Let's go ahead!

Demon. 

This was probably how one would describe the appearance of Kuraudo at this moment. 

Bloody face and chilling bone-colored blade that appeared as if summoned from the afterlife. 

If someone saw him, who knew him, they would be frightened, but due to his crooked nose, and not many knew them, they wanted to laugh somehow. 

Still, Isao was as calm as ever and continued to eat his dinner. 

"He-Hey..." 

However, Ayase lost her calm, especially when Kuraudo woke up once again. Watching him, she recalled the time her father dueled against Kuraudo. It was the worst moment of her life and also the reason for her nightmare. 

After that duel, not only did her father lose consciousness and stay in the hospital all the time, but she also lost her house as it was taken by Kuraudo. 

Her father and the place where she shared the memory with her parents were taken away by him, which made her wish to kill this person. 

Yet, she knew that she was weak. No matter how hard she tried, even if she used the technique taught by her father, it was all meaningless. 

Terror and fear overwhelmed her, and she thought something similar would happen to Isao. 

"Don't! Don't go! Don't fight him!" 

While she knew that this might be a little too much, or Isao might think of her as creepy as she suddenly held him, she didn't care since, at this moment, his safety was number one. 

Isao might have been able to beat Kuraudo with a sneak attack before, but this time, it was different.

Kuraiuo went for real, and he really planned to kill Isao. 

Yet, how could Ayase allow that?! 

Unlike Kurogane Ikki, whom she could abandon and sacrifice for her ambition, she couldn't do that with Isao. This young man had made her heart beat so fast for the first time, and she didn't want to lose him. 

"....." 

While speechless, wondering whether this woman forgot that he had beaten Kuraudo, he got her DNA naturally. 

[You have acquired Ayase Ayatsuji's DNA.]

[Do you want to absorb it?]

Isao looked at Ayase and asked, "Do you think he can kill me?" 

"..." Ayase. 

"...." Kuraudo. 

"...." Everyone. 

The tense atmosphere almost suffocated everyone as they wished to run away but couldn't as Kuraudo stood at the entrance, causing all of them to be frightened by the killing intent that oozed out from Kuraudo due to Isao's words; all of them quickly calmed down, especially when they saw Kuraudo's crook's nose. 

Still, Isao should have been able to handle this problem and erase this man quietly by using his ability to control Kuraudo, but then, he felt it would be more comfortable to beat up this guy, destroying his cheap pride, which he got after beating many weaklings. 

Yup, Isao could see that the reason why Kuraudo was proud was that he had defeated many weaklings. 

Isao wanted to laugh somehow. 

If Kuraudo was so strong, then go ahead and fight Stella or even many strong Blazers, but here he was, only targeting Ayase's frail father, who wasn't even a Blazer and just a normal human. 

In the original, Kuraudo was also beaten by Ikki Kurogane, who didn't even use his trademark technique. 

If Isao lost against such an existence, he was simply a dork. 

"Wait outside. I will take care of you after this." 

"..." Kuraudo. 

However, Isao ignored Kuraudo and looked at the waitress. "Can you put those foods on takeout?" 

"Ah, sure." The waitress was stunned but nodded. 

Isao then looked at the owner and called him. "Hey, owner." 

"Eh?" The owner, who got a headache as he felt weak, wondering what to do as his eatery was destroyed, was startled and caught something that was thrown by Isao. "This is...?" On his hands, he got a bank card and passbook. 

"Use that to renovate your eatery." 

"....th-thank you!" The owner was stunned, but he thanked Isao with all his might, especially after seeing the amount of money written on the passbook. 

"You guys." Isao looked at the group of delinquents, who were still stunned and silly, and said, "Stop all the vehicles that will pass the road. Don't let anyone walk there and interrupt my fight." 

"...." 

They were all speechless, wondering whether Isao thought of them as his servants, but they didn't dare to fight him. At the same time, they also wanted to see the fight between Isao and Kuraudo, so they quickly walked out from the eater and stopped all the vehicles that were about to pass the road without caring about the consequences. 

Even if many vehicles were about to pass, they didn't care and stood in the middle of the road to stop them all. 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" 

"DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH?!" 

"GET THE HELL OUT!!!" 

Yet, even if they were threatened, they didn't move and even glared at those who wanted to curse them. Naturally, those inside the vehicles didn't dare to do anything, especially when they were all Blazers. 

Yes, they might be small fry, but even if they were small fry, their existence could only be looked up to by normal people! 

This was the weakness of normal people, as they couldn't do anything, were completely helpless, and could only succumb to the power even though the Blazer was unreasonable. 

In this world, the might of an individual is everything.

