Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume2 Chapter1

Chapter 1: Team Battle

Part 1

"U...h..."

Areishia Spirit Academy, Raven Class dormitory.

In one room, upon where the refreshing morning sun shone, Kazehaya Kamito woke up.

(Hn, if I recall, today ... there's a team battle in the morning.)

Usually, he would enjoy a bit more time dozing off, however, today he could not do so.

He had enough of being late and receiving sermons by the teacher, Freya.

Planning to fold the sheets and get up, he reached out both hands, then—

*Funyuu*.

...His hands touched something that felt soft.

(What is this? It's small, soft, a little cold... feels good.)

*Funyuu*. *Funyuu*.

While half awake, he was playing with the mysterious soft thing with his palms, then...

"You finally woke up, Kamito."

"..."

At that moment, Kamito's movement froze.

A beautiful, nude girl was sitting on his chest.

Her silver hair was glittering while basking in the morning sun. Her tight bare skin was white like milk.

Her body, which depicted her smooth curves, was small, but it was the proper body of a girl.

Her mysterious violet pupils were looking down at Kamito expressionlessly.

"What's the matter? You're not going to play with my breasts anymore?"

"... Owaaaaa!"

Kamito got up in a fluster and said, while pointing at the beautiful girl before him,

"Wh...Wh...What are you doing!? Or rather why are you nude?!"

"I'm not nude, I'm properly wearing knee socks."

While straddling over Kamito's abdomen, the girl raised her knees to show him.

Startled by that action, which was mysteriously erotic, Kamito looked away in a fluster.

"No, that's worse! Because compared to nude, knee socks nude is even, err, ...that!"

"Do you want me to take off my knee socks? Kamito... pervert."

While the beautiful silver haired girl stayed expressionless, she bashfully rubbed her knees.

He did not understand why she was embarrassed about that but, somehow, to this spirit, showing her bare feet seemed more embarrassing.

Yes. This snow fairy like beautiful girl was not human.

She was the Sword Spirit Est.

She was a 'Sealed Spirit' that possessed extremely powerful strength and had made a spirit contract with Kamito a few days ago.

But in her current condition, she could not exhibit even around a tenth of her original strength.

Within his subconsciousness, Kamito was rejecting the spirit contract with her and as a result, she became unable to return to Astral Zero where her real form was.

"A...Anyway, move aside Est!"

"Roger, Kamito."

Although Est seemed a little dissatisfied, she obediently moved.

She was squirming on the sheet. ...The sensation of her soft thighs was bad for his heart.

While scratching his bed head in relief, Kamito finally got up and at that moment.

*Chuu*.

"...!?"

It was a complete surprise attack.

Despite that he noticed that he was kissed, it spanned about several seconds.

The sensation of her soft lips gently separated. His cheeks turned hot.

"You... Wh...What are you doing all of a sudden?!"

"A wake up kiss, Kamito."

Est answered expressionlessly.

"Why do such—"

"Because it's unfair. Is it only Claire? Is it that you don't want to do it with me?"

Towards Est's blaming tone, Kamito firmly softened his voice.

"You s...saw, didn't you? ...That."

"Yes. Because, at that moment, I was also there."

"...Ah, come to think of it, that is right."

Kamito immediately recalled and sighed heavily.

One week ago from now, that time when he fought the frenzied militarized spirit in Academy Town.

Est was certainly there— as the form of a sword of his elemental waffe.

It seemed that the scene at that moment was being observed.

That moment when Claire kissed Kamito, who had lost his energy, to wake him up.

It was certain that it awakened him in one shot, however... now that he thought about it, it was extremely embarrassing.

"I heard that a kiss is an official ritual of a spirit contract. In that case, Est too."

Est gently brushed her silver hair hanging by her cheeks.

She closed her eyes, slightly pouted her pitiful cherry-blossom color lips and slowly brought her face near him.

"So, why did it turn out like this!"

"It's my natural right. It's because I'm Kamito's contracted spirit."

