Yukino Yukinoshita and the others were completely unable to stop Ren Isana's onslaught. Once he had finished off the others, his gaze shifted toward their remaining group.
"Tch, this is ridiculous! Lefiya, give us buffs! Everyone else, scatter and use magic attacks!" Yukino shouted urgently, prompting the group to immediately fan out.
Hearing Yukino's command, Lefiya hurriedly prepared to cast her [Support Magic] to empower her allies.
Ren Isana saw this and moved decisively. He charged straight toward Lefiya. *Trying to use [Support Magic]? Don't make me laugh.* Since she had announced her intent out loud, Ren was never going to give her the chance.
*If you hadn't said anything, it might have been different, but now? Sorry, Lefiya, you're out.* Ren lunged at Lefiya, an action that Ais noticed instantly.
Ais's expression shifted drastically, but it was already too late for her to reinforce her comrade. She only heard Ren whisper the words [Higan Sonsou・Other Shore Burial] before a massive wave of sword energy swallowed Lefiya whole.
Lefiya, who was still in the middle of preparing her buffs, vanished instantly. This left Ais feeling utterly hopeless. How were they supposed to fight this? Whenever Ren Isana moved, he simply deleted someone from the field.
The remaining group members unleashed their spells, launching a desperate, frantic barrage at Ren. Yukino's [Ice Magic], Ais's [Wind Magic], and various other elemental spells and [Piercing Magic Bullet] attacks rained down on his position.
No one held back anymore. They were all squeezing every drop of their [Magic Power] to see if they could even scratch Ren.
A torrent of attacks slammed into where Ren had been standing, but in the next heartbeat, his silhouette vanished completely. Their attacks hit nothing but air. Realizing this, everyone pushed their [Perception Magic] to its absolute limit.
"Sayaka!" Yukino screamed as she spotted Ren appearing directly behind Sayaka Kirasaka.
Sayaka Kirasaka sensed him as well, but it was too late to react. The sharp blade in Ren's hand pierced through her waist without a shred of mercy.
As the blade entered her body, a terrifying force detonated within her, causing Sayaka Kirasaka to instantly dissolve into light and vanish.
Having finished that, Ren disappeared again. He was like a cold-blooded assassin, taking down one little friend after another. No matter how they resisted, their efforts were futile in the face of Ren's absolute strength.
Following Sayaka Kirasaka, Shikimori was the next victim. Ren rushed forward and took her head in a single clean sweep. With her disappearance, only Yukino Yukinoshita and Ais remained on the field.
*Dammit, are we really this powerless?!* Yukino's heart sank as she watched her teammates get picked off one by one. She felt a surge of frustration and intense tension, knowing that, without a doubt, she would be next.
Yukino and Ais stood back-to-back, staring at Ren with extreme caution. Their [Perception Magic] was wide open, ready to respond to Ren's next move at any moment.
"He really is strong!" Ais said, tightening her grip on her weapon. Having been killed by Ren once already, she was on high alert, yet the pressure he exerted was still overwhelming.
Yukino nodded, her eyes fixed on Ren. "That eerie speed... it reminds me of that special boss we encountered in the [Dungeon]."
And it was true. Back then, Ren Isana had soloed that special monster. Now, Ren looked exactly like that creature—possessing a bizarre speed and attack power that was simply impossible to track.
"You're absolutely right, Yukino-chan. This is exactly what I learned from that thing.", Ren's voice drifted into her ear as his figure appeared in front of her like a glitch in reality.
The moment Ren appeared, Yukino and Ais's alertness spiked to the maximum. However, Ren still found his opening. His sword thrust forward, ruthlessly piercing through Yukino's heart.
"This tiny bit of frontal armor didn't offer any resistance at all." Before her consciousness disconnected, Yukino suddenly heard Ren whisper those words, leaving her mind filled with question marks.
*What the hell do you mean 'tiny bit of frontal armor'? What is this bastard saying?* At the moment of her dissipation, Yukino's face turned beet red with rage. *Ren Isana, you absolute jerk!*
How could Yukino Yukinoshita not know what he was implying? But that was exactly why she was so angry. *Who the hell uses that as a description for 'armor'?!*
Ren didn't give the disappearing Yukino another thought. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Ais. Now, only the two of them were left, and Ais had already experienced death by his hand once today.
She was more cautious than ever. Without hesitation, Ais took the initiative and charged. The two clashed again, but Ren used even more agile and rapid movements to press his assault.
He seemed to flash into existence with every strike, attacking from angles Ais never expected. She couldn't react in time and was forced into a purely defensive struggle.
Off-field, Sora watched Ren's movements with eyes shining like stars. This was exactly the kind of combatant she dreamed of becoming. Since her talent was speed-related, she felt she could achieve this too.