As long as you have power, you can do anything. 

Even if many Blazers kill people, they can't be judged by normal means as they are too powerful. 

Under the gaze of Kuraudo and everyone who looked at him with a complicated mood, Isao walked toward the middle of the road as he was basked by the street light. He was in the spotlight; all the attention was on him. 

At this moment, he became the full moon in everyone's eyes. 

Beautiful, quiet, yet overwhelming. 

"Come." 

Isao looked at Kuraudo, who still stood at the entrance of the eatery. "Let's fight here. Your followers have worked hard to prepare this place for the stage. Don't be a letdown." 

"....." 

Kuraudo couldn't say anything since Isao's movement was so fast. Even though he stood at the entrance of the eatery, Isao suddenly appeared in the middle of the road as if nothing had happened. He couldn't even react even though he had a power that could help him trump any close combat fights. 

Still, being provoked like this and being challenged on this grand stage where all the eyes were on them, how could he back down? 

Moreover, this was also what he wished for! 

So, he jumped directly onto the middle of the road, at a certain distance from Isao, and he looked at him with a hostile expression. "You are going to regret this." 

Isao only yawned and didn't even take this guy's words seriously. Instead, he looked at Ayase, who looked at him worriedly from a distance and said, "Hey, that gloomy woman over there." 

Everyone also followed Isao's gaze and looked at Ayase. 

"G-Gloomy woman..." 

Ayase was stunned and saddened by Isao's cruel words. Still, her resistance to pain was quite good, and she could handle his words. At the same time, she couldn't deny that she was quite gloomy. 

"Lend me your power for a bit." 

"Eh? Oh? Ah?" Ayase was confused, but Isao said, "Just say yes." 

"Yes?" 

Then, at that moment, a scene that made the eyes of Ayase, Kuraudo, and Kuraudo's followers widen their eyes. 

"Turn scarlet, Hizume (Scarlet Nail)."

A rift appeared in space, and from that rift, Isao pulled out a single scarlet blade that was redder than sunset and more vivid than blood. 

As the blade was pulled, many petals of red scarlet lilies scattered in the air, giving a sacred, elegant, yet deadly around him. 

"Th-That is Hizume!" Ayase was dumbfounded as Isao had summoned her Device, a weapon of her soul! 

However, Kuraudo snorted and said, "You borrow the power from that loser? Are you mocking me?!" 

"....." Ayase. 

"She might be a loser, but to defeat you with a loser weapon is enough." 

"..." Ayase. 

"I will kill you!" Kuraudo's gaze became even fiercer as if he couldn't wait to kill Isao as he exuded his killing intent. 

"I will kill you. I will kill you. Haven't you learned anything else in school except for those words? Oh, I guess you are an idiot since you can't learn much." 

As Kuraudo grounded his teeth, Ayase felt better somehow. 

Nevertheless, as their battle was about to start, everyone was also quiet. Even those who kept honking also stopped and watched the duel between them. After all, it was so rare to watch the duel between the Blazers. 

Watching two mighty beings beating up each other was definitely something fun. 

All the guests at the eatery also forgot their fear and, together with Ayase, watched the duel that was about to unfold. 

"That gloomy woman, be the referee and start the duel." 

Isao said once again, and Kuraudo didn't say anything, agreeing to Isao's words. 

"..." 

"I-I am not a gloomy woman! I-I have a name! My name is Ayase Ayatsuji!" 

"Shut the hell up and start the duel, can't you?!" Kuraudo got mad at Ayase, who started to introduce herself and wasted his time. His blood was boiling, and his body was shivering. At that moment, he wanted to swing his blade as soon as possible and stained it with Isao's blood! 

"...." 

Ayase's lips twitched, and they shouted, "Handsome... no... it sounds like praise..." She didn't want to call Isao a handsome guy even though those words were the only ones that were most appropriate for him. Still, she also didn't want to mock him, so she asked, "By the way, what's your name?" 

"GODDAMMIT, HURRY UP AND START THE DUEL, CAN'T YOU?! YOU CAN FUCK HIM AFTER I DEFEAT HIM!" 

Kuraudo could see that Ayase felt lust toward Isao, but he wanted to start this duel, so he didn't want her to waste his time! 

"....." 

Ayase took a deep breath and wanted to kill Kuraudo somehow, but she knew that she wasn't his opponent, so—

"Start!" 

Along with her shout, everyone shouted, "LET'S GO AHEAD!"

--- '

Sorry for being late. I just got home after I watched a Conan Movie. 

By the way, some of you might know, but I will upload a new novel at ten or eleven August. 

Please look forward to it!