CH 5.15

Anri Var. She is the teacher of the 10th class 3rd year where Nozomu and his party members belong and is an irreplaceable benefactor to Nozomu. Without her, Nozomu would be completely isolated at school. To Nozomu, she was as important as Shino.

She stood in front of them. She was smiling brightly as usual, but Nozomu couldn't stop the cold sweat running down his back.

Anri just says that she is the special target. Then she is now the enemy of Nozomu's party.

In fact, a pendant that became proof that she was one of the training participants, hung on her chest.

(Nozomu-kun ...)

(Don't move. If we move poorly, we'll be done for...)

Nozomu felt chills and never stopped, he felt Anri's fighting spirit hidden in the shadows of her usual smile. But at the same time, he couldn't make a rash move because he didn't know what kind of hand she would use. Nozomu's party always saw her overseeing their lessons but never saw her actually fighting.

"... Did Anri-sensei know we're here?"

"Hmm~, it's not like that~. It's my job to take a walk through various places. Of course, even though I'm walking around, I still do my job properly."

She took out the pendants of the students she has defeated from her pocket. The number was at least 20 or more. She still spoke in a slow-paced voice, but looking around her, there was no one by her side to help her. Nevertheless, she has defeated more than 20 students.

Jin and his friends were terrified by that fact. Despite their efforts and somehow being able to defeat five opponents, she was alone, defeating more than four times as many opponents.

"...Are we also the target of Anri-sensei's subjugation?"

"... Yup, that's going to happen. But, I'll try not to hurt you as much as possible... Sorry~."

Anri looked apologetic. But she said she would do what she had to do.

After confirming that fact, Nozomu immediately decided on their next course of action.

"Jin! Deck! Hamria! We're running away!!"

Nozomu took out a Smoke Ball and a [Twin Stone of Tragic Fate] from his pocket and threw them on the ground. Smoke spread out in the blink of an eye and concealed the appearance of Nozomu's party and the [Twin Stones of Tragic Fate] that were rolling on the ground glowed red.

Nozomu's party had exhausted the traps they had set in the forest in the previous battle. Furthermore, as long as they faced their opponent in a state of being discovered, if they fought now, it would inevitably be a head-to-head confrontation.

Nozomu had no idea how Anri had defeated more than 20 students, but after all, it seemed to be suicidal if they faced their superior opponent head-on. Besides, he wasn't the only enemy in the forest. At least they should last until the end of the day.

"Hurry up, you three!"

"I get it!"

"Y-yes!"

"Okay!"

Nozomu and his party members tried to keep their distance in an instant, but at that moment, Nozomu's ears heard a wind noise approaching.

" !! "

Nozomu had an unpleasant premonition about the wind noise he heard. He jumped sideways and rolled to the ground, and, *Slap!* the ground he was on just now was hit by something. The ground scattered along with the sound of an explosion.

"Ah... you avoided it. Then, how about this~~..."

"Kyaa!"

"Gah !!"

After Anri-sensei swung her arm twice in quick succession, Deck's and Hamria's screams were heard along with explosive sounds, and both of them lost their balance and collapsed.

Jin rushed over to the two who had fallen and tried to get them up, but this time, Anri raised her arm to attack Jin who was rushing at them.

"It's not good !!"

Nozomu strengthened his body with all his might to support Jin and moved towards Anri. There was a difference in physical ability between him and his opponent. He had to close the distance as much as possible to make up for it. However, the calm Anri immediately changed her target to the moving Nozomu, and then she swung her arm.

"Chi~ !!"

At the same time as Anri swung her arm, Nozomu was startled by a chill that enveloped his entire body. The moment he saw something black at the edge of his field of vision, he kicked the ground and flew to the side.

Explosions echoed and the ground scattered once again. Fortunately, Nozomu was unharmed. Looked like he managed to dodge it.

"Jin! How are those two doing!"

"They're fine! They're not disqualified yet !!"

Judged from the pendant, Deck and Hamria were not disqualified. However, they remained on the ground. Deck and Hamria were probably having their arms broken. They dropped their weapons and hold their arms. Their blood dripped onto the ground.

Jin took out the potion and sprinkled it on their arms. The potion quickly closed both wounds, but Nozomu continued to be exposed by Anri's attacks while Jin helped the two.

(Kuh~! I know she is attacking with something, but I don't know what it is!)

Every time Anri swung her arm, something appeared in Nozomu's field of vision. It was too fast and he couldn't see the object clearly because he was fighting in the dimly lit forest.

