Vol. 1 Chapter 7.2 - A Desperate Gamble

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Red. The skies painted itself a blazing red once again - similar to that day. The heavens, once unaffected, tranquil and serene, were now an infernal canvas. The fiery hues stretched as far as the eye could see, casting an eerie, almost apocalyptic glow over the valley. The simulated sun itself seemed to have been replaced by a colossal fireball, its radiant tendrils reaching out across the firmament. And from this crimson canvas descended the remnants of the dragons' wrath - massive fireballs plummeted like meteors, each one a harbinger of chaos and destruction.

Boom!

My eyes frantically scanned the burning landscape below, the panicked screams of my classmates echoing like a dissonant symphony of sirens. Questions swirled in my mind, a relentless tempest of uncertainty. What was happening? Why couldn't I figure out what to do? I had prepared for this, hadn't I? It was all within expectations, but I feel utterly lost.

I knew I had to give orders, to lead them. It was a responsibility he entrusted to me... even if he hadn't said it outright, I understood.

You are still the same...

It has only been two hours, the points we have accumulated didn't even reach half of what was required for us... is the result inevitable after all?

Tch. Shaking my head, I tried to push aside my doubts. Why am I even bothering with this? All I needed to ensure was my own survival. All I needed was to get a score higher than anyone else. That should have been the case...

...defective, little girl...

Once again, I'm reminded of those words, a label not imposed by the academy, not by the faceless masses, but rather the failure of expectations... That's right, that is the reason. Merely passing this exam was not an option. I had to achieve something extraordinary, something that would prove to them that I don't need to have the family's power to succeed.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to clear my mind. Think! There had to be something that I could do to overturn this situation and ensure that none shall fail in this exam. Think, Suzune!

Snap!

But before I could make progress, a sudden disturbance snapped me back to reality... I watched in bewilderment as Ayanokouji-kun abruptly left our group and began scaling the mountain wall. What on earth is he doing?

The vine that had once connected us now hung in the air, and I could only stare at it, completely baffled.

"What are you doing?!" I yelled, hoping he would provide some answers amid the chaos. I don't know if my voice even reached him, but he didn't look back and instead accelerated to the top. Watching this occur made me recall him doing the exact same thing before, but why? What is his intention?

In a speed that would put even agility-type soul masters to shame, he scaled the several hundred-meter wall in mere moments, but as soon as he neared the peak, the same phenomenon as before occurred. A massive ball of fire zoomed into his position and exploded in the same fashion, only this time he managed to come out unscathed and succeeded in scaling up to the mountain top.

I continued to follow him with my eyes, my brows furrowed in apprehension. In that instant, another deafening roar echoed throughout the entire valley.

Something's wrong...

This roar didn't come from the dragon facing us; it seemed to originate from afar, as if it were muffled by a massive wall... You got to be kidding me...

Realization hit me when the roar reverberated once again. It was another one, another dragon had appeared on the other side of the wall, and I could feel its footsteps getting louder and louder as it approaches.

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