Campione: Strongest# 467: Resolve

Three delinquents-turned-Dead Apostles bared their razor-sharp fangs, their claws—elongated to deadly lengths—slicing through the air as they lunged toward Asagami Fujino.

The lead Dead Apostle's claws were barely half a meter from Fujino when—

Time froze.

The three charging Dead Apostles hung suspended mid-leap, legs stretched wide, bodies caught in that perfect moment of predatory grace.

Fujino could see every detail of their faces with crystalline clarity—the bloodthirsty grins, the savage joy etched into their features. Yet frozen like this, those vicious expressions took on an almost comical quality, like a photograph caught at the worst possible moment.

"Your mindset needs work, Fujino."

The familiar warmth of a large hand resting on her head swept away the chaos in Fujino's mind. The girl's panic melted into calm, and she turned with a delighted smile blooming across her face.

"Haru~" Fujino called out in honeyed tones, her face radiant with joy—no trace remaining of the terror from moments before.

But what greeted her was Haru's disappointed expression.

"Sigh." He exhaled wearily.

He understood Fujino's childhood trauma from being bullied. He knew about her dream from two years ago—to live as a normal girl.

But after committing to enter the world of magecraft, after undergoing proper training, she'd become this... half-hearted dabbler, lost in the comfortable haze of everyday life.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. Why else would he have agreed to Akiha Tohno's request for Fujino to handle the sexual assault case at Reien Academy?

'Fine.'

With his abilities, he could still protect Fujino well enough. If she could only be a decorative flower vase given her current mindset, then let her be the most beautiful vase possible.

Haru raised his right hand, aiming at the three frozen Dead Apostles.

Just as he prepared to eliminate them, a pair of pale, trembling hands caught his wrist.

"Hmm?" Haru raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Fujino with surprise. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

That disappointed look had cut straight through to Fujino's core. The girl replayed every moment of the past two years, drowning in self-recrimination.

She'd promised to become strong. Yet she'd lost herself in peaceful daily life. Even when Shiki Ryougi had pointedly warned her months ago not to slack off, she'd still grown complacent.

Come to think of it—how many months had it been since she'd last trained her [Mystic Eyes of Distortion]? She'd lost control and hurt someone by accident earlier, then actually apologized to someone trying to assault her?

For the first time, Fujino truly understood how weak she'd become.

What would have happened if Haru hadn't arrived?

Would she have been violated by these Dead Apostles she could kill with a thought? Delivered as a plaything to their so-called superiors?

That future—that future could not exist!

The awakened girl's eyes blazed with brilliant determination.

"I... I can do this. I really can." Fujino bit her lip, fighting back tears, her voice firm with resolve. "Please—give me one more chance!"

"..." Looking at the tear-streaked girl before him, meeting those determined eyes, Haru's lips curved upward slightly.

Snap—

His left hand snapped softly. Haru stepped back a meter, ceding the battlefield to the girl before him.

The snap echoed through the cold, dark alley as time groaned back into motion like gears grinding to life.

The world resumed.

"Die, you bitch!"

As if Haru didn't exist at all, the lead Dead Apostle's claws swept toward Fujino's shapely legs wrapped in nude stockings.

A shame to destroy legs that could entertain for a year—but to prevent this toy from resisting, he'd steel himself and tear them apart with his crushing claws.

Closer, closer, almost touching those beautiful legs—

What answered him were Fujino's cold eyes and her frigid whisper.

"Twist."

Her gaze focused on the Dead Apostle's exposed chest. With that point as the center, her distortion ability erupted—the left and right halves of his body rotating one hundred and eighty degrees in opposite directions.

Less than a second passed. The airborne Dead Apostle vanished, replaced by a grotesque mass of bone fragments, muscle fibers, and organ pieces.

SPLASH—

Blood rained down like a storm, mixed with green, yellow, and white fluids—bile, brain matter, and other secretions from obliterated organs.

The other two Dead Apostles, caught off-guard by the sight, stumbled in their momentum and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

"M-M-Monster!"

"Mommy! I want my mommy! I'll study hard, I promise! Please don't kill me!"

Screams and sobs erupted as the two scrambled on all fours, fleeing desperately toward the alley's exit.

"Take me with you! Take me!" The spiky-haired leader on the ground watched in horror as his subordinates ran past him toward the exit.

"You bastards—" His words cut off abruptly.

One second later, Fujino glanced coldly at the meat chunks on the ground before turning her attention to the fleeing Dead Apostles.

"How stupid." She watched the two figures running with everything they had and let out a contemptuous laugh.

Turning your back to an enemy in a life-or-death battle? Nothing could be more foolish.

"Twist~" With a soft murmur, one fleeing figure instantly became a human pretzel, painting the dark ground with his blood.

"They're just bottom-tier Dead Apostles—probably recently converted. Leave one alive for interrogation," Haru said casually.

"I understand, Haru." Fujino turned to him with a sweet smile.

The next second, she turned back, her face ice-cold as she completely twisted the last Dead Apostle's legs into ruin.

Watching Fujino's instant transformation, Haru's mouth twitched slightly. Being decisive in killing was good, but this ability to switch moods and expressions so drastically made his skin crawl.

'Did I overcorrect? Turn a sweet girl into a murder machine?'

"Ahhh! I don't want to die!"

The last survivor, legs destroyed, crawled forward with his hands, dragging his broken body toward the alley exit, painting a long red trail across the blackened ground with his blood.

"Someone—someone save me!"

"God, devil, anyone—please, save me!"

The brown-haired delinquent wailed and grimaced, dragging his ruined body desperately toward the exit, hoping the crowds outside might save him.

Suddenly, joy lit up the brown-haired delinquent's face.

Pink kimono sleeves fluttered gently in the breeze.