Shizuya Kirihara

Ikki ground his teeth in anger. Ittou Shura was still active, but the muzzle was firmly pointed at the woman and he couldn't risk a discharge.
"Hurry up!"
"Onii-sama…."
"We don't have a choice. He's taken control of the situation―"

"Not at all."

A boy's voice resounded directly in Ikki's head, then countless rays of light passed beside him. *Swish swish swish* They were magic arrows shining with sky-blue radiance.
"Uaaaah!"
"Gah-ah…."
The magic arrows pierced Bischof and the hostage-taker repeatedly, this time leaving them helpless for sure.
"What!? What was that―"
Stella shook at the sudden turn, but Ikki had seen this before. He knew this voice.

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The empty space before their eyes began to sparkle, and then the image of empty air crumbled like scales falling. In the midst of that crumbling, a slender young man appeared holding a bow-shaped Device. Even Arisuin, who was able to sense Bischof's group from a distance, hadn't detected him.
But it didn't surprise Ikki, because stealth was this young man's special ability. Ikki knew because they were originally classmates.

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The recording was a piece of data that he begged for and received from the newspaper club president Kagami Kusakabe. It was footage from a first-round bout in last year's Sword-Art Festival. In it, Kirihara circled his opponent and shot arrows continuously. That opponent only searched for Kirihara in bewilderment until collapsing from blood loss, unable to fight back even though Kirihara was standing right there. Why? Because the opponent couldn't see him.
"A flawless stealth camouflage that masks its user's presence, Area Invisible[3]. That's the power of his Device, Oborotsuki[4]."

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Kirihara was only strong as long as he was safe. Moreover his style inflicted unnecessary pain on his opponent by avoiding fatal strikes on purpose. It made Stella sick just watching it.

Ikki needed a wide-range technique to defeat Area Invisible, but he had none. He certainly possessed superior sword technique, a tempered body, and skill in hand-to-hand, but all his attacks were short-ranged, and the scope of his offense was limited to melee. Kirihara's Device Oborotsuki was a bow, a long-range weapon, so Kirihara would always take the first move. And more than anything else, Ikki's trump card Ittou Shura could only be used once a day, with a strict duration of a single minute. It was abysmal against abilities that specialize in escape.

