-1328- The broken sword

Twenty minutes later...

At the entrance of the training ground, the members of the student council emerged one after another.

Leading the group, Todo Touka had a slightly bitter expression on her face.

The rest of the student council members walking behind her had looks of disbelief but were reluctantly accepting the reality. They exchanged glances and then collectively fell silent.

The group left the training ground in this manner.

Then...

"It's hard to believe this isn't a dream."

Misogi Utakata spoke helplessly.

"Touka's Raikiri being broken again and again is like a nightmare."

Misogi Utakata voiced the thoughts of everyone present.

But wasn't that the truth?

"Until now, no one has ever been able to directly break the president's Raikiri."

Totokubara Kanata sighed slightly.

"Even the current Seven Stars Sword King couldn't break Raikiri..."

"And it was broken one after another by a bunch of first-year students..."

Tomaru Renren and Saijou Ikazuchi found it unbelievable.

Even Todo Touka herself rarely wore a wry smile.

There was no helping it.

"I can accept the result of the battle with Stella."

The fight between Stella and Todo Touka was, if anything, more intense than the one with Ikki, though it was different in nature.

The battle between Ikki and Todo Touka was an extreme close-quarters fight, a peak of swordsmanship duels.

The battle between Stella and Todo Touka, on the other hand, was an extreme long-range and magic battle.

Stella, as if determined to maintain a distance from Todo Touka like those who feared Raikiri, never entered Todo Touka's striking range, continually using long-range Noble Arts to let flames rage, dragons roar, magma erupt, and hot air surge, turning the entire battle area into a sea of fire.

Naturally, Todo Touka wasn't one to back down. Though she was skilled in close combat, she wasn't completely devoid of long-range abilities. Her other Noble Art, Raiou, allowed her to freely release long-range lightning strikes, capable of overwhelming flames, decapitating fire dragons, and splitting magma, showcasing formidable power.

As a result, the flames and lightning continuously clashed and collided, shaking the entire training ground.

This long-range battle lasted for nearly three minutes.

Around the three-minute mark, Todo Touka's lightning finally broke through Stella's rampaging fire dragon, engulfing Stella.

However, with her Reverse Sight (Electroreception is an aspect of her lightning powers and Touka used it to create Reverse Sight, so the correct one is Reverse Sight), Todo Touka immediately saw through it.

The Stella swallowed by the lightning was merely an illusion created by distorting light with heat.

The real Stella had slipped behind Todo Touka, entering her striking range.

"All the initial long-range attacks were to create the illusion that she wouldn't dare to enter my striking range, but in reality, she was preparing to surprise me and defeat me in close combat?"

Todo Touka immediately had this thought and felt a pang of regret.

After all...

"Unfortunately, Stella didn't know that my Reverse Sight had already seen through this."

Thinking this, Todo Touka turned around and drew her sword at the approaching Stella.

The invincible sword appeared once again in the training ground.

The plasma-infused slash struck with lightning speed towards Stella's revealed form.

Without the Mind's Eye, Stella couldn't possibly see through this attack.

"I've won."

Todo Touka was certain of this.

But what happened next shattered Todo Touka's certainty.

"Haahhhhhhhhhhh...!"

With a spirited shout, Stella unleashed all her magical power, causing the flames of the Empress Dress covering her to surge.

The flames grew far stronger than those she had used before.

In the past, Stella's flames could reach three thousand degrees Celsius, capable of melting steel and iron, incredibly scorching.

But this time, Stella's flames almost doubled in temperature, reaching levels comparable to the surface of the sun.

In the past, no matter how much Stella enhanced her magical power, she could never achieve such high temperatures.

Now, after consuming dragon blood, Stella's internal heat was extraordinarily high, making her sometimes unbearably hot, and she slept with less and less clothing at night, often drenched in sweat.

Now, Stella unleashed this heat entirely, and with the amplification of her magical power, her flames' temperature became incredibly high.

This heat directly melted Todo Touka's sword upon contact with the Empress Dress.

This was the strategy Stella came up with.

"If my defense isn't enough to withstand Touka-senpai's heirloom sword and I can't see through Raikiri's slashes and speed, then I'll just break the sword, causing Raikiri to self-destruct!"

Stella approached Todo Touka from behind with this thought in mind.

Stella knew that Todo Touka could see through the illusion she left behind and knew she would attack from behind.

At that moment, Todo Touka would surely use her Noble Art, Raikiri.

So, at the moment she revealed herself, Stella released all the heat in her body at once. With the amplification of her magical power, she significantly increased the temperature of her flames.

In this way, if Todo Touka's Device melted from the high temperature before it could touch Stella, then Raikiri would self-destruct.

Of course, there was a possibility that Stella's flames wouldn't be able to melt Todo Touka's Device.

If that happened, Stella would undoubtedly lose.

But Stella decided to take a gamble.

And she won.

After that, Stella didn't need to do anything else; she had already won.

Because even though a Blazer's Device is merely a crystallization of magical power and can be reformed if damaged, once a Device is damaged, the user will suffer a shock equivalent to a soul attack, causing them to lose consciousness.

Todo Touka fell like that, declaring Stella's victory.

Todo Touka could accept this result.

No matter what, Stella, like Ikki, took a huge risk and gambled, showing both courage and strength. Todo Touka could fully accept her victory.

But after that...

"My Raikiri wasn't just broken by two people; it was also broken by a third person."

Todo Touka smiled wryly, reminding everyone of what had just happened.

Something very unbelievable and hard to accept.

...

That happened after Todo Touka woke up and rested for a bit to recover.

As everyone prepared to disperse, Todo Touka suddenly made a request.

She wanted to fight again.

And her chosen opponent...

"Me?"

Rozen blinked and stood there in a daze.

Obviously, Rozen hadn't expected Todo Touka to challenge him.

But Todo Touka indeed prepared to challenge Rozen.

Her gaze was firmly fixed on Rozen.