Boom!
On the street, a row of roadblocks was knocked over.
"Damn it, all the vehicles have stopped," Nene said, exasperated.
She and Stella were unleashing their magic without restraint, pushing their movement speed to the absolute limit.
Their pace had already far surpassed that of ordinary land vehicles, exceeding three hundred kilometers per hour.
"Teacher, can't you fly with me like Noah does?"
Stella was incredibly anxious.
An hour had passed since they received news that the academy was under attack. They had no way of knowing what condition the school was in.
It was still summer vacation, so there shouldn't be many students on campus. More importantly, the contestants for the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival might be in danger!
'Noah...'
Stella was worried sick, and her expenditure of magic became even more ferocious.
The two powerhouses charged forward, directly sending any obstacles in their path flying, seeking only the fastest possible speed.
...
Meanwhile, about one hundred and seventy kilometers away, Hagun Academy's Chairwoman, the World Clock Kurono Shinguuji, was also rushing toward the school.
...
Hearing the girl's question, Nene was a little speechless.
'Even among gravity users, there are different factions, you know? Not to mention, with my level of magic control, I might not self-destruct from a stunt like that, but there's an eighty or ninety percent chance I'd kill the passenger.'
Suddenly.
"Hey, Stella, get over here!"
Nene noticed a tanker truck, her eyes lighting up.
Without another word, she grabbed Stella and rushed over!
"T-Teacher?"
"Less talking. Get ready to defend with your magic."
"Huh?"
'What on earth is she planning to... Hey, hey, hey, no way!'
Stella watched in horror as Nene used gravity to lift the massive tanker truck into the air. The two of them landed on top of it as it flew toward the mountaintop.
"This should be a lot faster," the eternally-young loli said excitedly.
Boom!
Nene detonated the tanker truck.
The massive explosion instantly engulfed the two of them. About half a second later, they were sent flying by the terrifying shockwave.
Nene roared, "Even if I can't do it exactly like that little brat, isn't this still moving through the air?!"
She actually seemed excited!
Stella pushed her magical defense to its maximum, but she was still thoroughly frightened by the deafening blast.
She was stunned.
'This bitch!'
She actually used the explosion of a tanker truck as propulsion to blast the two of them toward the academy!
Only A-Rank Blazers like them could pull this off.
If it were a C-Rank Blazer or worse, their meager magic would have no chance of withstanding such an explosion; they would be blown to smithereens on the spot!
"You... you idiot!!! Ahhh!!!"
"Hahaha, I can see it! Get ready to land!"
"Land... eh?"
Stella looked down at the academy gates below, and her expression changed. Her panic was replaced by a battle-ready focus.
She knew that the moment they landed, they would have to face the terrorists who had attacked the academy.
More importantly, she wanted to know if Noah was safe.
'Noah... I'm coming!'
Bang!
The ground shook.
It was an unimaginable sound for a person landing.
A fragile human body could not possibly shake the earth like that; it would have been splattered into a meat patty upon impact.
But with Stella's abilities, she wouldn't be injured even from a fall from such a height.
Instead, the ground's surface was damaged, unable to withstand the kinetic force of the impact.
Maintaining her surging magic, Stella was the first to charge into the campus.
The scene that appeared before her made her eyes widen.
...
Ouma's sword slash cut the earth golem in two.
But the earth golem was not afraid of being sliced. It regenerated in the blink of an eye.
Realizing this, Ouma used his Noble Art.
"If I gave you a little more time, you might be able to fight me. But as you are now, you're still too weak!"
Out of a basic sense of acknowledgment, Ouma raised his Device, Ryuusou.
He would end this battle with his Noble Art!
A storm gathered around his blade, and Ouma swung down the fifty-meter-long greatsword formed from compressed air.
"Dangetsu Tenryuusou!"
As expected, the earth golem's body was pulverized.
The greatsword of wind acted like a meat grinder, shredding the golem's physical body and scattering its elements, preventing it from reforming.
The earth golem's shield and spear were completely shattered.
Noah's gaze sharpened.
He manipulated the earth golem to grab Ouma with its giant hand.
But his opponent braced his arms, actually locking hands with the golem's arm using his own human arms.
The two began a contest of raw physical strength.
After a moment of astonishment, Noah poured in even more magic.
He leaped out from behind the earth golem, pulling a jet-black greatsword from the earth as he did so, and swept up all the gravity within a five-meter radius.
Including the five hundred kilograms of air compressed by Ouma!
He could only swing it once.
