Chapter 202


    "A-An explosion? What''s going on?"


    "Undead!"


    Using the dust cloud from the Corpse Explosion to his advantage, Simon opened his subspace and let loose skeletons and zombies to take on the men of the Hoopa n.


    The undead were unhampered by theck of vision, so they sessfully plunged the battle intoplete chaos.


    Meanwhile, Simon moved toward Meilyn.


    "I''ll get you out of there."


    <em>sh!</em>


    An Overlord de sliced smoothly through the ropes binding Meilyn''s arms and legs.


    Now free, she rubbed her red wrists, the ropes having left marks on her skin. Then, she stared at Simon with an odd expression.


    "?"


    When Simon looked at her questioningly, her face flushed red, and she squealed,


    "Why did Pione, not y!"


    Simon blinked, hearing Meilyn cut herself off.


    "What are you saying? This is no time for idle chatter."


    Embarrassed, she turned red all the way to her neck.


    "No, I said the oppos! No, nevermind! Um, thank you for saving me."


    Simon didn''t fully understand her gibberish, but he caught the ''thank you'' at the end and smiled.


    "<em>Cough, cough!</em> What a grand entrance!"


    A painful groan echoed through the dust. The voice sounded familiar.


    "Rick? Turn around. I''ll cut your ropes."


    "I''m fine."


    The rope binding Rick''s arms snapped free and fell into his hands. It just so happened that he had enchanted his ropes.


    He easily untied the ropes on his legs as well, then pushed himself up. In the meantime, the dust had finally begun to settle.


    Meilyn pointed at Rick, her arm trembling.


    "Wh-What? You could untie yourself?"


    "Huh? Of course."


    "They''re here!"


    As Simon said that, a Hoopa warrior let out a battle cry as he charged in with a sword.


    A dirty smile formed on Rick''s face as he pulled taut the rope he now held.


    "I won''t go easy on you now, bro!"


    Rick threw the rope.


    The rope tied itself like a noose, and in an instant it wrapped around the man''s neck and tightened.


    "Kehegh!"


    The warrior dropped his sword, clutching the rope as he struggled to breath.


    Then, Rick pulled the rope hard, bringing his opponent closer, and he drove his knee into the warrior''s chin.


    <em>m!</em>


    The man''s eyes zed over and he fell limp.


    "Rick! There''s another one on your right!"


    Warned Simon, who kicked off the wall and flew in like a martial artist, his foot mming into the side of another Hoopa warrior''s head from his spinning kick.


    "Wow, even with an extra life, I don''t think I''d be able to do it like you. But"


    "Kaaaaaaaaah!"


    An enraged Hoopa swordsman raised his sword. Rick drew his own sword from his subspace, feigning an attack before flicking thesso at the warrior''s leg.


    Rick then slided underneath the man''s legs, dodging the sword swinging down as he pulled hard on the rope. The warrior stumbled forward, lost his footing, and got dragged across the dirt.


    "Underdogs have their underdog ways of doing things."


    Murmured Rick as he snapped his fingers, activating a remote enchantment to detonate an iron nugget stuck to the ceiling, tearing that bit of ceiling off and dropping it onto the man''s head.


    <em>Bam!</em>


    <em>Pshhhh!</em>


    Anothermuch smallerdust cloud formed, before settling to show Rick retrieving his rope.


    "No need for panic!"


    Shouted Wichasha.


    "He''s Special Admission 1, Simon Polentia! You can kill other two or let them escape. We just need him!"


    It wasn''t Rick or Meilyn that the Hoopa n originally wanted to capture, but Simon.


    Kizen was so big that kidnapping two first-years would likely not even leave Belya batting an eye.


    But it would be a different story if they captured an S.A.1 student. Not only was he symbolic, but he was brought in by Nefthis herself, so Kizen had high hopes for him.


    If they could capture such a boy, Kizen and Nefthis would be forced toe to the negotiating table seriously.


    "Get him!"


    The Hoopa warriors swarmed toward Simon.


