The sun had almost set, casting its golden hue that escaped into the gap between the canopy. Two figures stand around fifteen meters apart, preparing their battle stance. Hina, with her katana in hand, knitted her brow with her still menacing re. Her hateful gaze was filled with a fierce determination to fight the demon in front of her.


    On the other hand, Mary, with herposed stance, focuses her thoughts on channeling mana around her body, ready to unleash her spell anytime. Mary stood silently while her uniform swayed because there was a slight gust of wind that gathered around her.


    "Fuu!".


    The battle started as Hina, with her swift movement, elerated forward, ready to strike using her swordsmanship. Hina''s movement was swift and precise as she swung her de to the side horizontally, but Mary easily dodged it by stepping back.


    Hina didn''t finish with her first attack. Her Katana was moved in a blur and sharp silver edges in the dark. She swung with ferocious speed, each strike apanied by gusts of wind that had been cut, leaving her with no resistance since the katana itself was the possession of the wind god itself.


    Mary, with her superior physical strength, countered by dodging every attack Hina had unleashed. With her untrained body in martial arts, Mary was dodging the de trace with a wide enough margin and making too many wasteful movements.


    Hina, who saw the opponent''s weak point, pressed forward using her swordsmanship while maintaining her calm and breath so that she would not be exhausted.


    "Wind cutter".


    Mary, as she creates some distance and with a single wave from her right hand. A thin de made frompressed wind emerged as an invisible sh and mixes with the surrounding dark ce, making the magic she throws at Hina untraceable by the naked eye.


    However, Hina, through mana maniption, saw its trajectory. She knit her brows as she felt two wind des that aimed at her right leg and neck. Hina''s feet left the ground as she raised the sharp de to defend her right neck.


    "Kuh?!".


    "Hmm, so she could detect that. Then, how about these?".


    Mary began to raise her battle aura, making the tense atmosphere heavier as a hundred des frompressed wind gathered around Mary, ready to beunched. The invisible de were giving a sense of dread, like a reaper that would take out someone else''s life unnoticed.


    "Go!".


    With a singlemand from Mary, the hundred windde flew toward Hina. Hina feels thating knitted her brows as her body senses a multiple danger that could devour her life in an instant.


    Hina''s brain began to race at high speed as she remembered the spell she read earlier. The spell that creates a barrier. But, she didn''t have the time to rehearse her reading, andd train to create it. So with do or die spirit. Hina gathered the Mana in her body and the surrounding mana around her to create a solid defense to block that iing attack.


    "ze shield".


    Hina''s surroundings began to undertake a humongous change. The temperature rose as a spark began to ignite in the air as it kept growing and turned into a bright and burning me that shone in the darkness.


    Then, before everyone''s eyes, the me surrounding Hina began topress itself, solidifying and creating a thick transparent rectangr shield with glowing orange light.


    The surface of the shield was a smooth and solid structure like a mirror, but it was strong enough to withstand an A-rank monster strike or a stronger monster, depending on how well the user used the ability to manipte their mana and the mastery of the technique.


    The hundredpressed wind that Mary throws at Hina flies in a single direction as it keeps destroying anything and everything on their path. A dry thud echoed, creating a shock that Hina received in her raised right hand. The windde collided with her barrier, and the rectangle barrier Hina created was still intact.


    Still, Hina, the one in question, grits her teeth, trying to hold off the wind de that bombarded her with its powerful momentum from its speed and made her hand numbed because of the rapid impact it received.


    "Quite a nice barrier you got there, but how about this, hm?!".


    Mary''s action was halted because of the sudden burst of fire arrows that sneakily descended from above her and aimed at her unguarded head, making Mary leap to the side while putting her back toward the tree.


    Hina, who saw Mary''s hiding ce, retracted the barrier in her hands and began to lunge forward, brandishing her de that shone in the darkness. She swung the de toward the thick tree. It easily cuts diagonally without any resistance but with the separated body of the tree. The trunk began to slide down, and it mmed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust that disturbed her vision.


