Chapter 456: A "Stand-in" with the Same Abilities
The existence of the Three Sacred Treasures in the King of Fighters worldview is rather subtle; apart from the Yasakani Magatama in Iori's possession, which has never been physically manifested, Kusanagi's Kusanagi Sword and Kagura's Yata Mirror both have corresponding physical forms.
As the current guardian of the seal and the Yata Mirror, the mirror's power has been completely integrated into Kagura Chizuru's fighting style. Creating illusions that are almost impossible for others to see through, and reflecting others' moves and curses, are all things Kagura excels at.
For an opponent, summoning a mirror image presents an ultimate dilemma: you have to guess whether the attack coming at you is an illusion or the real body. And if you guess wrong even once, a continuous barrage of attacks will follow.
Furthermore, Kagura Chizuru holds significant weight in the 'King of Fighters '97' world system, belonging to a specific NPC unit that receives a home-field advantage bonus. If it weren't for Goenitz's highly impactful stunt last year, Kagura Chizuru might still be positioned as a mid-boss character.
As the owner of the Yata Mirror, Kagura Chizuru doesn't necessarily carry the mirror with her at all times. More accurately, the current Yata Mirror is kept and guarded in a heavily protected shrine belonging to the Kagura Zaibatsu. Kagura Chizuru can simply connect to and utilize the Yata Mirror's power at any time.
Unlike Kyo Kusanagi, who stabs himself in the belly button with the Kusanagi Sword. (Misinformation)
However, facing Kagura's mirror images, Izayoi felt a familiar sensation.
That unstable Second Young Lady was very skilled at using energy clones, which are a step above mirror images, though the pressure they exerted was incomparable.
The Second Young Lady was overly chaotic, while the woman before her was overly orderly.
Therefore, dealing with this woman's mirror images didn't require the kind of moves used to contend with the Second Young Lady's level.
Thinking this, Izayoi rapidly launched a large number of silver throwing knives, causing Remilia's eyelids to twitch watching from below the stage.
Although she herself was quite different from pure Western vampires and didn't care much for silver objects, the fact that her head maid, who served a vampire, used silver as her primary weapon still made her, as the mistress, feel a bit awkward every time she saw it.
These silver throwing knives flew directly forward in a fan shape. Not only that, all the knives seemed to defy the laws of physics, striking some kind of "air wall" and bouncing back very smoothly.
Whether it was the elegant head maid's precise calculations or not, these throwing knives almost instantly covered all areas where Kagura Chizuru could dodge in a short time, including the areas behind her using mirror images.
This display certainly exceeded Kagura Chizuru's imagination... but it wasn't completely unmanageable!
Kagura clasped her hands in front of her chest, and then, like light from the sun reflecting off an opposite window and back into everyone's eyes, a bright glow emanated from Kagura's chest.
What appeared next was an ancient-looking bronze mirror's phantom image, or more precisely, the body of a bronze mirror and the polished surface of a modern mirror—
Sacred Treasure phantom! The Yata Mirror!
Evidently, there was no rule prohibiting the use of Sacred Treasures in the tournament. Faced with an overwhelming attack of throwing knives, Kagura Chizuru's choice was to deflect them all back!
As the Sacred Treasure phantom was fully projected, a large, rippling energy wall, like water patterns, appeared in front of Kagura Chizuru, as if Cheng Tian's Heart Barrier had been magnified to the size of the arena.
All of Izayoi's throwing knives struck this rippling mirror-like surface, and then, every single one returned!
Similarly, the moment the Yata Mirror's power was activated, the three members of the Hell Band, who were outside the arena, simultaneously looked in the same direction after a brief perception, and that direction was precisely where the Kagura Zaibatsu headquarters was located.
Strictly speaking, the Hell Band's match was on the second day of the main tournament, so their attendance today was optional. However, it was quite rare for all three to be absent and show no interest in gathering intelligence on other teams.
However, compared to other teams, the Hell Band indeed occupied a position as an inconspicuous, minor presence, only slightly more famous than the previous Scarlet Devil Mansion team. It even included some band fans rather than fighting fans, so their presence or absence wasn't too important to the live audience.
But for the organizers, it was a different story.
Even with the main tournament underway, keeping records of every team was still very necessary. This documentary-style content actually had a lot of selling points; sometimes the behind-the-scenes footage was even better than the main feature.
With the mindset that every little bit helps, the organizers would continue to film team reactions, at least during the daytime.
After exchanging glances, the three members of the Hell Band began to stride purposefully towards the Kagura Zaibatsu's direction. Unbeknownst to them, all of this was observed by the organizers' paparazzi, who immediately began reporting to their superiors.
At the same time, a special reporter from a certain weekly tabloid, as if catching a scent, appeared silently with the wind. After taking a high-definition photo of the three rapidly departing figures, he immediately followed them.
On the other side, watching the large number of throwing knives she had launched bounce back at her, Izayoi, who was always patient when it came to internal management of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, now exuded a strange fluctuation.
Subsequently, at the cost of 4 Spirit Orbs and 4 card slots, this strange fluctuation spread out from Izayoi Sakuya herself at the speed of light in all directions, until it permeated the entire dungeon.
The noisy sounds of the venue disappeared in that instant. Everyone... no, everything, whether sound or movement, the blowing wind, the flowing air, all fell into a state of regulated stagnation at this moment—
Sakuya's World!
That is, Time Stop.
Izayoi Sakuya, a human who wields time manipulation, typically demonstrates abilities like localized time acceleration and widespread time stoppage.
The most absurd thing is that in the original work, her use of time stop had almost no restrictions or burdens. A certain vampire could stop time for 9 seconds and want to conquer the world, while this existence, who could almost infinitely stop time, preferred to use it for head maid duties like cleaning and shopping.
Actually, Sakuya's World originally required 5 card slots, but with the blessing of "Cloudy Sky," the cost was reduced by 1 point.
Izayoi, who was very patient with her own people, was not very patient with outsiders. More precisely, she had no concern for anything outside the Scarlet Devil Mansion; it was a relationship of nothingness.
Considering the need to reduce the time the Young Lady endured sunlight, the head maid decisively chose to use Time Stop to quickly deal with her opponent.
That mirror was indeed interesting, but in the face of Time Stop, she was merely a lamb to be slaughtered.
But just at this moment, something almost "terrifying" happened from Izayoi's perspective.
In the stopped time, where theoretically only she should be able to move, a loud... f-rt sound occurred!
Izayoi, looking towards the source of the sound with an almost terrified and disbelieving gaze, saw Cheng Tian, protected by a widely spread orange-gold humanoid guardian, scratching his butt as if nothing had happened—
Only a Time Stop user can move within another Time Stop.