Reisou wasted no time and lunged forward, swinging his lance at Eriri.
As he approached the blonde girl, a cold sensation wrapped around his feet, forcing him to retreat a few steps back to his original position.
Looking down, Reisou saw a thin layer of blue ice beginning to envelop his feet. He immediately stomped on the ground, shattering it.
'Tsk, this Yukino is really cunning. Her spells are dangerous,' Reisou thought, searching for a way to advance without becoming an ice statue.
He couldn't always keep track of when she began casting her ice spells, which was troublesome.
Yukino, as a genius witch from class 2C, was undoubtedly a formidable opponent. Moreover, she, along with Eriri and Kei, had an impressive record of never losing a team battle.
Instead of panicking, Reisou made a discreet signal to his teammates. They understood what he wanted and immediately sprang into action.
Eriri, noticing the unusual exchange, glanced at Yukino, who said, "Eriri-san, you can go. I'll provide support, while Kei-san will take care of the two behind him."
"Alright!" Eriri nodded, prepared to launch an attack.
✫| Enhancement |✫
Eriri used the basic Enhancement technique to boost her strength and agility, quickly closing in on Reisou for close combat.
Already anticipating this outcome, Reisou defended himself against Eriri's precise strikes targeting his vital points. He was somewhat surprised by the efficiency of her fighting style.
As Eriri unleashed a flurry of powerful punches, Reisou feinted, appearing to retreat under pressure. Sensing an opportunity, she advanced, but an uneasy feeling struck her, prompting her to hastily step back.
The boy then smiled and said, "Oh, you're smarter than I thought."
His somewhat teasing tone left the girl slightly displeased.
"Hmph, whatever you're trying to do, I'm not falling for it," Eriri huffed, her reaction reflecting her tsundere nature.
Her instincts were sharp, and Reisou's trap to use Fury and Armament Haki to take Eriri down had been unintentionally seen through.
Before he could advance again to create another opening, several ice spikes erupted from the ground, forcing him to roll to the side and narrowly avoid a dangerous attack.
In that moment, he locked eyes with Yukino, who was targeting him again with her annoying ice spells.
'Don't worry, walking refrigerator, your time is coming,' he thought, adjusting his position and charging forward, clashing against Eriri.
While he was occupied dealing with the two troublesome figures, his teammates were having trouble with Kei.
She began spamming Light Arrow spells in their direction, overwhelming them with ease.
Airi was doing her best to throw fireballs, while Taiki tried to close the distance but hadn't succeeded yet.
The tense scenario boosted Class 2C's confidence, while Class 2E sighed, fully aware of how difficult it would be to win that fight.
They were whispering that if Reisou had been paired with more competent people, like Suzune, who had lost her match against the Princess Trio earlier, or Ken, the outcome might have been different.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Reisou suddenly changed his rhythm. His movements sped up, and Yukino began struggling to land her spells, all because he had activated his skill, Fury.
Eriri sensed his attacks becoming heavier, and with his speed keeping up with hers, the pressure intensified by the second.
Her Enhancement technique was already draining a good amount of Nano, slightly affecting her performance.
'Dammit, why this guy suddenly become so fierce? Is this an Innate Skill?' she thought, retreating while trying to block Reisou's relentless attacks.
When Reisou thrust his lance toward the blonde girl's waist, he noticed Yukino pointing her staff at him, preparing to cast another spell.
✫| Ice Wall |✫
In an instant, a three-meter(9 ft) wall of ice appeared in front of Eriri, stopping his attack.
He knew continuing to attack like this would be pointless, especially since his energy was less than half and draining fast from the simultaneous use of Armament Haki and Fury.
His situation was unfolding exactly as planned, so it was time to move on to the next phase.
"Airi!"
With Reisou's shout, the pink-haired girl nervously launched a big fireball in his direction. Yukino and Eriri stayed on guard, trying to anticipate his next move.
To their surprise, the fireball was indeed aimed at Reisou, leaving them puzzled and wondering if the girl had accidentally missed her target. However, what happened next left them completely stunned.
Reisou adjusted his position and, with his right foot coated in Armament Haki, kicked the fireball away. Even Airi, despite knowing his intention, couldn't believe what she had just witnessed.
In fact, almost everyone watching the fight was shocked. They saw the kicked fireball accelerate, flying rapidly toward a distracted Kei, who was on the verge of knocking out Taiki.
"Kei, watch out!" Eriri shouted to warn her friend, but it was already too late.
When Kei noticed the fireball, she only had time to command her floating orb to block it, but the force of the impact was overwhelming. The girl was knocked to the ground, injured but still conscious.
"Dammit, you!" Eriri yelled, her voice filled with fury as she charged toward him.
Eriri decided to use her Innate Skill and teach him a lesson.
Normally, she avoided using this power due to its high Nano consumption. However, that was no longer her main concern.
✣| Innate Skill - Acceleration |✣
Her body vanished from view, and the next thing Reisou felt was an iron gauntlet slamming into his face, followed by a punch to his stomach, a hit to his liver, and an uppercut.
