not the least, the old man sitting at the end of the room with a wooden desk in front was the headmaster. He had long white hair, long white beard, and his attire consisted of the standard teacher's uniform but with a white cape that covered around the neck, shoulders, and to his chest.

"I... may have underestimated," Hikigaya thought while sitting down on a chair with Hiratsuka next to him. He maintained his indifferent expression as he assessed the current state of environment. "What is this? T-They're not even releasing their magical energy. Just showing off their serious faces. And I'm intimidated? Me?! Impossible! Or is it possible because of the difference in maturity between the human enemies I had faced and these people? There's this aura of experience... which probably includes staring at each other with tense faces and arguing for hours until a word stabbed one of them to death. C-Calm down, I've already been tortured by the vocal manifestation of blizzard storm that is Yukinoshita Yukino's cruel yet intelligent verbal abuse. It's time to show the fruits of my suffering!"

"It is pleasant to meet you, Hikigaya Hachiman," The old man spoke." Although my position as headmaster should've spread my name in the academy and parts of the city, I've heard from Ms. Hiratsuka that you have no interest in knowing that as you see it as unimportant."

"Ahaha..." Hikigaya chuckled awkwardly while Hiratsuka stifled her laughter which made him irritated with veins popped in his head.

"My name is Hervey Saintwood, your headmaster." The old man name Hervey said with a smile. That was when Hikigaya noticed something about him and it was the ears.

"Long pointy ears... An elf?" The young dark mage mumbled but the headmaster heard it.

"What a delayed realization but that is fine," Hervey said while laughing. "Quite shocking, isn't it? That an elf is living in this country of unity yet such hypocrisy towards that unity."

"Yes, it is."

"The only people who knew my true identity are these wonderful ladies and gentlemen here in this room and now you."

"For you to give such trust to keep show yourself and think I will be silent of this. How are you so sure that the decision you made is wise?"

"That's right!" The male teacher suddenly stood up and pointed a finger at Hikigaya with an angry expression. "How can you be so careless as to reveal yourself to this lowlife? A pathetic thing like this dark mage will surely use this information against you!"

"I appreciate your concern, but I am confident this boy is not what you perceive." Hervey defended the young dark mage while everyone remained silent until the man with a black beard clicked his tongue.

"Time has blinded you old man. While I am not bearing hatred for this man from his element, being far too trusting is very flawed." He argued with calm reasoning.

"Hmm~... He's been practicing," The woman with black hair and wore purple yukata whispered while covering her mouth with the sleeve as she stared at Merek. "Though his expression is too easy to read. Just look at how fake his acting is. Do you see that hidden behind that ugly beard could be a professional actor for an amphitheater, Yuna? Especially if it's a role of an old drunken fool working as a jester for a king who has poor taste."

"Hoshiko, please be nice to Merek-san," The woman next to her whispered. She had long wavy orange hair tied into a ponytail and wore a brown dress. "He could star as the hero of the play, not a drunk geezer!"

"I can hear you two..." Merek said with gritted teeth and veins popped on his head.

"At what basis do you have such trust on the boy, Mr. Saintwood?" The woman with purple yukata asked while ignoring Merek's glare.

"Ms. Hiratsuka here has told me many things about the boy," The headmaster answered. "Although she listed his various flaws, she also spoke very highly of him. As she has faith in Mr. Hikigaya I shall have faith in him as well."

"Hira-senseeeiii~." While the others were arguing, Yuna quietly called Hiratsuka and gave her a small wave. The homeroom teacher noticed this and so she waved back lightly without anyone noticing while forcing a faltering smile.

"A friend of yours?" Hikigaya asked as he noticed their gestures.

"Well... Not exactly. She just acts like that. Weird woman." She answered.

"Hmmm..." Hikigaya then noticed the orange-haired woman staring at him with a warm smile and she waved at him. He couldn't help but also wave back slightly with his own nervous smile. "That's Yuigahama's mother alright. And I wonder if that woman next to her...?"

"Mr. Hikigaya?" The headmaster interrupted his thoughts.

