Chapter 66
A red-haired woman, running at full speed, ignoring the fighting all around her, with only one thing in sight: the warehouse. But suddenly a lizard-like man appears in front of her, facing her. She threw out her fist and struck. The lizard man puts both forearms forward to protect himself, but is still sent flying backwards by the violence of the blow.
"Out of my way!" Minori exclaims, igniting her fists.
"Ouch, you hit hard for a woman, I'm impressed." The lizard man emerges from the debris caused by the impact of his fall. "I'm Deyan! I serve One! The only person who accepted me, a heteromorph!"
"I don't give a damn! One of my students is in danger, get out of the way!" Minori dashes towards him.
"Hey, miss! Not so fast!"
Another person appears from nowhere and stands in front of Minori. Not caring, she hits him, but instead of touching him, she passes through him, surprising her. Deyan took the opportunity to propel himself towards her, swinging his fists at her face. Regaining her composure, she uses her other hand to strike the ground, propelling herself into the air, releasing a wave of flame and dodging the lizard man's attack.
She landed and counter-attacked directly, stringing together a combo with her fists, but each blow was blocked by Deyan, either by his arms or by his huge tail. He takes advantage of his scale-covered body to just ignore certain blows and try to hit the redhead, but she deflects each attack, punishing him with a blow more powerful than the last. Strikes follow one another, raining down like bullets, waves of flame exploding with each impact, heating up the area more and more. Deyan grows weaker and weaker, until he can no longer defend himself.
"Okay that's enough!" The other opponent throws his fists at Minori.
She reacts quickly and delivers a reverse punch in his direction. He gets through the blow and catches Deyan, who is completely knocked out. He walks away and puts down his comrade.
"You're not kidding, I've never seen the lizard in such a state, but your fists are just as badly damaged, I guess his scales are really effective, even against grunts like you."
"..." Minori looks down at her fists, bleeding all over. "If you're just bait, I don't have time for you."
"Minori-sensei." Yuuka appeared beside her. "Let me heal your hands."
Golden earrings appear in Yuuka's ears, emitting a powerful aura. She takes Minori's hands and emits a great light, first spreading over her hands, then over the teacher's whole body.
"Ahh..." She flexed her hands, no longer having any trace of damage. "Thanks Amato-chan, I feel like new! By the way, were you able to see anything?"
"I was able to advance to the roof of the warehouse. There was already a blonde girl present, talking to Senji via a communicator. He went inside, accompanied by someone I didn't recognize."
"Is he there yet? I hope he knows what he's doing..." Minori worried.
"Did I hear right? The sheep is in the wolf's den? That's great news! Now, my role is to keep you here until One's order. Hmmm..."
"Someone else is coming, get ready Amato-chan." Minori moves into position, followed by Yuuka.
"Hmmm, is Deyan still alive? I've never seen him in such a state." The guy in question bends down to look at Deyan.
"Bernus!" Deyan's colleague exclaims. "It's the redhead who's been giving him a complete makeover!"
"Damn it Kenzy, we said we weren't giving out our nicknames." He stands up and walks over to the two women. "Fire element huh? This is going to be an interesting match. Kenzy, take care of the young one, I want to fry my rival."
"No problem buddy, I'll take care of it!" Kenzy runs to the side, disappearing into a building.
"Rival? Yet I don't know you...? Oh... I see..." Minori saw the air around Bernus heating up, creating distortions all around him. "This kind of rivalry..."
"Yes, when I see another user of the fire element, I can't help but confront him, just to find out who's the better one between the two of us."
"And have you ever faced Endeavor?" Minori asks.
"It's my biggest dream, but One won't let me, so... I'll settle for you today!"
He runs towards her, a deranged smile on his face. Then, a few meters away, his body overheats, as if flames were wandering under his skin, and he creates a shockwave of flame waves, burning the ground and the air. Even though she has some resistance to the heat, she can't help but shield her face and feel a weakness in her breathing.
"This guy, he's nuts." Minori said, making her hands sparkle.
Black gloves, covered with spikes here and there, with a black gem on the back of the glove. She ignites her fists, and the gem glows a powerful red, energy emanating from its origin.
She throws her weight around and fires a flame missile in the shape of a dragon's head. Bernus spreads his arms, exposing himself to take the full force of the blow. He lets himself be engulfed by the flames, epxlosing on contact with the ground.
