Tsuna stood alone against Alfia.
"W-Will Master Tsunayoshi be alright…?" Lefiya asked nervously.
"Who knows. Even when she was alive, Alfia was an unparalleled prodigy. And for some inexplicable reason, she has actually [Ranked Up]," Riveria answered grimly, glancing over at the critically injured Freya Familia executives currently being treated by the healers.
"To think an untouchable monster like her managed to [Rank Up]…" Gareth groaned, rubbing his temples.
"Just remembering those days makes my head ache…" Finn sighed heavily.
Having been repeatedly beaten to a pulp by Alfia in the past, Finn and Gareth were already mentally exhausted just thinking about her.
"Don't worry about it," Reborn said casually. "It's true she seems to be a freakish prodigy, but when it comes to raw potential, Tsuna isn't going to lose to anyone."
─────
Tsuna touched down in a desolate, ruined section of the battlefield with Alfia.
"Before we fight, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"I want to know about the person pulling the strings behind your resurrection."
"…What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb. You were recreated from a piece of your corpse, weren't you?"
"!?"
"I knew it."
Hearing Tsuna accurately describe the exact method of her resurrection, Alfia couldn't hide her shock. Seeing her reaction, Tsuna's suspicion solidified into absolute certainty.
"…How do you know about that? Are you her comrade?"
"No. I want to capture her. If we leave her alone, she's going to throw this entire world into chaos. Tell me where she is."
"I refuse."
"What?"
"You call yourself an adventurer. Do not expect to acquire valuable information without paying the price. If you want it so badly, try forcing it out of me."
"…I guess I have no choice."
Realizing she wasn't going to hand over the information peacefully, Tsuna shifted into a combat stance.
She truly lives up to her reputation as a dependent of the strongest Familia in history… Just from the sheer, suffocating pressure radiating from her stance, Tsuna instantly realized that Alfia was, without a doubt, the strongest adventurer he had ever faced in Orario.
"[X-Burner]."
Aiming his left palm behind him to stabilize his footing, Tsuna aimed his right palm forward and unleashed a massive, concentrated blast of Sky Flames directly at Alfia without holding back.
"[Gospel]."
Without showing a hint of panic, Alfia chanted softly, generating a sonic shockwave that perfectly neutralized the incoming inferno.
Sound magic… The chant is incredibly short, but the power is devastating. This is going to be a pain.He fires flames backward to anchor himself, allowing him to unleash a highly destructive blast from the front… And he clearly held back on that shot… How troublesome. In that single exchange, both fighters instantly analyzed the other's capabilities and recognized just how dangerous their opponent truly was.
And I can't use Zero Point Breakthrough to absorb it… Tsuna possessed the skill [Zero Point Breakthrough: Revised], which allowed him to absorb his opponent's magic and convert it into his own power. However, the technique carried a severe risk.
To use [Zero Point Breakthrough: Revised], Tsuna had to shift his Flames from a 'positive' state of Dying Will into a 'negative' state to absorb the incoming energy. A 'negative' state meant forcibly draining his own life force, putting himself in an incredibly vulnerable, dangerous condition. If he mistimed the absorption and took the hit while in that negative state, the damage would be catastrophic.
Alfia's magic utilized sound. Because sound was completely invisible, perfectly timing the absorption was practically impossible. Taking a direct hit from a spell of that caliber while in a negative state would guarantee a fatal wound, if not instant death.
Judging that attempting to absorb her magic was far too suicidal, Tsuna discarded the option entirely. Instead, he decided to charge her head-on to force an opening.
"[Rugio]."
Alfia chanted again, remotely detonating the residual sound magic lingering in the air.
"!?"
Suddenly, Tsuna materialized directly behind her, driving a swift palm strike toward her back. Though surprised he had slipped behind her, Alfia calmly raised her left arm to block.
A feint. Realizing there was absolutely no kinetic force behind the strike, Alfia instantly recognized it as a decoy. Knowing his true attack was coming, she opened her mouth to chant a counter-spell.
It was then.
"Wha—!?"
Without Tsuna making a single visible movement, a massive, invisible force violently blasted Alfia away.
"[X-Rifle]."
Tsuna instantly switched his flames from Sky to Sun. Aiming his palm at the airborne Alfia, he fired a rapid volley of Sun Flame bullets.
However, mid-flight, Alfia snatched a discarded Rakian broadsword from the dirt. Despite the Sun Flame's Activation trait accelerating the bullets to breakneck speeds, she flawlessly sliced the projectiles out of the air.