"Ah, yes?" The young dark mage was quick to return his focus to the current situation.

"I called you here to be with us on a discussion of this recent incident," Hervey explained with both hands clasped together. "Based on Ms. Hiratsuka's words about you, I assume you have a fair share of... strange encounters."

"Yes." He answered with the thought that lying would be pointless.

"Mr. Hikigaya, I ask you. What is the cause of that monster?" Hervey asked and the young dark mage was silent for a moment. The adults in the room all stared at the boy in anticipation of his answer. Merek and the teacher expected a nonsensical and unimportant answer. Hiratsuka, Seerwind, and Yuna expected an answer that would help Yui in some way. Hoshiko didn't care much for the answer but anticipated his intelligence and a quick peek at his behavior when interacting with people such as them. What kind of person was he? How would a dark mage live in an unfortunate world? What would the suffering that fell upon him shape him into? These questions were what mattered to the mother of Yukinoshita. After releasing a sigh, the young dark mage spoke.

"Okay, but it up to you whether you believe it or not."

"We will take note of your words either way." Hervey said and let him continue with his answer.

"First off, I didn't reach this hypothesis on my own," Hikigaya explained while leaning back on the chair to sit straight. "With a bit of a debate with Yukinoshita Yukino, we've come to the same yet different answers."

"The youngest daughter of the Yukinoshita family? Hmm... Perhaps I should've included her also in this discussion." The headmaster said while staring at Hoshiko.

"I believe you shouldn't," she argued. "While my daughter possessed a wonderful mind, she is still close-minded in some aspects. She is still far from entering this level of predicament so I wish for you to not let Yukino included."

"As you wish," Hervey agreed to her request and paid his attention back to Hikigaya. "Please, continue."

"Okay..." Hikigaya took a deep breath and spoke. "We think that the cause of the monster's appearance was Yuigahama herself."

"Hm, please explain further."

"Despite her average-to-below level of skill, after creating Sablè, her Ziel puppet, I believe she has hidden potential."

"What is it about her Ziel puppet that gave you that thought?" Seerwind asked with a curious gaze.

"The first time she showed Sablè to me and Yukinoshita was on the same day she finally created him after a week of difficulty," Hikigaya answered. "When we first saw him, we already knew he was different than normal. We first saw him in a small puppy-like form. I thought that it was part of an Enziel spell or an ability Yuighama gave... but her answer is and I quote, 'he just shrank so he won't gain unwanted attention.'."

"I do not follow," Merek expressed his confusion. "What is weird about Ziel puppets changing size? It is quite a common spell."

"What is weird is that Yuigahama has only known that spell on the first day she created Sablè," Hiratsuka explained. "Meaning she hasn't learned a single spell at that time. I only lectured them about it."

"Are you saying that Ms. Yuigahama's Ziel puppet shrank its size in its own volition?" The teacher asked in bewilderment and then scoffed. "That is ridiculous."

"I thought so too," Hikigaya exclaimed and continued his story. "Until she told us that Sablè is telepathically communicating with her."

"What?" His words caused confusion in the room.

"So she must've learned that by-" Before Merek could argue Hikigaya interrupted him.

"It happened on the same day."

"Such nonsense!" The teacher shouted his frustration at the ridiculousness of the young dark mage's words. "The only merit in using telepathy with Ziel puppets is to widen communication for a large group, A messenger! What good would it do if she used telepathy just to communicate with her Ziel puppet?!"

"Again, she didn't learn that spell nor did she cast it." Hikigaya answered.

"It did it on its own." Hiratsuka answered and Hikigaya nodded to her in response.

"His unique behavior as a Ziel puppet became more apparent during the fourth match of the battle Royale, a physical class activity. Yuigahama told us recently in the infirmary that Sablè is just acting on his own accord. All she needed to do is think about what she desired and he just did it. However, it was unintentional. Throughout the battle, Yuigahama only gave so few commands and Sablè did more than those."

"So it is utilized as some sort of wish-granting device?" Seerwind asked.

