Dust and small debris rained down around the hall on the first floor. All around the school shook and groaned in fear of the fighting from above. It seemed almost a fone clusion that the ehing would colpse. Yet somehow it mao hold itself together. How long it sted seemed to be the question.

  Colpse or not, it was the least of the s for either of them. In a silent standoff, they gave ion to the destru around them. Both just stared watg each other for a move. When it became clear that Haruo inteo front Fumiko, she dropped any i in the rest of the group.

  Threads of magic dragged through the air leading to the magic circles. They stood primed, but u still. “You pnning to fight me? I thought you were a pacifist.”

  ‘So they still maintain their sense of self. Is this really mind trol? What would be the point of taking trol of someone, but allowing them to keep their identity?’ Haruo agreed that the theory Yuki had ossibility, but he didn’t rule out other optio. There were still a lot of unknowns and variables that didn’t fit well into the theory. He didn’t question it when they brought it up. The clear signs of hope that it granted wasn’t something that could be ignored. Hiroshi needed something to get people to fight again. Even if it was a false hope, it was still something to fight on. That much he uood well enough.

  It still didn’t stop him from thinking through the theory. ‘The truth of it is that I haven’t really seen many of those part of Takako’s side in this flibsp; The assault oheir base has been my only real introdu. I knew something was wrong after I returned, just didn’t expeething like this.’ What amouo his home had been abandoned by nearly everything. He couldn’t even sehe small source of life in the area. The animals instinctually seemed to know it wasn’t safe. All the humans had likely been dragged off by Takako’s army or killed, as he ter put together. Any that escaped that fate were probably in Hiroshi’s group, not that he saw any familiar faces.

  Fumiko had been his only real piece of data to work with givehing happening. Unfortunately, his first enter with her turned out to prove less than fruitful. All the destru, he had to protect those uo fight rather than front her. ‘Now I find out if Yuki is right, even though I don’t know why he feels so certain about it. There’s barely any evideo support the theory at the moment. He has eveime with these people to uand the situatio he is already vinced. I must know why. I must know what is going on.’

  “Stig to your usual silent, stoiature, huh? My magic might be able to do something about that.” The magic circles no longer held passive. Fmes quickly gathered at the ter of each of the circles. “Yoing tret thinking you take me on.”

  Chapter 322 – Misjudged Fme

  Watg the fire build before it was released, Haruo gained a good amount of information on Fumiko. He had never actually seen her use her powers before, in person anyway, barring their st fight which he wasn’t too focused on. They spent enough time together that he already knew roughly what she was capable of. Their brief fight gave him his only taste and it wasn’t a time he gave his full analytical attention to solving.

  This time was different though. He already khat he had to fight Fumiko. Like she said, his preference made him on outward appearance look like a pacifist, though it wasn’t a pletely accurate picture. He would still fight like now.

  A fight on his hands meant he o give it his full attention rather than just proteg or keeping damage down. Such a ge in outlook, meant that he dodged the fmes shot at him with great ease. ‘The attacks have a two sed dey before even being thrown. With people like us, that is a very disadvantageous dey.’ When he moved to his position, he already noticed that she had more ining from a different source, her hand. ‘Meaning, she’ll o anticipate my movement and have terattacks set up.’

  Haruo was qui his feet despite his size. He certainly didn’t have the speed of the others due to his size, but he was still not as slow as it might have appeared. It helped a lot that he could see what Fumiko was doing and pnning. Suformation made it very easy to stay oep ahead. Unfortunately, that was about all she afforded him.

  ‘She’s much more thoughtful in bat and tactics than I would have thought. As far as I know from overhearing versations, she was the President of the Literature Club. Unless she read military books, which Yuki said her i was fantasy, it seems unlikely she gained her uanding from reading. Which only mean that it was all gained from her experiences sineeding to fight. That was all in Atntis though, she only had a few fights. It seems strange for her to have already grown that aced to bat.’

  tinuing to dodge, Haruo kept abs everything he could learn about Fumiko’s methods. She was making it easy on him to figure her out. Despite the apparent talent, she was very straightforward about it all. He had yet to see her try to hide or disguise anything. ‘Finding a way to end this is going to take more time though… The power in her magic is strohan my animals. I ’t waste my energy…’

  Suddenly, when he was in mid dodge, a red light grew brightly from his right side. It came from a dire that Fumiko didn’t stand or even her circles. But he immediately knew what it was. Fmes burst through the wall of one of the s.

  Haruo barely ducked out of it without losing his head. He still felt the heat from the fmes pass over. Uhe others, this had been a stream rather than a burst like a ball. ‘She has even more types she do, but how did she set up a trap from ihe ?’ He had to dodge several more traps that came from even more ued ers.

  Once he came to a rest with the traps exhausted, Haruo gnced back towards Fumiko. ‘So she was just lullio a false impression… Very dangerous…’ His hand patting down an ember that he realized got caught up iacks. He barely came out of that trap.

  “Looks like you’re actually starting to look serious about this finally.” Fumiko reached behind her arieved her staff. The shaft popped out aeo a full length of two meters. “You’ve been uimating me, Haruo. Uhe rest of you, I didn’t waste my time once we found pea Atntis. I kept w to improve the power I was given.”

