Black Iron Magician

「Haha! Don’t worry, I’m going to make you reevaluate me about 100 kilometers more!」

Touko puts power into her legs and stands up slowly. She is putting on a strong act, but it seems that she’s forcing herself. No, the current Touko might not even aware of it since she has lost her reason. The only thing that her instincts appeal to is to destroy Nell. It doesn’t matter what happens to her body to achieve that.

「Now, do it again from the start!」

「Kuh!」

「…!」

Chinatsu was blown away to the other side with just a slight push from the locking swords. As for Haruna, she was lifted along with her black staff and was thrown. Probably it was Nell’s intention, the three were evenly separated by a certain distance.

「With this, can you do what you were trying to do again? Don’t hesitate and do it without restraint. But, if you leave too many openings, I might have to fight back again.」

Chinatsu unconsciously swallowed her saliva. It’s not clear if Nell was being generous enough to keep a distance, but it’s not like there’s any meaning. At least the entire training ground is within Nell’s range. If she takes even one step, the blade will reach the neck. It doesn’t matter if there is a distance or not. It’s as if she’s pointing a gun at your forehead and says, ‘I will shoot you if you drop your guard down,’ with a smile that has a hidden meaning.

「… Viobomb.」

「Regen

, Reflect.」

They chant their magic while paying attention so they can react whenever they got attacked at any time.

Chinatsu applies Regen that has automatic recovery and creates a light barrier to block attacks with Reflect, but it’s just a mere consolation when facing Nell. In addition, Heal Glare was applied to the deeply wounded Touko.

「Touko-chan, let’s go.」

「I’ll kill you…!」

Touko doesn’t seem to be in a condition where she can cooperate, but Haruna called out to her. A big poisonous ball of water was created above Haruna’s raised hand. Then, Haruna vigorously jumped into the air and kicked up the water ball while spinning her body.

――――Boom!

The water ball burst and the poisonous liquid scattered. The liquid that broke apart and scattered is like a shotgun. The destination is, of course, Nell, who is waiting with folded arms.

Taking advantage of the flying in bullets, Touko, who has already started running, is hiding behind them closely and looking for an opportunity. She looks like a lion on the hunt, with a piercing glint in her eye as if she will leap out at any moment if given the chance. Her ribs were completely broken, but Chinatsu already healed her. Her vigilance has also been sharpened to the limit. Now she will be able to move in the best condition.

(A poisonous rain, huh… I wonder if I evaporate it with the heat of the flame is childish?)

The quickest way is to hit it with magic, or mow it down with the sword, or maybe charge through it and beat the user, but this is just training. No matter which of the best options she chooses, either Touko or Haruna will end up dying and that must be avoided. As a method of combat, she is reluctant. However, this is for the sake of the precious disciples. Thus, Nell decided to avoid the water bullets with the minimum necessary movement.

「Hm?」

She tried to avoid them, but something came flying from the water bullets. ‘Did Touko can’t endure it anymore and jumped out?’, she catches it while thinking so. If it’s Touko’s fist or kick, she will crush it.

(――Ara, an iron ball.)

What Nell grabbed was Haruna’s iron ball. The surface is wet with poisonous water, so it tingles slightly. Then, something came flying again immediately after. She caught it with one hand, and it was also a tingling iron ball. Then, another one came flying. This time, it was Chinatsu’s light spear. Both her hands are now occupied, so she simply avoids it.

「Oraaa!」

The moment she jumped sideways to avoid the spear, a hungry beast jumped out. Using her Instantaneous Force skill, she drew close to Nell at once. Her raised arm is in a position where she can hit it at any time.

(Fufu. Actually, I was a little interested in Touko’s attack. Fine, I will give you a big treat! I will accept it without resisting!)

Looking at Nell’s expression that’s as if saying she can avoid it if she wants, Touko released the most powerful attack she could make.

(Berserk!)

While stomping on the ground, she released a blow to the flank as if to vent her anger from before. It’s an attack by Berserk that ignores the endurance value on the status and is more powerful than when it destroyed Haru’s arm by touching it slightly. Of course, this also applies to Nell.

「………!」

For the first time, Chinatsu saw her master, Nell, gritted her teeth. Even she didn’t have her usual composure to stay elegant at this moment.

And then, Touko attacks her further. To the face, to the cheek, to the chin. Perhaps she realized that she couldn’t win if she fought normally, she continues to attack to cause a concussion to the brain.

「Daaaaah!」

「You’re getting carried away.」

Before she knew it, there was Nell’s hand with her middle finger curled in front of Touko’s forehead. Bang! And then there was the sound of exploding air, like a leather whip slapping the skin.

「F-Forehead flick…?」

When Chinatsu muttered so, Touko was blown again into the same wall as before. It was just a forehead flick. However, it was Nell’s forehead flick. Maye Toukou’s brain was shaken violently by this, she completely lost her consciousness this time.

「Ouch… It has been a long time since I tasted blood in my mouth. It was since I quarreled with Deris, I guess? Getting carried away for someone with paper armor like me is a problem.」

Nell wiped her mouth that was flowing with deep crimson blood. Maybe her flank is also hurt by the attack, she is holding it lightly with her hand. And then, there’s Haruna behind her. Haruna went behind Nell while Touko was attacking in rapid succession, and she takes advantage of the opening when Nell is frowning to make a surprise attack. Everything is for this time. Haruna jumps silently at Nell from behind and strangles her neck tightly. She’s putting all of her remaining power into this.

Nell seems to be still in pain. Still, she has to deal with Haruna, so she puts one hand beside Haruna’s face.

――――Bang!

「A-A flick to the temple…!?」

Yes, it was another flick. With a roaring sound, Haruna was blown and collided with the wall next to Touko. Her eyes seem to be blank, but she’s still conscious and is staggering to stand up.

「Ara, as expected of Haruna. You avoided half of it just before it hit and you properly controlled your fall. If I had to say, maybe you are relying too much on stranglehold. You’ll end up like Lily if you overdo it, so be careful.」

Perhaps the damage to her head came later, Haruna just fell on her knees. The only ones left in this hell are Nell and Chinatsu, and she has a bad feeling.

Nell lights a flame on her fingertips and presses it against her cut mouth. It was sizzling and seemed to be burned, but when she lifted her finger, the wound was completely disappeared. She pressed her palm down on the flank with the same heat, and it’s now completely healed.

「Chinatsu, why didn’t you attack together with Haruna? In this situation where Toko did more damage than I expected, the winning percentage was less than one percent with Haruna alone, but if you also joined, it might miraculously become one percent.」

「Awawawawa…」

Instructed by Nell, Chinatsu healed the two who were collapsed while trembling. After the two had recovered, there was a five-minute review session, followed by another mock battle. This training, led by Nell, continued late into the night, and on this day alone, the three of them experienced near-death experiences in the double digits.