Volume Three: The Academy Goes on a Rampage - Rock-Circle Overlord (II)

Within the dark stone egg, Ling Ye was breathing painfully.

The pebbles that Stone Strike forcibly stuffed into his mouth could only barely keep him alive, but could not heal his wounds.

If he acts rashly and worsens his injury, even the earth's essence within the stone won't be able to save him.

"Xiao Wu... Xiao Wu..."

Even so, Ling Ye continued to act, using his dulled knife to chip away at the solid rock surrounding him.

Normally he could easily move at six or seven times the speed of sound, but now he could only grit his teeth and swing his knife at less than twice the speed of sound to chisel the stone.

Most of his bones were shattered, but the hand that held the knife was fortunately still intact.

The burden on my body is increasing, the wounds all over my body are deepening little by little, and my internal organs are gurgling like plastic bags filled with blood, as if they could burst at any moment.

"Right now, you... can't beat him..."

Fine cracks spread little by little inside the stone egg, but at a slower pace than a snail.

So, at least, hold on until...

"If I'm not mistaken, your full name is... Urahara Sakura Dance?"

--!!

"Hey... what are you doing...?"

"Judging from your wavering expression, it seems I guessed right."

Stone Strike crossed his arms, seemingly recalling every detail of the brief battle that had just taken place.

"Your superpower is probably pure physical enhancement. Your fighting style is a simplified version of the Night Nether Style, plus those bladed dual pistols... it's practically identical to that woman— Urahara Mai Ryu."

"..."

"If you look closely, they do look quite similar."

"... You... know my mother?"

"Of course I know her. I was the one who invited her to join the organization in the past."

Breaking news.

"What? You mean my killer mother... is also a member of your organization!?"

Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Stone Strike shook his head, seemingly a little regretful.

"The strongest Ghost Clan Urahara Mai Ryu, known as the 'Asura Martial God,' is naturally unwilling to take orders from others, which was within my expectations... So, we started a fierce battle without saying a word."

"... Then what?"

"That was truly one of the most exhilarating battles of my life. I must admit—I was badly beaten, the first time I'd been so severely injured since my battle with Gustav a century ago. But even with half my body shattered, I still managed to win by a narrow margin."

I beat her.

These three words say it all.

In Xiao Wu's eyes, who had always undergone her mother's hellish training, her mother was the strongest being. Her mother's every move was inviolable, and she was someone she could never hope to reach.

However, this man was stronger than his mother.

This alone made Xiao Wu consider retiring for the first time in her life.

"As a person, I find her disdainful of life utterly repulsive, but as an opponent, I must admit she is the most perfect warrior I have ever seen. She evokes both my disgust and my respect; she is the first person like her..."

"So, what happened to her afterwards...?"

"... dead."

"..."

"I didn't intend to kill her, but my fellow Special Class Combatant arrived just as the battle was about to end. They're all eccentric characters... I'm sorry, I don't know who delivered the final blow in the chaos; it might have been me..."

"... When was that?"

"About seven years... no, eight years ago."

Eight years ago.

It was the year my mother went missing.

Now she finally understood why her mother had never returned after leaving that day.

"I've taught you everything I could" -- these were the last words her mother said to herself.

Perhaps at that time, her mother had a premonition that she was about to face great calamity.

So he left only that sentence and departed.

"You've wavered, Urahara Sakura Dance..."

A deep, resonant voice came from right in front of me.

When did he get to this point?

"I'm sorry for your mother's death, but don't forget—we're still fighting!"

A mountain-like fist slammed down, and Xiao Wu quickly crossed her arms to block. Countless pebbles emerged from the void, rapidly converging around his punch, and the enormous rock fist, growing larger and larger, directly broke through Xiao Wu's feeble defense and slammed towards her face!

Ghost transformation, 40%!!!

Xiao Wu completed her demon transformation at the last moment, barely dodging the fatal blow with a side somersault. However, the rock fist continued to grow larger as it struck, and the violent shockwave shattered the ground within hundreds of meters! Xiao Wu was also blown backward, her survival instinct screaming for her to escape as quickly as possible—

"Stone Fist Explosion!"

The previous punch was merely a build-up; now, the real attack was about to begin! The stone fist, condensed to its limit, suddenly surged forward, transforming into a gigantic rock hand hundreds of meters long! The terrifying impact tore through the atmosphere, creating a trench several kilometers long that cleaved the earth. The gigantic hand abruptly stopped after traveling nearly a thousand meters, and a thousand-foot-long crack rapidly spread across the ground from its center, seemingly without end! Shortly afterward, the spreading cracks reached the headquarters of the League of Scholars, and the specially reinforced main building sank directly into the ground!

The ground trembled and rumbled; faced with Stone Strike's powerful strike, even the entire earth had to submit to him!

In the distance, Xiao Wu, looking like a tattered piece of cotton in the wind, fell to the ground in a disheveled state.

At this moment, demon horns had grown on her eyebrows, her hair had turned half white, and her eyes had turned bright purple. After reaching 60% demon transformation, she did not try to resist Stone Strike's attack, but instead fled at full speed from the range of his attack. Even with the super speed and physical strength of 60% demon transformation, she was already covered in wounds.

