I came back but the world is still a fantasy!? – Garesto Academy – Exam Arc: Chapter II – Those Who Take Advantage of the Test – 04-30-A: That Which Defeated Them (1/4)

────Remember, my cute Alice.

No matter what happens, you must never forget.

That there is one thing that we, women of Padyuel, must never do────

 
 
 

The volunteer army fought the classes of 2 – A and 3 – A on sandy terrain.

In the face of the students’ persistent attacks, owing to their misunderstanding that this was an exam, the volunteer army crashed into the ground. The ensuing panic from the tenacity of the students, whom they looked down on, created an opening that allowed the students to drive them into a corner.

The volunteer army originally numbered 20, but now, almost half of them have been defeated.

Their experience allowed them to quickly get back on their feet, and they also had the advantage in equipment and abilities. Yet despite that, they were having a hard time resisting the students, who were trying to overwhelm them with their momentum.

Moreover, the battle was already swinging too heavily in favor of the students, so even if they did manage to repel this ongoing push, it was already too late to stage a counterattack.

They knew that it was only a matter of time before the students would break through, but then a message suddenly came.

───From this moment onward, the use of skills is prohibited to all students.

It was shocking news, but it didn’t cause much panic among the students.

To the special class, training while having some kind of restriction, be it in equipment or ability, was nothing strange.

They’ve also been informed prior that certain mechanisms have been prepared to make their lives harder.

But of course, the two representatives that could understand the truth gulped.

“I’ve been waiting for this!” One of the soldiers said.

The special class students were about to find out that the flow of battle was something that could change in an instant.

 

“You snotty brats that don’t even know what a real battle’s like! I’ll teach you for looking down on me!” As a female soldier angrily yelled, the students screamed.

The soldier angrily swung her long-handled giant hammer and easily sent the students flying one after another.

“Rizet, Ortho, cover them!” Aristel said.

“Yes!” Rizet said.

“Understood!” Ortho said.

“Tch, we were so close! And yet now…” Aristel said.

The students indeed didn’t panic.

But the consequence of not being able to use skills was much bigger than they’d expected.

A consequence further exacerbated when they were under attack.

Moreover, the only students with a Status that surpassed the soldiers on an individual basis were the two representatives.

And even the exoskeletons that were the greatest weapon that the school could offer weren’t a match for the volunteer army.

To add insult to the injury, the volunteer army could use skills without any restrictions.

Not only could they use attack skills, the could also use defensive skills, buffs, and even the various support systems.

“Fall back, regroup!” Ortho said.

“This is as far as you go!” Rizet said.

A golden yellow exoskeleton and a navy blue exoskeleton(Rizet and Ortho) stood before the female soldier.

They each wielded a handgun and a Double-Edged Sword(Blade).

They rapidly fired without any reserve at the female soldier, but it was easily blocked by a skill shield.

Photon bullets couldn’t possibly penetrate a defensive skill that was at least intermediate skill.

Normally, they could use a skill to increase the strength of their bullets or transform them into armor-piercing bullets, but unfortunately, the situation left them powerless.

The two servants could only bite their lips in frustration.

“I can’t believe I had to rely on an inhibitor against some students!”

The female soldier knew that she would’ve been pushed here if not for their skills being sealed.

And that made her even angrier as she swung her giant hammer.

If Rizet and Ortho withdrew rashly, their classmates behind them would be attacked, so they received her attack with their blades instead, but they shattered like glass.

“GUAH!?”

“Ahh!!”

Although they had been blown away by that attack just now, they immediately jumped back to avoid a direct hit, proof of their excellence as special class students. Despite that, however, their faces were pale because they realized that they couldn’t contend against the enemy even for a moment.

“Hmph, I used a skill on my whole body. There’s no way a bunch of brats like you would be able to stop my attack!!”

Other than their experience, their Status were more or less the same.

But because of the skill buffs empowering the female soldier’s physique and the difference in their exoskeleton’s specs, Rizet and Ortho didn’t stand a chance.

If not for the multiple invocation of skills, it would not have been possible for an impenetrable shield to be created.

Regardless, without any skills and with just their exoskeletons, they could only be on the receiving end of such attacks.

Their opponent being the only one with access to skills was simply too big of a handicap.

“Then what if I were to ask you to try and receive my love?” A voice said.

“!?” The female soldier said.

Although the female soldier was frustrated fighting Rizet and Ortho, she also felt triumphant.

But suddenly, a voice came from a direction she wasn’t paying to attention to, and immediately, she turned toward the direction of that voice, but what greeted her was a round ‘circle’ that she couldn’t comprehend.

In the next moment, a chill ran up her and she immediately used her giant hammer to receive that ‘circle’.

That was the cone-shaped lance. And it had been thrown straight at her.

“UGUu!! The top two student, Myuhi Ruona! What ridiculous strength!”

As she received the sharp edge of that lance with her giant hammer, she turned to the small figure behind that attack and yelled at her.

Despite the lance that she’d thrown being blocked, Myuhi didn’t look the slightest bit down, and even continued to push(・・・・) in spite of the female soldier using various defensive skills and being buffed physically.

Hina cheerfully laughed and coldly muttered.

“Wow! You really did block it! But────code, Self-Destruct(Burst)”

“────!”

In the next moment, a flash of light erupted with a thunderous roar that blew the female soldier away along with her pain and her screams.

Although the students couldn’t use skills, their weapons were still functional, so Myuhi activated the last resort of the Anti-Theft System without any hesitation, which was self-destruct.

“…The situation isn’t looking good, Ari-chan, and it’ll probably just get worse from here.”

Myuhi said as she swung her spear and deflected the enemy in front of her.

