"...The assessment, begins!!!"
"Dong!!!"
The deafening sound of a giant gong rang out, and this graduation battle, which concerned the future changes in the Imperial Military Department's situation, officially began.
"It doesn't matter whether this is a true Imperial Armament or not; it's a meaningless and futile effort in the face of the Thunder God's Wrath: admirer, which stands at the pinnacle of Imperial Armaments!"
Budo's fists clashed together, and the two electrode-like iron stakes on his arms collided. Dazzling lightning roared in a ring around Budo, enveloping him. Then, before anyone noticed, a cloud of flashing lightning and thunder gathered in the sky, and a surging bolt of heavenly lightning struck down at Rin's position on the ground!
Crack—!!!
The exploding lightning once again turned everyone's vision into a white curtain, only the rumbling sound of thunder could be heard in their ears.
Just as all the spectators thought Budo's sudden full-power strike had succeeded, Rin, wearing a night-colored cloak, instantly flashed and appeared behind Budo. Her long hair, not covered by a helmet, danced wildly in the strong wind.
"If you're going to ambush, your speed needs to be fast enough. Are you reminding me what you're going to do with your slow punches and lightning strikes?"
The moment she appeared and spoke, Rin's foot stomped firmly on the ground as if taking root, and the solid stone floor of the training ground was instantly shattered! Her right fist retracted to her waist—
"I won't wear the helmet. If I wear that thing, I won't be able to hold back. I don't want to cause trouble."
Rin's punch exploded, and the entire training ground seemed to shake with that single blow! Meeting Rin's punch was an equally heavy punch, accompanied by the iron stakes and electrodes. Although Rin didn't deliberately use assassination techniques to ambush and even taunted Budo a few times, Budo's reaction speed was indeed somewhat beyond Rin's expectations.
It seems that besides the demons extract that adapts to everything, the other Imperial Armaments are not as useless as I previously thought. They have some tricks... Boom!
One large and one small, one flashing with lightning, the other unstoppable. The moment the two fists collided, an invisible burst of energy shot up to the VIP platform, making General Black's stiff short hair waver. In the next instant, Budo, clad in his Thunder God heavy armor, was sent flying backward like a cannonball fired at the training ground's protective wall, smashing through the sturdy wall and disappearing into a cloud of flying dust.
For a moment, the entire arena was silent. The battle situation had instantly taken a sharp turn. One second it seemed as if Budo had already won, and the next, Rin had punched Budo into the wall.
Before the audience could even gasp in amazement, almost before Budo had even hit the protective wall, Rin had already started moving again, charging forward.
"Such fast recovery speed! After such a fierce collision and attack, there's almost no muscle stiffness at all; she immediately charged in pursuit!"
Immediately after the dust raised by Budo's impact, an even larger cloud of dust erupted. The surrounding students watching nearby felt a sense of imminent danger, as if the two of them could burst through the stands at any moment.
Dong!
Amidst a thunderous roar, an extremely fast figure shot out from the dust near the wall, skillfully flipping and adjusting her posture in mid-air, landing steadily. This time, it was Rin who retreated.
Budo, clad in heavy armor and enveloped in a burst of lightning, walked out from the dust-filled wall. There was a scratch mark on his right eyebrow, and blood flowed down his eye socket.
Rin looked at Budo, whose expression was as grim as iron, her eyes slightly narrowed. In the previous pursuit and collision, she had lost in terms of raw power. Although the hurried strike didn't use much force, the fact that a dragon-power-enhanced blow was still rebounded was somewhat unexpected.
"So that's it. The admirer's lightning can not only be projected for attack, but also feed back to the user, strengthening body cells with lightning strikes, and it can also serve as propulsion to enhance striking power."
Rin silently recited the information she had gained from the recent confrontation.
In fact, Rin's initial concept that Imperial Armaments were inferior to noble phantasms was inherently flawed. While noble phantasms are indeed the highest mystical armaments formed by the collective human imagination, in the akame ga kill world, the power of non-human Danger Beasts is infinitely amplified. Especially the strongest Super Danger Beasts chosen as materials for Imperial Armaments, their strength would be classified among the highest Phantasmal Species in the Nasuverse (Moon World).
Weaponry made from the highest Phantasmal Species, while perhaps not as profound in terms of mystical involvement as noble phantasms, is not much inferior when activated and used normally.
Budo's solemn gaze watched Rin, who stood unharmed on the training ground, with vigilance.
"She was just touched by admirer's lightning, but she showed no signs of paralysis or injury. It seems that it truly is the demons extract, capable of isolating all external influences with perfect adaptability. So, heavenly lightning attacks have no effect on her anymore. Then, there's only..."
Budo, who was secretly pondering his battle strategy, decided on a plan. He clasped his fists together again, striking them against his chest, sending out a shockwave. The dazzling lightning enveloped Budo's body even more brightly, and faintly, one could even see a ferocious beast, resembling a rhinoceros with a single horn and sharp teeth, roaring.
"Ugh ah ah ah ah!!!"
Budo, fully activating admirer's abilities, let out a low growl like a fierce beast. The incandescent lightning formed a field of electric current around him. At this moment, Budo truly looked as his Teigu described him: the Wrath of the Thunder God!
"Is that... is that the Super Danger Beast, the Thunder Beast, that was used to forge admirer in the legends?"
A General watching the battle looked at Budo, who was now like an enraged Thunder God, in astonishment.
"Except for special cases like the demons extract, for a Danger Beast used to forge a Teigu to manifest its power during ability usage, it's a sight that only appears when a Teigu User has reached an extremely high level of mastery. I never thought Young Master Budo could use admirer to such an extent!"
Rin just quietly watched Budo complete his transformation, without any intention of rushing forward to break through the lightning field and interrupt him.
This is much more interesting!
At some point, a Gilgamesh-esque smile appeared on Rin's lips, as if she was happy to see an interesting toy about to be completed.
"Things like victory or defeat never existed from the start... Budo, just enjoy performing your amusing act in front of me. If you can force me to use the power from the Nasuverse that I've just recovered, that would be a great achievement!"
Watching Budo, who was like the Thunder God incarnate, carrying rolling thunder, move again, his massive and imposing body erupted with lightning-fast speed. Rin, whose figure was almost half his size, stood still as if stunned, facing Budo who charged like a rampaging Thunder Beast.
"Ah, come on, let me have a little fun!"
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