Episode 65: So, I’m All Alone!!!
“Hmm… I was aiming for both Hayato-senpai and Souji-senpai, though. I didn’t expect them to dodge. Is Souji-senpai Copying Starry Sky Memory and some kind of precognitive Gift?”
Kazuma, hidden in the shade of a tree and observing the battlefield, was predicting the Gift Souji was Copying.
A moment ago, he had fired two shots at Hayato and Souji, but they had dodged, so he judged it to be a precognitive Gift, like future sight.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to dodge a snipe from over several hundred meters away.
“What a pain. What should I do?”
They’ve probably already seen through my intentions.
If sniping is useless, then a direct assault is the only option.
However, the grassland area has no cover, and if I try a frontal assault, I’ll undoubtedly be targeted as if saying, “Go ahead and shoot me.”
The enemy side has a sniper too. While it’s easy to predict trajectories and dodge, a carpet bombing-style attack would be tough, as expected.
Well, I’m not saying I can’t defend against it, just that it would be tough.
“I even brought my bow and arrows, too.”
It’s a shame I can’t show them off, Kazuma grumbled, returning the bow and arrows he held to his back.
Kazuma’s current equipment consisted of a bow and arrows, a Handgun, and various swords.
He could cover long, medium, and short ranges.
However, as mentioned earlier, the grassland area had no cover.
It would take courage to charge through such a place.
“Oh well…”
Now that sniping is impossible, my options are limited.
It’s time for close-quarters combat.
I could fight at mid-range with the Handgun, but unfortunately, it has limited ammunition.
With a bow, I can use it indefinitely as long as I retrieve the arrows, but the Handgun doesn’t work that way.
Besides, the Handgun was intended for assassinations in urban areas, so it’s not a problem if I can’t use it.
If anything, having the Handgun can disrupt the opponent’s thinking.
If they knew that Kazuma, who boasts unparalleled strength even in close combat, was equipped with a Handgun, they would undoubtedly be flustered.
“Alright, time to charge in!”
Enough overthinking.
While I’m doing this, our allies’ strength is being whittled down, and we’re becoming increasingly disadvantaged.
That said, even if all my allies are wiped out, I just need to do my best.
In that case, I could just watch from here, but as the representative of the New Student Council team, I can’t do that.
“Hayate!!! Maximum power towards Kazuma, now!”
“Leave it to me, Master!!! I’ll send him flying!!!”
Aiming for the moment Kazuma emerged from the shade of the trees and was about to run, Souji ordered Hayate to attack with maximum power.
Hayate unleashed an air cannon, blowing away the trees Kazuma had been hiding behind.
“Seriously!?”
It wasn’t a point attack but an area attack, and even Kazuma couldn’t completely dodge it, getting blown backward along with the trees.
An ordinary person caught up in the trees wouldn’t have escaped unharmed, but this was Kazuma.
While being blown backward, he properly broke his fall and escaped unscathed.
“Hah-hah! I knew it from Master’s memories, but your physical abilities are insane!”
Hayate was closing in on Kazuma, who had just made a splendid landing.
“Mu! Are you the Hero Souji-senpai summoned?”
“That’s right! My name is Kirarazaka Hayate! The name of the man who will defeat you. Remember it well!”
Along with his introduction, Hayate thrust a fist wreathed in wind at Kazuma.
“Is that so! Then you should remember this too! The name of the man who will defeat you! Engrave it into your being, the name Satsuki Kazuma!”
Instantly, Kazuma saw that Hayate was clad in wind, a perfect offense and defense, and created distance.
“Saying that while running away? What kind of man are you!”
Hayate hurled insults at Kazuma for creating distance, calling him pathetic.
However, Kazuma’s main reason for creating distance wasn’t to escape.
As Hayate closed in, Kazuma put on black gloves and clenched his fists.
“I figured I’d need a little trick to punch you.”
“Too bad, but my wind armor won’t let any attack through!”
