Young Writers Society

Yuki realized she wasn’t dealing with an ordinary opponent after her first exchange with Ulura Nightsong in Sunbird’s inner yard.

She was clearly a very experienced fighter and more than that, she had an unusually strong deva. Hikaru had explained to the baby doll that the chips implanted in their bodies limited a deviant’s deva output to 15%, but within Sunbird’s grounds that output was increased to 50% for the students and to 30% for the teachers.

The school’s newest student got the feeling her opponent could use more than half of her powers however, because of the scope of her attacks so far. If she was indeed cheating somehow, things were going to be even harder, but the amnesiac was not about to back down after her opponent had tried to hurt Hikaru and Seiren.

It was clear the tyrant could get through Yuki’s defense with relative ease, so what she needed to focus on was offense. The type of offense the enemy would not see coming. That’s why when faced with Ulura’s roar-like barrage, the white-haired beauty feigned defense with a number of ice walls while hiding herself amid a number of waves of ice spikes that were meant to be destroyed. Upon the destruction of the spikes by the wide laser beams created by the Queen of Sunbird , Miss Iceflame came out of the spike she had hid herself in, now at point-blank range from Miss Nightsong.

Finally an opening for an attack had presented itself to Yuki.

She wasted no time in seizing it by smashing her fist in the face of the black-haired villainess, channeling freezing waves through her body as she sent her straight to the pair of oak trees in the center of the inner yard grass area.

Only her classmates had been cheering for her up to that point but now other students started supporting her with their loud shouts as well. The baby doll was overwhelmed by the attention focused on her and was not sure how to respond to it, needing a few moments to take her thoughts away from the battle to do so.

Ulura didn’t give her such time as many green laser beams cut parts of the oak trees, changing their trajectory toward the one who had probably become the most famous person in Sunbird at the moment.

‘-She’s probably going to try the same trick on me and sneak in one of the lasers of that attack.’ Yuki thought.

Unfortunately she was wrong.

Ulura had actually dug her way underground after being smashed in the trees and while the baby doll dodged all the lasers aimed at her, she came out underneath her with the widest green laser beam used so far.

Yuki tried to jump beyond the range of the beam and protect herself with layers of ice armor, but even that was not enough. A number of lasers contained within the main one ripped apart her armor and dug into her flesh, feeling as if a thousand needles pierced her at once. The sheer force of the attack also pushed her away, so as the world turned upside down in her eyes, the amnesiac felt a dull hit on the back of her head, meaning she was crushed back in the ground.

Beyond the smoke that had risen from the inner yard’s surface Sunbird’s newest student could see that the beam, which was the reason for that smoke rising, had shot out all the way to the sky before disappearing. Although she hadn’t seen a great many deviant attacks, that was undoubtedly the biggest and most powerful one she had ever witnessed. The lady of lasers gave no pause for further thought yet again however, coming out of the smoke and swinging with her arms, the fingers of which were wrapped in her deva to form long, thin and very sharp nails there.

These nails seemed to Miss Iceflame like the type of thing she’d best avoid, so she twisted her body in ways she didn’t know she was capable of to dodge her opponent’s first strike. Yuki’s suspicions about the deadliness of the attack were confirmed when she saw the holes with cracks around them that were left in the ground where the villainess’ nails pierced. The combatants’ eyes found the other’s face after that exchange, Ulura revealing a grin that took up the whole lower half of her face.

(Ulura) ‘-You don’t really think you dodged that, do you?’

The baby doll’s confusion turned to shock as five thin laser beams shot out from the air next to where the black-haired warrior had swung her arm, the quickly formed partial ice armor on Yuki’s body managing to minimize the damage from that.

‘-I’m starting to get used to her speed, but with attacks like this that won’t be enough. Those nails … they’re not just for close-range fighting. Each swing creates the same number of lasers as the number of fingers used for that attack.’ the girl with white hair contemplated as she jumped back to create some distance between her and Ulura.

(Ulura) ‘-You ought to have figured out that creating more distance between us won’t save you. Or are you trying to think of a strategy to counter me? A miracle like the one from earlier won’t happen again.’