She can use a sword too…? ─────
Reborn's Group.
"She got blown away!? Why!?"
Unable to comprehend how Tsuna had launched Alfia without moving, Tiona yelled in confusion.
"That was a One-Inch Punch," Reborn answered.
"A One-Inch Punch…?" Ais asked, tilting her head.
"It's a martial arts technique that delivers a devastating strike from point-blank range without any wind-up or telegraphing."
To demonstrate, Reborn picked up a small rock, placed it in his palm, and subtly shifted his weight. The rock instantly shattered into dust.
"By completely relaxing your body, you can instantly focus your entire kinetic energy into a single point and drive the force directly into the target."
"I've never heard of anything like that…"
Even Tione, a seasoned hand-to-hand combat specialist, was deeply impressed by the mechanical principles behind the One-Inch Punch.
Tsuna had used the initial palm strike as a feint, tricking Alfia into believing his right hand was harmless, perfectly baiting her into dropping her guard against it.
"Still, to actually figure out how to use a One-Inch Punch purely on instinct is terrifying."
"…What do you mean, 'purely on instinct'?" Ottar asked, his eyes narrowing at Reborn's phrasing.
"For whatever reason, Tsuna's bloodline possesses an absolute precognitive ability called Hyper Intuition. He didn't know how to use a One-Inch Punch before this. He quite literally figured out the exact physical mechanics needed to deal damage without a wind-up entirely on instinct, right in the middle of the fight."
"What…!?"
So that is what happened… Ottar was completely stunned to learn that Tsuna hadn't practiced the technique, but had simply invented it on the fly during a life-or-death battle. Bete, listening in, finally understood how Tsuna was able to constantly pull new, devastating techniques out of thin air during their expedition.
So it's a congenital trait, just like my magic… Finn, who already knew Tsuna possessed some form of precognition, was still surprised to learn it was a genetic bloodline trait rather than a Falna Skill, much like his own aching thumb.
─────
Tsuna & Alfia.
Her sword skills are even better than Ais's or Ottar's… A storm of blindingly fast slashes rained down on Tsuna, forcing him to weave through the deadly steel by a paper-thin margin.
Mages were almost universally expected to act as rearguard support. Yet Alfia was not only a master of hand-to-hand combat, but her swordsmanship had reached the absolute pinnacle of mastery.
Tsuna ducked under a lethal thrust. In the same fluid motion, he drove a heavy palm strike into the flat of her blade, violently altering its trajectory and shattering the cheap Rakian steel into pieces.
"!?"
Alfia instantly retaliated, driving a left-handed palm strike directly into Tsuna's right arm. Tsuna braced for the impact, but immediately noticed there was no force behind the blow. A fraction of a second later, a massive, delayed kinetic shockwave violently blasted him backward.
This is…!? Tsuna was utterly shocked to realize Alfia had just perfectly replicated the One-Inch Punch he had used on her moments ago.
Tossing the broken hilt aside, Alfia dashed forward, effortlessly keeping pace with the airborne Tsuna. To guarantee her magic connected, she reached out with her right hand to grab his left leg.
"[X-Blast]."
"!?"
Before Alfia could even begin her chant, Tsuna violently clapped his hands together. A thunderous explosion echoed between them, and the resulting shockwave blasted Alfia away for a second time.
This sensation… It's exactly like my magic…!? Tumbling through the air, Alfia instantly recognized that the attack was fundamentally identical to her own sound-based magic.
Sound was simply the vibration of air. By clapping his hands to generate a shockwave and instantly amplifying the vibration using the Sun Flame's Activation trait, Tsuna had artificially created a sonic detonation. While it couldn't match the apocalyptic power of Alfia's true magic, the concussive force was more than enough to blow her away.
"To think you would mimic my magic (noise)… How utterly infuriating."
"Right back at you. You just copied my attack, didn't you?"
"I have a habit of perfectly replicating any technique I see once."
"I see. I guess you really are a monster."
Having flawlessly copied each other's attacks mid-battle, both fighters were genuinely stunned by the other's terrifying potential, silently acknowledging their opponent's genius.
Even so, to completely figure out the mechanics of my two-stage magic after seeing it just once… He possesses an intuition similar to that Pallum… No, his is a far superior, evolved version. What shocked Alfia the most was that Tsuna had perfectly evaded her two-stage trap on his very first attempt. She immediately realized that his ability to see through her magic wasn't just a result of high combat sense; he possessed a precognitive ability far beyond anything she had ever encountered.