"Ahahahaha! Yes! That's it! Let's fight, flame against flame! Who has the most powerful flame, the one capable of surpassing the dragons themselves! Let's incinerate each other, let's burn the whole port if we have to!" He creates a shockwave even hotter than the old one.
"As if..." Minori protects herself with a wall of flame. "I was going to let you!"
Aside from the duel, Yuuka has infiltrated the building entered by the one calling as Kenzy. She walks quietly, listening for the slightest disturbance in the air.
"Where are you? I know you're hiding..." His voice echoes throughout the building.
"It's time to make some noise..." She whispers.
She drops a Kunai, falling noisily to the ground, then stands in the shadows, waiting.
"Ha ah!" Kenzy passes through a wall, as if it didn't exist. "Huh? Gone already? You're a fast one!"
She picks up a second kunai, throws it and plants it in his shoulder, before he's even had time to react.
"Gahh! Above me?! Are you a spider or something?!" Kenzy exclaims.
"Fufufu..." She lands on the ground, shurikens in hand. "This is the kind of thing you learn at Kuoh, in second year."
"You and your shitty school... Do I have to remind you that you can't even protect a student on the school grounds!" The kunai falls, passing through his body and then he kicks it, sending the kunai towards Yuuka.
Slightly annoyed, she keeps her cool and shifts her head to let the kunai pass, then throws four shurikens. Kenzy raises his arms in the air and, in a theatrical pose, lets the shuriken pass through him. But Yuuka doesn't wait and closes the distance between them with one dash and hits him with a kick, which makes contact and sends him waltzing towards a pile of crates.
"Ouch..! How is this possible?!" Kenzy writhes in pain.
"It's pretty simple, your power come from a "game" doesn't it? So logically, there's a cooldown before you can use it again. Am I wrong?"
"Tss, don't think it works the same way as everyone else..."
"Maybe, but it's you I've got in my sights." Suddenly, she opens her eyes, showing a weary, contemptuous look. "You've caused harm to one of my juniors, well now two, so I'll have no mercy."
"Ahahahahaha! Ahh! Ahahaha!" Bernus strings together shockwaves, rendering the air unbreathable and warping concrete and steel.
"I've never seen such use of the fire element, it doesn't use flames as such, but the heat it gives off and propels it at high speed all around him, creating its shockwaves gradually reducing everything to ash... It's horrible, because it means that the only fuel to create heat is him, and not the flames..." Minori shields herself behind a wall of fire, pondering how to stop him.
"Minori!" A familiar voice is heard behind her.
"Hmm? Present mic?!" Minori turns and sees the blond hero, running toward her. "Stay where you are! If you come any closer, you'll burn to a crisp!"
"Oh no! I ran here as fast as I could! You're not going to tell me to turn back, especially if you need help!" Said Present mic, out of breath.
"Don't worry about me! I'll find a solution! We need your vocal cords and if you come any closer, they'll burn right out! Go help one of our students instead, she's in this building!" She points to the building on her right, blackened by the heat.
"Will you think of a solution? The same one that solves every conflict with her fists?" Present mic said, deadpan.
"..!" Minori becomes enraged when she hears this. "If you're going to talk garbage you can get the hell out and fast!"
Without answering, Present mic enters the building, protecting himself from the heat and leaving Minori alone.
"So?! You don't counterattack?! You can't?! That means I'm the strongest, right?! Then die!" Bernus shrieks.
"I hate to admit it, but... He's got a point. I don't see how to stop him except to beat the shit out of him! Why can't I think of something more fucking subtle!" Minori exclaims
Kenzy grabs two crates and throws them at Yuuka, who protects himself with her arms, taking advantage of the opportunity to swing backwards through the wall. Seeing this, Yuuka throws herself backwards and immediately hides.
"So this is how it's going to be? We're going to play hide-and-seek?" Yuuka takes advantage of the echo to try and destabilize her opponent.
"Make no mistake, kid, you won't be able to beat me at this 'little game'. "
Hearing his voice nearby, she turns around, but too late, he emerges from the ceiling and grabs her, throwing her to the floor. He sits on her, immobilizing her.
"Now I'm going to take your heart and give it some fresh air... What the?!" Kenzy pauses, seeing a scroll fall and open.
When the page opens, a large white flash emerges, blinding Kenzy. Yuuka, having protected herself in advance, creates a clone which kicks Kenzy in the jaw, causing him to take off and fall further down the corridor.
"Hey Ho! Anybody home?!" A voice is heard.
