I regressed and became the Sword Ice King-Chapter 420- Festival 151- Raid on a Rainy Night 90

Under the heavy clouds, and the drizzling rain, three figures walked down a pathway.

Attention spamming between their environment and their thoughts.

Around them was a curtain of fog.

White, humid and opaque.

Taking in the scenery of the Academy with it.

The trio though, had their attention drawn to something else, other than the humidity in the air.

A distance away, where the skies should have been dark and riddled with clouds. A clear azure stood– No, hovered.

Over the endless darkness, this one was an embodiment of the Moon’s luminance.

Calm. Tranquil. Bright.

It held the very features stripped from the Academy since the night began.

Like a patch of clear seas in a tsunami.

Bizarre as it was, it was real. A fact that could only be acceptable through confirmation by sight.

It was unbelievable.

The clear horizon wasn’t large. In fact, it was anything but.

It spread from the centre of the Garden of Forest, stretching its tendrils through the air until it reached a sizable portion.

Unable to reach the edges of the Garden, yet enough to call for attention.

Impossible to be ignored.

Traces of moonlight could be spotted. Entangled below the clearing, and reaching downwards, where the once lustrous greenery had turned to basalt and lava.

A far contrast to the calm in the air around it.

Unlike the unclouded firmament which only spread to a part of the Garden, the lava had reached the entirety of it.

Nearly reached the Walkway where they stood.

Lava pits and boiling eruptions of flames could be spotted ever so often on the floor. Together with the smell of sulphur which seemed to mix vividly with the fog.

A form of pollution is soon taking root as a result.

Most of this would have been easily filtered away by the flow of mana, but without it at the moment, the trio were left at a disadvantage.

The girls, especially.

This had soon become prevalent by their reactions, as Raph had to come to a halt on nearing the hardened, dark area.

He turned around, glancing at both of them while they looked away while blocking their lips with their hands.

At the same time, their chest would tighten and a cough or two would be released.

The sound easily projected in the air.

Raph observed for a few seconds before a sigh escaped his lips.

’There’s this too...’

It wasn’t just the Sulphur in the air now.

The rain, as well as many other elements of the environment, will have a longer-lasting effect on them. Without mana.

It was a minor detail that would soon fester into a problem.

’What a mess.’ He thought to himself. ’It’s nice we were able to round up most of our battles by now....hopefully.’

"Is it the cold or the smell in the air that’s getting to you?"

The girls slowly turned towards him.

Leaving a silence riddled with the constant aching of a cough or choked breath.

’Hah..’ He thought with a wry smile.

That silence was all the response he needed.

"What now?" He wondered as he slowly turned his head back.

They needed to inspect the cause of it.

After all, the destruction...was far greater than they had expected.

’The trees that stood here... gone.’ His lips curled downwards. ’Burnt under the weight of her skills...’

An image of Mila flashed through his thoughts before he drew his attention back to the girls.

"How long can you last in this place?"

Rita coughed out once more. Her eyes were slowly tearing up.

"Not so long. I didn’t realise how much resistance we had to climate change thanks to Mana, but this... is seriously suffocating."

"I agree." Elise muffled a cough out of her breath before she spoke.

"Any closer to the source and there’s no telling how badly it’ll affect us."

Then she looked away, once more as another festered to escape.

’Jeez...’ Raph sighed once more.

A form of resignation to the predicament.

This too, would become a problem for most mages...

’...mages?’

His head whipped back to the clear skies.

"You two should get moving to the others." He said. "I’ll find the students and come join you guys."

"Wait?! What?" Rita coughed out, once more. "What are you saying? We separate? At a time like this?"

"Well, if it’s affecting you girls who just arrived, then what do you think a poisonous air would do to those in the middle of it?"

His reply came in like a jab.

Shaking both of the girls as they turned in the direction of the clear skies.

Nothing.

When they observed the skies or the ground below, nothing of value came to view.

Their eyes weren’t exactly sharp enough to peer in that far, after all. Though, Raph’s was.

There was no telling if he was already staring at their figures. Dead or alive.

Then there was Elsie.

Her nose and ears would have been a perfect finding device at moments like this...but the smell, the gas that had spread was much more difficult to bear than she thought.

