A golden flash of moonlight streaked past. Touka remained utterly calm and slashed horizontally at Luo Mio with an incredibly fast draw slash.
"Clang~~~~~"
A piercing collision rang out.
Looking closely, Sun Chasing Shadow wrapped around Eternal Twilight Wolves on Luo Mio's left hand had blocked Touka's lightning-fast strike.
In an instant, Luo Mio knocked Narukami aside, spun his body 360 degrees, raised his left leg, and swept it at Touka.
"Inner Style: Phoenix Dive Kick"!!!
Facing Luo Mio's attack, Touka calmly raised her blade to block.
"Bang—!"
Touka was knocked back several meters, golden arcs of lightning flickering in her eyes.
"Lightning Eye."
"Both speed and power have been enhanced."
Even against a strike heavier than before, Touka merely frowned. Then, she swiftly used the force of Luo Mio's blow to widen the distance and sheathed Narukami.
"!!!"
Noticing Touka's movement, Luo Mio used Shunpo to rush forward, gathering magic power in his left hand.
"Inner Style: Soaring Eagle"!!!
A fist overflowing with immense magic power blasted upward toward Touka.
"Gale Thunder!"
Watching the fist fly toward her, golden lightning flared around Touka. She then evaded Luo Mio's punch at incredible speed and pulled away.
Yet Luo Mio, whose punch had missed, continued to pursue her relentlessly, giving Touka no opening to use "Raikiri."
In the spectator stands, the students who had stayed behind watched the battle between Toudo Touka and Luo Mio.
"Amazing. He can actually fight the Student Council President like this..."
"Is that guy a freshman?"
"If he's a freshman, then this year's freshmen are way too strong."
"Yeah. First there was the unexpected Failed Knight and the top freshman, the Crimson Lotus Princess. Now there's another unknown freshman."
"Didn't you listen to what the chairman said earlier? Toudo Touka and Toudo Mio."
"This... So the newcomer is the president's younger brother!"
Listening to the discussions in the stands, Shinguji Kuroko turned to the kimono-clad loli beside her and teased her.
"Ning Yin, how does it feel to watch your junior sister fight your prospective junior brother?"
The girl was petite, with long, glossy black hair like a proper Yamato nadeshiko. She wore a crimson haori decorated with cherry blossom patterns over a black-and-red kimono, with a large red bow tied behind her head.
Hearing her close friend's teasing, Saikyo Neine replied helplessly, "Putting aside how I feel, that brat isn't my junior brother yet."
Shinguji Kuroko was surprised. "He still hasn't agreed to become Teacher Nango's disciple?"
"Yeah... He said he already had another master, and even complained that the old man was a dead pervert who only accepted female disciples."
"This..."
Hearing Saikyo Neine's words, Shinguji Kuroko was instantly left speechless.
Nangou Torajiro. Now ninety-two years old, he was Japan's oldest Magic Knight and the only person from the Far East to win the God of War Cup, held in China, one of the world's foremost powers.
People also called him—the God of War!!!
He had fought in World War II alongside Samurai Ryoma, Kurogane Ryoma. He had been Kurogane Ryoma's comrade-in-arms and rival.
He was also the master of Saikyo Neine and Toudo Touka.
"Perhaps he's the only one who could refuse to become the God of War's disciple," Shinguji Kuroko sighed.
That was only natural. Nangou Torajiro was renowned throughout the entire knight world. Every one of his disciples was a genius among geniuses. If those who wished to become the God of War's disciples heard this, they would probably explode in fury on the spot.
"Hoho~ The curtain call is about to begin!"
Saikyo Neine's words pulled Shinguji Kuroko's thoughts back to the arena.
And on the field...
The two continued chasing one another. Luo Mio never gave Touka a chance to sheath her sword, while Touka kept using Gale Thunder to evade him and search for an opening.
Then, Touka stopped dodging and sheathed Narukami to gather power.
Seeing Narukami enter its sheath, Luo Mio instinctively moved to interrupt Touka's charge.
But just as Luo Mio took one step, the instant his left foot came down, he sensed that it had stepped into empty space.
Looking closely, the spot Luo Mio had stepped on was a small pit where Stella had cut through the floor earlier, one that had not yet been repaired.
"A trap!"
Realizing he had stepped into Touka's trap, Luo Mio first looked toward her charging attack.
"Too late!"
If he charged in head-on now, he would undoubtedly meet his sister's Raikiri directly.
"Raikiri"—Toudo Touka's trademark.
