Vol 1 (Amped) Speed 1

At that moment, Ikki's whole body and Intetsu's full length started to shine.

Luminous blue that flickered ever so slightly like flame―was it an elemental power similar to hers? Stella thought so for a moment but soon abandoned the idea. No, it was the light of magic power itself growing to the point of visibility.

His power… is increasing…!?

Impossible. Magic power could neither rise nor fall from its owner's level at birth. Then what was happening? Stella couldn't understand it. She had never heard of an ability that raises magic power. But she did understand one thing: the current Intetsu glowing with blue light had the power to strike her down.

―But so what!? No matter what kind of power he possessed, all things of heaven and earth burn to ashes before the sun!

Slash him! I can take victory just doing that!

The distance between them was more than sixty meters. It didn't matter what her opponent tried, because her blade of light would reach him first.

But this boy―he said he'd break through that reasoning!

"Wha!?"

In the instant that the blade of light fell upon Ikki, he vanished. No, he just jumped fast enough while evading the light that he seemed to disappear.

Stella was dumbfounded after missing her target.

What was that, just now!?

Despite her surprise, she immediately attacked Ikki with a second swing. Katharterio Salamandra created a sword of heat that had no physical body, and it could reach a target more than a hundred meters away. It wasn't something a flesh-and-blood human could simply evade.

But Ikki did.

The second strike, and then the third. Here and there on the battlefield, Ikki kept moving like a windstorm between her flashing strokes, completely dodging each attack. His movements were impossible to follow. Forget her sword, even her eyes couldn't keep up with Ikki's speed. Eventually, Stella could no longer catch even a rough visual of his position.