The scene shifts back to Hirata, who is still fighting Zairen. Zairen remains predominantly on the offensive, attempts to strike Hirata with his electrified sword, while Hirata stays largely on the defensive. Zairen swings his blade with greater speed after reducing its weight, yet Hirata still manages– albeit with difficulty– to evade the attacks by ducking, leaping, and maneuvering.
Hirata suddenly senses something and swiftly withdraws a considerable distance from Zairen. He talks to himself "This energy– it is undoubtedly Haruto! He is battling someone outside! I can feel that dark, sinister energy and aura emanating from whoever he is facing. It appears he is being targeted as well! So this entire affair was a trap!"
Hirata then turns his gaze towards Zairen and says "So you lured my friend here in order to capture him alongside me? Keep dreaming– assuming you remain alive enough to dream at all."
Zairen responds to Hirata in a calm and confident tone, saying "It seems your friend is battling Naelia. She is a formidable opponent, and he stands no chance against her. In any case, he is not my target– you are, Hirata Alex."
Immediately after uttering these words, Zairen sheathes his sword and secures it back at his hip. He then clenches his fists and positions one leg before the other, assuming a stance that signals the commencement of an unfamiliar assault– one Hirata has never witnessed before.
Thereafter, Zairen channels Ritual Energy through his fists and legs alike before launching himself toward Hirata with an explosive, spring-like leap of immense force, so powerful that the ground beneath him fractures at the point of departure. Hirata watches Zairen soaring through the air, Hirata exclaims in alarm "HE IS FAST!"
Zairen then descents upon Hirata like a rocket, straightening his legs mid-air and augmenting the strike with Ritual Energy. He lands the blow at a sharp, angled trajectory. Hirata instinctively raises his arms as a shield in an attempt to lessen the impact, yet the strike is so devastating that he is hurled violently into the wall behind him, leaving cracks splintered across its surface.
Upon crashing into the wall, Hirata collapses to the ground with a painted grunt, blood spilling from his mouth and fresh cuts torn across his arms.
Hirata rises with immense difficulty, initially struggling to to lift himself as his legs tremble from the powerful blow Zairen inflicted upon him. He bleeds profusely while forcing himself upright, drawing heavy, labored breaths. Once Hirata finally stands, he murmurs to himself in a weary, injured, and sluggish tone "This is bad! I am losing too much blood. I must defeat this guy, or I am finished."
Zairen prepares to excute the very same strike with which he previously felled Hirata. As Hirata watches Zairen poised to attack, he murmurs to himself with despair in his tone "Not only that, but Haruto is fighting outside as well. We are so close, yet distant in battle. We cannot afford to lose!"
Then suddenly Hirata recalls hiw Zairen had used his Linguistic to manipulate the sword's physical attributes– its weight, sharpness, and balance. Zairen places one leg before the other, positioning himself to leap and deliver the identical blow once more. Yet Hirata remains absorbed in that memory.
In the next instant, Zairen launches himself forward with the same spring-like jump, propelled by immense force. Hirata's expression shifts into one of confidence amd realization as he declares "I have an idea! At this point nothing is too absurd to be true. After all, I am a bearer of the Branch of Language."
Within the span of fifteen seconds: in the first second, Zairen propelled himself upward and remained suspended mid-air. By the fifth second, Hirata swiftly removed his damaged backpack, opened it, and seized his textbook. By the twelfth second, Hirata hastily and frantically tore a single sheet from the textbook. As Hirata did so, Zairen, watching him tear the page, murmured to himself "what is he going to do? It is merely a piece of paper." Then, at the fifteenth second, Zairen hurles himself downward with an oblique trajectory towards Hirata with rocket-like force. At the very instant Zairen did so, Hirata raises the sheet of paper and yells in Old English "Þis blæd, weorð micel scyld minre mǣte; geheald þīn lȳtle gewiht, beo swā heard swā dīamant, and spring swā bolla ongean slege." which translates to "This sheet, become a great shield of my measure; keep your little weight, be as hard as diamond, and rebound like a ball against the blow." In late modern English.
The sheet of paper transforms into a spherical shield of paper– hard as diamond, yet retaining the original weight of the sheet itself. In less than a fraction of a second, the transformation was complete, and the sphere has fully formed. Zairen struck the sphere with powerful force, just as he had when he he first directly hit Hirata. The instant the blow landed, Zairen exclaims "A ball? Did he just turn a piece of paper into a ball? Well, no matter– he is done for. It is only a piece of paper."
The moment Zairen struck the sphere, the immense force of the blow– combined with the sphere's negligible weight and extraordinary hardness– sent it hurling and bouncing across the room in which Hirata and Zairen were battling. It ricocheted with extreme elasticity from wall to wall, its lightness granting it tremendous speed; even Zairen was unable to track it completely. As the sphere careened through the abandoned house, each bounce carved cracks into the walls, producing the harsh sound of splintering stone mingled with the soft rustle of paper. Enclosed within the sphere, Hirata mutters to himself in utter astonishment "It actually worked! I feel though I am about to vomit– this speed is insane!"
The paper sphere continues to spin and ricochet violently throughout the room, its velocity scarcely diminishing. Zairen darts his eyes with inhuman speed– far beyond the capability of an ordinary human. Even so, he remains unable to track the sphere's movement. He swiftly unsheathes his sword, spins it in hand, and infused it with cackling yellow electricity while he imbues the sword with Ritual Energy. His motions were frantic, far faster than usual. Once the blade was charged, he sbouts "Show me what you have, Hirata Alex!" Yet within the silence of his own mind, he thought "This is bad! I must dodge this at any cost?" The sphere moves with such overwhelming speed that it seemed to be everywhere at once.
