Chapter 445: The Gorilla and the Flash

"Um... Meredy-san? You aren’t actually allowed to sit there..."

"I-If you stay out of bounds for too long, we might have to disqualify you, you know?"

The tournament organizers approached Meredy with extreme caution, stammering nervously. According to the rules, lingering on the outer boundary wall could lead to disqualification. The organizers were terrified of enforcing it, well aware of just how monstrously strong this seemingly cute young woman was.

Why was such a rule in place? Years ago, a cowardly participant had run out of bounds and used the audience as human shields against his opponent’s attacks. The organizers were terrified of a repeat incident.

Of course, no one actually thought Meredy would do something so despicable. Especially not when she had already single-handedly wiped out four members of Mermaid Heel, leaving only Kagura—who was currently locked in combat with Sorano.

More importantly, Meredy didn’t need a shield. The cowards from the past had been weak; Meredy was overwhelmingly dominant.

"It’s fine." Meredy waved them off casually, completely ignoring their frantic warnings. "Even if I get disqualified, the final result of this match is already decided."

’Ah.’

At those words, the organizers and the audience alike snapped their attention back to the center of the arena.

The battle between Sorano and Kagura raged on. But as for who would be the victor? The writing was already on the wall.

"Go no Kata!"

Shifting her stance from a sweeping slash to a heavy, crushing impact, Kagura brought down the blunt edge of her sheathed blade with apocalyptic force.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Even before the blade made contact with anything, the sheer velocity and friction of the swing ripped through the air, creating a deafening sonic boom. It was a technique that maximized raw, uncompromising destructive power, sending out shockwaves strong enough to cave in the solid bedrock of the arena.

Yet, in the face of such overwhelming devastation, Sorano simply allowed her rapier to make the slightest bit of contact with Kagura’s scabbard. With a graceful twist of her wrist, she caught the momentum and safely guided the crushing blow off to the side, letting the force flow harmlessly past her.

"Do you really think I am that weak?!" Kagura roared.

Unlike her previous attempts, Kagura didn’t let the redirected momentum throw her off balance. Forcing her muscles to their absolute limit, she violently halted her own swing, pivoted, and launched another earth-shattering smash.

"Try it, you female gorilla~!" Sorano taunted smoothly.

Twitch!

A thick vein throbbed on Kagura’s forehead. Being called a gorilla snapped the last thread of her stoic composure. Her answer was an avalanche of hundreds of furious, heavy smashes, raining down like a landslide threatening to pummel Sorano into dust.

’Can you deflect this attack?!’ Sorano panicked internally. While Finn, who was piloting her body, remained perfectly calm in the face of the onslaught, Sorano’s own consciousness was screaming.

’Don’t worry. This is easy,’ Finn replied smoothly.

It was a fact that if even a single one of Kagura’s heavy strikes landed on Sorano’s fragile frame, every bone in her body would shatter. Sorano was a powerful mage, but close-quarters combat was not her forte.

Yet, under Finn’s control, her movements were flawlessly swift and graceful, weaving through the avalanche of strikes with millimeter precision.

Then, she did something that left the entire stadium completely stunned. Instead of relying on fluid evasion or redirecting the flow of Kagura’s attacks... Sorano blocked it head-on.

Yes. She blocked it.

Eh?!

The moment the heavy scabbard slammed into the thin rapier, both Sorano and Kagura were dumbfounded. Sorano braced for the agonizing pain of her arms breaking. Kagura’s eyes lit up, certain she had just secured her victory. Blocking that kinetic force with a rapier was pure suicide!

But the impact never registered on Sorano’s body. Instead, the overwhelming kinetic force bypassed her entirely, flowing down through her posture and transferring directly into the earth beneath her feet. She stood completely unscathed.

Crack! Crack! CRACK!

The ground surrounding Sorano instantly caved in, spiderwebbing into massive craters from the dispersed kinetic energy. Yet, standing at the epicenter of the destruction, Sorano remained perfectly calm, her posture unbroken.

"How?!"

It wasn’t just Kagura; the entire audience was staring in utter disbelief. How could Sorano tank a catastrophic blow without being pushed back or crushed to a pulp? It was as if the attack simply hadn’t happened. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"Do you really think I’m going to tell you~?" Sorano laughed, sharply pushing Kagura away.

Kagura stumbled back, her breathing ragged. Her stamina and magic power were draining rapidly. At a complete loss against this impenetrable defense, she hesitated, her hand drifting toward the hilt of her sword. Do I have to draw it? Do I have to use my trump card?

As Kagura glanced from her sheathed blade to the unconscious bodies of her defeated Mermaid Heel guildmates, Sorano took the opportunity to question the man currently possessing her.

How exactly did you do that?

It’s just an advanced ukemi technique. Nothing special, Finn replied casually.

"..."

Sorano was speechless. Drawing upon the memories of Suzuki from a different world, Finn took the principles of ukemi—the martial art of safe falling and dispersing impact—and evolved them into an absolute defense. He manipulated Sorano’s magical and physical flow to act as a perfect conduit, venting Kagura’s gravity and enhanced strikes straight into the ground.

Still, I’m too lazy to deal with her final attack, Finn noted. I’m going to end this right now. You don’t mind, right?

Finn knew that Kagura’s unsheathed blade was genuinely dangerous. Even with his magical reinforcements, Sorano’s physical body might not emerge from that clash completely unharmed. There was no need to take unnecessary risks.

Fine, I’ll leave it to you, Sorano agreed.

Good.

Finn tightened his grip on Sorano’s rapier, completely shifting her stance.

"Well, let’s wrap this up. You’ve been attacking me this whole time, after all." Sorano’s voice suddenly dropped its teasing lilt, turning razor-sharp. "Now, it’s my turn."

"Huh?!"

Kagura instantly felt the terrifying shift in Sorano’s aura. Every instinct in her body screamed at her to defend herself. She desperately tried to bring her scabbard up to block, but she was far, far too slow.

Sorano leveled her rapier. Concentrating a terrifying density of magic power into the very tip of the blade, she lunged forward.

"Flash."

Kagura didn’t even process the movement. For a fraction of a second, her vision warped into an optical illusion, as if she were staring down a tunnel of distorted, rainbow-colored light. She couldn’t react. She couldn’t even blink before her world abruptly faded to black.

Total silence gripped the arena.

Then, the delayed sonic boom tore through the air.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The audience instinctively clamped their hands over their ears from the concussive blast. As the dust cleared, their wide eyes fell upon Sorano. She stood flawlessly elegant, holding her rapier out to the side with a single hand as Kagura’s unconscious body slowly tipped over and hit the ground.

Plop.

The stadium was dead silent for three long seconds. Then, the announcer’s voice crackled over the speakers.

"T-The victor is Heavenly Blue!"

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The deafening roar of the crowd erupted, shaking the very foundations of the arena as Heavenly Blue claimed yet another absolute victory.