Ch.3737. Collapse.

Countless ice crystals formed from her magic circle, merging together to create a single spear.

A blue aura frosted over the clear, transparent ice, freezing the surrounding air along with it.

Blanc, who had filled the entire training ground with glowing magic circles, scattered those countless ice spears toward her opponent.

The problem was that I was that opponent.

Well, I could easily block this much.

The total number of magic circles Blanc had cast was 720.

Hah, she’s grown in this area too.

The last time I saw her, she could only cast about 500 simultaneously.

Right now, I can calculate the trajectories and shoot down 476 spears with my tail lasers…

Without a computational assist device, I need to calculate the most efficient path.

I need to create an escape route using just 476 shots.

The most efficient way to break through this magical girl’s bullet curtain that surrounds me is—

“Straight ahead.”

“…?”

After breaking through the ice spears, I found Blanc waiting in front of me with her sword drawn.

“As expected, you were waiting.”

“…!”

Since my body was already moving forward, staying still now would mean running straight into her sword.

All my tails are being used for defense.

There’s not enough time to redirect them to protect myself.

And there’s not enough time to draw the dagger from my chest.

So, I have no choice.

I simply charge forward with as much magical energy wrapped around my body as possible.

My magic-enveloped body charges straight at Blanc.

It’s all or nothing.

Haah, I had no choice.

With my speed and mass, I probably can’t deal much damage to Blanc.

For now, I’ll try to dodge her sword as much as possible while charging at her with my body…!

“Ugh…”

The training ground is covered in dust, obscuring my vision.

What just happened?

I need to gather my thoughts…

Huh?

“Why are you there?”

“That’s my line, isn’t it?”

It seems I tackled Blanc and ended up falling on top of her.

The dagger in my chest…

Huh…?

“Looking for this?”

“No, how did you…!”

Blanc threw my dagger far away, then threw me far away too.

Fortunately, I managed to regain my balance before crashing into the wall.

“Haah, are you crazy? Throwing people around like objects.”

“What? I’m perfectly normal.”

“Haah, haah…”

“What? This isn’t the first time.”

“That’s true. Ugh… Nothing has changed. That part is different from before.”

“Why, you haven’t changed at all either.”

“I suppose so. Haah… haah…”

“What, Vine? Are you tired already? Just from this?”

“Unlike you, I haven’t been moving around much lately…”

“Then why not surrender now?”

“It’s not quite that bad yet. Shouldn’t you be the one surrendering?”

“What are you saying? If you’re hurt, our Arin will be troubled.”

“Arin? She seems quite shocked watching this.”

“Hmm, she probably hasn’t seen battles of this level very often.”

“It’s not really that grand of a battle, is it?”

“It must be quite stimulating for Arin.”

“Well, I can’t show Arin a shameful display. Shall we finish this?”

“Oh, so you’re surrendering to avoid showing an unsightly appearance?”

“No? I’m saying I’ll defeat you. As always, your comprehension skills haven’t improved.”

“What? You defeating me? Is that even possible?”

“Since you haven’t grown at all during the time I was gone, I see a possibility of winning.”

“…What did you say?”

“Well then, shall we begin again?”

“Fine. Come at me. I’ll take everything you’ve got.”

“Very well.”

I deploy my tails again.

This time, I need to end it in close combat.

Actually, a training ground of this size is too small to accommodate our movements.

It would need to be a bit larger for me to have an advantage at range, but here…

I charge at her with my rifle.

Using my tails as legs, I deploy them to protect myself like turrets that follow her movements.

Blanc avoids all the bullet curtains formed along the walls.

Then she takes out another wand and aims it at me.

Ah, right.

Blanc had a gun too.

“Vine, just surrender already!”

“No… way…!”

How difficult it is to attack her while avoiding the shower of magic bullets coming from her…

I’m feeling it in my body again.

The feeling of my body boiling, the feeling of being alive again, but

I didn’t want to experience again the immense mental and physical drain from each battle…

“Ugh…”

“Both of us are tired, so why don’t we stop now?”

“What are you talking about?”

I block Blanc’s path with my tails as she continues to dodge annoyingly.

I obstruct her way, guiding her in the direction I want.

And in the place she’s being guided to, there’s a trap already prepared…

“There, you’re caught.”

I launch myself behind her and subdue her.

