Dual Souls, The Other Half is Bronya

A surge of Magic Power erupted, and boundless cold froze the competition ground, transforming it into an icy plain. Shizuku leaped high, retreating to create distance, while Yoi Shigure in her hand slashed down repeatedly.

"Clang—clang—!"

Water condensed into ice, and blades of ice rained down, attempting to seal off Toudo Touka's movements, but with little effect.

Amidst flashes of Thunderlight, Touka shattered the ice blades one after another, steadily closing in on Shizuku.

But this level was still within my expectations... On the field, Shizuku had already placed several crystals, and as Magic Power activated them, "Shouha Suiren!"

A massive wave surged up, like a water barrier separating the two. Then, jets of water shot toward Toudo Touka, hoping to decide the match at long range.

Unfortunately... golden Thunderlight flickered in succession, forcibly suppressing Shizuku's Shouha Suiren.

—Pure water was indeed non-conductive. However, this required a massive expenditure of Magic Power.

"Boom! Boom, boom—!"

Touka dodged the jets, unleashing Thunderlight around Shizuku, the battle fiercely intense.

Got you!

Just then, Shizuku predicted Touka's position and used the cold to freeze one of Touka's feet... Now! A massive icicle fell from the sky.

"Clang—!"

A flash of Thunderlight, and the icicle split in two, scattering into fine fragments that vanished like stars across the competition ground.

"It's about over."

From the spectator seats, White Night's fingertips sparked with electricity. "Bioelectricity—predicting actions through the body's electrical signals. Useless against the strong, but at this level..."

—It was an overwhelming advantage!

White Night didn't say it outright, but Ikki understood well enough, his gaze turning worried as he looked at Shizuku.

"Ah, did I forget to mention? Toudo Touka is a disciple of that [God of Combat]~"

"God of Combat... Drawn Foot?"

On the competition ground, in Shizuku's eyes, Toudo Touka's movements seemed to skip a frame, and in an instant, she was right in front of her.

!!!

How is that possible?!

"Clang—!"

Barely blocking one strike, Shizuku was sent flying backward. She quickly rose to her feet on guard, replaying what had just happened:

Shizuku was certain she hadn't lost focus, so... how had the other party done it?

The next moment, Touka once again used Drawn Foot to appear before Shizuku, drawing Narukami from its sheath and nearly cleaving through the school uniform. However, that figure dissolved into water and scattered.

"So what's the principle behind the clone?" White Night leaned casually against the railing, speaking with keen interest.

And on the competition ground, Shizuku had fallen into absolute disadvantage—she couldn't break through Drawn Foot!

After a desperate struggle, Shizuku launched a counterattack, but each was neutralized, until finally, within a thick mist...

"Raikiri!"

Everything faded away.

Though Toudo Touka switched to her Fantasy Form at the end, she still drained all of Shizuku's stamina, leaving her collapsed on the ground.

[Winner, Toudo Touka!]

23. The Puppet Master's Attack

With the match over, White Night had no intention of watching the sappy scene in the infirmary—meddling in that was never a good idea.

By the next day, Shizuku had mostly recovered, but she still wanted to clear her mind. So...

"We meet again, huh~"

On the outskirts, the group ran into the student council members, and long-forgotten memories surged back. "Ikki, remember what I told you about the training camp?"

"It's up to you whether you want to go." On that front, White Night offered no opinion.

In the end, Ikki and the others accepted the invitation and followed the student council to the training center.

Amidst the lively chatter, everyone cleaned up the dormitory center, preparing for the upcoming training camp. Additionally, Shizuku seemed to have let go... Even facing Touka, she could now converse with relative calm.

"Speaking of which..."

At noon, the group held an outdoor barbecue, and during it, Miyuki Sawarabi brought up the main topic. "There's a rumor that traces of a giant have been left in the forest."

"Of course, I don't know if it's true, but if anyone's interested, feel free to check it out~"

"Vice President."

Kudoh Kanata, wearing a top hat, elegantly reminded him, then gave a slight bow to the group. "Apologies, the Vice President is always like this."

"Actually, it's like this: the Chairman entrusted us with cleaning up the surrounding area, including the mountain forest. As for the giant..."

"It's probably just a Blade Dancer, right?"

White Night waved a hand, looking utterly unconcerned, but secretly connected with Bronya through a mental link:

"Pay attention this time—'Jester' Hiraga Reizen, I remember he's one of 'Puppet King's' men. Watch out for that freak."

"Bronya knows."

◆[Puppet King] Or-Gull

A psychological deviant, yet an extremely powerful Demon. One of the Twelve Apostles of "Rebellion." Through Puppet Strings, he manipulates numerous political figures to fulfill the organization's political demands.

He delights in pure evil—hatred, wails, screams, betrayal... all negative emotions. He loved it so much that he personally controlled his own sister to slaughter everyone in his birthplace!

Note: his biological sister! And among the dead were even his father and mother—absolutely twisted to the extreme!