She loved Ren's style of attacking. Sora said excitedly, "It's decided! No matter what it takes, I'm going to make the class rep teach me this fighting style!"
Sora's voice was full of agitation and excitement. Her nearby classmates could only look at her with wry smiles. She wasn't the only one who wanted to learn; everyone else felt the same way.
On the other side, Yor Forger and Shizuka Hiratsuka were also watching Ren with rapt attention. Yor's eyes were locked onto Ren's movements, a hint of curiosity flickering in her gaze. *Can that kind of power-exertion technique really produce such incredible speed? There must be something else to it.*
As an assassin herself, Yor was a master of explosive power and speed. She could see through Ren's physical techniques instantly, but after running a mental simulation, she realized that those techniques alone shouldn't reach that level of velocity.
*It's more like an innate talent... or perhaps there's a secret ingredient I don't understand.* Yor didn't dwell on it too much, as she had no intention of prying into other people's secrets.
Meanwhile, Shizuka Hiratsuka was wondering if she should ask Ren to teach her as well. After all, she had already learned his [Geppo・Moonwalk] and [Rankyaku・Tempest Kick], so adding a few more techniques wouldn't hurt.
*Clang!* While they were lost in thought, Ren and Ais's blades collided again. Ais held her sword with both hands, yet Ren was only using his left. The sheer force transmitted through the clash left Ais shaken.
*He can generate this much power with just one hand? And it's his left hand!* Ais was stunned, but in the next moment, she felt a sense of extreme danger wash over her.
By reflex, she leaned her body backward. Ren's right hand hadn't been idle; at some point, he had condensed an [Ice Spikes] and thrust it directly at her.
If she hadn't reacted so quickly, that ice blade would have pierced her temple. Taking advantage of her backward lean, she quickly retreated, trying to put distance between herself and Ren.
However, Ren's blade followed her instantly. He unleashed a massive [Iai Slash]. The strike exploded forward with such suddenness and speed that she had no hope of dodging.
Ren's attacks were always so catch-off-guard, lacking any 'telegraphing' or wind-up. The attack was simply *there*, right in her face!!
Ais was consumed by the slash and dissipated on the spot. After all, when Ren went all out, defeating Ais was simply too easy. Ren now had a very clear understanding of his own strength.
In a fight against Shizuka Hiratsuka, he could now probably pin her to the ground and beat her. This was undoubtedly a joyous occasion. After Yukino, another 'power level gauge' had been added to his list!
With Ais dealt with, Ren's battle came to an end. Seeing this, the other students swarmed back onto the field. Sora ran straight to Ren and blurted out, "Class rep, don't make me beg you! Teach me!"
Hearing this, Ren slowly tilted his head, practically projecting a question mark. "Teach you what? Haven't I taught you everything I know already?"
*What is this girl talking about?* Anything he knew that was teachable, he had already shown her. What was she eyeing now?
"The 'whoosh' thing! That technique where you explode forward and suddenly appear in front of the opponent! Teach me, please! I want to improve so badly!!" Sora hurriedly explained what she wanted to learn.
She wanted that move that looked like [Spatial Teleportation]. Combined with her speed talent, she couldn't even imagine how powerful she would become. As she spoke, the rest of the class turned their eyes toward them as well.
Shizuka Hiratsuka and Yor Forger approached as well. Both were looking at Ren, curious about how he achieved that technique—especially Yor, who was still wondering about the underlying mechanics.
Ren understood what Sora meant. He had been using pure speed, something he had observed and copied from the [Juggernaut] using [Jianjigu].
After a moment's thought, Ren came to a decision. "That's [Shunpo・Flash Step]. I learned it from the [Juggernaut]. I suppose I can teach it to you."
It was just an explosive movement technique. Ren knew how to teach it with just a bit of thought. It would actually serve as a good completion for her [Rokushiki]. He already had [Geppo・Moonwalk], [Rankyaku・Tempest Kick], and [Shigan・Finger Pistol]; adding a [Shunpo・Flash Step] was only natural since the implementation was quite simple.
"Oh, thank you! Please teach me!" Hearing that Ren was willing, Sora was so excited she lunged forward and hugged Ren's arm, pleading with him.
However, just as she grabbed his arm, a surge of killing intent locked onto her. Sora felt a sudden shiver run down her spine. Terrified, she quickly looked around for the source, but the killing intent vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
She looked around in confusion. *What happened? Why was there killing intent?* She glanced at Asuna and the others, then brushed it off as a hallucination before continuing to pester Ren.
The source of that killing intent was, of course, Ren's current girlfriend, Asuna. Seeing Sora practically hanging off Ren's arm, Asuna felt an immediate wave of displeasure.
After all, even she rarely acted that spoiled with Ren, yet this girl dared to do it so boldly? It was a bit much. Fortunately, Asuna didn't overthink it; it was just a flash of jealousy, especially since Sora was always like this!