Volume 4—Chapter 95: Chasing Sequence
On the rooftop of Tsukuru Academy, three girls stood against the cold wind that swept across the open space. The sky above was heavy with grey clouds, as if it too sensed the tension brewing below. This was not a peaceful meeting.
“What’s the meaning of this? Why is she here?!” Irana’s voice echoed across the rooftop, sharp and full of anger.
Across from her, one of the girls stood calmly. She had long hair tied neatly into a ponytail, and her deep violet eyes glimmered with amusement. A faint smile touched her lips as she replied, “You need to calm down, Irana.”
Droplets of blood floated lazily around her, shimmering in the light like crimson petals. It was her power—the manipulation of blood itself. She was Yukari Fiolera, just by her name, you know she belongs to which family.
Then there was the third girl. Her fiery red hair swayed with the wind, eyes glowing with a dangerous spark. She is Ariana Freesia, the one responsible for the chaos that engulfed the city last month. The one who nearly awakened Irana’s older sister, Aria.
Ariana was a fugitive, a girl accused of countless deaths and destruction. Her presence alone was enough to set Irana’s blood boiling.
Irana clenched her fists, glaring at her. “You expect me to stay calm when she is standing here?”
Yukari’s smile didn’t fade, though her tone softened slightly. “Well… I know, I know. Can you calm down a bit? We’re just here to talk. Forget the grudge between you two, okay?”
Irana’s glare sharpened. “Why her? You know she’s a criminal, right?”
Yukari sighed. “Circumstance can make anybody a criminal.”
Irana’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Are you serious right now?” she snapped, her voice rising with fury.
The air around her grew cold as frost began to creep across the rooftop tiles. In a single stomp, the floor beneath her cracked and shattered, forming a jagged hole that plunged into the floors below. Her plan was simple… Confine the fight. Battling two Espers at once in open space was reckless, but in a closed area, she could control the flow. If they wouldn’t follow her willingly, she would make them.
But she didn’t need to.
Without hesitation, Ariana jumped in after her. Flames trailed from her hands, melting the surrounding ice as she dove. The once frigid air turned into a torrent of heat. Her crimson hair fluttered behind her like a comet’s tail, her fiery aura cutting through the falling shards of ice.
Yukari, however, didn’t follow immediately. She tilted her head slightly, watching the two vanish into the chaos below. “Really now… predictable as ever,” she murmured. Then, with a faint smirk, she leapt from the edge of the rooftop, not into the hole, but off the building entirely, taking a separate route down.
Inside the academy, the situation turned disastrous.
The clash between Irana and Ariana tore through the corridors. Heat and frost collided, turning walls into steaming ruins and floors into slick sheets of ice.
Irana had planned the fight carefully, using the environment to her advantage. Yet, amid the chaos, one crucial thing escaped her calculation—collateral damage.
Irana once again broke one of the core rules of the Esper Association, the rule that forbids any Esper from revealing their existence to the public.
Her boots slammed against the tiled floor as she burst through the corridor, ignoring the echoing alarms and the terrified screams behind her. Without hesitation, she charged straight into a classroom mid-lesson.
Dozens of eyes turned toward her. The teacher froze mid-sentence.
“W-what are you…”
Before anyone could react, Irana sprinted across the room and jumped straight through the window. The glass shattered, scattering like tiny crystals.
“Woah… is she crazy?!” one of the students shouted, ducking for cover.
“What was that just now?!”
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” the teacher yelled, but the commotion drowned his voice.
Then, before the class could even process what they had seen, a second figure appeared at the broken window… Ariana.
A burst of heat swept through the room as she landed on the windowsill, her crimson hair flickering like fire in the sunlight. The temperature spiked instantly, causing the students to scream and back away in fear.
“Is that… fire?! She’s on fire?!”
“What’s happening?!”
Panic spread like wildfire. Chairs fell, glass cracked, and someone started crying. The teacher stumbled back, too stunned to act.
Among the chaos, a few students remained unusually calm. They were the hidden Espers placed throughout the academy… sent to monitor and prevent exactly this kind of incident.
One of them sighed, pulling a small vial from their pocket. “This got out of hand too fast…”
He twisted the cap open and muttered a word under his breath. A faint mist spread across the classroom, colourless but heavy. Within seconds, the shouting softened. One by one, students and teachers slumped over their desks, fast asleep.
Irana dashed into another building. Thankfully, this one was empty.
The chase grew intense. Irana swung her hand backwards, firing shards of crystal ice like bullets. Each shot shattered the floor tiles and walls, leaving frost and cracks wherever they landed. Ariana, still behind her, moved fast, her fiery aura melting every shard that came close.
“Still running, huh?” Ariana shouted, her tone playful but filled with heat.
Irana ignored her and turned sharply around a corner. Her lungs were burning, her pulse racing. She needed time… just a few seconds to think. But before she could even take another step, a familiar voice echoed ahead.
“Why don’t you stop running and have a cup of tea with me here?”
Yukari sat cross-legged in the middle of the hallway as if she had been waiting all along. Blood floated lazily around her, forming a perfect circle. Her smile was calm, almost teasing.
Irana’s eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Without a second thought, she changed direction, her boots sliding against the floor as she took a sharp turn.
“Shit… come on, where’s my reinforcement?” she muttered under her breath.
She knew she had broken the rule earlier, but it was a risk she was willing to take. If she didn’t, there wouldn’t be time for backup to arrive.
Irana glanced over her shoulder. Ariana was still following, flames tracing her every step, eyes locked onto her prey. The memory of their last encounter flashed in Irana’s mind. The chaos, the heat, the near-death moment… The only reason she had survived back then was because Aria appeared.
Irana bit her lip and turned another corner… only to meet a dead end. A collapsed wall blocked her path, the debris leaving no way forward.
Her heart pounded. “What to do now…” she whispered.
Her eyes darted around the hallway. Then she saw something, old piping above, thick wires, and a ventilation duct half broken from age.
“This will do!!”
She raised her hand, forming a crystal spear, and launched it upward. The ice shattered the ceiling, opening a path above. Without hesitation, Irana jumped, pulling herself into the dark space just as the sound of fire roared behind her.
The next second, Ariana’s flames burst through the corridor, setting the air ablaze.
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.