Episode 18: For Whose Sake
Kaede was the first to move. She closed the distance to the two of them and tried to send them flying with her Telekinesis. However, the two didn’t even flinch. On the contrary, a sight that made her doubt her eyes unfolded.
“Hyahah!”
“!?”
Inoue, a crazed smile on his face, circled around to Kaede’s back and struck her, but Kaede defended with her Telekinesis. However, what was astonishing wasn’t Kaede’s Telekinesis, but Inoue, who moved with a speed that could only be attributed to Body Enhancement.
“No way!? Inoue’s a Single, right?! He only has a fire Gift, so why is he so fast!?”
“I-I don’t know! For now, let’s back up Kaede!”
“Hey, hey, I’m your opponent, right?”
Tamura appeared behind the two girls, who were still shocked by Inoue’s movements.
Startled by his sudden appearance, they instinctively leaped back to create distance, but Tamura’s Gift was Earth Manipulation. Against Tamura, who moved with speed comparable to a Body Enhancement Gifted, Shion and Marin were outmatched.
“Too slow!”
“Kyaaah!!!”
Tamura manipulated the ground, attacking the two. They were wounded by earthen spikes that burst through the asphalt. Their uniforms tore, resulting in an outfit that was a bit too stimulating for children, but they were in no state to worry about that.
“Kuh…! Is Tamura the same as Inoue!?”
“This is definitelyおかしい! I’ve never heard of a Single Gifted becoming a Dual!”
“There’s a world you know nothing about!”
Tamura approached the two, who had fallen to the ground from the attack, and launched another assault using the earth.
Shion and Marin were in the Combat Course, but their Gifts were Elec and Gravity Manipulation. In other words, they couldn’t fight effectively if an enemy got too close.
Furthermore, this was the real world. Unlike their usual training in VR space, taking a hit here actually hurt. That dulled their movements.
“Ugh!”
“Auh!”
“Hahahahah!!! This is fun! Bullying the weak is the best!”
He was completely unhinged. Tamura looked as if he might even be on drugs. Indeed, though Shion and Marin didn’t know it, Tamura really was on drugs.
Just then, the sound of sirens blared, and the police intervened. Thanks to not only Shion but also nearby residents reporting the incident, they arrived relatively quickly.
Just when it seemed the tables might turn, Tamura completely sealed off the surroundings with his Earth Manipulation. The police were unable to approach and help.
“Inoue! Let’s finish this quickly!”
“Let me enjoy this a little longer!”
“The cops are here, so we don’t have a choice! I’ve blocked the road, but it won’t hold forever! Let’s hurry up, slaughter them, and get out of here!”
“Got it! I’ll finish ’em off quick!”
“Don’t get carried away…!”
Angered by their conversation, Kaede floated into the air using her Telekinesis. Her title as the strongest first-year in the Combat Course wasn’t just for show. She directed her Telekinesis towards the two, intending to restrain them.
Just as it seemed the two would be captured, their bodies immobilized by Kaede’s Telekinesis, they broke free with sheer force.
“Kuh…!”
“Hahaha! You’re no match for us anymore!”
Inoue leaped up and slammed Kaede down. She protected herself with Telekinesis, softening her crash into the ground.
However, she couldn’t nullify all of the impact and ended up taking damage.
“Ughh…”
“Heeh. You held on pretty well. Well, but this is the end.”
Inoue launched an enormous fireball at Kaede, who lay on the ground.
Kaede instantly defended with her Telekinesis, but the explosion of the fireball sent her flying. The place she was sent flying to was right where Kazuma was paying at the register.
◇◇◇◇
Time rewinds. After Kazuma healed Kaede’s burned and injured body with Recovery Magic, he headed outside the store. When Kazuma stepped outside, wondering what on earth was happening, he caught sight of Shion and Marin protecting Akatsuki and the others from Inoue and Tamura.
“Everyone, run. We’ll buy some time…”
“Gyahahahaha! Buy time? How are you gonna do that?!”
“Like this! Gravity, tenfold!”
“Uooh!?”
Marin held out her hand, increasing the gravity. Inoue and Tamura momentarily froze due to the sudden heaviness of their bodies, but once they got used to it, it was nothing.
“What, is this all?”
“Too easy.”
“T-Twentyfold gravity!”
It became oppressively heavy, but not enough to immobilize them. The two, though moving a bit sluggishly, tried to escape Marin’s gravity field. To prevent that, Shion unleashed her Elec towards the two.
Shion was confident it would hit them now that their movements were dulled by twentyfold gravity, but unbelievably, the two still weren’t serious.
“That’s actually pretty bad.”
“Yeah. Taking that would be nasty.”
The two, speaking casually, easily broke free from Marin’s gravity field. Marin’s eyes widened at the astounding sight, while Shion was dumbfounded. Until moments ago, they had certainly seemed to struggle to move. Their reactions were understandable.
“Well then, die.”
Inoue stepped into Marin’s range and threw a punch. Completely unable to react, Marin could neither block nor dodge Inoue’s fist, taking a direct hit.