"That's what we thought at first, but then after being ambushed, Sablè didn't do much. Based on how desperate Yuigahama looked when she was running away from the ambushers, it may seem she was ordering him but didn't fulfill it. Overall, Sablè's actions are far too random and are not from her awareness nor intentions. Yukinoshita and I hypothesized he has his own consciousness."

"My ears cannot bear to hear anymore of this foolishness," The teacher stood up in irritation to the young dark mage's story. "Mr. Saintwood, how long are we going to tolerate this mongrel's-"

"Professor Angus," Hervey interrupted the teacher named Angus. "With all due respect, let us please listen further to Mr. Hikigaya's thoughts on this matter."

"You really like making a lot of noise, Angus-sensei~," Hiratsuka said in such a cheerful and adorable tone while smiling. However, there was a hint of hostility within her that filled half the room. Angus gulped in fear as he shook from her cracking her knuckles together. "It looks like you're having fun doing that~. Hey~, Let me join in with my fist~?"

"I-I apologize." Angus quickly sat back down while averting his gaze from the angry homeroom teacher.

"So what do we make of this?" The mother of Yukinoshita asked.

"The main question is how is Yuigahama able to give consciousness to her own Ziel puppet." Hikigaya said while pushing down Hiratsuka's knuckles as a gesture to stop resorting to violence.

"She followed the exact same ritual as every one of her Enziel classmates," Hiratsuka told them the information.

"And it is before she encountered the mysterious hooded monster, so the answer must be in Yuigahama herself. Whether it's really her latent ability or something else in her."

"What clues do we have so far?"

"The only clues we have is what Hikki-kun gave us."

"Great, she also referred to me by that nickname. Like mother, like daughter..." Hikigaya thought before sighing.

"A Ziel puppet with consciousness, huh? For over a thousand years, I've never heard of such a thing," The headmaster said while combing his long beard with a hand. "Let us end this discussion for now. Our current understanding is still lacking and aimless. Seerwind, could you and Angus cooperate in investigating this matter?"

"Yes, headmaster," Both Seerwind and Angus accepted in unison.

"Now, the present issue is if the girl will accidentally summon that beast again or not? Or perhaps it is a question of when?" Hervey closed his eyes in contemplation and opened them again to look at the young dark mage. "Mr. Hikigaya, will you act as her bodyguard?"

"Eh?" Hikigaya slowly processed the headmaster's words. He was confused and then bewildered. "Why me?"

"From what I've read on the report, you are the only one capable of restraining that monster. With that dark spell, this will ensure everyone's safety."

"Hold on a sec, the reason why I was able to at least hold him off for a while was that I had help."

"Yes, I am not overestimating your abilities which is why you will be accompanied by a knight of Ms. Yuigahama's choosing." Hervey said as he pointed at Yuna.

"Okay, I accept your offer." She accepted nonchalantly with a bright smile.

"What? Now just a moment," Hikigaya stood up. "I've been wondering for a while now since I've entered this room. Why are YOU calling the shots? Can't you let the knights investigate this one? Why are you leading your own group to do this?"

"It is because the knights are shorthanded," Hiratsuka answered for Hervey. "The hooded monster problem has been taken seriously by the city's military. Patrols and guards are getting tighter, and the king assigned a few of our best knights to search and kill while others were traveling to help other countries. We are on our own."

"That is the worst excuse I've ever heard so far. What about those knights that arrived here? Aren't they gonna look on this one?"

"Yes, but because of the city giving its attention more to the mysterious monster, they would only be able to seek less assistance should they ever find difficulties in the investigation. We must lend them our hand." The elven headmaster's answer earned a scoff from the young dark mage.

"More like lending a poor excuse for them to laze off like the pathetic wastes of iron they are."

"Why, you rude ignorant-" This time, Merek stood up from Hikigaya's attitude and was about to draw his sword until Hiratsuka stopped him by blocking the pommel with her palm.