"...!"

Although she was a Sealed Spirit, who concealed powerful strength, Est's current appearance was that of an ordinary cute girl.

Being approached like this, it could not be helped that his chest was beating fast... so he thought.

"He...Hey, Est..."

"Please shut your eyes, master."

Est brought her face near in one motion. A distance at which the tip of his nose encountered her sweet breath.

Just before her rose bud like lips was about to touch...

"Kamito, because there's a team battle this morning, make breakfast more luxurious than—"

"...!"

*Bam!* The bathroom door was slammed opened.

There—

"Wh...Wh...Wh...Wh..."

A beautiful red-haired girl was standing there with her ruby-colored eyes wide open.

Her body was wrapped in a bath towel and depicted her gentle curves.

From her skin, which had slightly turned to cherry blossom color, white steam was rising up.

Her chest was definitely of a child's level, but that slight bulge was also plenty charming.

From the tip of her soaking wet red hair, drops of water were dripping onto the floor.

On the bed, before her was nude E— no... knee sock nude Est.

And then, time froze.

"Claire... Y...You're mistaken, this is...!"

At that moment when Kamito stood up in a fluster to explain.

*Gogogogogogo...!*

"Wh...What are you doing, you perverted sex maniac——!"

"Guoo!"

A leather whip, used for animal training, came flying all of a sudden and landed a clean hit on his chin.

Kamito wound the bed sheet around his body and fell to the floor.

"I...I've misjudged you, you licentious brute, beast!"

While holding onto the bath towel with one hand, the girl came walking briskly and forcefully trampled on Kamito's head, who was squirming on the floor, with the heel of her bare foot.

Claire Rouge.

A classmate of the same class; to whom, by some twist of fate, Kamito became tied to in a master-servant contract.

At least her face was of a ridiculously cute and beautiful girl. However, her personality was like this, brutal to the extreme.

"Wh...What-What were you doing? Hey, just now, what were you doing with that Sword Spirit?"

*Pishii, pishii, pishiii!*

"Hey, wait, stop ... guoo!"

It was a tempest of whips that relentlessly swung downwards. Her bristled red hair was just like blazing flames.

—Then, during the tempest of the devastating whips.

Kamito noticed. He noticed it— completely.

"Wa...Wait...Claire, isn't that bad?"

And then, as he completely noticed it, he had to say it. For her sake.

By the way, for things like this, Kamito had a strangely honest personality.

"...? What?"

Her clear ruby pupils sternly looked down on Kamito.

"Erm, that angle ... err, can be seen."

"Eh?"

Claire— while placing her foot on Kamito's head, blinked her eyes.

And then, she finally realized.

On top of Kamito's head, from the opening of her bath towel, her thigh, which became exposed, was being peeked at.

"...!"

Claire's whole body felt hot.

She fixed her bath towel in a fluster and her shoulders slightly trembled.

"Y...Y...You, you!"

*Gogogogogogogogogo...!*

"Wa...Wait, this is a misunderstanding, relax! Err, I did not see as far as the inside!"

Kamito's frantic excuse—

"..."

Seemed to have backfired.

"...Oh, I understand."

Claire informed him with a shuddering-like voice.

"After this, I'll give you two choices. Answer honestly."

Kamito gulped down his saliva and nodded moment by moment.

Here, he should choose his answer carefully. Depending on his reply, it was not unlikely that he would become cinders.

"About your cooking preferences, would you prefer medium? Or well-done?"

...Things like choices did not exist from the beginning.

"I...If possible, rare is good but..."

At the same moment Kamito answered,

"Scarlet!"

From an empty space, a hell cat, clad in crimson flames, appeared.

"Roast huh, it's decided."

Together with such a refreshing death sentence smile, as though she was fascinated, spontaneously—

A flashy explosion resounded in Raven Class dormitory today as well.

Part 2

Areishia Spirit Academy.

A training school where princess maidens gathered from all over the empire trained before becoming proper elementalists.

