Just as Esdeath watched with certainty as the blue light spread toward Yorii Tsugikuni, already considering what posture she should take when she appeared beside him later...
Yorii Tsugikuni suddenly moved.
However, this strike seemed somewhat laborious, its speed exceedingly slow. Faint afterimages could even be seen appearing around his arm.
Bzzzz...
The blade rubbed against the air, producing bursts of trembling sounds like the buzzing of bees.
The low, high-frequency sound triggered wave after wave of vibrations, spreading continuously outward from the Nichirin Blade in Yorii Tsugikuni's hand.
From the first ripple, to the second... the second... and the third.
His movements looked slow... yet the ripples around him had already densely linked together like waves. At a glance, Yorii Tsugikuni seemed like a stone falling into a still lake, driving layer upon layer of waves outward, carrying an air of mystery.
"Your struggling appearance is truly captivating."
Watching Yorii Tsugikuni's slowed, nearly frozen movements, Esdeath smiled, as though she wanted to see what his final struggle would look like.
Then she walked toward Yorii Tsugikuni with a smile, rose slightly onto her toes, and kissed his forehead.
It was as though she wanted to use this to mark her coming victory.
However, the smile on her lips soon froze.
Because the instant Mahapadma's shining blue light rapidly spread to Yorii Tsugikuni's side, the Nichirin Blade that had long been poised to strike became blurred in Esdeath's eyes.
What Esdeath had not anticipated was that Yorii Tsugikuni had once been able to deliver fifteen hundred slashes in an instant.
And now, after a little training, he had already surpassed that number.
Therefore, even if his speed was slowed by hundreds of times under her influence, Yorii Tsugikuni could still move.
And he was not slow.
Crack, crack...
Esdeath did