Chapter 163: Dragon God Possession!
Meanwhile, after Shiro left, the battle continued before Hagun Academy's main gate.
Kurogane Ouma remained silent as he stared at the shattered sword in his hand.
"Ouma, can you still fight?"
Hiraga Reisen's voice sounded nearby, but Ouma did not seem to hear him at all.
'I lost again.'
That was the only thought left in his mind.
Even after forcing his body through an evolution, he had still been crushed with ease.
All the effort he had made until now suddenly seemed meaningless.
His body had not been tortured like it had during his battle against [Tyrant], yet his Device—the embodiment of his soul—had been shattered almost beyond recognition.
Powerlessness flooded his heart.
It dragged him back to the day when [Tyrant] had completely trampled him.
Back then, Tyrant had merely sat in a chair.
Ouma challenged him again.
And again.
Yet no matter how desperately he fought, no matter how recklessly he threw away his life, he could not accomplish something as simple as touching him.
That distance had only been five meters.
Ouma had spent five years trying to cross it.
But after being defeated by Shiro in only a few exchanges, he finally realized—Even after all these years, he had still failed to cross those five meters.
"Hey. Are you still fighting or not?"
A girl's clear voice pulled Ouma from his thoughts.
He raised his head.
The dark eyes beneath his bangs stared somewhat blankly at Stella.
She stood there gripping [Laevateinn] with both hands, looking at him with unmistakable excitement.
Ouma knew that look very well.
Whenever his swordsmanship had improved on the battlefield, he had probably worn the same expression.
Stella Vermillion.
A monster born with magical power far beyond ordinary humans.
She had originally been one of the opponents Ouma wanted to challenge.
But now—Was there even any point?
Ouma undoubtedly possessed talent far beyond normal people.
However, this world contained countless others who possessed extraordinary talent as well.
The Stella standing before him was even more gifted than he was.
And the place Ouma truly wanted to reach was the [Summit]—a realm accessible only to those who survived every trial and proved themselves worthy.
Yet reality had struck him down again and again.
It seemed to be telling him—Give up that childish dream.
Accept the glory appropriate for your talents.
If he abandoned everything and returned to the Kurogane Family, they could fulfill most of his desires.
His talent would be praised throughout the League.
Ouma clenched [Ryuuzume] so tightly that his palm nearly bled.
But—
He refused.
If he truly gave up on pursuing his dream, then at the end of his life, what awaited him would surely be endless regret.
So even once was enough.
Even if achieving it cost him his life—He would fulfill this single wish.
And he would begin by defeating the person standing before him.
Then, step by step, he would climb toward the summit again.
Storm winds once more wrapped around the nearly shattered blade of [Ryuuzume].
"[Empress Dress]!"
As though responding to Ouma's determination, flames wrapped around Stella's entire body as she advanced toward him.
The flames surrounding her approached three thousand degrees Celsius.
Against an ordinary opponent, forget fighting her—Simply approaching Stella would be enough to cause severe burns.
At least, that should have been the case.
Yet Ouma completely ignored the blazing heat surrounding her and stepped directly into the superheated winds generated around Stella's body.
Their blades collided faster than the naked eye could follow.
Then—
Boom—!
A deafening sound like an exploding artillery shell erupted from the point of impact.
The shockwave created by nothing more than their swords colliding blasted the surrounding rubble away.
Stella, who took the full force head-on, suffered even worse.
Her body was launched backward like a cannonball.
She bounced across the ground several times like a ball before finally managing to stop.
"Stella!"
"My, Raikiri. You should focus during a battle."
Touka tried to rush over to help, but the puppets controlled by Reisen tightly restrained her.
The other representatives were similarly occupied with their respective Akatsuki opponents.
For the moment, no one could spare a hand to help Stella.
Everyone anxiously watched the girl lying in the distance.
"Ow, ow, ow..."
Then Stella simply stood back up.
Everyone stared in astonishment.
A blow that would have left an ordinary Blazer severely injured had only scraped Stella's skin.
Aside from a few tears in her black stockings exposing some of her pale, full thighs, the only visible injuries were several shallow cuts along her arms.
Even more terrifying—Under everyone's shocked gaze, those wounds began healing at an astonishing rate.
Less than ten seconds had passed between Stella being launched away and standing back up.
Yet her body had already nearly returned to its previous condition.
"Tch. This is the first time I've ever lost this badly in pure strength."
Stella herself was extremely dissatisfied with the result.
