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Chapter 70: Escape Once More

He repeatedly breathed into her mouth and lifted his lips, yet Magina showed no sign of life.

Ashura sweated anxiously, and when mouth-to-mouth failed he roughly unfastened Magina’s heavy armor.

He intended to compress her chest to restart her heart, but beneath the crimson plate she wore a close-fitting vest that looked suspiciously like the one she had once lent him.

Ashura had no time to ponder that and even less time to strip off the inner armor.

Ignoring the snowy peaks before him, he slid both hands into the valley between them and pressed repeatedly upon her ribcage.

After a few compressions he lowered his head to breathe into her again, cycling over and over.

At last, while Ashura’s lips were on hers once more, Magina slowly opened her tightly shut eyes.

The moment she awoke she saw that hateful fellow kissing her.

Magina’s eyes flew wide, her mind blank from lack of oxygen and her whole body limp.

Feeling a breath forced into her mouth, she watched the scoundrel straighten up and drive both hands beneath her vest to pump her chest again.

Just as the frantic Ashura drew in a deep breath and bent down for another rescue kiss, he found her staring at him in disbelief, and for a long moment their eyes locked.

Thick-skinned as ever, Ashura calmly withdrew the right hand that was still lodged between her breasts.

He coughed awkwardly and said, “Oh, you’re awake. Don’t get the wrong idea; you fell into the lake and I pulled you out. No need to thank me, it was just first aid…”

Before he finished, a crisp slap echoed through the woods; Ashura clutched his left cheek and glared resentfully at the half-sitting Magina.

Magina had not yet regained her strength; one hand propped her up while the other clutched her loosened vest to shield the springtime scenery spilling out.

Biting her lip, she glared icily at the cad who had molested her and hissed, “You tricked me into the water and while I was unconscious you… you kissed me and groped my chest, I… ”

Seeing that she was on the verge of tears, Ashura’s indignation faded, and just as he opened his mouth to explain, he sensed something and turned.

Two female students stood gaping at them, and for some reason they looked familiar; a bad feeling surged in Ashura’s chest.

Ashura was decisive; he sprang toward the pair at once.

He meant to restrain them first and explain later, but the girls shrieked at the murderous look on his face and bolted.

Ashura started after them, but when he saw many silhouettes rushing through the trees he groaned inwardly, “I’m doomed.”

He wheeled back to the dazed, crestfallen Magina.

He spoke rapidly: “I really was saving you, believe it or not. A crowd’s heading this way and those two girls may have heard who knows what. Fix your clothes quick… I’m out of here. We’ll talk later!”

With that he invoked Chasing Wind, Pursuing Thunder footwork and vanished after a few blurring steps into the forest, leaving Magina stunned and convinced he had made off after bullying her.

Yet when the roar of countless footfalls reached her ears, she hurriedly drew a warrior uniform from her storage ring and draped it over herself.

Soon 7 or 8 students appeared before her, the two female witnesses peeking out from behind a pair of male classmates.

They saw Magina drenched, hair dripping, wrapped in a warrior uniform, her face pale yet lips unnaturally red, and exchanged doubtful glances.

Without a word, Magina rose, intent on leaving.

A bolder boy stepped forward and asked, “Junior Magina, we heard a dark-haired punk tried something on you. Is it true? Don’t worry, we’ll seize him and let you deal with him!”

Magina halted, threw him a sideways glance, and spat a single frosty word: “Scram.”

She strode off without looking back, leaving the boy mortified while the two girls chirped excitedly, retelling the explosive scene.

The pair had been drawn by the sounds of fighting, and from afar they saw a boy lying atop a girl, apparently kissing her.

As they crept closer they heard a slap and the girl’s broken accusations about being tricked into the lake, about kisses and groping.

When they finally recognized the couple, they were stunned: the girl was Magina, one of the academy’s top 10 freshman beauties, half-reclining pitifully on the ground.

The boy shocked them even more… it was the same student Lan Yu had forcibly kissed here last time.

Indeed, they had witnessed the Lan Yu incident, and by sheer coincidence they had now seen the dark-haired boy kiss Magina as well.

Two sensational scandals, both starring the same male lead.

The crowd thickened; most of the male students gnashed their teeth and began scouring the area for the dark-haired culprit.

Only the two girls, flushed with excitement, recounted what they had seen and sworn oaths to prove they spoke the truth.

As the assembly grew, news that Magina had been forcibly kissed by a dark-haired boy swept through the academy like wildfire.

As for Ashura, he did not pause for breath; he sprinted out of the academy, cast a miserable glance back at its gate, mounted his dragon horse, and galloped toward Puro City.

The scandal’s heroine, meanwhile, skipped class at the training field for once; she hugged her knees on the bed, dazed, images of that jerk kissing her looping in her mind.

She gradually realized he had probably been trying to save her; the ache was between her breasts, and if he had meant to take advantage he would have touched somewhere else.

Still, the scoundrel had stolen a benefit; what should she do? Where had he run off to?

Would he deny it in the future? Would he hold a grudge over the slap?

Magina spent the whole day lost in such thoughts, and though her roommates were bursting with gossip none of them dared knock on her door.

That very day, when the rumor reached class 7’s Lan Yu at the training field, the blue-haired girl silently sought out Instructor Enge and demanded to spar with every boy in the class.

At first the boys were thrilled and lined up eagerly, but Lan Yu said coldly, “All at once.”

When the dismissal bell rang, a gang of bruised and battered boys crawled and rolled out of the training field.

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