Episode 40: The Student Council President Deciding Match Begins
At last, the curtain rose on the Student Council President Deciding Match, and the students of the Seventh Esper Academy were wild with excitement.
Not only the students but people all over the world had high expectations for the performance of Kazuma, the top candidate for victory. They wondered what kind of display he would show them this time.
“Guess I’ll move~”
This time, the place Kazuma had been transferred to was inside a forest.
Visibility was poor, and he couldn’t tell where enemies might be lurking.
However, Kazuma could sense people’s presence even in a Virtual Space, so it wasn’t a particular problem.
But, even after searching his surroundings, he couldn’t feel any presence, so Kazuma had no choice but to move.
“For now, guess I’ll go where there are lots of people~”
Making clanking metallic sounds, Kazuma slowly began to move.
No sudden brawl broke out; the Student Council President Deciding Match progressed with a wait-and-see approach at first.
Or rather, initially, they sought cooperation and had conspired to eliminate Kazuma, the strongest candidate for student council president.
Everyone was convinced by this sight and nodded, thinking it was a natural outcome.
After all, their opponent was the man who had single-handedly defeated Kenzaki Souji, known as the strongest student, and the Hero, Juzo Hakari.
Moreover, he had overwhelmed them with his absolute strength and even dodged Aoi-san’s surprise attack.
There was nothing wrong with the tactic of conspiring and cooperating to crush a formidable enemy. It was a correct way of fighting that had continued since ancient times.
Of course, no one would blame them. Rather, they were impressed, considering it a natural decision.
“Ahahaha. Well, they’d do that, wouldn’t they~”
“Cooperating isn’t a bad thing, but do you think they can win?”
“Hmm…”
Their roles were Hayato-san as the host and Shiori-san as the commentator.
Frankly, they were hardly doing any work.
Since Kazuma was the main star this time, their primary job was to provide live commentary on his movements.
Of course, they hadn’t forgotten the other students, but the level of attention on him was completely different, so it couldn’t be helped.
“Frankly, it’s impossible, isn’t it.”
“As I thought, right~”
“Well~, I’m sorry to say, but Kazuma-kun is in a league of his own. Unless they change the rules specifically for Kazuma-kun, they probably don’t have a chance of winning.”
“Out of curiosity, Hayato, how would you change the rules?”
“For starters, no Powered Suit for Kazuma-kun, double his pain sensitivity, and maybe a knife for a weapon?”
“Why is there a need to double his pain sensitivity?”
“Kazuma-kun is still classified as human, so if he thinks there’s pain, he’ll hesitate, right? That’s why I thought doubling his pain sensitivity might slow his movements.”
“Ah~, that’s certainly a possibility.”
Unfortunately for them, Kazuma had pain resistance, so even if his pain sensitivity were multiplied several times, his movements wouldn’t slow down, nor would he be fazed by fear.
In other words, even if debuffs worked on Kazuma, he wouldn’t become dramatically weaker.
Moreover, he was a person who had been summoned as a Hero, after all, so if he was cornered, he might awaken, making him unmanageable.
“Well, well, quite a lavish group has gathered.”
“It’s Ojou, huh.”
The one who arrived a little late to the guest seating was Tennoji Yayoi-san.
She was a woman scheming to make Kazuma her husband.
Although she was vigilantly aiming for him, her efforts were somewhat fruitless, yet she was surprisingly making good progress.
She sat down next to Souji-san, who was also in the guest seating, and while gazing at Kazuma on the monitor, she glanced sideways at the other guests.
“Fufufu, as expected of my Danna-sama. Being the center of so much attention makes me proud too.”
“No, he’s not your husband.”
Souji-san, while exasperated by Yayoi-san’s “wife” remarks, watched Kazuma on the monitor just like her.
He was looking forward to seeing how Kazuma, clad in armor like a Sengoku warlord and trying to go straight through the forest, would fight.
Naturally, Ema-san, who was diligently working, was also watching the Seventh Esper Academy’s Student Council President Deciding Match from a monitor set up in his room.
“Hmm… Is that armor modeled after Honda Tadakatsu? Hehe, Kazuma-kun is such a boy. To imitate Honda Tadakatsu, renowned as the strongest of the Sengoku era.”
“Your hands have stopped, Prime Minister Saito.”
Prompted by his secretary, Tsukimi-san, Ema-san returned to his paperwork.
Of course, he didn’t neglect his work even while watching.
“Oh, it looks like Yukihime-san and Karin-san have formed an alliance.”
“Those girls are also top contenders for victory, but facing Kazuma-kun alone is tough for them.”
On the other side of the monitor, in the Virtual Space, Yukihime-san and Karin-san had formed an alliance and begun to move towards defeating Kazuma.
The “Defeat Kazuma” alliance steadily expanded, building up a major force, as the Student Council President Deciding Match progressed.
“…People are gathering.”
Kazuma, who was sensitive to people’s presence, sensed a large number of people gathered after exiting the forest.
“Ah, I see. So their plan is to team up and take me down…”
Although his academic grades weren’t good, Kazuma was by no means an idiot.