"Mr. Merek, I apologize on behalf of his distasteful behavior. The responsibility lies with me," She said in an unusually polite manner of speaking. Hikigaya stared at her wondering why she did that which irritated him even more. Merek glared at the homeroom teacher for a short moment until he sat back down in silence.

"Hikki-kun," Yuna called him by his given nickname. "I know this is too much to ask, but I would be relieved that you the one protecting my daughter."

"Why me?"

"Well, I trust Hira-sensei~, and I trust Saint-sensei~, so if they trust you, then I trust you too~!" She answered in the most enthusiastic and adorable (?) way possible that made Hikigaya leaned back with a drop of sweat on his cheek. He was about to say something that would discourage her such as how ridiculous her trust in others was and then tell her how tiring this assignment would be to him, but Yuna stood up and held both his hands together. "I know you are someone who has been through so much. You being cynical is justifiable. And your status here and the view from others and vice versa are not pleasant. And here you are, sitting straight and looking at everyone in the eye with confidence and the heart to help Yui-chan. That's why you're the only one I can depend on."

"I... uh..." Hikigaya stuttered and went silent for a moment. He was caught off-guard by Yuna's heartwarming and yet naive action. He stared at her expression, her body movement, and even analyzed how her voice pitched, and all he could see was genuine kindness. Should he trample on that kindness just for his own selfishness? Or should he accept out of obligation?

#& & ^ & Call me Yui! Hikki!... ##$& ^$&

A memory flashed in his mind. A memory that he recently recovered when he faced the monster of magical that memory, what he thought to be an easy choice turned into a dilemma. What was the best option for him? What could he benefit from either of them?

"Stop. What in the world am I thinking?" He cursed himself in his mind. "After all these years, I'm her main motivation in striving forward into this path. Wouldn't that mean her well-being is part of my responsibility? No, I just told her my goals and she just declared to be by my side without even hearing my thoughts on that. I'm not responsible... But, if I just ignore the dedication she put through the years, a disgusting feeling would get stuck in me till I die."

"... Okay," Hikigaya's acceptance of Yuna's request made her smile even brighter. "I'll be by her side."

"Thank you, Hikki-kun!"

"Forgive me for placing you in such a difficult task," Hervey apologized. "Based on experience with dangers along with the ability to stop the strange Ziel puppet, you are the one I believe that fits the criteria perfectly."

"Thanks for the flattery." Hikigaya said while rolling his eyes which earned an elbow jab to the side by the homeroom teacher.

"Are there any objections?" The elven headmaster asked everyone and they responded with silence. "Very well, then this meeting is adjourned. I pray you all that we can overcome these challenges."

And with that, the discussion ended as everyone exited the room except for Hervey who just remained seated in silence while staring at the young dark mage. Hikigaya noticed that but continued his way out with Hiratsuka and closed the door.

"Hikki-kun," Yuigahama's mother called him. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

"Save your thanks when this whole-" Before he could make a rude remark, Hiratsuka punched the back of his head with a glare. Hikigaya glared at her for a second until he sighed. "Don't mention it."

"Ehehehe! We'll be on our way now! Till next time, Hira-sensei~, Hikki-kun~" Yuna waved at them goodbye while walking away with her arm around Hoshiko's.

"Release me, Yuna," Hoshiko said in an irritated tone while struggling to break free from her friend's grasp. The teacher and student noticed how Hoshiko was glaring at Yuna's large breasts but said nothing and just watched with deadpanned expressions at their display of "friendship". Hoshiko gritted her teeth and closed her mouth to hide the expression that was a mix of frustration and annoyance. "She's doing this on purpose, isn't she? Of course, she is. This massive waste of flesh is a woman, therefore she will use every opportunity to flaunt the charms that women can never hope to achieve naturally. I CAN use magic to even the odds, but I feel as though my pride might receive significant damage from resorting to that for a petty reason. Petty? Is transforming myself to be better considered as petty? What is considered petty is the gods' unfair treatment to true bona fide ladies such as I. Do not misunderstand, Yuna is also a bona fide lady, but also a lady who is overconfident in such useless meats that are easy to slice in half that I will enjoy as they fall into the ground, blood splattering, covered in dirt-"

"Nooope~! Today, we'll stroll in the city and enjoy ourselves till midnight~!" Yuna interrupted Hoshiko's twisted thoughts with a ridiculous declaration while pulling her through the corridor,

"Now just wait a moment!" Hoshiko struggled to stop her. "I do not have time for such a worthless activity. I must return to my mansion to discuss with my family about-"

"You can do that later!"

