Erina had her rapier pointed at a student's neck. Her silver hair glistened under the light of the sun.
The student she had pointed her rapier at also had silver hair which looked very much like hers. They had the same hue and the same luster, the only difference between the two's would be the length and style. Erina had straight hair that went all the way down to her lower back and her bangs covered most of her forehead with only slight gaps that could be seen through.
The student, on the other hand, had her silver hair only reach to the center of her back, the edges were cut more unevenly than Erina's and her bangs were fixated on the sides, revealing her forehead completely.
These two could be confused for sisters if it weren't for their different colored eyes, one had black eyes while the other had silver. Both of them wore cold expressions as they stared at the other. Both of them held weapons made of ice, the student held a long sword while Erina held a rapier.
Who was it that made the first move? Nobody could tell. But it was certain that these two were facing each other with the intent to kill.
"...Who are you?"
Erina was the one to speak first. The woman in front of her looked familiar but at the same time, Erina was certain this was the first time she had ever seen her. Her magic eye of truth couldn't do anything, meaning that the woman in front of her wasn't wearing a disguise.
"Confusion. That is my line, who are you?"
Although Erina's expression revealed almost nothing, her voice still held tone and emotion but the woman in front of her, although she could speak fluently, held absolutely no tone in her voice. She sounded like a robot programmed to imitate a human.
They were still on school grounds, they were even surrounded by spectators but these two women didn't even hesitate to pull out their weapons and point it at the other.
"Confirmation. Your power has similarities to the Goddess of Frost."
Right after the woman's words, Erina struck. As the disciple of the Goddess, she knew that angels were just as shrewd and vile as demons, there weren't many differences between them. The reason she had pointed her rapier at the woman was because she also exuded the aura of the Goddess but she knew for a fact that the only three people that could release it wasn't her.
Kai, the grandson of the Goddess, Akemi, the daughter of the Goddess, and herself, the disciple. Anyone other than that who could use the aura was an angel or a fake. Erina's silver hair came from the power of the Goddess, that's why whenever she used Eternal Frost to attack, her eyes would turn silver as well. Although it's true that this also lessened her lifespan, it was only because she didn't hold the blood of the Goddess that she had to resort to such matters.
Kai who inherited her blood could use it without any consequences. But the woman in front of her had silver hair and eyes without any disguise or magic, this meant that she also carried the Goddess' power naturally, she could only be an angel.
CRACK
Erina's rapier had been blocked, not by the sword, but by a small wall of ice that manifested right where her rapier was aimed at.
She can manipulate moisture in the air as well?!
Although Erina knew others who could use ice, like her brother and father, they couldn't use the air's moisture and had to rely on creating their own ice and using a medium such as a body of water.
"Hostility. Moving to eliminate assailant."
The angel's silver eyes flashed and a crystal of ice manifested itself right in front of Erina's neck.
Don't think you're the only one who can manipulate moisture. Erina's eyes sharpened.
A small wall of ice appeared to block the crystal. They then pointed their blades at the other and took their distance.
This was a confrontation where neither of them could make sudden moves.
"S-someone call a professor!"
Someone from the crowd finally left their daze and yelled. They could sense how strong the two were in front of them, they were fighting at the level of upper A-class. None of the students present could deal with the situation. Some of the ones that had snapped out of their daze began to run to find a professor while some just ran away.
It wasn't until Erina and the angel pointed their weapons at the other did their hair colors change. Erina used blue hair as a disguise but the moment she channeled some of the Goddess' powers, it disappeared. The angel appeared to have the same thing happen to her to as prior to this, she also had blue hair.
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"Threat. Requesting permission to use more power."
Is she connected with someone?
Erina quickly moved. She could reveal her powers but she couldn't reveal herself as an S-class. If the angel was as strong as she thought, then she had to end the battle quickly. Even if Erina couldn't kill her, she had to at least knock her unconscious and bring her to Kai.
Now isn't the time to sulk.
Erina made her decision and moved to knock the angel out. Most of the people in the surroundings had retreated, which meant she could use more of her abilities now.
"[Ice Pillar]."
Two giant ice pillars formed beside the angel and moved to crush her. At the same time, Erina stomped her foot and the floor rapidly froze and wrapped the angel's legs in ice.
In response to the attack, the angel released a blast of magic power which destroyed all of the ice.
Too late...!
Erina began to release her limits as well. The angel just stepped into S-class and she needed to do the same.
"Stop."
A figure appeared right between Erina and the angel. She had white hair and eyes. In one hand, she had a long sword while in the other, she had an orb of light.
"If neither of you stops, I will be forced to kill you."