He barely reacted, swinging his lance in an attempt to strike the girl, but she exploited her speed to dodge and kept up her relentless assault.
The fact that Eriri had an Innate Skill didn't surprise him; in fact, he had expected her to possess one.
'This girl is ruthless,' Reisou thought, trying to defend himself against Eriri.
At that moment, he had already stopped using Fury and instead relied on Armament Haki to withstand the blows, waiting for another perfect opportunity, as his plan to momentarily immobilize their healer had worked.
Meanwhile, Yukino let Eriri hold him back and go help her fallen teammate to stand up. Before that, she had dealt with Taiki by freezing him in place.
After assisting Kei, Yukino glanced at Airi, causing the pink-haired girl to instinctively step back under the weight of her icy stare.
✫| Ice Bomb |✫
Yukino raised her staff and cast a spell aimed at Airi. Ice spikes shot toward her, and with each one that struck the ground, a minor explosion erupted, freezing the surrounding area.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The pink-haired girl, trembling with fear, ran toward Reisou for protection, gripping her staff tightly. She wanted to surrender but was afraid of being looked down on by her teammates.
Especially Reisou, as he didn't ignore her and didn't consider her a burden.
What she didn't know was that Reisou had reached his limit and wracked with pain. He could barely defend himself anymore, as his energy points had dropped below half.
Eriri, sensing his condition, showed no mercy and delivered a spinning kick to the boy's stomach, sending him flying several meters backward. He landed beside the frightened Airi.
She quickly moved to help him, and the boy accepted. The girl almost turned as red as a tomato when she felt his arm wrap around her neck.
The moment Reisou regained his footing, he stepped away from Airi, gripping his lance with all the remaining strength he had.
✫| Enhancement |✫
✢| Fury |✢
✢| Intimidation |✢
He decided to use every ability at his disposal, causing his energy points to burn like gasoline on fire. The skill Intimidation granted him a five-second window to strike, momentarily freezing all three girls in fear.
Eriri, Yukino, and Kei, who had been healing herself, suddenly found themselves unable to move, an inexplicable fear rooting them in place. Then, they saw Reisou staring their way like a hungry beast.
'W-What is going on!? Why am I trembling, and why can't I move?' Eriri thought, panting heavily.
Her questions went unanswered, and within seconds, Reisou closed the gap between them to settle the score for the earlier beating.
He showed no mercy, delivering a powerful blow to Eriri's stomach before finishing with a heavy lance strike to her left arm.
She crashed to the ground, wincing in pain, while he advanced toward Yukino.
Reisou then leaped into the air, preparing to deliver a powerful attack.
Yukino regained her movement and pushed Kei away as she jumped to the other side, barely dodging the attack. Without hesitation, she tightened her grip on her staff, preparing to unleash a powerful ice spell that consumed a considerable amount of Nano.
✫| Snow Hand |✫
The moment Reisou charged at Yukino, intending to take her out of the fight, a massive white hand erupted from the ground and slammed in his direction.
With his energy points nearly depleted, he knew that fighting like this would be difficult. So, he took a gamble and launched his lance like a bullet at Yukino.
✫| Ice Wall |✫
She cast another spell to form an ice wall, but the lance shattered the barrier effortlessly, striking Yukino in the abdomen and sending her crashing to the ground in pain.
Unfortunately, the large hand kept coming toward him and struck Reisou as he was falling, slamming him hard into the ground.
A deafening silence took over the arena as, in the fighting area, only Kei and Airi remained.
Kei stood up from the ground and began casting a spell, determined to defeat Airi so she could rush to her friends aid.
✫| Light Bomb |✫
The bright floating white orb sped toward Airi as she attempted to cast a spell.
*BOOOM!
A powerful explosion erupted, sending the pink-haired girl flying and landing, stunned, on the ground.
Everyone watching the match was in awe. They knew the Princess Trio would win, but they never imagined Reisou would be capable of eliminating two of them.
They all agreed unanimously that if Reisou had better teammates, the outcome would have been even more impressive.
"Wow... is this guy from a famous clan or something? He's very strong!" someone said, impressed.
"Yeah, he practically defeated two of them on his own. Not even Suzune, the strongest in our class, could do that," a girl from class 2E commented.
Suzune was sitting on a bench, watching the fight intently, when she overheard the comment. She frowned, clenching her fist tightly.
No one noticed her reaction, and more people whispered among themselves, recognizing Reisou as someone with immense potential.
Miwa, thrilled to discover another talented person, stepped onto the fighting area and declared Team 9 the winners.
She then checked Reisou's profile on her tablet, reviewing his past performances, physical tests, and Nano capacity. His performance results didn't match what she had seen, which piqued her curiosity.
'Did he awaken a blessing...? Nah, if that were the case, this match would have been one-sided,' Miwa mused, trying to make sense of his sudden improvement.
Without any solid answers, she decided to ask him later and instructed the students to take the injured to the infirmary, officially ending the class.