Boom!!!
The two combatants clashed. Budo, unstoppable like a Thunder God descending, his charge reached Rin's vicinity. A furious punch, seemingly intending to smash Rin into the ground, came down from above! The solid bluestone floor of the training ground instantly cracked. Budo's charging punches continuously collided with Rin, who even retreated slightly towards the protective wall on the other side, seemingly at a disadvantage.
Her exquisite knight's gauntlets parried the lightning-flashing fists. No matter how violent the lightning was, it couldn't spread to the armor, which should have been conductive. At this moment, the two were exchanging punches, in close combat, but Budo found that the smile on Rin's face, which made his blood boil, was still there, even deeper now.
"How can you still smile? I'll make you regret it now, woman! Don't think that just because your Teigu is immune to admirer's heavenly lightning, you can rest easy."
Violent lightning afterburners suddenly shot out from the elbow of admirer's armor, and the force and speed of Budo's heavy punches increased significantly again.
Boom boom boom boom boom...!!!
The continuous collision of their fists and palms was like striking an invisible space drum, each blow shaking the hearts of everyone present. The fierce collisions, like a torrential storm, made their resonating hearts feel as if they would explode at any moment.
"It seems that Budo is still superior in Teigu usage. It looks like the first place is still destined to belong to the General Family."
"Idiot, are you blind! That little girl is clearly not using her full strength. Her passive resistance, deflecting Budo's heavy punches with her palms, is clearly to figure out her opponent's attack patterns!"
After countless collisions between their hands, Rin, after deflecting Budo's thunderous heavy punch again, revealed a happy smile like a child's.
"Budo 450, I should thank you. Because of you, this is the first time I've had so much fun fighting since I came to the Imperial Capital."
Rin's words caused Budo to momentarily freeze, and his offensive immediately faltered.
"In the year since I came to the Imperial Capital, all the opponents I've encountered have been pathetically weak. Even Teigu Users were just trash who could barely use their abilities, surrendering like dead fish after ten moves. This is the happiest I've been in a year since I came to the Imperial Capital!"
Rin's legs trembled, and her open palm instantly clenched into a fist, crushing the air! A loud sonic boom echoed.
"It seems I can't defeat you without revealing a trump card. In that case, I'll have to use some real strength! Is admirer sturdy enough?!"
Thud!
At this moment, a layer of brilliant light flashed on the surface of Rin's Teigu knight armor as if awakening. Only now was the Teigu Rin was using truly coming into play!
"Hmph—ah!"
Bang!
With a punch that carried a dragon-like roar in the air, Rin's gauntlet-clad fist once again clashed with Budo's lightning fist—
"Crack."
A faint cracking sound echoed at the point where the two fists met. Budo's tiger-like eyes, as large as copper bells, widened. Rin's smile deepened slightly. At this moment, only the two of them understood where that cracking sound came from.
Just as Budo was rigid from enduring the immense recoil, Rin, who easily absorbed and neutralized the force, threw another punch without hesitation! A punch directly hit the center of admirer's chest—
Clang!
Crack...!
With Rin's punch, a small, clear fist print was branded on admirer's chest, and an even stronger, clearer cracking sound rang out!
"Even the strongest objects have their weak points. I've already discerned all the weak points of your set of admirer during our previous exchanges."
The heavy blows to the armor's weak points not only damaged the Teigu, but the punch force, which vibrated space, passed through the armor, churning Budo's internal organs. A mouthful of blood spewed from Budo's mouth.
Severely wounded, Budo finally reacted. Everyone knew that this was the moment of final decision. To protect his family's honor, Budo, disregarding his own life and death, activated admirer's maximum power output!
"Boom!!!"
A bolt of heavenly lightning, no thinner than a man's waist, descended from the sky, not attacking Tohsaka Rin but falling onto Budo himself! At this moment, Budo seemed to transform into a human lightning bolt!
"Now this is more like it!"
The knight of the lake and admirer collided again. Tohsaka Rin and Budo's fists clashed countless times in an instant! However, Budo, who was already desperate, could not regain any of his previous advantage. Although his stature and aura far surpassed his opponent's, he was steadily pushed back in the continuous exchange of blows.