The super-strong self-healing ability brought about by 60% demonization is extraordinary; her wounds are healing at an extremely fast pace—but Stone Strike certainly won't give her any more time to catch her breath.

"Earthquake, magnitude 10!"

Centered on the Stone Strike, violent shockwaves raged through the earth, causing the entire land to howl and groan! The ground beneath Xiao Wu's feet cracked open with countless bottomless fissures amidst the violent tremors, swallowing her up like the gaping maw of a monster!

A weight of billions of tons pressed down on her, a storm of rubble relentlessly ravaged her body, and it seemed she was about to be crushed into a pulp by the earth—

"Ryou 89 Style: Disparity!!!"

In the instant before the earth closed up again, Xiao Wu slammed her fist against the two stone walls with all her might, but the massive walls remained unmoved, instead accelerating towards her! Xiao Wu roared, the bayonets of her twin pistols gleaming with light—

"White Night Blade Array Seven - Kill All!!!"

Countless shimmering, fragment-like gusts of wind erupted from the White Night Bayonet, flying upwards like a dense net. The countless falling stones shattered upon contact with the gusts, and those fragments were then sliced into even smaller pieces! Taking advantage of this opening, Xiao Wu raised the Black Star—

"Black Star Blade Array Six - One Line!!!"

The powerful force of the slash was concentrated in a straight line, and in Xiao Wu's desperate struggle, it sliced open a tiny crack in the closing ground! Grasping at this lifeline, she immediately kicked against the air to propel herself upwards, reaching her maximum speed, and finally burst out of the ground, avoiding being buried alive.

Then, a colossal shadow, thousands of feet tall, completely enveloped her.

At first, she thought it was because it was getting dark.

Then she realized what that colossal, sky-covering object was.

That was a mountain.

A colossal mass, whose weight could no longer be measured in ordinary units, descended from the sky and pressed down upon her.

Looking directly below, although its height is unknown, its length must be over ten kilometers, and you can't even see the end of it at a glance.

Stone Strike used his special ability to create a mountain peak in such a short time.

Based on this calculation, if given ten minutes or even half an hour, it wouldn't be difficult to forcibly alter the landscape to create a complete mountain range.

The gap is too big.

Manipulating rocks—this is by no means a remarkable superpower; like controlling fire, water, and electricity, it's one of the most common elemental abilities.

But this power is abnormal.

No matter how you look at it, he has far exceeded the limits of the elemental system.

It is said that decades ago Central United Academy produced a genius who could simultaneously manipulate the four elements of lightning, fire, ice, and wind, earning him the reputation of "the strongest elementalist" at the time. However, compared to this man named Stone Strike, he was probably no different from an infant.

The Giant Peak pressed down on her.

It is impossible to dodge, impossible to defend against, impossible to break through.

I see.

No wonder Ling Ye told him to run away quickly.

Compared to such an opponent, she was nothing more than an ant.

Is that all?

"Wrong..."

There are still people waiting for you.

Children in World's Little Corner.

Monet in the hospital.

Evelynths is in grave danger.

Margaret lies buried underground.

Should I use that? My last trump card.

It is also the most precious legacy left by my mother.

"... Black Star, White Night,"

She gently held the black and white pistols in her arms.

"Restrictions lifted!"

Plunder! Plunder! Plunder!

Very few things can generate their own power, so we must plunder power from elsewhere to strengthen ourselves.

Pour it in, pour it in, pour it in.

The power of the sky, the memory of the earth, the waves of the ocean, the life of the forest—all of these are manifestations of power.

Fill it to the brim, fill it to the brim, fill it to the brim.

Stripping away all that plunder and pouring it into oneself, the feeling of power flowing into the bullet was both wonderful and terrifying, until the power overflowed.

The masterpiece of the Craft God.

Countless generations of refinement.

The inheritance of bloodlines.

None of these can be omitted.

It has no name.

Because its designer— the Craft God— did not give it a name.

If I had to name it, I'd say "Gun Blade".

Target of plunder: the land.

Target of plunder: The immense power within the earth's strata.

Stripping complete, extraction complete, bullet inserted.

The ammunition configuration is complete.

Load. Fire!

When the Giant Peak fell, half of the Central United Academy shook. The brief earthquake shockwaves also reached the city. Although the magnitude 10 tremor only lasted a few seconds, the entire Central United Academy must be in chaos now.

"... it's over."

As Stone Strike watched in the distance, seeing Urahara Sakura Dance's tiny figure pressed down by the Giant Peak, she was certain of her victory.

"A very promising talent, but unfortunately too young. Given time, she will surely surpass her mother and stand on the same level as me."

Stone Strike lowered his head with regret, as if in silent mourning.

"Farewell, Urahara Sakura Dance, daughter of the Urahara Mai Ryu..."

Then--

The distant, Giant Peak, from bottom to top,

A huge hole, hundreds of meters in diameter, was drilled into it.

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I've been running around like crazy trying to buy perfume for my mom...