If Yuki had any advantage, it was the fact her enemy was still underestimating her. That meant victory was still achievable and the thought of that brought a confident smirk to her face once again.

(Yuki) ‘-That’s a very pessimistic view. You don’t believe in miracles?’

Ulura swung with her left arm.

(Ulura) ‘-I only believe in myself!!’

(Hikaru) ‘-Which is why you’re going to lose!!!’

(Seiren) ‘-GET HER, YUKI!!!!’

There was nothing like support from her friends to motivate the amnesiac to turn the tables on her adversary. Miss Iceflame dodged the beams formed by the left arm swing, Ulura having used one of those beams as a teleportation medium, coming out right next to her opponent. She prepared to strike again, but stopped mid-swing because of the many big ice spikes that came out of the right half of Yuki’s body.

After having seen what those nails were capable of long-range, there was no way the girl with white hair was going to let them get near her again.

Tens of green lasers cut the spikes before they could wound Miss Nightsong, but she was definitely surprised by that move and that’s all the new student needed.

She slammed her foot against the ground, causing ice blades to come out under the high school tyrant’s feet, that tyrant swinging a number of times with her arms to cut the coming waves of blades. While she did that, Yuki jumped and landed behind Ulura, simultaneously dodging the next batch of lasers aimed at her and causing a number of long ice spikes to come out of the left half of her body.

Another attack that connected successfully, cutting the Queen of Sunbird’s uniform in several places and leaving scratches on her kin before the spikes were cut by a couple of lasers. Although that was what the baby doll was hoping would happen, this development still surprised her.

Seeing the atmosphere in the inner yard when the fight started and all the support Ulura received along with the fear she seemed to strike in the hearts of many, Yuki was but certain she would be defeated. That conviction was confirmed by every attack she took that was more destructive than the previous one. And yet, she was still on her feet. Wounded on several occasions and with a body left bleeding and wrecked by pain, but still on her feet. What’s more, she had not lost control of the flow of the battle.

While thinking about this, the ice maiden felt something burning inside her. It burned ever so strongly with each second that passed after its discovery. It wasn’t a sudden spike in the level of pain she experienced, though.

No. This was stronger. If made her feel on edge more than ever. As she looked around, every detail of the environment felt so vibrant, it was almost overwhelming for her eyes. And yet this vibrancy seemed to fuel her.

Yuki had no words to describe this feeling. So she thought of something Hikaru had described he felt sometimes. It was probably the closest to what she felt right now.

THE JOY OF BATTLE.

(Yuki) ‘-I guess I got you again.’

(Ulura) ‘-Having my uniform damaged is a small price to pay to watch you writhe in pain!!’

More and more laser beams and bullets formed around the baby doll while she used the cut spikes to create many more, but smaller ones, pressing on her attack against Miss Nightsong while she unleashed her beam-bullet barrage with an angry roar.

The speed the ice spikes formed with led to more damage for Ulura’s uniform, eventually causing her to lose that uniform completely while receiving a couple of deeper cuts this time. She was now left in her underwear much like Yuki, causing a new wave of happy and lustful roars from many of the boys in the crowd around the combatants, but such a thing was of no concern to the girl with white hair.

She had taken some of the beams and bullets from the high school tyrant’s last attack head-on, whole parts of her body being covered in blood now and having taken considerable damage, the pain from her wounds having reached an almost numbing level.

And she reveled in every ounce of that pain, this just adding to the surreal experience the whole battle had become.

Ulura and the crowd around her looked amazed, Yuki realizing the smile on her face had actually become wider now. Maybe wider than it had ever been.

(Ulura) ‘-You … just how much damage can you take?!’

(Yuki) ‘-What’s the matter? Are you doubting your abilities because you still haven’t managed to take me down?’

The black-haired beauty was clearly enraged by that taunt, swinging with her arm again, but this time using only her index and middle finger, to Yuki’s surprise that move not leading to the formation of only two laser beams.

Instead a single very thick beam formed, moving at a much higher speed than the earlier attacks that had come from the villainess’ nails.