And it would only get worse.

In resignation, she nodded once, but her curiosity, though, sparked a question.

"Do you see them?"

Rita turned to Raph on hearing the question. Her curiosity just piqued.

Raph remained silent for a moment. His attention drew further and further away from the girls as his vision enhanced.

A scowl formed on his face in the process while his thoughts reeled in.

’It’s taking more energy to use my traits, now that my mana is nearly half the original.’

If he had to postulate, then it would barely cling to the 4th star’s edge. Thus, making him a 4-star Knight. Of course, temporarily until the mana reflux wears out. If it does.

With a reduction of his energy source, his traits were bound to be affected in performance.

Still, once he drew all his attention. Pulled the right amount of aura and focused his gaze, he spotted them.

One. Three. Four.

And of course, one of them was his sister, Thalia Jun.

The others, he couldn’t recognise, other than one more. Sophie.

His eyes flared with life on recognising her.

’Why’s she here?’

He wondered.

"Raph?"

Snapping from his thoughts, he turned back to the girls.

"Found them."

"Oh? Good."

"Nice."

Elsie and Rita chorused before they let out another cough.

"Go get them, then. We’ll see you at the Lecture Halls."

Elsie said as she took a step forward, Rita soon followed after.

"Alright. Be careful." He announced as he watched them walk away in silence. One step after the other. Their figures were suffused with the fog.

Their footsteps soon disappeared with it, leaving a surreal silence that lasted a while before Raph snapped himself back to reality.

He turned to leave, his thoughts rushing in.

’What the heck?’ A voice throbbed in his head as his arm unconsciously grabbed his chest. ’What’s this feeling?’

An image of Elsie flashed through his head. Causing the sensation to grow further. A spark burned into a flame. It surged. It burned. It choked.

Leaving him gasping for breath as he came to a halt.

’Elsie...’ the name left like the aftertaste of sweet wine.

Lingering. Sensational.

Creeping onto his skin, causing goosebumps.

He let the feeling take over him for just a moment.

Then he let it die.

’Now is not the time.’

He had postponed anything related to his girlfriend, for the night.

Once the morning came, safety shone with it.

The moment, right now, was wrong.

So, watching her separate from him once more, while it had affected him, was buried within the heap of responsibility that called for him.

He shook his head from the distractions and prepared to take another step forward.

But a figure whisked through the fog, footsteps echoing loudly in his ears.

His body tensed as he turned around in alarm, arms up with his sword slowly forming.

A surge of adrenaline erupted in his body, but as soon as it came, it disappeared.

Because in the next moment, something soft slammed against his chest. ’Warm.’

Then her familiar face came into view as her body lifted into the air onto his body.

Her arms spread round his neck for an embrace and her lips closed the distance between them in a heartbeat.

KISS.

’Soft.’ The words left his thoughts as soon as they came. Unfiltered.

His eyes bulged open as his lips gave way instinctively.

Submitting to his emotions before they bloomed in his chest at her touch.

For a moment, time seemed to have stopped. A calm amidst the storm. Peace in the middle of chaos.

For a second, they exempted themselves from the encroaching cold of a rainy night.

The beat of rain as it showered them in its brutal downpour. An endless chain of destruction ensues under the carpet of the stormy clouds.

Everything had been washed away by that fleeting moment.

But as the name said, it was fleeting.

Elsie slowly pulled her head back, then descended from Raph.

Her head bowed away from his gaze.

Leaving Raph in a flood of the emotions he had attempted to bury a moment ago.

Her hands were still wrapped around his neck.

Just enough room for them to feel the weight of their presence. Together. Alone.

Slowly, she pulled her arms back, turned and quickly walked away. Without a word.

Though, perhaps it was better they departed in silence.

Raph simply watched in amazement. Eyes still bulged slightly.

The moment was gone, but the feeling would last for eternity.

A smile formed at the corner of his lips as he touched it slightly.

Turning away and walking towards the night, devoid of rain.

There, he spotted them, waiting. Four girls.

Who had taken down the mighty executive, Mila Jack?

’Alright....’ He snapped himself from the lingering sensation. Retracting back to the default.

’Let’s see our MVPs of the night.’

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