Facing Yukino Yukinoshita's attack, a purple Magic Circle lit up around Ren Isana. His figure vanished from the spot, causing Yukino's strike to hit nothing but air.
The residual attacks slammed into the [Spatial Barrier] Ren had set up, setting off a series of deafening booms. The barrier absorbed the entire impact; otherwise, the blasts would have barreled straight toward the teaching building.
Ren reappeared a short distance behind Yukino. Having kept her [Perception Magic] active, she reacted instantly, spinning around with an [Iai Slash] that unleashed a sharp wave of sword aura.
Facing the incoming strike, Ren instantly erected an ice wall in front of him, perfectly blocking the sword aura. At that exact moment, two more ice walls materialized on either side of Yukino, slamming shut toward her.
*Boom!* The twin ice walls crushed inward, trapping Yukino. A split second later, her protective shield shattered, and she was instantly teleported out of the arena.
The corners of Ren's lips curled up slightly as he slowly muttered a number. "Twenty-two."
Teleported to the sidelines, Yukino's face darkened. She was absolutely furious. *I was sent out just like that? Eliminated so easily? And by Ice Magic, no less!*
It was a total humiliation. She was the one who had taught him that exact spell, and he had just used it to eliminate her!
She glared daggers at Ren, who was still in the center of the field. By now, the rest of the class had launched another wave of attacks. This time, everyone charged at him simultaneously, with Kumo going full unlimited firepower mode.
Using [Instant Cast] for her [Piercing Magic Bullet]s, she converted all her Magic Power into pure offense, unleashing a frantic barrage straight at Ren. Seeing the sheer volume of spells she was outputting, Ren was genuinely surprised.
*She's got quite a bit of Magic Power, being able to fire off that many magic bullets at once.* Since he was the one who created the spell, Ren knew exactly how much it consumed.
Kumo had entered a state of rapid-fire casting, treating the [Piercing Magic Bullet]s like a bullet-hell barrage aimed right at him.
Faced with the dense swarm of projectiles, Ren prepared to backstep and quickly evade. But in the very next second, a hand shot out from his own shadow and grabbed his leg.
Ren blinked in surprise. It was Megumi Kato. He had no idea when she had slipped into his shadow using [Shadow Stealth], but if he thought he could just run away now? She wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by.
"Great job, Megumi!" Seeing Ren immobilized, Asuna's face lit up with joy. Without a moment's hesitation, she launched her own attack. Instead of rushing in, she opted for a ranged assault, firing off a barrage of [Wind Blade]s.
Sora followed suit, controlling a blast of [Lightning Strike]—the exact move Ren had taught her previously—and sending it crashing toward him. Thanks to Megumi anchoring him in place, the attacks arrived before he could dodge.
Megumi didn't take any unnecessary risks, either. The moment she stopped Ren from escaping, she immediately shrank back into the shadows. With her gone, the combined onslaught slammed directly into Ren.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!* The dense swarm of magic bullets and the combined spells of the class detonated simultaneously, setting off a massive explosion on the field. Seeing this, the others didn't dare stop; they immediately began chaining their attacks, raining down even more spells.
After all, no one had seen Ren get teleported out yet. Stand around and watch the show? Yeah, right. If they paused now, Ren would just pop out of the smoke and hit them with something nasty.
Without needing to coordinate, everyone bombarded Ren's position with Magic Power. With such a perfect opening, when else were they going to squeeze every last drop of their Magic Power dry? Were they supposed to wait until Ren came over and punched them in the face?
The students standing outside the barrier stared intently at the center of the field. *Is an attack like that actually going to work on him?*
Why hadn't Ren been teleported out yet? For a moment, tension gripped the onlookers.
"Holy crap!" "Are they treating a classmate like a raid boss?!" "Sensei, is this really okay? Are they going to kill him?!"
The spectating students from other classes were terrified. Did the Special Class have a death wish?
