Chapter 82
[Sprinter]
-The role of targeting the opposing team's flag.
-Can travel through every zone.
[Assistant]
-The role of supporting teammates.
-Can travel between Zones 1 and 2.
[Keeper]
-The role of defending the team's flag.
-Can remain only within Zone 1.
===
《Enter.》
The field appeared in a burst of pure white light.
What came into view afterward was a vast grassland covered in brush.
“This is···.”
Zone 1.
The zone where our team's flag was located.
We stood on the crunching green grass.
As I glanced around, a fresh breeze swept across my cheek.
‘So Zone 1's concept is a grassland.’
The field had been rendered with extraordinary realism.
It felt less like a simple set than a piece of the actual environment cut out and brought here.
‘Where’s the flag?’
At the center of the field.
An altar stood tall among the weeds.
At the top of its worn steps, I could see blue fabric fluttering.
It was the flag we had to protect.
‘Simple.’
Protect and take.
Lanne and Caitlyn stood on either side of me.
Without needing to explain anything, I gave the two of them their instructions.
“I’ll go right away.”
The match had already begun.
The timer had been running from the moment we entered the field.
“Miss Lanne!”
“Yes!”
“Please take care of our team’s flag!”
“Leave it to me! I’ll defend it no matter what!”
A reassuring answer.
She was the Keeper.
Her role was to guard the flag here in Zone 1.
Leaving Lanne behind, I raced across the field with Caitlyn.
“Let’s go, Miss Gay Dentures.”
“I told you, stop calling me that···!”
Whoooosh-.
My field of vision streamed past as though someone had pressed fast-forward.
We raced toward the edge of the grassland.
Caitlyn went without saying, but I could also hold my own with Class A when it came to speed.
The field was an easy-to-run grassland as well, so we entered Zone 2 in an instant.
“Miss Caitlyn, we’re in Zone 2.”
“Anyone can tell just by looking.”
Zone 2's concept was a jungle.
Humid heat rushed into my face.
Lush leaves grew everywhere, and the trees reached upward as though intent on covering the sky.
Unlike Zone 1, which we had just left, the dense vegetation made running difficult.
“Damn, there are too many obstacles···!”
Kzzzt-!
Caitlyn casually swung her fist.
Immediately afterward, a current that stretched out like a blade felled the thick trees.
“Follow me! I’ll clear a path.”
“Good. Let’s push through to the midpoint of Zone 2 like this.”
Crack, crunch-!
We crossed the roughly cleared path.
Of course, we couldn't sweep away every obstacle we encountered.
Neither Caitlyn nor I had particularly good stamina efficiency for our speed.
Caitlyn tired easily, and if I overdid my speed, my glass body wouldn't hold up.
“We need to conserve as much stamina as possible! Especially you, Miss Caitlyn, since you have to infiltrate all the way to Zone 3 alone!”
“I know···!”
Her yellow hair streamed in the headwind.
Before we knew it, we had reached the midpoint we had been aiming for.
With sparks crackling behind me, I assessed the situation unfolding before us.
‘As expected, Zone 2's field is disadvantageous to us.’
It was time to start preparing for a clash with the opposing team.
They had overwhelming firepower, so we had to compete on speed.
“We’ll split up here. Miss Caitlyn, circle around quietly and cross Zone 2.”
“What? We’re splitting up here? What are you going to do?”
“I plan to stay behind and act as a decoy.”
“A decoy?”
Lin Glacia.
Even though the other team members were also in Class A, she was the one we needed to watch out for.
Though Lin could have taken the Sprinter role, she had deliberately volunteered to be an Assistant like me.
‘So she’s targeting me after all···.’
She had even said outright that she wanted to face me.
If she made a move, there was a high chance she would run straight toward me.
-Fight me during this midterm practical.
-This time, I’ll definitely take back the top spot I lost during the practical, in front of the entire student body.
I recalled those few words.
This was also a decision meant to make the most of Caitlyn’s role.
If I blocked Lin in Zone 2, Caitlyn would have a much easier time snatching the flag.
“Go quickly!”
“Fuck, I said I know···!”
Fwoosh-!
Unable to resist my urging, she immediately kicked off the ground.
The sizzling light quickly receded from my view.
I hadn't forgotten to tell her to take a slightly winding route so she wouldn't run into the opposing team's Sprinter.
‘It’s going smoothly.’
When it came to Zone 3, I had no choice but to leave everything to Caitlyn.
Only the Sprinter could approach the flag.
But that was fine.
Caitlyn was unquestionably the best speedster among the first-years.
And knowing her, she would surely live up to my expectations.
“Phew···.”
At the center of the jungle.
I was left alone, catching my breath.
The scenery within the dense jungle was utterly still.
In the muggy air, I waited for winter to descend.
“······.”
Chill.
A faint, biting wind seeped between the enormous leaves.
Before long, frost began to spread across the scenery that had been deep green.
Pure-white crystals formed here and there.
A flower that could never bloom in such a hot place, in a jungle, began to bloom.
