Ryoma, the successor of Hokushin Ittō-ryū, and the famous Honkai Sword Saint, the person who accompanied Raiden Mei's childhood.
Although he himself possessed no supernatural powers, his swordsmanship and high-tech weaponry alone were enough to contend with some weaker Herrschers.
Even now, the sword in his hand, though merely a training weapon, still displayed exquisite swordsmanship in his grip.
But...
Frustrating...
This was Ryoma's only thought right now.
Why was this happening?
Because every one of his attacks was blocked by Takatsuki.
In terms of physique, he was just a normal human who had undergone years of training. Not to mention the Ox Talisman, just the strength brought by the blessings alone, Takatsuki could take it with one hand, and as for speed, there was no comparison.
"Is that all your strength?! Can you even protect Mei like that?!"
Ryoma couldn't break through Takatsuki's defense and began to shout loudly.
"If you want to be Mei's lover, this much strength isn't enough!"
Takatsuki was somewhat speechless, blocking Ryoma's attacks with his sword while looking at him without speaking.
No, Uncle, can't you tell I'm going easy on you?
After a heavy sword strike was casually parried by Takatsuki, Ryoma did not continue his attack.
"Takatsuki, if your strength is only this much, then I will not allow Mei to be with you."
"..."
Takatsuki was somewhat speechless at the somewhat threatening words.
"Does Uncle Ryoma mean that if I can show enough strength, you'll agree to me and Mei?"
Hearing Takatsuki's words, Ryoma showed a slight smile, perhaps thinking his provocation had succeeded.
"If you can defeat me, then I can consider it, but even defeating me isn't enough. You know, my strength isn't the strongest in this world."
Not only is he not the strongest, he's incredibly weak, alright.
"Alright then, I guess I'll have to get serious."
Takatsuki didn't expose Ryoma's words, his sword slightly lowered, appearing completely unguarded.
Looking at Takatsuki's posture, Ryoma frowned.
"Is that so? Then let me see your so-called seriousness."
With that, Ryoma sheathed his blade and assumed a drawing stance.
After all, Hokushin Ittō-ryū itself is a style that quickly and flawlessly deprives an opponent of their combat ability. The previous fight was merely a test.
And at this moment, Ryoma was fully displaying his swordsmanship.
Swish!
Even with a training weapon, the katana displayed an unrivaled sharpness. Even an unsharpened weapon, if a normal person were struck by this blow, they would be severely injured.
And even if this strike were blocked, there would be several subsequent combos like a fierce storm, leaving the opponent overwhelmed.
Looking at Takatsuki's motionless posture, Ryoma had already envisioned countless reactions from Takatsuki.
Block? Or dodge?
He had already planned out the sword moves to follow Takatsuki's various reactions.
However, reality surprised him.
Because...
Takatsuki showed no reaction.
What is he doing?
Ryoma didn't understand, but he also couldn't retract his sword. The speed of this strike was less than 0.1 seconds as it swept past Takatsuki's body.
Cut...
Ryoma's eyes widened as he looked at the weapon in his hand, which was now just a hilt.
What's going on? Where's my sword!?
"That should be enough, Father-in-law."
Takatsuki's light words drifted over, and Ryoma saw the fragments on the ground, shattered into rice-grain size pieces, as well as Takatsuki's unchanging posture. He didn't even notice that Takatsuki had already changed his address.
Unbelievable…
"How… how did you do that?"
Takatsuki lowered his eyes to the ground: "Are you talking about this?"
"I just cut them."
"Cut?"
Is this something an unsharpened training sword can do? Moreover, from beginning to end, Ryoma didn't feel any resistance.
One must know that the weapon in Takatsuki's hand was not some divine weapon that could cut through iron like mud.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"Hahaha, look at Ryoma, that silly look, he's completely dumbfounded."
Tesla pointed at the screen and burst into laughter.
There were three other people beside her. Welt said to the somewhat embarrassed Mei: "Tesla is just like that, don't mind her, she doesn't mean any harm."
"Mhm."
Mei nodded. She had noticed earlier that her father respected Dr. Tesla, but no matter how she looked at it, she seemed to be the same age as herself.
"Did Dr. Tesla clearly see the battle just now?"
A girl with messy blue hair beside her spoke weakly.
"Ah…"
Mei knew that the girl who looked about her age was Dr. Einstein, who was with Dr. Tesla. Are all Anti-Entropy doctors like this??
She didn't dare to ask, and then saw Einstein walk up to the monitor and start operating it. Soon, she adjusted the footage to the moment Ryoma drew his sword, and slowed down the speed by one time.
The result…
"Still can't see clearly."
Einstein continued to operate.
Five times… couldn't see clearly.
Ten times… couldn't see clearly…
Until it was adjusted to one hundred times, the speed of Ryoma looked like a turtle crawling to the group of people. The 0.1-second sword draw was stretched to ten seconds.
And at this moment, several people saw Takatsuki move.
There were no large movements, just a simple lift of his hand, a series of slashes, shattering the blade, and then he put his hand down, as if he hadn't moved at all.
Then Ryoma's katana, now without its blade, passed in front of Takatsuki.
"There's… a problem here."
Einstein rewound the video a bit, searching frame by frame, and then locked onto one frame.
Fortunately, Anti-Entropy's surveillance was quite advanced, otherwise, this thousandth of a second moment would have been impossible to find.
"This is…"
Tesla also widened her eyes, looking at the screen.
"The blade broke before he even made a move!"
Einstein nodded: "That's right, and on his sword, although training weapons are inherently black, at that instant, his blade was coated with a layer of black material. I suspect it was this material that made his blade cut through iron like paper, pulverizing Raiden Ryoma's weapon."
"But I can't tell what cut Raiden Ryoma's blade."
Mei looked at Einstein with some surprise. As expected of an Anti-Entropy doctor, although they didn't see it, she did.
Takatsuki cheated.
At that instant, Heaven's Stairway appeared and touched the blade with a finger. Then, part of the blade was destroyed by a smokeless explosion. The black substance on Takatsuki's blade was Armament Haki, which allowed the training weapon to cut through iron like mud.
"I think Raiden Ryoma's daughter should know… what that is."
After an unfruitful discussion, the two doctors looked at Raiden Mei. She was the only possible insider here.