“Gah… Hah…!”
“M-Marin!”
“Hey, is this any time to be worrying about someone else?”
“Eh?”
Tamura was right beside Shion, who cried out as she watched Marin get sent flying from the blow. Towards Shion, who let out a dazed sound at Tamura who had appeared beside her unnoticed, Tamura slammed a roundhouse kick into her side.
“Die, oraah!”
“Gih!?”
Letting out a pained cry, Shion was sent flying sideways. She skidded across the ground, tumbling over and over.
Akatsuki and the others, watching this unfold, trembled in fear. With the Combat Course girls, their last hope, being unilaterally trampled, and no escape route, all hope was completely lost.
“Ah… Aah…”
“What should we do with these guys?”
“Shouldn’t we just kill ’em? It’d be a pain if they blabbed.”
“Eek!”
This was a residential area, to begin with. There was no point in killing Akatsuki and the others. Their rampage was already clearly captured by surveillance cameras. So, killing witnesses to silence them was meaningless, but the two weren’t thinking straight.
“S-Stop…”
“If you’re going to kill someone, start with us…”
Marin and Shion, collapsed on the ground, their faces contorted in pain, desperately tried to draw the two’s attention to themselves to protect Akatsuki and the others.
“Kukuku! How touching. Well then, as you wish, I’ll kill you lot first.”
“Hahahaha! How dramatic! I’ve seen scenes like this in movies!”
Inoue and Tamura shifted their gaze from Akatsuki and the others to Marin and Shion. With lewd smirks, they approached the fallen girls.
Just as the two carelessly approached and reached out for Marin and Shion, the girls smirked, thinking, “Gotcha,” and activated their Gifts.
“Thirtyfold Gravity!!!”
“Thunderbolt!!”
Marin increased the gravity on Inoue to thirty times normal, while Shion unleashed her Elec at Tamura.
Caught off guard, the two couldn’t dodge. Inoue was crushed by thirtyfold gravity, and Tamura was struck by the Elec.
They thought they had won, but reality wasn’t so kind. Inoue stood up, and Tamura, merely stunned, moved normally. Marin and Shion’s eyes widened as their Gifts had no effect at all.
“No way… That was everything I had.”
“Hahahahaha! If that was your full power, you’re too damn weak!”
“Aaaah!”
Laughing, Inoue grabbed the fallen Marin by her hair and forced her up. Marin, her hair pulled hard, screamed in pain, tears welling in her eyes.
“That’s right. You, become my woman. You’re cheeky, but you’ve got a good face and body. If you do, I might just forgive you.”
“W-Who would become the woman of a scumbag like you!”
Marin spat on Inoue’s face and cursed him. In response, Inoue, seemingly unable to bear it, lit a flame in his free hand.
“Is that so? Then, I’ll burn that pretty face of yours!”
“You guys will just end up caught by the National Defense Force anyway!”
“Are those your last words? Well then, goodbye.”
At the same time, just as Shion was about to be killed by Tamura, a gust of wind swept through the battlefield.
Inoue and Tamura instinctively closed their eyes. When they opened them, wondering what that gust of wind had been, Marin and Shion were nowhere to be seen.
As they craned their necks, looking around to see where they had disappeared, they saw a Silver Knight standing there, holding the two girls.
“Huh? Who the hell are you?”
“…”
“Hey, don’t ignore me!”
Inoue, enraged that the Silver Knight didn’t answer his question, unleashed an enormous fireball.
The Silver Knight gently lowered Marin and Shion to the ground, then turned his hand towards the fireball.
That was all. The Silver Knight took no further action. Everyone held their breath. The enormous fireball struck the Silver Knight.
It caused a massive explosion, and everyone present must have thought it had blown the Silver Knight to smithereens.
However, when the smoke from the explosion cleared, the Silver Knight stood there, unscathed.
“Huhh?! Unscathed? Impossible! There’s no way he could take that and be unharmed!”
The shaken Inoue, unable to believe the sight before him, shouted loudly, but no matter how he looked at it, it was reality.
“Die.”
This time, Tamura made his move. He activated his Gift towards the Silver Knight, attacking by sprouting earthen spikes from beneath his feet. The earthen spikes, which seemed certain to hit, were shattered to pieces merely by a swing of his arm just before striking the Silver Knight.
“Wha…?!”
Tamura’s eyes widened at yet another unbelievable sight. His previous attack had undoubtedly been made with all his might. He likely never imagined it could be blocked merely by a swing of an arm. Tamura couldn’t hide his agitation.
“Noble warriors. You may leave the rest to me.”
“Ah, who are you…?”
“Wh-who are you?”
“I am not one worth naming. Proud warriors. For now, please rest.”
The Silver Knight, Kazuma, was silently enraged. Desperately suppressing his anger, he used Recovery Magic and sleep magic on Marin and Shion, healing their wounds and putting them to sleep. Then, after erecting a Protective Barrier around them to prevent any further harm, he turned back to face Inoue and Tamura.
“I will never forgive you. Prepare yourselves.”
For the first time in a long while, Kazuma was truly furious.