Anne had appeared just in time for the two to clash.
"Unexpected. Intrusion by a third party, moving to intercept."
Anne glared at the angel and the orb of light in her hands vanished. The angel was hit back several dozens of meters but managed to stop herself by using ice as a foothold.
Feeling the magic power used by Anne, Erina's eyes widened.
This woman... she's a lot stronger than me! She's a little stronger than Kai before the ritual!
After the ritual with Amelia, Kai's power doubled because of her primogenitor blood forcing Kai's own blood to awaken. That meant that he became a direct descendant of a soon-to-be primogenitor.
If they had come to this school before that, then Kai would be below this girl. Even though Kai had a nearly unlimited mana supply and moves that used power levels above his own, perhaps Anne had a similar gift.
"Damage. Severe injuries sustained,『Backup』."
In front of Erina and Anne, the angel's damaged self repaired itself- no, it returned back to how it was in an instant. The flesh didn't reassemble, it simply returned as if it was never damaged. Her chest that was caved in from the attack returned back to normal.
"An innate ability?"
Anne saw the angel and assumed.
"Interference. Requesting permission to use more power."
Does she still have more power hidden away?!
Erina once more surged with power. Anne appeared to have realized the situation as she stopped pointing her sword at Erina and focused on the angel.
"Silver hair and eyes. So you're an angel, huh?"
Not all angels had silver hair and eyes, but no human has that color. Anne had white hair and white eyes meaning that she used light, but silver was different. She also noticed Erina's silver hair but with black eyes, it at least meant she was still part-human.
Humans only had six hair and eye colors, and maybe a few varieties in shades but they always had red, blue, brown, green, white, and black in them. Blonde hair was for vampires, and angels and demons have a variety of colors near the ones humans have but are still different.
Silver was a part of white but it was still different. No matter what, the light users wouldn't have a metallic shine in their hair, instead they would either have lustrous or pale white.
"Understanding. I will retreat as per orders."
The angel created a wall of ice to block the path of Anne and Erina and escaped.
"..."
Erina furrowed her brows. The wall of ice had hints of the Goddess of Frost's power. Neither of them could break through it in a short amount of time and going around would take too much time. The angel must've used most of her power to create this.
"Well, it looks like I'm left with only one perpetrator."
Perhaps because she also knew that she couldn't break it in the short-term, she turned her attention to Erina.
The two of them had a silent face-off.
"...I have no intentions to fight."
A couple of minutes passed by, Erina broke the silence first. After saying so, her silver hair faded and along with her eyes, went back to being blue. Although Erina fought using the Goddess' powers, she hadn't used Eternal Frost, that's why her eyes hadn't gone silver.
If it did, however, then Anne might not have thought twice in attacking.
"Partial angel transformation?"
Of course, it was safe to assume as such. She clearly saw Erina's silver hair and black eyes turning back into blue, not knowing that it was actually Erina's normal hair color.
"I'll answer your questions, but I'd like to request Satou Kenji's presence."
Anne hesitated but only for a few seconds.
"...Alright. As fellow transfer students, I'm sure you have some circumstances, Inaba Mio."
To others, it would seem that Anne's hesitation was because she had doubts if she should allow Kenji and Mio to meet but Erina's intuition told her otherwise.
This woman... is suspicious of my relationship with Kai!
Although she had promised not to be jealous, it wasn't as if she could just completely remove her jealousy, that was almost impossible.
Anne took out a small stick from within her blazer. Erina saw it and didn't hesitate to hold out her hands. Anne responded by placing the small stick between her hands and inserting magic into it. Light came out from both ends of the stick and wrapped Erina's hands. The light stopped her from moving while the small stick stopped her from using magic.
"Follow me."
"Nn."
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"Kenji, the teacher's calling for you."
They had just started class when a student from outside walked in. Although the student said that it was a teacher, Kai already knew what it was about.
Erina, what kind of trouble have you gotten into now?
From the fluctuations of magic from outside and the students running around earlier, Kai could tell that Erina had gotten into a fight and because of Soul Call, he knew that it was with the soul that he felt was familiar yet new.
"Amelia, what happened?"
Kai used Telepathy. Amelia was in the range of the skill so he quickly called out.
"Erina fought some angel disguised as a transfer student. I'd say it's the one who transferred in along with the Soul Thief."
Although the girls didn't want to talk to Kai, they knew it wasn't the time.
"I'll go and settle it. Anne appears to be the one who caught her after all. Go investigate on that transfer student."
"Nn."
After the exchange with Amelia, Kai stood up and headed outside the classroom. His destination was the room Erina was confined.