    Then, from Hina''s blind spot, Mary''s clenched right hand delivered a blow that jolted Hina''s body from the left side. It was a sharp, searing agony, and the force it delivered to her ribs made her blown away from her ce. Hina''s body flew away before mming into a thick tree, stopping its momentum before she dropped to the ground.


    "Kahak!".


    Hina''s vision turned blurry from the agony she felt. Earlier, she could feel that her left ribs were bent with a cracking sound that echoed in her ear, making her body shudder in fright. Her lungs were on fire as it was protesting to inhale some air to make it moist again, but the pain caused by her moving chest prevented her from inhaling some air.


    Each breath she took wasbor itself while she was covered in cold sweat.


    Slowly, a sound of impending death echoed as Mary, with herposed attitude, approached Hina, who was in a dangerous state. Hina saw her figure grit her teeth, trying to endure the intense agony in her body, but her body refused to listen to themand. "Shit,e on, move! Move!".


    "Hmph, Pathetic. all that talk, and in the end, you are lying in there where the battle was just started. Haa, I''m cautious for nothing".


    Mary sighs in disappointment as she kneels on the spot while casting her mockery gaze on Hina. Mary, using her raw strength, gripped Hina''s throat and lifted her up, leaving Hina''s legs dangling on the ground. Mary scanned Hina''s appearance while also gathering enough mana on her free hand before she sted it toward Hina at point-nk range.


    "Tempest".


    As she unleashed her magic simultaneously, Mary''s right hand, that grip on Hina''s throat, loosened. The undting pressure from the spell from Mary began to cover Hina''s body as it swirled violently with her in the center of it. Then, from the small storm, Mary unleashed multiple des frompressed wind and began to rain down with its ferocious ws, tearing Hina''s body.


    Hina, who was losing her footsteps and the sense of loose strength in her limbs, her body could only be shredded and could only await her death. She couldn''t even scream to ask for help, the searing pain that kept shredding her body, making her lose some sense of pain. Her uniform was a thorn, and her skin was torn from its flesh. Her thorn muscles began to spurt blood that painted the ce red.


    "...St-stop it!".


    "Oh, finally willing to move, my sweet junior?".


    "Please stop this?".


    "Pft, ahahahahahaha… Howughable, is this the savior mother dearest talking about? That title seems unfit for him. But well, I will take him with me as my mother dearest ordered me".


    Mary released the spell that was torturing Hina. Hina''s body dropped down to the ground, bathed in her own blood while twitching, still refusing to give up her life.


    Mary, who spared no nce toward Hina, a nearly half-death state figure, turned her attention toward Leon, who still couldn''t or maybe didn''t want to believe that the senior he thought was a lovely girl turned out to be a demonic woman.


    "Leon, if you don''t want to get hurt, be nice and follow my words, okay!".


    "...".


    "I promise I will give you something pleasurable before your life perishes, Fufufu…".


    Leon, who almost got baited with her honey-like words, wavered, but seeing Hina in grave danger brought his consciousness back from the abyss. He clenched his teeth as he summoned the half-broken sword that resonated with himself the moment it reappeared in his hand.


    The sword radiated a yellow glow that shone in the dark, casting its gentle light to grace the darknd. Leon, with his stirred heart, clenched the sword hilt, but he was unmoving and standing still as he was bothered by his fragile heart. "I am sorry, Miss Akabane for how coward my heart is. This time for sure!".


    [Serene Mind Skill activated]


    Mary, who ridiculed him a moment ago, realized Leon had change his atmosphere making her mind wary. She shifted her mind as she began to infuse Mana into her eyes. She curved her plump lips, casting her bewitching charms to bait his swayed heart. Slowly, she moved her feet to Leon''s side.


    "I am sorry, Leon. Come to me, and I will make sure you...".


    However, the moment Mary stepped forward, the barrier above her head cracked, and a thundering roar echoed across the academy perimeter with its divine might. It descended into the ground and sted the barrier and the surrounding darkness with its brilliant light.


    "Hina!".


    Within her hazy consciousness, Hina, whose eyes were blurry, saw the scene before she said in her heart. "Soma, I am sorry, I can''t do much. But she''s all yours!".