Dura 9

In response to that...──Ikki, who was next to her, spoke.

“That itself is not so unexplainable. It is out of the norm, though.”

Touka’s eyes opened her eyes wide at those words.

“K-Kurogane-kun knows something? The mystery behind that defensive power.”

Ikki nodded at that question.

“Previously, I had a chance to cross swords with him. I noticed it back then.”

He was assaulted on the way back from Yuudai Moroboshi’s invitation to his family shop. Ikki came into contact with Ouma’s 「Abnormality」 in that instance. And he saw through its true form.

“Stella will probably notice it after one more strike. But──”

Ikki’s words stopped there. The reason was because, there was nothing he could do even if he noticed it. It was just as what Ouma had said. His power was...──not a 「Technique」 against which a strategy could be formed. And, just at that moment...──his prediction came true. The two people on the ring crossed swords again. After clashing a number of times, Ouma thrusted out like a released arrow. Stella turned her body as if dancing and evaded that... She hit a counter horizontally at his body with not just her own power, but also using her opponent’s power on the second time. That horizontal line cleaning dug into Ouma’s body...──and stopped at that.

“You’re...kidding......!”

“Fuun.”

“────!!!!”

Ouma dished out a kick at Stella’s flank when she stopped her movement in shock. Stella’s body danced in the air as she was blown more than ten meters away.

“Cough...cough! Ugh......!”

Stella winced as she kneeled in pain as if her internal organs were blended. What spilled out from her mouth was blood. Ouma’s kick broke through Stella’s sturdy magic defense that defended against the slash attack from The Unturning, Yui Tatara’s Device in one hit, damaging her internal organs. The shockwave was like getting hit by a battering ram. However── That was how it was, it was natural in that case, Stella was convinced. The feeling of hitting a rock mountain after the two strikes, and the damage to her flank. From all that information......Stella noticed Ouma’s 「Abnormality」.

“I can’t believe it......What’s with your body......!”

The shaking in her voice was probably not just from her wounded side. In response to that, Ouma──

“Fuu......As expected, you noticed after two strikes.”

Ouma let out a sparse smile and answered Stella’s doubt.

“You want to ask what this is, right? This is...──my resolve.”

“Tenryuu Gusoku ── Release.”[2]

And took it off.

Immediately after that, an invisible shockwave hit Stella and then the venue itself. It had blown Stella off to the edge of the ring, bent the fence surrounding the venue, and shattered all the windows facing the ring. A choir of screams resounded. Stella drew her breath at that scene. Just then, Ouma had definitely said ‘release’. In other words, that amount of air was not generated right in that moment──

“Don’t tell me, you, with that absurdly large amount of air......have you been suppressing yourself with that until now!?”

Ouma wordlessly affirmed her. That’s right. The explosion of air that knocked Stella just then, everything was a high-pressure shackle that had been binding Ouma until a moment ago. He used his Noble Art, Tenryuu Gusoku, which repelled enemy attacks by wearing it, against himself, and burdened his body constantly with an out-of-norm load.

“For what reason, are you doing that......”

“Of course, for the sake of 「Evolution」.”