Boom!
Budo's right foot, clad in iron boots, stepped back and sank into the fractured stone ground. Tohsaka Rin charged in like a hunting Black dragon, delivering another right punch, and Budo could only respond hastily.
Boom!
Budo retreated three steps in a row before stopping his momentum, and a clearer cracking sound echoed.
"Did you... hear anything? Like something is about to break?"
"It sounds like it... it seems to be coming from the arena."
General Black's hands had now pressed two clear imprints into the expensive wooden table in front of him. How could he not see that Budo was already defeated? He had racked his brain, but he couldn't have imagined that even with admirer, Budo would fail to win. There shouldn't have been a student who could defeat Budo, even if they also possessed an Imperial Arm!
"The assessment..."
"Wait."
Just as General Black was about to announce the result and stop the duel, the Chief Instructor of Assassins smiled and stopped him.
"Your Excellency General, according to the assessment rules, a result can only be declared when one party completely loses the ability to fight to the point of unconsciousness or voluntarily surrenders. I see that Young Master Budo's fighting spirit is high and his will is unyielding. He still has a good chance to turn the tide."
Poisonous! Ruthless!
Everyone who heard these words gave this woman such an evaluation. This was clearly an attempt to take Budo's life. Anyone could see that Budo was clearly damaging his own body to use the Imperial Arm at its maximum power. If this continued, Tohsaka Rin wouldn't need to do anything; Budo would die on his own. At that point, it would only be considered death due to forced use of an Imperial Arm and his own fault, making it impossible to even hold Tohsaka Rin responsible!
"You!..."
General Black's face turned ashen, unable to utter a single word.
Would Budo surrender? Clearly impossible. From childhood, the military's sacrifices, family dignity, and the idea that honor was more important than life had been deeply ingrained in Budo's mind. For Tohsaka Rin, who had challenged everything he held dear, how could surrender even be an option for him!
"Ah ah ah ah ah...!!!"
Like a thunder beast driven mad in a desperate situation, Budo seemed to have lost his reason, attacking Tohsaka Rin, enveloped in lightning. But for Tohsaka Rin, whose martial arts had long reached divine and extraordinary levels, such an opponent was undoubtedly the easiest to deal with.
Tohsaka Rin's fists no longer needed to clash with Budo's. With her divine martial arts skills, just a few subtle movements were enough to narrowly evade Budo's attacks time and again, leaving her completely unharmed. Her heavy punches, encased in exquisite gauntlets, rained down like a storm on admirer's weak points.
Crack... Crack!
Crack crack crack...!
The sounds of shattering could no longer be concealed, and clear cracks appeared on the surface of admirer's armor.
Tohsaka Rin once again unleashed a full-power punch, clashing fists with Budo—
CRACK!!!
Starting from the hand, the right arm section of admirer's armor, covered in spiderweb cracks, shattered with a bang! It disintegrated into thousands of fragments that streaked through the air, carried by the strong airflow generated by the intense battle, scattering across the training ground.
While Budo was still reeling from this unacceptable fact, Tohsaka Rin followed up with a punch to admirer's chest plate—
CRACK!
Left arm—
CRACK!
Shoulder, back, leg, waist... To the stunned shock of everyone present, Thunder God's Wrath · admirer, one of the top Imperial Arms among the Empire's 48, was literally smashed to pieces by Tohsaka Rin after multiple heavy strikes to its weak points!
As the Imperial Arm shattered, Budo was also severely wounded, collapsing, covered in blood, onto the rubble of the broken training ground, unable to rise. At this moment, a mysteriously carved sword hilt popped out from a mechanism-like slot on the right shoulder of Tohsaka Rin's armor. Tohsaka Rin reached out, gripped it, and pulled, and a paint Black demonic sword inscribed with profound elven script appeared in this world.
She still had a weapon she hadn't used!
At this moment, everyone present secretly swallowed. The sword light shone like the Avalon under the moon, and no one would doubt its sharpness was enough to cut through any defense. admirer's Imperial Arm core lay nearby, and the blade of Avalon rested against Budo's throat.
"It seems I won, Budo."
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