Matsumi acknowledged Kurai and her involvement in the fray, quickly moving forward again to jump over Kurai and throw a kick right for Bishōjo's face.
Bishōjo immediately grabbed him by his leg before tossing him straight into the wall. She turned as Kurai was hit back as well only using her fist. She looked on at the two as she flexed her muscles smiling.
"What? So you weren't really that mad? What was that? An act?"
It felt like everytime he had fallen on his own before, but way worse. His back slammed against the wall, making him wince in pain. He remained on his feet while gritting his teeth. His feet would again start a head on approach toward Bishōjo.
"Matsumi! Come on! I need you to complete the flash punches! If you can throw multiple in a row we can find a way to win!"
Kurai ran toward her at the same time, powering up.
"She's just asking for it."
His look was focused, no longer looking like an idiot. His figure vanishing and flashing again with his quick approach. He'd flash step twice before using a third to attack her with another flash punch to her stomach.
Even with his speed, Kurai followed his movements once again, even matching him. She threw the punch at the same time, her core felt as if it were a brick wall. Bishojō flinched a bit as she looked at the two.
"Tch...Ha…Impressive."
She stood tall, not falling to her knees.
"Not a bad punch especially for a bunch of kids..but if you want to get me to fall, you'll have to send at least twenty more of those."
She grabbed Matsumi by his collar with her left, and Kurai with her right, ripping their shirts in the process before launching them into one another. A head on collision.
Her extreme strength ripped Matsumi's shirt almost fully off, the only thing remaining was the cloth from the magic backpack. His forehead hit right on Kurai's, it really hurt. But what was really on his mind…
"She said twenty, right? Twenty? Oh, you're on, hag."
He held his forehead, recovering fast from being thrown as he stomped his feet on the ground. Small wheels appearing on his shoes again, turning them into his skates once more.
Kurai stumbled back before looking at Matsumi. He was serious. She could feel what he was thinking. Was he really going to go for more? In her mind there was no way that they would be able to fight after another collision or two. She was serious about smashing both of them right then and there. She caught her balance and got into a stance, the black magic following her.
"Majo No Saisho No Mahō: Karasu No Shi."
An incantation formed on her hands before she aimed for Bishojō, who started to charge her as soon as the incantation began.
Matsumi wasn't planning on giving Bishōjo any space, on the concrete ground he'd skate right in the way of them. Quickly he delivered one passing punch to her chin, flash stepping around her.
The flash step was based on moving from one point to the next with zero noticeable movement, but when you have wheels on your feet, stopping immediately isn't happening. So, he used the residue movement from the flash step to speed up his movement on the roller skates.
Bishōjo could still afford to take a hit. Who she was really focused on was Kurai, because she could sense the rising Mana in her hands and she had heard that incantation long ago.
Those same words,
The Gijutsu. Each user of spells had their own unique set, even going as far as being techniques that were capable of destroying the world.
It was what existed in the Grimoire Matsumi had seen before.
Bishōjo could do with physicality, but a spell she couldn't gauge the power of was even more dangerous. She swiped at Matsumi like a fly, making his way toward Kurai slowly. As he circled back around to Bishōjo he was able to duck the swipe aimed at him, crouching down for less than a second and exploding with a flash uppercut.
Bishojō was knocked back once more, before she slammed her knee into Matsumi's stomach. She grabbed him again dragging her with him towards Kurai.
He coughed from the impact of her knee, but his eyes were still fully focused on her. He clinged on to her as well, placing his feet on the ground for a brief moment before using the flash step with Bishōjo to have them both crash into the ground.
"Tch! You and the step! You abuse that technique like no other!"
Kurai was in the air as her magic activated. A dark beam flew and hit Bishojō in her lower back. She coughed up blood as there was a clean hole through her L4 vertebrae.
She tried to stand but couldn't. Kurai's fist followed with black magic. Her fist landed clean into the woman's face, breaking the ground in the process.
Matsumi stood back up after Kurai's attack, backing up with several periodic jumps, gaining some distance. At the same time, he'd start flash stepping everywhere, like his first time.
Bishojō was unable to stand. She had completely lost the feeling in her legs. She looked back at Matsumi grinding her teeth, using her weapon to pull herself to her feet, her legs clearly weak and unusable at this point.
"You ready?"
Matsumi's eyes opened wide, his mouth a little open, pure focus coursing through him.
He moved from side to side, his skates working in tandem with his movements to suddenly deliver a flash punch right to her gut.
With his left hand, another flash punch from above her, landing right on the top of her head.
That was already his record, two flash punches, but right now…he could definitely do it. Because in truth, he never thought that he couldn't.
A third flash punch from behind, then a fourth, a fifth, moving all over her body.
A tornado of attacks surrounded Bishōjo, each one more precise than the last as Matsumi's mana would beat in tandem with every strike. The onslaught finally ending with a flash kick to her forehead.
Bishōjo's body ricocheted back and forth between Matsumi's attacks. Strike after Strike had left her weak. She fell to her knees once more, her eyes open with no pupils as she coughed blood, before losing consciousness. Kurai landed and looked at the now defeated woman.
"By hitting her spine there was no way she was going to defend against any of your attacks. I say we make a pretty solid team, huh?"
*A small piece of stone shifted in the wall in front of them before a door was revealed, however it wasn't into darkness but instead to the next floor, housing the same silhouette as the others did in their floors.
He breathed in and out slowly, a large smile across his face.
"Duh! No way this loser was gonna beat us! That was awesome!"
"Very nice job you two. You managed to take down a more impressive opponent. I suppose it's true what they say about Heldor's Tower."
"What do they say?
Suddenly a strong pull came from Matsumi's chest, he felt uncomfortable as he placed a hand on it.
"In Heldor's Tower you unlock your true potential. It's designed to unlock any potential that you have that is dormant, sort of like a device that speeds things up."
"Hey…what's wrong?.."
Kibō noticed Matsumi as she looked at him place his hand on his chest.
"I don't know…"
His mana had plummeted for a few seconds before slowly coming back up to normal levels. It seemed to be a side effect of his ability…
"…Well keep an eye on it..We don't need you getting shelved.."
"Me getting shelved? Pfft!"
He took his hand off, feeling normal again for now.
"What's going to happen? No way! Like that's ever gonna happen!"
"A lot of things. But I can't answer those questions right now because I haven't seen enough. If we keep climbing, i'll be able to gauge out the problem and find the solution."
"Oh, right! We have to catch up to that other group!"
"That's right. We don't have much time to spare."
To not waste any more time, Matsumi walked right through the door.
"Okay, come on!"