"No, it has to be now or we would be doomed to fall by the troubles we will-"

"That's exactly why we're going to stroll," Yuna changed the tone of her voice from cheerful and energetic to a soft and... motherly (?) tone which caught Hoshiko off-guard. "We don't know how long till these issues are going to disappear, so we have to make do with the time we have left to enjoy freedom until our duties await us. Hoshiko, let's relax until our hearts are bright enough to attend those duties. Please? We never had time for the two of us to at least just sit and drink tea together."

"I..." The mother of Yukinoshita stuttered and cleared her throat to regain composure. She averted her gaze from Yuna and spoke. "My plans may not be hindered by yours... So I suppose we can..."

"Really?! Oh, thank you!" Yuna hugged her in which she hugged back with a smile before finally going. "Let's meet our daughters first, okay?"

"Agreed," Hoshiko nodded as they walked side by side in the corridor, leaving both Hikigaya and Hiratsuka standing in the middle who were watching the whole scene unfold. "Oh, before we go... Hikigaya-kun, is it?"

"Ah, yes." The young dark mage responded nervously.

"It was nice to meet you in person. You are quite amusing, I must next time we meet, I hope you will stay that way," Hoshiko said happily with a smile. And yet, Hikigaya felt something off about that as his spine shivered and instincts were alerting him. After the two ladies left, Hiratsuka shrugged her shoulders with a sigh and stretched her neck.

"Well, that was interesting. Seeing two gorgeous mature ladies talking a liking to you. How are you feeling?" She asked while having a smug grin as she looked at her student holding his sheathed and cloth-covered sword with a trembling hand. His face expressed fear with the urge to run as if the instinct of an animal assessed that it became prey. "Already shaking, huh? Yeah, that's how I felt the first time I met her. If looks could kill she would've massacred an entire country."

"Like mother and daughter, alright." Hikigaya calmed down and took one deep breath to regain his composure. He walked beside Hiratsuka in the corridor following the directions both mothers took that would lead to the infirmary.

"So, mind telling me what's bothering you?" The homeroom teacher asked while still walking forward and Hikigaya looked at her with a confused expression.

"What do you mean?" He asked in an indifferent tone, but he already knew why she asked that question.

"I know you noticed how you behave. First, giving a girl other than Komachi a head pat, then accepting an offer from a woman other than me. I expected you to be more reluctant about their decisions back there, but you gave in a lot quicker than I thought. Mind telling me why?"

"Where to start?..." Hikigaya wondered how he was going to explain his current predicament. He pondered for a moment as he looked back at the recovered childhood memories

...

Years ago

"Where is that monster?!" Hikigaya, as a child, shouted in frustration as he stabbed what appeared to be a huge black boar that was almost as tall as the trees. "We've only been killing my mind-controlled friends. That serpent is pissing me off!"

"We may be getting closer to the typhon," Wylfrid said while using a lightning spell to kill a huge grey eagle with a thick line of metal feathers on its head down to its bottom. Meanwhile, Kazuya killed three Zalikai lizards. "The deeper we go in this direction, the more mind-controlled beasts we encounter. This could mean the typhon is getting close along with its mind-controlled army."

"But this direction leads to the main road!" Kazuya shouted in bewilderment. "The chances of the typhon finding innocent people is high. We have to stop him before he gets there!"

"Yes, we must move quickly!" Wylfrid exclaimed as he ran forward followed by Kazuya and Hikigaya. "Hachiman, you need to go ahead and catch up to the typhon before it's too late."

"What about you?" The boy asked his guardian in worry.

