The backyard stretched before us like an arena waiting for blood.
Lady Sitri stood at the center of the devastated lawn like a lioness claiming her territory while dressed in her black sports bra and shorts. The morning sunlight caught the sheen of sweat still lingering on her skin from the previous beatdown, highlighting her flawless muscle definition.
I rolled my shoulders, feeling the familiar weight of Cross Tail coiled around my hands. Nobody here knew what they really were, to them, it was just another set of wires I liked to carry around. But with armament haki flowing through those threads?
Alright, let's see how much damage I can do before I end up unconscious in a crater.
"Sona, have your peerage clear the immediate vicinity" Lady Sitri commanded without taking her violet eyes off me "I would prefer not to add accidental casualties other than I intend to"
Saji practically tripped over himself scrambling away, pulling Tsubasa along with him despite her protests about maintaining dignity. The rest of Sona's peerage followed suit, and took position at a far distance from what was about to become ground zero.
Sona stepped forward, her voice laced with concern "Mother, perhaps we should establish some ground rules—"
"The rules are simple, dear" She shrugged one shoulder, the motion jiggling her voluptuous breasts that I definitely shouldn't be noticing right now "Young Motohama will fight until he cannot continue"
Oh great. I have to survive through all this until I could no longer stand on my feet.
The blue quest notification flickered at the edge of my vision, a reminder of what was at stake here.
[ QUEST: SPAR WITH AN ULTIMATE-CLASS DEVIL (LADY SITRI) ]
[ REWARD: 1x RANK 5 GACHA TICKET ]
My fingers brushed against the vial of "The Honored One" in my pocket. The temptation to down it immediately rang through my nerves like a siren call, but I forced myself to wait. Starting without it, will help me gauge her strength that she intends to use in this duel. Then I will figure out exactly how screwed I was before committing to my trump card.
"I trust you're prepared, Motohama-kun?" Lady Sitri settled into a deceptively casual stance, one hand resting on her hip "I would hate for this to end before it begins"
I activated my Eyes of Future, letting it fully focused my one and only target right now "I've survived worse than a friendly sparring match"
"How delightful!" Her smile widened.
SWOOOOSH!
In the next moment, she appeared directly in front of me, her fist already mid-swing toward my face. Such an overwhelming speed, no wonder Sona and her peerage got wrecked so hard by her.
My instincts screamed warnings at me, half a second after impact's image was painted in my vision. I twisted to the side, feeling the air pressure from her punch tear past my cheek like a bullet made of compressed air. The fountain behind me exploded into a crater the size of a car, dirt and grass erupting skyward in a shower of debris.
Damn.
"You've an adequate reaction speed, boy" Lady Sitri said, already positioning herself into a follow-up strike "Let's see how long you maintain it before you get punched in the face"
I ducked under her backhand, my body moving on pure instinct honed from too many combat lessons from both Kalawarner and Syr. Armament haki flooded through my knuckles, turning them black in broad daylight, and I drove a counter-punch to her side.
CLANG!
My fist met what felt like a steel wall. Lady Sitri hadn't even bothered to block, for her my haki-enhanced strike might as well have been a gentle tap. She glanced down at my fist pressed against her side, then back up at my face with an expression of polite interest.
"A potion effect, is it? How interesting for a human to possess such an ability." She grabbed my wrist before I could retract it, her grip like iron "Though the application lacks enough force!"
She tossed me, as the world spun into a blur of sky and ground trading places at speeds that made my inner ear scream in protest. I slammed into a tree trunk hard enough to crack the bark, air exploding from my lungs in a painful gasps. Splinters rained down around me as I slumped to the ground, my back screaming protests that I ignored through sheer spite.
Okay. Okay. So the power gap is exactly as massive as I thought. Maybe slightly more massive.
I pushed myself upright, reaching into my coat pocket and pulling out two vials. Strength and speed enhancers, basic potions that I'd brewed weeks ago. It wasn't enough to bridge the gap to Ultimate-Class, but enough to keep me from getting obliterated in the first thirty seconds.
I can't just use my best creation on a desperate attempt or else... I might end up relying on it unnecessarily..
I downed both in rapid succession, the liquid fire burning down my throat and spreading through my veins like liquid lightning. My muscles filled up to the brim with borrowed power along with my reflexes sharpening to razor's edge.
