It was an almost perfect Bituan.
Kobayashi Mirai passed through the deep red fire and pale blue ice on the snow like a ghost, her Nagare-zakura blade unsheathed as she slashed neatly toward the two.
On the snow, the other members of both clubs also noticed the intruder.
But just as they were about to act, people in pink uniforms moved even faster, surrounding them the moment Kobayashi Mirai struck.
Compared to the others who were at the end of their ropes, the well-prepared pink-clad members clearly held the advantage.
The situation on the snowy field became completely one-sided, with red and white surrounded by pink.
At the center, Mu Chengfeng and Alexander were being driven back by Kobayashi Mirai.
Her striking long hair and pitch-black blade danced amidst the flames and solid ice.
Kobayashi Mirai dodged every single one of their attacks unscathed, while they were met with a murderous intent that felt like blades cutting against their faces.
Kobayashi Mirai swung her blade in a side slash toward Mu Chengfeng.
Mu Chengfeng raised his hand, and a thick layer of ice adhered to it.
He tried to catch the long blade with his ice-coated hand, but the blade still pierced through the ice and cut his palm.
“The game is over. I can surrender,” Mu Chengfeng said, recognizing the current situation.
Kobayashi Mirai ignored his request, or perhaps she simply didn’t understand what he was saying.
She turned her blade horizontally, pulling Nagare-zakura out of Mu Chengfeng’s grip, and followed up with another strike.
After his struggle with Alexander, Mu Chengfeng was somewhat exhausted.
He blocked the strike with great difficulty before being knocked down into the snow by Kobayashi Mirai’s kick.
Alexander’s situation was no better.
There were bloodstains on his shoulder and hands.
In his previous fight with Mu Chengfeng, he had exerted far more energy than his opponent.
Under normal circumstances, he would likely have maintained a gentle expression and said, “I am somewhat reluctant to raise a hand against a lady.”
But at this moment, he had lost the right to say such a thing.
In an instant, the long blade was before his eyes, its light dazzling.
A pillar of fire erupted.
In a split second, Alexander made his choice.
He didn’t choose to dodge the potentially fatal blow; instead, he chose to counterattack.
‘Even if I lose, I’ll go down fighting,’ he thought.
Suddenly, the long blade stopped in mid-air, only inches away from Alexander.
The pillar of fire also halted right in front of Kobayashi Mirai’s chest.
If things had proceeded as they were, Alexander would have certainly been seriously injured, and Kobayashi Mirai would have been hurt to some extent as well.
However, everyone on the snowy plain stopped in an eerie fashion.
Lin Yu shook his head as he looked around, trying to find any trace of No. 2, but he found nothing.
He only heard a strange sound from the sky.
It was the sound of helicopters.
Three black helicopters drifted in from the sky.
Everyone in the snow and Lin Yu watched quietly as the aircraft landed.
Unlike Lin Yu, however, their bodies seemed to be held by some sort of restraint, making them unable to move.
A group of people slowly stepped off the planes, led by Vice Principal Nonakawe and the person Tang Rou called her boss.
Lin Yu realized what was happening.
It wasn’t No. 2 who had stopped them, but Nonakawe’s Holy Judgment.
Heaven only knew how he had known the situation on the field, but at the very last moment before casualties could occur, he had activated Holy Judgment, freezing everyone in place.
X walked forward slowly, arriving in front of Kobayashi Mirai and Alexander.
He adjusted their positions to ensure their safety once Holy Judgment ended.
Lin Yu took a deep breath and stood up from the snow.
After lying there for so long, he felt his body had grown a bit stiff.
He shook the snow off himself and looked up again, only to find the gazes of X and Nonakawe already fixed on him.
Under their watch, Lin Yu subconsciously raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
X and Nonakawe glanced at each other, confirming something in their shared look.
They both knew that the way Holy Judgment worked wasn’t by stopping specific things, but by stopping everything within its range of effect and then granting permission for certain things to move.
Nonakawe had not granted Lin Yu the power to move within the range of Holy Judgment, yet he moved freely…
That could only mean that Holy Judgment had failed to affect Lin Yu.
Nonakawe shook his head slightly at X, wearing a similarly confused expression.
After he had achieved Awakening for Holy Judgment, the number of humans who could move within his Divine Sense could be counted on one hand.
And as for someone like Lin Yu, who completely ignored the effects of Holy Judgment… there were only those things referred to as Gods.
Seeing that neither had an answer, the two said nothing more.
X finished adjusting the positions of Kobayashi Mirai and Alexander, then nodded to Nonakawe.
In the next moment, the effect of Holy Judgment vanished.
Everyone on the snowy field returned to normal, but they no longer had any intention of continuing the fight.
The result of the previous struggle was obvious: the beautiful girl with gradient hair had easily defeated the fire and ice duo.
After Holy Judgment ended, both Mu Chengfeng and Alexander chose to withdraw, which meant the people from Feng and King also chose to withdraw.
It seemed the Third Phase had ended just as it began.
The other clubs were nothing to fear; Kobayashi Mirai was likely going to win this game.
But Lin Yu felt it didn’t matter anymore.
None of this had anything to do with him.
He could now peacefully rid himself of his status as a prisoner and walk away with two credits.
***
Inside the Antarctica camp, a giant color screen projected the people participating in the Antarctica activity.
“This year’s activity still seems a bit disappointing. Professor Moresco put a lot of thought into this year’s event, including designing undercovers and gradually lifting restrictions on the students, but our students don’t seem particularly interested in these things,” Nonakawe said.
“Even though the club activities are still no different from a gang fight from several years ago, at least the students are quite good. They are very vibrant,” X responded.
“Speaking of vibrancy, I can’t help but mention Lin Yu. From the start of the activity until he was eliminated, he spent 90% of his time lying in a polar tent. While others were fighting and struggling for resources, he was just snoring away,” Nonakawe said with some helplessness.
“What is your impression of him? You communicated with him during the Eye of Ra operation, didn’t you?”
“He’s probably… a child.”
“A child?”
“Yes, a young child,” X nodded slightly.
“But there’s nothing wrong with being a child. They still have plenty of room to grow, whether in terms of maturity or ability. When we were on the snow, Holy Judgment was completely ineffective against Lin Yu, wasn’t it? There are still many possibilities within them. The future, after all, belongs to them.”
“Do you want to try again? You tried five years ago, didn’t you? Although it was a bit forced back then, you were the fifth person capable of moving within Holy Judgment. Now, perhaps Holy Judgment wouldn’t have any effect on you at all.”
“No need,” X said, waving his hand.
“My possibilities have likely reached their limit. Let us place our expectations on them.”
He shifted his gaze back to the projection.
Since both Mu Chengfeng and Alexander had been eliminated, there was basically no suspense regarding the outcome of the activity.
On the screen, Kobayashi Mirai was currently fluently clearing out the remaining people on the field.