  A curious statement to be sure for Haruo. “You foresaw trouble ba Japan?” He rose to his feet as the break in the fighting allowed him some recovery.

  “So the wall talks? And yes. Given what happened, it was iable that there would be more happening once we got home. You’d have to be a na?ve idiot to think nothing would happen.”

  “True. I predicted some sort of response would occur. Though this all exceeds my estimates.”

  “Yes, Takako’s touch couldn’t be pnned for. But thanks to her, I’ve been able to test out what I’ve mao hone.”

  “You wish to be part of this?”

  “That’s right! I’ve been given the freedom to do as I please. I’ve been liberated. It’s quite refreshing.”

  ‘This is certainly troubling. Mind trol seems less likely, more like brainwashing. I don’t believe the Fumiko Terauchi we know is the same as the one before me. There is definitely something at work, but I’m guessing the only solution at this point is Takako now. All I do is end this fight ao Takako.’ He started to find his resolve for the fight.

  Fumiko smiled looking pleased. “That’s the sort of look I want to see. Ever since fighting the Titans, I haven’t had any challenges. I want to see what the silent wall has to offer.”

  ‘She definitely doesn’t seem to be ag like I know. However, I succeed?’ He didn’t have much time to think too hard about his question as Fumiko resumed her attacks. Now that she introduced her test ability, the dislocated fmes, she had plete trol of the field. Dodging and evading was all he could do just to keep from being seared by the fmes.

  He hadn’t even the mon his pets with the way she kept the assault up. So Haruo made the decision to ram through one of the walls of the . He hoped to free himself up for a moment and also learn a little of how Fumiko mao make attacks without being near, which seemed to go against what he had seen so far from her.

  However, that move was a mistake. He discovered something he didn’t expect to find in his school. Several students he recalled in passing pletely id out dead. All of their ans id spread out around them, some even still attached. He had never seen such a violent murder before. “What is this…” Not even he could hold his silence.

  “Everyone ha differently. The freedom Takako grants.”

  Haruo turned about to see Fumiko standing in the doorway. “I’m starting to question your idea of freedom.”

  “They seo it, if that’s what’s b you.”

  “It doesn’t work that way.”

  “It does here.”

  Haruo thought he had a good read of Fumiko before, but the lohey talked the more it became clear he knew nothing. It wasn’t even about not knowing the person in front of him. This went beyond that. He was quite certain she wasn’t even close to herself anymore. She seemed like a pletely different person. ‘Is this what insanity looks like? I’m really starting to be in favor of the brainwashing. Nothing else really makes any sense anymore. Not the way she is ag.’

  The smile on Fumiko’s face grew rger until it threateo split her head. She began stalking forward, tappiaff against the wood fl. “Are you the selfish type? Someohat just takes and is unwilling to give a little of yourself?”

  ‘There’s not going to be any point in talking to her. I just o focus on stopping her now.’ Fortunately, thanks to Fumiko’s little chat that pulled him away from the horror movie se, he used the time to start preparing for his move.

  A fsh of light flew at Fumiko blinding her just long enough before a fireball destroyed it. The distra was enough to get Haruo back out into the hall. He quickly scattered his pets out before Fumiko could reabsp; ‘This’ll give me the ce I need.’

  Per his expectations, she popped back out into the hall with fmes already ung at him. He dodged it with ease. The remote spells she cast started to go off again like before. However, he could see better now. ‘As my eyes, I see where the spells are ing from. Doesn’t stop them, but I mao stay ahead of her more until I figure out how she is doing the remote casting, something that should not be possible for her.’ It was the only piece that he really knew about her spells. What small versations before Fumiko grew distant from the group revealed that mubsp; They all talked about their powers a little to each other. ‘Fumiko admitted before that she could only create her spells through iions with her hands, a gesture. Has her powers evolved from her training?’

  He hoped his answers would e out soon from the extra eyes that he gained. ‘She’s got a tactical advantage hiditacks in the s, but due to all of the obscured areas. She doesn’t know about all of the animals I’ve released. It’s a lot of extra effort to manage everything I’m seeing through their eyes, but it’s the only way I stay ahead of her.’

  Tappiaff against the wood, Fumiko began moving towards Haruo. With each attack she made, she pushed him further ba the hall. “Is that all you do, Haruo? Yoing to die at this rate.” At that moment, a rge wolf burst through a damaged part of the wall. It pinned Fumiko down to the ground with its mouth cmped down over her arm.

  ‘This should disable most of her attacks. The rest will just be knog her out.’ Haruo began to approach slowly, keeping a for any traps that she might still be using. However, she had gone silent after the wolf jumped in.

  A small bit of ughter came out from behind the wolf. Fumiko seemed to find something funny. It made Haruo pause to see what her pn was now.

  “You seem to be w under a false impression of me.”

  Suddenly fmes erupted from all side of the hallway pletely surrounding Haruo. He had s. ‘She set up arap… She phis as well?’ Everything engulfed him, trapping in him a giant sphere of fmes.

  The wolf disappeared from atop her leaving behind only a small piece of rumble from the school. Fumiko picked herself back up ign the blood that dripped down her arm. “I no longer require my arm to cast my spells. I’ve advanced beyond such simple means. You were very disappointing Haruo. I expected more from you.”