"Oh my" Lady Sitri tilted her head, genuinely intrigued now "You're taking the other potions as well? You're quite the versatile fighter, young man"
From the sidelines, I heard one of Sona's peerage girl's voice "Is he actually enhancing his physical capabilities through potions? That's remarkable—"
"He's still going to get destroyed" Saji said, before she could finish her praise.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, man.
I stamped my foot on the ground, feeling the earth respond to my will. The ground beneath Lady Sitri's feet suddenly erupted upward in a series of rock pillars, each one aimed at her vital points while I made my move.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
She moved between them like water flowing around rocks, her movements so flawless that they looked almost unbelievable to witness by eyes. But it gave me the opening I needed. Cross Tail unwound from my forearms in a blur of motion, the wires piercing through the air as I sent them in a web pattern around her position.
Let's see if you can dogge when there's nowhere left to dodge to.
Armament haki flooded through the wires, turning them from simple barely visible threads into dark razors wires that could slice through bones. I aimed the web from six different angles, creating a cage of cutting death that should've forced her to either take damage or burn some serious mana energy for escaping.
FWOOOOOM!
Magical energy erupted from Lady Sitri's body in aura of violet light, and my wire cage disintegrated like morning dew under the sun. The webbed wires just... disappeared. The sheer output of her power had simply erased my wires from existence.
"Fascinating" She examined one of the severed wire ends that had fallen near her feet "These threads are far sharper than they appear. Invisible to most observers, I presume?" Her gaze lifted back to me, approval flickering in those violet depths.
I yanked Cross Tail back, rewinding the wires around my arms while my mind raced through options. The potions were helping, but she was still playing with me like a cat with a particularly entertaining mouse.
It's time to go all out as I can't disappoint my viewers any further.
My hand plunged into my pocket and withdrew the vial that gleamed like captured starlight.
[ The Honored One ]
Lady Sitri's eyes tracked my subtle movement, curiosity replaced her casual amusement as she crossed her arms "Another potion? My, you do come prepared"
I uncorked it with my mouth, the faint scent of concentrated magic making my nose tingle in excitement "Hope you don't mind if I get serious"
I downed the contents in one burning gulp.
The world exploded into technicolor clarity as I felt like being in a vivid dream of heavy drugs usage. I felt like I was gone at that moment but.
Power flooded through my body like a dam had burst, washing away every limitation I'd ever known. My muscles didn't just strengthen, they transformed, every fiber dense with magical energy that vibrated with potential violence. My senses sharpened until I could hear individual heartbeats from Sona's peerage thirty meters away, could smell the different aromas in the air from Lady Sitri's magic destruction and sense the vibration of insects crawling through the grass.
BOOOOM!
The ground beneath my feet cracked from the sheer pressure of magical energy pouring off my body in waves. Black light mixed with black armament haki, creating an aura that made the air cracks and distort around me.
Oh hell yeah! This is what I'm talking about.
"My my" Lady Sitri's voice carried genuine surprise now, her stance shifting from casual to attentive "That's quite the transformation. You achieved High-Class Devil level magical power from a potion.....You have remarkable collections at your disposal, Motohama-kun"
I cracked my fingers, feeling the power coursing through them till the very fingertips.
CRASH!
The earth where I'd been standing exploded backward from the force of my launch. I closed the distance to Lady Sitri in a fraction of a second, my haki-coated fist already mid-swing toward her face. And once again, she blocked it by her forearm with an ease.
But this time, the impact actually made her slide backward several inches.
Her eyes widened.
"Impressive!" Her eyes went wide in genuine delight.
We traded blows in a blur of motion that carved multiple trenches through Sona's backyard. My enhanced speed let me actually keep pace with her now, ducking and weaving through strikes that would've torn me apart minutes ago. Cross Tail whipped out in distinct patterns with the haki-enhanced wires creating a web of death that forced her to actually pay attention to my not so predictable movements.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Each exchange sent shockwaves rippling outward, flattening grass and pulverizing soil. I drove my foot into the ground and earth responded like an extension of my will followed by massive stone pillars erupting from multiple angles while Cross Tail wove through the gaps, creating a combination attack that would've shredded most opponents into pieces.
Lady Sitri moved through it all like she knew where every single attack would land, her combat experience showing in every step that she took. But she was smiling now with gleam in her eyes, the expression of someone who'd found an unexpectedly good sparring partner after such a long wait.
"You utilize your abilities beautifully, boy!" She ducked under a wire meant to take her head, countered with a palm strike that I barely risen a wall up to block. Her hand shattered through my stone defense "The ground control providing control and terrain advantage, the wires create constant pressure and minimal escape routes, and that curious black coating amplifying sharpness! Now I see why you are so confident of yourself"
WHOOOOSH!
