Chapter 33

As night deepened, the candlelight flickered uneasily in the breeze, casting a hazy glow inside the room.

Wearing a dark red and gold robe, Douma twirled in front of the mirror again and again.

"Do I look good in this?" he asked, his voice brimming with undisguised excitement. "Or should I wear that one?"

Yuki, holding a large stack of black clothes he had changed out of, glanced away expressionlessly.

I don't want to talk.

Aren't they all black? What's the difference?

"Of course there's a difference!"

Having overheard his thoughts, Doma smiled and leaned closer, gently tugging at his collar with his fingers.

"Look here. This is a subtle striped pattern."

He pointed to the edge of his own shirt with his fingertip, then picked up another black garment from her arms. "And this one has a diamond pattern."

Yu-hime glanced down at the pitch-black garment in his hand, then looked up at the long robe on his body that appeared black and multicolored in the candlelight.

“Take this one, sir,” she said calmly. “It suits you very well.” It was all shiny black.

"And sir, please don't eavesdrop on my thoughts, or I'll lose my temper and yell at you."

"Haha~ Okay, okay, I can't help but want to get closer to Yuuki." Douma clapped his hands happily, his eyes sparkling. "We have the same taste, that's great, that's great."

He turned around and looked at himself in the mirror again, his smile growing even brighter.

Yuki stood behind him, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Those who get favored by Doma are truly unlucky.

-

The night was as dark as ink, and the torches around the training ground swayed in the night wind, casting long and short shadows.

Sanemi Shinazugawa and Chinatsu stood facing each other, the air seemingly frozen, with only the crackling sound of the burning torches clearly audible.

Sanemi's eyes were sharp, and he exuded a fierce aura of someone who had been through many battles. "Come on, let me see what you call skill."

He slowly drew his Nichirin Blade, the blade gleaming coldly in the firelight, and the distinctive blue light of the Breath of Wind began to subtly flow around him.

Chinatsu's smile remained unchanged, her scarlet eyes shining startlingly in the night. "Here we go, Sanemi-sensei~"

She didn't draw her sword, but simply assumed a starting stance, while tiny blue-white arcs of electricity began to flicker and dance around her.

"Hmph!" Sanemi snorted coldly, and as soon as he uttered the word, he looked up and met a magnified smiling face.

"So fast!" Yuzui Tengen, who was watching from the sidelines, exclaimed in a low voice and sat up straight with a "whoosh".

No one saw how she moved, but she appeared in front of Sanemi in an instant.

Sanemi's pupils contracted slightly, clearly not expecting her to be this fast.

However, his years of combat experience are not to be underestimated.

He reacted quickly, flipping his wrist and sending the Nichirin Blade slashing straight at Chika's shoulder and neck with tremendous force.

Instead of retreating, Chika advanced, holding an ordinary blade and steadily parrying the attack.

"clang--!"

A resounding clang of metal rang out as the two blades clashed, sparking dazzling flashes. A powerful force traveled through the blades, and Qianxia felt a slight numbness in her arm.

Hmm—it seems she can't win in terms of strength.

Sanemi noticed Chika's brief moment of surprise, flipped his wrist, and activated the Breath of Wind at full power, instantly making his sword strike incredibly fierce.

"Wind Breathing - First Form - Dust Whirlwind - Slash!"

However, the attack missed.

Because Chika had already moved far out of the attack range.

The instant Sanemi's fingertips moved, Chinatsu touched the ground with her toes, quickly widening the distance between them.

This set of movements was fluid and efficient, without a single superfluous element, as if it had already seen through all of Sanemi's attack routes.

“Wow,” Uzui Tengen narrowed his eyes, his tone filled with disbelief, “This dynamic vision and reaction speed…it’s absolutely amazing.”

"It's like he can predict the attack!" Xuanmi was dumbfounded. He had never seen anyone so resistant to his brother's fierce offensive...

With ease and skill.

"She didn't foresee it, she just reacted quickly. Her speed surpasses Sanemi's, well, maybe about the same as mine!"

Uzui Tengen rested his chin on his hands, his gaze fixed on Chika, afraid of missing any exciting moment.

Sanemi, whose attack missed, naturally sensed Chinatsu's strength. In an instant, his brows furrowed more and more, and a sense of anxiety began to grow.

He took a deep breath, and the wind pressure around him suddenly increased to a new level!

