svetikya 085 Clearance
085 Clearance
Fingel lay on the lawn, watching the small, thin figure walk away into the distance.
He was a handsome young man, no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, with a small face, light eyebrows, and a pair of clear, dark eyes, but his gaze was empty. His naked body was so white it seemed unnatural, and he was so thin you could count each of his ribs.
Inside the Amber Pavilion.
"The Dragon King is moving this way," Schneider said. "Caesar, Chu Zihang, you two did a simulation of the Dragon King's invasion before. Now give me your plan."
"There's an open area ahead created by the explosion, perfect for a battleground," Caesar said. "I've already ordered all the non-combat personnel in Amber Hall to clear away all the metal debris between the academy's main gate and the plaza."
"It's quite a coincidence," Caesar said with amusement, "that explosion just now happened to blow away all the large metal pieces."
"And then what?" Schneider asked.
"During the full-element drill, the equipment department made a batch of cold weapons, with carbon fiber shafts and obsidian blades, containing almost no metal," Chu Zihang said. "Professor Schneider, you said it was cosplay."
Schneider stared at Chu Zihang without saying a word.
"It'll come in handy tonight," Chu Zihang continued. "The Dragon King has just awakened and is still in human form. If a few people use shields to disperse the impact, we should be able to withstand one of his physical attacks. We'll follow the blue plan from the last exercise—disperse the attack, take turns getting close, don't try to break through his defenses, just try to wear him down."
Caesar added, "For some reason, it hasn't used its Words of Power yet. Once it starts using Words of Power, we must retreat immediately."
"Okay, let's go with this plan," Schneider said. "Put on your headphones and listen to Norma's instructions at any time."
"Understood." Caesar and Chu Zihang turned and left.
Schneider took out his communicator and said, "Norma."
"I am here."
"Adjust the college's fire protection network and design the fastest engineering solution. As soon as the Dragon King steps into the center of the cleared area, water will be poured in to form a flowing reservoir for temperature control."
"Received, calculating."
"From now on, you have the authority to direct operations on the battlefield," Schneider said.
Norma's voice kept updating in the headphones, and everyone immediately moved to a new position upon receiving a new instruction.
The girls tied their hair up and their skirts up simply, and together with the boys, they uprooted the iron lampposts and carried everything in sight—statues, railings, trash cans, and even manhole covers—to the support truck parked by the roadside.
Under the searchlights of the tall buildings, the entire square was as bright as day.
Heavy trucks loaded with metal sped away one after another, and in just ten minutes, the square, which was originally full of medieval retro style, was forcibly turned into a wasteland with only mud, stones and trees.
"The ruins in Area B have been cleared."
"Three steel bars have been found in area C and are being moved."
"The road signs in Zone D have been removed."
A girl wearing a white Vera Wang dress uprooted a roadside sign, hoisted it onto her shoulder, and threw it into the cargo bed of a Scania truck parked on the side of the road.
"Bang!" The road sign bounced back; the carriage hadn't even opened!
Wait, this isn't the academy's support vehicle!
-----------------
Mai, dressed in a cheongsam for the banquet, with a butterfly hair accessory in her updo, leisurely watched the chaotic scene before her, holding a glass of champagne.
"Miss Mai," Susie approached, "I'm sorry, this might not be the right occasion to ask a foreign guest for help. But as Aki's older sister—"
You want to ask me if I can help you?
"If your words of power are readily available—"
"My power of words is the light of the underworld," Mai said. "You want me to assassinate it?"
Susie was momentarily speechless.
"Feel sorry."
"No need to apologize," Mai interrupted her, "I have a gift."
She went down the steps and walked towards the Scania.
"Open," Mai said.
The driver's side door opened, and a man in a black suit jumped out, went around to the back of the truck, unlatched the door, and opened the tailgate.
A bulletproof vest without metal buckles, a heavy crossbow with a polymer frame, carbon fiber arrow shafts, and ceramic arrowheads. A whole row of non-metallic tactical knives, carbon fiber-ceramic composite shields, and at the very back a small handheld flamethrower that looks like it can fire a burst of flame or ice mist.
Susie slowly turned her head to look at Mai.
"Miss Mai," Susie said, "why did you bring this whole carload of stuff to the engagement party as a foreign guest?"
"It's normal for Japanese yakuza families to bring things that customs can't detect when they go out," Mai Shutoku chuckled.
"Thank you." Susie didn't want to delve into the matter.
"Thank you too soon," Mai said. "Remember to send money to Aki."
Susie glanced at her, then turned and began directing the students to move the equipment out.
-----------------
"Aki," Ye Sheng whispered, "you're really the heiress of a yakuza family?"
"Maybe," she said.
"Maybe?"
"I thought my family was just a small family in Kyoto..." she said hesitantly. "My family has always run a restaurant. I thought my older sister would come back to inherit the family business after graduating from the University of Tokyo, and that the family business was that restaurant."
"But she was never interested in cooking," Aki said. "Never."
She looked up.
"Is it because I'm too ordinary that my family wants me to be an ordinary person?" she said. "Was that restaurant actually opened for me? But I can't even cook well."
Ye Sheng had a lot to say, but at this moment he only had one thought in his mind: he had sworn to cherish Aki in front of everyone at the dance this afternoon.
"Aki," he said, "I'm a top-notch cook."
Aki looked somewhat bewildered.
"But all I know how to do is fry eggs."
That's enough.
Mai leaned against the truck and drank champagne.
Selma, carrying bandages, walked past her and suddenly stopped.
"Miss Mai".
"Um?"
"Aki's words are the blazing sun," Selma said. "Yours is the radiant light."
"You've always stood on the dark side, while letting her stand on the light side."
Mai took a sip of champagne.
"Miss Selma."
"Um."
"Read less comics."
Selma paused for a moment, then left with the bandages.
Not far away, they saw Aki helping Ye Sheng take off his ring. She used her fingernail to pry the ring off from the inside edge, and Ye Sheng cooperated by bending his knuckles. The silver ring finally came off.
"I'll leave it with you for now," Ye Sheng said.
Aki held both rings in her palm.
Selma pulled a small resealable bag from her tactical waist pack and handed it to Aki. Aki put the two rings into the bag, carefully sealed it, and stuffed it into the inner pocket of her chest. She pressed it against the fabric of her cheongsam to make sure it wouldn't fall out.
Mai looked at the battlefield couple in the distance, downed the last bit of champagne in her glass in one gulp, and then turned the glass upside down on the truck's bumper.