Toudou Touka

"To add one more thing to what Alice said, Shizuku doesn't want to be the one to make the first move because Toudou-san has the strongest cross range weapon."
"…Ikki, is that the trump card the commentator talked about?"
"Yes, it is neither exaggeration nor a lie. It's the noble art that became Toudou-san's epithet because of its immense strength and awe striking nature. To elaborate, it is the ultra-electromagnetic battoujutsu <Raikiri>."
She creates a powerful magnetic field with her thunder ability around the blade and scabbard of <Narukami>, hanging on her waist, and then shoots the blade out.
The strike of that battō has the tremendous power and speed to even cut through a lightning bolt.
That's no longer a strike that could be parried with the body of a human.
Thus it's a certain kill technique.

"Huh, but Ikki, wasn't she in the best four last year? Then, wouldn't it mean the knight who defeated her surpassed it?"
"No."
Ikki denied, swinging his head.
"The current Seven Star Sword King, Moroboshi- kun is a spear user. I saw a video of the match, he was doing his best, throughout the match, to stay out of <Raikiri>'s range. In other words, even the Seven Star Sword King was afraid of her <Raikiri>. There has been no one till now who has been able to breakthrough Toudou-san's cross range. Every single one who stepped into that territory was, without any exception, cut down by her faster than a lightning slash, and of course, Shizuku knows that, too."

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Their distance was twenty meters.
Touka could cover that distance within a blink of an eye.

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A water cannonball, which could take away the enemy's breath by clinging to his/her face once it touches it (them), was shot from 《Yoishigure》's tip.
Three consecutive shots. It was impossible to dodge those three shots on this frozen plain. That was common sense.
However, her opponent was a monster who lived in the immediate vicinity of Seven Stars' summit.
To her surprise, Touka didn't decrease her speed on the frozen ground.
She saw through Shizuku's plan to slow her down in an instant.
Thus, rather than stopping she further accelerated by sliding on the floor.
She slipped through the space of the three cannonballs like sewing through them, and skillfully dodged 《Water Bullet》.
Touka was visualizing her evasion and counterattacking the moment she saw 《Water Bullet》.
There wasn't any enemy till now who saw through Shizuku so fast and precisely.
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The instant Touka saw that her attack didn't pass through the water wall, she let out two, three, ten more lightning slashes without even waiting for a second.
She unleashed lightning attacks like a machine gun.
What frighteningly violent attacks these were.
There didn't exist any valor like before when she saw through Shizuku's plan. This was just an overpowering, brute force spasm.
The hot lightning blade was certainly, without fail, chipping away Shizuku's defense.
And after several tens of attacks, the machine gun like barrage of lightning finally blown away the last of Shizuku's defense.
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It was too late when Touka took her gaze off from Shizuku and looked above her head. What she saw was a scene where an enormous pillar of ice was falling down at a terrifying speed from a human's absolute blind spot, and it had come so close to her it could almost touch her nose.
Instantaneously, the fallen mass of ice split the ring along with Touka.
Its power was tremendous. The crack from the destruction extended till the audience stands.
It was that powerful of an attack.
And at the center of that destruction was a tombstone made of ice.
There was no way she could still be standing after receiving this attack.
As though to ascertain her understanding, the mass of ice burst opened from both sides like a blooming flower.
《Raikiri》 stood at the center of that, unharmed.
"……" "……"
Both of them attacked, and defended to the point where the ground was partially destroyed, but still none of the two have scored a point.
They were evenly matched.
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A sudden wind roared, and Shizuku saw Touka's figure brandishing Narukami before her eyes.

Shizuku goggled at that sight, and almost screamed. It was understandable, because in a blink, the enemy who had to be tens of meters away had gotten close enough to extend a hand and touch her with their sword.
"Guh―!"

The next instant, her eyes that swung downward saw the blade of Narukami approaching.

