Tsukasa stood silently in place, turning a deaf ear to Emilia's questioning.
"Subaru... how is she?"
Seeing that she still hadn't given up on asking about Subaru's condition, Tsukasa was about to remain silent when Subaru's anxious voice rang out in his mind.
"At least give her a response. After all, I'm also worried about Felt and Rom's injuries."
Tsukasa spoke up reluctantly, "Subaru is fine but you'll have to take care of her in a moment. How are those two's injuries?"
Emilia had just breathed a sigh of relief and was preparing to answer Tsukasa's question when suddenly—
Tsukasa's expression turned stern as he spoke to Emilia, "Hide to the side."
Immediately, his gaze locked firmly onto the darkness at the end of the street.
Hearing Tsukasa's words, Emilia hid and followed his line of sight.
A young man dressed in a pure white knight's uniform stepped out from the shadows. The sword at his waist was engraved with a dragon crest, and his fiery red hair was as striking as a flame in the night—this man was definitely no ordinary person.
The red-haired man stopped in his tracks, staring at the blacl-haired girl before him, a long-lost palpitation rising in his heart.
"May I ask... was the destruction at this scene caused by you? And who exactly are you, and what have you come to Lugnica to do?"
Hearing this, Tsukasa glanced at the remaining time: 4 minutes and 11 seconds.
Looking at Tsukasa, Subaru's presence in his mind sent a faint, bad premonition. "Tsukasa... don't..."
"Block."
Following his command, Subaru's voice abruptly ceased within his mind.
At this moment, Tsukasa's behavior of consistently ignoring him caused the red-haired man to misunderstand.
He narrowed his eyes and spoke, "So it turns out you are the type who won't talk without a fight? Well then..."
He stepped back with his right foot, and the ground instantly cracked into a spiderweb pattern. Accompanied by a piercing sonic boom, a sharp kick tore through the air and arrived before him.
"Not bad."
Tsukasa raised his arm to block.
The moment the two collided, a thunderous boom erupted, and a shockwave radiated outward from them, sending the surrounding rubble flying.
The red-haired man's moves changed like lightning. His elbow shot out towards the ribs, only to be stopped by Tsukasa's palm heel. The two forces held each other in check, even stirring visible ripples in the air.
"Your technique... it's very interesting." Tsukasa chuckled during a gap in the exchange.
With a sweep of his leg that whistled through the air, he successfully forced the other party back again.
"Your combat skills also surprise me greatly."
Reinhard performed a backflip and quickly landed to steady himself. His palms drew perfect arcs in front of him, using subtle, soft force to dissipate most of the power from that devastating sweep kick. But even so, Tsukasa's kick still left a bruise on his body.
And just then, Tsukasa's fist was suddenly covered in a layer of eerie blue magical radiance.
The two locked eyes and their figures once again blurred through the ruins.
Tsukasa's fists, wrapped in mana, collided violently with the domineering force of the palm strikes. Every exchange they made caused the surrounding broken walls and debris to crumble further.
Suddenly, during the fourth exchange of blows, Tsukasa's punching speed abruptly increased. His fist broke the sound barrier repeatedly within a ten-thousandth of a second, and the time difference between the physical impact and the magical surge was precisely controlled to the extreme.
This was the secret technique that boosted damage to the power of 2.5.
Black Flash!
Boom!
This strike caused Reinhard's expression to change drastically.
At this moment, blood was flowing from his right hand, and his left hand instinctively reached for the sword at his waist. The dragon crest on the scabbard began to emit a dazzling light, and the blade had already been drawn three inches.
Tsukasa spoke to Reinhard after another clash, "If you don't use the sword at your waist, you might die next."
Reinhard responded simply yet firmly, "Within the city, I will never draw my sword."
Then, he delivered a spear-hand strike like a sharp blade aimed straight for Tsukasa's throat.
Similar to Reinhard, Tsukasa also did not go all out, not using his Cursed Technique, Limitless's Neutral State, Infinity, for defense, because he didn't believe the red-haired man could cause him any damage without drawing his sword.
In this battle, neither of them used their full strength, instead engaging in a pure physical exchange.
As he clashed with Reinhard for the eighth time, Tsukasa's mind was constantly working, and he quickly reached a conclusion.
'Simply covering myself in ordinary mana isn't enough to cause effective damage to him. Even after taking a Black Flash, he can still endure it. In that case, I can only...'
Facing the left fist wrapped in immense force once again, Tsukasa unhurriedly dodged to the side. A dangerous blue light already flickered at his fingertips.
Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!
"Please! Stop!"
Outside the battlefield, taking advantage of the few seconds when the two stopped, Emilia finally recognized the red-haired man's identity through the dust and shouted to stop the fight.
Inside the battlefield, however, the fight was in full swing. At this moment, Reinhard saw the blue light at Tsukasa's fingertips gradually condensing into a sphere and felt a great sense of danger.
He immediately followed up with another elbow strike, wanting to interrupt Tsukasa's skill. But it was blocked by Tsukasa with one hand. At this moment, Tsukasa was able to continue contending with him using only a single hand.
The shockwaves generated by their clash were like a physical wall, violently knocking the intervening Emilia back several steps.
At this critical juncture, Tsukasa's body suddenly trembled violently.
Subaru's consciousness was fiercely fighting for control of the body. The already formed Blue fluctuated wildly at his fingertips before finally beginning to dissipate.
Sensing the opponent's abnormality, Reinhard abruptly stopped his sword, which he had been unable to resist drawing completely at the last moment.
Scanning the surroundings, the area within a 500-meter radius was already unrecognizable. The streets and buildings had all been turned into ruins.
"Please stop!"
Emilia finally broke through the aftershocks and stood resolutely between the two.
"Reinhard! And Subaru! This battle should end now!"
(Note: Tsukasa being able to contend with Reinhard is a bit of a stretch. But the thing is, Reinhard basically never goes all out. The power scaling might not be the best, so please forgive me.)