This is the first time since coming to this world that I faced an opponent I could call a formidable enemy.
I'm barely able to breathe, my shoulders heaving with the effort.
They're too strong.
"Pah!"
I spit up blood from my mouth.
The taste of iron spreads in my mouth.
Blood is accumulating in my lungs, making me feel sick.
My head is spinning.
Blood drips from my forehead.
In front of my eyes, the stars twinkle and flicker.
The pain is making it hard to concentrate.
"I must focus... or I'll be hunted down..."
My body is in tatters.
My clothes are torn in places.
A fist comes flying towards me.
"Damn it!"
All I can do is curse.
I barely dodge it, managing to keep my distance.
"I won't let you escape!"
The enemy twists their body, adding centrifugal force as they unleash a powerful spinning kick.
I quickly take out my shield with an arts spell, switching positions.
A shield made of metal.
And then...
It made a sound that should not be possible: "Balin!"
I shudder.
"That can't be real. Hey!"
The shield instantly froze and shattered like glass.
"Icefall..."
The enemy murmurs this, and in an instant, a vicious blade made of ice shoots towards me.
"what?"
I immediately put up a serious defense. I shoot at the ice waterfall in front of me with Extra Bullet, causing an explosion. It's a narrow escape from a direct hit.
Damn! This scenario and event are unknown to me. My plans are beginning to go haywire.
I have to run away. Our compatibility is too bad. How can I get through this? The odds are against me.
"Taking my ice waterfall head-on and standing up, are you pretty strong? Suspicious person," said the Gothic Lolita fashion girl standing a few meters away amidst the steam from the ice.
She is a silver-haired beauty dressed in pitch-black Gothic Lolita fashion. Her face shows a calm expression, and her deep red eyes shine mysteriously under the moonlight. She wears ominous shining gauntlets that are used to punch and kill prey in both of her hands.
Despair sets in. She is too strong. It's dangerous. I've encountered a life-and-death situation for the first time. I'm really unlucky.
The beautiful girl with a tongue sticking out like a mischievous kid and a playful smile on her face.
Patient with "Chuunibyou" syndrome.
A cute girl with an expertise in fighting against monsters.
...Her name is Ayaka Chiaki.
"I bought too much disguise. I'm weak, you know."
As a phantom, I smile inappropriately and boast with half-hearted confidence.
"Really? Suspicious person. You are very strong. Yeah, have some confidence!"
"Well..."
"So, what were you trying to do? Something bad?"
"I can't say that."
I respond inappropriately.
"I see..."
"If you let me go, I'd be grateful."
"Hmm... What should I do?"
"I didn't do anything wrong."
"I wonder if that's true. Bad people say the same thing, you know."
"I see."
"Well, for now, surrender and then we'll have an interrogation and judgment."
She proposes with a smile as if flowers have bloomed, clapping her hands.
"I refuse."
"I see... Then I'll have to knock you out completely!"
Numerous sharp ice crystals suddenly form in the air in front of the girl.
"Alright, let's go!"
An evil smile is included in her shout.
At the same time, a sound like a shrill scream is heard.
"Tsk."
I unconsciously click my tongue.
The bullets of the deadly hail are aimed at me.
They hit me like a Gatling gun.
But I barely dodge them with my fast-spinning thoughts.
The trees where I avoided the hail turn into a gruesome sight in the corner of my eye.
It's literally giving me chills.
How can I escape this nightmare?
I don't have many cards to play.
・
・
・
I was enjoying my holiday after the simulated battle, and on the way back from paving and maintaining the initial event for the protagonist Kazane to easily grow, I sneaked out at midnight.
Wearing a Phantom outfit, I went to stop the dungeon monsters from running wild in the early stages of the school edition.
On the way back, I was attacked by this beautiful girl's assault and surprise...
It was not good to take her powerful blow head-on at first, and my rhythm was disrupted from there.
However, I didn't expect her to be such a strong opponent...
If it were my first time encountering her, I would have undoubtedly lost.
My player knowledge really came in handy.
That's what I truly thought.
.
.
.
Before me were chunks of ice that felt like they weighed tons, rapidly approaching.