Snow-white blossoms lined up and opened across the field like a bouquet.
“Oh my···.”
I laughed softly.
“I wasn’t told it would snow.”
Snow began to fall.
The once-lush forest withered as the cold season covered the space.
The leaves froze and fell, stripping the trees bare.
The crudely exposed trunks created a desolate atmosphere.
Though she had only let a trace of sword aura flow, its dominance was enough to seize control of the entire area.
“This is why you can’t trust the Mage Tower’s weather forecasts.”
“······.”
“Don’t you agree?”
Whoooosh-.
A fierce, knife-edged wind blew.
As though coloring the temperature itself, blue hair fluttered in the gale.
A girl who did not even furrow her brow in the brutal cold.
“Lady Glacia.”
“······.”
Lin Glacia.
Before my eyes stood winter with a sword.
Amid the driving snow, I followed the pale silhouette.
“Top student of Class E.”
“As expected, you came to see me right away.”
“You were waiting.”
“Of course.”
Squeeze-.
I smoothed the glove clinging to my palm.
Wriggler reacted, swelling into the shape of a pitch-black scythe.
“How about it? Shall we make small talk to warm up?”
“No.”
“How cold.”
“It would be a waste of time.”
Shing-.
The girl likewise gripped the sword at her waist.
Accompanied by a clear ringing, the snow-white blade slid from its sheath.
The jungle's temperature plummeted toward absolute zero, to the point that my lungs ached with every breath.
“I’m coming.”
It was a dispassionate declaration.
I raised my scythe toward Lin.
“Come on.”
Thud-!
Someone leaped through the snowflakes.
The next moment, sparks flew in the white winter.
Clang-!
A sword strike closed the distance in an instant.
I barely saved my neck from being severed.
With sword and scythe crossed, the girl wore an impassive expression.
“You’re fast.”
It was a simple observation.
I pulled the pocket watch from my sleeve and gripped it.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Mm.”
Click-.
When I pressed the button, the world slowed, if only for a moment.
I calmly deflected Lin’s follow-up combination.
Every time sword and scythe met, a heavy ache throbbed through my arms.
Clang! Kagrk··· Tang!
I gritted my teeth behind the mask.
She was said to be able to trade blows even with most of the faculty.
The deep thrum reverberating through me made me feel the weight of her physique all over again.
“Hup···!”
Pat pat-.
As I caught my breath, I suddenly sensed something passing nearby.
The presence moved away toward Zone 1 without sparing us a glance.
Someone’s running back appeared in my field of vision.
Could it be the opposing team’s Sprinter?
It seemed they had been hiding nearby, waiting for an opportunity.
Regardless, I focused only on the opponent before me.
“Aren’t you worried about the flag?”
“It’s fine. Our Keeper is someone I can trust.”
“Your Keeper was the second-ranked student in the grade, right? Yes, she may indeed be a difficult opponent for our team’s Sprinter.”
“Besides, our Sprinter should have stepped into Zone 3 a long time ago. If anyone’s taking the flag, it’ll be us first.”
“It doesn’t matter. Your entire team will be stopped in front of me anyway.”
Clang-!
The cold cut into my flesh.
The sword scattered dazzlingly, and the scythe spun.
The exchange was so fierce that even breathing felt like a luxury.
Yet even amid it all, the girl’s expression never wavered.
Though the sword’s tip was fierce and cruel, the exterior she wore was calm and lyrical.
That was why she resembled winter.
“Whoops!”
“That was close this time.”
The Snow Queen.
She was a person who seemed to have been cut from a section of winter and pasted into the world.
The more clean lines she drew, the heavier the falling snow became.
‘I have to hold out.’
Would Carmilla have reached the altar by now?
There was a Keeper on that side as well, so they were probably fighting in front of the flag.
I mingled the watch with time.
I melted the scythe into the blizzard.
I blocked a few more swords and a few more winds.
I wove in parries, slowed time, and slipped past the girl’s attacks.
Twang! Kagrk, clang, clang-!
“Hmm.”
Had at least five minutes passed like that?
The tension had been drawn taut.
Breaking through that tense air, Lin suddenly stopped her sword.
“······Annoying.”
“Oh dear.”
“My attacks keep missing for some reason, and you block them as if it’s only natural, even from angles you shouldn’t be able to block···.”
“Thank you.”
“I’d like to have a proper bout with you.”
“You haven’t even shown half your full power yet, have you?”
“You noticed.”
It was a matter-of-fact exchange.
Lin merely blinked her lifeless blue eyes.
“I’d like to keep fighting you like this, but···.”
Beep beep beep-!
The girl held up the ringing crystal ball.
It was an item issued for this practical, allowing team members to communicate with one another.
“I don’t think that will be possible right now.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve been summoned.”
A summons?
Before I could even ask what she meant, Lin’s silhouette blurred.
Her face grew blurry and translucent, as though veiled in water mist.
She sheathed her sword, then casually flicked her hand.
“See you later.”
“What do you mean···?”
Swish-.
Without giving me a chance to ask anything, Lin turned into mist and disappeared.