The moment she was caught up in one of my wire's grip, I appeared in front of her with armament haki screaming through my fist as I aimed for her solar plexus.
But, she caught my punch and her feet skidded backward a full meter, carving furrows in the dirt.
"Perhaps.." she said with a sly smile, magical energy beginning to swirl around her body in visible bursts of violet and white, far more than earlier display "I should reciprocate your efforts"
FWOOOOOOOM!
The temperature dropped by several degrees in an instant.
Ice crystals materialized in the air around Lady Sitri like a thousand tiny diamonds catching the sunlight, each one sharp enough that made my enhanced senses scream warnings. Even me being a not so advanced mage , could tell this wasn't any ordinary ice magic.
"Allow me to demonstrate how I earned my position as Ultimate Class in past, Motohama-kun"
[ Frozen Apocalypse: One Thousand Years of Death ]
The ice crystals multiplied exponentially, filling the air between us until they formed a galaxy of frozen death. Each one shot toward me simultaneously, moving at speeds that defied physics and common sense. I threw myself into evasive action, my enhanced senses helping me evade the incoming onslaught while my enhanced body moved faster than I'd ever managed before.
TINK! TINK! TINK! TINK!
The ones I couldn't dodge slammed into hastily-raised earth walls, piercing through stone. I wrapped Cross Tail around my body in a defensive cocoon, haki-enhanced wires intercepting dozens more, but there were just too many. Ice shards sliced through my coat, drawing blood from a dozen shallow cuts.
Fuck! It's not working!
I stamped both feet down. The ground erupted in a massive wave of stone and soil, forming a tsunami of earth that crashed toward Lady Sitri from three sides simultaneously. Cross Tail shot through the gaps, invisible wires creating a lattice of cutting edges.
"Very good! Let's have some more fun!" Lady Sitri raised one hand.
[ Frozen Apocalypse: The Final Wave of Demolition ]
CRAAAASH!
My entire earth tsunami wave flash-froze mid-motion, turning into a sculpture of ice and stone that hung suspended for one beautiful moment before shattering into a million pieces. The shockwave sent me tumbling backward, my enhanced durability the only thing keeping broken ribs from being added to my growing list of injuries.
I rolled with the momentum, using Cross Tail to anchor myself to the ground and arrest my flight before I crashed into Sona's actual mansion. The wires bit into soil, haki making them strong enough to hold against force that should've torn them apart.
"Your tenacity is admirable" Lady Sitri walked toward me through the settling debris, ice crystals still swirling around her like a crown of winter itself "Most would have been either dead or be severely injured by now"
I pushed myself upright, spitting blood that had pooled in my mouth.
She laughed, the sound rich with genuine amusement " Shall we continue?"
My internal clock said I had roughly forty-five minutes left on The Honored One's effects. Forty-five minutes to somehow survive against someone who'd just demonstrated she could end this fight whenever she felt like it.
Well. I didn't come this far to half-ass it now.
I pulled Cross Tail tight with barely-restrained violence.
. . .
Drip!
Drip!
Drip!
Lady Sitri glanced down at the shallow cut, then back up at me. Her expression had shifted from amused superiority to what resembled as genuine respect.
"You succeeded in drewing my blood, huh?" She touched the wound, examining the crimson liquid on her fingers with what looked like pride "A human, enhanced though you may be, managed to injure an Ultimate-Class Devil in single combat" Her smile widened "Truly remarkable"
FWOOOOOM!
The magical pressure radiating from her body intensified all of a sudden, and I realized with creeping horror that she'd been holding back even more than I thought. The ice crystals swirling around her multiplied until they formed a literal blizzard contained within the backyard's boundaries.
"It's about time we put end to our duel, Motohama-kun" Her voice resonated between the glaciers around us as she raised both of her arms in the air.
[[ Frozen Apocalypse: The Ragnarok's Winter ]]
The blizzard descended like the wrath of ancient gods who'd finally gotten tired of watching mortals breathe their air. Ice formed and shattered and reformed in cycles in microseconds, each one creating new vectors of attack that my eyes of Future or my enhanced senses could barely track. The temperature plummeted so low that my breath crystallized before it left my lungs.
At this moment, I threw everything I had into survival.