In its vast territory, the academy possessed the «Spirit Forest», Academy Town, and residential teachers who possessed strength equal to that of the imperial capital's spirit knights, just like an independent small country.

It was the time when the morning mist cleared up, and the bell of lectures commencing sounded. At the same time, there was one particular carriage visiting the academy.

An old butler in a suit was working as the coachman of the one-horse carriage.

The coachman got down from the horse in front of the gate and opened the door of the carriage in a respectful manner.

"We have arrived, Fianna-sama."

"Thank you for your efforts, old man."

Coming out of the carriage was a beautiful girl about fifteen, sixteen years old.

Her glossy black hair was fluttering in the gentle breeze. Her cold looking eyes were emitting a strong will. Her clear white skin could be associated to the virgin snow of the area of Laurenfrost and her uniform of a black dress like design was shining.

The girl, called Fianna, alighted from the carriage and looked up at the school building of the Academy and was dazzled.

"This is Areishia Spirit Academy. The place where elementalists from all over the empire gather."

"Please be fully careful, Fianna-sama. It is not possible to deceive the eyes of that Dusk Witch with poor tricks."

"I understand."

With a nod, Fianna gently grasped a spirit crystal, which was concealed by the sleeve of her uniform.

In the empire's currency, it was a good-for-nothing article of 20 million rood.

"Rubia Elstein's sister seems to be in this academy."

"Princess, that name is a taboo. You had better not say it here."

"That is right."

Calamity Queen, who once brought about an unprecedented great calamity to the empire.

That person's true name was even prohibited to be spoken of as a taboo.

Just by muttering that name, it was said that a pure girl's sacred nature would be polluted.

She thought that it was a ridiculous superstition. Nevertheless for the people, who saw her up close in the past, they felt that there was a slice of truth in such a jinx.

(...That's right. The truth is I have yet to be bound by her terror.)

The girl cleared her throat and then she lowered her voice and whispered.

"Besides, I am also concerned about the elementalist, called Kazehaya Kamito."

"Hmm, is it that male elementalist? A few days ago, it was said that he defeated a frenzied militarized spirit in Academy Town."

"Yes, based on all the eye-witnesses' words, it seemed to be a splendid blade dance of close resemblance to that of the strongest blade dancer — Ren Ashbell."

Fianna's voice got lively as she got a little excited.

The old butler glared at her in such a state.

"Princess, don't tell me, you fell in love with that boy, didn't you?"

"Fe...fell in love...!?"

Fianna's voice was turned inside out. Her cheeks turned red.

"Th...that can't be it, right? After all, I have never met him before... it's just that I have an interest in what kind of person this male elementalist is."

It was a lie.

The male elementalist, who defeated the frenzied militarized spirit in Academy Town.

The moment Fianna heard that boy's name, she immediately realized.

It was him.

Three years ago, that boy, who had saved her in the forest of Astral Zero.

Despite promising to meet again, he disappeared for some reason after the Blade Dance.

(—However, I finally found him.)

When she heard the report on that day, Fianna decided to enter into the Areishia Spirit Academy.

If that boy announced his candidacy to the Blade Dance again—

That was a never again chance to her.

"Kamito, I'll forgive you for breaking our promise."

Fianna glared at the school building of the academy and an impish smile surfaced.

"However, I'm not letting you escape again♪"

Part 3

About eight minutes had passed since the start of the match.

In a deep forest, which was enshrouded in a light purple mist, two shadows were moving fast.

"Claire, watch the thicket on the left. There's an ambush."

"How do you know?"

"Intuition, if it was me, I would ambush from over there—"

At that moment, bluish-white lightning bullets were fired from the left thicket, just as Kamito suspected.

"Tch—"

Kamito kicked the ground and accelerated. He jumped in front of Claire and repelled the lightning bullets shot at the speed of sound with the sword.

It was not a feat that could be done with an ordinary sword. Endowed with spirit magic resistance ability, the elemental waffe of sword spirit Est— «Terminus Est», made all the magic attacks ineffective.

