I regressed and became the Sword Ice King

Tension had never been as ecstatic as it was at this moment.

Pure adrenaline hanging bare in the air. Rippling currents of thrill, hostility and something more..

Firmer. Wilder. Suffused in the air as a ghastly psychoactive drug threatening to take form.

The opposing sides glanced at one another with careful expressions.

Wariness was taking root in their every action.

The fight had been evened out– or was it?

Mana was cut off. Pulsed out of their cores, circles.

Rendered useless for the time being.

How long? They didn't know.

In fact, the knowledge they lacked was far greater than just the length of it.

The cause of it was up for grabs as well.

Not that anyone had enough information to actually grab it.

Some didn't care.

Others were more curious than worried.

Especially Nicho.

He could feel the static in the air.

Not just because he was about to begin one of the most unpredictable beatdowns, but because of the wavelengths that were never there.

The sudden influx of mana forcefully plunged into a Territorial Sub-space.

Something of this magnitude could only be caused by such.

A being of that magnitude.

And when he brought his thoughts to any living being outside his parameter capable of accomplishing a feat like that.

He would end up with Mila Jack as his consensus.

His brows furrowed. A slight frown as he stared into the air.

For a moment, he had completely cut himself off from the present.

Sorting out what was necessary within him before he could snap himself out of it.

The result? A sigh. A heavy one.

'What the heck is going on outside?' he thought.

His frown deepened. Lips tugging lightly at the side of his face.

The level of control he had lost in their operation was growing.

But he wasn't even sure by how much.

Not with the lack of information he had.

He could stipulate all he wants, but a proper conclusion won't be reached.

Only theories that were probably occurring.

The theories themselves were far from acceptable. Either of the two, of which both were negative for them.

'But it can't be the latter….' His thoughts screamed. 'It has to be the former.'

His gaze hardened.

'But that's impossible.' He shrugged his shoulders lightly.

'It's more than impossible. It comes with consequences, it can't be the former.'

He stood in place. Contemplating. Thinking.

Measuring.

They always did.

Always tried to solve it firsthand without first getting the visual information that they required.

It was a necessary part.

Before finally, doing what would actually reach an ending.

"Scared, are we?"

The words came as a dagger. Sharp. Awakening.

Nicho raised his head towards the source.

His gaze met Louis at a point.

They stared at each other.

Both have thoughts similar yet contradictory to the other.

A form of recalibration was needed.

How much could the other showcase without the need of mana, or in his case, Miasma?

A slight flicker in his expression.

His thoughts reached a consensus.

He didn't need the visual proof after all.

His thoughts rolled in. A hollow voice echoed in his head.

A finality in what he thought was the truth.

'Mila….is dead.'

No one else had the capability of disrupting mana and Miasma in the air.

Not even in the case that Morris uses a second or third transformation.

That couldn't occur.

But Mila dying? That made sense.

Because she wouldn't die without needing to cause permanent damage to the Academy.

Without needing to bring down her killers with her.

Someone as sharp and vigorous as her would rather die by her own hands than by others.

With that, he had an inkling of understanding of the situation.

A sigh escaped his lips as he pulled himself back to the present. Finally,

Done with his thoughts, he finally grasped the moment.

"You're mistaken, Louis La Teuer." He said with a crisp voice. Hollow and cracked.

Ruffia's face twitched as his voice rolled over her eardrums.

A slow flinch through her body. A cold down her spine.

It startled her. Visibly.

Shaking the fear that had begun to encroach on her heart.

She glanced at him for a moment.

Her thoughts reeled in.

'Something's wrong.' Then, turning away. 'I've never heard him sound like that.'

"How am I mistaken?" Louis asked. "Don't you see what is happening? Mana is gone….and from the looks of it."

His lips pulled into a grin. "So is Miasma."

Ciara blinked once and turned towards Louis.

Her thoughts snapped together.

'Miasma gone as well?'

She turned to Nicho. '....doesn't that mean….'

The realisation seeped in like needles through silk.

'....we can defeat him now.'

Satisfaction was gnawing its way into her body.

Flicks of a plan knitting itself together.

She had put the odds of their little venture into finding Mariam and the others at a low percentile.

But with this, a broader horizon was brought to her to work on.

There was a way. There could be a way.

She would find the missing children and escape before any more unforeseen events occur.

It was the borne of the Merlin household, and she clearly understood why.