=============== One shot Ikki
The teachers seemed to expect Ikki being deceived by Kirihara's provocation, because expulsion was surely the best outcome for the Kurogane house's request that Ikki not become a professional mage-knight. Ikki knew that of course, and he had taken many such attacks without ever summoning Intetsu. If he were to avoid them, someone might interpret his evasion as fighting intent, so he didn't even try to dodge.
Ikki allowed Kirihara's arrow to hit him, and blacked out… so evidence of his refusal to fight was captured by a school security camera, and he wasn't blamed for the affair. But Kirihara's punishment was only a stern warning and a forced apology. It was clear that the board chairman's party had exchanged a secret agreement with Kirihara beforehand.
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The starting signal for the match came. And at the same time, Kirihara's body disappeared from the stage.
「Ooh! It's suddenly out, Area Invisible! Using this, Contender Kirihara can't be seen by the naked eye!」
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The hunter concealed himself in the deep forest, and from cover drew his bow on his prey. Seeing that hunter was already impossible, so there was no one to stop that shot, and from what should be empty air, magic arrows suddenly appeared and drilled into Ikki's back from his blind spot!
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Bloodlust filled Kirihara's voice, and Ikki knew it was time to focus on the second shot. Sharpening his concentration to take in all possible angles, he stretched out his perceptions and provoked an attack.
"If you think it's disagreeable, you should nock an arrow into that bow and shoot to kill. I'll brush it away entirely."
He'd use Ittou Shura the moment he perceived the next arrow, before Kirihara could escape. Victory would be decided here!
"Heh… a face with fighting spirit. Surely your sword arm is terrific. That's something even I'd acknowledge. But how sad, it's only so great as far as peasants go. For Blazers, humanity's new chosen breed, battles are all about ability! I wonder if an F-Rank who's not much more than garbage can break my Area Invisible?"
"We won't know unless we try."
"True enough. Then from now on, I'll do this."
In that moment, blood spurted from a hole in Ikki's right thigh.
"―Wha?"
A hot metallic pain raced through Ikki's thigh and stabbed into his brain.
"Guaaah!"
Ikki let out a cry in shock. But astonishment outweighed the pain.
What happened!?
Despite sharpening his concentration and checking possible lines for every attack, how had he just been injured? Holding together his disordered consciousness tightly, Ikki looked down at the hole which had been suddenly opened in his thigh. Where he looked, there was a spray of blood hanging unnaturally in midair, as if the blood was coiling around something transparent. Reaching out with a hand, he grasped something solid there.
"It can't be…."
For Ikki, this was the worst case scenario.
"Exactly. This year, the arrows I shoot can also be hidden. Do you understand? In other words, my attacks can strike invisibly!"
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"Anyway… now that the arrows are hidden, Ikki's fangs won't reach this Hunter concealed in his deep forest. Both of you should brace yourselves. What starts here won't be a match, but a straightforward hunt."
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It was ten minutes after the start of the match, and the voice of Tsukuyomi, who was providing live coverage, was faltering. In the ring, Ikki could just barely raise his sword with bloodsoaked hands. He had been reduced to this after Kirihara's invisible arrows destroyed his strategy. Yet the battle still continued, because while arrows had been driven through every part of his arms and legs, none had pierced his vitals. Was that mercy? No, everyone watching knew that it wasn't. This spectacle showed only a Hunter tormenting prey.
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"Yes, yes, that's quite like you. Alright, to show a little respect, I'll give you a handicap. I'll tell you the place I'll pierce you next. Try and avoid it. Now, here I go. To start with, the left thigh."
"Gah!"
"What's the matter? Your reaction is slow. There, right shoulder!"
"Guh…!"
"Come on, try to dodge! The next one is your right ear!"
"Uwa!"
"Your movements are slow, Kurogane-kun! Don't you have some motivation? Put more spirit into it and run around! Here, left shoulder! Right thigh, right palm, calf, right knee, small intestine, stomach! Liver! Kidney! Large intestine! You'll die, you'll die! If you don't dodge well, you're as good as dead!"
"Guaaaaaaah!"
Ikki's knees finally collapsed as Kirihara's arrows started to fly at the internal organs in his torso.
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In response, Kirihara put up one final resistance. Drawing Oborotsuki so forcefully that it creaked, he faced the sky above and shot one arrow that had all of his magic loaded into it. A moment later, the arrow exploded in midair, becoming a hundred slivers of iron shining with light invisible to the naked eye. Overtaking Ikki as a sudden shower, they homed and poured down on him, drilling into and smashing the stone floor of the battleground, heaving it up and smashing it again.

There was no pattern to the destruction. The Noble Art Million Rain[11] was an attack of indiscriminate scope made of more than a hundred pieces of iron. Kirihara had concluded that if his thoughts were being read, he should carpet-bomb the area without thinking. The idea had to be correct.
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A first-year came to the training grounds and said this to all that was present: she wanted to face all of the people there alone.
The ones who received this ridiculous challenge were all feeling admonished, probably.
But the result...? Total annihilation. Not a single one of them could touch her. The only one who stood there was―'Lorelei' Kurogane Shizuku.
Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry V2 Page 293.jpg
"Not enough…."
She sighed while viewing the frozen prairie she had created. She thought that if she fought with fifty of them, it'd at least become some practice but, it wasn't enough at all. Was Hagun really of such a low level? This much was just stressing it.

"W-What the hell's with her…."
"Monster…."
Because every last one of the knights who battled here had turned into ice sculptures.
"She actually… took out fifty people… all alone…!"