Wait a minute...
Am I going to die here?
I barely dodged the attack.
At that moment, a voice came from behind.
"Well then. Suspicious person. Why don't you just die quickly?"
"Is this for real!?"
The attacker closed in to within a few meters.
As the magic of ice gathered in my gauntlet,
"Icefall!"
I held my breath.
The ground, the space - everything warped in an instant.
It's coming!
The surroundings were frozen like the perpetual ice of the polar regions, and countless huge ice blocks were towering before my eyes.
"Extra bullet!"
Countless weapon barrages.
I used my trump card without hesitation, focusing on destroying the ice blocks.
"Repulsion!"
An advanced magical formula that controls repulsive force.
Hearing that, I was speechless with despair.
Ayaka used the gravity magic "repulsion" to reflect and sweep away all the weapons thrown by my "Extra Bullet" towards a distant direction.
Complete sealing.
The ice blocks were already looming right in front of me.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
This is bad! I'm going to die!
.
.
.
"Oh, did I kill him? Did I go too far?" Ayaka scratched her head with a troubled voice.
"Not yet!"
I emerged from the ice block, activating tachyons to escape this place.
"Let me take you down," Ayaka said with a cold smile.
In an instant, a sharp sound echoed in my skull.
My nose bone broke as Ayaka's fist grazed my face.
"Ouch! Hey!"
Even though I had increased my physical hardness to the limit with my skills, I couldn't stop the relentless nosebleed.
I cursed and flew through the air, adjusting my posture and accelerating my thoughts.
I had to think.
For now, I had to use tachyons to withdraw from the battle and take some distance.
That's the plan.
I had no choice but to run.
Damn it.
-Tachyon!
I landed, readjusting my posture, and activated my technique. But my body couldn't take the damage I had already received.
My feet were freezing on the ice-covered ground.
"My icefall already dominates this space," Ayaka said under the moonlight.
Tiny ice particles and fine ice crystals floating in the air reflected light in every direction, creating a rainbow-colored glow like diamond dust.
My body... it feels as though it's paralyzed.
I can't move properly...
I use my hidden weapon arts to fix dozens of knives in the air, imbuing them with flames, lightning, sandstone, and gusts of wind.
Ayaka whistles a tune.
"I've never seen such a versatile magic user before."
"You're probably right..."
Aside from me and the protagonist, Kazane, that is.
"Even so... projectiles won't work on me."
Ayaka declares confidently, grinning.
"I know!"
I reply. I know all too well.
Ayaka Chiaki Iroha's unique skill is the ability to avoid any projectile or emission magic attacks.
"That's why! I'll do this!"
Using the principles of Extra Bullet, I detonate the weapons in front of Ayaka faster than the knives can reach her.
"Whoa!"
Ayaka reflexively covers her face with her hands to protect herself from the explosion and blinks.
It's my chance.
"Sorry, but I'll be taking my leave now!"
I use holy magic to heal my body, and then launch another Extra Bullet at my feet.
I raise the temperature around me and activate Tachyon again.
I perform all of these actions in less than a second.
"Hey! Wait!"
Ayaka's voice is drowned out behind me, and I somehow succeed in retreating from the battlefront.
.
.
.
"Zee... zee..."
I leaned against a tree in the school grounds, completely exhausted both physically and mentally.
"Seriously, isn't she too strong? I had no idea she was that powerful from the beginning..."
If I had continued fighting, it would have been a close match.
I had no intention of killing her or hurting her in any way, but even if I had gone all out with my attacks...
"We would have ended up taking each other down."
I let out a deep sigh and looked up at the sky.
She wasn't the main heroine or a member of the student council.
She was one of the strongest "ordinary students".
Ayaka Chiaki ...
A user of magic for ice and gravity.
A holder of a unique, broken skill.
"To face off against someone like that at the beginning of the game..."
I couldn't remember what year she was in.
"If we were in the same year... that would have been bad."
I decided to drag my beaten body back home.
The monster's rampage was already underway.
But on my way back, an unexpected surprise awaited me...
"I cleared the mission. I'm going to bed now."
I was so tired.
Really...