Strength 1

Touka's movement stopped.

Why?

The reason was at her foothold.

Touka's feet were caught up by something.

They were arms made out of water coming forth from the frozen ground.

The water arms froze the instant they caught Touka, effectively sewing her to the ground.

At the same time a shadow was nearing Touka from above, whose movement have been completely sealed.

What is it?

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.

―Everything went as Shizuku had planned it out.

If Touka was to go on offense by quickly seeing through her plan, then Shizuku was to counter it by seeing through Touka's plan profoundly.

Shizuku let Touka think that she had the advantage of speed.

She caused her to get the wrong idea that all she could do was be defensive and protect herself like a turtle.

And, behind that facade, she imbued her mana into the ground and made the arms constrain her. On the other side, she used the water that was vaporized by Touka's lightning attacks to create a mass of ice to crush her.

She simultaneously performed three different complex mana operations.

A feat average blazers wouldn't be able perform, but Shizuku could do it.

Her ability to control mana was worthy of being rank-A, because it was at the highest level among humanity, even surpassing Stella's.

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.

The result of the match was obvious to everyone. It was supposed to be.

Despite that, Shizuku felt it.

--That even a single atom of that almost painful atmosphere has not disappeared.

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.

Lorelei's magic control far eclipsed that of Raikiri. Compared to Stella the A-rank knight, Raikiri's magic control would be even more inferior to Shizuku's. For that reason, Shizuku had absolute confidence in her concealment tactic. It was impossible for her opponent to discern what kind of technique she was bringing out. Furthermore, humans have an absolute blind spot above their heads. Even the people who could react to indications from behind them could not sense things above their heads. That was the mechanism of the creatures called humans. But in spite of that, Touka noticed it as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, and sliced in two that tombstone of ice.

I'm seeing something… something I've never seen before.