Anime, Girlfriend Shokuhou Misaki

But in such a short period, Haramura Makoto couldn't possibly surpass him; he was confident of that.

But—

“There's nothing to be surprised about.”

“I've said it before, I can't wholeheartedly focus on swordsmanship; my inherent spirit armor won't allow me to do that.”

“Only the combination of swordsmanship and gunmanship is the path I should take.”

“The previous need to wholeheartedly learn swordsmanship was just because I didn't understand swordsmanship at all before, not even a little bit.”

“But now there's absolutely no need for that anymore.”

The slash was like a beam of light, swung out by Haramura Makoto, and dazzling starlight scattered around him like fragments.

“If you say 'Threefold Heaven' is your achievement,”

“Then this 'Lianhe,' composed of fifty-six linked techniques, is my achievement.”

Looking at the scattered sword light in the sky, Kurogane Ikki's expression hardened, but his eyes remained firm.

“—Third Secret Sword, Circle!”

The Third Secret Sword, Circle, is a sword technique that uses the blade to meet the enemy's attack, circulating the power contained in the slash within the body like drawing a circle, and reversing the attack by completely rebounding the damage received.

He didn't expect his rebounding sword technique to cause much damage to Haramura Makoto.

He only hoped to create a momentary gap, to buy him a moment to escape the coverage of the attack, to escape Haramura Makoto's continuous offensive.

“Heh—”

“So you finally used this move? I've been waiting for a long time.”

Just as Kurogane Ikki deflected the magic bullet fired at him, Haramura Makoto had already held Amatsuki up in front of his chest.

“Clang—”

A strange thing happened; once again, Kurogane Ikki seemed to be hit by his own attack.

Haramura Makoto clearly didn't do anything, just a simple block, but he seemed to have suffered a very serious blow.

“Ayatsuji Ichito-ryu—Seamless.”

Taking advantage of the power generated by that heavy blow, Kurogane Ikki stepped back, moving two or three meters away in one step.

He then voiced his conjecture.

That's right, this was the sword technique that Haramura Makoto casually learned in the hospital that day.

Although his main purpose was to have Ayatsuji Kaito assist him in developing the sword technique 'Swallow Return,'

At Ayatsuji Kaito's strong request, he still listened to the principle of Ayatsuji Ichito-ryu's ultimate technique, Seamless.

—Sword Technique, Seamless!

A sword technique that can completely defend against and deflect the opponent's attack, and instead inflict even greater damage, a sword technique against sword techniques.

“Trying to run?”

Haramura Makoto's lips curled up slightly.

“Tenfold Speed!”

The time ability was launched without hesitation, and his whole person was like a blurry afterimage. In just an instant, he once again came above Kurogane Ikki.

“Attacking like a raging wave, not giving the opponent the slightest chance to breathe.”

“This is the essence and purpose of the 'Lianhe' that I created.”

“As expected, it's not that simple.”

From the start of the battle until now, a bitter smile appeared on Kurogane Ikki's lips for the first time.

It was the first time he had experienced this feeling of being suppressed in close combat even with equal power.

But just at this moment.

“—Itto Rasetsu!”

Kurogane Ikki glared and roared suddenly, and the magic power that suddenly erupted instantly filled the surrounding space.

The powerful magic power directly acted on Haramura Makoto's body, turning into a substantive shock wave.

“Boom—”

There were no bursting sparks, no crisp clashing sounds, only an explosion-like roar.

The substantive shock wave directly exploded on Haramura Makoto's body. The terrifying impact, mixed with chaotic air currents and wind direction, caused Haramura Makoto, who had not yet adjusted his stance due to the hasty pursuit, to be struck by lightning. His entire body was blown away, bouncing like a ball.

However, before hitting the protective wall, Haramura Makoto smoothly adjusted his figure, did a backflip in mid-air, and landed on the ground.

Readopting his stance, Haramura Makoto stared intently at Kurogane Ikki.

“It seems I can't win that way.”

“Let's use this last strike to end this match.”

Although Threefold Heaven expanded the duration of his ability enhancement, he had been suppressed by Haramura Makoto's 'Lianhe' for a long, long time just now.

He had wasted a lot of time.

Now there was less than half a minute left. Even if he continued to fight, he would still be suppressed by Haramura Makoto until his body enhancement time ended.

So a single decisive strike was the only path to victory he could choose now.

“Understood!”

He hadn't used his ability too much in this match, at most occasionally using the time ability to accelerate his movement. As for the space ability, he hadn't used it even once.

The goal of competing with Kurogane Ikki in close combat had been achieved.

After the battle with Kurogane Ikki, his 'Lianhe' could be said to be completely perfected.

A brighter color than before appeared in Kurogane Ikki's eyes.