"That voice...!" Yuuka jumped to her feet in surprise.
"Huh... Hurts like hell... Hmm, that voice, why do I recognize it..." Kenzy staggers to his feet.
"Present Mic!" Yuuka raises her voice, throwing a kunai planting itself on the ceiling. "Here! Go!"
"Present Mic?! Oh damn, I've got to..."
Kenzy doesn't have time to finish his sentence when a wave of sound passes through the corridor, hitting Kenzy head-on. Yuuka has taken refuge on the ceiling, having attached a wire to her kunai.
Kenzy falls to the ground, completely incapacitated. Yuuka climbs down, clears her ears and sees Present mic coming quickly up the stairs and heading her way.
"Amato! Is everything all right?" He asks, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Yes, thanks to you sensei, and you aimed in the right place." She points at Kenzy.
"I admit I'm surprised, I didn't expect to knock him out so quickly..." He said, massaging his chin.
"His power is essentially to pass through matter, so I guess someone yelling in his ears is a weak point." Yuuka explains, wiping her forehead from the heat.
"I see." He approaches and raises him. "The heat is really starting to become unbearable, I'll take him further away to prevent him from burning up, follow me."
"Hmmm, sorry sensei, but I have an idea, so go ahead without me, I'll give Minori-sensei a hand."
"What are you talking about?!" He turns around but she's gone. "Oh, already gone... I swear those shinobis..."
Yuuka approaches the fight as best she can, strengthening her body more and more to resist the heat. She turns her head to finally see the state of the battlefield. A huge fireball is projecting powerful heat waves, and the ground is a mixture of molten concrete and bits of debris. Minori shoots fireballs, running through the heat radius as if nothing happened, even though her clothes are burnt here and there.
Yuuka, taking out a seal from one of her scrolls, sticks it to herself, feeling a great wave of cold, which gradually disappears. She takes a deep breath in and out before preparing to jump...
"You do have an idea in the back of your head, don't you?" A familiar voice interrupts, laying a hand on her shoulder.
She turns to look at Gen, a slightly forced smile on his face.
"Gen-sensei? Aren't you supposed to be at camp repairing equipment?" Yuuka asks, surprised to see him here.
"Normally yes, but as soon as Minori took out her gloves, I came as fast as I could."
"Did you feel her energy all the way over there?"
"Minori isn't headmistress of the school for nothing you know?" A sincere smile spreads across her face. "Well, let's get back to the main topic." He takes out a small box and hands it to her. "This is a defective maken, it will implode at the slightest concentration of energy, and freeze everything it touches."
"But you can see he's become a real fireball, freezing him won't do any good..."
"The temperature drops into the negative."
"..." Yuuka is surprised. "Oh my, that's dangerous, you're experimenting with makens again, aren't you sensei?"
"It's... it's necessary, atlers evolve, so makens must too!" He explains awkwardly. "Anyway! I don't know what you were planning to do, but I think this maken is our best option, what do you think?"
"Hmmm..." She inspects the object in her hand, making up her mind. "This is a much better option. Now I need to get closer..."
"How do you expect to do that, it's not a little cold talisman that's going to protect you from... that..."
"Well..." She flashes her gold earrings. "With this!"
"Makaru... Is there still enough life left inside?"
"I hope so."
"All right, then let me give you a hand." Gen conjures up a giant hammer. " Climb up."
"..." She looks at the hammer, somewhat worried, but climbs on it anyway, very unconvinced. "I trust you, sensei..."
"Get ready!" Gen strengthens his arms and swing the hammer, sending Yuuka flying through the air, the hammer coming to a stop in a wall.
"It's really terrifying!" Yuuka quickly approaches Bernus, who notices her immediately.
"Nobody interrupts our duel!" He creates a heat wave.
The blow of the attack stops Yuuka in her tracks, she feels her skin and flesh melt, her bones soften and her eyes dry, but her earrings light up, saving her life.
"It's me you need to focus on!" Minori launches another fireball, exploding on contact with Berus.
"Gahh!" He screams in pain. "Why?! It hurts this much!"
He turns to face his rival, Yuuka takes the opportunity to run up to him and quickly sticks the maken to him and moves away as quickly as possible, and just as he's about to attack, the box shines and destroys itself, creating a huge explosion of ice, freezing absolutely everything around him, trapping Bernus in a threatening block of ice.
"Yuuka! Yuuka can you hear me? Are you okay?!" Minori runs to her student, who is sitting on the icy floor.
