Chapter 239 - You managed to avoid it even under those circumstances?
"Well... Chairwoman, Roy's strength should meet the admission standard, right?"
Seeing Kurono taking out her Device, Ayase couldn't help but feel worried. Entrance tests were subjective; if the examiner was in a bad mood, they could easily fail an applicant.
Given that Roy had just defeated the Chairwoman in the first exchange, Ayase feared Kurono might be holding a grudge.
"The strength shown by Roy just now has indeed reached the admission standard," Kurono said, glancing at Ayase and nodding.
To be able to defeat her in a non-serious state with a single blow meant his strength surpassed most students in the school.
The claim that Roy's strength rivaled the Top 8 of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival was not an exaggeration.
Enrollment was no problem at all.
"However, as I said, we need specific data," Kurono continued, her eyes fixed on Roy. "The first grade I'm giving you is an A in Physical Fitness."
There are six evaluation criteria to measure a Blazer's strength: Offensive Power, Defensive Power, Mana Capacity, Magic Control, Physical Fitness, and Luck. The grades range from A to F.
Physical Fitness includes not only raw strength and speed but also skill and coordination.
Roy had instantly overwhelmed a World-Class knight in physical combat without breaking a sweat.
An A-Rank was the only appropriate score. While S-Rank existed, it was reserved for anomalies that couldn't be measured by standard instruments, so A was effectively the highest obtainable score.
"Next, let me see what level you have reached in other aspects. I hope you can continue to surprise me."
Kurono's gaze sharpened.
She was no longer contemptuous. Mana surged over her body, forming a dense defensive barrier.
She had been slapped by Ascalon once; she wasn't about to let it happen again. Even with A-Rank physical fitness, taking repeated hits from that sword would be unbearable.
She knew Roy had held back earlier; if he hadn't, her injuries would have been severe. Now, with her mana defenses up, she could resist most physical impacts.
This time, Kurono didn't wait for Roy to attack. She raised her black pistol, Propator.
Roy's instincts flashed a warning signal. He quickly side-stepped.
Kurono didn't adjust her aim. She pulled the trigger.
A pitch-black bullet sprayed out, hitting the empty space where Roy had stood a split second ago.
Upon impact, black and white ripples spread in all directions, forming a spherical distortion in the air. Inside that sphere, time stopped completely.
This was Kurono's ability: Clock Crisis. Using her bullets as a medium, she could freeze time in a localized area.
Anything caught inside would be stuck the moment the bullet arrived.
Looking at the frozen pocket of space, Roy couldn't help but show surprise.
"Boy, this is my Noble Art. Don't get hit, or you lose," Kurono said with a smirk, clearly satisfied with his reaction.
"Very powerful," Roy nodded.
Roy wondered if he could break free if hit. Kurono's time stop was similar to Gasper Vladi's Forbidden Balor View.
While Roy could break Gasper's time stop with raw power, Kurono was a master of time manipulation with years of experience.
He wasn't entirely sure he could brute-force his way out of her chronal lock without using his Scale Mail.
"Better just not get hit," Roy decided.
His heart skipped a beat, and then he vanished. Using Marginal, he stepped forward, arriving at Kurono's side in an instant.
This time, Roy's attack wasn't a warning. It was a sharp, unrelenting slash.
Sword light enveloped Kurono. To the naked eye, the two combatants were nothing but blurs colliding at impossible speeds. The sound of metal impacting metal rang out endlessly, merging into a single continuous tone.
"Your speed is completely abnormal! I even used time acceleration on myself just to barely keep up!"
While dodging, Kurono blocked Ascalon with the barrel of her pistol.
"Is your Noble Art a speed-enhancement type?" Kurono guessed, her hands numbing from the impact. In close combat, using pistols against a heavy sword was a distinct disadvantage.
Roy's attacks were both fast and heavy. Even with her A-Rank physique, she couldn't endure this for long.
"It can be considered one of them," Roy replied ambiguously, swinging Ascalon with relentless rhythm.
He was systematically cutting off Kurono's escape routes. If this continued, he would break through her defense.
"One of them?" Kurono was surprised. "It seems your level of Magic Control is also high!"
Magic Control measures the precision with which a Blazer uses their mana and develops their abilities. If Roy had multiple speed enhancing techniques, it implied a high level of control.
Roy didn't answer. instead, he accelerated his slashes, forcing Kurono into a chaotic defense. She was almost cut several times.
While Kuraudo burned through stamina using Marginal, this weakness was non-existent for Roy.
His physical fitness, enhanced by mana and his Falna, could support the high-speed reflexes indefinitely.
Kurono, forced into passive defense, looked grim. It was the first time since she became famous that she had been suppressed so thoroughly.
Roy completely blocked her ability to counterattack. He never gave her a chance to pull the trigger.
A pistol requires two actions: aim and fire. A swordsman only needs one: slash. Within striking distance, Roy was king.
If Kurono tried to aim, Roy would cut her down before she could fire. The rhythm of the battle was suffocating.
"Hey, boy! Don't push me too hard!"
Kurono shouted, her footwork changing abruptly.
Suddenly, Roy lost track of her. A feeling of shock emerged from the bottom of his heart, and alarm bells rang in his mind.
'Danger.'
Without thinking, Roy activated Aeriel, forming a layer of emerald wind around his body.
A black bullet shot out from Roy's blind spot on the right. Accelerated through time, it hit the wind barrier with incredible speed.
If Roy hadn't summoned the barrier instantly, the bullet would have hit him. The wind stopped the physical projectile, but the time stopping effect detonated on impact.
The distortion rippled toward Roy. Thanks to the split-second delay provided by the barrier, Roy had time to react.
He leaped away, narrowly escaping the frozen sphere of space.
"Hoh?"
Kurono made a surprised sound.
"You managed to avoid it even under those circumstances?"
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