Chapter 165: Next Chapter—Stella's Death!
At the same time Shiro and Edelweiss were taking each other down, something equally outrageous was happening in front of Hagun Academy.
"President! Maybe we should retreat first...!"
Tomaru Renren anxiously looked toward the mass of light and heat while calling out to the sweating Touka.
After Stella transformed into a storm of flames, the surrounding temperature began rising rapidly.
Even the asphalt beneath their feet had started burning across a wide area.
Forget continuing the battle.
Simply surviving in this environment was becoming difficult.
"But..."
Touka still hesitated.
If they really left, Stella would have to face every member of Akatsuki Academy alone.
During their earlier exchanges, Touka had already felt that the enemy was barely taking the battle seriously.
It was almost as though they had come here to play.
After all, Kurogane Ouma alone was already absurdly strong.
How weak could the people accompanying him possibly be?
While Touka hesitated, the flames only grew more intense.
Standing amid the raging inferno, even breathing became increasingly difficult.
"We're withdrawing."
Fortunately, Hiraga Reisen, who led Akatsuki Academy, gave the order to retreat.
Their objective of destroying Hagun had already been achieved.
There was no reason to remain.
The Akatsuki members left without hesitation.
Seeing them withdraw, Touka finally relaxed.
She used lightning to carve a path through the flames and led everyone away, leaving the battlefield to Ouma and Stella.
At the center of the blazing light, [Laevateinn] had already disappeared from Stella's hands.
In its place, a diamond-shaped wound now glowed brilliantly on her chest where [Laevateinn] had pierced her moments ago.
Thump—!
A sound resembling a heartbeat came from the wound.
Scorching light began shining from inside Stella's body.
She slowly lifted her head and opened her jaws.
For an instant, time seemed to stop.
Every chaotic sound around them seemed to disappear completely.
But Ouma knew it was only an illusion.
His survival instincts had detected overwhelming danger and forced every ounce of his attention onto its source.
The next instant—
"▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇——!!!"
A horrifying roar erupted from Stella's petite body.
Even the sound preceding the end of the world could hardly have been more terrifying.
The surrounding inferno was nearly extinguished by the shockwave produced by her roar.
Ouma could not understand what Stella's roar meant.
Nor did he need to.
All he needed to do was defeat the monster before him.
Turn her into nourishment.
And become stronger.
Yet just as Ouma assumed an attacking stance, he suddenly realized something.
In the blink of an eye—Stella had vanished.
"Where are you looking?"
"?!"
The girl's voice came from below him.
At some unknown moment, Stella had appeared directly in front of Ouma.
Her knees were slightly bent.
Her right fist was clenched.
Then—
Boom—!
A tremendous force suddenly crushed against Ouma's body.
His abdomen burned as though magma had been poured directly into it.
His entire body flew backward uncontrollably.
Through endless tempering, Ouma's flesh had long since become tougher than steel.
Yet Stella's jab pierced through his defenses with ease and left a pitch-black burn mark across his abdomen.
After flying through the air for some distance, Ouma manipulated the surrounding storm to stop himself.
When he looked at Stella again, his eyes had completely changed.
If the previous Stella had represented the highest realm a human could reach—Then the Stella standing before him now had surpassed humanity entirely.
She had become something far more terrifying.
Ouma understood.
There could be no holding back from this point onward.
He tightened his grip on the hilt.
The surrounding wind accelerated him again and again.
Once his speed reached its limit, he used the momentum and every bit of strength in his body to slash toward Stella.
Clang—!
Yet the girl stopped Ouma's strike with nothing more than her pale fist.
Then Stella's fist tore through the air with an explosive crack.
Boom—!
The tremendous force transmitted through [Ryuuzume] nearly tore the sword from Ouma's hand.
Only with the support of the wind did he barely manage to withstand Stella's overwhelming strength.
But it was not over.
Rather—
This had only just begun.
After her first attack was blocked, Stella did not stop.
While searching for gaps in Ouma's defense, her fists descended like a violent rainstorm.
Ouma was like a tiny boat struggling upon a raging sea beneath Stella's barrage.