"Claire!"

Before Kamito shouted, Claire was already capturing the target. Her red hair was fluttering in the wind. Below her fluttering skirt, a leather whip holder could be glimpsed.

While she placed her foot on a tree branch and dodged the rain of fired lightning bullets, she released her elemental waffe— «Flame Tongue».

There was a sharp swinging, cutting sound. The Flame Tongue, which cut up everything, very easily cut down the rows of standing trees.

From the middle of the grove of trees that became almost bare in a moment, a thunder elementalist girl appeared.

It was a girl, who had her eyes hidden by her forelocks and felt a little gloomy.

There was a cluster of bluish-white lightning bullets floating beside her.

It was not a high ranking spirit like Est or Scarlet. It was a low ranking spirit that could only keep an indeterminate form, however, it was plenty helpful as a battery to use spirit magic.

It seemed that that girl's role was a disturbance by means of support fire.

"Humph, a sniper who shows herself is the same as a turtle coming up on land."

Claire thrust her whip in a declaration of victory. While being accompanied by the thunder spirit around her, the girl sniper ran towards the middle of the forest in a flustered manner—

"You're not getting away! Scarlet, chase her!"

At the same time Claire shouted, the elemental waffe Flame Tongue transformed into the form of a hellcat, clad in flames.

Because of being possessed by the frenzy spirit, Scarlet was once the size of a kitten, however, now it had recovered plentifully. Its form was of a lovely cat, but its strength was certainly of a roaring fierce lion.

The surging crimson flames attacked the thunder elementalist girl.

However, that scorching heat, which by right could melt even rocks, did not even burn a single place of the girl's body.

That was because this place was a battle field in Astral Zero, which the academy controlled for practice match usage.

Therefore, it was another world where spirits live in.

In the real world, spirits had to change into an embodiment of physical strength, but here spirits could be used as an embodiment of pure divine power.

In other words, it could make physical damage to the body almost zero.

Nonetheless, it did not mean that shocks, pain and so forth disappeared, a consequence was that an equal damage would be received to the mind instead; for example, if one was torn up by Scarlet's claws, it was certain that one would faint and become unable to battle.

While carbonizing many trees of the forest, Scarlet was closely chasing the girl. However, the girl seemed considerably battle accustomed and while deceiving it with spirit magic, she was quickly escaping deep into the forest.

"Erghh, stay still!"

Losing her temper, Claire jumped down to the ground from the gap of the trees.

"Since it came to this, I'll blow everything together with my strongest spirit magic."

"Wait, Claire, the ground looks weird—"

Kamito shouted, and at that moment, a large quantity of earth and sand blew up from where Claire's feet were.

"Wh...!?"

Appearing from underground were gigantic crustacean pincers.

"Negligence is one's greatest enemy, Claire Rouge of Raven Class!"

From inside the sand that was fluttering up and the large hole that opened in the ground, the carapace armor of countless protuberances flew out.

It was an elemental waffe of the type that covered the whole body in armor.

Claire was blown off by that shock and was falling to the ground. The spirit's direct attack was, in any case, of impacts, earth, sand and so forth that gave the body substantial damage.

"Claire!"

Before Kamito came running to her, the carapace elementalist was already in pursuit. This was not a coincidental attack. They were scrupulously aiming for the moment when Claire went down onto the ground.

"Eat this, the elemental waffe of the carapace spirit «Kuraste»— «Breaker Arm»."

"—Guu! Flames, dance in my hand, dance!"

Claire, who fell, released countless fireballs from her hand.

However, the armor type elemental waffe was plunging in the face of this level of flames.

"Ha, the flame attribute isn't effective against the carapace spirit. Didn't you learn that in the lecture?"

*Gaa*— A shoulder-tackle of the carapace armor blew Claire away.

Kamito kicked the ground and quickly turned around. Holding Est in a backhand grip, he tightly embraced and stopped Claire's body that came flying.

