【 ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ꜰᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ 】

- 06 -

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TRAP

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Team D maintained their defensive hiding position as they expected the battle to commence. "There must already be fighting underway," surmised Katsuya. "We must get the gem. This is our opportunity," Ryousuke affirmed, pointing towards the gem. While all of their focus was directed at the gem, they witnessed Inei materializing from one of the wall and proceeding to grab the gem.

Ryuu's face morphed into perplexity as a voice rang out from the branches of a neighboring tree. "Looking for this?" the voice posed the query as they held the gem aloft and displayed such brazen possession of the valuable item. His eyes then drifted upward to discover Kurono, along with her teammates, situated above him on the tree branch. Kurono waved the gem in her hands as she smirked with amusement. "Come and get it then," Kurono declared, her voice carrying an air of confidence and arrogance. The trio of rivals then dispersed into different directions.

Ryuu issued an order to his teammates to pursue their foes, who were scattering into separate locations. "Get them," he commanded in a harsh manner. "You've got it, boss!" Katsuya replied obediently, then proceeded to shadow Aki as he departed towards another region. Ryousuke took the cue and joined Inei while Ryuu remained alone with Kurono facing him, her gaze exuding confidence and a sense of superiority that only amplified at Ryuu's clear disadvantage in their encounter.

Ryousuke was taken aback by the incredible speed that Inei was demonstrating. "You can't keep running away," he yelled to Inei, as he summoned a dragon from the tattoo on his arm. Before it could even reach the swift-moving opponent, Inei disappeared into the ground, passing straight through the earth using his extraordinary phasing ability.

The dragon that Ryousuke had summoned with such confidence seemed to have miscalculated its destination and collided with the tree before it could even reach Inei. "Damn it," he exclaimed, clearly dissatisfied with the dragon's failed attempt at striking its target. He quickly retreated back in order to resume his search in the forest, searching for any sign of the swift opponent that Inei had proven himself to be.

Katsuya pursued Aki's swift movements as the latter effortlessly avoided his pursuit with effortless ease. Katsuya stopped abruptly and began taking deep breaths, preparing to unleash another offensive attack on Aki. He let out a loud yell, directing the sound wave towards Aki who quickly responded by erecting an ice wall to shield himself. The wave successfully destroyed the wall but Aki had gone unnoticed once more as he seemingly disappeared into the surroundings, leaving Katsuya once more with no evidence of his location.

Kurono continued to run through the dense woodlands, playfully taunting Ryuu and making it difficult for him to catch up to her. She appeared to have no intention of slowing down as she enjoyed teasing him. As they both approached the two teams, she shouted, "You better catch me if you want the gem," indicating her possession of the valuable item that the teams were dueling over. She had gotten everybody's attention. "Kagami has the gem?!" a member of the opposing team shouted out to everyone while displaying visible alarm and concern.

They all began to follow in pursuit of Kurono who had displayed such incredible agility and skill in evading their attempts at halting her movements. Ryuu unleashed his dragon to go after her, but Kurono successfully jumped out of its way and managed to avoid the attack. She turned back around and tossed a magnetic trap that instantly trapped the groups of people, excluding the rest of the third years. They proceeded to give chase in an effort to apprehend and stop the nimble opponent. Kurono's knowledge about the new gadgets, which she had evidently acquired recently, proved beneficial and gave her a strategic advantage.

Their luck indeed seemed to have materialized in that particular moment as a result of Kurono's previous showing of the new gadget that she had acquired a week prior. This prior demonstration proved to be advantageous in the current situation.

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Kurono's sudden entrance into the room and subsequent presentation of the magnet-based weapon seemed to have caught everyone by surprise. She seemed quite elated to be showing them the magnet-based trap that she had obtained a week prior. "Look! I present you the magnet trap," she announced with excitement and enthusiasm, quite pleased with herself for possessing such a potent weapon.

Katsuya appeared confused by the magnetic object held by Kurono and queried as to its functionality. "That is a magnet trap," she informed him, explaining the method of activation. He proceeded to examine the sphere-shaped weapon and shrugged his shoulders, clearly unaware of any details regarding its operation. Kurono threw the magnet at Katsuya, causing him to suddenly stick to the ground. He was visibly perplexed and attempted to get up, expressing his dissatisfaction with the unfortunate situation.

Kurono seemed to display amusement at Katsuya's current predicament, laughing softly and enjoying the sight of him helplessly stuck on the ground. Ryuu ordered her to immediately disengage the magnet-based trap but she replied that the contraption would only deactivate after 30 minutes had passed. Nina silently watched the situation unfold, evidently taking pleasure in seeing her fellow comrade trapped in such a manner.