"Wind Breathing - Seventh Form - Gale - Tengu Wind!"

A massive tornado blade erupted from his center, sweeping indiscriminately in all directions with destructive force!

This is a powerful move with an extremely wide range, intended to force Chinatsu to take it head-on!

Faced with the raging tornado blades, Qianxia smiled. Her eyes blazed with red light, and the arcs of electricity leaping around her instantly became even more violent.

"Ah, my warm-up... is also finished."

She whispered softly, then gripped the hilt of the knife tightly with both hands, pointing the tip diagonally at the ground. A surge of immense lightning power converged wildly around her, the blue-white flashes almost blinding!

"Thunder Breath! Break!"

There was no earth-shattering roar, only an extremely refined blue-white lightning bolt, so condensed it seemed capable of cleaving through space, bursting forth from her blade as if teleported.

This bolt of lightning was as thin as a hair, yet incredibly sharp, and its speed was off the charts!

It silently cut into the raging tornado blades!

"Sizzle—!"

Like a sharp blade cutting through tofu, the massive tornado blade was cleaved in two by this condensed lightning, torn apart!

The raging wind element instantly went out of control, turning into chaotic air currents that scattered and spread outwards, causing the clothes of the spectators on the sidelines to flutter and almost making them lose their footing!

The lightning continued its relentless advance, grazing past Sanemi's side and striking a massive rock some distance behind him.

The rock did not explode; instead, after a slight hum, a fist-sized, bottomless, charred hole appeared in the center, with tiny arcs of electricity flickering at its edges, as if it had been instantly vaporized by extremely high temperatures.

Sanemi stood frozen in place, his arm holding the knife trembling slightly.

He could clearly feel the destructive power contained in that bolt of lightning; if Qianxia hadn't deliberately changed its direction...

The consequences would be unimaginable.

Sanemi was stunned, and the entire room fell into a deathly silence.

"Oh no, no, Sanemi-sensei's Wind Breathing is too powerful, I can't beat it!"

Qianxia naturally knew when to stop. She sheathed her sword and carried it on her shoulder, smiling broadly, as if she wasn't the one who had just unleashed a powerful attack.

"Oh dear, it's true that becoming a pillar isn't something you can just do on a whim. I need to practice more, practice more! Master, you'll have to guide me more in the future."

It would have been better if he hadn't said it; as soon as he did, Sanemi's face turned dark.

He held his sword at his side, took a deep breath, and shouted in a deep voice, "Chika!!! You!!! Are dead!"

"Huh?" Qianxia looked confused. "Wait, didn't I already admit defeat? Why are you still getting so worked up?"

Sanemi didn't want to talk; Sanemi just wanted to kill people.

"Wind Breathing - First Form!"

"Wind Breathing - Second Form!"

"Wind Breathing - Third Form!"

"Wind Breathing - Fourth Form!"

"Awoo!"

Chika screamed, dropped the knife, covered her head, and ran all over the place.

"Hey!!! No! Sanemi! Be reasonable! I already gave up and you still hit me, that's too much! Too much! Help, you're cheating! Ouch—my hair! Ouch—my butt!"

The crowd watching from the rooftop all tilted their heads, their faces showing the same bewilderment.

Uzui Tengen: "...Weren't you fighting quite seriously just now?"

Xuanmi: "My brother... how could he suddenly..."

Shinobu Kocho: "Whoa! Sanemi-sensei seems even angrier now—!"

As Chinatsu ran around the field clutching her head, with Sanemi chasing after her with his sword drawn, the scene became quite chaotic.

Sudden!

An immense and suffocating aura of evil descended from the sky like an invisible tide, crashing down on everyone's spine!

"Ha ha ha ha!"

A clear, sticky laugh, with a strange penetrating power, came from above everyone's heads without warning.

"Chinatsu is amazing! Chinatsu is amazing! As expected of Chinatsu~ But you shouldn't have run away. The sword in his hand isn't a Nichirin Blade, so it can't hurt you~ Even if you're cut into eight pieces, you can revive."

The air froze instantly.

The laughter on the rooftop abruptly stopped, and the two pursuers in the training field also abruptly halted.

The butterfly couldn't help but hold its breath and slowly raise its head.

When I finally saw that ominous yet magnificent figure hanging under the moonlight, my heart felt as if it had been suddenly clenched by an icy hand.

Yes! It was him!