    As Simon stomped his left foot on the ground again to get his Overlord out, his eyes zed over from boredom and tiredness, Meilyn stepped forward.


    "Leave them to me."


    Her magic circle on the ceiling wasplete.


    She closed her eyes, reached her arms forward, and then crossed them.


    The circle started to glow.


    Then, she gracefully lowered her arms. It was like watching her y as Almacarina in the theater.


    "Get out of my sight, you damned bastards!"


    She swung her arms toward her enemies.


    {Cruel Blizzard}


    * * *


    * * *


    <em>Craaaaaaaaaaaaash!</em>


    The mana-based spell {Blizzard}, re-imagined in the form of elemental dark magic.


    A dark blizzard tore its way out of the circle, sweeping away the charging warriors.


    "Oooof!"


    The powerful warriors were useless against the wrath of nature, bing buried in the snow and beginning to drift away. Suddenly, everyone was panicking from the heavy snowfall indoors.


    "Men! Remember your training!"


    Wichasha grabbed a nearby pot and, with a mighty flourish, hurled it at the ceiling. The flying pot broke through not just the ceiling but also the magic circle.


    As the magic circle was canceled, Meilyn staggered, her jet-ck violently rushing back to her.


    Simon rushed over and supported her by the shoulders.


    "Blizzard stopped!"


    "Charge, now!"


    The Hoopa n took the chance and rushed in, plowing through the dark snow.


    Meilyn reached forward again, her arm trembling in pain. Simon grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand back down, giving a reassuring nod.


    Simon looked confident.


    "?"


    Several Hoopa men had stopped rushing as well, sensing something was off.


    ''Th-The wind is red?''


    Thought Wichasha, noticing the anomaly faster than anyone else.


    "Oh no! Get back, n!"


    It was toote. The red wind carried the thick scent of blood as it swirled, and the mass of charging Hoopa n men began to rise into the air, their feet running on nothing.


    "Wh-What?"


    "Kuaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"


    <em>Swoooooooooooooooooooosh!</em>


    A red tornado formed in the center of the room, sweeping up rubble, cooking supplies, and even any people unlucky enough to be in.


    Red blood spun inside the tornado, looking like rose petals. However, they behaved more like thorns, ripping through the skin of those caught inside the tornado.


    The resulting screams were deafening.


    "Wh-What is this?"


    Stuttered Meilyn.


    The two of them would''ve been caught in the tornado if they were just a few more steps forward.


    "Just who in the world?"


    "Who else could it be?"


    Simon smiled and pointed behind him. Through the copsed wall came Camibarez, gasping for breath.


    She''d been preparing this AoE Hemomancy spell the moment Simon stormed in. Blood-stained, she raised both her hands as if about to p.


    "Please just let me knock you out. I won''t kill you."


    With that, she mmed her palms together. The blood-red tornado released all the energy within it at once, sending the warriors caught in it flying.


    Many crashed through the wooden walls, leaving perfect holes shaped around their iling bodies. Others were sent out the hole in the ceiling, their screams filling the night sky. The lucky ones were those sent straight down, being knocked out too quickly toprehend what had happened.


    Nearly twenty people were neutralized at once. Wichasha''s expression stiffened.


    The tide had turned in an instant.


    <em>Step. Step.</em>


    Four kids walked forward, their red ties pping in the chaotic winds.


    They could hardly be seen as teenagers. Caught off-guard by the overwhelming force, the Hoopa warriors stumbled backward. They had lost their fighting spirit.


    "W-We shouldn''t haveid our hands on Kizen after all!"


    "Professors aren''t the problem. Even the kids are this strong!"


    <em>Tap.</em>


    "Now,"


    Simon stopped walking, looked at Wichasha, and said,


    "are you ready to pay the price?"


    ""


    The cornered man grinned.


    "I see the reputation Kizen hold wasn''t just talk."


    He grabbed the lion skin on his head and tossed it behind him on the floor.


    "Do you know Hong Feng, professor at Kizen?"