"Kazuya and I will be fine. Now go! Just keep the typhon at bay long enough for us to catch up but don't try to fight it."

"But..." Hikigaya was about to complain but decided against it and pondered for a moment while looking at the knight who was staring at the woods showing hints of impatience from his expression. Kazuya turned his head to see him averting his gaze a second late before being noticed. The boy sighed and walked a few steps away from Wylfrid. "Okay, I will stop it."

"Good." Wylfrid gave him a head pat before letting Hikigaya posed in a running position. The ground beneath Hikigaya's right foot glowed until it exploded which propelled the boy forward fast. He alternated between running with his natural ability and propelling himself wi the Hearten spell because the spell's propulsion was a double-edged sword. While it did gave him speed, it also hurt his legs because of the recoil. He still needed to practice how to move and positioned such as which angle to bend his body or the timing to jump the moment before the ground exploded. His right leg suddenly felt sore so he now chose to run normally while encountering mind-controlled beasts. They were four of them and all had white fur with black stripes, strange bumps on their backs formed in a straight line, and shiny golden, sharp teeth.

"No, no, no, no..." He couldn't believe what he was facing in front of him. "Why did that bastard have to do this to you too?"

"GRRR!" The white tigers growled at him as they revealed themselves in the bushes ready to pounce at the Hikigaya who was clenching the sword tightly in anger and sadness. When the tigers jumped, their heads were already decapitated and Hikigaya ran into the woods with tears in his eyes. He wiped the tears away and finally saw the safe path that everyone went through to reach the city. The closer he got, the more white tigers pounced at him and killed them with one swing. Three more appeared from behind and began chasing the boy. He quickly turned around and stabbed the head of one tiger that jumped towards him, swung upward to cut the other in half, and did a roundhouse kick in the face of the last one. With one stomp, he crushed the white tiger's head into a shattered skull and flattened flesh. Hikigaya noticed many other white tigers attacking a transportation carriage protected by a few knights. He contemplated whether to keep moving forward and ignore them or help them kill the beasts. The decisions made him grit his teeth and then shouted.

"AAAAHHHH!" With the propulsion from the Hearten spell, he launched himself forward and with one swing, cut several white tigers in half. The remaining living knights were shocked by his sudden entrance and he ignored their reaction as he continued killing the beasts he befriended.

"They're being chased!" One knight shouted while pointing at a woman carrying a child around her arms. But that didn't catch Hikigaya's attention as his eyes focused on a certain tiger that had grey fur, black stripes, a white abdomen, strange bumps on its back, and golden sharp teeth. He once again propelled himself forward with Hearten and quickly caught up to the tiger that was followed by other white tigers.

Stabbed one in the back

Cut down another in half.

Kicked another one into a nearby tree crushing its body and destroyed its ribs.

The bodies kept counting and falling into the ground. Blood splattered on the grass, trees, and even the bushes. Even his green yukata was soaked in blood. He wasn't aware of how many beasts he killed as his body moved by itself while his mind became a blank slate. The grey tiger pounced behind the woman while he jumped higher than the beast and stabbed its head into the ground.

"I-is it a scout?" The woman looked behind and her eyes widened. "A-a boy?"

"Scouts?" He asked while tilting his head in confusion until he realized what she meant. "You mean those useless morons just littering around in the woods like a bunch of pests? No, I'm not one of them. And don't expect them to come to your rescue. They move around as they please without being an organized unit. Who knows when they'll even patrol the main path and notice those corpses."

"That's because since you appeared out of nowhere driving bandits and other dangers away, the scouts became more carefree," Wylfrid walked towards them while wearing a conical hat over his head

"W-who are you people?" She asked them but the mysterious boy ignored her as he stared down at a dead white tiger in the middle of its other fallen brethren bathe in blood. Meanwhile, the man gave the boy a head pat with a look of pity.

"You can rest now, Kamakura." Hikigaya mumbled while looking down at the grey tiger's corpse with sadness.

"Mommy? I-Is it over?" A girl with orange hair and wearing a red yukata asked with tears running down her cheeks.