'Events that have not been accounted for occurring on a day when you least expect it isn't luck or misfortune.'

Their motto played in her thoughts.

'It's simply bad planning.'

Magic may have been sealed for now, but Ciara had other means of protecting herself. Both defensive and offensive means.

All considerations towards the unforeseen.

She had learned once before how much it hurts to lose because of the least expected scenario occurring.

Therefore, it won't repeat itself.

With that in mind, she placed her hand over her fingers.

A silver ring shimmered beneath her palm.

Now, she waited.

Glancing at both sides. Nicho and Ruffia.

Anticipation was high on who would strike first.

The silence resumed.

Encroached only by their own breath.

Ruffia was especially breathy.

After all, she would be blind if she denied she couldn't feel the shift in the air.

The sudden presence that their captors seemed to have consumed in just a span of a moment.

Just because they were stripped of their main source of power.

She gulped at the thought.

The tension that hung in the air. The bloodlust they emitted in subtle amounts.

The air was crisp with it.

It sent goosebumps down her body.

A trial of electricity that ran down her spine.

It more than just startled her. It scared her.

Because in a room of giants, she was an ant.

'Fuck.' Her thoughts settled. 'I won't survive if I can't use magic.'

Her eyes shifted between Ciara and Louis.

'But they can't too…and Nicho's a lot more experienced in the field…right?'

The question pulsed, but an answer simply flickered out of existence. Unrequited.

Just then, something caught the peripheral of her vision, and with it was a fearsome reminder.

She turned to the source. Louis.

Her gaze narrowed to a slit. Observing. Watching.

They had been doing most of that at the moment.

Simply calculating their opponent's next move in a fair game.

A battle of fists and anything physical.

Or was it?

'The La Teuer household….do they require mana?'

The question came, and the response was immediate.

Because in a half second, her entire world came flipping round.

Blood erupted into the air like a fountain.

The world slowed in motion as her pupils dilated.

She felt a pull by her side. Hard. Firm.

And a sudden twist of pain that assaulted the opposite.

It came fast. Lightning fast.

But its effects lingered like venom.

It pierced through her side, reaching all the way to her head. Her heart. Her entire body.

Time resumed.

Her body whipped through the air as Nicho pulled her back, throwing her against the walls of the pipe with a groan.

His eyes glared at the assailant as she crashed with a powerful thud.

It caused a depression in the ironwork. A severe groan of the pipes was exuded with a loud cry.

Pain and energy escaped from her lips in a chokehold of a gasp as her body fell limply to the ground.

Her eyes lost colour, and her head tilted downwards.

Dead? Maybe.

Though, absolutely immobile.

She had no form of protection. No mana to shield her internal system, or a shield to cast.

Simply bone and flesh. A normal human.

That though, didn't stop the others.

Because immediately Louis attacked– All hell went loose.

Nicho charged at Louis with a burst of energy.

Profound muscle tension and control that increased his speed to inhumane amounts.

Not enough without mana, but enough to warrant carefulness.

He sent his odachi through the air.

A whistle of the blade slicing through molecules as it came into contact with the assassin's dagger.

A blade of steel iron. Black. Jagged and a hilt of red, like the colour of blood.

Louis groaned as their weapons struck with a metallic click.

A gust of wind spreads out in concentric circles. A small one. Subtle even, but still there.

The two males glared at each other with weapons held towards their throats.

Shielded against, only by their sword.

Ciara, who had been standing idle a moment ago, whipped her head to the side.

Clear realisation dawned on her.

'Murderous intent! The La Teuer household uses murderous intent.'

Physical manifestation of the energy wielded by an assassin.

It says the higher the number of kills, the thicker it gets and the stronger they become.

It was a power gained after killing at least a hundred pure human souls.

Their means of growth was psychological warfare from birth. A means to kill and not be killed.

Render and not be rendered.

That was how the La Teuer worked.

It was their code.

It was their persona.

It was their blood.

She stood in a bind for a moment, when Louis snapped her a glance. Lips sealed.

At that moment, their minds collided.

They didn't need words to communicate now, because it was already set in stone what came next.

Ciara nodded once and ran off.

Leaving the spacious compartment of the Pipelines, they entered the maze pathway that awaited them.

She had already mapped it out a long time ago.

Though it would take a little guessing and figuring out which was which without her mana.

Either way.

She was going to find Mariam.