I followed the girls in Brunhilde class to a room in the corner of the school where the room was filled with computers and cameras showing footage of all around the school. It reminded me of the briefing rooms I used to go to receive orders from my superiors in the JSF which I assumed was what this room was meant for as well. The girls all took their seats in the room and there was a familiar looking girl sitting inside. Her light blue hair was unmistakable as it was the same as her sister’s who was my roommate. She was most likely Sasaki Risa who was the last member of Brunhilde Class.
Upon making eye contact with me, she quickly approached me and thanked me once again.
“It seems we meet again, I apologize that I was in such an unpresentable state the previous time we met.” Risa said while bowing slightly showing her respect for me.
“Oh no, I apologize as well for not properly introducing myself, my name is Kuzunoha Kazuha and I am a new student in Brunhilde class. Besides, you gave me quite a good view yesterday so I have to thank you for that as well.” I reciprocated her greetings respectfully but I could sense some tension coming from the other girls in the room.
“I see you are getting along well with my older sister, Kazuha-kun..” Shiho said with a hint of jealousy in her voice.
“Onii-san, what is this I hear about you seeing a good view from Risa-san yesterday.” I could sense the annoyance in Kasumi’s voice and I was going to brace myself for a lecture but Emiri quickly silenced everyone as Ms Satsuki was about to start talking.
“The current situation is worse than we thought, there is not only 1 high level Exceed near our school but the energy it is emitting is far stronger than anything we have faced before.” Ms Satsuki spoke with absolute seriousness that was nothing like her meek introverted demeanor as a teacher which shows to me how grave our current situation is.
“Kazuha managed to handle that huge dragon Exceed yesterday all by himself right, this one shouldn’t be an issue.” Shiho remarked nonchalantly as she looked towards me with awe in her eyes but for some reason I had a bad feeling about this.
“I believe that would be highly unlikely even with Onii-chan’s strength as the dragon that attacked yesterday was a mere A-class Exceed, the one that is on its way to our school is S-class and they are known to be roughly about 5 times more powerful than an A-class.” Kasumi replied matter-of-factly which reinforced how strong this upcoming threat is going to be.
“The Exceed that is approaching our school is the S-class Exceed Wyvern and it is said to be difficult to defeat even with 2-3 Regalias so be careful when combating it later. It is currently about 500 miles away from us but with its insanely quick mobility, it should reach us within 20 minutes so all of you get ready to combat them. Kasumi, as usual you will be taking command of the battlefield. Miyu and Mayu the 2 of you are going to search for the girl who the Exceed has marked as its mate and quickly evacuate all the students from the school building.” Ms Satsuki briefed as all the girls nodded and started to warm themselves up and mentally prepare themselves for the upcoming battle that was definitely not going to be easy.
Just then, a big alarm flashed on one of the computer screens and a girl’s face appeared. She looked quite cute if not for the fact that her expression was grim. Her appearance gave off the vibes that she was a sheltered rich lady and the way she spoke carried a dignified air however, she seemed more panicked and scared rather than anything else at the moment.
“SEND HELP!, this is Ayame from Liocott Girls Academy and we are being heavily attacked by a large group of powerful Exceeds. Many of our Fafnirs have already been injured in battle and the few Regalias we have are doing their best to hold off the Exceeds but they are not going to be able to hold on for much longer..”
The connection was suddenly cut off and the screen turned black. Emiri and Kasumi both looked extremely worried as it was not normal for there to be multiple high level Exceeds attacking at the same time at 2 different locations.
Murmurs began to spread between the girls in the room on how we are going to manage this looming crisis of the Wyvern approaching our school on top of Liocott Girls Academy requesting for backup. Amidst the panic and internal discussions, Emiri stood up and took control of the situation.
“Listen up, we do not have time to spare so I’ll make this quick, Kasumi and I will travel to Liocott’s aid through my dimension ripper ability. The rest of you will stay here to combat the Wyvern to minimize casualties and damages to the best of your abilities.” Emiri ordered calmly.
“But president, with the 2 of you leaving, do we even stand a chance against that monster by ourselves.” Mayu questioned anxiously yet still with a level-headed mind.
“I’m sure its fine, Shiho is still here and we have Kazuha now who is probably at the level of the top rankers. However, remember that your lives come first and y’all just have to hold out until we return.” Emiri explained calmly while looking towards me giving to me a look that spoke a thousand words.
“Keep them safe.”
Emiri then materialized a huge crimson claw on her right hand that was probably about the same size as her and with a downward slash, a portal formed through the rip in space and both her and Kasumi headed inside, while the twins and Ms Satsuki headed off to quickly find the girl who the Wyvern has supposedly chosen as its mate and is coming to collect which left just myself, Shiho and Risa in the room.