"U...gh..."

Claire leaked out a languishing voice in his arms.

It seemed that she had greatly drained her divine power from the attack just now; however, it seemed that she was still conscious.

(Just before the crash, she released the fireballs at the ground and destroyed her opponent's stance. As expected of her.)

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Y...yea... Eh... y...you, what are you doing!"

Suddenly, Claire's face turned red.

Claire's petite body was being held in such a manner that her back and knees were held by both his hands.

It was what was called being carried like a princess.

"Fua... Id...idiot... qu...quickly put me down!"

"He..hey, don't struggle! You'll fall!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Quickly put me down——!"

Boka. Boka. Boka. Boka.

Claire, who was striking Kamito's chest while being carried like a princess, was somehow cute like a small animal.

"If you're worrying about me, you don't have to care about it, because you're pretty light."

"Is th...that... because my chest is flat?"

"No, I did not say such a thing. I just thought that you're cute like a small animal."

"...! Cu...cute..."

While her face was red, Claire looked downwards.

While sighing in relief, Kamito let Claire down.

The carapace elementalist had already disappeared. Because Claire was defeated in the attack just now, it seemed that she was waiting for another chance for a surprise attack. ...Compared to her outward appearance, she was a cautious type.

From deep in the forest, Scarlet, who should have been chasing the thunder elementalist, returned.

They did not seem to have suffered any injuries, but they seemed to have also let their prey escape.

"That thunder elementalist purposely showed herself to us."

"Yea, when I got down onto the ground while chasing her, that carapace armor stopped me with a surprise attack. We have suffered thoroughly from their good teamwork."

Claire, annoyed, hit the ground hard with her whip.

"As expected of a team of the cunning Wolverine Class."

"It's not particularly that they're cunning or anything, considering their fellow spirits' compatibility, it was a natural strategy."

Kamito said while shrugging his shoulders and Claire sullenly shut her mouth.

"However, it's strange that they aren't coming to chase us. I know that they're being cautious but— even so."

"That's right. Since just now, that thunder elementalist's movement could only be seen as stalling for time."

Astral Zero's forest was returning to be silent.

He couldn't feel their presence at all, not from the surrounding thickets, not from underground.

(With such time stalling, do they have some sort of aim?)

"I want to send out a scout to search for the enemy, however."

"If that was possible, I'd have already done it."

At any rate, there were three people remaining in the opposing team. Compared to theirs', they had two people. Depending on the situation, it could be that one person had to fight two people or three people. In a one-on-one battle, both Kamito and Claire would not be defeated. However, if they were caught and taken on by more than two coordinated people, winning would be substantially more difficult.

Also, even in the case of a one-on-one battle, the fellow spirits' compatibility had to be considered. There was the matter that the compatibility of the attributes was more effective than an elementalist's ability in an actual battle.

"—Seems like you're having a tough battle, Kazehaya Kamito."

Suddenly from behind, a voice sounded.

Kamito turned around and, from the inside of the shadow made on the ground, a black figure quickly appeared.

The black figure very quickly changed into the form of an adult woman.

She had glossy long black hair. She had a glasses-wearing intellectual appearance.

She had on a cuff-long white robe on top of her suit, that beautiful lady was—

"Teacher Freya?"

Raven Class's homeroom teacher and this match's inspector, Freya Grandol.

The matter about her coming out from inside the shadow was her contracted spirit's ability—

"Is that alright? To appear in the middle of the match."

"What, there's no problem with giving poor-scoring students advice."

Freya suddenly smiled and pushed up her glasses.

"Although, the one you're facing off currently is a superior ranking team. It can't be helped if it's a tough battle. Based on individual strength, you two are nigh on unreachable, but your team strength is lacking. ...By the way, why were you injured before the match?"

"This morning, I was roasted."

He glared at Claire beside him with scornful eyes and Claire quickly averted her eyes.

"In the first place, I think it is strange to have a five-to-two match though."