Walking along the mountain path, due to insufficient understanding of Or-Gull, they even used a Mental Link for communication to guard against him.

"Given the danger of a Puppeteer, shouldn't they be under international surveillance?"

Though it was just one person, that didn't stop White Night from complaining, "How did something like this even come about, and he's reached the Demon realm, dammit!"

"Normal. There are always fish that slip through the net."

Bronya remained calm, or perhaps expressionless? As for what happened before... she'd more or less adjusted by now.

Who knew how much time had passed?

"Boom—!"

A thunderous roar. White Night and Bronya leaped several times, quickly scrambling to the treetops and locking onto the incident's location. "That far, and the target is Ikki again?"

"Truly disaster-prone."

As they spoke, Bronya began Elementalization... the speed of Thunderlight was no joke.

"Bronya!"

But just as she transformed a single knuckle, White Night called her to a stop—around them, threads had appeared without warning. That guy had come to them!

Dozens of Rock Golems closed in, surrounding White Night and Bronya layer by layer.

"Hold back a bit. I don't want to catch that freak's attention."

"Mm. Bronya knows. Showing too much could easily bring danger to Sister Kiko."

"Heavy Rabbit, fire—!"

Bronya extended a hand, and Heavy Rabbit manifested behind her, its cannon beginning to charge energy.

Through mental exchange, White Night needed no communication—he charged out in an instant. A flash of blade light, and one by one, the Puppet Strings were severed.

Then came artillery bombardment, annihilating the debris to nothing, eliminating any chance of puppet reconstruction from the root. Their coordination was flawless.

"Em... that's it?"

"Hiraga Reizen is just a puppet himself, naturally not comparable to the Puppet King, especially since he's split his forces across several battlefields."

"Have you locked onto the central base station?"

"Of course."

An Infrared Ray projected outward, masking their intent and pointing out the central core for White Night.

But in truth... White Night had already shared Bronya's vision; the core was as clear as a lighthouse in the dark to him. "Good, then this ends now!"

White Night wrapped his left hand in Magic Power, using it as a temporary sheath to store Myriad Phenomena—Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu: Tenken Ryusho!

The sharp Sword Qi tore through the earth, surging forward to shatter the core serving as the enemy's base station.

With that, the Rock Golems lost control and collapsed one after another. White Night stood amidst them, stylishly twirling a Sword Flower. "Now that's a long-lost Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu."

"Stop showing off. Go support the others." Bronya, wreathed in Thunderlight, walked past White Night.

"Should be fine, right?"

After all, as long as the Puppet King didn't come personally... em... White Night pondered for a moment. "Looks like it's you again, Ikki. You sure know how to attract 'affection,' huh~"

On the other side, a massive stone golem stood tall, its jagged rocky arm slamming heavily to the ground, sending a shockwave rippling outward.

Ikki braced Yin Iron before him, using his physical body to withstand the impact—Stella was behind him; he couldn't retreat!

Shattered stone fragments exploded, leaving vicious gashes on Ikki's arms and torso, blood streaming down in an instant.

"Ikki..."

Stella weakly raised a hand, calling his name, but she couldn't help at all. Just like in the original story, Stella was still suffering from the unfamiliar environment.

"Don't worry, Stella. I'm fine."

Ikki tightened his grip on Yin Iron, suppressing the pain with sheer will and calming himself as best he could.

"Yo, junior-kun, Renren's here to help!" Usamaru Renren kicked apart the puppets along her path, charging over energetically.

"Kurogane-kun, watch out!"

At that moment, Miyuki Sawarabi's voice rang out. Ikki reacted just in time, twisting his body to dodge Usamaru Renren's strike.

"Miyuki, what's going on here?"

Having already used One Blade Arrogance earlier to save Stella, Ikki's current situation was undoubtedly adding insult to injury.

It took a while before Miyuki Sawarabi finally arrived. Thanks to his Supernatural Ability, his condition was relatively good, but... he couldn't fight! He was the useless sort.

"Renren's been taken control of by the enemy Puppeteer. Kurogane, you have to hold on."

Miyuki Sawarabi's tone shifted from its usual demeanor, turning serious. "Just a little longer! Touka will be here soon."

I think that might be a bit difficult.

The Stone Giant disassembled, reforming into human-sized figures that encircled the three of them.

"Miyuki, I'm leaving Stella to you."

Ikki stepped forward as a man! Since someone had to stand up in this situation, it could only be him, Kurogane Ikki. "I'll buy us time!"

"What a dazzling will, so dazzling... it makes me want to crush it!" — Or-Gull

Even though it was only indirect control, a Demon was still a Demon! The puppets' ability values had been boosted significantly. And this made Ikki's situation increasingly dire.

"Clang! Clang—!"

With each swing of his blade, his stamina drained more severely. In the end, he could only manage a stalemate even against the basic puppets.

[No! I can't fall yet!]

"Crack—!"

Faintly, Ikki thought he heard the sound of chains rattling? But he paid it no mind, focusing entirely on the battle at hand.