Very few opponents she had encountered throughout her life dared to receive one of her swings head-on.
Even Shiro had mostly relied on technique during their previous sparring sessions.
Stella suspected that he simply had not needed to use much physical strength against her back then.
His physical abilities were probably still superior to hers.
Knowing that was one thing.
Being overwhelmed so cleanly still irritated her.
'He's practically a monster.'
That evaluation of Ouma naturally appeared in her mind.
Then she remembered how Shiro had nearly destroyed this monster's Device within only a few moves.
A bitter feeling rose inside her.
The roommate she lived with every day could casually deal with someone this monstrous.
In that case—She absolutely could not lose to him.
Stella raised [Laevateinn] high and poured an enormous amount of magic into it.
In the next instant, several massive fire dragons, each meters tall, emerged from the blade.
Flames surged toward the sky.
The air around Stella warped under the extreme heat, while the overwhelming light and temperature ignited pieces of wood nearby.
It was already threatening to develop into a forest fire.
This was the Noble Art that even Touka needed [Raikiri] to counter—[Dragon's Nest].
However, Touka's [Raikiri] could only destroy one fire dragon at a time.
Stella had summoned seven.
"Devour my enemy completely—[Dragon's Nest]!"
Seven blazing dragons attacked Ouma from different directions.
Their enormous jaws opened wide, ready to tear him apart.
"If this is all you can do, then this ends here."
Ouma spoke coldly.
No matter how powerful [Dragon's Nest] was or how much magic Stella poured into it, its fundamental nature remained unchanged.
It was still fire.
Ouma swung [Ryuuzume].
Endless winds erupted around him.
Then he gathered the surrounding storm entirely onto his blade and slashed toward the fire dragons.
Whoosh—
The seven dragons were instantly torn apart by the violent wind.
Their bodies scattered into fragments, leaving only glowing embers behind.
But Ouma's attack did not end there.
Powerful winds wrapped around his feet.
With astonishing mobility, he appeared directly before Stella.
Boom! Boom! Boom—!
Three slashes were unleashed so quickly they seemed simultaneous.
Unable to react in time, Stella barely managed to block the first.
Her body was launched hundreds of meters away once again.
"Cough... Cough... Damn it..."
Pain engulfed Stella.
Her organs felt as though they were being burned by molten lava.
Using her sword as support, she slowly forced herself back to her feet.
After taking two of Ouma's slashes head-on, her physical condition was deteriorating at a frightening rate.
Launching another powerful attack like the previous one was now nearly impossible.
If anything, the unbelievable part was that Stella could still stand after receiving two direct attacks from Ouma.
"Tch... So I really have to use that..."
Stella spat out the blood in her mouth and muttered unhappily.
Shiro and the instructors had gone through so much trouble to create such a perfect training opportunity for her.
She had wanted to use it to improve properly.
Yet after only a few exchanges, she had already been defeated.
Still—
It no longer mattered.
One day, she would surpass every last one of them.
"Hey, Ikki's brother."
"Be careful."
"Try not to accidentally die from what comes next."
Having made her decision, Stella shouted toward Ouma in the distance.
The instant he heard those words, Ouma's eyes flickered.
For some reason, Stella suddenly seemed like an entirely different person.
The difference was not physical.
It was her presence.
Confidence?
No.
That word was too mild.
Arrogance suited it far better.
'Is she finally awakening?'
'Then show me.'
'Let me see what kind of fate you carry!'
Ouma's fighting spirit reached its peak.
[Ryuuzume] trembled faintly in his hand as though responding to its master.
Under Ouma's gaze, Stella raised [Laevateinn] high above her head.
Then—She drove it directly into her own chest.
At that instant, everyone felt something deeply abnormal.
It was like standing alone in a primeval forest and suddenly realizing that some terrifying predator had locked its gaze onto you.
A single wrong move could mean death.
The scorching heat and blinding crimson light immediately revealed the source of that sensation.
Then, from the center of the storm of light, a roar resembling that of an ancient dragon shook the battlefield.
"[Dragon God Possession]!"
(PS: Dragon God Possession sounds more interesting than Dragon Spirit.)
...
Clang—!
Boom—!
Clang—!
Boom—!
Across an open plain, two white figures continuously danced.
Calling it a dance was not entirely accurate.
They were fighting.
Yet the two moved with such extraordinary elegance that they resembled dancers crossing a ballroom floor.
Not the slightest sound accompanied their movements.