Despite having two people, the opponent team, they were facing, had five people. They had already defeated two, but the sniper thunder elementalist, the hand-to-hand-fighting type carapace elementalist and then the last person, who has yet to show herself, were remaining.

"Do you know? The fact that your team only has two people is bad. You can't qualify for entry in this round's «Blade Dance» without a five-member team. What do you plan to do?"

"We'll find people before the deadline. We don't really need to have all five members to be high level elementalists. After all, my plan is for I, alone, and— this slave spirit to win through this."

Claire muttered unintelligibly and Freya glared at her with a serious face.

"You had better not take team battles lightly, Claire Rouge. You are certainly a superior elementalist, but even so you absolutely can't beat a coordinated team."

After that, she turned towards Kamito,

"Do you know chess?"

"Greyworth had harshly made me her opponent. Although, I had never won."

"The queen is certainly a strong piece. In a one-on-one battle, there were hardly times when it will lose. However, depending on the situation, there are also times when it could be taken by a pawn, which certainly possesses no ability."

"I know such a thing."

"But you do not understand it. Your fighting methods feels...awfully isolated."

Without answering back anything, Kamito shut his mouth.

The boy, who was once called— the strongest blade dancer. He, who was raised as an assassin at that mad institution, «Instructional School», had never experienced fighting in coordination with his comrades.

Creeping to the target's back and cutting his throat— that was his original fighting method.

On a whim of the Elemental Lords, the Blade Dance's regulation was changed every time it was held.

The Blade Dance, fifteen years ago, was a battle royale.

The Blade Dance, three years ago, was an individual elimination match.

And then, this time it was a team battle.

Honestly, he didn't think that his teamwork with Claire was turning out well.

As an elementalist, he had a fatal three-year blank.

He had a contracted spirit, who could not exhibit even a tenth of her strength yet.

There were many factors that had to be overcome.

"Claire Rouge, you too. You do not understand what it means to fight in a team."

"I'm always alone. T...this guy is just a slave spirit..."

"Oh dear, you two have many difficulties in store for you."

Teacher Freya sighed and disappeared into the shadow again.

"...Hmm, because of that just now, two minutes have been used up. The time remaining is about five minutes."

As it was, if they did not reach a conclusion, both team's inter-school rank would drop.

For the two, who were still of low rank, that was a great blow.

—Then, the hell cat, snuggling at the side of Claire's feet, let out a roar.

"Hey, Scarlet is saying something."

"Yeah, the forest looks strange. The wild animals are stirred up?

Claire was frowning with a serious face for some reason—

"There—"

She suddenly faced the forest and fired a fire attribute spirit magic.

It was a fireball— a high ranking spirit magic that would reduce a target to ashes with ultra-hot flames.

The red hot flames completely licked the ground and the forest near it was reduced to ashes.

With the rising black smoke, a boorish figure appeared in a relaxed manner.

"Well, what a frightening ojou-sama."

The girl wore the carapace armor of her elemental waffe over her body.

Despite receiving a direct hit of the fireball, she did not have a single burn mark.

"This is unexpected... you came out fairly. Have you already given up on a surprise attack?"

"Our roles have ended. The leader's preparations have been readied."

"Preparations?"

Claire and Kamito frown simultaneously.

In the direction where the black smoke cleared up—

"Huh....?" "What... is that!?"

A gigantic timber-scaffolding was put together.

While it was of a simple structure, it was unreservedly a splendid shrine.

On top of that, a small girl, who was wearing the academy uniform, was dancing the dance of a ritual for some reason.

It was a platinum blonde haired beautiful girl, who held a wooden cane.

"Our brethren, now is the time, hand down the iron hammer to the forest devastators!"

From the top of the gigantic scaffolding, she faced this side and thrust the cane with a snap.

"Wh...what's going on, that girl ... when did she make that large-scale shrine!?"

"We were preparing it last night to have it ready for today's match."

The carapace elementalist girl proudly held up her pincers.

