Chapter 339: Total Reflect!
The heavy impact broke through Ouma's defense, and when he climbed up from the ground, a clearly visible fist mark had appeared on his body.
It was an injury caused by the combination of extreme heat and astonishing monstrous strength.
It pierced through his storm defense and branded a mark onto Ouma's body, which could only be called "abnormal."
The scorching pain stabbed into his bones, and the intense agony tormented his nerves.
Even though Ouma had undergone overloaded pressure training for years, he could not help clutching his chest in unbearable pain.
From the outside, it might have looked like nothing more than a fist mark.
But in reality, the inside of Ouma's body had already been completely eroded by the high temperature.
The extreme heat had invaded his body the instant that strike hit.
It burned his bones, scorched his nerves, and destroyed his flesh.
This kind of pain that burned from the inside out was not something an ordinary person could endure.
With only one strike, Ouma understood the result of this battle.
Even if he still had strength left.
Even if he could still fight.
The result would no longer change.
The effort he had accumulated until now was meaningless.
The girl who had transformed into a monster awakened the memory deep within Ouma's heart with pure violence.
This familiar sense of powerlessness made him recall the first setback and first defeat of his life.
Covered in blood, he had miserably sprawled on the ground, while those eyes looked down at him.
No matter how he struggled, it was all futile.
Tyrant simply sat there.
Sitting on that throne-like chair, without even needing to stand, he crushed Ouma's challenges again and again.
That despair, which he could never surpass even if he spent his entire life trying, was remembered once more.
At this moment, Stella seemed to overlap with the Tyrant of the past.
Fear.
That deep fear entrenched in the depths of his heart made Ouma tremble uncontrollably.
Even so, he still stood up again.
Feeling the fear that had finally been drawn out, Ouma revealed a twisted smile.
Then he drove his body with all his strength and charged toward Stella.
Toward that monster.
Toward his own fear.
…
Boom—!
Along with the sound of the ground shattering, the students of Akatsuki Academy and Hagun Academy clashed again.
After Ouma was stopped by the rampaging Stella, Akatsuki Academy lost its obvious trump card, and its combat power was greatly weakened.
Not only that, the reason Akatsuki Academy had been able to form a crushing advantage at first was because Ouma alone had held down Stella, Ikki, Touka, and Shizuku, the four strongest Blazers on Hagun's side.
And now that Ikki and the other two had been freed to join the battle, Hagun Academy's overall combat strength should have increased.
As one side declined and the other rose, the situation should have changed immediately.
At least, that was what everyone from Hagun had imagined.
However…
The side with the upper hand was still Akatsuki Academy!
Bang—!
Ikki forcibly stabilized himself after being knocked back, then immediately took a step backward and dodged the opponent's attack.
Boom—!
The ground was instantly smashed apart.
That destruction had been caused by a chainsaw, and that chainsaw was Unturning Tatara Yui's Device, Sweeping Centipede.
Every member of Akatsuki Academy was an elite.
And by elite, this did not mean elite students.
It meant elites of Rebellion.
Although they were not very old, each of them at least possessed strength above the level of a Seven Star Sword King.
Any one of them had enough ability to step forward and turn the tide.
And now, the one making a move was Unturning.
She did not have Ouma's relaxed and casual attitude from earlier, but she still managed to fight one against four.
Alone, she stopped four powerhouses: Ikki, Shizuku, Touka, and Kanata.
Of course, unlike Ouma, who had suppressed them through absolute strength, Tatara Yui did not rely on raw power.
Judging purely by strength, among the four people she had stopped, at least Ikki and Touka should have been able to defeat her easily.
However, relying on her ability, Tatara Yui successfully held the four of them down.
There was only one reason.
Their compatibility was too poor!
"Raikiri!"
Seizing the chance Ikki created, Touka did not hesitate at all and opened with her signature killing technique.
Golden lightning flashed and instantly slashed toward Tatara Yui.
However, facing this fatal strike, Tatara Yui showed no intention of dodging.
Bang—!
The Device Narukami struck Tatara Yui's body heavily.
And then, she was completely unharmed.
A massive impact force traveled back along the blade, directly destroying Touka's swinging posture.
Her experience was exactly the same as Ikki's just now.
Unturning Tatara Yui's ability was…
Reflection!
All attacks, whether physical or energy-based, would be reflected back in full as long as she could catch them.
It was an excellent ability, but it also had an obvious weakness.
As long as the attack was fast enough, or one used a sneak attack so the user could not notice it, the ability could be easily broken through.
Logically speaking, against speed-type opponents like Ikki and Touka, it should have been impossible for Tatara Yui to fight one against four.
However…
"Todo-senpai, did you notice it?"
Ikki stared at the petite girl before him with a grave expression.
"Yes… her reaction speed is far too abnormal."
The battle had not lasted long, only two or three exchanges.
But both Touka and Ikki had already noticed that something was wrong.
Facing alternating attacks from the four of them, the opponent's reactions were far too quick.
It was almost as though…
She had predicted them.
'Heh, this isn't prediction, you idiots!'
Tatara Yui wore a mocking smile on her face, seeing through Ikki and the others' thoughts at a glance.
After all, she had seen far too many people think the same thing.
Almost everyone who saw through her ability first reacted with this doubt.
But in reality, they were overthinking it.
The reason Tatara Yui could block so many attacks was purely because of experience and instinct.
Reflection-type abilities were actually not that rare.
Similar abilities had appeared many times before, and their weaknesses had already been thoroughly analyzed.
But in her hands, that weakness had been shrunk to the absolute limit.
Born into an assassin family, the education she had received since childhood was twisted.
In order to train her into an outstanding assassin, Tatara Yui's father had given her targeted "training" based on the weaknesses of her Reflection ability.
Although it was called "training," it was actually "assassination."
From the age of three, the words "peaceful sleep" disappeared from Tatara Yui's life.
Twenty-four hours a day, without interruption, endless assassination attempts continued in her life until now.
For more than ten years, she had experienced every kind of danger.
What she received in return was unparalleled dynamic vision, along with extremely strong attention and concentration.
That was right.
Although she could not keep up with Ikki's and Touka's speed, she could see, feel, or at the very least sense danger.
And her Noble Art, Total Reflect, could be activated as long as she noticed the attack.
Among Rebellion, which was filled with talented people, aside from the Twin-Wings sword that far exceeded ordinary understanding, there had yet to be an attack that could surpass Tatara Yui's reactions.
This ability with an obvious weakness had already been pushed by her to a level comparable to absolute defense.
Fighting one against four, she could not win.
But if it was only to buy time, then it was more than enough!
…
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