ROSES HAVE THORNS-Chapter 75 - Kurt VS The Villainess

"Get out of my way..." Kiana gripped her staff tightly as she stared down at Kurt.

"Now now Kiana." Emelie floated down and landed next to him. "What are you doing telling the enemy to make way for you? You know that that’s not how we things in a 2v2, it’s pathetic. Your brother picked his fight and lost."

*Tsk* "Emelie... It’s you... It’s always because of you that Junior never pays attention to me–!"

"Easy princess, haha. Your opponent isn’t me. It’s Kurt, remember~" She jumped and flew backwards towards the unconscious prince.

"You’re not gonna help me deal with her?" Kurt asked Emelie.

"No. Besides, fighting with Junior has exhausted too much of my mana. If I really wanted to I could but I’d prefer to watch you in action. Oh, but don’t worry. If it means anything to, I will be cheering for you from back here."

"Greeeaaat. How supportive of you." Kurt fixed his attention back on Kiana.

"Are you two finally done chit-chatting? Cause I’ve just about lost all my patience."

"You were actually waiting for us? As expected of royalty. Very magnanimous of you."

"Only because I don’t want you complaining to me that I beat you when you were caught off guard. But I suspect that you will be crying about the result of this fight either way, like the criminal you are."

"You really have to stop calling me that. You don’t want to disappoint daddy with your wrongful accusations now do you? I even stopped calling you Princess Bubblegum-Head."

*Grrr!* "Just die already!"

Clang!

Kurt deflected the oncoming spike of ice with his knives and gave his hands a little shake.

"It’s always the same two moves with you. You better switch things up or everybody here will witness their poor little princess getting spanked~"

[LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IT WOULD SEEM THAT THIS FIGHT WILL BECOME A 1V1. KURT VERSUS PRINCESS KIANAAAA! AND WITH THAT, A NEW BETTING EVENT!

THE TAGS THAT YOU RECEIVED FROM THE BETTING BOOTH HAS BE UPDATED, COURTESY OF THE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT OF FUTURE ACADEMY, AMBER STRONGWIIIIILLL! SO PLEASE, IF YOU FEEL SO INCLINED, MAKE YOUR BETS AND CHOOSE YOUR SIIIIDE!!!]

"It’s definitely the princess!"

"Hello, have we been watching the same fight! Didn’t you see how easily that one eye has been handling himself!"

"That parry was pretty sick! My coins are on him!"

"What a disgrace you all are! Supporting a random person over our princess!"

While the crowd was arguing, cheering and betting, Emelie felt a little tap on shoulder.

"Hi Emelie."

"Hm? Oh, Gary... and Austin..." Her eyes sharpened when she saw him in particular. "What are you two doing here?"

"Austin said he wanted to come by and cheer you on, isn’t that right?"

"Fucking Gary– Ehm! Errr! Y-Yes! H-Hi Emelie! Good job on beating Junior. Y-You were awesome, hahaha..." Austin blushed once he was put on the spot.

"W-Who do you think is gonna win between the villainess– I MEAN! Between Princess Kiana and erm... Kurt, was it?"

"Hm." Emelie, looking totally disinterested in Austin, picked up Junior using her telekinetic magic and walked away from them.

"Pfffthaha! Smooth one, Austin." Gary wiped the tears from his eyes. "Was this one of those ’flags’ you mentioned? Has she fallen for you yet?"

"S-Shut up..."

CLANG!

SHATTER!

’Looks like the enhancing magic plus adaption skill is kicking in. Dodging and breaking her ice feels like a walk in the park now. It’s about time I end this.’

When Kiana shot another ice spike at him, Kurt skillfully raised his hands and, by enhancing his arms, redirected the ice using its momentum to throw it back at her.

"Oh no–!" She quickly summoned an ice wall to defend herself.

CLASH!

"That’s not all!" Kurt yelled as he came running and finally closed the distance. "Now break!"

SHATTER!

He punched through the ice wall causing it to break down and reveal a vulnerable Kiana.

"Hi princess." Kurt smiled, "And goodbye!" He switched the blades into its brass knuckle form and swinged right at her face.

However, instead of looking fearful, she smiled.

’What? What’s with that look? Was she waiting for me?’

Despite his doubts, he still went in for the punch... which connected to her face with a thunderous,

CRACK! Her head moved slightly backwards at the impact.

’Crack? Cheeks don’t crack.’ Kurt tried moving his hand away from her, but to his dismay, he couldn’t.

"...he...hehehe." Kiana slowly turned her head towards him. And when he saw her, it all made sense as to why he heard and felt what he did.

"So, you can even do that, huh? Not bad, Princess."

Her entire face was covered in a protective layer of ice which gripped on his hand like a vice.