    This was the second time Simon had been asked that today. Meilyn, next to him, had fire in her eyes when she shouted,


    "How dare you, amoner, speak her name?!"


    "Hong Feng and I are from same grasnds. We shed often before she went to Kizen. Our record? 6 to 6."


    <em>Rrrrrrrrumble!</em>


    A copious amount of jet-ck began to flow from his body.


    "You think you can defeat me, when I faced <em>her</em> while fighting for life?"


    He slowly crouched down, cing his hands in hisp.


    When Simon clenched his fists and also got ready to fight, Meilyn and Camibarez suddenly stepped in front of him.


    "?"


    Simon looked at them in surprise.


    "Simon! Stay back!"


    "He''s after you."


    Meilyn opened her right hand, and Camibarez curled hers into a gun.


    <em>Poooooooooow!</em>


    Before either of them could act, Wichasha lunged at him, leaving a deep imprint in the dirt foot. But Camibarez managed to fire a Blood Bullet before he arrived.


    <em>ng!</em>


    Wichasha swung his arm and cleanly deflected the bullet aimed at his face. A magic circle then unfolded from Meilyn''s right palm.


    {Wall of Ice}


    <em>Krrrrrrrrk!</em>


    A wide ice barrier formed in front of them, but Wichasha just swung his fist.


    <em>Bang!</em>


    The barrier was torn open, with more than half of it beingpletely toppled. Simon grabbed Meilyn and yanked her back.


    <em>Swish!</em>


    "Kugh!"


    The giant arm burst through the ice and snatched the air right where she was.


    <em>Craaaaaaack!</em>


    Instead of pulling his arm back, Wichasha ran sideways, letting his arm rip through any ice in its way.


    "Your friends is right!"


    Having made it all the way around the wall, he charged like a bull at Simon''s nk, now behind Meilyn and Cami''s protection.


    "If I capture you, I win!"


    Simon calmly stared down the charging fist.


    The moment before Wichasha was about to connect, there was a blur, and his fist hit empty air.


    ''He dodged this easily?!''


    Looking up to where Simon went, he was quickly confronted with a foot headed right at his face.


    Instinctively, he went to raise his arms to block, but found that his right arm wouldn''t budge.


    A rope had immobilized him. Rick had sneaked up behind Wichasha and hooked the enchanted rope to his arm, the other end attached to the wall.


    Distracted for a moment by Rick grinning and making a peace sign, he looked back only a split second before Simon''s foot connected.


    <em>Cruuuuuuuunch!</em>


    Wichasha''s nose waspletely shattered, blood gushing out from it. The force also made him stumble to the side.


    "Kuhugh!"


    It was Meilyn''s turn to act again, and the spell she had been preparing with her left hand was ready.


    Her specialty was ''multicasting'', casting separate spells with her left arm and her right, so she had been preparing the spell even before she cast the {Wall of Ice}.


    Ice flew out from the new magic circle, wrapping around Wichasha and mming him down into an ice chair before he managed to escape.


    Camibarez, with bloodshot eyes, used that time to charge in.


    <em>Thump.</em>


    A tiny fist touched Wichasha''s stomach.


    ''What in the world is this?''


    Wichasha stared at it, and then his eyes widened.


    The blood on her fist drew a Hemomancy circle on his stomach. A simr one appeared in her hand.


    Then, she threw her fist at his stomach again, this time aiming for the magic circle.


    {Blood Shock}


    <em>Katoooooooooooosh!</em>


    The moment the magic circle on her hand connected with the magic circle on his stomach, a huge explosion of blood erupted, sending Wichasha flying. It even shattered the ice chair he had been forced into.


    <em>Boooooooooooom</em>


    He was sent flying, and when he collided with the wall on the other side of the room, it copsed on top of him.


    "Nice!"


    The four of them all burst into enthusiastic cheer.


    Simon and Meilyn high-fived each other, and Camibarez let out a sigh of relief as rxed her arms, letting them gracefully fall to her side.


    They won.