Attacking like that? Someone was definitely going to die! With that many spells landing on a single person, they'd be wiped from existence—especially with that one girl firing off so many magic bullets at once!
What in the world was going on? The entire school's students and faculty had their eyes opened today. To think there were students this ferocious? It was simply absurd.
"No, those attacks are useless against him," one of the teachers remarked, watching the field without an ounce of worry. Naturally, a class wouldn't actually try to murder their own classmate.
Not to mention, many of the teachers could sense that Ren was completely unaffected inside the blast zone. He had perfectly blocked every single attack. It seemed his students understood exactly what kind of monster they were fighting.
They didn't even pause their assault—just how well did they know that their attacks probably weren't doing any damage? Many teachers were left speechless, especially Rina-sensei. She was incredibly curious about just how strong Ren had become.
The entire Special Class combined couldn't even beat him. His strength was bordering on the ridiculous, and his rate of improvement was far too fast. Magic, in particular, seemed to come to him as easily as breathing.
At that moment, several [Protection Magic] circles glowed brightly around Ren, enveloping him in a flawless, 360-degree defense. He just stood there quietly, waiting out his classmates' bombardment.
His [Instant Cast] was no joke. The very second Megumi had grabbed him, Ren had already deployed his spells. The defensive power of the [Shield of Sighs] was truly reassuring.
After several minutes of continuous carpet bombing, the group's Magic Power was nearly depleted, and the barrage finally began to slow to a halt. However, none of them looked happy.
Ren still hadn't been teleported out. That meant their combined assault hadn't done a single point of damage to him. *This is just ridiculous.*
As the smoke and explosions cleared, Ren's figure slowly came into view. Seeing the glowing Magic Circles still orbiting him, everyone's expressions froze.
"You're cheating!!" Sora yelled out. How was it possible that they couldn't even scratch his defense? Was this a joke?
Hearing this, the others also shot Ren suspicious glares. Had he secretly used his Tier 5 strength? Otherwise, how could he possibly withstand the combined attacks of so many people?
"I didn't cheat. Do you know what Riveria's [Veil Breath] is like? It blocks all attacks; its defense is absolute top-tier," Ren explained casually, raising his right hand to condense another Magic Circle.
Seeing the spell forming in his hand, everyone's faces paled drastically. A massive Magic Circle materialized in his palm, and they instantly recognized what it was.
Without hesitation, the group scattered in all directions. But the moment they moved, Ren fired his [Piercing Magic Cannon]. Running was useless. The only fate awaiting them was being teleported out of the arena.
Having already drained most of their Magic Power, the students couldn't even muster a basic [Lightness Technique]. The moment Ren's magic cannon swept over them, several people were instantly eliminated and teleported away.
Among them was Sora, the one who had accused him of cheating. Who told her to stand in the most crowded spot? Naturally, Ren aimed his cannon right where the most people were clustered.
"Dammit!!" Sora cursed, fuming as she appeared on the sidelines. Even with so many of them, they still couldn't do a thing against him—and that was with Ren heavily restricting himself!
"The Class Rep is way too overpowered. He should have suppressed his strength to Tier 3 and banned a bunch of his spells!" Sora grumbled, looking dejectedly at the few students remaining on the field.
"At that point, you might as well just ask him to stand still and let us hit him," Yukino sighed. That guy was simply too broken. There was no way any of them could be his match; he just had too many tricks up his sleeve.
Especially when it came to magic. He had mastered far more spells than martial arts. After all, during their time in Orario, Ren had constantly used his [Jianjigu] to observe and learn every spell he came across. And this was just him using Tier 4 strength. If he went all out... he could probably wipe out the entire class in an instant.
With Sora and several others eliminated, the remaining students couldn't put up much of a fight. By the end of it, only Megumi and Asuna were left standing on the field.
"I surrender!" Seeing that it was just the two of them left, Asuna gave a helpless smile and raised her hand. There was no point in continuing. If the entire class couldn't beat him together, two people definitely couldn't.