Nozomu managed to dodge by feeling the chills running all over his body and reading the trajectories of the shadow that invaded his field of vision.

Nozomu clicked his tongue while thinking about how to deal with the situation.

"Fuwa ~~, Nozomu-kun is amazing~. There are only a few students who can dodge Sensei's attacks this much."

Anri was impressed, but Nozomu couldn't afford to listen to her words. He knew that the intervals between her attacks were fairly fast, and he knew that if he had taken her attack even once and lost his posture, he would have no time to recover.

Nozomu tried to focus his eyes and saw the shadow that invaded his field of vision. The shadow was so fast that it was hard to see, partly because he was in a dim forest.

However, Nozomu has incredible concentration. His concentration sometimes speeds up even his thoughts, so he can see things moving slowly.

As Nozomu followed the movement of Anri's arm and the movement of the shadow, the movement of the shadow that could not be seen finally became clear.

(It's not a stick-shaped object, but a rope-shaped object. It seems to be quite flexible ...)

Nozomu identified the weapon while dodging Anri's oncoming attack. Eventually, Anri swung her arm sideways, and at the same time, the shadow attacked Nozomu's side.

"Here!!"

Nozomu lowered his hips and at the same time lifted the scabbard up and placed it in the shadow orbit. Then, the next moment, something twined around the scabbard along with the sound of the wind.

Nozomu immediately grabbed that something twined around the scabbard before Anri could do anything.

"......Ah~"

"...Anri-sensei, so this is your weapon."

Anri let out a surprised voice innocently, perhaps because she didn't expect Nozomu to be able to grab her weapon.

Nozomu grabbed a black whip. Perhaps the whip was painted black to make it harder to see what she was doing in the dim forest.

"Amazi~ng! Nozomu-kun, so you knew it~"

"... I could see a whip moving through the air, so I just need to find the right timing for Anri-sensei's arm movement and the shadow movement. To be honest, I was wondering what to do if your arm swing was fake."

Nozomu's mind was also wondering if the swing of her arm was fake. If she manipulated the whip with magic or Qi, he might have been attacked at a different timing than the swing of her arm.

However, Nozomu felt no sign of magic or Qi in the moving whip itself. He thought he couldn't feel it, but if he continued to avoid it, the situation would only worsen, so he decided to take action. Luckily his action was successful, so he was able to confirm Anri's weapon.

"It's amazing that you can see it~. After all, in this training ground, my whip should be hard to see because it's such a dark place."

It wouldn't have been possible without training with Shino. The sword swung at a speed that was sometimes faster than Anri's whip at close range in the forest where visibility was barely effective. A high-speed maneuver that instantly disappeared from his sight. A sword technique that can be changed at will. A momentary misjudgment can lead to serious injury. Nozomu's body had been hit by it literally which knocked him unconscious.

It could be said that he could handle it because he had gone through fierce training that could be called torture.

However, the situation had not improved even if he found out the identity of the other party's weapon. Anri's abilities are still unknown. In addition, his party members were injured.

(To be honest, this is bad...  This fight is completely on Anri-sensei's pace. Also, I have to do something to those two behind my back...)

Deck and Hamria manage to get up with Jin's help. Their uniforms that had been hit by Anri's attack were still torn, but their bleeding seemed to have stopped.

It seemed that thanks to Jin's potions prepared beforehand, they made it in time, but it was doubtful whether they would be able to protect themselves against such a powerful enemy.

However, Anri was not an easy opponent so they could just run away.

(When it comes to that, there's only one surest way we can take to turn this situation around. I feel like I've done this before. To be honest, I'm not confident ... but, it can't be helped now. )

"Jin! Take the two of them to a safe place first!!"

"Eh!?"

"If we stay like this, you will also be attacked by Anri-sensei! So please go to a safe place first and call Mars and the others!!"

Nozomu told Jin, who was standing in front of the two injured party members, to take them away from there and call Mars and the others. But at the same time, Nozomu also thought it would still be difficult. In order for him and Mars to fight Anri together, they had to go to a place they had agreed on beforehand or he had to hold on until Jin and the others brought Mars towards him.

However, it was difficult to go to a place they had agreed on beforehand while fighting Anri at the same time.

Because of that, Nozomu thought of keeping Anri away from the party as far as possible. He would get Jin and his friends some time to escape so they could join Mars and the others.