“Idiot. If I can just read the wind’s trajectory, it’s not impossible to touch you.”
True to his words, Kazuma slipped through the wind armor Hayate wore and struck his cheek.
“Nnnh!?”
“Oops. Is it okay for you to just stand there?”
“Gughah!?”
Normally, the wind armor Hayate wore wouldn’t let any attack through.
If one even tried to touch Hayate, the wind armor would rage, slashing the opponent’s hands and feet, tearing them to shreds.
However, Kazuma had managed to overcome the raging wind armor, whose trajectory was completely unreadable.
Then, after a single breath, Kazuma hammered Hayate with a barrage of blows, finally winding up for a big punch that sent him flying.
“If this is all it takes, you should probably give back that Hero title, you know?”
Hayate was sent flying and collapsed to the ground.
He barely clung to consciousness, but the damage was too great for him to move anytime soon.
“Guh…! Hehe. To think you were this strong… I never imagined.”
“Oh, as expected of a Hero. Not bad, not losing consciousness.”
“Thanks. But this is a bit rough.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll finish you with the next one.”
Kazuma leaped towards the fallen Hayate to deliver the finishing blow, but Souji rushed in.
Souji rescued Hayate faster than Kazuma could strike, making it just in the nick of time.
“Well, that’s to be expected.”
“As usual, you show no mercy and are on a whole other level of strength. Kirarazaka Hayate and his younger sister Raika are the feared Kira-zaka siblings, known as the Wind God and Thunder God, you know? And yet you KO’d him in mere seconds… What are you…?”
“Siblings? His sister is…?”
Kazuma glanced behind Souji.
Not far from there, he saw fire, ice, and lightning clashing, making fierce noises.
At first, he thought Yukihime, Karin, and Shiori were fighting, but then he saw an unfamiliar woman fighting and judged her to be Raika.
“It seems the senpais are fighting hard.”
“Yeah. Things rarely go according to plan…”
“I see. So the plan was for you, Souji-senpai, and the Kira-zaka siblings to take me down together.”
Indeed, with Souji, Hayate, and Raika—the three of them—they might be able to defeat Kazuma.
However, one must not forget that Kazuma is a Hero.
He shines in adversity, displaying his true worth.
In other words, Kazuma grows stronger the more he is cornered.
From the enemy’s perspective, he is the worst kind of opponent.
Because he only shows his true power when cornered.
That said, it would be best to crush him quickly before he can unleash his full potential, but if that were easy, there’d be no trouble.
“However, it’s unfortunate for you, Souji-senpai. This is where it ends.”
“Well, I wonder about that?”
Souji and Hayate were already within Kazuma’s range.
Even if Souji tried to escape with Teleportation like before, Kazuma was confident he could finish him off before that.
And yet, seeing Souji maintain his defiant smile, Kazuma felt uneasy.
Right now, two of the four Gifts Souji was Copying were Danger Perception and Starry Sky Memory.
So, what were the other two?
Before making a fatal mistake, Kazuma swung down at Souji with the knife he had equipped.
“Tch!!! A Protective Barrier Gift!”
“Correct! Too bad for you, this time I’m Copying Gifts specialized for survival! I won’t go down that easily!”
Kazuma’s knife was repelled with a clank, and he clicked his tongue as he stepped back.
The Protective Barrier Gift, as its name suggests, creates a barrier and specializes in defense, but its defense is not necessarily unbreakable.
The strength of the barrier depends on the Gifted’s power, and it can be as fragile as glass or as sturdy as steel.
He didn’t know how strong Souji’s was, but it was likely stronger than iron at least.
“This is annoying…”
“Haha, sorry, but I’ll be making a temporary retreat here.”
“As if I’d let you?”
“Can you defeat me when I’ve solidified my defenses with a Protective Barrier?”
“Well, I don’t know about that… It depends on how strong your Protective Barrier is, Souji-senpai.”
