【 ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ꜰᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ 】

- 05 -

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BATTLE

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Team A was about to claim the gem, however, they were abruptly stopped by Team C. Nina's ability to summon weapons proved vital in breaking through the defenses of Team A. Seraphine quickly tried to hypnotize Shin before he could make use of his capabilities. Sousuke was able to counter Nina's summoning ability through the use of his mutated arms, allowing him to enter a fierce battle with a Shino and Shin. Amy worked tirelessly to hold her own in a confrontation with Shino and Shin, which proved to be a daunting challenge.

Whilst all of the attention had been directed towards the battles that had been taking place among the different teams, Amy revealed a surprise tactic that no one had expected. The first year created an energy blast and unleashed it towards the gem, taking down multiple members of Team C in the process. The blast also grazed Nina, who managed to evade the brunt of the attack. Shino and Shin managed to dodge the blast completely. Sousuke tried to capitalize on the situation and engage in a battle with Nina again, however, she quickly recovered and summoned some daggers to fend him off.

Shino and Shin both prepared to counter Amy's attack. Shino began to try to control her mind, in an effort to make her look away and thereby gain a tactical advantage over her. However, Seraphine was aware of his intentions and intervened in time to prevent him from successfully hurting Amy. Shin tried to attack Amy with a mind attack, but she created an energy sword and slashed it through the air just in time to block her attack. Nina hurled her daggers at Amy, but Seraphine summoned some snakes that chased the daggers and served as a barrier to protect the latter girl.

Witnessing that her initial attacks had been thwarted, Nina opted to utilize her unique summoning ability and throw various weapons at the members of Team A, who were now outnumbered. Seraphine was fully prepared, however, and was able to summon her snakes once more to protect the members of Team A. Sousuke tried to use his mutated arms to grab some of the weapons summoned by Nina, but she made the weapons too large to be grasped. Shino and Shin had had enough of this situation, however, and they joined forces to mount their own attack against the members of Team A.

The combined powers of Shino and Shin proved to be devastating and left the members of Team A feeling profoundly injured, causing them all to fall to the ground. Fortunately, Amy was able to conjure up a blast of energy to direct at Nina, inflicting enough damage to defeat her. That blast also impacted Shino and Shin, causing them to retreat to a safer position to allow them to gather their strength once again in preparation for the next onslaught. Seraphine took this opportunity to summon more snakes to distract Team C while she and Sousuke initiated their attack on their rivals.

Shino and Shin scrambled to counter the snakes that were coming at them, but before they could do so, Amy and Seraphine had started to attack them. Amy created a large forcefield and flung it at Shino, causing him to fall back. Seraphine used the snakes to restrain Shin, keeping him at bay. This diversion momentarily distracted Shino, providing Nina with an opportunity to strike, which she promptly took. Nina quickly summoned a sword, using it to quickly cut Sousuke in his arm, eliciting a hiss of pain in response.

Team B had been observing the ongoing fight from a distance, their gaze firmly directed at the battle that was taking place. "Look at them, fighting one another," commented Kurono with a sly smile. "So entertaining isn't it?" She turned back to her teammates, her expression becoming more ominous, and stated, "Now, the plan begins. Two teams duking it out will leave only one remaining. That is our objective," she said with a sinister grin.

"Once we secure the gem, I want you to head to the tower," Kuro instructed her teammates. "But what if you need our help?" questioned Aki, clearly concerned about her team captain's well- being. Kurono smiled reassuringly and placed her hands on Aki and Inei's shoulders. "This isn't a routine exercise, guys. This is a battle. Don't fret about me. I'll take care of it. You should focus on protecting one another until you reach the tower," she said with a strong aura of confidence and determination.