“Onee-chan, I want you to let Kazuha and I handle this.” Shiho said with a dead serious expression on her face to Risa who was shocked at the sudden declaration.
“Tsk, I know I am not good at academics but in combat I am able to hold myself decently well and there is no way that the 2 of you are going to be enough to handle that monster on your owns.” Risa retorted with a look of anger.
“Onee-chan, it’s not that I am worried about your combat skills but rather it’s because I know you and your character and I know that you will stop at nothing to achieve your goals. Including overusing your ability.” Shiho explained calmly with a look of concern.
“I assume that your concern has something to do with the drawback of her ability. She is a Regalia with the ability of water manipulation right, with us being on an island in the middle of the sea, would her abilities not be extremely strong.” I questioned.
“Yes, my sister’s abilities do indeed grow stronger in the presence of large bodies of water but every time she uses her abilities, her body gets more and more dehydrated and if she overuses it when she has no more available water in her body, her ability will use up her blood as a price of her abilities which is something I cannot bear to see.” Shiho answered with a tear dripping down her face.
Risa then approached Shiho and gave her a hug and reassured her.
“I truly appreciate your concern for me but your onee-chan is not so weak that I need my younger sister to worry so much about me.”
“However, you seemed to be struggling against that worm Exceed yesterday if I had not stepped in..” I thought to myself as I did not want to ruin this beautiful moment of sisterly love.
A deafening roar soon shook the school and the 3 of us materialized our weapons and quickly left to combat the Wyvern.
The wyvern Exceed had the appearance of a dragon-like creature with bat-like wings, a serpentine body, and powerful hind legs. With its sleek and aerodynamic form towering over us, it is a master of flight and a formidable predator. Even when I was a part of the JSF, I had never faced something of this scale before but this was not the time to back down.
The Wyvern noticed us approaching it and started to engage in combat with us. It quickly swooped down to the ground in an attempt to collide with us but with armed with my Kusari-Kama, I managed to create a dome of wind to protect us and deflect the head-on collision. Shiho took the opportunity to create several golden stars with her huge scythe and placed them all over the Wyvern’s gargantuan body.
“IMPLODE, GLORIOSA!!” Shiho exclaimed as the golden stars all exploded around the Wyvern leaving only a cloud of smoke.
However, when the smoke cleared, the Wyvern roared once again and there were no signs of any damage being done to it. The dragon was evidently enraged and started to charge up energy in its mouth. With a deafening scream, it fired an extremely powerful blast of energy at the 3 of us that was too fast to dodge and react. I quickly braced myself for the impact and closed my eyes but the impact never happened.
Upon reopening my eyes, I saw that a huge wall of talismans was protecting us and absorbed the blast. I took a closer look and saw Mayu nearby who was probably the one who deployed the talisman wall. A blast of lightning soon rained down on the Wyvern forcing it to put up its guard. I took this chance to signal to Risa and Shiho to find a safe spot to regroup as this Wyvern was clearly not going to be beaten through normal means. Miyu and Mayu soon rejoined us and updated us about the current situation.
“I assume that lightning blast just now was done by one of your Shikigamis, thank you for having our backs and thank you Mayu for setting up that talisman wall just now.” I graciously thanked Miyu who looked like she was about to fall asleep and Mayu who looked the opposite and was raring to go fight that monster.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“We appreciate the thanks but now is not the time to do so.” Mayu said as she looked towards her twin sister which meant that she probably had something to say as well.
“We searched all over the school but we could not find anyone whose crystal has changed color from being selected as a mate.” Miyu explained while looking clearly exhausted.
“Yes, Onee-chan is right, I thought such powerful Exceeds only attacked when they were searching for a mate. It does not make any sense.” Mayu followed up.
“Yes, I realized that as well, when we were fighting it earlier, that Wyvern seemed to be more focused on engaging in combat with us and causing destruction rather than searching for a mate. Something is definitely off with that beast.” I analyzed calmly as Shiho and Risa nodded which as well confirmed that they had a similar feeling as me.
“Furthermore, when Shiho attacked it earlier, it seemed like it took no damage which was also surprising given that Fafnir weapons have been proven to be able to damage even the strongest of Exceeds not to mention that Shiho is a top ranker so her strength should definitely have caused at least some damage.” Risa shared her observations which made me think about how that is the case.
A sudden realization hit me on this whole weird encounter, the fact that there were multiple large-scale attacks on 2 different academies at the same time, the fact that the Wyvern attacked us without any intention of seeking a mate and how we are doing no damage to it even with our tetra weapons and Regalia abilities.
