I was powerless.
I envisioned a future where Rin was spitting blood and her body was growing colder.
This time, I couldn’t stop it again.
Bubbling with anger.
My blood surged to a boil.
The rage burning in my chest was shocking, even to me.
Thud.
I stomped on the frozen ground reflexively.
Switching to flight mode, I activated the booster.
I flew towards Rin, gritting my teeth.
I couldn’t let it be like this.
I had to stop it.
Now that Rin was restrained, there was only one way to prevent that future──
“Deok-Sung?!”
As I soared through the air, Rin called out to me with a bewildered expression.
“Get back!”
With a line worthy of a Light Novel Protagonist, I pushed against Rin’s chest with both hands charged with maximum black magic.
“Ugh?!”
Crack!
The ice holding her ankle shattered.
Rin was pushed back, still looking bewildered.
Her navy blue eyes widened.
“Prioritizing your woman? As a man, you’ve made a commendable yet foolish decision. A pervert from the Far East.”
Woooooooooo!
The magic lying beneath my feet awakened, causing the frozen earth to tremble.
[Indestructible Diamond]
I stacked my abilities.
The black magic of Indestructible Diamond enveloped my body.
Thump, thump.
My heart raced, and the Magic Core and Black Stone heated up like a furnace.
Magic surged through the magic circuits beyond the allowed limit.
“Ugh…”
A groan escaped from my frozen lips.
Stacking Indestructible Diamond.
It might not be enough.
But──
“Then, die! Frozen Blast!”
Kwahwang!
The ground exploded as a blizzard of white ice blades tore through my body.
The ice blades pierced through the dual barriers of magic shield and Indestructible Diamond.
“Deok-Sung…!!”
I heard Rin’s voice from afar.
I could see her tearful expression and her navy blue eyes glistening like a crybaby.
Rin approached me.
“…Don’t come any closer.”
I waved my hand at her.
“But…! You…!”
“Y-You…!”
She takes a step closer to me.
Ugh, damn it, why won’t you listen? I said to stay away!
A tear streams down Rin’s cheek.
Her outstretched hand trembles as it reaches for me.
Looking at her, I finally realized.
The protagonist sacrificing instead of the heroine.
In a web novel, this would be the kind of frustrating scenario that would get over a thousand “drop” comments.
The reason a selfish coward like me stepped forward into such a chaotic situation was simple.
I didn’t want to see them die.
I didn’t want to see the poor souls bleeding like Evangelin because of me.
KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA!
Rin’s figure vanishes behind a storm of icy blades.
“Damn it.”
I’m eating my troubles, involuntarily.
I must be crazy.
Cursing under my breath, I closed my eyes.
*
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG!
A pillar of ice storm shoots up into the sky.
Dark clouds split apart, the ground shakes, and a shockwave smashes through the area.
Shards of ice scatter about, snow and wind whirl everywhere.
A white smoke obscures my vision.
“Kim Deok-Sung…!”
Beatrice, who had been holding him back with magic from behind, cries out his name with tears of blood.
“Deok-Sung…!!”
Rin, saved by him, wails out his name.
Sssssssssss.
The smoke begins to clear.
A dreadful crater is carved into the ground.
And in the middle of it was Kim Deok-Sung.
His skin was exposed, torn apart, covered in countless wounds.
Blood seeps out.
Seeing his blood-stained body, Rin’s eyes tremble.
Thud.
Her knees drop into the snow.
“Aaaaaaaaah…!”
A mix of sobs escapes Rin’s lips.
Drip, drip.
Hot tears wet her cheeks.
She swore she would protect him as his future wife.
But she failed to protect him.
Instead, she ended up being protected by him.
Memories of yesterday flood through Rin’s mind.
Nursing him when he caught a cold, the time he smiled at the kimchi stew she made for him.
Clenching her fist at the recollection, she thought they finally connected.
But now…
She troubled the one she loved.
Rin bites her lip.
Drip, drip.
Blood flows from her lips.
“Shinozaki Rin. He is still… alive. I confirmed his vital signs through the magic.”
Beatrice’s voice whispers in her ear.
“So calm down. Breathe. Calm down and rise. Use the chance he gave you.”
Hearing those words, Rin bites her lip again.
Thump, thump.
Rin’s heart races.
Her face hardens in cold resolve.
“Right. You’re right. Smith.”
“Smith.”
Rin rises from her seat.
She grips the Totsuka no Tsurugi firmly.
Evangeline had given him a chance.
For the sake of saving him.
She must keep fighting.
“It looks like you’re the only one left. So, what will you do now? Samurai of the Shinozaki clan?”
Ivan laughs.
Crack!
The chains that bind him begin to fracture.
“Ugh! Uuaaaah!”
Beatrice, who had been restraining Ivan with her mana, collapses to the ground, shedding bloody tears.
Ivan Antonov, an EX-rank monster. The binding that sealed the Siberian white tiger was about to be undone.
