My body is hot. It was as if he was on fire.

　The power that still gushes out of his body never runs out, like water from the sea, and it spreads to every corner of his body.

　An almighty feeling similar to drunkenness envelops your mind and body.

　If it's me right now, I'll be able to win no matter who I'm up against. Even if it's a dragon, a demon god, or a swordsman - such conviction fills my heart.

　I found myself laughing out loud.


''Hahahahahahahahaha!


　I can't stand it. I can't do it. I can't stand it.

　Somewhere in the back of my mind, my calm self is telling me, "Don't be proud. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his cautious self admonishes him, "Don't let your guard down.

　But I didn't want to obey that voice. I didn't think to obey that voice anymore, not for a second.

　I didn't have the slightest idea of the power that made the earth scream. Such power that the atmosphere howls and rages. How can I not be proud when I have a power that could kill even a god if I wanted to?

　Carelessness?　That's all very well. If I don't let my guard down, the stunned Klimt will not stand a chance.

　Just the right amount of time!


'Hahahahaha!　Klimt, how long are you going to stand there carefree!


　As soon as I said that, I swung my heart-suit in a straight line. Since it was out of time, it couldn't reach Klimt's body, and I didn't let the slash fly with my sashay. It was just a light swing in the literal sense of the word.

　With that alone, the juju gushed out with the wind and pushed Klimt's body away.


''--Kuh?


　Returning to himself, Klimt contorted his face and flew backwards. That figure was so gaping, I could have pursued it as much as I wanted to, but I didn't dare. It was part of my carelessness and pride.

　I look at Klimt's figure as he hurriedly regains his stance with a thin smile on his face. Seeing me like that, Klimt let out a groan.


'.......Sora, you.

What's up?　You don't look well, Klimt. As you requested, I thought I'd tell you a fact you didn't know - the difference in our abilities - but was it hard to understand?


　When I taunted him outright, I found Klimt gritting his back teeth with a giri.

　Now I could step in and slash at him, or I could dash at him from out of time.

　Klimt, who had self-destructed under the pressure of my juju, would not have been able to dodge either of them.

　I'm not going to be able to get the same thing done.

　I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what I'm talking about.


I'm glad to see that our intentions are being properly conveyed. So, do you have something to say?　It's not just Klimt. Cryer, and Goz, if you have something to say, I'll listen.


　With that said, I took a glance at the two people other than Klimt, and Cryer, who had paled his already white face, responded with a trembling voice.


''........Sora-dono, you - what exactly is your co-source being (anima)?　I've slaughtered an illusory species all by myself, I know that the level of power increases. However, releasing this much power and this much power pressure should be impossible even for a bagua, no, even for a four-elephant level anima........ ...!

'If it's not possible with the bagua or the four elephants, isn't it at the Ryogi or Taiji level?　Well, you'll find out the details for yourself after tomorrow.

"...?　What does that mean--


　It's a good thing that you're not the only one who can use it.

　As expected, Goz seems to have already read our power and is not trying to use Suzumaru's power.

　Suzumaru's power was the nullification of his mind-armor ability, and in the last battle, he had been able to contain the power of a soul-eater.

　However, the power of Suzumaru cannot be understood by the current Soul Eater. They can't (and won't) bind him. Gozu also knows this, so he doesn't pull out his sword.

　After all, Goz has no choice but to use a kuuso, and I smiled lightly at him.


Come on, Goz, bring out your armor. If you can't get your armor out, bring out your heart suit. If you can't, take your armor to the limit. I'll let you off the hook for the first minute to thank you for holding down the stampede. We couldn't have gotten this far without you two. The next minute is a thank you from me.

''........Sora-dono, does that mean that you have taken away the power of the illusory species, that it is?　Just as it took away the power of the thing in Ishqa.

What, you're gathering information now?　Yeah, you're right. In the three days that you guys held back the Titis demon, I was able to eat as many hydra as I wanted. This power is the result of that.


　I thanked him politely. It was sarcasm, of course, but half of it was sincere.

　I kept eating souls until regeneration became impossible in order to defeat the Hydra, which repeatedly regenerates. There was no other way to defeat a dragon species that wouldn't fall even if I cut its head off or put a wind hole in its body.

　And that was why it took three days and three nights.

　It was undoubtedly thanks to Goz and the others that he was able to focus on fighting Hydra for that long.

　A thank you or two, or three or four pieces of information, is not to be spared. Rather, it would be easier to do many things in the future if I asked Onigashima to tell me the details of how I defeated Hydra, including the abilities of my mind-dressing.

　The stage of hiding my abilities is over now.


''I'll say it again. Hurry up and bring out your empty armor, Goz Sima. "I'm going to crush you in your dreams and I'm going to surpass you. I will never again allow you to pity me.



◆ ◆



"It's a style of illusion, Kagari!

　It was Klimt who took the lead. A fierce fire swirled around him, coming at him at a terrific rate.

　Klimt's heart-armor Kuri-Kara is a divine sword of fire, and naturally, it is compatible with fire-related techniques. Klimt's jade technique was powerful enough to hold its own against Hydra.

　However, as I mentioned earlier, the ability nullification by Juzumaru isn't working, so all of his power techniques are as good as bait for me. I held the Soul Eater with one right hand and caught Klimt's attack from the front.

　Then the voice of Kriya's spirit gushes out from beside me.


''Illusory Itto-ryu, Tsuji-slash (Tsumujigiri)!


