After parting ways with Luna and the others, I returned to my dorm room and spread the Imperial Book of Weather Control across the desk.
"Hey, Shiunin! It’s an emergency! Come out!"
As expected, my vision blurred and the world flipped on its head. Immediately following the familiar floating sensation, the sharp scent of tatami tickled my nose.
Before I knew it, I was already standing inside the mansion.
Deep within the room sat a curtained dais, where the alluring figure of Shiunin rested, languidly swaying her folding fan.
"...To think I must behold your idiotic face yet again."
A voice as cold as a winter's depth struck my eardrums.
"You visit so rudely, time after time. I am not as patient as that Blood Star King, you imbecile."
Though she hid the lower half of her face behind her fan, her thunder-colored eyes weren't laughing in the slightest.
It seemed she was already in a foul mood. Then again, I wondered if she even had a "good" mood to begin with.
"It can't be helped. This is an emergency."
"Hoh? An occurrence significant enough to disturb my tranquility? Speak. If it is a trivial matter, I shall pluck out that tongue so it never moves again and feed it to the oil of a paper lantern."
"Right now, a giant four-legged beast made of lightning is rampaging through the school. It has an extraordinary regenerative ability—no matter how many times we cut it, it just knits back together. When I think of lightning, I think of you. Do you know anything about this?"
Behind her fan, I sensed Shiunin give a faint, mocking chuckle.
"...Ah, that thing."
"You do know it?"
"Know it? That is my beloved kin. The Thunder Beast Nue. I embedded my power into that specific lineage to grant them strength. It seems that after many long years, the power overflowing from the vessel has finally taken form. Hohoho, is it not wonderful? It possesses such vigor."
"It's a bit too vigorous. At this rate, the damage is just going to keep mounting. As its master, take some responsibility and deal with it."
"A master's responsibility...? I know nothing of such things."
Shiunin responded with a look of genuine, bone-deep indifference.
"When a dog runs through a garden, an ant or two is bound to be crushed. My beloved kin is merely frolicking; is it not the duty of a master to watch over it with a generous heart?"
...I’d forgotten.
To these beings, it wasn't just a figure of speech. We really were nothing more than ants to them.
"Don't be like that. Can't you do something for me?"
"I refuse."
Shiunin’s expression remained stony.
"To watch you at your wit's end—to see you suffer and despair—is the ultimate pleasure for me. Why would I ever go out of my way to pluck that joy from my own hand?"
This freaking sadist...! I knew she was impossible to reason with, but I hadn't realized her personality was this twisted.
However, I couldn't give up here. I had to find some way to stop that beast.
"...I won't ask for your help for free."
I steeled my resolve.
"I’ll give you something new to pique your interest."
"Hoh?"
As Shiunin narrowed her eyes with intrigue, I made my proposal.
"Let's make a wager."
"...A wager, you say?"
"If I can cut that fan of yours, I win. You stop the Thunder Beast."
That fan was the same weapon that had sliced my legs off. Part of me wanted a bit of payback.
"Hohoho! You fool! There is a limit to not knowing one's place! There is no way a wretch like you could ever cut this fan!"
She paused, her eyes glinting.
"And what will you do if you lose?"
"A prostrate apology? Though I doubt you'll forgive me with just that."
"Naturally. I shall grant you a certain death."
...I figured she'd say that.
"I will kill you miserably and ensure your death is final. Are you prepared?"
"Fine by me."
Actually, I minded quite a lot, but I had no choice. To bait this woman, I needed a price worth her time.
"Hohoho... Very well. Then let us cease the time stop."
Shiunin flicked her fan as if cutting through the air itself.
...What did she just do? Cease the time stop?
"You are aware, are you not? That when you leave this world, you return to the exact moment you entered it."
"Yeah."
For example, if I started reading the book at 1:00 AM, no matter how much time I spent in this domain, I’d return to my room at 1:00 AM. Time simply didn't flow.
"I have now severed that suspension. In other words, while we engage in this useless dialogue, time in your world is ticking away moment by moment."
...This woman!
Why would she do that? It was obvious. She wanted to maximize the damage caused by her rampaging kin—and she wanted to use that reality to make me panic.
She really had a rotten personality.