Rin bites her lip.
She can’t win.
It’s hopeless.
After all, I…
Someone as low in womanly power as I…
Someone who was always in second place…
Just then, as Rin falls into despair:
[The Shinozaki Ildoryu is the wind. You must surrender your body to the wind, and harmonize your sword with your body. Only then can you unleash the true power of the Shinozaki Ildoryu.]
Ichiro’s teachings flash through her mind.
Long ago.
The fundamental teachings she had heard repeatedly while learning the Shinozaki Ildoryu.
The teachings she had forgotten resurrect at this moment.
Rin felt it.
The flow of cutting wind enveloping her whole body.
Rin closes her eyes and opens them again.
A flash of light sparks in her indigo eyes.
Now, I can do it.
Rin feels the Totsuka no Tsurugi in her hand merging with herself.
Unification.
Rin finally understands the meaning of the teachings Ichiro spoke of.
“Huh?”
At that moment, Ivan’s eyebrow twitches.
“Uuuuuuaaaaaaaa!”
Rin lets out a battle cry.
Whoooooooosh!
The cutting wind swirls around her blade.
The whirlwind of indigo mana mixed with cutting wind spreads in all directions, centered on her sword.
Zzzt.
Wings made of indigo light sprout from her back.
[Totsuka no Tsurugi]
[True Name Release]
[The Ice Sword that Harmonizes with the Cutting Wind]
Tears stream down Rin’s face as she achieves True Name Release.
She grits her teeth.
“Die, villain.”
The moment Rin whispers coldly,
The whirlwind of cutting wind rages across the deserted island.
*
Da Do Hae.
On a sea scattered with countless deserted islands.
A streak of gray light crosses the surface.
It was Han Seo-Jin.
Flash.
Riding on Han Seo-Jin’s back, at nearly supersonic speed across the water, was a white-haired, red-eyed Gothic Lolita beautiful girl, Seira.
“When will we arrive at the place where the kid is, Han Seo-Jin?”
Seira asks urgently.
Han Seo-Jin calmly replies.
“We’ll be there soon.”
At the moment her words finish,
Seira sees, unlike the other islands they’ve passed, a solitary island that is in perpetual winter.
White snow, uncharacteristic for the current summer season, has settled.
An icy island that doesn’t fit with the tropical climate of Okinawa comes into Seira’s view.
An ice island, out of place with Okinawa, catches Seira’s eye.
Kwahahahahaha!
Her sensitive instincts detect an overwhelming flow of magical power accompanied by a thunderous sound.
Her little hand trembles slightly.
Seira instinctively realizes.
She has finally reached her destination.
“Just wait a moment, little one. I will definitely save you…”
She must stay alive.
Seira bites her lip, swallowing her words.
Have you said all your goodbyes? (Illustration present)
Whoosh!
A cold wind sweeps through.
The wind wings sprouting from Rin’s back flutter.
“True Name Release, indeed a talent worthy of Japan’s finest! To grow this much in such a short time.”
Ivan laughs.
“Truly remarkable. But do you think that will stop me?”
Grbgrbgrbgrb.
The ground shakes.
The golden chains binding Ivan loosen.
“Gahh!”
Blood tears flow down the Saintess’s left eye as its blood vessels burst.
Beatrice, sitting in the white snow, grits her teeth.
Golden magical power surges throughout her body.
Hearing the Saintess’s scream, Rin bites her lip.
Cold tears flow from her eyes.
[Do not panic in front of the enemy, Rin. Remain calm at all times. Victory comes from composure, not passion.]
The memory of Ichiro’s words comes back to her when she lost repeatedly against her childhood friend Yuji during the exchange event with the Kurosawa clan.
Rin cools her head.
She must stay calm.
Evangeline, Trixie.
And the opportunity Kim Deok-Sung risked his life to create.
For their sake, too.
This golden opportunity must not be wasted.
‘Think, Rin.’
The only technique that can turn this situation around.
Whirrr.
The blade of the Totsukanotsurugi, charged with the power of the cold wind, trembles.
“So, what will you do, Samurai of the Shinozaki clan?”
Ivan smirks coldly.
The chains binding his body begin to break in several places.
EX-rank Hero.
An overwhelming force.
Since both Rin and Ivan possess the same freezing gift ability, it is possible to somewhat offset it.
But against the overwhelming difference in strength, she feels helpless.
She must keep him in check.
Can she do it?
Doubts arise, but it must be done.
Rin raises the Totsukanotsurugi.
“Shinozaki One Sword Style, Secret Technique──.”
Whoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo!
The wind wings on her back whirl, and the indigo magical power condensed in the blade disperses with the wind.
With her lips bitten, Rin swings her sword.
“Wind Forest Volcano!”
Whoooooosh──!
The swirling indigo cold wind from the blade strikes Ivan directly along with the ice blade.
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