Earth floors erupted in every direction, creating walls and pillars and shelters that flash-froze and shattered within seconds. Cross Tail formed a defensive sphere around my body, the wires moving so fast they blurred into solid barriers of cutting force. Armament haki flooded through every inch of me, turning my skin black as midnight in a desperate attempt to withstand the onslaught.
CRASH! CRACK! SHATTER!
I drove both fists into the ground, pouring every ounce of earthbending power I could muster into the soil beneath us. The entire backyard responded like I'd woken a sleeping giant,.stone pillars erupted from a dozen points simultaneously. But I didn't stop there. As the pillars rose, I wrapped Cross Tail through gaps and crevices, creating a web so dense that even air had trouble passing through.
And then I coated everything, every pillar, every wire, every surface in armament haki.
The resulting structure glowed with black, a prison of stone and wire and concentrated violence that would shred anything trying to escape.
[[ Cross Tail: Earthen Guillotine! ]]
I roared, yanking the wires tight while simultaneously focusing every bit of attack at my opponent.
CRAAAAAASH!
For one glorious moment, I thought it might actually work. The pillars crumbled toward the center point where Lady Sitri stood, Cross Tail's wires cutting through stone and air with equal ease, creating a converging point of destruction that should've forced her to give up but she.
She simply smiled.
[[ Winter's Heart ]]
A pulse of ice magic exploded outward from her position with enough force to make nuclear weapons look like firecrackers. My entire construction returned to constituent atoms by power so overwhelming that resistance was a philosophical concept rather than a practical option.
The shockwave hit me like a truck made of frozen rage.
I flew backward, my enhanced durability the only thing keeping my bones intact as I crashed through what remained of Sona's poor garden fence. Rolled another few meters before friction and pain conspired to stop my momentum. I laid there for a sweet moment, staring up at the sky while my body screamed protest in different languages.
I pushed myself up on trembling arms. Blood dripped from cuts across my arms, my face, my torso where ice shards had found their marks. The Honored One's effects were still going strong, I could feel the power thrumming through my veins, my magical reserves barely touched despite everything I'd thrown at her.
But it didn't matter. The power gap was simply too vast. She had centuries of combat experience, magical reserves that made mine look like a puddle compared to an ocean, and techniques refined through countless battles against opponents far stronger than me.
And yet.
I stood up.
"Fuck.. I'm almost at my limit" I spat blood, rewinding Cross Tail around my arms despite the way my muscles screamed.
Lady Sitri had walked closer during my recovery, standing at the edge of the crater my impact had created. Her expression had shifted again—no longer amused superiority or even respectful interest. Now she looked at me with something almost like... approval?
I dropped to one knee.
The Honored One's timer hit zero at the worst possible time. Power drained from my body like water from a broken dam, taking my enhanced strength and speed and durability with it. The minor headache side-effect kicked in immediately, a persistent throbbing behind my eyes that was honestly the least of my problems right now.
My arms shook. Every breath felt like inhaling knives, but I was conscious and more importantly, still breathing after put through all this madness.
Lady Sitri walked toward me through the settling remains of my destroyed my best technique, her expression thoughtful. She stopped just outside arm's reach, looking down at me with those violet eyes that seemed to see through all my pretenses and bravado straight to the desperate gambling idiot underneath.
"You did well, Motohama-kun" Her voice carried warmth I hadn't expected "The match is concluded"
I tried to stand. Made it about halfway before my legs decided they'd had enough of my nonsense and gave out. Probably would've face-planted if she hadn't moved with that impossible speed, catching my shoulder and steadying me with ease.
"Easy now. You pushed yourself admirably, but even enhanced durability has limits" She guided me to sit on a relatively intact section of stone wall that had somehow survived the chaos.
"I'm... fine..." I managed, which was obviously a lie given that I could barely lift my arms.
"You're many things, young one, but 'fine' is not currently among them" She turned toward where Sona's peerage who were approaching them.
Seeing our match finally concluded, Sona and her peerage followed, their expressions ranging from shock to awe, in Saji's case, something like grudging respect.
Sona herself approached more slowly, her violet eyes taking in the absolute devastation of her backyard with the expression of someone calculating repair costs "Mother... was this entirely necessary?"
"Absolutely, dear" Lady Sitri settled onto the wall beside me, seeming utterly unbothered by the destruction around us "Your friend here has proven himself quite remarkable"
"Remarkable at getting beaten to the ground" I muttered under my breath.