“Then it’s impossible. Your equipment can’t break my Protective Barrier.”
“Kukuku! In that case, I’ll just have to try!!!”
The knife Kazuma held was made from Ibinom materials and had outstanding durability. Of course, its sharpness was also incomparable to conventional ones.
It was an item that wouldn’t break or chip even if used to slash a steel door multiple times.
However, one couldn’t handle it satisfactorily without a certain level of skill, but since this was Kazuma, there was no problem.
He fully utilized the knife’s capabilities and attempted to break through Souji’s Protective Barrier.
“Hey, hey, seriously…?”
“As expected, it’s not that easy, huh…”
“No, no! You, just by cracking it with a single knife, you’re already a monster, you know!?”
Even if it wasn’t his full power of five times Body Enhancement, Kazuma had thrust his knife with considerable force, trying to destroy the Protective Barrier. However, Souji’s Protective Barrier was sturdier than he had thought; he was able to crack it, but not destroy it.
Kazuma grimaced in frustration, but from Souji’s perspective, he was trembling in fear at the fact that Kazuma had cracked the Protective Barrier with five times Body Enhancement and a single knife.
“Master, I think I can move soon…”
“Oh! Finally!”
Hayate, who had been tended to by Souji, recovered and slowly stood up.
Facing both Souji and Hayate would be a desperate situation, but unfortunately for them, to Kazuma, it was nothing special; in fact, he was fired up.
His fighting spirit surged, and Kazuma’s body temperature rose.
Like a racing car before the start, Kazuma’s fighting spirit was revving up.
“Now, let’s begin—”
Just as Kazuma was about to ring the gong for battle, he suddenly sensed an attack and, turning around, saw an Elec attack flying towards him.
When he nimbly dodged the Elec attack, a woman with features similar to Hayate’s was standing there, and Kazuma judged that she must be Raika.
“…What happened to Yukihime-senpai and Karin-senpai?”
“If you mean them, we defeated them. They were very strong and we were forced into a tough fight, but in the end, we won due to our superior numbers.”
“What?”
Looking behind Raika, where the new and old student councils should have been engaged in a fierce battle just moments ago, the new student council was now being unilaterally overrun.
Although Tsubaki and Ayame, summoned by Issei, were fighting hard, the new student council’s forces were steadily being whittled down, and their complete annihilation was only a matter of time.
“Seriously…?”
The new student council team had the four Kazuma had trained—Kaede, Taiga, Yukihime, and Karin—plus Issei, who could summon heroes from the past.
The old student council had Souji, the former strongest student, and Kazuma’s top disciples, Hayato and Shiori, leading former student council presidents and vice-presidents from various academies.
In terms of fighting strength, the former student council was also plenty strong, but the new student council was superior.
However, there was one thing that hadn’t been factored in.
That was experience. Of course, second-years like Taiga, Yukihime, and Karin had also gained experience, but compared to the third-years, there was a one-year gap.
Moreover, not only the new student council, but the old student council members had also been rivals who pushed each other to improve, so they understood each other’s quirks and movements to some extent.
These factors combined, and the old student council excelled in teamwork more than the new student council, bridging the gap in fighting strength.
And as a result, the old student council had splendidly defeated the new student council, leading to the current situation.
However, as expected, extraordinary existences like Tsubaki and Ayame were proving to be the biggest obstacles, and they hadn’t been completely wiped out yet.
Nevertheless, since powerhouses like Shiori and the other former student council presidents and vice-presidents had them surrounded, they probably wouldn’t be able to come to Kazuma’s aid.
“Everyone, get out of the way!!!”
Just as he thought he heard Shiori’s shout, the next moment—
“Maximum output! Blow away along with the Protective Barrier! Charged Particle Cannon!!!”
An aurora-like light streaked across the grassland, engulfing Issei’s group along with Tsubaki’s Protective Barrier.
And after the light faded, nothing remained; literally, the entire new student council team, except for Kazuma, had been annihilated.