"…Uu!?"
It cut deeply into Shizuku's clothing, and she had no time to dodge or think.
「Aaaaahhh! Contender Kurogane Shizuku took a hit from Contender Toudou's sword just now! And it was quite deep! Could this be a fatal wound!?」
However, the instant that everyone thought the match was decided, Shizuku's body suddenly turned pale, turned to ordinary water, and spilled onto the ring. And the real Shizuku was already behind Touka, standing quite a large distance away in the arena.
「I-It was some kind of water clone! Contender Kurogane has avoided Raikiri's sword splendidly… no!」
The live broadcaster's voice suddenly cut short. Why? Because the scarlet color flowing across Shizuku's left hand was visible.
「Blood is dripping from her left hand! She wasn't able to dodge perfectly! In the end, Contender Kurogane was struck! The first one to get in a damaging hit in this match is 'Raikiri', Contender Touka Toudou!」
"Kuh…!"
I didn't see it at all.
Shizuku moaned as she held the light wound on her left arm. She didn't know what kind of mechanism had been used. What kind of method was used to move invisibly, Shizuku completely could not comprehend it. However, the scarlet flowing down her left hand told her only a single certain truth.
I can't catch the movements of this enemy…!
Right. In this instant, it was obvious to anyone's eyes that the even struggle between these two people was broken.
Arisuin also felt that there was a problem with Shizuku's movements. And of course, Ikki did too. But Ikki could already see a few more things than the other two.
"…It's exactly like that, probably."
"Eh?"
"Shizuku really can't see her. I've also seen something like this once before."
It was that time before his debut battle, when he met the Yaksha Princess Nene Saikyou at the reception desk.
"That time, Saikyou-sensei got right in front of me in an instant. Even though I didn't let her out of my line of sight for even a moment, she got to my chest before I knew it. Right now, Raikiri is probably using the same body technique, I think."

"Ahaha. As expected of Kuro-bou. You noticed it after all, huh?"

"…Hey, Nene-sensei. The thing that Ikki noticed, is what he's saying correct?"
Saikyou-sensei confirmed Stella's question with a nod.
"Yep. That is an ancient Japanese martial arts technique called Trackless Step that merges breath control and footwork. Or something like that―"
Ignoring the two noisy people, Kurono asked something of Ikki.
"Kurogane. Someone like you has already seen through how Trackless Step works, right?"
To that inquiry, he nodded.
"Somewhat. If you tell me to do the same thing, I could probably do it."
"Hey Ikki, what is this Trackless Step?"
"Let's see, humans are nothing more than animals, and like a machine they can't process all the tiny details that they see and hear, and the brain certainly can't consciously recognize all of those sights and sounds. After all, if they processed and analyzed everything they see and hear, the brain will burn out. Therefore, the human brain will toss low-priority information into the unconscious, and abdicate recognizing them in order to ease the load on itself. This thing called Trackless Step is a martial arts technique that applies peculiar breath control and footwork to slip its user's existence into the opponent's unconsciousness. As a result, even though Shizuku can still see Toudou-san, she has become unable to recognize that fact. Even though the brain and the eye can capture Toudou-san's movements, they can't be processed because the consciousness is classifying them as unnecessary information, to the degree that a life-threatening danger can approach to little more than a blink away.
"Spot on. You understood it well."
Kurono praised him as if in admiration, because there were no faults in Ikki's answer that divulged the mysterious mechanism that was assaulting Shizuku.
Right. There was only unconsciousness within.
The opponent was making everything about herself imperceptible by shifting her breath and body a half-step, and by sliding into that interval, she had dodged the awareness locking onto her. That was the mechanism behind the old-style footwork Trackless Step.

