Alternative Title: Almost a Tragedy
At Zaydas's shout, Shizue and Ravel moved!
The moment Shizue simply drew the katana from its sheath, a horizontal cut appeared between Ravel's breasts.
It was all so fast that any kind of defense was useless against such an attack, as she had used her skill [Cut Induction].
However, the expected blood didn't come from Ravel, but instead, golden flames burned brilliantly. It was as if shining gold was burning until it melted. The shape of the flames was very much like molten gold with fragments of shimmering sanded stones.
That scene alone was a feast for the eyes.
Meanwhile, the wound caused by Shizue's attack, which was related to Space-Time, healed and closed as quickly as it had opened, and Ravel managed to act as if nothing had happened, causing a pair of flaming golden wings to manifest on her back.
Yes, even her wings were influenced by her [Golden Flames] ability.
Placing her hand on the ground, instead of starting to fly, Ravel's actions confused them, but what happened next left many of them shocked.
At her touch, the ground began to fall apart as if it were made of something incredibly fragile, like the ashes of a paper leaf.
"That must be her new unique ability, [Deconstruction]," Zaydas guessed.
Hakurou, who looked at him upon hearing that, turned his gaze back to the scene, nodding: "Ohoh, that's a good ability. If used the right way, she would be the terror of any sword user, etc. I wouldn't want to have to face her if possible."
After all, unlike Shizue, most of his abilities required direct contact, and until understanding the extent of Ravel's ability, it would be dangerous to face her, risking the loss of his precious sword.
If she's able to create a protective layer with that skill around her body...
Their thoughts were interrupted when the ground that had begun to collapse reached Shizue's location. However, being a Devil, Shizue could also fly.
Soon, a pair of mercury-black wings manifested on Shizue's back and in an instant, she had already distanced herself from the ground while with her sword, she made a cutting motion in the air.
"Whoosh!"
"Bang!!"
"Urghh..."
From the shoulder to the left armpit, Ravel was cut, losing her entire left arm, falling into the hole she had created.
Frowning deeply, the severed arm glowed golden, disintegrating and returning to her like fragments of flame almost like a puzzle, the arm beginning to be restored in golden flames until it returned to its normal human form.
The whole process took mere two seconds.
A terrifyingly incredible regeneration.
"Sigh, what an enviable regenerative ability..." Benimaru muttered, adding: "However, if she only relies on that, it will be difficult for her to defeat Shizue-san."
It was normal for him to think that way. Until now, Shizue only needed to attack from a distance using [Cut Induction] and cause wounds that would be irreversible for others. And, even if Ravel could heal at extreme speed... how long could she keep that up before running out of magical power?
The interval for using Shizue's skill was merely 1 second. The moment she saw that her attack had been quickly undone, she attacked again.
This time, her target was the right arm.
"Damn it!" Ravel cursed.
For now, she couldn't even dodge. The mere gaze of Shizue already made her a trapped target with no escape.
"Whoosh!"
"SPLRCH!"
A quick slash. Soon, the entire right arm met the same fate as the left arm, even as she tried to escape by flying.
Groaning in pain, Ravel made the severed arm disintegrate into golden flames and return to her body, thus restoring the arm again.
The whole process was possible thanks to the extra ability she had, [Psychokinesis].
If it weren't for that ability, she would still need to manually pick up the arm and attach it to the severed torso.
"Girls can be really cruel to themselves..." Kurobee commented quietly.
Benimaru and Souei simply nodded in agreement.
It was just a training match, but Ravel had already had both of her arms cut off.
Needless to say, even if Shizue's attack was fast, that didn't exclude the pain Ravel must be feeling every time it happened.
The fact that she only frowned while growling in pain proved that, although she looked like a noble little girl, she had an incredible pain tolerance and didn't give up easily. Even now, she seemed to be thinking of a way to win without looking like she wanted to give up.
"However, Ravel-san has little chance of winning," Souei commented.
"Not necessarily," Zaydas said. "If she manages to get close to Shizue and touch her, she wins and... she has the advantage in the sky. Just wait and see."
As soon as Zaydas's words fell, they really saw Ravel shoot off faster than a cannonball, flying like a golden flaming streak in the sky, reaching an incredible speed, only a few meters away from reaching Shizue.
Zaydas added in his heart: 'Of course, even if she manages to reach Shizue, it's hard to say whether she would still succeed in inflicting much damage on her, after all... Shizue has high fire resistance.'
In this aspect, Ravel chose the worst person to go up against in a duel.
Shizue still remained calm. She didn't try to escape and stayed high in the sky holding her sword. Then, she made a scar in the air with the sword in an "X" shape—so fast that, if they were just a bit more ordinary, they wouldn't be able to see the process of her swinging her sword.
