kscans

Chapter 704 - Meanwhile, Between the Seniors

“—Hey! What is that, what is that, Onee-sama?! I looked away for a second and something crazy is happening again!!!”

“Oh, isn’t that just Haru-kun being his usual self?”

“Well, I suppose it is the usual, but—”

“Fufu… Rinne-chan, you’ve gotten quite good at dancing, haven’t you? —Good enough to have time to look away while facing me.”

“Heeek?!”

An abnormal sight flickered at the edge of her vision. In one corner of the stage, a host of black flames had appeared out of thin air and was now rampaging spectacularly. Elsewhere, a dance of brilliant red ‘flame’ and ‘sound’ was unfolding.

Meeting the unleashed heat with her armor of sound was fine. But with every scattering wave of residual heat, the stage tilted further in the [Heat Gaze]’s favor.

Those two might be better off since they have some distance between them… but Rinne, fighting at a distance of only a few meters, was already enveloped in a heat that her real body wouldn’t have been able to withstand for more than a few minutes.

Yes, a mere seven or eight meters—a distance that Rinne had thought she could ‘definitely close’ against an opponent who, despite her higher rank, was supposed to be poor at close-quarters combat.

The sun-like gaze did not set.

“Urgh…! Seriously, you Eastern folks are just too much!!!”

Barely catching the premonition of an attack, which became harder to detect as the heat in the air intensified, she blocked a point-blank explosion with a cliff of sound. A complaint filled with both exasperation and admiration escaped her lips as she recalled the past her she had faced four months ago, during the Tenth Four Pillar War.

She had gotten even stronger. Despite already being on a plane far above ordinary people, her growth rate showed no signs of slowing down, leaving them all in the dust.

It wasn’t just her beloved junior who had newly joined the ranks. All the title holders of the Eastern Faction were beyond just ‘special’; they were abnormally so—

“Gah, that was close!”

“Thinking about something else? You really are confident, aren’t you!”

The searing heat grazed her shoulder. Combined with the debuffs accumulating from her avatar’s heat resistance being surpassed, her slowly dwindling HP was now down to just under seventy percent.

Furthermore, her opponent hadn't moved a single step since the start of the match. A follow-up attack was launched from the Onee-sama who continued to corner Rinne with nothing but her gaze—

“—`[Relink Festa]`!”

Unwilling to go down without landing a single blow like last time, the [Bell-Mail] summoned forth her true brilliance, her ‘Crown’.

A power of sound transcending sound itself erupted, scattering the flames and shaking the stage.

And so, the eighth-ranked of the Northern Faction, who had forcibly blown away the murderous, simultaneous, omnidirectional explosion from its epicenter, raised a tiara-like crown formed of colorful sound waves…

“And now for a comeback—is what I’d like to say…!”

In this situation, she lamented her own ‘Crown,’ which was of little help.

The enhancement effect of the special title ‘Bell-Mail,’ `[Relink Festa]`, is a power specialized for group combat that shows its true worth in many-versus-many situations. Activating it all alone, the only benefit she received was a decent buff to her existing abilities.

If only Natsume were by her side… but even that wouldn't help, which was the sad part.

Honestly, while their words might clash, her and the quiet Natsume weren’t a good match as a tag team. Pushing forward with two powers that excelled at spatial control, ‘sound’ and ‘thread,’ would be a threat to many opponents, but unfortunately, their synergy was weak.

In other words, against a different opponent it might be another story, but against none other than ‘Onee-sama,’ activating her crown was like throwing water on a hot stone… or more like, water on the sun.

Lately, someone had been calling her ‘versatile’ and ‘overpowered,’ but from her own perspective, her ‘sound’ power was not so invincible.

She could only amplify and turn into a shield or spear the sounds she directly produced herself; indirect sounds, like those from throwing an object, were not applicable, so her fundamental range was limited.

Even at maximum charge and full release, her maximum range was only about ten meters. She could fire in succession, but the closer the intervals, the more her power was dispersed, and she would need to recharge what she had expended.

Additionally, the fact that she was immobile for a moment when activating her ability from her own position was a fatal flaw.

That is to say, within a range where she could hit with a quick activation—an interval of about three meters—Rinne was confident that she was ‘super strong,’ but it was incredibly tough when she was hit with a variety of difficult-to-handle attacks from further away.

If her opponent were, for example, someone who zipped around with abandon, it would be a different story, but against a type who stood their ground like her…

“Gah, it’s so hot!!”

Somehow, Rinne needed to close the distance herself.

And if that was impossible due to an absolute difference in skill—

“Waaahhh! Help me, Natsume-chaaan!”

“……A-Are we done with the whole senpai dignity thing now?”

It was a great, and truly unfortunate, reality.

There are some situations that just can’t be overcome with guts and willpower alone.