If anyone had been present to witness the scene, they might have instinctively held their breath for fear of disturbing those two gracefully dancing figures.
But unlike dancers deliberately softening their steps for elegance, this silence was proof that both combatants were fighting at full strength.
Not even the slightest unnecessary vibration escaped.
Every trace of power was focused entirely into the blades in their hands.
Clang—!
Boom—!
The quieter their movements became, the more violent each collision sounded.
Whenever their swords met, the earth beneath them trembled.
Only a few minutes earlier, this place had been an isolated mountain range.
Now—
There was barely any trace of the mountains left.
Countless vacuum fractures covered the surrounding landscape.
Only scattered fragments of wood and flattened pieces of stone beneath their feet proved that mountains had ever existed there.
"You've gotten stronger again..."
After once again blocking Edelweiss's attack using the same swordsmanship, Shiro praised the white Valkyrie before him.
They had been apart for less than a year.
Yet Edelweiss had already refined her swordsmanship even further.
Previously, Shiro could exploit the unusual nature of his ability to steadily wear down her magic.
But during this battle, Edelweiss's swords separated from his the instant they made contact.
She never left them touching long enough for him to drain her magic.
The greatest strength of Twin-Wings Sword Style was its flexibility.
Its ability to transition instantly from absolute stillness to maximum speed allowed the style to respond freely to almost any situation.
And Edelweiss, its creator, exploited that flexibility to the extreme through the unique characteristics of her twin swords.
Compared to Edelweiss, Shiro's advantage came from the physical abilities granted by his Falna.
But Edelweiss simply refused to give him an opportunity to use that advantage.
Whenever Shiro swung his sword, Edelweiss's second blade would immediately change its angle in midair and slash toward him.
He would be forced to abandon his attack to defend himself.
As a result, Edelweiss constantly maintained the initiative.
Even when Shiro repeatedly teleported around her using his ability, he could only seize control for several seconds.
The instant he actually launched an attack, Edelweiss would rapidly reclaim the initiative.
The fight gradually transformed into a battle of endurance.
Both were waiting for the other to reveal an opening.
With Shiro's Level 5 physical abilities, Edelweiss would undoubtedly exhaust herself before he did if they continued this way.
But that was not the victory he wanted.
What Shiro wanted—Was to completely shatter the mask that the fear of everyone in this world had forced Edelweiss to wear.
After another collision, Shiro deliberately widened the distance between them.
He adjusted his posture slightly.
His right hand pulled the sword back beside his body like an arrow drawn upon a bowstring.
His center of gravity shifted backward.
Then his right foot slammed into the ground.
Using the rotation of his waist to propel his body forward, he drove his left leg ahead in an enormous stride.
At the same time, his entire body launched forward and the sword in his right hand thrust straight ahead.
It was one of the most common thrusting movements seen in games.
Normally, the safest way to perform a thrust was to take only a single step.
That way, whether the next movement was an attack or defense, there would always be room to adjust.
But Shiro did not do that.
Just like Touka's [Takemikazuchi], he treated his entire body like a projectile and fired himself forward.
Even after leaving the ground, he continued using [Unbound] to increase his flight speed.
Without question, it was a foolish method of attacking.
Against an opponent of Edelweiss's level, such a reckless charge was practically offering her an opening.
She could stop Shiro in midair with one sword.
Then, once his momentum vanished and his body was exposed, her second blade could cut him down.
Of course—
All of that depended on whether she could actually stop him.
Not far away, Edelweiss frowned.
Her gray eyes carefully watched the white figure rapidly approaching her.
She did not believe Shiro would make a suicidal attack like this without reason.
He had to be relying on something.
But before she could discover what that "something" was, Shiro had already reached her.
Left with no time, Edelweiss decided to stop him first and respond to whatever followed afterward.
With the speed of Twin-Wings Sword Style, she could immediately react to anything Shiro attempted once his charge was halted.
However—The moment she raised her sword, something strange happened.
Shiro's body was not stopped in midair.
He continued forward at exactly the same speed, his blade aimed toward her left shoulder.
'He missed?'
The thought flashed through Edelweiss's mind.
She instantly adjusted her sword's trajectory.
But it still did nothing.
The tip of her pitch-black blade, resembling a raven's wing, somehow overlapped with Shiro's sword.
'It passed through?!'
The instant Edelweiss realized what had happened—Shiro's blade had already reached her shoulder.
Slash—!
Blood burst across Edelweiss's doll-like, flawless white shoulder.
…
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