The sensors were working too, so she knew that the female soldier with a hammer was able to escape from the explosion.

Although the female soldier had been hurt, if she were to be allowed to go back and recover, they’d have to start all over again.

“I know, but!”

Their backs against each other, a pained expression appeared on Aristel.

Even their numerical superiority would be overwhelmed now that the enemy had gotten back on their feet.

Although they could maintain the situation by having the two of them, who surpassed the enemy in terms of raw Status, stand in the front lines, that was nothing more than a desperate measure.

“It’s really not easy to copy him, huh!”

“Ha ha! The fact that he could even do something like that in the first place just shows how weird Icchi’s head is!”

As they swept away the bullets of flame descending, they gave voice to their honest complaints.

The people that could represent the various classes have rarely been changed.

Because of that no student other than them has been raised to be able to lead their class.

Aristel’s lineage and grades were too brilliant, while Hina’s actions were too prominent.

“Gossiping in the middle of a battle! Aren’t you lax!” A soldier said.

“You’re much calmer than the others, I see. Should’ve expected as much!” Another soldier said.

Behind the bullets of flame that they swept aside came two shadows and two strokes.

They managed to block those attacks, but their expressions were bitter.

Their commanding abilities were by no means weak, but leading their class while standing in the front lines just like a certain boy was simply impossible.

Although they did specialize in multitasking, that had a limit.

Not only did they need to process the information that were common during battles, they also needed to understand everyone’s situation, and then on top of that, they also had to fight the enemy in front of them while giving orders to the whole class.

The amount of information they had to process was even more than the amount of information Aristel had to process when she had to fire hundreds of rounds per second with that Gatling gun earlier.

“Indeed! He actually managed to see through this too!” Aristel said.

“I wish he’d made it easier to understand, though!” Myuhi said.

The message that boy sent while pretending to be Frire that announced the beginning of the special exam.

When the two girls finally understood what he meant, they felt frustrated and wanted to complain.

At the same time, they hit the face of their enemies through their visors.

“Aim!”

“All at once, fire!”

Then as the enemies tottered, they ordered the students at the rear to shoot, and a multitude of lights drew lines across the air.

The communication system wasn’t working, so they could only give the order by voice, but the response and precision of their classmates was first-rate.

All the ranged attacks headed for the enemy soldiers, but they were blocked by shields of the same color and couldn’t reach any one of them.

“Tch… Just how much have we been relying on skills? It’s impossible to deny it when it’s shove at your face like this,” Aristel said.

“Hah! Guess we got a little smarter then! But this really isn’t the time to be screwing around, is it? They’re here!”

As though to substitute for the two soldiers they were fighting earlier, multiple shadows attacked them.

The two representatives of the special class stepped forward and received them.

Against foes like these that surpassed them in both ability and equipment, the only ones who could hold them back were them.

Moreover, the only reason they were able to contend with them was because they were both sharing the burden of leading their classes and holding the enemy back.

Because of that they couldn’t lead their classmates properly, and they also couldn’t make much progress in defeating the enemy before them. Gradually, they were being pushed back.

───What should I do?

Aristel pondered as she continued to lead in this difficult situation.

If they couldn’t come up with a plan to break through this situation, the difference in overall strength and experience would be their defeat.

The various gaps between them individually were the reason why they were being pushed back, but there was nothing they could do about that.

If they could just use their skills, but unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking now.

They needed something that ‘they could use now’.

───But what is it that we have?

They still had the numerical superiority. Their enemies numbered 11, while they numbered 28.

They couldn’t use skills, so they were currently maintaining the situation with roughly 2.5 times as many people as the enemy.

But it was also true that they were gradually being defeated one by one.

───Time is the issue.

Fortunately, the skill seal did not have any effect on the exoskeletons.

They had no impediments to their flight ability, so they could easily take to the skies.

But even if they positioned themselves there, their ranged weaponry have already effectively been neutralized, and the enemy was much better at battles involving aerial hit-and-run tactics than them.

There was also a high chance that the enemy might use a Big Gun Barrel(Cannon) if they were to distance themselves too much.

They had them too, but given that only the other side could use skills, there was no chance for them of winning a competition of heavy weaponry.

It was precisely because they were close to each other that the enemy couldn’t take out their cannons.

───We have to maintain this distance.

The skill seal also didn’t have any effects on their weapons.

Aristel had filled her foster to the brim with weapons.

Moreover, every one of them was the best of its kind since she was the top student of the Special Class.

But even if she took them out and had everyone equip them, the increase in their attack power would still be limited.

In the first place, those weapons were still one step behind in specs compared to what their enemies were using.

At most, it would just buy them some time.

───It’s not enough to break out of this situation.

The enemy was using precise formations and repeatedly attacking in a steady manner.

A hit and run tactic that gradually whittled away at them without taking risks.

Even the people attacking had no openings thanks to the ranged attacks and skills of their rear guard.

They’ve already rid themselves of their earlier arrogance and were fighting to win.

───Breaking through this with a frontal attack is impossible.

If so, then what they needed was a surprise attack.

Agitate them and then land a blow effective enough to make their formation collapse.

But Aristel shot that idea down.

Either her or Myuhi could charge into the enemy formation and try to cause a ruckus, and then the rest could surround the enemy──but that was nothing but wishful thinking.

It was unlikely that the enemy couldn’t read far enough to prevent that, and besides, the role of the person attacking was too dangerous.

Moreover, failure would demand a heavy price.

Given their situation, if just one of them did messed up, their brittle resistance would quickly collapse and lead to their defeat.

───If it was him, what would he do?

 

Tl Note: Thanks for the comments. Changed Alistel back to Aristel, but kept the Alice when shortened.