The jet-black greatsword, made of iron sand, could not withstand such mass. It would surely shatter after a single physical strike.
And his magic power was also reaching its limit. Furthermore, this was his first time attempting this.
Boom!
Feeling the physical mass on his body lessen, Ouma was also taken aback.
The restraints he had used to pressure himself for years had suddenly lost their effect, stunning him.
Feeling the overwhelming pressure bearing down on him from above, he had an epiphany.
'He transferred the gravity to his attack? What a gamble.'
Ouma grinned, a savage smile spreading across his face. He swung his greatsword, Ryuusou, directly at Noah's greatsword.
He intended to meet it head-on!
On Noah's side, all his puppets had been shattered by Ikki's replica, and everyone else was down.
He was out of options.
He had stalled for as long as he could. For this one strike, at least, he intended to hold nothing back!
Vwoom—!
It wasn't the sound of steel clashing. It was a pulsation. An impact.
Before their weapons even collided, the physical shockwaves carried by them had already crashed into each other.
It wasn't sharpness, but violence—pure force colliding, sending an invisible shockwave spreading out from the two of them.
The defense that Noah had struggled to penetrate before was now pierced by the shockwave.
Ouma's expression changed, and he couldn't stop a mouthful of blood from spraying out.
The arm he used to meet the attack suffered a fracture, and his muscles and tendons tore, spewing pillars of blood.
But he was still smiling.
Unfortunately, that smile was fleeting, quickly replaced by a dazed look.
Because Noah's weapon shattered at that moment!
The jet-black greatsword cracked from its base, the fissure spreading to the blade before it exploded.
Bang!
Noah's body was sent flying backward.
In mid-air, the bones in his left arm broke, his right leg bone was pulverized, and his ribs pierced his internal organs.
Even though he's not the one who had lost, Ouma wore an expression of even greater despair.
Just because he couldn't have a satisfying fight, he was now filled with a rage that had nowhere to go.
What he wanted was an absolute suppression that would push his physical body to its limits, where he would be powerless even after using every trick he had.
Only that kind of suppression could break the shadow in his heart.
For that one instant, he had truly felt that long-lost sensation.
But... in a flash, in less than a second, his opponent had crumbled on his own!
This made him understand.
That wasn't his opponent's own physical power, he had just been forcing it out.
He, too, was a weakling in the end!
Noah flew a great distance before his body finally hit the ground, dragging a long trail behind him.
Then, the shockwave fully erupted, transmitting through his body to the earth's surface.
With a loud roar, the ground in a nearly hundred-meter radius around Noah sank by more than two centimeters, forming a huge, shallow crater.
Blood spurted from the various wounds on his physical body.
"Cough—"
He let out a muffled grunt.
Noah found it a miracle that he was still conscious.
"Cough, cough, huh?" he said with a surprised look. "I thought I'd be crying or screaming in pain. Turns out I'm pretty tough."
He tried to move a little but couldn't feel his limbs at all.
He muttered with a look of realization, "Oh, so it's the adrenaline numbing my sense of physical pain. It hurts so much that I can't feel the pain anymore. A common occurrence."
He had failed to stall until the Chairwoman or the others arrived.
He had lost.
If he had known, he would have just lost to his opponent cleanly.
At least he wouldn't be in such a miserable physical state.
Getting hit by a sword in its illusion form would have been over in an instant, not like this.
"Ouma Kurogane!"
The conflicted Ouma heard someone shout his name and turned around with a frown.
The next moment, a fist landed on his face.
With his Tenryuu Kacchuu deactivated, his face was struck by the punch and deformed from the powerful impact!
His eyes widened as he strained his neck to see the person who had hit him.
Then, he grew excited.
Because he felt that his battle could continue.
'Stella Vermillion!'
Ouma spread his feet, lowered his center of gravity, and actually managed to hold his ground with his core physical strength, not getting sent flying.
Seeing his outrageous physique, Stella had a look of disbelief.
Her punch could flatten even iron.
But this guy didn't even budge!
"..."
Swish!
A jet-black wave of gravity slashed down as Ouma felt an intense sense of physical danger and instantly retreated.
The dark gravity wave carved a scar into the earth.
Nene landed gracefully.
"Stella, go check on the kid. As for these little punks, leave them to me."
Seeing the students lying on the ground, covered in wounds, Nene's gaze gradually turned cold, and the hand holding her fan dropped to her side.
"Brace yourselves, you lot. I'm in a very bad mood right now, and I can't guarantee I can control my physical strength enough to leave you barely alive!"
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