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Stepping outside Touka's range, Stella poured more power into the Dragon Breath surrounding her Device, Lævateinn. Devouring that magic, her sword's fiery aura grew in light and heat. As the flames covered the point of her sword, Stella faced Touka who was charging from the front.
"Take this! Dragon Fang!"
It became an attack.
Lævateinn―the flame that surged from the point of her sword in a flash took the shape of a living creature.
It was―a dragon. A dragon with a long, serpentine body. That fiery dragon opened a jaw full of teeth and struck down upon Touka.
Touka managed to just barely sidestep that burning dragon's jaw. Instantly, the dragon twisted around to bare its teeth against Touka again.
Lævateinn was no ordinary fiery weapon. With fangs that burned through everything, for the sake of taking a bite of the enemy, it was an attack that would follow its target to the ends of the earth. Shaking it off was impossible. Touka didn't have a single means to counter it.
An average Blazer had no chance against Lævateinn. The magic that came from Stella's overwhelming capacity all carried enough power to deliver certain death. If a challenger started a fight with an inadequate offensive, he'd find himself beaten at his own game. So Touka―
"―Raikiri."
At the approaching fire dragon, she responded with the strongest and fastest attack she had.
―She had nothing else to offer. And that was what Stella was aiming for.
I have you!
The slash of plasma collided with the Dragon's head. In that instant, Stella dashed forward with all her strength, and drew near Touka with a burst of speed.
Touka had fallen into Stella's trap, and used Raikiri. Right now, she was unable to interrupt her technique―which mean she was completely defenseless. This was the moment when the fight would be decided.
For a breathless instant, Stella crossed the distance with explosive force, and gave a knockout blow. It was a vertical downward slash. Right now, Touka who had just used up her killer technique wasn't able to do anything―
"Eh…?"
Shouldn't be able to do anything. Stella's attack should definitely have hit.
But in that moment, Touka showed a movement that Stella didn't anticipate.
She had certainly recovered from Raikiri―but… her recovered stance had not stopped the technique.
She used Raikiri's momentum to turn her body, and attack twice...!?
A devastating propulsion born of a sword draw based on extreme electromagnetic force. It was a second attack using high speed rotation.
Yes, Touka had completely seen through the tactic Stella was going to use. So Touka had―purposely used Raikiri, in order to induce Stella to jump in by making herself look defenseless.
And that scheme had worked flawlessly. Stella's abdomen, where Touka had aimed at for the second blow, had been mowed down by Raikiri―
"Ah…guh…."
Illusionary form―against a sword that cut through endurance directly without injuring the flesh, Stella fell to her knees.
And in the next instant, Narumaki fell precisely on the back of Stella's neck. It was the moment that decided the battle.
"…I didn't hear about you having that kind of counter-move."
"It's because this is the first time I've used it in combat. Attacking the enemy's weaknesses is fundamentally correct, but now that you're at the same level as the best in the nation, your opponents will take advantage of your own weaknesses without remorse too. To win against opponents of this class, it's critical not to let yourself be read like that."
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Stella, in the instant just before the pressure fell on her from above, could not move to avoid it. And at the same level where the two collided, the others were protecting their bodies with all their strength, and couldn't rush in to help. Stella couldn't avoid this strike. Her defeat was certain.


―If not for the only one would could do anything at that moment, Raikiri Touka Toudou.


"Stella-san!"

At the instant Kusanagi was to bisect Stella's body, Touka quickly used Shippu Jinrai to speed up. Sliding to Stella's side, she pulled Stella away from the descending blade just in the nick of time.

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The reason was―Touka's right hand that was holding Stella. Touka's right hand was propping up Stella's head. Right now, she was driving lightning into Stella's skull.

"Wh… why?"

"Sorry, Stella-san. Right now, you can't fight with Ouma-san. Right now you can't even separate from me, so you can't win against him."

"…ah…."

With a face that seemed to say she wanted to respond, Stella immediately lost consciousness. Naturally so. A breaker inside her head had been directly flipped.

"Kikyou-san! Botan-san!"

"Eh!?"

"Eek!"

Touka, who had stunned Stella, faced the Hagure sisters, and threw Stella's body at them with all her strength.