"President!"
Renren Tomaru panicked as she saw Tohka fall and The Sphinx immediately notice her.
For a top-tier predator of the land, a momentary opening like that was impossible to miss.
The Sphinx's vicious claws came crashing down on Renren!
Renren turned her head back in terror.
"Oh no..."
Bang!a
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
"Hahaha, bow before me, humans!"
"Damn it."
Renren was knocked down by the heavy blow, her consciousness fading.
In a single clash, the Student Council's fighting force had been cut in half, while the opposing side remained unharmed.
Noah's eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned the enemies, his mind rapidly formulating a strategy.
To turn the tables, he had to take down at least one of them—no, two.
Judging from the abilities the enemy group had displayed so far, the most suitable target was the man-beast combo.
With that thought, he slammed his fist into the ground.
The blow, carrying distorted gravity, shattered the earth and Iron sand erupted and gathered around him.
"Smelt metal."
Zing!
Two large, pitch-black swords appeared in his hands.
Just as he was about to launch his attack, an invisible restraint locked him in place.
Noah's expression froze, and his cold gaze flickered toward his rear left.
"Alice."
A uniquely shaped dagger had appeared at the feet of every Hagun student except Alice.
More accurately, all their shadows had been pinned by the daggers.
It was Alice's Device, Darkness Hermit.
"Shadowbind. This is my Noble Art. It's impossible for you to move anymore," Alice said as he walked over to stand among the enemies.
Seeing this, the Clown let out a series of chilling sinister laughs.
"As expected of you. A beautiful job."
Faced with the Clown's praise, Alice simply wore a cold expression.
Ikki was in disbelief.
Although those bound by Shadowbind couldn't move, they could still speak.
He asked, "Alice, you... why?"
Shizuku was also shaken.
In her eyes, Alice was someone who wouldn't judge her brother unfairly based on his status or rumors. In other words, he was important, because people like him were rare.
She didn't want her brother to become gay, but she also didn't want him to get hurt.
A betrayal like this was something she could never forgive!
"Did you lie to us?" Her voice trembled.
Alice bit his lip, feeling ashamed under their gazes, and looked away.
"Alice, if you're in some kind of trouble, just tell me! I'll help you!" Ikki tried to make one last desperate appeal.
However, Alice's clenched fist relaxed.
He coldly spoke, "Sorry, Ikki. You're naive. I'm an assassin."
"Hahahaha, how cruel," the Clown laughed maniacally.
He looked at Noah. "How about it? Are you ready to listen to what I have to say now?"
As he spoke, he provocatively started walking forward.
Seeing this, Alice hurriedly said, "Stop! Don't go near him!"
He had already sent back intel about the Calamity.
Was this guy an idiot?! That was within the opponent's domain!
A corner of Noah's mouth lifted as he activated Spell-Weaver and created a shining light source.
In an instant, the angle of their shadows changed, and Alice's Shadowbind was naturally released.
'Speed Magic.'
Noah's figure appeared before the Clown in a flash.
To the Clown's astonishment, Noah clapped his hands over his mask and squeezed.
"Impact."
A shockwave pierced through the mask, blowing the man's entire head apart!
The headless corpse flew backward and fell to the ground like a broken doll.
Noah had been too fast and decisive, striking a fatal blow so quickly that no one had time to react!
"Hey, did Hiraga just die?"
"Huh?"
Just then, Noah noticed something.
The physical sensation in his hands just now had been strange. It didn't feel like he had crushed a human skull.
He tossed out a fire bullet, which blew the headless corpse into the sky with a boom.
This act stunned not only the Hagun side but the enemies as well.
'Desecrating a corpse? This guy was terrifying!'
'Wasn't blowing someone's head off enough to vent his anger? Just because the guy had been chatty in front of him, was this necessary?'
'Who were the real villains here?!'
Clatter...
The sound of wood hitting the ground brought everyone back to their senses.
"A puppet?"
"That wasn't a real person!"
Even the members of the Clown's group were shocked.
The guy who had been working with them was just a puppet?
Noah looked at the broken wood, as he began to recall something from the past.
"The Marionette. So it was you who's causing trouble for me before, too."
The one who had manipulated the rock golems to attack them in Okutama was this Reiji Hiraga.
Unfortunately, this wasn't his real body either.
Still, that was one down.
"We're saved."
Freed from Shadowbind, Ikki and the others moved to Noah's side.
The two sides were once again in a standoff.
Alice frowned. "Impressive. I never thought you'd break my Noble Art that way. As expected of you, Noah-kun."
He raised his Device, clearly intending to continue the fight.
Ikki assessed the situation.
Nothing had really changed.
While their side had lost several people, the enemy had lost one but gained another.
However, Noah suddenly raised a hand toward Alice.
'Three fingers?'
A second later, he retracted one finger and everyone realized he was counting down.
'Three seconds? What was he planning to do?'
'Two.'
'One.'
"Puh-wah."
Just as the three seconds ended, Alice suddenly clutched his mouth and knelt on the ground in pain.
Ouma frowned, unable to figure out what kind of trick this was.
The others stared with intense curiosity.
"Hey, Alice, what's wrong with you?"
"Cough!"
Even if he wanted to answer, Alice felt as if all his internal cavities were filled with water.
A large amount of blood gushed from his nose and mouth as a look of bewilderment crossed his face.
Noah explained in a flat tone, "How many times do you think you've gotten close to me until now? Including on the bus. This magic took me a bit of effort. Its effect was to balance the air pressure inside and outside your body."
He clenched his fist, then abruptly opened it, mimicking the effect of an explosion.
"Now, that spell has been released... As for the result, I don't think I need to explain, do I?"
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