After admiring Lavinia's and Asia's outfits, Rod shared with Lavinia his idea of having a sparring session with her.
"Hmm… You want to train with me, Rod? But I feel like I might not be able to beat you," Lavinia said, tapping her lips thoughtfully with a finger.
She knew Rod's identity as the mysterious man with glasses, and she had also heard from Suzaku about a mysterious figure who had killed the Fallen Angel executive Satanael. Later, that same figure had entered her battlefield with Augusta and effortlessly eliminated the old witch.
So she believed she was no match for him.
"It's fine. I'll only use my Longinus. I won't use any other abilities or weapons."
After all, he was training to use the Incinerate Anthem, and since the system had never specified that it had to be used only in real combat, ordinary training should also help increase its progress.
"Huh? Then you might not be able to beat me. If you're only using the Longinus, are you sure you'll be okay?"
"We won't know until we try."
Hearing that, Rod immediately felt his blood heat up.
What man would admit he wasn't capable?
"All right, then pick a location. It's best if it's somewhere spacious, that way it'll be easier for me to set up a barrier."
"Eh? Mr. Rod and Sister Lavinia are going out? Can… can I come too?" Asia asked cautiously from the side.
"You can, but little Asia will have to stay and watch from the sidelines," Lavinia replied gently. "I'll set up a protective barrier for you."
"Thank you very much!"
…
Fifteen minutes later, Rod arrived at the outskirts of Kuoh Town with the two girls and the cat.
Although land in Japan was expensive, the forests surrounding Kuoh Town were surprisingly vast.
"This place should do."
Lavinia extended her slender hand, and a wand appeared in her grasp. She began chanting a complex incantation.
Moments later, a barrier that concealed presence, sound, and appearance covered an area with a radius of about one kilometer.
"This range should be enough. And you two…"
Murmuring to herself, she began another chant.
"Let the light of protection descend."
With a simple spell, two emerald glows appeared around Asia and Kuroka.
"There. As long as you stay at the edge, the aftermath of the battle won't affect you."
"Thank you, Sister Lavinia," Asia said with a gentle smile as she walked beneath a tree, holding the black cat in her arms.
"Meow!"
The cat waved a paw at Lavinia.
"Go, magician, go!"
Notably, Kuroka didn't say a word to Rod, clearly still holding a grudge over their earlier incident.
…
Lavinia and Rod stood ten meters apart.
"Are you sure you want me to fight at full strength? I feel like I can't bring myself to strike too hard against you," the girl said hesitantly after hearing Rod's request.
"It's fine. Even though this is training, it wouldn't mean anything if the intensity were too low. And while I won't use my other abilities, if I really find myself in danger, I'll dodge."
"All right then."
Lavinia nodded.
In the next moment, she raised her wand. A surging wave of magical power shook the atmosphere as magic circles nearly five meters in diameter appeared one after another in the sky.
Within less than a second, more than a hundred ice spikes shot out from the magic circles at incredible speed.
The frozen lances tore through the air, breaking the sound barrier instantly and reaching speeds exceeding a thousand meters per second in the blink of an eye.
Whoosh!
The piercing sound split the air. Rod's expression tightened. Instinctively, he almost activated Hyper Acceleration, but immediately stopped himself and instead summoned Incinerate Anthem.
A small purple cross appeared at once, forming a protective ring of violet flames around him before the ice spikes could reach their target.
The spikes melted from the intense heat before even touching the flames, but Lavinia had expected as much. She already knew from her battle with Augusta that simple ice magic could not compete with violet flames.
She quickly changed tactics. The color of her wand shifted, and instead of ice spikes, lightning and violent winds surged from the magic circles.
And that wasn't all.
Arrows of light, pure magical energy shells, and even torrents of water poured forth from one of the magic circles, flooding the area where Rod stood.
Rod remained within the ring of violet flames, watching Lavinia unleash magic as if mana cost nothing at all, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
At first, she had been hesitant about going all out, yet now she was using the same techniques she had used against Augusta on him.
He even noticed the faint smile on her lips.
This woman… was she smiling?
Could it be that her personality wasn't the absent-minded and slow type he had assumed, but actually a scheming one?
Was she secretly getting revenge for the advantage he had taken earlier that morning?
Under the bombardment of multi-element magic, the violet flame barrier began to waver. Rod could also feel his own energy rapidly draining.
Realizing he couldn't keep defending forever, Rod launched a counterattack. The violet flames instantly expanded outward, incinerating all incoming magical attacks.
The floodwaters evaporated in an instant, filling the air with thick steam that obscured both sides' vision.
But the steam was quickly burned away by the blazing flames, and a cross-shaped pillar of fire easily tore through the magic circles Lavinia had deployed.
Lavinia's expression grew serious. She did not underestimate him, though her eyes carried a hint of approval.
Ordinarily, someone who had just fused with a Longinus would not be able to unleash much of its power. However, before arriving in Kuoh Town, Rod had absorbed the souls of the three great Kyoto yokai, allowing him to skip the initial stage of weak Sacred Gear output.
Although doing so placed heavy demands on the user, Rod appeared to handle it with ease.
Lavinia's smile deepened as she became serious.
To deal with a Longinus, one naturally had to use a Longinus.
A boundless chill spread through the area without warning. Vast stretches of forest and land froze instantly, the soft soil transforming into solid permafrost. At the same time, a princess formed of pale blue ice appeared beside Lavinia.
With six azure eyes, four arms, and a height of nearly three meters, the figure stood imposing and silent.
Facing the incoming violet flames, Lavinia exhaled a breath of frosty mist. "Now I'm going to get serious, Rod."
In the next instant, a pale blue aura erupted from her body.
The temperature in the atmosphere plummeted like a rocket crash. Within the barrier, aside from the small area where Asia stood, the entire surroundings were covered in thick layers of ice.
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