The baby doll was cut by it in spite of her attempt to dodge, receiving the deepest wound she had suffered yet between the neck and the left shoulder. It almost felt like her whole left arm had been separated from her body and those two things no longer existed in the same plane. Thankfully, the risk of her losing consciousness because of the new wave of pain that passed through her body was neutralized as her excitement from the battle took over again.

(Ulura) ‘-You thought the number of beams formed by my nail attacks is the same as the number of fingers I use for them, didn’t you? And that I was using all five fingers to finish you off faster? (Ulura paused with a confident grin before continuing) Wrong. As long as I use less than all five fingers of my hand, a single beam forms, but it’s thicker and faster than the five formed during the normal version of the attack.

And the less fingers I use, the thicker the beam and the higher its speed. Of course … (Yuki heard the sound of something cracking and turned around, realizing the beam formed by that last two-finger attack had reached a part of the main school building, carving a vertical cut long at least 10 meters in its structure) … the trade-off is I can’t control the attacks with less than five fingers that well, so I don’t rely on them too much. That’s fine in this case, though. I’d gladly destroy this school to hear you scream of pain.’

Hearing those words snatched Yuki away from what had felt like a dream state for a while now, another feeling seizing her.

Anger. Anger at this monster, blinded by its ego. An ego that now threatened to destroy a whole school and whoever was still in it.

(Yuki) ‘-This is beyond insane! There’s no point in going that far!!’

Ulura’s grin became even wider and now had an aura of mockery about it.

(Ulura) ‘-Suddenly you’re the one backing out? Are you scared you won’t be able to stand anymore after taking more attacks like that one?’

(Yuki) ‘-No! I don’t want to involve the school!! The building and the people inside have nothing to do with this fight!!’

More green laser beams than ever started swirling around Miss Nightsong, whose face was now twisted by anger to a disturbing extent.

(Ulura) ‘-Whatever must be done to ensure the suffering of my enemies, I’ll do it!! That’s how strong Nightsong’s determination is!!!’

(Yuki (in her mind) ‘-Talking to her won’t solve anything. I have to stop her. Right now. No matter what, that attack mustn’t reach the school. I need to be faster than it. But even with my increased speed, I won’t make it in time.’

When the amnesiac found herself at the end of her rope, she thought of Hikaru again. His teleportation was the fastest thing she had seen.

If she could teleport as fast as him, faster even, it could work. It was the only way to stop the queen’s rampage.

The baby doll focused her whole being on achieving the maximal possible teleportation speed, although she hadn’t teleported even once up to that point, while her opponent now only used her index finger for attacking

First she swung vertically with her right arm and then horizontally with her left, the very wide beams formed from those swings uniting in a cross-like structure upon contact.

(Ulura) ‘-NIGHTSONG’S CRUCIFIX OF PAIN!!!!’

Yuki’s body burst into ice shards, all of which vanished into thin air, darkness being all that her eyes could see now.

Until a second later when she saw Ulura’s back amid a burst of more ice shards. Although unbelievably happy by her first successful teleportation, Yuki couldn’t let herself be consumed by this feeling yet. Not before she had secured the safety of her school.

She sent Ulura to the Crucifix of Pain with a double kick just before it reached the main school building, the students in the way of the attack having already moved aside in panic. The attack’s volume was so great that even though it was from her own deva, Nightsong had to weaken the laser beams, falling on the ground after that, Yuki having got back up after the double kick in the mean time.

If there was ever a moment to not hold back, it was now. Visualizing her objective, Miss Iceflame teleported in front of the destroyer, crushing a fist covered in ice needles in her stomach. As she planned to finish it all with this attack, she thought it apt to name the move, taking example from her opponent.

(Yuki) ‘-EVERFROST NEEDLE-BARRAGE FIST!!!!’

A number of needles from her deva came out of the ice maiden’s fist, piercing and cutting the tyrant as she was thrown a couple of meters away by Yuki’s superstrength, leaving a trail in the grass as she was rolled aside.

The girl with white hair then observed the black-haired calamity in the silence that had fallen over the whole inner yard, seeing how the bloodied Ulura made a brief attempt to rise again only to fall hard on the ground.

The school was safe. And its newest student had claimed her victory.