"I finally got you." She whispered as her cool breath hit his face.

She then grabbed his wrist and began to spread her ice across his arm and all over his body.

"Oh hell no." Kurt tried to knee her in her stomach but instead,

Crack!

His leg got trapped inside the voice of her abdomen.

"Die, you persistent roach. When I’m finished with you, that bitch Emelie will be next and soon, when she’s out of the picture, Junior will finally forget about her and be all mine."

’Shit! It’s spreading too fast!’ Panic started to surface from Kurt as his whole arm and leg were now completely encapsulated in ice.

"Are you just going to keep watching while your partner gets completely frozen to death, huh Emelie!?" Kiana screamed at her.

And true to what Kiana said, Emelie just kept watching with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"... Is she really going to do nothing?"

"C’mon Emelie, move! My money’s on the line here!"

"Heh! I told you that no one can beat our princess!"

"Damn, looks like I just lost part of this bet. But we all know that Emelie’s going to beat the princess after this."

"Yeah. She’s just standing there and recovering her mana while the princess is using up all hers."

The ice had now covered Kurt’s whole body and was approaching his neck.

"Hehehe. Sorry Kurt, it seems that Emelie still cares about no one but herself. Oh well. Sucks to be you, I guess. Farewe– Hm?" Kiana noticed that the ice had stopped moving.

Or rather than stop moving, it struggled to reach any further and was being pushed back.

"It’s about time Kurt." Emelie snickered.

"Sorry about that. I was honestly quite worried my skill wouldn’t activate in time. However, luckily for me, my body recognised this ice from before and decided to make some... adjustments, in case I find myself in a situation like this.

And what do you know?" Kurt smirked and,

SHATTER!

He freed both of his legs and arms.

"W-What is happening!? Why aren’t you freezing!?" Kiana tried casting her magic onto him again, but the ice would just keep breaking off even without the assistance from Kurt himself.

"Why is your skin so pale!? This isn’t supposed to happen!"

"Let’s just say I’ve... Haaaaa." Kurt let out an ice-cold breath of his own. "Adapted to the situation."

"Argh. How corny." Emelie shook her head.

"Nnrraagh!" Kurt punched her again and this time it went straight through her icy protective layer and landed square on her cheek, sending her tumbling back against the ground.

[WHHOOOOAAA!!! LADIES AND GENTLEMEEEN!! A BIIIG COUNTER FROM KURT HAS SENT THE PRINCESS FLYING BACK! WILL SHE GET UP FROM THIS OR NOT!? LET’S FIND OUT!]

"How could he hit a lady like that!?"

"Are you kidding me! She was going to kill him first!"

"But still! She’s the princess!"

"And this is a battle! Suck it up or piss off if you’re gonna whine!"

"Damn, Princess Kiana really took the full brunt of that attack, huh Austin?"

"How dare that fucker hit my waifu like that... I swear I’ll make him pay!"

"Waifu? Oh, Austin. You and your silly little terms..."

Emelie flew next to Kurt and tapped him on the back. "So, you got one good shot on her. You think it’s over?" She asked him.

"Hmm. I don’t know. Something didn’t feel right. Huh? Look!"

[AND SHE STANDS BACK UP AGAIN! AS EXPECTED OF A DOROTHYYYY!]

"Let’s gooo!"

"I knew you could do it, Princess!"

"Dammit! Hey Kurt, finish the job properly so I can go home rich!"

"Hehehe. I didn’t want to have to use this technique against you since I was saving it for Emelie. But you’ve really pissed me off..." The air around Kiana had started to change and her once deep blue hair was now turning snow white.

’What the! She learnt this technique already! But it’s still a couple years too early!’ Emelie stared at Kiana wide-eyed as the grass below them all turned to ice.

"What’s wrong, Emy? You’re looking freaked out."

"Shit, this isn’t good Kurt! I can’t give the full details right now but long story short is that Kiana is currently turning in berserk mode. She’s unable to control her magic in that state and will potentially, no, definitely hurt innocent people without realising!"

"That’s not good. How do we stop her?"

"Simple. You’re gonna have to knock her unconscious."

"Me!? What about you?!"

"I’m gonna stay back and protect anybody that gets caught in the crossfire. Unless you want to switch roles with me?"

Kurt looked at all the people around and back to Kiana. He then took a deep breath and let it out slowly when he came to his decision.

"No. That’s too many people for me. I’ll handle the princess; you take care of them. Besides, I’ve gotten used to her ice."

"Heh. Smart man." Emelie flew back and spread out her arms to create a telekinetic barrier around the makeshift arena.

"Alright Princess Kiana." Kurt put away his knives and drew Silent Night from its sheath. "Get ready for the next battle."