“That Wyvern is being controlled by something or someone and I have a bad feeling on who it is.” I exclaimed as the epiphany came to me which surprised the girls and they all looked towards me in confusion with them being lost for words as it has never been heard of for people to be able to control Exceeds to do their bidding.
“Trust me on this, I need to confirm my theory but if I am right, the situation is going to get even more troublesome.” I instinctively looked towards the location of the Lion’s brand on Shiho’s abdomen and thought to myself that it was almost too convenient that I would be able to help her get her revenge on that sick bastard so quickly and easily.
“I guess we don’t have much of a choice anyways, so I guess I trust you Kazuha.” Risa looked towards me and extended her hand to signal that she is willing to help me and is placing full trust in me.
“We trust in you too.” Shiho and the twins looked towards me as well and awaited my next instruction on how to combat that beast. As if on cue, the Wyvern roared out once again and started to use its large talons to attack the school building.
“All the students have been evacuated from the school building right?” I asked Miyu and Mayu to which they both nodded.
“Ok that’s good, if my guess is right, there should be a mark at the core of the Wyvern and if we destroy that mark, that Wyvern should return to being a normal Exceed which means that our weapons and abilities should be able to inflict damage on it.” I explained my plan to the girls who were all listening attentively.
“Wait, but how are we going to reach its core when our attacks just now didn’t even scratch him.” Shiho asked.
“If my hunch is correct, it’s not that our attacks are not dealing damage to it but with the presence of the mark, its natural regeneration abilities are heightened such that it appears that we are not damaging it. Hence, I believe that if we strike it with enough damage at the same time, there will be a lapse in time where its external skin would be exposed and we can see its core. From there, I will be able to destroy the mark on its core.” I further explained.
“I got it! So, we just have to blast that monster with everything we got right.” Mayu eagerly asked to which I confirmed.
The girls and I proceeded to start channeling our energy into our most powerful attacks. I switched my ability to Shiho’s star creation as it was more destructive and powerful as opposed to my wind abilities.
“Blade of water fifth strike, PIERCING SPIRAL SPEAR!” Risa used her rapier to form a massive spear made out of water and launched it at the Wyvern.
“5-Layered Talisman magic, LUMINOUS CANNON!” Mayu placed 5 talismans that floated in the air in the shape of a pentagon that glowed with a bright silver light and a beam of energy emerged from the center of the pentagon and fired at the Wyvern.
“God of thunder, IKAZUCHI and God of fire, KAZUCHI lend me your strength, SPARK FLAME CYCLONE!” Miyu summoned 2 miniature humans who I assumed were her Shikigamis. One of them glowed yellow while the other glowed red and both of them combined into a blast that looked like a spiral of yellow and red.
I looked towards Shiho who was setting up her stars and I did the same mimicking her form. She looked at me to give me the signal that she was ready to explode them and I returned her glance which showed that I was ready as well. The 2 of us got into position and chanted together.
“BURST INTO BLOOM, SIGDRAFIA!!” I mimicked her form and poured my energy into the stars that transformed into a lotus shaped spiral and engulfed the Wyvern. Compared to the blast from yesterday which Shiho used on me, this one was a lot more powerful since the 2 of us were doing it together.
With all the attacks flying towards the Wyvern at the same time, accompanied by the fact that its mobility was severely restricted from mine and Shiho’s combined attack, the combined blast landed a direct blow on the Wyvern Exceed. There was now a gaping hole in the chest of the Wyvern where its core rested. Sure enough, I was right as there was indeed the mark of a lion on top of its core. That presence of that mark made everything that led up to this point made sense and I was filled with nothing but uncontrollable rage as I switched back to my wind abilities and leaped towards the exposed core in order to destroy the mark and subsequently its core. I quickly equipped my spear while running at my top speed and headed towards the Wyvern that was quickly recovering from the damage it had sustained.
“Kuzunoha style spear ninth technique, GALE WIND SHOCK!!” I built up energy in my spear and dived at the core from mid-air in an attempt to destroy the Lion mark and the core in one attack.
“GOOO KAZUHA!!!” Risa and Shiho shouted out and I could feel their trust in me to get the job done. However, before my fully charged up spear managed to make impact, a figure quickly appeared in front of me and with one punch to my abdomen, he made me fly at least 10 metres away into a pile of rubble.
I couldn’t believe it, I may have dropped my guard a little in order to empower my spear to its maximum potential but for someone to be that fast and react to my speed and to launch me a considerable distance away. This guy definitely is not some nobody, and the worse part was that it was probably the last person I wanted to see.