I pin her down lightly with my knee to prevent her from using her hands.

It seems to have ended more easily than I expected.

“It’s over. Isn’t it?”

“Hahaha… Not by a long shot.”

“This means it’s over, doesn’t it?”

I point my pistol at the back of her head.

“Bang. It’s over, isn’t it?”

“Ha, that ended anticlimactically.”

“What were you thinking that suddenly made you fall into my trap?”

“Hmm? Ah, well. It’s a secret.”

“Didn’t we bet a wish on this match?”

“No, we didn’t.”

“Then let’s say we did.”

“Since when is that a thing?”

“I’m a villain, aren’t I? I do as I please.”

“I wonder why you suddenly fell into a trap you wouldn’t normally fall for.”

“I’ll tell you later. Ouch! Vine, that hurts!”

“To be disarmed and threatened while being pinned down by an enemy.”

“Why? It’s over now, isn’t it?”

“Isn’t it strange? So suddenly?”

“Is it? I don’t really know. Congratulations. That’s 855 wins. Now we’re even again.”

“Haah… Is that so? I don’t want a boring, hollow victory, but if you say so.”

“Alright, I surrender. I lost, Vine.”

“Then, let’s call Arin. Let’s go home.”

“Yes. Let’s go home.”

It was truly a match with an anticlimactic ending.

Why would she deliberately fall into a trap she wouldn’t normally fall for and declare defeat?

Did she conduct this match just to toy with me?

No, I could feel that Blanc was genuinely serious about the match.

At least until she fell into the final trap, she was serious.

That means there must have been some external factor Blanc saw, or some psychological change.

While I was lost in these thoughts, Blanc spoke to me.

“Ugh… Vine? It’s getting hard to breathe, could you get off me now?”

Ha, unbelievable.

“Have you ever seen a villain listen to a magical girl? Just keep suffering, magical girl.”

“Haha… Is that so? But it hurts…”

“Be quiet.”

I remained seated on top of Blanc.

Haah, this is tiring.

“Blanc, what are you thinking? I want to tear apart all the thoughts in that brain of yours. I really can’t predict you.”

“It’s all things that won’t be bad for you, so it doesn’t matter, right?”

Blanc spoke to me with a calm face despite me sitting on top of her.

“You don’t think I’ll remove this collar and run away, do you?”

“No, because you wouldn’t do that.”

“I could shoot you and escape right now.”

“Haha. I see. Right… Ah, looks like Arin is here.”

As we were talking, the training ground door opened, and Arin and the others entered.

Well, Arin came to me and asked if I was okay.

“Vine unnie, are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. I’m not hurt, but I feel a bit weak like you did earlier. Anyway, shouldn’t you be worried about Blanc first?”

“No way! I was so worried because you were being pushed back so much…”

“Haha… Arin, please. That wasn’t being pushed back. Well, my body hasn’t fully recovered yet, so I was just testing the waters during the match…”

“Even so… Yunseul unnie didn’t take any hits, but you, Vine unnie…”

“I’m fine, really. Arin, please worry more about Blanc.”

“Okay… But, sitting on top of Yunseul unnie like that…”

“Ah, this is nothing. It’s something I always used to do. We often did this when waiting for other teammates to complete their missions. There’s no need to worry. She’s sturdy.”

“No, that, um…”

“Well, I suppose it might look a bit uncomfortable. Like I’m humiliating the loser. Alright, let’s head back.”

Yes, I was thinking it was about time to get up.

“Arin, you’re my comrade. Hehe… Ugh, urk.”

As I got off Blanc and tried to stand up, I lost consciousness.

* * *

Suddenly, Vine unnie collapsed.

It happened in an instant.

Just a moment ago, she was talking to me calmly with her usual expressionless face.

“Unnie? Unnie! Wake up! Unnie!”

I wasn’t the only one surprised.

“Vine, are you okay? Vine?”

Even Yunseul unnie, who had just been sparring with her.

“Vine! Why did you suddenly collapse! Hey! Vine!”

Everyone who had followed me into the training ground—Seohyun unnie and Hyewon unnie—all of them.

With Vine unnie’s sudden collapse.

With the small amethyst in our house breaking.

Even though she had only been with us for a few days, we realized how important she had become to us.

“Unnie! Wake up! Come to your senses!! Unnie!! Unnie!!!”