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Flames spread across the entire grassland.
Blazing fire surged like scorching waves of heat. The moment the explosion erupted, all surrounding weeds were instantly ignited, and the fire expanded at an astonishing speed, turning this patch of grassland on the outskirts of Academy City into a sea of fire.
Black smoke billowed upward.
The temperature rose sharply in an instant.
Even the outer walls of Academy City showed signs of commotion. It seemed the security personnel had noticed the fire and begun contacting people inside.
Perhaps it wouldn't be long before firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze.
Unfortunately, if firefighters really did arrive here, the fire would already have disappeared.
Because there was someone here capable of killing flames in a single strike.
"Chii......!"
A rushing flash of sword light appeared in one corner of the inferno, slicing through space.
"Puchi......!"
Amid a tearing, cutting sound, the rushing sword flash resembled a streak of light obliterating the sea of flames. In the instant it passed through, the entire inferno trembled violently and was abruptly extinguished.
This grassland covered an area with a diameter of roughly two kilometers.
Yet this two-kilometer-wide sea of fire had been split apart by a single streak of sword light.
Killed.
In a single moment.
"...?!"
Only then did Kanzaki, who had deployed steel wires and activated her magic, realize she had made a fatal mistake.
She had forgotten—
The man before her possessed Mystic Eyes capable of killing all things.
Those ice-blue Mystic Eyes could kill magic and phenomena alike without distinction.
Using magic against him was fundamentally a foolish act.
But realizing that now was already too late.
"Flashing Dash – One Deer!"
A kick like a beam of light landed heavily on Kanzaki's abdomen.
"Boom......!"
A muffled impact exploded like a shockwave from the corner of the grassland where the flames had just been extinguished.
"Cough…!"
An astonishing force surged into Kanzaki's body from the outside, dragging out the physical burden she had been enduring ever since releasing her Stigma. Accompanied by intense pain, the Saint could not help coughing up blood.
Immediately afterward, Kanzaki's figure turned into a cannonball. Amid an ear-splitting sonic boom, she was blown backward at terrifying speed and smashed violently into a massive boulder.
"Bang......!"
The enormous rock shattered instantly, exploding into fragments and gravel that scattered in every direction.
"Ugh…!"
Kanzaki groaned and collapsed on the spot, barely managing to force one knee to the ground, avoiding complete collapse by kneeling on one knee.
"Hu… hu…"
Her breathing finally became disordered.
"Hu… hu…"
Fang Li's breathing was likewise somewhat ragged. Ignoring the wound on his shoulder that continued pouring blood, his ice-blue Mystic Eyes remained fixed directly on Kanzaki.
"Finally managed to land a hit…"
After fighting up to this point, Fang Li had also come to understand the gap in ability between himself and his opponent.
Without question, Kanzaki, as a Saint, was extraordinarily powerful. Not only could she keep up with Fang Li, who specialized in agility, but the attack speed of Yuisen was downright terrifying. At the beginning of the battle, it had almost left Fang Li completely unable to fight back. If not for the tracking abilities of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and his Enemy Detection Skill, Fang Li might very well have been cut down before he could even react.
After all, iai sword techniques were attacks known for their extreme speed. Kanzaki had pushed that principle to its absolute limit. She not only mastered the essence of iai, but also invoked it through magical techniques, making the speed of her slashes utterly horrifying.
However…
"If we're talking about movement speed, it seems I'm a little faster…"
That wasn't because Kanzaki was too slow.
After releasing her Stigma, Kanzaki's speed had already completely surpassed the speed of sound, allowing her to engage Fang Li in ultra-high-speed offense and defense.
But Fang Li, as a speed-type Main God's Envoy, coupled with the enhancement of Prana, still possessed superior movement speed compared to Kanzaki.
As for attack speed, however, Kanzaki was faster.
"Though… that's only when she's using Yuisen…"
In other words, without using Yuisen, Fang Li's attack speed was actually faster as well.
In that case, with magic being countered by Fang Li's Mystic Eyes, and speed also leaning in Fang Li's favor, as long as he could withstand the threat of Yuisen, he had a chance at victory.
The question was—
Could Fang Li endure it?
"Cough… cough…!"
On the other side, Kanzaki struggled to rise from the ground while coughing.
Within her eyes, only Fang Li remained.
Looking at the man standing opposite her, his body stained red by blood flowing from the wound on his shoulder, yet completely expressionless; his pair of ice-blue Mystic Eyes fixed directly upon her; his hand gripping the equally blood-stained blade of light,
A man like an Asura of Hell.
Kanzaki pressed a hand against her chest and murmured softly:
"Very strong…"
Kanzaki had never underestimated Fang Li's strength in the slightest.
If he weren't strong, then even with those Mystic Eyes, how could he possibly have single-handedly raided so many magic faction strongholds and stolen one Original Grimoire after another?
Therefore, from the very beginning, Kanzaki's evaluation of Fang Li had been extremely high.
But she discovered that she had still underestimated him somewhat.
A Saint was an existence similar to the Son of God, Jesus Christ, thereby gaining a fragment of the Son of God's power.
In the Magic Side, a Saint was equivalent to a nuclear weapon. Under normal circumstances, even their actions were subject to restrictions. Once the power of the Stigma was released, they would gain abilities beyond the realm of humanity, capable of conquering an entire city alone.
And yet, Fang Li had completely caught up to that level.
Caught up to power that transcended humanity.
And what he relied on was not the power of the Son of God, but his own strength.
"To be honest, I admire you. One could even say I revere you."
Kanzaki's voice slowly rang out.
"You did not fight by relying on abilities granted by innate talent. You reached your current realm through your own efforts. Your strength… is true strength."
And Kanzaki yearned for that kind of strength.
Because Kanzaki hated the fortune her body had possessed since birth. She believed it mocked the unfortunate, and even brought misfortune to those around her.
For that reason, she wished to use this power to save those unfortunate people who had not received God's blessing.
"If I did not possess this 'Luck,' I would not be your opponent at all. Yet you, through your own effort, have caught up to this 'Luck.' There is truly no reason for me not to admire you."
As she said this, Kanzaki gradually steadied her breathing and stared directly at Fang Li.
Slowly, she placed her hand upon the hilt of her nodachi.
"As you said, my body has already been pushed to its limit by the burden imposed by Saint power. I cannot continue fighting."
Kanzaki made this declaration.
"So, in the next strike, I shall pour in all of my power."
"With this… let us decide the victor."
The pressure radiating from Kanzaki's body surged once more.
It was the most overwhelming aura she had displayed thus far.
Therefore, Fang Li understood.
The next strike would not only be Kanzaki's final attack—
It would also be her strongest attack.
Even stronger than the opening Yuisen.
"......"
Fang Li closed his eyes.
Zheng!
In his hand, Bo Xie suddenly bloomed with an intense radiance.
(End Of This Chapter)