Chapter 254: Drifting Down with the Wind...
"Ayatsuji Kaito is indeed my father... W-Why would you know that?"
Ayatsuji Ayase looked at Ikki in surprise.
Ayatsuji Kaito, he was a swordsmanship genius known as the 'Last Samurai'.
He had won championships in every swordsmanship tournament held in the country, making him the absolute master swordsman of the generation here in Japan.
However, because Ayatsuji Kaito himself was not a Blazer, his fame was not particularly great.
In the current world where Blazers reign supreme, unfortunately, only those who similarly practice swordsmanship would know of this master swordsman.
Although Ayatsuji Ayase was the daughter of a master swordsman, she was rarely, if ever, recognized by anyone in her daily life.
That was why she was so surprised when Ikki called out her father's name.
"I could tell that Ayatsuji-senpai has extraordinary swordsmanship achievement, and combined with the fact that senpai's surname is also 'Ayatsuji'..."
"But I still didn't expect Kaito-san to actually have a descendant, and that she would be a senpai at the same school."
After confirming that Ayatsuji Ayase was Kaito-san's daughter, Ikki immediately became excited.
"When I was young, I often watched Kaito-san's match recordings to learn swordsmanship, and during my middle school days, I even ran straight to his dojo to request a challenge."
"Well... but I was then rejected by him..."
"He said that it was because he didn't engage in such unofficial matches."
"But I'm still happy! To actually be able to meet Kaito-san's daughter."
"Is he doing well now? I haven't heard much news about him recently, I wonder how he is doing now?"
Ikki asked, endlessly excited.
But the moment Ayatsuji Ayase heard Ikki's question, her expression became somewhat gloomy.
"...My father encountered an accident during a match... He is currently hospitalized."
"Uh... ah... S-Sorry, I asked a rather bad question."
"It's alright. For someone as amazing as Kurogane-kun to also admire my father... to be honest, I'm very happy."
"Moreover, the reason why I s-stalked Kurogane-kun is also somewhat related to my father's hospitalization..."
...
Clang——!
The sound of the Starfall Sword and the iron fan colliding rang out once again.
However, this time, Luke did not give Nene the chance to borrow the force to retreat.
The scabbard in his left hand drew an arc and smashed fiercely toward Nene's waist.
Hiten-Mitsurugi-Ryu: Soryusen!
However, unfortunately...
Clang——!
An iron fan exactly identical to the one in her left hand appeared in Nene's right hand and blocked his attack.
Subsequently, she exerted force with her legs, intending to once again open up the distance between herself and the boy.
However, Luke's attack wasn't over yet!
The Starfall Sword instantly returned to its sheath at extremely high speed.
Vmm——!
A violent explosive screech suddenly blasted out, making Nene's figure jolt to a sudden halt mid-retreat.
Luke naturally wouldn't miss this fleeting opportunity.
Taking his stance accompanied by the Ryumeisen from just now, he instantly vanished from his spot!
Even without using magic power and Prana for reinforcement, relying solely on his terrifying physical attributes, Luke still pushed this strike into the realm of invisibility while bearing massive gravity.
Secret Technique: Amakakeru-Ryu-no-Hirameki!
Whoosh——!
The sword light flashed instantly.
Nene, whose balance had been broken due to the interference of Ryumeisen, was already too late to dodge this god-speed strike!
In the instant it seemed Luke was about to succeed...
Boom——!
A suddenly increased gravity pressed down onto his body.
The blade of the Starfall Sword directly dropped down and chopped into the ground at a position less than two or three centimeters away from Nene's waist sash.
Bang——!
The sword technique bombarding the ground kicked up countless pieces of crushed stone and dust.
And Nene also took advantage of Luke's pause to quickly open up some distance.
"...This counts as a foul, right."
Luke felt the sudden increase in gravity on his body.
This degree had already exceeded the level the two of them had agreed upon before the training began.
"Wow... You scared me to death... I really almost got slashed by you..."
"Hm? A foul? I didn't commit a foul at all!"
"We only agreed to add gravity restriction to the body, there was no rule saying I couldn't temporarily increase the gravity multiplier, right?"
"During training, the gravity multiplier is to be adjusted by me, the teacher, according to your body's condition. This was one of Kuro-chan's requirements when she agreed to let you undergo gravity training, right~"
"My oh my~ Lukkun, you are truly too strong! I believe you are already qualified to have the gravity multiplier increased~"
"Hehe, how is it, aren't you very grateful to me~"
Looking at her smug appearance, Luke did not get angry.
He had guessed something like this would happen long ago, and besides, he originally didn't have much of a desire to yank off her waist sash.
As long as the training effect could be achieved, it didn't matter where the target was set; the waist sash was merely requested by Nene out of bad taste.
However, not getting angry was one thing, but being toyed with would never make one feel too good.
Even if the other party had no malicious intent and it was just a bad joke, he still felt somewhat displeased.
Furthermore, Luke's competitiveness in this regard was quite high.
Nene's 'you can't possibly touch my waist sash' expression gradually roused his interest.
Indeed, from a head-on approach under the current conditions, Luke simply had no way to deal with Nene.
However, this didn't mean he was truly out of options.
"So, as long as I don't use magic to reinforce my body, anything else isn't considered a foul, right."
Luke slowly adapted to the new gravity environment, and his body gradually began to regain its agility.
Nene waved the iron fan in her hand and said smugly, "Hmph hmph, I know what you're thinking."
"You want to use your ability to deal with me, right."
"I recall your ability is something like 'Starlight'?"
"If you want to use it, then use it. I'd like to see what kind of tricks you've managed to develop."
Nene was extremely poor at magic power control.
Her attribute evaluations were almost entirely A-Rank; the only one that wasn't an A-Rank evaluation was her E-Rank magic control.
Because of this, she wasn't considered adept at perception-type abilities.
To make up for this shortcoming, she deeply developed her own ability.
As long as it was within the envelopment range of her gravity, any magic fluctuation would be perceived by her, so she wasn't the least bit worried about the boy's ability.
The gravity field was a prerequisite for the training. Under the premise of not destroying the training itself, Nene didn't think Luke had any way of touching her.
However, looking at Luke's half-smiling expression, Nene felt some bad premonitions in her heart. Just in case, she added a sentence.
"Let me say this first: you must take the waist sash off my body for it to count. Conjuring up some specks of light and sprinkling them on me won't count."
After listening to Nene's words, Luke smiled at her and said:
"Then I won't hold back."
At the same time, a small hand composed of starlight quietly turned from illusion to reality behind Nene.
The very moment Nene noticed something was wrong, it had already touched her kimono's waist sash.
Followed immediately by a forceful yank!
Whoosh——!
The next instant, the waist sash drifted down with the wind...