Chapter 77: The Training That Goes Wrong.
The training continued for nearly an hour and Iris learned every exercise quickly.
Luna increased the difficulty each time Iris completed one and neither seemed willing to admit the other had done something well without adding a correction.
When they finished, Iris deactivated her transformation.
"I already tried it."
Noah felt concern at her tone.
"What do you think?"
"The powers are useful."
"I mean the group."
Iris observed Yume and then looked at Luna.
"I’m not convinced."
Yume lowered her head slightly.
"Didn’t you like training with us?"
"It’s not that."
"Then you can stay."
Iris shook her head.
"Working in a group requires trusting other people."
Luna crossed her arms.
"That trust is gained through training."
"It also requires accepting decisions that might be wrong."
"That’s why strategy exists."
"Strategies fail."
"And working alone fails too."
Iris put away the brooch.
"I’ll think about it."
Noah wanted to stop her, but before he could speak, he felt a warning run through his body.
The monster detection had activated, but it wasn’t a monster—it was magical energy.
"Watch out!"
A shadow appeared behind him and two arms wrapped around his waist.
Noah recognized the voice before he saw her.
"I found you."
Nozomi Kurayami activated her teleportation and Noah tried to break free.
Luna reacted first and launched a barrier, but Nozomi disappeared before it could reach her.
Both reappeared several meters away.
Nozomi kept the embrace.
Her dark blue hair moved around her shoulders. Her black horns and circular halo were covered by a more intense energy than last time.
She was also smiling in a different way.
"I missed you so much."
Noah tried to pull her arms apart.
"I didn’t!"
"That will change."
Two women appeared behind her.
The first had black hair with blue highlights and wore a tight uniform with dark metallic pieces, while holding two curved blades.
The second was a young woman with reddish-brown hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a red and gray combat suit along with several energy seals covering her arms.
Nozomi pointed to the first.
"Aoi Kurotsuki."
Aoi raised a blade.
"A pleasure."
Then she pointed to the second.
"Rina Aoyama."
Rina smiled.
"So he’s Noah."
Noah felt something strange when he heard the surname.
’Aoyama?’
It was the same surname as Ren, but he didn’t have time to think about it, since Yume transformed immediately.
"Let him go!"
Luna also activated her magic, but Nozomi pressed her face against Noah’s shoulder.
"I don’t want to let him go."
Her smile grew wider.
"I already let them take him from me once."
Yume gathered energy.
"Noah is my boyfriend!"
Nozomi looked at her.
"For now."
Luna created several barriers around the enemy group.
"Nozomi, if you don’t let him go, I’ll break every bone in your body."
Nozomi laughed softly.
"That sounds like jealousy."
"It’s a warning."
Iris held the brooch.
She hesitated for a moment, but then transformed.
Aoi and Rina advanced, while Yume and Luna moved together.
Luna blocked Aoi’s blades while Yume attacked Rina with several energy spheres.
Iris observed Nozomi.
’She is the main target.’
Nozomi could teleport, but if she managed to block her routes, she could rescue Noah, so Iris created several crystal walls around them.
Nozomi looked at the structures.
"Wow, so it’s a new girl."
Iris didn’t respond. She raised more barriers, closed the space in front and behind, then created a platform above Nozomi to prevent her from escaping upward.
Noah felt the embrace loosen.
"Good idea."
Said Noah and Iris added several crystal spikes around Nozomi’s position.
"She can’t teleport if she doesn’t have a safe arrival point."
Nozomi observed the walls and her expression lost part of its smile.
Iris advanced alone.
"Let him go."
Nozomi caressed Noah’s chest.
"I don’t want to."
Iris made two walls begin to close in and Nozomi stepped back, since there was no visible exit.
Noah felt relief, because Iris had understood the main limitation of Nozomi’s power after seeing her use it only once.
"It’s over."
Said Iris, to which Nozomi lowered her gaze and then smiled.
"That’s what I wanted you to think..."
Iris frowned and a red seal appeared under her feet.
Rina raised a hand from the other side of the field.
"You shouldn’t only look at one enemy."
The seal exploded and Iris raised a barrier, but the impact destroyed the platform beneath her, so she fell to the ground and the crystal structures disappeared for a moment.
Nozomi activated her magic and Aoi appeared beside her after breaking one of Luna’s barriers, along with Rina, who also retreated to the group.
Nozomi hugged Noah with more strength.
"Now we really are leaving."
Yume launched an attack, Luna tried to close the space and Iris created another wall, but it was too late, since the four figures disappeared.
Noah only managed to hear Yume and Luna’s screams before the park disappeared.
Iris got up among the crystal remains.
"Where are they?"
Luna deactivated a damaged barrier.
"They left."
Yume clenched her fists.
"They took Noah!"
Iris observed the destroyed seal under her feet.
"I can track the magical residue."
Luna turned toward her.
"Why did you attack alone?"
Iris raised her gaze.
"I had Nozomi cornered."
"No, you thought you had her cornered."
"My strategy worked."
"Until you fell into a trap."
Iris clenched her fists.
"If you two had stopped the other two, it wouldn’t have happened."
Yume took a step forward.
"We were fighting together!"
"And you didn’t prevent Rina from activating the seal."
Luna hardened her expression.
"You separated from the team."
"Because I saw an opportunity."
"You didn’t share the plan."
"I didn’t need permission."
"That allowed them to take Noah."
Iris felt rage.
"You also allowed Nozomi to reach him in the first place."
Yume opened her mouth, but Luna responded.
"Noah was behind us."
"Then your defenses failed."
"And your overconfidence finished the job."
The three remained silent for a second.
Yume was breathing heavily.
"Enough!"
Luna and Iris looked at her, to which Yume pressed her hands against her skirt.
"We all failed."
Luna didn’t respond and Yume continued.
"I focused too much on attacking."
She looked at Luna.
"You tried to control the entire fight alone."
Then she looked at Iris.
"And you went after Nozomi without telling us what you were going to do."
Iris looked away while Luna observed the destroyed ground.
"I should have kept a direct barrier over Noah."
Iris spoke after several seconds.
"I should have warned before closing the space."
Yume nodded.
"And I should have stopped Rina."
The tension decreased and Luna raised a hand, making a small sphere of dark energy appear.
"I still have part of the teleportation residue."
Iris created a crystal.
"Me too."
Both energies reacted, showing a thread of light that extended toward the north.
Yume gathered energy in both hands.
"Then let’s go find him."
Iris observed the two.
"We need a strategy."
Luna nodded.
"This time we’ll work together."
Iris took a second to respond.
"Agreed."