chapter 23
23 – Saint vs. Superpower (2)
‘…… What, what is it?’
Beatrice’s eyes were stained with astonishment.
No other emotions were mixed.
Involuntarily, she took two steps back.
It was a reflex action, and in some ways it could have hurt her pride.
‘This power, by the way… ….’
Right now, at this moment, Beatrice had no time to worry about such trivial matters.
Woe!
I just instinctively raised my divine power to prepare.
A golden aura wrapped around Beatrice’s body in the form of a sphere.
The primary barrier has been completed. But Beatrice was not relieved.
It was because I had a vague intuition that there would be no meaning with just this temporary measure.
It was that much power, and it was a sense of pressure.
Cold sweat ran down Beatrice’s cheeks. It was evidence that she was clearly nervous.
Raise your head.
The expression on his face was hardened, but he had to confirm it.
Beatrice stared straight ahead at her, frowning her beautiful arms.
The moment the flash of white light flashed, Dante’s momentum flipped 180 degrees in an instant.
Unable to ignore pressure and dignity erupted from the boy’s whole body, which had not felt any power.
Beatrice forgot her current situation for a moment and lost herself in her thoughts.
What is that?
What kind of power is that?
‘Mana?’
No. That wasn’t mana.
As ever, no sign of mana could be felt in Dante’s body.
Beatrice had no choice but to fall into even deeper confusion.
If it’s not mana, unless that’s a power made of mana.
…… If so, what is the source of that power after all?
Just looking at her makes her shoulders tremble.
Her fingertips went numb even though she didn’t mean to.
It felt like the blood was draining away.
Awesome!
It was then that Beatrice awakened her spirit by forcibly biting her lip.
‘…… This isn’t the time to stand around like an idiot. Wake!’
After whipping her hand to once again invoke divine power, she took full control of her heart.
I won’t deny that she was a bit taken aback by the sudden change of pace, but she didn’t mean to be discouraged.
Beatrice’s eyes became clear again.
‘That’s what I was guessing from the beginning. There’s no reason to be nervous again.’
It’s true that I doubted the opponent’s actual skills for a while. It was because there was a strangely suspicious corner, and if you look closely, it must be a reasonable doubt.
But now that things have developed this way, there is really no reason to look down on Dante…….
‘…… Good.’
Beatrice made a promise.
From now on, I won’t let my guard down, and I will fight seriously.
As if trying to disguise her composure, she gently raised the corners of her mouth.
“So, you mean there was a trick you were hiding? It definitely exceeded my expectations, but there’s nothing I can’t fight about.”
“… ….”
Dante did not respond.
He was just silent, so it was up to Beatrice to continue the conversation.
“If you want to be sincere, that is what I wanted. I will also fight with all my might—”
And.
That was the moment.
Quarrr!!!
Thunder broke out. Before Beatrice could finish speaking.
Fit-!
A line of lightning passes by.
It was none other than Beatrice’s one cheek.
Beatrice blinked momentarily.
“…… To?”
Her absent-minded voice that escaped from her lips contained the emotions she must be feeling.
That was basically embarrassing.
At the same time, there was distrust. A momentary thought gap created by not being able to accept the situation.
Beatrice’s body stiffened like a stone statue in an instant.
…… She didn’t see it, she didn’t feel it.
That’s why it’s the rising fear.
It wasn’t grandiose enough to be called fear of the unknown, but the confusion that Beatrice felt in that moment was sure to be comparable to that.
With a creaking movement like a rusty machine, Beatrice turned her head.
The thunderbolt that had just passed her cheek just before had disappeared without a trace.
However, even so, Beatrice could not regain her rigid body.
Because instead of that white thunderbolt, there was another sight that came into view.
It was because I saw a trace that I couldn’t dare to ignore, which must have been created by that white thunderbolt.
“Uh, uh uh… ….”
Beatrice is broken.
To be precise, she let out a broken voice.
Her gold inside was still pointing behind her.
What comes into her field of vision is a corner of the forest that was densely filled with old trees just a moment ago.
“… ….”
In other words, it was in the past tense.
Beatrice’s pupils began to vibrate as if an earthquake had struck.
There are no trees.
No, there was, but it’s gone.
Not that big of a range.
However, everything in a straight line presumed to have passed through the thunderbolt has definitely been lost.
It erased part of the forest with just one attack.
“…… Huh?”
Recognizing that fact, Beatrice felt her strength loosen in her legs.
Puff!
She slumped in her seat halfway unintentionally, and she blinked her eyes dazedly.
‘What is it?’
It is difficult to accept. It was such an unreal sight.
Her head refuses to understand, and she tries to deny it.
Funny, intuition has been telling me the opposite.
This is not a lie.
It’s not a fantasy, it’s reality as it really is.
“Ha ha ha.”
