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"Shatter City?"
Kanata's delicate eyebrows arched slightly, but her expression quickly hardened.
"Watch out…!"
Boom!
The massive zanbato blade crashed down from above.
Its unimaginable force instantly shattered the earth, the rocky ground splitting into leaf-like fissures, as if detonated by a massive charge of TNT.
Ryoji sidestepped effortlessly, dodging Saijou Ikazuchi's attack with ease.
"That bastard, he fights so dishonorably!" Kanata fumed.
Not only had he manipulated her comrades, but he had also forced them to act as if nothing was amiss, ambushing her without warning.
With a flick of her mind, countless invisible motes of light coalesced around Saijou Ikazuchi, binding him in an ethereal cage.
Saijou Ikazuchi's ability resembled Tomaru Renren's.
However, while Renren's ability accumulated speed, Saijou Ikazuchi's ability accumulated weight. By continuously swinging his zanbato blade, he could accumulate terrifying mass, reaching a maximum of ten tons.
All accumulation-based abilities share a common flaw: once the accumulation stops, they instantly revert to their original state. Twice the speed of sound and ten tons of weight vanish, forcing the user to start from zero again.
Having unleashed his accumulated power in a single strike, Saijou Ikazuchi was now powerless to resist. Kanata's blade fragments coiled around his head.
"It feels like I've cut through something..." Kanata mused aloud.
"Eh-hah...!" Saijou Ikazuchi suddenly gagged, his face contorting with terror as cold sweat streamed down his forehead. He frantically patted his body, then, snapping out of his daze, his expression lit up with relief.
"I... I've recovered?"
"Did he cut the thread?" Ryoji realized with sudden clarity.
"Magic Power threads can only be severed by attacks imbued with Magic Power," Kanata explained. "By channeling Magic Power into the blade fragments, it was easy to sever the thread controlling the Fragmented City."
Kanata explained to Ryoji, her charming face now tinged with a chilling aura.
"To control someone, you need to insert Magic Power threads into their orifices, ears, nose, and so on. So, if you can incapacitate your opponent and slash near their ears and nose, you can sever the Magic Power threads."
However, even after Saijou Ikazuchi broke free from control, the surrounding gale showed no signs of abating, and Tomaru Renren continued to race around them relentlessly, showing no signs of stopping.
"In that case," Ryoji mused, "she must be the second base station."
"That's likely the case," Kanata nodded gravely.
"But Renren's speed is extraordinary. Once she pushes herself to her absolute limit, no one can hold her back if she doesn't want to fight."
The selection tournament rules required a clear victor, and the arena was relatively small. That's why Tomaru Renren had lost to Kanata and Touka during the competition.
If she had focused solely on evasion, not even Touka could have caught her, let alone Kanata.
"What a shame! I missed the spectacle of comrades turning on each other again!"
Tomaru Renren circled the group with blinding speed, her figure blurring into a ring of afterimages. Her voice, tinged with mock regret, carried through the howling wind.
"You bastard! What's your real motive?" Kanata demanded, her eyes blazing with fury as she glared at their enemy.
"Motive? Nothing special, really!" she replied, her voice dripping with mockery. "If I had to put it into words, I suppose it's just returning a favor to my colleagues. After all, they asked me for a favor, and someone as kind-hearted as me can't refuse, now can I, ma?"
"You'd better watch out, though! I'm about to unleash this little girl's full potential. I hope you all make it out unscathed, hee hee hee!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the swirling winds intensified, and the number of afterimages circling them multiplied exponentially.
"This... her speed just increased again?"
The violent wind slammed into Kanata's face, forcing her to shield her eyes. If such a powerful storm were to strike a desert terrain, it would likely trigger a massive sandstorm!
"Didn't they say her limit was only twice the speed of sound?"
Ryoji squinted, shielding his eyes from the fierce barrage of dust and debris swirling through the air.
It was clear that Tomaru Renren's speed had surged again, completely surpassing her previously demonstrated limits.
"Judging by the feeling, if she was moving at twice the speed of sound before, she's now approaching three times the speed of sound, and it's still accelerating!"
At this velocity, not even Rich Lady Kanata, let alone Senior Sister Touka, could stand a chance against her!
"She was definitely moving at twice the speed of sound before...!" Kanata muttered, her jaw clenching in frustration.
'Is this what "going all out" means?'
'Has she surpassed even the limits I couldn't reach?'
'How could such a terrifying being exist?'
"Look over there!" Saijou Ikazuchi's shocked voice cut through the air.
Following his pointed finger, Ryoji and Kanata simultaneously stiffened.
On the ground where Tomaru Renren had been circling, a long trail of bloodstains stretched out. Judging by the quantity, she must be bleeding profusely!
"This is..."
Recalling her abnormal speed, Ryoji instantly recognized a familiar phenomenon.
"Breaking the survival instinct!"
Exactly.
Just like Kurogane Ikki's Ittou Shura, Tomaru Renren had shattered her own survival instinct, allowing her to continuously push beyond her limits.
But she shouldn't have undergone any training in this area…
'Could it be that, with complete control over the brain, even something like this is possible?'
Kanata and Saijou Ikazuchi instantly grasped his meaning, and a simultaneous chill ran down their spines.
PuppetWarlock had seized control of Tomaru Renren's brain, manipulating her actions like a puppet.
But by ravaging her brain and stimulating specific areas, he could force her to overload her Blazer's special ability, naturally surpassing her limits!
But such reckless torment would inevitably inflict severe damage on Tomaru Renren!
One misstep, and she could easily end up in a vegetative state, that would be the best-case scenario.
If he showed no restraint, then who knew what might happen?
"That bastard!"
The usually elegant Rich Lady Kanata finally snapped, cursing aloud.
This man was no longer a mere terrorist; he was a mind/energetic plague, evil incarnate!
"Kanata, get down first."
Ryoji crouched slightly, gently lowering Rich Lady Kanata from his back.
"Protect yourself."
"What are you going to do?"
Kanata slid off his back, casting him a bewildered look.
"With your Magic Power, it's impossible to deal with an enemy this fast!"
Her ability was utterly useless in this situation.
Under the howling gale, her shards couldn't even approach Renren, let alone deploy her thirty-meter attack range, which was utterly ineffective in these circumstances.
Ryoji's Magic Power was extremely limited. According to the Academy Forum's speculation, it was impossible for him to catch up to such a blistering speed.
"We won't know until we try," Ryoji said, shaking his head, his expression resolute. "If we just stand by and do nothing, she'll die, right?"
Tomaru Renren was moving at a minimum of three times the speed of sound, and the velocity was still accelerating.
He had never experienced such speed before.
He wasn't even sure if he could handle it, let alone defeat her.
But inaction was not an option.
Kanata and Saijou Ikazuchi were both powerless against Tomaru Renren in her current state. If he didn't intervene, she would certainly die!
"Set my running speed to surpass Tomaru Renren's! Set my deformation speed to exceed the Device's!"
Fortunately, he had recently mastered a new technique…
This was an evolution he had gained after acquiring his TYPE-MOON avatar, a point his other self had already proven during the battle at Moon Oil.
Rumble rumble rumble…!!
A colossal surge of air erupted with a deafening roar!
(End of Chapter)