To be honest, Nozomu had no confidence that they could escape from Anri and he might not be able to hold it in until Mars and the others came, but if he fought her while the others fled through the forest, the chances of them escaping was not zero.

Jin seemed to be hesitant for a moment, but maybe he believed in Nozomu's words, he took them and disappeared into the forest.

"Nozomu-kun, is it really alright?~~. The more people, the more likely you are to win~."

'"Our enemies aren't just Sensei. So, as long as someone is injured in our party, we will prioritize their withdrawal. The pain due to the whip lasted a long time, but there is no problem because the pain can be reduced by recovery magic. Sensei too, aren't you able to attack them who left earlier."

"Yu~p. But Nozomu-kun, as soon as I try to attack Jin-kun and the others, you will immediately rush towards me, right~? Nozomu-kun will get to where I am before my whip beats Jin-kun and the others. ~~~"

Indeed, it's difficult to defeat an opponent with a single blow with Anri's weapon. Originally, a whip is a weapon that causes pain and breaks the spirit of the opponents. If Anri attacked Jin and the others in this situation, she would be seized by Nozomu's katana before she could defeat them. Anri never underestimated Nozomu. In this sense, Nozomu's strategy worked. At least he could turn Anri's attention towards himself.

(Anri-sensei's specialized weapon has a fairly wide range. It's impossible for me to win against her, but I can't let Anri-sensei chase after those three right now. In that case, it is necessary for me to fight her so I can continue to draw Anri-sensei's attention towards myself...)

After Nozomu drew such a conclusion in his mind, he emitted Qi throughout his body. Perhaps Anri felt that Nozomu was becoming more serious, Anri swung the whip with her hand.

"Kuh!"

The whip Nozomu was holding started to go berserk, and this time, it tried to entangle Nozomu's arm. Nozomu escaped from the whip that tried to entangle him by letting go of it. As the grabbed whip was finally freed, Anri resumed her attack. Nozomu activated his Qi technique "Instant Move" and rushed from the front towards Anri. He acted as to stand out as possible because his purpose was to attract her attention.

Anri immediately swung her arm and a black whip shot out along the trajectory.

Nozomu immediately changed his technique from "Instant Move" to "Instant Move -Curve Dance-", twisted his body and causing his body to move slightly to the side. Anri's whip flowed and grazed Nozomu's temple, and Nozomu thrust towards Anri in an attempt to close the gap all at once.

However, Anri had already predicted Nozomu's goal. She turned her wrist, the whip behind Nozomu jumped up. The whip that jumped up attacked to knock Nozomu from behind.

" !! "

Due to the chill he felt from behind, Nozomu twisted his body again and turned 90 degrees to the right. The next moment, the whip that was attacking from above Nozomu's head hit the ground where he was before.

"Wa~! You dodged it again! Amazing~!"

Anri touched her mouth while feeling a little surprised. But she immediately pulled her whip into her hand and launched it aimed at Nozomu, who was running towards her.

Nozomu passed by a tree in front of him and used it as a shield against the whip approaching in front of him. The whip that was launched hit the tree trunk and tore the bark of the trunk.

"Teya ~. Here ~~"

Anri's repeated voice echoed around him, but contrary to such a voice, she made accurate and powerful whips in quick succession.

Nozomu continued to use the overgrown trees as a shield and ran in a circular motion while handling Anri's whip, but his expression clearly showed he wasn't calm. As long as there was a huge difference in ability and distance between them, all he could do was keep up with her attacks.

Eventually, Anri shifted her aim to the spot in front of Nozomu as if she was predicting the direction of Nozomu's movement.

Both attack and defense continued for a while, but Nozomu, who was circling around Anri, suddenly changed direction. He plunged straight from the front towards her.

"Yup. As expected, you will come straight at me."

Anri knew that Nozomu can only find a way out in close-quarter combat. She wasn't surprised by Nozomu's sudden change in actions, and she calmly launched her whip to intercept him as he drew closer.

A whip that faithfully followed the trajectory of her swung arm weaved its way through the overgrown trees and aimed accurately at Nozomu.

Nozomu tried to shook off Anri's attack by moving curves through the overgrown trees with "Instant Move -Curve Dance-", but Anri's whip was still able to accurately caught his leg, and the blown ground reduces Nozomu's momentum.

A slight slowdown increased Anri's chances of attacking once more, and she didn't miss her chance, this time, she aimed straight at Nozomu.

"Nozomu-kun~. If it continues like this then you will... eh?"

As the whip was about to hit Nozomu's body, an explosive sound could be heard.

