"Dammit! I went to all the trouble of rigging the match in their favor, so why the hell are they losing?! You're absolutely useless!"
Watching from the control room as Yugo delivered the final blow to the Mail Beetle, Cyan spat out his uncontrollable rage at the now-vanished Magic Armor Beast.
Now that those debuff-inflicting bracelets had been removed, allowing Yugo to fight at full strength, defeating him would be an uphill battle. Cyan had considered summoning an overwhelmingly powerful opponent like a Gigantes, but the safety protocols established by the Academy prevented him from doing so.
"Just lose already! Get beaten like the pathetic losers you are! You’re supposed to be my foils! Why do these game characters keep getting in my way at every turn?!"
Just like the villains in those "Banished and Vindicated" stories, Yugo and Neries were supposed to suffer a pathetic defeat at the hands of the Mail Beetle. That was how Cyan had envisioned the scene playing out; it was supposed to be the spark for his own grand comeback.
However, the two of them had managed to overcome the crisis, far exceeding Cyan's expectations.
As if to corner him in his growing frustration, the voices of Marcos and the others echoed as they pounded on the control room door.
"Hey! Is anyone in there?! Open this door!"
"Dammit! I’ve been hitting this thing over and over, but the door won't budge!"
"The barrier is too strong! Brute force alone isn't going to cut it!"
"Aaaaaaaah! Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! You can't break it anyway, so stop irritating me with your pointless noise!"
A deafening roar pulsed in Cyan's head. He was so far gone that he could no longer tell if it was the sound of the door being struck or his own internal screaming.
He let out a silent shriek that would never reach the other side, gasping for breath as he eventually looked up, having regained at least a shred of composure.
Cyan clicked his tongue as he watched Marcos and the others trying to force their way in, while simultaneously keeping an eye on Yugo and Neries, who were still vigilantly scouting the practice ground.
Dammit... Fine, then. I'll just summon every Magic Armor Beast I can as a parting gift and then make my escape!
He had intended to torment Yugo, get Neries expelled, and then gloat to Peewee and her friends. But once again, the world had loathsomely conspired against his expectations.
There was no point in staying here, but he couldn't leave without venting his spite. Just as he was planning to unleash a horde of beasts to cause a panic that would cover his retreat, he heard a sound.
Shing!
A sharp, metallic resonance echoed from the entrance. A startled Cyan spun around to see a massive cross-shaped scar carved into the door—a door that was supposed to be magically reinforced. It looked as though it had been sliced cleanly into four pieces.
This is bad...
Cyan downed an invisibility potion almost at the exact moment the door blew inward with a violent crash. From beyond the hole in the barrier, he heard footsteps and voices approaching.
"Thank you! Calling Ryuga was definitely the right move!"
"As expected. Cutting through doors is like a hobby to you, isn't it?"
"Is that supposed to be an insult?"
"Don't ask me questions. More importantly, we need to save Yugo and the others."
Ryuga, looking somewhat displeased at having to slice through a door for the second time in such a short period, replied to Anhel.
As the group rushed inside, some tending to the unconscious teachers and assistant students while others worked the controls to drop the barrier, Cyan breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
That was a close one. I can't believe Ryuga actually cut through the barrier along with the door! Well, at least it gave me an opening. I’ll just slip out of here while they're distracted.
He was shocked that any character was capable of such a ridiculous feat, but at least it provided the perfect distraction. He decided to slink toward the open exit of the control room while Marcos and the others were preoccupied with the wounded and Yugo’s status. But then...
"There he is, Brother."
"Yeah, I see him."
"Huh...?"
A pathetic sound escaped Cyan’s throat as he watched the girl standing before him calmly point her finger.
He found himself staring directly at Yui. Even with her eyes closed, she was pointing her index finger straight at him—straight at the man who was supposed to be invisible. The moment the color drained from Cyan’s face as he remembered she didn't see with her eyes, but with her Mind’s Eye, Ryuga’s blade lashed out.
"Gyaaaaaah!"
"What?! What happened?!"
A gale of wind whipped through the room. At the sound of the scream, the others looked up in shock, only to find fresh red blood dripping from seemingly empty air.
Whether it was because his location had been pinpointed or because the system had flagged him as being in "combat mode" after taking a hit from Ryuga, the effect of the invisibility potion suddenly failed.
"Cy... Cyan?!"
"What? No! The potion... it wore off?!"
Under the weight of their collective gaze, Cyan clutched his bleeding arm and grimaced in agony. He stared back at them, stunned to realize he was fully visible.
He was beyond suspicious. He was cornered in a situation where no amount of excuses would save him. As Cyan’s face turned ashen, Ryuga leveled a frigid stare at him.
"Even without Yui’s help, I knew you were in this room," Ryuga said, his voice cold. "I could sense the stench of a scoundrel with a soul rotted to the core."
"Ugh... guh...!"
Slowly, Ryuga raised his katana until the tip was leveled at Cyan’s throat.
Feeling the weight of several gazes as sharp as the blade before him, Cyan’s breath hitched. He trembled as Ryuga spoke with an intensity that brooked no argument.
"Now then, I believe you owe us an explanation. What, exactly, were you doing here?"