Then he widened the distance between his front and rear feet, and held the spirit armor Intetsu by his side.

This was a new sword stance.

It was one of the Seven Secret Swords that Kurogane Ikki had not yet shown.

The corners of Haramura Makoto's mouth curled up slightly.

Similarly, his legs were pulled apart like bowstrings, seemingly twisting all the strength of his body into one, and he held Amatsuki horizontally in front of him, with Kuretsu braced like a cross directly above the hilt of Amatsuki.

Pouring all of his physical strength and magic power into this strike, completely unleashing all of himself.

The same idea arose in both of their minds at the same time.

“—Seventh Secret Sword, Thunderbolt.”

“—Time Freeze!”

Chapter 094: Resolution

The moment he stepped forward.

Everything in front of him turned directly into a black and white, and all sounds and colors disappeared.

The bones all over his body were creaking, and the blood vessels on his wrists and thighs were all rupturing.

Doing the best he could, exerting all of himself, all of his strength.

Pouring all of his life force into this one sword, even if he lost all his strength after this sword, completely weakened, even less than a child.

But at this moment, he didn't need to consider such unnecessary things.

He only needed to know that doing this now was enough to reach his peak.

“—Seventh Secret Sword, Thunderbolt!”

Terrifying magic power surged like a raging wave, and Haramura Makoto's eruption at this moment silenced everyone in the audience.

If Kurogane Ikki's full eruption was silent,

Then Haramura Makoto's eruption at this moment was the dazzling brilliance of a stellar explosion.

Indeed, Haramura Makoto's magic power was not comparable to Stella's world's number one magic power.

But as said before, Haramura Makoto's magic power was absolutely outstanding in the world's rankings.

He couldn't do the same extreme as Kurogane Ikki.

Pouring all of his life force and magic power into one attack was the difference in spirit between him and Kurogane Ikki.

Kurogane Ikki abandoned everything in order to gain victory.

But that was his innate low ability, he could only do this to be equal to him.

And he only needed to pour his magic power into it.

“—Time-Space Freeze!”

The jet-black katana turned into a meteor, dragging a tail of light, charging forward without hesitation.

The ghostly blue light instantly enveloped the entire arena, turning everything around into a dead space.

Time, space, and mass were all frozen and frozen.

The entire audience fell into silence, everyone staring wide-eyed at the two people on the field, not even daring to breathe loudly.

The tremendous air wave, like a tsunami, swept across the surroundings, turning into a violent gust of wind that stirred clothes, exploded dust, and even blew away the clouds in the sky.

“Crack, crack, crack—”

The sharp tip of the sword, mixed with blue electric light, collided with the space-time barrier.

Cracks like spider webs spread out from Kurogane Ikki's sword, spreading to the surroundings.

But while spreading, it was still being constantly repaired by magic power.

There could be no hesitation, no pause.

Continuing to press down on all of his life, squeezing out all of himself.

As long as there was the slightest pause, he would be swallowed by this space-time barrier, and then he would lose in this match.

Kurogane Ikki was very clear about his current situation.

“Ahhh—”

Kurogane Ikki let out a scream that could resound throughout the entire arena.

“It doesn't matter if blood vessels rupture, it doesn't matter if I am smashed to pieces, as long as I can win, everything of mine can be taken away, can be used.”

“This is my resolve, my sword.”

This was an even more powerful force, that sharp magic power was resisting his magic power.

Haramura Makoto could clearly feel Kurogane Ikki's will and Kurogane Ikki's determination being transmitted back from the vibration of that magic power.

He could even hear Kurogane Ikki's direct cry from his heart here.

“I have indeed felt your resolve, Ikki.”

Haramura Makoto's complexion appeared somewhat pale, which was the result of obvious excessive magic power consumption.

“But do you really think my resolve is only this much?”

“Just fighting recklessly.”

“It's not like I haven't experienced it before.”

The entire arena instantly emitted a dazzling brilliance, and the intensity of that magic power seemed to have increased several times in an instant. Kurogane Ikki, who could still contend with Haramura Makoto just now, was swallowed by Haramura Makoto's space-time barrier in the next moment.

Half a second later, the barrier disappeared like a mirage.

All that was left was Haramura Makoto, who still had a pale complexion.

And Kurogane Ikki, who was holding his chest with one hand, using his sword as a support to prop himself up on the ground, coughing constantly, and had a pale complexion.

He looked down at the position of his chest.

There were no wounds, but the pain was very strong and obvious.

That was exactly the position where the three magic bullets hit him. In addition, Itto Rasetsu had completely exhausted all of his physical strength, magic power, and energy. He couldn't even afford to kneel now. He was like a fish out of water, unable to swim anymore, and could only slowly lie down on the ground.