Worse still, Stella gradually adapted to her transformed body as time passed.
Each punch landing against Ouma's blade became heavier than the last.
Crack—
Finally, [Ryuuzume], already covered in fractures, could no longer withstand the relentless assault.
It screamed again.
"An opening."
Stella seized the instant Ouma faltered.
Her fist, capable of pulverizing massive boulders, broke through his defense and smashed into his arm.
Crack!
The bone in Ouma's left arm shattered instantly.
Agonizing pain twisted his features.
Yet compared with the pain in his arm, what angered him more was the fact that his Device was about to break.
If it shattered, he would lose the chance to fight Stella with everything he had.
'Is this really as far as I can go this time...?'
Ouma thought unwillingly.
He desperately wanted to continue.
But the damage to his Device was simply too severe.
Even if he stayed, it would only leave him with more regret.
His eyes sharpened.
Using the force Stella had applied to his broken arm, Ouma threw himself backward.
'At least, before this ends...'
"Don't even think about running!"
Seeing him retreat, Stella sprouted two wings woven from blazing flames and prepared to chase him.
What greeted her instead—
Was an enormous sword formed from endless storm winds.
"[Kusanagi]—!!!"
The raging storm swallowed Stella's entire field of vision.
Yet the enormous wind blade that had once seemed impossible to resist now felt no stronger than a breeze against her face.
Then light and heat began intertwining within Stella's hand.
They gradually formed the shape of a gigantic sword.
Holding the blade of radiant heat and light, Stella swung it fiercely toward the storm sword.
"[Katharterio Salamandra]—!!!"
Boom—!!!
The instant the two tremendous attacks collided, endless flames erupted from Stella's radiant blade.
They swallowed the storm sword completely and continued flying toward Hagun Academy beyond it.
Eventually, the attack became an enormous pillar of blazing light that engulfed the entire academy.
By the time the smoke and dust finally cleared—Kurogane Ouma was nowhere to be seen.
"He ran?"
Stella released [Dragon God Possession] and slowly descended from the sky.
[Laevateinn] reappeared in her hand.
She had not achieved a complete victory.
Still, she was more than satisfied with the result.
Now that she could finally relax, Stella began imagining how Shiro would praise her when they met again.
'As expected of Stella. I knew trusting you was the right choice.'
'Go ahead. Tell me what reward you want, and I'll give you anything~'
Apparently imagining something extremely questionable, Stella let out a soft "Ehehehe..."
Her ivory-white thighs pressed slightly together.
The damaged black stockings rubbed against each other as she shifted restlessly.
"No! Stella!"
"You're an unmarried princess! How can you think such shameless things?!"
She slapped both cheeks hard and hurriedly forced those fantasies out of her head.
'That was close.'
'My desires nearly defeated my willpower...'
"I can't keep thinking about that. I need to distract myself with something else..."
"Then why don't you think about how you're going to explain this to me?"
A voice like an enraged demon suddenly sounded behind her.
Stella's entire body trembled instinctively.
She turned around.
Shinguuji Kurono stood behind her with a smile that was not remotely a smile.
"I agreed not to interfere with your battle."
"But I don't remember giving you permission to demolish Hagun Academy."
Kurono's words finally reminded Stella to look around.
Hagun Academy occupied an enormous amount of land.
Besides countless teaching buildings and dormitories, it contained vast plazas and forests.
It could almost be considered a miniature town.
But now—Everything inside the academy was gone.
Raging fires burned throughout the area.
Even the training grounds on the opposite end of Hagun had been reduced to dust by Stella's final [Katharterio Salamandra].
Stella stared at the surrounding ruins.
Her face gradually turned pale.
At that moment, she could already imagine tomorrow's headline from the journalism club.
'Hagun Academy Destroyed by Mysterious Forces!'
'Yet the Culprit Who Delivered the Final Blow Was None Other Than Hagun's Rising Star—Stella Vermillion!'
'Why Did She Do It?!'
'Was It the Distortion of Humanity, or the Collapse of Morality?!'
'Next Chapter—Stella's Death!'
…
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