"Minori, don't run in your condition! I'm coming!" Gen runs to her.
"I don't care about my condition! You just sent my student into a giant oven! Are you out of your mind?!" Minori snarled, pushing Gen's help away.
"Minori-sensei, everything's fine... I agreed to do this action, so if you have to yell at anyone, it's me. But we did it, didn't we?" Yuuka smiled painfully, trying to reassure Minori.
"Of course we did." Gen approaches and inspects Yuuka. "You've managed to heal almost all the internal damage, but your skin is still very badly damaged. We need to get you to Aki quickly."
"By the way, sorry Minori-sensei, I would have treated you, but my Makaru are completely empty, sorry."
"What are you talking about Yuuka, the priority is you. I'm fine look!" Minori exclaims, spinning around. "Well, I've still got burn marks and my clothes are blackened, but I'm in great shape!"
"Hey! Is everyone okay in here?! Is it finally over?!" Present mic comes running.
"Yes everything's fine!" Yuuka beckons. "By the way Minori-sensei, how come you manage to hurt him, when he had become a real fireball?"
"Hm! It's all a matter of using and mastering fire." Minori explains. "As you can see, this guy prioritizes doing damage in a large radius around him. I just made hyper-condensed fireballs, to do maximum damage in one spot."
"Ah...Ah...Ah... It's all very well to talk, but the fight is still raging and our student is seriously injured. So we'll go and see Nijou-san now." Present Mic crouched down and took Yuuka in his arms.
"Okay, I'll leave her to you, I've got two more of my students to save." She said in a serious tone, turning her gaze towards the warehouse.
"No, it's out of the question, you're just as injured! You're coming with us!" Present mic raises its voice. "Say something Gen!"
"..." Gen watches, then heads for Present mic. "Go with her, I'll take care of Yuuka."
"Um, at worst I can go on my own..." Yuuka, timidly raises her hand, weakened.
"Take care of her!" Minori leaves.
"Um... Gen-sensei...? Present mic-sensei..."
"Don't just stand there Yamada-san! Follow her!" Gen takes Yuuka in his arms, and heads off in the direction of the camp.
"Raah! Minori-san! Wait for me!" Present mic runs as fast as he can.
"It's... it's not good... not good at all..." Usui trembles behind a wall.
Standing close to the warehouse, in front of one of the entrances, Usui watches the epilogue to a massacre, caused by the person who confronted Minori. Kamizaki Keiichi, who has just single-handedly slaughtered a dozen policemen and shinobis.
"It doesn't look good... I wanted to infiltrate quickly and teleport Youta out of their hideout, but with a guy like him guarding that entrance... and it's not even worth trying the front entrance, I don't know what's going on there, but there's something huge going on..."
"Hey kid, are you going to stay holed up here or are you going to try something?"
"Shit..."
Usui slaps his cheeks, swallows his saliva and emerges from his hiding place. He walks slowly, hands raised, to face the member of Eighth, leaving several meters of distance between them.
"What are you doing here all alone?" Keiichi asks.
"Um... I wanted to try to discreetly save my buddy." Usui explains.
"Ah! Really!? Ahahaha! I like your honesty. Ok, I'll let you live, if you stay where you are or if you leave. But I've got orders and mine is if you get too close, you die, you get it kid?"
"Um... Ok no problem! I'll go then, I'll hide somewhere else!" Usui said as he stepped back, still facing him.
Suddenly, an explosion is heard, then a guy flies and falls between the two.
"Oh damn, who's that kid?!" He struggles to his feet.
"Yo Stefan. Did you get your ass kicked?" Keiichi asks.
"Tss, don't fuck with me Keiichi!" Stefan turns his gaze to Usui. "What the hell are you doing? Chatting with the enemy now?"
"Bah, it's harmless, don't see the point of me moving for it."
"Usui! What are you doing here?" A familiar voice is heard.
"That voice..." He turns to see Kodama on the roof of a vehicle next to him. "Himegami-senpai! I'm so happy to see you!"
"Well, I'm not!" She dismounts and lands beside him. "You don't belong here! You'll get slaughtered if you stay here!"
"You bitch, I'll make you pay!" Stefan draws the concrete toward his hand, creating a ball.
"Oh fight? I'm interested." Keiichi stands up.
"That's not good..." Usui felt a cold drop pass over his forehead.
"Hmm, I'll show you what it's like to pick on Kuoh!" Kodama unleashes her energy, ready for battle.