The blood littering the cold stone floor of the arena was Stella’s.
“Stella’s been cut! The Gale Emperor read her surprise attack and slashed at her arm! Kurogane Ouma draws first blood!”
This wasn’t like the earlier exchange where they’d both been evenly matched. Ouma had clearly displayed his superiority this time around, and the crowd was stunned. Meanwhile, Stella was so shocked that she didn’t even bother to nurse her injured arm.
What was that?!
If Ouma had simply read her surprise attack and slashed at her with his sword, she would have been able to accept that she’d misplayed. But that wasn’t how she’d gotten hurt. Her slash had definitely found its mark. She’d felt Lævateinn bite into his shoulder. Despite that, it hadn’t managed to pierce his skin.
Touka had experienced Ouma’s unnatural sturdiness firsthand, so she’d seen this coming. She bit her lip in frustration.
“What truly makes the Gale Emperor so terrifying isn’t his offensive might,” she said. “There isn’t that huge a gap between his total mana and mine, but none of my attacks were able to hurt him. How is he able to have such strong defenses?”
Ikki turned to her and explained, “It’s not as mysterious as you might think. The level to which he’s honed that defense is absurd, though.”
Touka turned to Ikki in surprise.
“Y-You know why his defense is so high, Kurogane-kun?”
Ikki nodded.
“I ended up fighting him a few days ago, and I realized what was going on.” Though their battle in the park had been brief, Ikki had been able to grasp the true nature of Ouma’s unnatural sturdiness. “I’m sure Stella will figure it out once she gets another attack in too. But...”
Unfortunately, even if she did figure out the trick behind Ouma’s defenses, there was nothing she could do to get around them. As he’d told Ikki back then at the park, there was no technique that could overcome his strength.
Ikki’s prediction was proven correct a few seconds later. Stella and Ouma began clashing once again, and after a few sword swings, Ouma darted forward like an arrow. Stella elegantly danced away and swung her sword at him again, this time using the energy of his own dash against him to impart an even stronger blow. Lævateinn slammed into his chest, but once again, her blade failed to pierce his skin.
“No way!”
“Hmph.”
“Ngh!”
As Stella stiffened up in surprise once more, Ouma kicked her in the side, sending her flying a few dozen meters across the ring.
“Gah! Cough, cough...”
Stella dropped to one knee and coughed up a few droplets of blood. Ouma’s kick had rattled her insides and damaged her internal organs, even though her mana-based defenses were strong enough that she had been able to take a direct hit from Tatara Yui’s Device without wavering. She felt like she’d been hit by a battering ram. At the same time, though, she’d finally figured out the secret to Ouma’s hardy body, as well as how he’d managed to penetrate her own defense.
“I don’t believe it... How the hell did you get your body like that?!” Stella shouted, her voice quivering more from surprise than pain.
“Heh. I suppose after two attacks, it’s only natural you’d figure it out.” He smiled at Stella. “You asked how I got my body like this. The answer is pure determination.”