"I-I think so..." Her mother answered with a reassuring smile and looked back at the two men in yukatas. "How could I ever-"

"Look out!" Wylfrid warned as he noticed a certain serpent monster behind mother and daughter. The typhon and the snakes in his body opened their mouths to feast upon them, only to be stopped by the enraged boy who quickly jumped towards the monster and swung its sword with dark magic. Trees were cut down by his attack but unfortunately did not cut down the typhon as it evaded that by bending its body backward. The serpent monster stretched the snakes for them to attack him and he responded by spinning with the sword to slice them. When he landed he cast a barrier to defend himself from the snakes which bashed their heads against it while other snakes were clever enough to go around the barrier and attack him from the sides. Hikigaya jumped back evading the snakes and did backflips as an evasive maneuver while sliding the snakes with the sword. The typhon attempted to make another move but it was stopped by Wylfrid who fired a red beam of light from his index finger. The red beam pierced through its body made of snakes and spilled blood. Suddenly, Kazuya threw a spear from behind them and the spear shattered into small knives as they stabbed the typhon.

"It's over," The knight exclaimed as he gestured a hand sign to control the knives into moving deeper in the typhon's body, making the wounds even more severe. The serpent monster screamed in agony but made a hissing sound that echoed through the forest. They heard a howl from a certain beast and then heard more. "What's that?"

"Not good," Wylfrid mumbled with a hint of fear. Hikigaya's eyes widened as he saw something approaching them. It was a large, seven feet-tall wolf with golden fur and its eyes were pure white as if it was blind. The wolf was not alone as there were several more of them following behind. "Massis wolves... And they're too many of them... We need to run."

"Hey! What are you all-" Two remaining knights that managed to survive the white tiger ambush tried to call them but were immediately interrupted by one shout.

"RUN!" Wylfrid shouted which shocked everyone. Hikigaya didn't waste time and followed suit along with the others. The two knights' confused expressions turned into that of fear after noticing the golden massis wolves and so they ran beside the mother carrying her daughter to protect them. Wylfrid turned around and did a knifehand strike horizontally in the air and the trees were cut down in half. The trees fell unto a few massis wolves and slowed down some, but it didn't stop many from chasing after them. "Hachiman, take the girl and run!"

"What?!" Hikigaya asked in confusion while looking at the orange-haired girl carried by the mother.

"All of us can't outrun the massis wolves nor can we hide from their scent," He explained while running alongside the boy. "You're the only one fast enough to escape. Take the girl and run!"

"But what about you?!

"I'll be fine, trust me!" Wylfrid then ran towards the mother. "Miss, please entrust us with your daughter!"

"Hey! We will not just carelessly trust strangers!" One of the knights running alongside her refused his help.

"There's no time! That boy will carry her to safety. Believe it or not, he's the fastest among us. Let him at least ensure your child's safety, miss!"

"Okay! I trust you!" The mother ran towards Hikigaya as the wolves and the typhon are a few yards closer to them from behind. "Please keep my daughter safe."

"I-... I will." The boy accepted his role and carried the crying girl. He then propelled himself forward with Hearten and within two seconds, everyone else was already yards behind him.

"MOMMY!" The little girl cried as she saw her mother becoming further and further away until she couldn't see her anymore. The girl looked at the boy carrying her then screamed. "LET ME GO! I WANT MY MOMMY!"

"Shut up! I'm not as happy about this as you are!" He shouted back in frustration and then they both heard sounds of growling. He didn't need to look behind what that was. They were being chased by massis wolves and were catching up to the two children. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"AAAAAHHHH! The girl could only scream in terror at the sight of the beasts chasing them.

"STOP SCREAMING! CLOSE YOUR MOUTH!" Hikigaya shouted in irritation as he alternated between using the Hearten spell on the ground to propel himself and running as fast as he could. His legs began to ache and he might've fractured one of them. But he kept moving. The moment he stopped would mean death. And yet, the more he ran, the feeling of dread grew. It was as if he was delaying their inevitable fate.