She turned her attention back to me, and I noticed her shoulder had already healed completely from the shallow cut I'd managed to land "You fought intelligently, Motohama-kun. Every technique deployed with purpose, every retreat calculated rather than panicked. And that final combination attack..." She smiled "That showed genuine mastery of your abilities' synergy. Had we been closer in raw power, that technique would have posed significant threat"
"Your potion's effects were extraordinary" she continued while looking at particularly nasty gash on my forearm "If you can reliably produce such high quality items, you'll have every faction in the supernatural world vying for your services"
I replied "That's... kind of the plan"
She moved to my shoulder, frowning at the damage she done to me "This will require more intensive healing. Sona, fetch the Phoenix Tears from my quarters"
"Phoenix Tears?!" Sona's voice cracked with disbelief "Mother, those are—"
Lady Sitri's tone brooked no argument "Go"
Sona sighed and followed her command without any further rant.
An awkward silence settled over the backyard, broken only by the sound of Lady Sitri's continued ministrations. I tried not to think about the fact that an Ultimate-Class Devil was currently playing doctor with my battered body.
"You might be wondering why I'm being so generous, even though you have a healing potion at your disposal?" Lady Sitri's voice held amusement, like she could read my thoughts.
"The thought... had crossed my mind. Using such an item seems unnecessary to be honest"
"Well, firstly it will give instant relief to your pain" She smiled, before responding "Also you remind me of someone I once knew. Another human who faced overwhelming supernatural threats with nothing but skill, determination, and an absurd refusal to accept reasonable limitations" Her expression turned distant "He died eventually, as most mortals do. But before that end, he accomplished things that devils ten times his strength never could"
I hope we both don't share same fate.
She stayed by my side until Sona returned with a crystal vial containing tears that glowed with inner fire.
. . .
DING!
The blue screen appeared in my vision, mercifully visible only to me.
[QUEST COMPLETED: SPAR WITH AN ULTIMATE-CLASS DEVIL (LADY SITRI)]
[REWARD OBTAINED: 1x RANK 5 GACHA TICKET]
I felt my lips curve into a smile despite everything.
Totally worth the pain.
"Why are you grinning all of a sudden?" Sona asked suspiciously "You look like someone who just won something despite losing"
"Just... appreciating the learning experience I received from your mom" I stretched, testing my newly-healed body. The Phoenix Tears had done incredible work, I felt better than I had before the fight started "Your mom's an excellent fighter"
"She's a sadist who enjoys breaking people with a sweet smile" Sona corrected flatly.
"That too" Lady Sitri agreed cheerfully "Now then, since we are done with our duels, I suppose I should repair it now"
She raised one hand, and magic flowed outward in visible waves. The devastation began reversing itself, craters filling, stone pillars sinking back into earth, even the demolished fence reconstructing itself board by board. Within minutes, the backyard looked almost exactly as it had before Sona's peerage got demolished.
There were still scorch marks and frozen patches that would take time to fade. Battle scars that told stories.
Speaking of which...
"Hey, Sona" I turned to my friend/business partner whose ingredients I'd originally come here to collect "About those supplies..."
She sighed like someone who were done dealing with infinite nonsense "They're in the storage room. I'll have Tsubaki retrieve them while you explain to me why you thought accepting my mother's challenge was anything other than suicidal"
"Nothing. Just... seemed like good training session?"
Sona's expression suggested she didn't believe me for a second but was too tired to argue "Just... take your ingredients and go before Mother decides she wants another round"
"Already leaving?" Lady Sitri asked with exaggerated disappointment "And here I thought we were bonding well"
I said with a forced smile "Give me like... six months to train and maybe I can give you a better fight"
"I'll hold you to that, Motohama-kun" She extended her hand for a proper handshake with a bright smile on her face "While I'm still in human realm, you can feel free to reach out to me if you need advice regarding the water or ice magic. Consider it compensation for the entertainment you've provided"
I shook her hand, trying not to think about how easily those fingers could've ended me "Thanks. For everything. Including not actually killing me"
"You're quite welcome"
With that, Lady Sitri made her way back into the mansion, leaving me standing in the restored backyard with Sona and her deeply traumatized peerage.
Even though the duel ended, my mind was still thinking about the Underworld, Ajuka Beelzebub, the engagement party, and all the chaos about to unfold. But before that I had to return to Kalawarner with explanation of why I looked like I'd gone three rounds of death match.
And then I can finally use the Rank 5 gacha ticket to see what absurd advantage the universe felt like granting me next.
I hope it's worth all the pain I went through.
. . .
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