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nThe temperature rose instantly.

n“It’s hot!”

nEveryone, who touched metal in their surroundings, was instantly scalded and felt panicked.

nKurono, who watched what had happened, could only watch what had happened speechlessly. “Back down! You’re going to get hurt!” Still, she didn’t really need to worry about what had happened to the audience or the damaged properties since with her ability, she could return everything back to the previous state, and what she cared about the most was who would win in this battle.

nWhile Kurono must admit that Tsukasa was strong, he used an element of surprise to defeat her.

nThis time, it was different since he faced Stella in the frontal battle, and frankly, Kurono didn’t see a chance for him to win unless he used his secret techniques.

n“What’s that guy doing?”

nKurono somehow felt frustrated when she thought that Tsukasa didn’t use her ability to end Stella when he had a chance before.

n“That’s how he is, Ku-chan.”

nHearing this voice, Kurono turned her head and saw her friend and rival, Nene Saikyo. “Nene, do you know him?”

n“Of course.” Nene had a proud expression on her face and said, “He’s my husband.”

n“…..”

nKurono looked at Nene and wondered whether the heat had made Nene crazy, so she decided to ignore Nene and watched the battle.

nStill, among everyone, who could understand this battle, they somehow felt envious and also wanted to stand on that field, fighting such an exciting fight.

nTsukasa watched Stella, who had gotten serious, and thought that magic really determined everything.

nEveryone, whether it was society or anything, had this mindset where the magic that one was born with had determined everything in their lives.

nTsukasa also didn’t deny that statement since it was right that people with more magic could reach the height that one couldn’t imagine compared to one who didn’t have magic. Still, while facing Stella, he suddenly felt a shudder, and when he used his right eye to glance, he saw his nightmare was there, smiling cutely toward him.

n‘Calm down.’

nTsukasa quickly adjusted his mind since his opponent was Stella, and while it sounded crazy, he decided to win without using his breathing technique to forcefully raise his physical ability and magic since such a victory wasn’t fun.

nTsukasa could imagine that he could win instantly by doing that, but he wanted to see how he would win this match without using his breathing technique.

nWhile many people might doubt him, Tsukasa didn’t care about that, and frankly, he had already seen the path of the victory.

nTsukasa still had 80% of magic since his control over magic was so precise and used them without any waste, but even so, it was just more than a fourth of the amount of magic of a normal Blazer.

nHowever, Tsukasa didn’t see that he would lose and he was going to win!

nHis face slackened as his senses heightened to the limit.

nTsukasa cut down every disruption around him and focused his everything on the girl in front of him.

n“Pierce the blue sky, a blaze of purgatory!”

nStella pointed her Laevateinn up at the air.

nThe flame covering the sword burned with more fury and heat, then soon, the sword lost its form, taking the shape of the pillar of light that melted the field’s domed roof.

n“What is this?!”

n“Is she a human?!”

nEveryone’s jaws slacked, and they couldn’t believe what they had seen with their eyes, wondering whether they were dreaming.

nHowever, Tsukasa couldn’t blame them since the blade of flame had extended at least one hundred meters into the skies.

nThis was the difference between A-rank and F-rank magic.

nThere was no need for a Blazer with A-rank magic to focus on the sword.

nInstead, they were more focused on their abilities.

nNot only an A-rank Blazer, but most Blazers would think that it was better to develop their abilities instead of their battle sense like a strategy, strange techniques, and martial art to become stronger.

nHowever, Tsukasa felt that it was normal.

nPeople have limited talent, and they have limited time.

nPeople were also lazy since, in this era, there was a lot of entertainment, so the time to train became even limited.

n“You’re going to pay for not taking me down earlier, Tsukasa!”

nThere was no mercy, and Stella swung down her blade of flame toward Tsukasa!

nWhile Tsukasa had a chance before, he didn’t cut her because it was too wasteful to end.

nWhile Stella also felt the same since she felt regret since she didn’t use all of her power in the beginning since personally, she didn’t think that she would lose to the D-rank Blazer, she had recovered and understood her mistake, so right now, she was going to defeat him!

nStella was going to show why Tsukasa shouldn’t let her go and defeat him with absolute power!

n‘I’m going to win!’

n“Katharterio Salamandra!”

nThe blade of light descended, and once it fell, it would destroy everything!

n“Run!”

n“What the hell?!”

nThe audience panicked, and they quickly ran away.

nKurono’s lips twitched, and she thought that she might need to talk with the two of them later.

n“It’s useless if it doesn’t hit me,” Tsukasa said and made a strange movement, creating many of the afterimages.

nWhile people often thought that creating an afterimage needed a fast speed, Tsukasa didn’t think so. As long as the movement and techniques were right, he could create an afterimage even with his limited speed.

nIf Tsukasa had to give an example, it was similar to when you swung a pen up and down. You would see an afterimage of the pen when you swung it up and down, even if the speed wasn’t fast.

nIf you wanted to understand more, there was an optical illusion called the stroboscopic effect, where his movement technique came from.

nTsukasa’s strange movement caused the enormous blade of light to miss!