Zairen completely loses sight of the paper sphere. Assuming a defensive stance, he sheathes his sword and grips it at an oblique, diagonal angle. He whispers to himself "If the ball is of this size, I should be able to withstand its assault.
In the very next instant, the sphere crashes into Zairen with devastating force. He is unable to move it even a single centimeter; rather, he is hurled backward at such tremendous speed that he is slammed into the wall behind him, causing it to collapse upon him. Blood pours from his mouth, arms, and hands, streaking across his face as grievous wounds cover his body.
Hirata does not relent. He states "One strike will not be enough to defeat this guy. I must control this sphere and concentrate on striking him again before he can rise."
Hirata declares in Old English to control the sphere "Scyldbolla, hlyp tō minum feonde, and hine beate mid micelre strengþe." which translates to "Shield-ball, leap to my foe, and strike him with great force." In Late Modern English.
Thereafter, the sphere's movement and ricochet become fully controlled. At first, it rebounds across the room in a calculated manner, ensuring Zairen is struck consecutively without interruptions; all of this happens in two seconds. Then the sphere begins hurtling incessantly from the ceiling to floor with increasing velocity. It continues rebounding while drawing ever closer to Zairen, who has been knocked down and is only beginning to rise. Zairen fixes his gaze upon the sphere and cries out "T-this is bad! I need to dodge this, or I am good as dead!" Meanwhile, Hirata, speaking from within the sphere in a gagging tone, says "Alright, I better finish this quickly, because I am truly going to vomit this time..."
The paper sphere continues bouncing as it draws nearer to Zairen, who struggles to rise and flee its devastating crushing force. Though he attempts to stand, mamaging to lift himself over the passing seconds, the sphere relentlessly bounces between the floor and the ceiling without losing any speed, sustained entirely by Hirata's control.
Then, mere moments later, just as Zairen finally forces himself upright after immense difficulty from having been struck down, Hirata roars "Take this! I shall cast you into the Abyss myself!" Instantly, the sphere launches itself at Zairen without pause, ricocheting between the ground and the ceiling while maintaining the same position directly upon its target.
Zairen was knocked senseless by the very first impact, the paper's monstrous hardness rendering the blow catastrophic. Yet Hirata did not stop aftet the initial strike. He continues to driving the sphere into Zairen with merciless precision, exactly seventy times, until Zairen had fallen completely unconscious.
After Zairen's defeat. Moments later, without warning, the sphere ceased its motion and dropped heavily to the ground, whereupon it reverted to its original form: a single torn sheet of paper from the textbook.
Once the paper sphere reverts to its original form, Hirata collapses to the ground in utter exhaustion. Lying there as je breathes heavily, he mutters "I am tired, I believe I used a bit too much Linguistic Energy for today." He then forces himself on a kneeling position, gags and vomits.
Hirata steadies his breathing until he regains his composure. Rising to his feet, he says "Haruto is fighting outside– I must go and assist him. Judging by what I can sense, his opponent appears strong. However, I am far too exhausted to fight. I only wish Amaru Sensei were here; we need to interrogate this man lying before us."
At this very moment, Amaru suddenly appears behind Hirata and says "You are entirely correct. And well done, by the way, for defeating this man, Hirata Alex."
Hirata startles violently and shouts "AMARU SENSE! I thought we told you to stop doing that! In any case... I was ambushed by The Silent Abyss. We have much to discuss, but first we need to help Haruto!"
Amaru replies in a cold yet considerate tone "No, Haruto Okabe will defeat her on his own, just as you defeated this guy right her. This should be considered part of both your training."
Hirata asks Amaru in a dubious tone "By the way, how did you know we were here? There is no possible way you could have found us from another dimension, or world, or wherever you reside. Am I mistaken?"
Amaru replies in a slightly panicked tone, though carefully concealing it "Well, you know... I have my methods..."
Amaru recalls the moment Vanessa to warn him if the ambush. He answers the phone, and vanessa speak with composed words despite the terror and sorrow evident on her face "AMARU! This is The Silent Abyss– they have come for Hirata! My friends need help. I wish I could aid them myself, but you are the only one I can trust. Please."
Amaru responds "Of course, after all both of them are my students, and I shall never allow The Silent Abyss have their way. I am already on my way."
Hirata asks Amaru another question "Also, when did you get here? I did not sense your Ritual Energy until now."
Amaru responds to Hirata's question "Since you got hit by this guy right here, I do not know his name yet."
Amaru then grabs Hirata and hoists him onto his back. Amaru says to Hirata "Let us observe Haruto Okabe as he battles this woman. I will conceal my presence so that Haruto will not suspect I am here; I want him to fight to the fullest extent of his potential and and falter when he realizes I am nearby."
Hirata replies "Very well, but you better intervene if anything goes wrong, okay?"
Amaru responds "Naturally, Haruto Okabe is one of my students after all– and so are you."
Amaru then instructs Hirata to hold tightly. With that, Amaru dashes out of the abandoned building and took a rear exit opposite the direction Haruto and Naelia's battle.
Amaru sprints toward the next building, halts beside it, and leaps with such extraordinary force that he landed upon its roof. He than dashes forward and vaulted onto the abandoned building he had previously occupied. From there, he sprang to another nearby building without Haruto or Naelia sensing or noticing anything. Finally, Amaru leaps onto yet another abandoned building, separate from one in which Hirata had fought, positioned close enough to observe Haruto and Naelia's battle without their awareness.