And those flames. It seems they are not magic at all. [Silentium Eden] was an absolute anti-magic barrier. Despite landing a direct hit on Tsuna earlier, his flames hadn't flickered or vanished. Alfia, having never encountered a supernatural power outside of magic, had just successfully converted the unknown into the known.
Because she was a peerless mage, Alfia had noticed from the very beginning that Tsuna didn't possess a single drop of mana. However, considering the possibility that he was using a rare Skill to completely mask his magical signature, she had kept her anti-magic barrier active just in case.
Keeping this armor active is pointless. Confirming that Tsuna's flames were entirely immune to anti-magic, Alfia immediately deactivated [Silentium Eden].
The moment the barrier fell, a terrifying, storm-like vortex of mana erupted from her body. The sheer pressure was so intense Tsuna instinctively raised his arms to shield his face.
"[Gospel] ────── [Satanas Verion]."
"!?"
The instant she dropped the enchantment, Alfia chanted her spell. Despite using the exact same incantation, the apocalyptic destructive power behind the sonic blast had multiplied exponentially.
[Silentium Eden] was an invincible defensive spell, but it possessed a single, massive drawback: the anti-magic effect applied not only to her enemies but to herself as well. While the barrier was active, the power of her own offensive magic was severely nerfed. Conversely, dropping the barrier meant Alfia was finally unleashing her true, unbridled power.
"To think you would fall the moment I used a fraction of my true strength. How utterly disappointing."
Certain that he had taken a direct, fatal hit, Alfia stared at the dust cloud with profound disappointment.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that."
"!?"
Hearing a perfectly calm voice respond from within the epicenter of the blast, Alfia's eyes widened in genuine shock.
"If that's all you've got, I'm going to be pretty bored."
As the dust settled, Tsuna stood tall. His flames were shifted to Rain, and a majestic black cloak fluttered around his shoulders.
"[Mantello di Vongola Primo]."
A cloak…? Is that his Skill? The fraction of a second before the magic struck, Tsuna had initiated a Cambio Forma, shifting Natsu into a defensive mode and instantly changing his flames to Rain. By combining the absolute defensive durability of the cloak with the Rain Flame's Tranquility trait to aggressively dampen the kinetic energy of the blast, he had perfectly neutralized Alfia's ultimate magic.
Having seen him pull the cloak out of thin air, Alfia deduced it was another one of his unique Skills.
To think he completely completely nullified a direct hit from my true magic…Her magical output just skyrocketed… The destructive power of that blast is easily on par with XANXUS's Wrath Flames.His speed is superior… but my range is greater.Her range is superior… but my speed is greater.Then… Having perfectly reassessed their advantages and disadvantages, both fighters vanished in the blink of an eye. Only the deafening shockwaves of their hyper-speed collisions echoed across the ruined battlefield.
─────
Reborn's Group.
"Did you notice…?"
"Yeah…"
"I suspected as much, but to think it was true…"
Watching the hyper-speed battle, Finn, Gareth, and Riveria realized that Alfia's movements were significantly sharper and more fluid than when she was alive. The crippling restrictions of her terminal illness had been completely removed.
Alfia's movements are flawless, but… Sawada Tsunayoshi is keeping up… Ottar had also noticed Alfia's terrifyingly improved condition, but he was equally stunned to see that Tsuna had grown significantly stronger since their own spar just yesterday.
"We really picked a fight with an absolute monster, didn't we?"
"""You can say that again."""
Realizing they had challenged someone capable of fighting on par with the legendary Alfia, the Gulliver Brothers swallowed hard. They finally understood that if Tsuna hadn't been an incredibly merciful person, they would have been slaughtered during their ambush.
I knew Tsuna was strong, but… Hogni had known Tsuna was powerful, but this was his first time seeing the boy fight completely unleashed. Utterly captivated by the sheer beauty and intensity of the clash, Hogni couldn't tear his eyes away.
D-Damn it…!! Allen, however, was seething with rage. The reason was simple: Tsuna had grown exponentially stronger since their last encounter.
Unlike Ottar, Allen was not a generous warrior who could accept the existence of someone stronger than himself. Being stripped of his title as the fastest man in the city was an absolute, unforgivable humiliation.
After his total defeat, Allen had used his bitter frustration as fuel, training harder than ever before. But instead of closing the gap, Tsuna had left him entirely in the dust. Consumed by a toxic cocktail of inferiority and jealousy, Allen gripped his spear so tightly the shaft groaned under the pressure.
