Classroom for Heroes, Vol. 3 by Shin Araki and Haruyuki Morisawa

Author:Shin Araki and Haruyuki Morisawa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yen On

○ Scene VIII: The Duel

After school, the Second Proving Ground was filled to capacity. Blade and Iona stood in the middle of the arena, sizing each other up from a distance.

Iona had just warmed up her machinery and was in full battle mode. She was moving her body up and down rhythmically, stepping lightly like a boxer. The air around her shimmered a bit from all the warmth she gave off. Androids like her got physically hot during battle since their bodies couldn’t dissipate the excess heat quickly enough. Blade wondered if her long green hair served as a kind of fibrous heat sink.

“I can’t believe you haven’t gotten sick of having your ass kicked,” Blade said, tapping his shoulder with the sword he was carrying.

He had already finished charging up, and six shots were locked and loaded in his body, ready to be fired out in rapid succession. The Proving Ground was pretty spacious, and there were no other girls anywhere near them. This would be a one-on-one battle, so he was free to fire all six shots and blow the Guardian away without mercy.

Seriously, is she ever gonna give up?

“Right. Let’s do this.”

Blade held his sword out in front of him. Lowering his center of gravity, he aimed the tip of his weapon at his target, preparing to launch a hypercharged vortex that would sweep her away and break her down into her component parts.

“Blade, one word before you begin…”

Eliza started to say something, but the match was kind of underway already. Didn’t she know that?

“I’d just like to specify that Iona is now working in Stand Alone Mode.”

“Huh?” For a moment, he didn’t understand. “Stand…Alone…?”

“Yes. Stand Alone. It means…well, ‘standalone.’”

“You just said the same thing twice!”

“I’m not sure I can explain it in any simpler terms.”

Blade felt like he was being made fun of.

“What she means,” Earnest clarified, “is that if you destroy Iona this time, she’ll actually die.”

“Huh?”

It still made no sense. Iona was a Guardian, after all—immortal by default.

“She’ll die, all right? I mean, how can I make this any simpler?”

“N-no, I… I understand what you mean, but… Huh? What?” He turned back toward the android in front of him.

“I can affirm her statement. Currently, the thing equivalent to my soul is housed in a laminate positron crystal inside of my rib cage. I have no current physical connective functionality to Mother. The communication lines have been physically removed, and I am now functioning on a completely independent mobile basis.”

“Um… What about your ear things?”

Blade pointed at the earlike appendages on either side of her head. Those were what mechanical-type monsters used to hear the “voice” of whoever was bossing them around. He knew that from his Hero days. Destroying those would disrupt the chain of command, giving him an advantage—but if they were there, it should mean she was connected to her boss, or Mother, or whoever.

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