　The roaring blades of wind were released, and more than one of them were simultaneous. Just as Klimt's heart-dressing goes well with flames, so does Crya's heart-dressing, Ksaanagi, goes well with the wind technique and is very powerful. A direct hit would have blown off Hydra's head.

　The timing of the attack was perfect. I deliberately delayed the activation of my Jade Technique, thinking that my technique would not be nullified as long as I was under Klimt's attack.

　No, perhaps Klimt was also using a flashy move in his first move to let his sister strike this blow. The skillfulness of coordination in this area would be unique to sister and brother.

　--Well, that's why I'm talking about what's going on.


''Kaa!''


　If you can't catch it with your heart gear, then you can catch it with something else. I'm going to unleash my power cannon to disperse the wind unleashed by Cryer.

　The power gun I'm firing right now is just like a cannonball, just as the characters say. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make your own way to the top.

　Looking at the four scattered wind blades, Berch's sister and brother's expressions were distorted. Seeing this, I tried to sneer at them and realized that I couldn't see the third one. A heavy voice echoes from above me.


''Illusory Itto-ryu Okuden --''


　When I looked up, I saw a figure in armor reminiscent of the cow-headed god, Go'o, floating there. Goz, who had already finished deploying his empty armor, swung the coastal sword in his hand high and proud.


"Shin no kata no kata kami no nari!


　He swung down furiously.

　The glow in my eyes is as bright as lightning, and the impact through my body is as shocking as a lightning strike. It was a divine speed of lightning blade with unavoidable pressure and speed.

　There was no time to fire a jingoistic cannon. Before that, even if they fired, it would have been pointless. Contrary to the time of Kuria, it was obvious that we were going to be pushed back.

　So I held my free left hand over my head--


G...................


　The light slash that Goz unleashed was met head on by the light slash.

　Even with the protection of Keigo, there is no way to prevent it. Blood sprayed out, and the blade was buried between his thumb and index finger.

　Flesh is ripped, bone is crushed, nerves are cut, and intense pain runs through your body. The blade of the scimitar quickly reached my wrist. It was better than being cut off, but my left hand would be useless now.

　I'm sure you're not the only one who thought that the current me would be able to repel most attacks with just the power of my jujitsu, but the seriousness of the Goz, it seems, was just hubris.

　Realizing this fact, I couldn't hold back and let out a loud laugh.


''Hahahahaha!　That's great, Goz!　What was that?　Ouden?　The type of earthquake?　A blow I've never seen before!　That's a great shot!　Is this what you're really doing?　So that Goz... that Goz who was always looking at me with pity on the island, is now fighting me for real!　So you're really trying to cut me down!　Hahahahaha, ahahahahahaha!


　Laughing like a madman, I activated the power of my mind suit. With the power of soul eaters (soul eaters) to restore even a chopped off arm, it's easy to heal torn flesh, shattered bones and broken nerves.

　It was extremely painful to reconstruct with the blade stuck in it, but even that pain is comfortable for me now. I just can't stop laughing.

　I couldn't help but be happy about the fact that that Goz had shown me how serious he was.

　I couldn't help but feel funny about the fact that that serious blow couldn't even drop an arm.

　I realized again. I've surpassed Goz Sima, I thought.



　-- to be honest, I never thought I would have such refracted feelings for Goz.

　It's true that I was fed up with the pity from good intentions, but I thought I understood that this was because she was taking good care of me as a teacher.

　In fact, when I fought in the Ishqa, my emotions never came off the rails to this extent - no, that's right. For what it's worth, at that time, Goz was still stronger than me. I was able to fight back in the second half, when I became more in tune with the Soul Eater, but the appearance of Hydra immediately afterwards forced me to stop the fight, and I couldn't really feel that I had surpassed Goz.

　Now, I've finally come to that realization. I'm sure the battle with the Hydra has convinced me that I'm above Goz, and I'm sure that the pent-up emotions of the past are boiling over.

　I tightened my grip on Goz's coastal coastal sword with my left hand, which was still embedded in the blade.

　The helmet of Goz's bull's head, which had been silently watching my madness, shook slightly. It seems that he was trying to pull the weapon back into his hand, but the Bastide sword did not move.


''Nu........''


　Goz groaned. I put more effort into my hand holding the scimitar, with a look of delight on my face.

　Just in time. A creak. I heard something creak.


''Waka ... you are ...''

''Kukku. Your voice sounds like you're in a cold sweat under your helmet. It's going to be a pleasure to see your face in person.


　Put more power into it, and put more power into it, and put more power into it. Then -- and then

　Crack.......... A small but sharp sound, like shattering crystal, rang out in that place.

　It was the sound of a crack in Goz's scimitar.


''Silly........!

'Ahahahahahaha!　You are fragile, fragile, fragile, Goz!　Is this the extent of your phantom realm?　Is this the extent of the essence of the Illusionary One-Sword Style!　Where did you put that smug look on your face when you said you were going to overcome my arrogance?


　As soon as I said it, I focused my jade on my left hand and cracked the blade of my bastard sword in one fell swoop with more force than ever before.

　Then, as soon as my left hand was released, I quickly rotated my body and delivered a spear-like mid-level kick to the belly of Goz, who was probably stunned under the helmet.

　Goz's massive body wrapped in armor flew through the air as the blow was strengthened with jin (kei).

　I smile with the edge of my lips hanging up. The minute I had promised to refrain from attacking had long since passed.