"You bastard...!"
"Now, now, do not fret. You'll be dead soon enough anyway."
Shiunin slid her fan horizontally in a smooth, elegant motion.
A high-pitched, unpleasant ring filled the air.
This was it!
I remembered that sound. It was the sound of air being severed—the same sound that had preceded the loss of my legs.
However, what followed wasn't my own scream, but the sound of something hard shattering.
The Blood Sword I had manifested intercepted the blow. The red blade shattered instantly from the impact, but it had done its job.
I’d spent my time researching the technique, and just like the original Verdict, I was now able to summon the blade without needing to injure myself first.
"Kh! The power of the Blood Star King!"
I had already activated Frenzy as well. I wasn't the same man who had been helplessly toyed with before. If all I had to do was land a single blow, I could make it happen.
I tossed aside the hilt of the broken Blood Sword, letting it dissolve into a pool of blood on the tatami. Then, I manifested a new one and took a stance.
"I've become surprisingly strong too, you know?"
The schoolyard, lashed by the torrential rain, had transformed into a hellscape of mud and lightning.
Within the chaos, the teachers fought back against the Thunder Beast, desperately weaving spells.
And there was one more combatant.
The Hero, Leon.
"You there, fall back! It's dangerous here!"
A teacher, unaware of Leon's identity, screamed at him to retreat.
But Leon had no intention of listening. If he were the type to retreat, he wouldn't have come here in the first place.
He would fulfill his duty as the Hero. Just as the teachers had their pride, Leon possessed an ironclad resolve.
In truth, if Leon hadn't joined the fray while bolstered by Serafina's buffs, the teachers' defensive line would likely have crumbled already. It was Leon’s lion-hearted performance that was keeping the situation from spiraling into a massacre.
"Serafina! More! I need a more powerful buff!"
Leon hungered for power.
He needed the strength to move past his own insecurity—to settle the score with the part of himself that felt like a Hero in name only.
"As you wish! Spell: Blessing of the Holy Heaven: Authority!"
The strain from the spell skyrocketed. Previously, the effect had been at the level he used against Albert, but he and Serafina had spent their training time polishing the spell while enduring the agonizing feedback.
Intense pain began to erode his body.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Leon kicked off through the mud and dove into the Thunder Beast's reach.
His speed verged on teleportation.
The beast's massive foreleg swiped at him, but he evaded it entirely, landing a counter-slash in the same motion. The power of the buff he’d refined with Serafina was immense. In the span of a single breath, a blur of slashes carved into the creature's limb.
The foreleg, now in ribbons, did not recover instantly.
String-like tendrils extended from the surrounding meat, slowly trying to bind the pieces back together.
(I knew it! If I deal enough damage, the recovery slows down!)
If he could maintain this speed, he could dismantle the Thunder Beast faster than it could reconstruct itself.
"Uoooooooh!"
Leon roared and accelerated even further.
It was reckless.
The current version of Serafina's buff far exceeded the limits of the human body. Through training, he had succeeded in extending his endurance by a few seconds, but the limit was fast approaching.
"Guah!"
The white-hot pain shattered his concentration.
Leon lost his balance, and a blinding flash of lightning roared toward him.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Caught by the blast, Leon was sent tumbling backward through the air.
Serafina rushed to Leon’s side as he lay sprawled in the mud. The upper right side of his uniform was charred away, the skin beneath raw and blackened.
"I will treat you immediately! Spell: Heavenly Light Healing!"
Serafina's healing magic took hold.
The pain faded, replaced by a soothing warmth—but Leon’s heart remained cold. He clenched his fist, teeth gritted in frustration.
(Are you really going to tuck your tail and run like this, Leon...?)
He was tired of it—tired of this version of himself.
He hated the self that couldn't feel pride in his title. He had intended to achieve a monumental feat here today and bid farewell to his insecurities once and for all.
(...If I struggle against an opponent like this, how can I ever hope to defeat a Demon King?!)
He needed power. Even more power.
He was willing to throw everything away if it meant gaining the strength he needed. If he had to carry these dark, suffocating feelings, he’d rather just burn them all away.
"...Serafina."
"Yes, Leon-sama?"
"Give the Bracelet of Saint Agatha to me."