Seeing this, Ren didn't say anything and simply dispelled the [Spatial Barrier] around the field. The eliminated students immediately walked back in. Sora ran straight up to him and demanded, "Class Rep, let's go again! But this time, you're banned from using magic!"
She refused to accept defeat. This time, she wanted to ban him from using magic and weapons. They would have a pure martial arts showdown. There was no way they'd lose this time!
The moment the words left Sora's mouth, Yukino's face drastically changed color. Without a second thought, she rejected the idea. "No, absolutely not. Have you forgotten? If that guy fights in [Close Combat], he's definitely going to slap you in the face!!"
Was she joking? Let Ren fight in melee? She could already picture it: a real fight breaks out, Ren suddenly dashes in, punches you in the gut, and then slaps you right across the face. Just thinking about it made her scalp tingle with dread!
Yukino's words instantly reminded the class of the last time they sparred with Ren and got slapped around. Suddenly, nobody was on board with the idea. Fighting with magic was fine; at least when you got beat, it didn't look quite as pathetic.
But in a real melee brawl? Even if Ren suppressed his strength to Tier 4, he'd still beat them half to death. The mere thought of taking a brutal physical hit from him sent a collective shiver down everyone's spines.
Forget it, forget it. They shouldn't even think about getting revenge. It was better to focus on other things. It wasn't like they had any deep grudge against him anyway. They'd just let this go. A wise man submits to circumstances, and without a doubt, they were all very wise.
"Alright, alright, pretend I didn't say anything. The Class Rep doesn't know how to treat girls gently anyway," Sora laughed awkwardly after Yukino's reminder. She suddenly recalled the time she had been knocked out cold. Yukino was right—absolutely no melee combat with Ren.
Seeing Sora change her tune so quickly, Ren let out an exasperated laugh. He looked at her speechlessly. "Am I really that brutal? What do you mean I don't know how to treat girls gently? I'm very gentle, okay?!"
If he didn't know how to be gentle, why would he lovingly caress their faces? *(By slapping them).* If he didn't know how to be gentle, why would he massage their stomachs to relieve their menstrual cramps? *(By punching them in the gut!)*
Ren understood gentleness perfectly. Sure, he might have been a *little* heavy-handed, but it was all for their own good! He couldn't help but retort, "If I didn't know how to be gentle, I'd grab you by the hair and slap you."
The moment he said that, all the girls in the class stared at him with bizarre expressions. *Do you hear yourself, Class Rep? How can you say something like that with a straight face?*
"I'm not playing anymore, I'm leaving! The Class Rep is never going to find a girlfriend!" Sora turned and marched off without looking back. Ren was too mean; she didn't want to play with him anymore, leaving him with a vicious curse!
Meanwhile, the male students looked at Ren with eyes full of sheer admiration. *As expected of the Class Rep. He isn't afraid of anything. To think he actually dared to say something like that out loud.*
Asuna looked at Ren with a helpless sigh. "Please never actually do that. If you do, everyone will hate you to death..."
Pulling hair and slapping faces? Why was Ren so proficient at coming up with this stuff? For a girl, having her hair grabbed was the equivalent of being grabbed by the throat of destiny. Hair was incredibly important. If someone actually did that, a girl's rage would instantly explode, and she would fight them to the bitter end.
"I was just joking around~!" Ren shrugged, not taking Sora's words to heart. He started walking back toward the classroom. There was no point in continuing the sparring session; they probably didn't want to fight him anymore anyway.
Everyone filed back into the classroom and began using [Meditation] to recover. The recent battle had drained a significant amount of their energy. Seeing that the show was over, the rest of the school's students also returned to their respective classrooms to resume their lessons.
However, this battle had truly opened everyone's eyes. Setting Ren aside, the combat prowess of the other students in his class was absurdly high. Many students couldn't help but feel a deep sense of envy.
This was especially true for the students in the regular magic classes. Who wouldn't want to fly around blasting spells everywhere like Ren's class? It was incredibly enviable. The resources poured into the Special Class were clearly on a completely different level.