nEven if the blade of light was extended for more than 100 meters which meant it had covered the entire arena, the width of this blade was only ten meters. It was huge, but there was still a lot of room for him to dodge in this field.

nEven though Stella had the biggest amount of magic in the entire world and history, this technique drained a large amount of her magic.

nHowever, it was her first time to see someone had dodged this technique since most people that had been attacked by this technique would stand in fear, watching the descending blade of light before they were engulfed.

nHowever, Tsukasa didn’t give up and used a weird movement technique to confuse her.

nStella must admit that she was fascinated by his figure and understood what kind of hard work he needed to do to reach this power.

nHowever…

n“Then how about this!”

nStella roared and slammed her sword into the ground!

n“Take this!”

nThe blade of light spread out and created waves of fire that engulfed the entire field!

nThere was no room to run away, and everything was covered in flames!

nEven if Tsukasa was good at running away, he would be defeated by this attack!

n“I won!”

nStella said proudly as she had given him payback for his previous words!

nWhile Stella was proud of her victory, everyone could only watch this scene in a daze since they had never expected her power would be this powerful!

n‘…This is an A-rank.’

nThe image of her powerful strength was imprinted on the mind of the majority of everyone, and they had subconsciously thought that they would have never won against Stella.

nHowever, a minority of them could frown and think that Stella was strong. While they thought Stella was powerful, they still thought about how to defeat her, but they knew that when she used this ability, then without a doubt, she could easily crush all of them!

nThe flame that spread across the entire area with 3,000 degrees of celsius wasn’t a joke!

nIf Stella’s Device wasn’t in illusory form, then any of his opponents had already burnt to the dust!

n“Tsukasa!”

nKanata and Touka shouted as they stood, holding the hot rails that separated the audience and the field, trying to find Tsukasa’s figure.

nWhile Stella had said that she had won before, she hadn’t stopped her indiscriminate attack and kept blazing the waves of flames that covered the entire field until it melted and charred. They even spread into the audience seat.

nIf Kurono didn’t stop Stella’s attack, everyone would probably be affected by her attack.

n“Dammit!” Kurono really wanted to curse Tsukasa and Stella at this moment while watching the field anxiously.

nHowever, Nene only looked up with a smile.

n‘He should be defeated, right?’

nSuch a thought crossed Stella’s mind until she heard his voice.

n“Princess, you should say that after you have seen my body.”

n“!!!”

nHearing this voice, everyone was startled since no one had expected that Tsukasa was still okay!

nAs the wave of flames disappeared, they thought that they would see his figure, standing on the field, but they didn’t see him!

n“Where are you?!” Stella was agitated since she had used all of her power to give him the strongest attacks, but that guy was still able to run away?

nStella wondered whether Tsukasa was related to a monkey or something since even with such an attack, this guy could dodge her attack!

n“Over here!”

nHis voice attracted everyone, but they were dumbfounded when they saw where he was right now.

n“Wh – why are you standing there!” Stella was dumbfounded.

nTsukasa’s figure stood vertically upside down on the ruined domed roof of the training field, which made everyone dumbfounded.

n‘How?’

nThis question crossed everyone’s mind.

nHowever, Tsukasa didn’t answer them since he was about to send his attack to Stella!

nTsukasa dropped into a partial crouch, both knees bent, left arm drawn back, and right arm extended forward. He grasped the hilt of his sword with his left hand and rested the tips of the fingers of his right hand (thumb and index finger) on the blade near the blade’s tip.

nTsukasa focussed the rest of his magic on the arch of his feet, blade, and arms before he lunged into Stella!

nHis instant movement technique, adding the force of gravity, gave him a speed that couldn’t be followed by eyes!

nHowever, Tsukasa felt that this wasn’t enough since he knew the cornered beast was the most dangerous. Moreover, he knew that even after Stella used that crazy attack, she still had magic, and even if she didn’t, her feelings might make her stronger.

nTsukasa calmed his mind and felt that everything was moving in slow motion, observing Stella into each of her details from breathing, muscle movements, body tension, rhythm, sweat, and everything that helped him to win this battle, and after he confirmed everything, without hesitation, he used the “Trackless Step,” the ancient movement technique that could make the user slip into the consciousness of their opponent that he had copied from Touka.

nThen, as expected, Stella couldn’t react and only stared in a daze as Tsukasa suddenly appeared before her, utilizing all of his body into this thurst!

nThere was no crater nor an exaggerated “boom” or “slash” sound.

nIt was so quiet, void of noise, but Stella understood that she had lost.

n‘Ah, I have lost…’

nStella tried to turn her body, watching the figure of the young man that had defeated her, howling as long as he could before a disdain and a small curve formed on her mouth before she fell on the ground as she blacked out.

n“Winner, Kugayama Tsukasa!” Kurono announced with amazement and feverish cheeks.

n“AAAAHHHH!!!!”

nTsukasa howled on the top of his lungs, showing the happiness since he had won.

nHis howling figure on the ruined field was just too picturesque, and everyone just couldn’t take their eyes away from him.

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