frightfiction Chapter 677 - 677
Chapter 677 - 677
She had heard that during that day's battle, only her junior had stood until the very end. It was only because Kusakabe's magical power couldn't hold out that he eventually vanished.After that, her junior's true self went to Akatsuki Academy's base, planning to employ a mutual base-stealing strategy.
It had to be said, the tactics her junior came up with were quite successful.
Unfortunately, his luck wasn't great.
The opponent he encountered wasn't human.
But a monster.
At Akatsuki Academy's base, her junior crossed blades with the world's strongest swordsman.
And returned alive.
This was undoubtedly a miracle, something even the school director praised as incredibly fortunate!
When Touka first learned this news, she nearly had a heart attack, fearing she would never see her junior again.
Her junior must have been stimulated by witnessing the world's strongest swordsmanship, which is why he decided to go into seclusion for training right before the Seven Star Sword Art Festival was about to begin.
"After sleeping for so many days, I feel like my body is getting rusty."
Touka stretched her limbs, fighting spirit gradually sparkling in her eyes.
"Ikki, Shizuku, mind if I join in for a couple of rounds?"
Everyone was working hard.
Her junior was working hard too.
Then she couldn't afford to fall behind!
Not just for Hagun's honor, but even more to fulfill her promise to compete on the same stage as her junior!
"I'd be happy to."
Ikki immediately agreed without hesitation.
Now that he thought about it, this would be his first time crossing swords with Touka.
Although Eiji had now taken the title of Hagun's strongest, the former academy strongest's power still couldn't be underestimated!
Just the thought of facing the famous Raikiri already had him excited.
Shizuku quietly materialized her Device.
During the previous school selection battles, she had once lost to Touka.
Now that her power had greatly increased, she too was thinking about avenging that previous defeat!
The three simultaneously assumed their starting stances.
"Raio!"
Touka removed her glasses and launched a standard lightning slash, actively opening this free-for-all battle!
Ikki dodged the lightning slash, then instead of retreating, he advanced, actively charging toward Touka.
"Feeling that confident, junior?"
Touka's gaze sharpened intensely.
He wasn't even using Ittou Shura?
Electricity wrapped around her legs, stimulating her muscles, making her speed increase dramatically in an instant.
"Sokudoku!"
In that moment, she disappeared from Ikki's field of vision.
But she hadn't actually vanished—she had slipped into the corner of his subconscious, making him unable to perceive her.
Using Sokudoku while enhanced by "Shippu Jinrai" created a powerful assault capable of delivering a one-hit kill!
Seeing that familiar technique, Shizuku immediately felt tense, fear instinctively welling up in her heart.
During their previous match, she had been completely suppressed by Sokudoku, never managing to break through it until the very end.
But Ikki's face showed no trace of panic.
He raised his sword horizontally.
"Clang—!"
Amidst the bell-like sound, their blades clashed together.
Ikki was forced back several steps, but his sword had firmly blocked the strike.
"You actually saw through Sokudoku?"
Surprise showed in Touka's eyes.
"No, I didn't see through the Sudden Step. To be precise, there's no way I could have blocked that strike executed with Gale and Thunder without entering Ittou Shura mode."
Kurogane Ikki smiled.
"I simply saw through you, Senpai."
"...I see. So it's 'Perfect Mastery'?"
Touka was momentarily stunned before understanding dawned on her.
Perfect Mastery - that was Kurogane Ikki's evolution of sword imitation techniques from merely copying sword styles to understanding people. By seeing through a person's philosophy, values, understanding their words, actions, and habits, he could grasp their very essence.
This allowed him to read their thoughts like an open book, seeing through their intentions and predicting their movements in advance.
In other words, Kurogane Ikki had anticipated exactly where she intended to strike and prepared his defense beforehand.
"As expected of you, the second strongest swordsman in the academy after your junior brother."
Touka offered genuine praise from the bottom of her heart.
Nearby, Kanata and the other spectators couldn't help but roll their eyes in unison.
Alright, alright.
We get that your junior brother is the strongest, no need to keep showing off.
"But even so, with the impact from my speed, you shouldn't have been able to block it, right?"
Touka was quite confident.
Though she couldn't compare to her junior brother, speed was her greatest specialty.
By stimulating her already powerful physical abilities with lightning, the explosive impact she could generate in an instant was tremendous.
"I haven't been sparring with Eiji all those times for nothing!"
Kurogane Ikki showed a rather complicated smile.
Ever since losing to Eiji in the selection tournament, he had been seeking daily sparring sessions with Eiji during training camp, only to be repeatedly taught lessons by his unbelievable rate of improvement.
"Did you steal the Harmony of Light and Dust technique?"
Touka's gaze fell upon Kurogane Ikki's feet.
It was a force-dispelling technique.
Touka knew that her junior brother had created an incredibly powerful force-dispelling move that could rapidly disperse forces several times, even ten times greater than his own, naturally making him undefeatable.
Since Kurogane-kun had sparred with her junior brother so many times, he must have stolen this technique.
"Exactly, though unfortunately I can't perform it as naturally as Eiji yet."
Kurogane Ikki let out a long sigh, seeming somewhat dissatisfied.
Only then did Touka understand.
No wonder he had been so confident, daring to receive her move head-on without even using Ittou Shura.
"Crimson Water Blade!"
As they remained locked in stalemate, a water blade shot toward them from the side.
The crimson water blade vibrated at high frequency, emitting a buzzing sound like an electric saw.
Touka's expression sharpened as she quickly retreated.
It seemed not only Kurogane-kun had improved - his sister had also grown much stronger!
If she had carelessly tried to block that water blade just now, she might have gotten injured!
The siblings exchanged a glance, then split left and right, charging toward Touka simultaneously.
"Though I was the one who wanted to exercise my rusty body, I didn't expect to get surrounded so quickly!"
Touka immediately felt the pressure multiply.
Both siblings had significantly improved their strength, and their coordination was perfectly synchronized, suppressing Touka and forcing her to retreat involuntarily.
"Quite lively, isn't it?"
Just then.
A voice came from outside the arena.
The voice was so familiar that everyone present shuddered simultaneously, with Touka and Kanata unable to suppress their beaming smiles.
"Mind if I join in too?"
Before the words had fully faded.
A figure swept into the three-person battlefield like a whirlwind.
"What?!"
Kurogane Shizuku was utterly astonished.
After that figure inserted itself into the battlefield, it immediately charged straight toward her Scarlet Water Blade!
The Scarlet Water Blade was essentially a high-frequency vibrating blade, particularly adept at handling close-quarters combat!
How dare a swordsman confront her head-on like this?
"Clash!"
But the next moment, Kurogane Shizuku was sent flying backward with a look of shock on her face.
In that instant, she seemed to feel an even more terrifying vibrating force from her opponent's blade!
With a single move, she had been sent flying!
Kurogane Ikki's expression turned stern.
That figure had instantly defeated Kurogane Shizuku and was now charging fiercely toward him!