The massis wolves chasing after them, the growing pain in his legs, the tears and muffled cries from the little girl. It was damaging his calm mind and fear had finally spread within him. However, the boy's resolve hadn't shaken. There was no plan to escape the beasts' chase, not yet until he might found something within his surroundings that would gain an advantage. He didn't know where to go because he hadn't come to this area of the huge forest. He just ran to stay alive with the little girl. Then he saw something in front of him. It appeared to be a canyon of some sort and the sounds of splashing water reached his ears. A river?

Could he make the jump and reach the other side of the cliff? Or should he turn away from the canyon? Neither of those options appeared to be possible. In the first option, he doubted he could make a jump from that distance. In the second option, the massis wolves could outmaneuver him the moment he turned to either side. He couldn't do much such as fight back because his main priority was the little girl. Also, he would struggle to fight against one massis wolf because, during the daytime, massis wolves had tougher muscles in which they could withstand more heavy attacks and could charge through walls. They also act more aggressively against their prey, preferring to do a more direct approach and face them head-on. Another trait of massis wolves was that they could squeeze through small spaces with their bodies involuntarily though there was a limit to how small they could squeeze through. That was why instead of bumping down trees, they squeeze through the gap. Neither of those two options was good, and the most common reason as to why was the aching in his legs. Using the propulsion from the Hearten spell did quite a drawback to his lower limbs that it hindered his speed, so he was slower than usual. Then, the only option for survival was...

"Hold unto me tight and hold your breath!" Hikigaya shouted and without question, she immediately complied. He jumped and fell down into the river. What he didn't calculate was the strong current.

"Gghhh!" Underwater, He embraced the orange-haired girl as much as he could to protect her from whatever they were about to crash. The current dragged them into a rock, a tree trunk, and whatever he was hit by as he defended the girl with his body. It was as if they were inside of a tornado and had no control over the momentum. He looked to see they were about to crash into another boulder and so, he moved his body and used his right foot to collide with it. The fraction of a second his foot touched the boulder, he cast the Hearten spell on it and the boulder exploded which propelled him at the cost of his right leg. The two children were flown high enough to reach land which they were fortunate enough to be even close to reaching. They both coughed to remove the water deep within their throats to breathe. Hikigaya fell to the ground, thereby dropping the girl with him. She was startled and quickly stood with her knees to check on the boy.

"A-Are you okay?" She asked with a worried and scared expression and noticed the current condition of his body: Bruises everywhere, blood dripping on his head, both left arm and right leg were completely fractured to the point they were immovable. "What can I do?... Mommy... someone... Please help us."

---

TRIVIA:

1) The surname "Agafonov" is a Russian surname and it derives from the given name Agafon, borrowed from Greek, where it meant kindness, goodness. It is very ironic considering her personality here in this chapter.

2) Hiratsuka's Crimson Unity and some attack spells, is inspired by different animes such as Shakugan No Shana and Howl's Moving Castle

3) The name "Angus" is a Gaelic first name that means "superior strength" which fits well with his personality in this chapter.

Author's Note:

Happy new year!

2020 has been... A year... I guess. While there were a lot of bad things around the world and a lot of bad things happened to me, I'd say it's still a good year for me.

Well, I didn't do anything much since I was quarantined in the house for a year, but the thing I love about 2020 is that I got the courage to share my ideas through this community. It was bumpy since it's my first time writing stories and I was too full of myself to write such big stories but in the end, I improved and I love all the reviews you gave me. Thank you for all the support throughout the entire year and I hope you're all with me this year because I'm still growing as a writer!

Oh yeah, I'll be putting my responses to reviews and author's note here at the bottom from now on, and write summaries at the top. I don't have a schedule for my fanfictions, meaning I update chapters whether I felt like it or not. it's selfish and stupid, I know. But again, I'm not really treating this as a job of some sort, but I will post chapters as fast and efficient as I can. So I'll be putting recaps in case you guys would forget the story so far

Thanks for reading this fanfic. Please leave a review as your opinions will help me make this story better.