Absolute Speed's defining trait was its ability to grow stronger against stronger opponents!
As long as his Magic Power and physical constitution allowed, his speed would always surpass his opponent's!
With a single step, it was as if a violent gale had erupted into the sky!
All sound vanished from his ears, as if he had entered a realm where time stood still.
A single step distorted the world before him. Exceeding speeds of over a thousand meters per second, he covered hundreds of meters in a single stride, instantly losing all sense of his surroundings.
"Too fast!"
Ryoji struggled to maintain control.
This ability had a critical flaw: once he set his speed to surpass his opponent's, no amount of self-restraint could slow him down.
"It hurts!"
Only after taking that step did he belatedly realize the searing, all-over pain that engulfed him.
Under the extreme friction of the air, his clothes instantly shredded into rags, and his skin visibly turned crimson red.
"Am I being roasted alive?"
If he hadn't activated his shapeshifting ability, he would have suffered severe burns at the very least. Yet even so, the excruciating pain continued to assault his nerves unabated.
The searing pain burning through his nerves paradoxically sharpened his mind to an unprecedented clarity.
Ryoji's thoughts raced.
'I have to end this quickly!'
He shifted his gaze to Tomaru Renren, who was charging toward him at breakneck speed.
'Wait a moment... Even I can barely control this speed. Renren's reflexes are far inferior to mine. Then she…'
A lightning bolt of realization struck Ryoji's mind.
'So that's how it is! That's why she's been running in circles!'In that case, this will be much easier!'
He closed his eyes.
No longer attempting to control the Divine Speed with his neural reactions, Ryoji understood that while his reflexes had significantly improved after being blessed by the Blessing/Falna, they were still far from capable of managing a Divine Speed that surpassed a thousand meters per second.
In this situation, the only solution was to shut down his senses, vision, hearing, and any others struggling to keep up, and entrust everything to his intuition.
BOOM…!!
The sound of a thunderous spring clap boomed belatedly.
His hurtling figure trailed a comet-like tail of violent wind.
In a fleeting instant, he had closed the gap of hundreds of meters and seized Tomaru Renren, who was running in ceaseless circles.
His expression remained as serene as a placid lake as he thrust his blade straight toward her.
BOOM…!!
Under the massive shock wave, akin to a meteor's impact, both figures were hurled backward by the colossal force, carving hundred-meter-long furrows into the ground.
Tomaru Renren landed in a daze.
Yet her feet never faltered, their momentum surging relentlessly upward.
This was no will of her own.
Her eyes had glazed over, crimson blood streaming from her orifices. It was the puppeteer behind her, relentlessly stimulating her brain, forcing her to maintain this impossible speed.
"Seriously? Can a human actually keep up with that speed?" PuppetWarlock exclaimed, his jaw dropping in disbelief.
Launching an attack at three times the speed of sound was nothing remarkable; even the world's top experts could achieve that. But upgrading one's own running speed to three times the speed of sound? That was utterly absurd!
Even someone like Tomaru Renren, who specialized in speed abilities, required his "assistance" to reach such velocities. Yet this opponent had surged to that level using only his own power!
'He's encountered a monster like this here?'
'Could this guy also be a world-class expert?'
"Heh heh, but it's useless!"
He laughed gleefully.
Even after being struck by an impact at three times the speed of sound, Tomaru Renren's body showed no serious injuries.
Upon closer inspection, a dense network of fine silk threads surrounded her, forming a spiderweb-like barrier.
That was precisely his Hell Spider Silk.
"Even though I'm controlling it remotely, this stuff is completely different from my earlier Magic Power threads. It's my Device, after all, you can imagine the hardness, right?"
Though both were silk threads, the rigidity of Magic Power threads paled in comparison to those of Spiritual Item (Device) threads.
However, Spiritual Item (Devices) were limited in scale, typically used only to connect to one's most crucial base station. Any threads extending beyond these stations were exclusively Magic Power threads.
Pfft!
Just as he was inwardly gloating...
Tomaru Renren's body suddenly convulsed violently, and she vomited a stream of blood.
He dismissed it, thinking nothing of it.
After all, she had already vomited blood over a dozen times from the strain of his constant mental stimulation. This was simply another sign she couldn't endure the overload.
But what did her inability to endure have to do with him?
On the contrary, the sight of the puppet's agonizing state only filled him with greater delight.
Puchi!
But the next moment...
Tomaru Renren's body froze abruptly, like a rusted machine grinding to a halt.
She vomited an even greater torrent of blood, her legs collapsing uncontrollably beneath her. Her body launched forward like a cannonball, smashing through the distant rocky forest in a cloud of debris.
"Hmm?"
PuppetWarlock tilted its head in confusion.
'What just happened?'
'Why did she suddenly kneel?'
"Looks like you can't comprehend, huh?" Ryoji grinned, pushing himself up from the ground.
Agony pulsed through him, but a triumphant smile spread across his face.
"Comprehend what?"
"Brains, you fucking idiot!" Ryoji jabbed a finger at his skull, flashing a radiant smile at his opponent as he hurled the insult.
More accurately, her brain and body had become disconnected.
Tomaru Renren could only control her Divine Speed up to twice the speed of sound. At that velocity, she could barely manage to launch attacks using her special ability.
In fact, she did possess a Noble Art called "Black Bird", a sonic boom strike at twice the speed of sound, but nothing beyond that.
However, at three times the speed of sound or higher, even Tomaru Renren herself lost control of the velocity.
That's right. Her neural reactions simply weren't sufficient to perform complex movements at triple the speed of sound.
The reason she was running in circles was because her reaction time only allowed her to barely maintain a circular path.
At that speed, attempting to attack someone else?
Her accuracy would be hopelessly compromised!
A single kick might miss its target by dozens of meters, resulting in a completely wasted strike.
Even Ryoji had to rely entirely on instinct to deliver attacks with sufficient precision.
The Puppet Warlock hiding behind her was forcibly stimulating her brain, creating a disconnect between her perception and physical control. Her brain simply couldn't handle the Divine Speed that surpassed its limits.
Thus, the solution was simple.
One strike would suffice.
The Hell Spider Silk couldn't stop anything; in fact, the strands themselves became conduits for transmitting kinetic force!
With a single downward slash, Tomaru Renren's leg tendons were severed, causing her to collapse.
Given the nature of her special ability, once her speed dropped to zero, the battle would be over.
(End of Chapter)
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