Magic was supposed to be something you only learned in university, yet they were already mastering it in their third year of high school. Not to mention, they were allowed to enter the Dimensional Rift and had even traveled to another world. It was simply too amazing!
Back in Ren's classroom, everyone quickly restored their Magic Power through [Meditation]. Seeing that the class had recovered, Ren walked straight up to the podium. "Since we have some free time, I'll teach you guys some magic."
Hearing this, everyone's eyes instantly lit up. Sora didn't hesitate to speak up. "Can you teach us [Flight Magic]? I'm super interested in it right now, and it's the one I want the most!!"
After all, during their fight just now, Ren had relied heavily on [Flight Magic] to dodge a massive chunk of their attacks. Aside from that, they also needed to learn some [Protection Magic]. Everyone wanted to be able to fight in mid-air, after all.
[Protection Magic] was absolutely essential. If they couldn't dodge an attack in time, they'd have to rely on a barrier to save their lives. That specific [Protection Magic] Ren used to block all their spells was incredibly desirable.
"Alright, then I'll teach everyone [Flight Magic] first," Ren said, picking up a piece of chalk and beginning to write on the blackboard behind him. Seeing this, the students hurriedly pulled out their notebooks and started copying down everything he wrote.
However, as Ren continuously wrote out lines of text and drew complex magic diagrams, the class's excitement gradually shifted to deep thought, and then to utter confusion. By the time Ren finished writing, every single student had a blank, *who am I, where am I* expression on their face.
"And that is the complete formula for [Flight Magic]. Copy it all down first, and then I'll slowly break it down for you. This spell is quite troublesome," Ren said, a strange smile creeping onto his face as he looked at his bewildered classmates.
*Dumbfounded, aren't you? Didn't expect [Flight Magic] to be this complicated, did you?* But it wasn't like Ren was intentionally making things difficult for them—they were the ones who asked to learn it. Based on Ren's estimation, if this group wanted to successfully cast the spell...
It would take them at least ten days to half a month. Those with poorer aptitude would need even longer. Even though it was technically classified as Intermediate Magic, it involved so many complex elements that it bordered on Advanced Magic.
"Are you sure this isn't Advanced Magic?" Kumo, the girl with the best magic aptitude in the class aside from Ren, looked completely lost. She could understand more than half of what was on the board, but the rest was pure gibberish to her.
"It's close to Advanced Magic, but it's not quite there. It still falls under Intermediate Magic, otherwise, you guys wouldn't even be able to attempt learning it," Ren explained. Essentially, it was pseudo-Advanced Magic.
Hearing Ren's explanation, the class fell silent. This spell was definitely the highest-tier magic they had ever come into contact with.
"Alright, I'm going to start explaining. Listen closely!!" Ren tapped the blackboard and began his lecture. Starting from the very beginning, he broke down the complex theories and slowly explained them to the class.
The students frantically scribbled in their notebooks, recording every detail Ren mentioned. Even if they couldn't understand it right now, they needed to write it down first so they could practice it slowly at home.
The bell signaling the end of class no longer mattered to anyone. For the rest of the morning, Ren continued lecturing on the intricacies of [Flight Magic]. It wasn't until the afternoon that he finally finished.
The further he went, the less the students understood. They could only numbly copy down whatever Ren said. Many of them felt their brains melting just listening to the theory.
But this magic was incredibly important, so they had no choice but to learn it. If they didn't, it meant they wouldn't be able to fly until they reached a much higher tier, and by then, it would be far too late.
When the afternoon dismissal bell rang, Ren tossed his chalk aside and announced, "Class dismissed. Go home and review this slowly tonight. That's basically all there is to it. If you have any questions, ask me tomorrow."
With that, Ren returned to his seat and began packing his things. Seeing this, the others followed suit. Closing her notebook, Asuna couldn't help but ask, "When do you think Natsuki Minamiya and the others will come back?"