He was aware that he was a threat and recognized that he was feared by people.
Naturally, he also understood well that he was being targeted in this Student Council President Deciding Match.
And, because it was a battle royale, he had anticipated falling into a situation of being isolated and surrounded by enemies.
Under circumstances where an ordinary person would likely cower, Kazuma, unfortunately for them, was far from ordinary.
Since he had already shown his strength in the Academy Battle Tournament, there was no need for Kazuma to hide it; his fighting spirit ignited, and a ferocious smile appeared on his face.
“Kukuku…! I’ll crush them head-on!”
Sensing that a large number of people were starting to move to the urban area, Kazuma decided to charge straight at them.
Traps would likely be set, and all sorts of schemes would be in place, but it didn’t matter.
Kazuma decided he would shatter all of it head-on and claim the title of the strongest in the Seventh Esper Academy.
“Listen up, okay? I think Kazuma-kun is probably aware of our movements. But he’ll definitely charge straight in!”
“Seriously? I really don’t think that’ll happen.”
“You only know Kazuma-kun from the Academy Battle Tournament, so it can’t be helped that you think that. But anyone who’s interacted with him even a little would understand. Kazuma-kun is, refreshingly, a complete idiot.”
“Does that mean he’s too stupid to realize it’s a trap?”
“No. Even if Kazuma knows it’s a trap, he’ll jump in gleefully. Because he’s confident he won’t lose.”
Yukihime-san, Karin-san, and Kaede-san were giving a speech to the other students they had allied with about the kind of person Kazuma was.
Although they were disparaging him in places, they understood Kazuma’s strength better than anyone else present and, at the same time, respected him.
And they were convinced that Kazuma had sensed their movements and would still come head-on.
“Well, if all the members who participated in the Academy Battle Tournament say so, I guess I’ll believe it.”
“I joined with a festival-like feeling, but I’m regretting it a little…”
“Me too. I joined because I wanted to see what the rumored Satsuki Kazuma was like, but I never thought it would turn out like this.”
“I knew his strength from the Academy Battle Tournament, but he’s that dangerous, huh…”
“But I’m actually kind of looking forward to it. I wonder what he’s really like.”
After that, they held a strategy meeting and split up to their respective positions.
It would be soon until Kazuma charged into the urban area.
The students, hiding in buildings and waiting for the signal, gulped nervously.
Finally, Kazuma arrived.
The students participating in the Student Council President Deciding Match, seeing Kazuma dressed as a Sengoku warlord, were disappointed that he wasn’t a ninja.
However, they couldn’t let their guard down.
Kazuma’s attire was by no means just cosplay.
He possessed strength befitting that attire and could not be underestimated.
The students who knew this from the Academy Battle Tournament calmed their pounding hearts and waited for Kazuma to fall into the trap.
“(They’re hiding in the surroundings, huh… Probably set traps and are waiting for me to fall into them. In this Student Council President Deciding Match, the only ones I really need to be wary of are those I’ve trained. But that doesn’t mean I can neglect the others, or I’ll be caught off guard. There must be some troublesome Gift users among the students who joined with a festival-like feeling. I’ll proceed without letting my guard down until the very end.)”
As Kazuma stepped into the urban area and advanced straight ahead, a pillar of fire suddenly erupted at his feet, and an explosion roared.
While some students, seeing Kazuma engulfed in the fiery explosion, were convinced of their victory, those who were intently waiting to see Kazuma’s next move watched with bated breath.
“Huh, did we win pretty easily?”
“No way… Is this the end?”
“Seriously? That was anticlimactic~”
“Man, he’s way weaker than I heard.”
Then, what the students who had let their guard down saw next was Kazuma leaping out from within the fiery explosion.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaahhh!?!?”
It was unclear how he had survived that fiery explosion, but Kazuma leaped out from it unscathed and headed straight for the hiding students.
The astonished students, who shouldn’t have even known where they were, were thrown into confusion by Kazuma charging accurately towards them.
“Wh-why is he coming this way?!”
“I-I don’t know!”
“H-hey! What do we do next?!”
“S-Shouldn’t we run?!”
“This is bad, bad, bad! It’s coming this way!”
Yukihime, Karin, Kaede, and the other members trained by Kazuma were, naturally, on alert. They were almost certain Kazuma would be unscathed even if he stepped on a landmine, so they had laid the next trap.
“Hmph! What’s this!”
Kazuma, who had been charging straight ahead, stopped. Before him, extremely fine wires were strung in multiple layers, sealing his movements.
Instantly, Kazuma tried to sweep the wires away with his spear.
The moment the wires snapped, the surrounding buildings collapsed towards Kazuma.
“Clever! But something like this won’t stop me!”
Kazuma swung his spear at an inhuman speed, shredding all the wires, and poured strength into his legs, attempting to escape the spot.
“Now!!!”
At Karin’s signal, the students hidden in the surroundings blocked Kazuma’s escape routes, cutting off all paths of retreat.
With this, Kazuma lost his escape route and was about to be crushed by the collapsing buildings.
However, those who knew that this wouldn’t be enough to defeat Kazuma launched a further assault.