"Crack... crackle..."
The sound of rubble rolling down continuously echoed through the ruins, startlingly clear.
Everyone present stared intently at the spot where Right Fire had been buried, their expressions indescribably grave.
"Cough, cough...!"
At that moment, Tsuchimikado Motoharu coughed up blood. His abdomen seemed as though a massive gash had suddenly been torn open, splitting it apart.
Blood soaked Tsuchimikado Motoharu's clothes, causing Kamijo Touma to panic.
"Tsuchimikado...!?"
"I'm fine! Kami! Don't let your guard down!"
When Kamijo Touma tried to step forward and support him, Tsuchimikado Motoharu shouted him back in a stern tone entirely unlike his usual flippancy. Behind his sunglasses, his eyes remained fixed firmly ahead.
Misaka Mikoto, Shokuhou Misaki, Sasha, and the others seemed to feel the pressure as well. None of them dared to look away.
"Are you okay?"
Holding her Imperial Armament, Sylvia supported Fang Li as he swayed unsteadily.
"I'm fine."
Fang Li shook his head, but his words sounded like nothing more than bravado.
That was only natural.
Right now, Fang Li was indeed forcing himself to keep going.
He had no choice but to.
"This opponent is tougher and more troublesome than any I've faced before..."
At the very least, no matter what kind of opponent Fang Li had encountered in the past, he had never been defeated this badly.
Including this time, Fang Li had now lost to Right Fire twice.
The first defeat had been because he could not use his Magic Eyes, while this one had resulted from Right Fire obtaining Index Librorum Prohibitorum. But a loss was a loss.
In that case...
"If something at that level could have defeated him, that would have been the unnatural thing."
Fang Li voiced what everyone present had been thinking.
Then...
"Boom—!"
A flash burst from the pile of