In her eyes, she saw Nozomu, whose body should have slowed down, suddenly accelerate and rush forward again in a forward-leaning posture so that his body almost hit the ground.

Actually, the explosion she heard just now wasn't the sound of her whip hitting Nozomu. The true nature of the explosion was the torrent of Qi ejected from Nozomu's back.

When he was handling Anri's whip with the tree as a shield, he compressed his Qi on his back so Anri couldn't see it, and he released it the moment the whip was about to hit. He lowered his posture at once, accelerated at the same time, and plunged into her.

Anri's reaction was clearly delayed. She thought she had definitely hit him.

Nozomu was only a few steps away from her, and she couldn't seem to get her whip back in time.

"Haaa !!"

Nozomu swung his katana while screaming loudly. The blade accurately aimed at Anri's shoulder.

"E-e~~~i !"

However, at the moment when Nozomu's katana blade seemed to reach Anri's body, Anri suddenly shouted a loud voice.

"Ehh?"

The next moment, the sight of her jumping into Nozomu's eyes took him by surprise.

With her hand, Anri flipped her own skirt. What appeared in Nozomu's eyes was her white and soft skin under the skirt fluttering in the air. Her slender and smooth legs. A cute pink cloth. And a black iron that contrasted with her white skin, was tied to her slightly plump thighs.

It was a black iron rod. It was about 30 centimeters long. Looking at it, there is a guard and handle on it. It was clear that it was used for combat. Anri grabbed the iron rod with her other hand and swung it up at once.

" !? "

Nozomu's katana blade and the black iron rod collided. Nozomu's blade never reached Anri's body and was blocked firmly by her rod.

"I-it was dangerous ~~"

Anri let out a voice of relief in their current grapple situation.

Even though Anri blocked Nozomu's katana with just one hand, her black iron rod was unperturbed.

"Ee~~ i !!"

Anri tried to push Nozomu back while making a sound. Nozomu was also desperately trying to resist the force that was pushing him, but he, who was under the influence of ability suppression, couldn't resist it.

"Kuh !!"

Judging that his strength wasn't enough, Nozomu used his katana sheath to stop her momentum. He moved around Anri's side and launched another slash. However, Nozomu's slash was again blocked by Anri's black iron rod, which was quickly overturned.

Nozomu continued to launch slashes after that, but all of them were shot down by Anri's black iron rod. Anri's black iron rod, which is shorter than Nozomu's katana, excels in maneuverability and does not allow Nozomu's blade to touch Anri's body.

"Teya ~~!"

As Anri lowered her posture, she fired a roundhouse kick at Nozomu's side. The white legs that peeked through her waving skirt attacked Nozomu with a force that couldn't be imagined from its appearance.

"Uwa !!"

Luckily, Nozomu crouched down in time and managed to dodge Anri's roundhouse kick, but she kept moving and shot her black iron rod at Nozomu's head.

Nozomu tried to escape to Anri's side by twisting his body while deflecting the black iron rod, which was swung downwards, with his katana. However, she fired another roundhouse kick.

"Gah~ !!"

This time, Nozomu couldn't dodge. He put the scabbard between himself and Anri, but he couldn't stop the momentum of the kick and he was blown away.

"Kuh~ !!"

Nozomu jumped while rolling backward.

As Nozomu took some distance, Anri's whip that she fired in pursuit hit the ground.

"There ~~"

Aiming at the moment Nozomu landed, Anri swinging her whip further. Nozomu raised his katana and tried to cut through Anri's whip, but it wasn't easy to cut through the flexible whip that was approaching at high speed.

If he didn't handle it properly, his movement would stop. After that, it would be an opportunity for Anri.

However, when Nozomu landed. Suddenly a gust of wind blew.

"Uwa !!"

The gust hit Nozomu directly and blown his body away. Anri's whip didn't hit Nozomu's body and only hit empty air.

"Bufu~ !!"

Due to the sudden thing, Nozomu couldn't take a defensive stance and ended up kissing the ground with his face. Nozomu's face was distorted by the bitter taste that filled his mouth.

"Peh! Peh! What the hell was that !?"

Nozomu checked the person who was blowing the gust while spewing dirt out of his mouth. He saw a man and a woman in school uniform running towards him.

"I'm glad. You are safe."

"Looks like we made it in time"

The men and women in uniform were Deck and Hamria, who were supposed to go with Jin. Nozomu opened his eyes wide because of the two people who shouldn't be there.