The man who punched me was huge with a massive frame, his body was filled with many beastly tattoos and the aura he emitted was nothing short of terrifying. In addition, his insatiable bloodlust and keen sense for battle was what made him truly fearsome. That man was Captain Raikou, a man so feared by other members of the JSF that he attained the nickname the wild beast.
“You have gone soft Kazuha, I remember when you were compared to a hurricane or tornado, what I have just witnessed was nothing more than a calm spring breeze.” The man named Raikou spoke in a condescending and mocking tone.
Anger built up within me not only due to my dislike for him when I was still in the JSF but also because of what he did to Shiho. I swore I would help her get her revenge and the opportunity just came to me on a silver platter. The girls around us were speechless and could not react to the scene that had just unfolded in front of their eyes. Shiho however, looked at him and bile started to build up in her stomach as her rage was equal to mine if not more.
“You sick bastard, I have spent all these years finding you in order to exact my revenge and here you are right in front of me, don’t think for a second that I am going to hold anything back.” Shiho shouted in anger at Raikou but I knew that her threats were empty as her energy was almost depleted after casting that powerful attack on the Wyvern just now and if I knew that, Raikou most definitely did as well since my ability to sense energy was taught to me by him back when I was in the JSF.
“Oh, this little girl here looks familiar, that pale blue hair and feisty attitude, there’s no mistaking it, you are that princess from the Sasaki family which I branded a few years back. HAHAH, what a coincidence, I guess it’s time to finish what I didn’t get to do all those years ago.” Raikou declared to the surprise of Miyu and Mayu who did not know about their interaction in the past.
“Raikou, you bastard, don’t even think about laying your disgusting fingers on her. Your fight is with me.” I declared as I started to build up energy in order to engage in combat with him.
Before I could do anything, Risa who was enraged at Raikou as well charged at him head-on with her rapier but to no avail as he easily deflected her attack and with one hand broke her rapier in 2.
“I do not have time to deal with small fry like you, fuck off you weak piece of shit.” He exclaimed as he used his other hand to knock Risa to the ground and made her unconscious.
With a blink of an eye, he immediately appeared in front of Shiho and confidently declared.
“We shall carry on from where we left off, I shall be taking you as a spoil of my battle here today HAHAHAH.” He laughed like a maniac as he delivered a blow to her gut with one hit which made her lose consciousness and carried her petite body with his other hand and was going to leave but I was not going to let Shiho experience the same fate.
“Restia unlock one of the seals!” I called out as the purple haired goth girl appeared and gave me a reminder of what I am about to do.
“Are you sure about this Kazu-Kun, you know the price to pay don’t you.” She said in her usual seductive and playful tone that was ironic given the current serious atmosphere.
“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THAT NOW, I need that power to beat Raikou and save Shiho.” I demanded in a fit of rage as Restia nodded and kissed me on the lips. Power flowed through my body but I was too angry at that point in time to realize what I would be losing in exchange for that power.
I dematerialized my spear and equipped my Naginata and prepared to launch my all-out attack against Raikou. I leaped and rotated my naginata in a constant spiral motion with each revolution leading to more and more accumulated power.
“Kuzunoha style Finisher technique, TORNADO SPIRAL ATTACK!!” I leaped and flew towards Raikou in a spiral motion akin to a drill and headed straight for him. With this much power, I thought that Raikou would sense it and get a little afraid as this is the strongest attack I have in my arsenal. However, I was wrong once again as he did not look one bit afraid but instead he looked ecstatic.
“Now this is the Kazuha I knew from the JSF, I see you have finally decided to get serious, however I am a busy man and time is of the essence so I am afraid that I am just going to leave you with this Wyvern to battle. Goodbye and good riddance.” Raikou said as he instantly vanished into thin air with his usual cocky smirk on his face.
My attack instead hit the Wyvern and I destroyed its core in one attack but that was not nearly enough as a compensation for what I had lost.
I collapsed onto the floor and pounded it with my fists in a fit of rage leading to a mini crater being formed around me as I shouted with all the air in my lungs.
“FUCKKKK!!!!”
The body of the Wyvern soon dematerialized due to its core being destroyed and as if the sky responded to my feelings, it started to darken and rain fell. However, I did not care about getting wet or dirty from the rain but rather how I let another girl whom I cared about be taken away from me like this. How can I be so weak? How many times must this happen before I am able to do something about it? First, Mizuki and now its Shiho.. Why am I so useless?
Tears started to trickle down my face and I broke down with my emotions in a mess. Soon after, I blacked out from the use of a sealed technique which had consumed all my mana.
Little did I know that this was just the beginning.