Chapter 133: Yaksha Princess? Not Bad!
Facts proved that once someone who already knew how to tease gained actual experience, her growth would become astonishingly fast.
At dawn, a faint crimson glow streamed in through the window.
On the messy bed, Nene lay across the wrinkled sheets. Her bare, snow-white feet occasionally twitched, while scraps of torn cloth stained with moisture were scattered across the floor.
Shiro had already dressed and was cleaning up the wreckage inside the room.
He had to admit that Nene truly understood men.
After several battles, she had long realized her body could not compete with Shiro's. This time, she had resorted to an underhanded tactic.
During last night's battle, she repeatedly changed her "armor," attempting to exhaust Shiro's health bar through sheer variety.
Unfortunately, she had not expected Shiro to comprehend the divine technique of converting his magic bar into health at noon yesterday.
As his pure white magic shattered, Nene's smug expression gradually turned to panic.
In the end, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Shiro's evaluation was simple.
'Hmph. Yaksha Princess? Not bad!'
After cleaning the room, he went to the cafeteria and brought back some food, placing it beside Nene's bed.
She would not be waking anytime soon. She would probably skip today's selection-match commentary too.
He could already imagine Nene being beaten up for it.
...
After defeating today's selection opponent, Shiro found Ayase.
He planned to deal with Kuraudo now.
After Shiro explained the situation, Ayase initially tried to stop him from going.
He was already the benefactor of her entire family. Asking him to fight Kuraudo on top of that felt far too unreasonable.
However, Ayase ultimately could not overcome Shiro's persistence.
Only after he guaranteed his safety and allowed her to watch did she agree to guide him to Kuraudo.
Following Ayase through layers of woodland, Shiro arrived before an overgrown dojo.
Its current owner had apparently never cleaned the place.
The walls were covered in crooked graffiti, thick dust blanketed the decorations, and cigarette butts and plastic wrappers littered the ground.
Even the main doors had almost rotted away and barely remained attached to the walls.
Ayase looked sadly at the dojo's current state.
This place had once been another home to her, yet outsiders had now ruined it beyond recognition.
Shiro nodded to her and walked straight inside.
Just within the entrance, five delinquent-looking youths squatted while smoking and playing with their phones.
Harsh curses occasionally left their mouths.
"Hey, where's your boss? I came as promised."
Shiro had no interest in wasting words on lackeys like these.
To save time, he released his Sword Intent and pressed it down upon one of them.
"Who the hell are—gaa...?"
The delinquent tried to stand and provoke him, but his knees refused to obey.
A mountain-like pressure crushed him down, leaving him unable to straighten his back. He could only make a strangled sound like a duck being choked.
His phone and cigarette slipped from his powerless hands.
Under Shiro's icy gaze, he tremblingly raised one finger and pointed deeper into the dojo.
"Hey, shouldn't we run?"
"You're going to betray Kuraudo?"
"There's no way Kuraudo can beat a monster like that! We should leave before he decides to deal with us too!"
Only after Shiro left did the pressure recede like a tide.
However, the delinquent who had brushed against death had already lost all courage to remain.
Ignoring his companions, he fled the dojo without even retrieving his phone.
...
Upon entering the training hall, Ayase subconsciously frowned at the sight before her.
At some point, Kuraudo had ordered someone to bring in a sofa.
He lay upon it with one leg crossed over the other, leisurely staring at the dojo's ceiling.
The once spotless floor was now covered in footprints, while the stench of fermenting garbage filled the air.
"Hey, didn't I tell you to come tonight?"
The moment he saw Shiro, Kuraudo excitedly sat up and revealed a savage grin.
"I'm busy at night. You're not worth making a special trip for after dark."
"Oh? I hope your strength is as tough as your mouth."
Kuraudo stood and summoned his Device, staring straight at Shiro with a venomous gaze.
"I'll warn you first. I'm not going to play around with an Illusionary Form like those student knights."
"Do whatever you want."
Even under Kuraudo's gaze, Shiro maintained the same lazy posture he had when entering.
After a brief stalemate, Kuraudo spoke first.
"Hey, don't tell me you aren't even planning to summon your Device?"
Devices could not be used freely outside school.
However, certified dojos were an exception when permission was granted by the dojo's owner.
Kuraudo was currently the dojo's master.
That meant even if Shiro summoned his Device and beat Kuraudo into a vegetative state, it would still be legal.
Kuraudo had relied on this rule to avoid being classified as a criminal.
In other words, Shiro's refusal to summon his Device was simply because he looked down on him.
After understanding that, veins bulged across Kuraudo's forehead.
"If you refuse to take it out, then I'll help you!"
He gathered magic beneath his feet and shattered the floor.
Gripping his serrated odachi in his right hand, he swung at Shiro with astonishing speed.
In Shiro's eyes, Kuraudo's swordsmanship was terrible.
It was no better than an ordinary person picking up a sword and swinging it around for amusement.
Rather than a slash, the attack resembled a heavy blow.
It completely failed to use the serrated weapon's advantage in dragging and tearing through its target.
Still, the violent impact was certainly enough to heavily injure an ordinary Blazer.
Facing the powerful strike, Shiro reached out and grabbed it.
Smack—!
The forceful blow was casually caught.
Every ounce of strength Kuraudo had placed into his Device vanished into nothing.
"What is this?"
Kuraudo's expression visibly wavered.
He never believed his wild sword swings were impossible to block.
However, this was the first time anyone had caught his Device barehanded.
"It's an ability someone specifically asked me to show you."
"Ayatsuji Ittou-ryuu Secret Technique—[Ten'i Muhou]."
[Ten'i Muhou].
By sensing the flow of all things, its user employed movements too subtle for the naked eye to perceive and dispersed the force of every attack.
It was the realm Kaito had spent half his life reaching—the ultimate art of parrying.
After learning yesterday that Shiro would fight Kuraudo, Kaito had personally asked him to display this technique.
Only then did Ayase learn that Kaito's unconscious apologies had not been directed toward her.
They were the apologies of one swordsman to his opponent.
"'I'm sorry I disappointed you by failing to show my full ability.' Those were Ayatsuji Kaito-san's exact words."
"It seems he truly wanted to guide you onto the path of a swordsman."
"So that old man still had something like this at the end..."
After learning the technique's true nature, Kuraudo did not become discouraged.
Instead, he grew even more excited.
"You learned his Secret Technique, so you must be far stronger than him, right? Let's kill each other! I'll tear your—"
"Are you misunderstanding something?"
Shiro interrupted him.
When Kuraudo looked into Shiro's eyes again, his entire body felt as though it had fallen into an icy abyss.
Those golden, vertical pupils were not eyes a human should possess.
There was only one word capable of describing them.
A demon.
At that moment, Kuraudo suddenly saw a future in which he was killed.
"I only exchanged a few moves with you to fulfill Ayatsuji Kaito-san's request."
"Fight me to the death?"
"Do you think you're worthy?"
As Shiro's indifferent words fell, hundreds of wounds of varying sizes suddenly appeared across Kuraudo's body.
"Wha...?"
The words barely reached his throat before blood blocked them.
Every wound burst open, and crimson sprays erupted from his body.
Kuraudo's eyes widened before he fell rigidly to the floor.
…
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