─────
Tsuna & Alfia.
Her movements are getting faster… Tsuna noticed that ever since she unleashed her massive spell, Alfia's movements had become progressively sharper and more precise.
The Zone. A state of absolute, hyper-focused immersion where an individual exceeds their own limits to achieve maximum performance. When entering the Zone, the perception of time slows down, all external distractions vanish, senses are honed to a razor's edge, and every action flows perfectly and naturally.
During her life, Alfia's illness prevented her from engaging in prolonged combat; she was always forced to end her battles quickly. But now, freed from the biological chains of her disease, she could finally fight without holding back. Furthermore, facing an opponent fully capable of pushing her to her absolute limits acted as the perfect catalyst, propelling Alfia straight into the Zone.
Alfia thrust her hand forward, aiming a lethal knife-hand directly at Tsuna's heart. Tsuna spun clockwise to evade, using the rotational momentum to hurl a blast of flames directly at her face.
A blinder… Realizing the flames were meant to obscure her vision, Alfia immediately dropped low to dodge. Maintaining her low posture, she slipped past Tsuna's guard and reached out to grab his cloak.
The cloak had perfectly defended against her magic. However, it only provided an absolute defense if it was fully draped over the user. If she grabbed the cloak, she could physically restrict Tsuna's movements and guarantee a point-blank, lethal magical strike.
Alfia's left hand successfully clamped down on the fabric of the cloak.
"Gah…!?"
But the instant her fingers touched the fabric, a massive surge of high-voltage electricity violently convulsed through her entire body.
While Alfia's attention was entirely focused on securing the cloak, Tsuna had shifted his flames from Sky to Lightning, perfectly baiting her into electrocuting herself.
An electric shock…!? The burst of flames hadn't been a blinder at all. It was a highly calculated distraction to keep her eyes off his ring while he shifted his attributes, ensuring she wouldn't anticipate the trap.
"Haaah!!"
"Guh!?"
With her body paralyzed by the current, Tsuna drove a Lightning-hardened right straight directly into her back, violently slamming her face-first into the dirt.
What is that!? Alfia instantly scrambled to her feet, her eyes locking onto Tsuna, who was standing a short distance away, his arms positioned to fire the [X-Burner].
An illusion!? Tsuna's figure abruptly dissolved into mist. Sensing a sharp presence behind her, Alfia spun around, launching her fastest, most lethal vertical punch.
"Guh!?"
The cloak is gone!? Her vertical punch buried itself cleanly into his abdomen. But more importantly, Alfia realized that the black cloak Tsuna had been wearing a second ago was completely gone. She instantly knew she had fallen for yet another one of his traps.
"GAOOOOOOOO!!"
My body!? By the time she realized it, it was too late. Waiting perfectly in her blind spot, Natsu unleashed a massive torrent of Rain Flames. Washed in the blue light, Alfia's movements were instantly paralyzed by the Tranquility trait.
"You were so focused on the [X-Burner] that you completely missed the subtle flaws in my illusion… I've got you!!"
Tsuna's dying will flames flickered erratically as he locked his hands firmly over Alfia's arm.
During his fight with Ottar, Tsuna had learned a harsh lesson: standard illusions were completely useless against seasoned veterans with monstrous instincts. To overcome this, he had used Mist Flames to construct a perfect illusion of himself preparing to fire the [X-Burner]. Knowing the apocalyptic destructive power of that specific technique, Alfia's threat-detection spiked, completely blinding her to the minor imperfections in the illusion. By striking from behind immediately after, he successfully distracted her from the fact that he had dispelled the cloak, returning Natsu to his animal form to lay the trap.
"[Zero Point Breakthrough: Revised]."
My mana is being drained…!? The immense mana circulating through Alfia's body was forcefully and rapidly siphoned into Tsuna's gloves.
Because Alfia's sound magic was completely invisible, perfectly timing the absorption was practically impossible. Because of that, Tsuna had completely abandoned the idea of absorbing her spells mid-flight.
However, absorbing the raw mana directly from her body was an entirely different story. He didn't have to worry about timing an incoming attack; as long as he could completely paralyze her movements, he could drain her dry.
Having siphoned her mana to the absolute limit, Tsuna leaped back, shifting his flames from Rain back to Sky. Natsu bounded over and hopped onto Tsuna's shoulder. With the Rain Flames dispelled, Alfia was freed from her paralysis.
"Let's finish this, Alfia."
----
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