At the moment of desperation, the girl called out that name in her heart.

Lord Ryuto...

At the same time, familiar words echoed in her mind.

Thoughts of cutting off all attachments.

That's what Lord Ryuto said, but what does it really mean?

While pondering over this, Bloodbath was already right in front of Hiyori in the blink of an eye. Hiyori struggled to crouch down, narrowly avoiding Bloodbath's right fist by a hair's breadth. In the past, she would dodge like this in order to counterattack, so it was intentional.

But now, she clearly didn't have that luxury because even dodging was already quite difficult for her current body.

While dodging, Hiyori reversed her grip on the blade and aimed to slash at Bloodbath's right arm.

But...

"Boom!"

The sound of metal collision still echoed.

As expected, it didn't work.

During this opening, Bloodbath delivered a sideways kick. Hiyori took a step back and evaded it once again.

What does that sentence really mean?

After creating some distance, Hiyori closed her eyes, relaxed her whole body, and maintained a natural state.

But she still didn't understand.

The girl sighed inwardly.

However, at the same time, the girl realized something.

That is...

She really didn't know the meaning of that phrase now, and she probably wouldn't understand no matter how much she thought about it.

After all, she is not as good at thinking as Lord Ryuto, not as smart. So even if she thinks about it, it would be futile, and...

If it were before or something else, maybe she would have already given up upon realizing this.

But...

This one thing is different, there was never another choice from the beginning.

She must achieve it now, even if she doesn't know, even if she can't.

There is no reason for her not to do it.

So...

Upon reaching a certain conclusion, the girl's body suddenly moved on its own accord, as if guided by something, naturally and without feeling any pain.

She sheathed the long blade by her left waist, lowered her center of gravity, half-crouching, and held her left hand below the blade, a few centimeters away from it.

As for what to do next? How to do it? The girl had no clue.

But it doesn't matter even if she doesn't know. She relaxed her whole body as much as possible, without thinking, just following her inner desires.

Seeing the strange stance before her, Bloodbath became interested.

"What's this? Is it a new technique? If so, that would be just perfect."

Saying that, Bloodbath filled his whole body with Kinesis once again.

But this time it was different. If there was one difference, it was that Bloodbath's skin had turned gray, much stronger than before.

"This is my ultimate hardness. When I push my abilities to the extreme, some corresponding changes occur. These changes make every part of my body as hard as, or even stronger than steel. With this, even steel can be broken. No one can survive after taking this attack. It's time to settle this. Come on, don't disappoint me, Sword Sorcerer of the Far East."

Saying that, he approached his opponent with lightning speed.

But in the next instant, Hiyori's figure disappeared without warning.

Not thinking about anything, allowing the body to complete all actions on its own, but one thing is certain: regardless of the target or how tough it is, one cannot fail.

Not considering anything else, letting the body move freely, just always keeping in mind the idea of not being able to fail.

This is the mindset of cutting off everything.

Everything seems to stand still, swinging an invisible sword in the world of extreme speed, like the scythe of a Shinigami, cutting off all things and dividing the entire world into two.

After the moment...

"Ugh..."

A cry of pain came, and after switching positions, Bloodbath behind Hiyori fell to the ground.

"How is this possible?"

Before falling, muttering with an expression of disbelief.

The fall of one side marks the end of the battle.

Suddenly, Hiyori felt relieved and knelt down on the ground, despite being covered in injuries, but had a faint smile on her face.

Although I don't know what happened, Ryuto-sama, it seems like I succeeded. I have done a good job in protecting.

Saying such in her heart, she smiled.

Afterwards, seemingly due to the relaxation of her inner self, the injuries at the front suddenly relapsed.

"Thud—"

Half-kneeling, with a smiling face, she fell to the ground.

Then, in the basement that had become strangely quiet after the intense battle, a figure walked in.

"Thinking about sending a message, but it turned out to be just cleaning up? I'm not an ambulance... but I can't simply ignore my student. That kid dared to use his teacher, he really... will suffer during tomorrow's practical class."

Slowly picking up Hiyori lying on the ground, about 20 years old, with a single ponytail, Yamaguchi Kumo walked angrily towards the exit of the basement.

Battle finished.

Date: September 7th, 1:15 a.m.

Location: Underground basement of a certain hospital in Kanagawa City

Winner: Sword Sorcerer of the Far East - Hiyori Tsuchimikado