...Indeed, if it was with that spirit's power, it should be possible to make the shrine in a night.

"I...it's unfair, that thing! A ritual Kagura!"

"Uh-huh, it isn't unfair! Without a large-scale ritual, I can't call out my contracted spirit!"

The girl, who was on top of the scaffolding and holding a cane, shouted.

"Shut up, a child should stay silent!"

"Unh, what do you mean by a child, isn't your chest also of a child?"

"What... did you say!"

Pakii! The sound of a twig being stepped on and broken resounded. Claire's red hair was bristled up like a blazing flame.

"The family of Druid ..."

While wiping the perspiration on his forehead, Kamito muttered.

The family of Druid was a noble of the Ordesia Empire. It was a family of ancient honorable elementalists, which had lived in the spirit forest since before the origin of the empire and succeeded the blood relationship of the princess maidens with their original methods.

"That girl's spirit is a little special, summoning takes time."

"I see, that was the reason you were stalling for time..."

The ground was violently shaking. The flames of the torches, lighted at the surroundings of the shrine, were thunderously burning up.

...He felt a tremendous sense of oppression. What that girl was trying to use was an outrageous spirit. It was likely that it roughly matched the military giant spirit that they fought the other day.

"—I won't let you. Scarlet!"

Claire released Scarlet as its elemental waffe, Flame Tongue, and hit the ground very hard.

"Kamito, I'll hold her back. You go destroy that shrine."

"I got it!"

Kamito nodded and ran with the silver-glittering «Terminus Est» in his hand.

As an elementalist, Claire was a genius.

Although her compatibility with the carapace spirit was bad, in a one-on-one battle, she would not lose.

There was a considerable distance till the shrine, but with Kamito's legs, he should make it in time.

"...!?"

Suddenly the ground in front of him burst open.

From within the thicket, spirit magic lightning bullets were fired.

It was the thunder spirit girl. Naturally, Kamito had also predicted that an ambush was hidden in the forest.

However—

"Toryaaaaaa!"

"Wha...!?"

This was unexpected. —The elementalist herself came interfering.

It was impossible to ignore. Kamito stopped and turned around.

(I'll stun her in one strike—)

He nimbly turned around and aimed the handle of the sword at her stomach—

At that moment, an intense flash baked his eyes.

The thunder spirit, the girl was using, blew itself up in front of him.

The rain of the intense lightning attack assailed Kamito. Sharp pain till the point of numbness ran throughout his whole body.

It was not to the extent that he could not move. However, he was certainly stopped.

Before his eyes, the girl, who was caught in the explosion had fainted, and therefore had been defeated.

(That girl had resolved for a tie from the start...)

It was a tactic that could not be used in an individual battle, but in the case of thinking only of the team's victory, it was not a bad choice.

Her duty was to stop him to the bitter end. And then, that had succeeded.

"We're done in..."

"Come, tyrant governor! Thou, beast king of the destruction army that grinds and smashes everything!"

On top of the shrine, the forest girl put up the cane to the sky and recited the majestic summoning.

The summoning ritual had been completed.

"...Its name is beast swarm spirit «Cernunnos»!"

From here and there in the forest, the roar of countless beasts could be heard.

That Druid girl was calling the beasts that were living in Astral Zero.

"The beast swarm spirit... a spirit of vast possession range type!"

It was the same as the frenzy spirit that drove Claire's Scarlet, the militarized spirit and so on mad, a type of spirit that would possess the target— the vast range edition.

*Dodododododododododoo!*

The group of beasts, which were possessed by the beast swarm spirit, made the earth tremor and came charging.

"Be...Because they aren't spirits, if they were trampled, they'll die. Normally."

"I...If it's the handling of animals, I too will not lose!"

*Pishi!* *Pishi!* Claire, who defeated the carapace elementalist, beat her whip.

"Give it up, Claire, it's our loss."

"—The match is over."

Teacher Freya, who appeared quickly like a shadow, blew the whistle that marked the end of the match.