After defeating Nassim, Charles turned his senses to the rest of the battlefield.
Just as he had predicted, the scale of the fighting had grown larger and larger—Tokyo Port was now completely overturned.
From a map's perspective, it was as if some colossal beast had taken a bite out of the harbor.
Well, that would save those politicians the headache of deciding how to repair it—by the time this battle ended, Tokyo Port would probably vanish from the map altogether.
Before Charles had even killed Nassim, two other fights had already ended.
The first to finish was Stella, whose opponent was B·B, the man who could gigantify his own body.
Of course, with greater size came greater strength. Unfortunately for him, he was up against Stella—no matter how strong a giant might be, he was no match for a dragon.
So even though B·B grew taller than the gantry cranes beside him, he was still overturned in a grappling contest. But after defeating him, Stella didn't strike again.
Charles had noticed this as well—B·B's heart did hold malice and hatred, but deep inside, he was still like a frightened, timid child.
B·B was one of Rebellion's experimental subjects, modified from a young age—reportedly as early as childhood.
Despite his adult appearance, his actual age was only around ten.
Stella, being both perceptive and kind, realized this. Once she confirmed that he had neither the will nor strength to resist, she couldn't bring herself to finish him.
Still, she had completed her part of the fight.
The other concluded battle was between Todoroki Yui and "Flower of Evil" Ein.
Ein and Todoroki had trained in the same assassin organization and seemed to have known each other since childhood.
But their fight showed no trace of any old friendship—in fact, it looked like they bore a deep personal grudge.
At first, Ein completely suppressed Todoroki, tormenting her with almost sadistic cruelty.
Yet Todoroki was no stranger to pain. She endured the torture, then in one decisive moment, reflected all the damage she had taken back onto Ein.
Ein's fighting style… was questionable. She unleashed huge flower turrets firing like machine guns, bamboo spears with astonishing firing speed, and even giant mobile man-eating plants—moves more suited for a zombie survival game.
Later, Ein herself transformed into a gigantic tree, commanding countless plant-made beasts to attack Todoroki.
But Todoroki's finishing move was outrageous—she reflected part of the Earth's rotational force back onto Ein.
That's the inertia of a massive object weighing 5 × 10²⁴ tons in motion. Even if Todoroki only reflected a fraction of it, no Blazer could possibly withstand it. Ein's body was obliterated instantly.
However, using her ability at such an extreme level dealt severe backlash to Todoroki as well, leaving her near death.
Fortunately, pharmacist Kuzuha was on-site providing medical support, so Todoroki's life wasn't in danger.
The two remaining battlefields were the ones Charles cared about most.
Ascalid was steadily suppressing the Puppet King.
The Puppet King wasn't much of a fighter—his specialty was using his Hell Spider Silk to control others.
But Ascalid's "Invincible Armor" was like an iron wall. His threads couldn't even touch her, let alone control her.
As a result, the Puppet King was chased around and beaten, narrowly avoiding defeat several times.
Charles wasn't surprised—characters like the Puppet King rarely shine in direct combat.
What did surprise him was the other fight—Shinomiya Kurono versus Ikki Kurogane.
Ikki's face was expressionless, massive magic from Ittou Shura wrapping around him as he swung his Device, Intetsu, at his principal and teacher.
Kurono's ultimate technique could shatter space and time together, but she couldn't exactly use such a move on Ikki.
Having once been a rival to Nishikomi Nenon, a disciple of the War God, Kurono was no slouch in other areas either—but her opponent was Ikki Kurogane.
Charles arrived at their battlefield, watching as the emotionless Ikki pressed the attack.
Compared to the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival, Ikki had grown even stronger—he had fully mastered Twin-Wing Swordsmanship, integrating it into his own style, and his magic power had increased as well.
Even Kurono could only hold him off; if he got close, she would actually be pushed back.
Ordinarily, defeating the Puppet King would break Ikki's control.
But the Puppet King surely knew that, so Charles couldn't be sure he hadn't left some sort of failsafe inside Ikki's body.
So Charles decided to be cautious—first subdue Ikki and confirm there was no hidden danger.
"Principal, let me handle this."
Kurono looked up at him, then stepped back. "I'll leave him to you. But the current Kurogane is nothing like before—don't you dare underestimate him."
Charles descended from above, facing Ikki head-on. "That much I've known for a long time—after all, this guy is the rival I've acknowledged."
While Charles spoke, whether by the Puppet King's will or his own, Ikki didn't attack—he waited for Charles to finish.
But when Charles used the word "rival," a faint ripple appeared in Ikki's otherwise lifeless eyes.
Charles caught that change immediately. "Hey, Kurogane—I know you can hear me. Nap time's over. You're not the kind of man who'd let himself be controlled by the likes of him, are you?"
Ikki's gaze didn't change again, but his body flared with magic. He activated Ittou Shura once more.
For Ikki, Ittou Shura was an extreme burden—concentrating all his power into one minute, and after using it, requiring a full day of rest before he could activate it again.
Earlier, during his fight with Kurono, the Puppet King had already forced Ikki to sustain Ittou Shura for over ten minutes.
Now he was using it again—something even a Demon couldn't physically withstand.
Blood poured from all seven orifices in Ikki's face, making him look terrifying.
Charles sighed. "Looks like I'll have to wake you up and end this quickly."
His expression hardened, the flames around him burning even hotter.
Kurono's ability to control time allowed her to accelerate it, boosting her relative speed.
Back in her youth, she could already speed herself up twentyfold—and now, she could go far beyond that.
But even with her acceleration, she was only just able to keep up with the two young men's movements.
"What a scary time this is… for the younger generation," she muttered, clamping a slim lady's cigarette between her teeth.
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