Soon, that X-shaped slash mark appeared on Ravel's body.
She stopped while seeming horrified, and soon her body was divided into four parts.
The scream that was expected never came, but her intact face was distorted in agony—it was clear that although she made no sound, it was very painful.
The fact that she was still alive even after that was unbelievable.
And when most thought she would simply regenerate like the other times, reality proved them wrong.
Soon, she turned into a kind of golden ash with vibrant red and was blown by the wind in Shizue's direction.
"What is happening!?"
"She... She didn't die, right?"
"She's fine," Zaydas assured calmly. He didn't explain, as everything would be revealed in a moment.
And, exactly as he thought, the ashes from before began to form a sort of golden egg with a red pattern, and then the sound of "Crack" was heard, and from the "Egg," Ravel emerged very close to Shizue.
Before Shizue could react, Ravel's hand touched her abdomen, only to have her hand cut off by Shizue.
"I won!" Ignoring the pain of having her arm severed, Ravel smiled warmly upon seeing a mark glowing on Shizue's abdomen.
The mark had a rustic pattern with cracked details in the shape of a pentagram.
With the other good hand, Ravel only needed to snap her fingers and Shizue would suffer the damage from [Fire Mark].
Ravel quickly moved away while her severed arm was being restored, and then she snapped her fingers.
"CRACKLE-BOOM!!!!"
A very loud explosive sound echoed.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
Screams were heard from a distance.
Even the barrier created by Zaydas was deformed.
The place became as hot as hell. The sensation of being inside a hot pot of water was terrifying.
"Heavens!!"
"Yikes! This is terrible?!"
"Is Shizue-san okay?"
The spoken words were barely heard. Most of them had ringing in their ears due to the loud explosion.
Even Ravel, who didn't expect the explosion to be so powerful, was thrown several meters away, full of injuries, looking terrible with her whole body covered in blood.
Seconds after the explosion settled, all signs of life from Shizue disappeared.
The expression of shock and horror on everyone's faces was hard to describe.
"It can't be..."
"Shizue-san, she..."
...
Zaydas opened his eyes.
"That was..."
"I won!"
Hearing that, and seeing the scene unfold as Ravel was retreating in the air and about to snap her fingers, Zaydas moved.
"Stop!"
At his shout, Ravel and Shizue, who were just about to act, became confused. Especially Ravel.
"Ravel won," Zaydas announced under the confused gaze of everyone.
Obviously, he couldn't allow the tragic scene he glimpsed to happen.
Though confused, he understood that he had managed to see a few seconds into the future, and faced with such a scene, he could not allow the duel to continue.
In the state Shizue was left in, it would be difficult even for him to revive her.
'This ability of hers needs to be studied...'
One thing was certain. The unique ability Ravel acquired, [Fire Mark], had an indescribable effect in her hands.
'Is it because of the golden flames and the natural flames from her lineage that caused such an explosive reaction?'
Whatever it was, he felt like he was walking on eggshells—without better understanding this ability, he needed Ravel to be careful when using it...
Still confused, Ravel, who had just healed herself, asked: "Zaydas-sama, why did you stop us?" She thought of something: "Could it be..."
"Yes, this ability of yours is more powerful than you imagine. If you activated it, you would have burned not only Shizue's body, but also her soul."
Zaydas' response to her took everyone by surprise once again.
Several collective sighs were heard.
It became clear just how powerful it was.
And even if Shizue had resistance to flames, it seemed that this ability transcended even her own resistance, inflicting damage to the point of killing her forever.
"So that's it." Shizue, from the other side, sheathed her sword. She said with the slightest embarrassment: "You won."
Even hearing that, Ravel couldn't be happy. She was more concerned with the fact that her attack was so powerful it would be difficult to use.
After a brief explanation from Zaydas, she became aware of how terrifying that ability was and quickly "cleansed" the mark from Shizue, afraid of detonating it by accident.
At that moment, she wasn't thinking straight—the only thing she didn't want was to kill Shizue by accident.
"We were too confident." Zaydas sighed, saying: "In part, I gave you that confidence, and because of that, Ravel in particular decided to test an ability she had never tried before, and I ignored it knowing you would do it and didn't stop you in time. If I hadn't seen a glimpse of the future..."
He sighed and added in a serious tone: "Huh, I don't even want to think about it. Very well, the next duels must be done only with abilities you are 100% used to using. It won't be fun at all if something like what I saw happens. Are we clear?"
""""Yes!!""""
At this point, everyone understood the gravity of using a unique ability they had never tested before.
The truth was, just like Ravel, several of them intended to do the same. For example, Shuna and Shion, who were going to have a duel afterwards...
Even Benimaru and Souei.
However, after this, no one had the motivation to continue with the duels anymore. And for now, it was concluded while they went off to train individually.
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