This technique had originally come from the sword art "Sound Cutter" of the God of War, Nangou Torajiro. After Toudo Touka repeatedly researched and improved it, it became her Blade Dance Technique.
As the younger brother of Toudo Touka, the Raikiri, Luo Mio knew very well that as the absolute ruler of the cross field, blindly rushing into it would only make him lose faster.
Even in the original work, among people their age, aside from Kurogane Ikki, Stella, and Kurogane Ouma, no one could directly withstand Raikiri within Toudo Touka's absolute cross field.
In the original work, Toudo Touka had caught Nangou Torajiro's eye during middle school due to her potential. He accepted her as his disciple and taught her his swordsmanship.
But now, because of Luo Mio's berserk loss of control, Toudo Touka had encountered Nangou Torajiro at a very young age and been accepted as his disciple. The power of her Raikiri was several degrees stronger than in the original work.
Whether he went forward to face Raikiri head-on or faced a Raikiri boosted by Gale Thunder's movement—
Both outcomes meant defeat.
Watching Toudo Touka slowly lower her body, place the sheath by her side, and grip the hilt, Luo Mio saw the lightning around her gradually gather into the sheath.
"Tch, I'll gamble on it!"
With no time left to choose, Luo Mio instantly cast aside all hesitation.
Shunpo forward!
Then pour all of Thousand Stars' magic power into it!
As Luo Mio charged forward, the twilight-like magic power around him began to fade.
Meanwhile, moonlight-like magic power gradually emerged around his right hand, and phantom wolf fangs even appeared around his arm.
"Moon Smasher's Fang"!!!
"Inner Style: Soaring Eagle, Third Strike"!!!
This third strike was no longer an uppercut rising from below, but a fist launched straight at his opponent!
Touka watched Luo Mio's final attack.
"Bang!"
Thunder roared as Touka, carrying the fully gathered Raikiri, actively charged toward Luo Mio. Within the cross field, Luo Mio and Toudo Touka stared at one another.
Then, in that instant, the roar erupted. Touka's Raikiri blossomed with light, and bolts of lightning burst out around the two of them.
Dazzling golden light and thunderous lightning shattered the arena around Touka, as brilliant lightning carried a meteor-like strike.
On one side, magic power gleamed like moonlight, with phantom fangs that seemed capable of tearing apart the moon.
On the other, a sky-shaking roar and golden lightning that severed everything before it.
One fist and one slash.
"Clang--------!"
The sound of fist and blade colliding rang through the arena, followed by...
"Clang--------!"
An explosion erupted around the two. The cracked ground burst apart, splitting the arena open as rubble and shattered stone flew wildly in every direction.
Dust spread across the field with the shockwave created by their clash, immediately obscuring the arena and preventing the students in the stands from seeing what had happened.
"Pfft..."
As someone fell to the ground, the dust gradually dispersed.
Luo Mio lay unconscious on the ground.
Toudo Touka stood beside him, calmly looking down at the fallen Luo Mio.
Only the hand gripping Narukami trembled faintly beneath the cover of dust.
"The winner of this mock battle is Toudo Touka."
Still a Lively Evening
Afternoon.
"Mmm..."
Luo Mio lay on the bed and slowly opened his eyes.
"An unfamiliar ceiling."
"You're awake."
A woman's gentle voice sounded beside his left ear.
Luo Mio shifted his gaze from the ceiling to his left.
Toudo Touka, now wearing glasses, sat on a stool and looked at him gently.
The moment Luo Mio saw Toudo Touka, he understood.
He had lost.
Even after using Thousand Stars to completely suppress his sister—
He had still fallen into the trap his sister had set.
He had constantly been on guard against his sister's Raikiri. Once he saw her sheath Narukami, he would move to stop her from charging it.
Perhaps it was precisely because he feared and dreaded Raikiri in his heart—
That he had focused all his attention on his sister.
And because of that, she had found an opening.
Even with that final desperate strike, he had still lost.
Luo Mio sat up, pulled his hand from beneath the blanket, and clenched his fist.
"Just as the system said, I still have many shortcomings."
Touka sat beside him, her gentle expression unchanged as she quietly watched Luo Mio reflect on himself.
A trace of concern inevitably surfaced in her eyes.
Looking at the already fallen Luo Mio—
Touka put away Narukami and flexed her faintly trembling arm.
Just as she was about to leave the arena, in her Lightning Eye state, she clearly saw the bio-electricity on Luo Mio's body that did not belong to him.
The human body was like a precision machine filled with life.
Every movement depended on neural signals sent by the brain—
Controlled by an extremely faint electric current.
Before you continue