In the end, Beatrice’s lips were squeezed, and her weak voice leaked out as if she had lost her sense of humor.
Her eyes were still on the scene behind her.
Gulp-
Beatrice’s eyes were filled with tension.
She forgot that she was in the middle of team training and that the enemy team, Dante, was right behind her.
I was just trying to understand the current situation somehow, using my calmer state.
‘…… The trees have been completely erased.’
To unleash a powerful attack.
Strictly speaking, that wasn’t impossible even with Beatrice’s power.
Even if she is at the level of changing her terrain like she is now, there is nothing she cannot achieve if she is determined and uses her strength.
So the current Beatrice was in shock for another reason after all.
She instinctively realized.
That attack just now wasn’t something that could have ended simply by sweeping through a few trees.
There’s no way it’s powerful enough to put an end to that range.
‘At least’ wasn’t just about that level of output, that was.
Beatrice swallowed her dry saliva.
‘I compressed it on purpose… ….’
I intentionally gathered all my strength at one point.
To avoid further damage.
Beatrice couldn’t help but be astonished.
What if the thunderbolt from a moment ago had been released as it is without going through a separate compression process?
I didn’t even want to think about it.
With only negative assumptions on her mind, Beatrice struggled to change the direction of her thoughts, even as her complexion was darkened.
‘…… Did I almost die?’
Of course, just because it was an immediate thought didn’t mean it wasn’t particularly negative.
Beatrice unknowingly made her body tremble. Everyone would do that if she had a near-death moment.
Turning her head at that point, she looked at her Dante once more.
Unconsciously, he examines the other person’s expression.
…… It seemed calm, or it seemed like he simply didn’t think much of it.
Looking at the frown for a moment, could it be that something wasn’t right?
I didn’t know. She
She prided herself on being adept at examining her opponent’s emotions, but she didn’t seem to be able to read Dante’s mind at all.
It could be because she’s flustered right now, or because Dante’s facial expression changes are strangely less than before.
That was the moment.
Jerbug.
Dante took her step forward.
As if it was a reaction to her ability, she let go of the handle of the iron sword that was shattered before she knew it.
Nothing to say.
He was obviously moving towards Beatrice.
‘…… Why why?’
Beatrice was suddenly frightened.
That’s why, in an instant, unexplained anxiety rose up.
‘What’s wrong with your expression? What does it mean?’
The boy she knew, named Dante, was not a person with such an emotionless expression.
For a short period of time, that was what she felt.
The atmosphere suddenly changed after he showed his strength, so it was only natural that he wasn’t happy with the approach in this situation.
With Beatrice still slumped, she slipped back.
“Now, wait… ….”
“… ….”
“Oh, don’t come. Go away.”
Speaking of overreaction, it certainly was.
Should I say that it feels like a herbivore with a beast in front?
It’s during training at the academy. No matter how unlikely it was, Beatrice shrugged Dante’s shoulders as if she believed that he would harm her right away.
To put it bluntly, I was scared.
“…… Hey!”
Of course, it wasn’t that there weren’t reasons to understand that reaction.
The bloody power of the thunderbolt that rips through the forest.
The opponent’s momentum suddenly changed.
The cold air around you…….
It must have been that several factors overlapped and overlapped, ultimately giving her unnecessary anxiety.
Still, well, luck out of misfortune.
“… ….”
It must be that Dante’s purpose in approaching her Beatrice was not to harm her after all.
If it’s natural, it’s natural.
Thump!
“Wow!”
Dante lowered her posture abruptly, and Beatrice closed her eyes for a moment.
“…… ?”
Then, when she didn’t feel the pain she expected, she opened her eyes once again.
“…… !”
Beatrice flinched once at the sight of her immediately entering her field of vision.
It was inevitable.
“Mu, mu, what.”
Dante, who thought he would do something unreasonable (?) For the sake of her, was on her knees.
Because Dante, who was kneeling like that, rested his forehead on none other than Beatrice’s shoulder.
No, no.
She wasn’t just resting her forehead on her shoulder, it was good to say that she was giving her whole body to her.
Wheezing weakly with one hand on the ground and the other on Beatrice’s thigh.
Pook-
Dante buried his head in Beatrice’s chest.
“…… ?!!”
Beatrice let out a silent scream.
I couldn’t understand what had just happened, but at least I could see that Dante had slammed her face into my chest out of nowhere.
Her face turned red in an instant. It wouldn’t be strange even if I fainted right away.
“Rain…… !”
In the next instant, Beatrice pushed Dante away from her.
What are you doing all of a sudden, do you want to die?
Shouting like that, she tried to push Dante away.
Woe!
“!”
She said that if she hadn’t felt the unexpected pain in her palm, she would have.
Look down.
What I look at is her palm, and then Dante’s skin that the palm touched.
“… ….”
Beatrice’s expression, which had been frozen in a daze for a moment, suddenly changed to serious.