The scorching aura from her body burned the air, and all of Kurumi's spatial fields instantly vanished in a single pulse of energy. Flames engulfed the roof, extinguishing any intention of time distortion.
After a brief interaction between Kurumi and Kotori, the two began to fight.
The fight was quite intense and lasted for quite some time. Kotori began to become unstable and was knocked down by Kurumi, but suddenly she rose again with greater strength and an unusual attitude, controlled by her spirit energy.
Just as they were about to resume fighting… a cold and calm voice suddenly rang out nearby.
"What an incredible fight," the voice said in a cold and calm tone, a voice that sent shivers down the spines of anyone who heard it.
Everyone on the roof immediately turned toward the source of the voice. There they saw a masked man in a dark blue coat with a sword strapped to his waist.
Shido and Kotori's eyes widened, immediately recognizing who it was.
"Noir Blade," they said in unison.
"What do you want this time, Noir Blade?" Kotori asked coldly, but there was a hint of panic in her voice. After all, she had already witnessed the power of the Noir Blade, so it was natural for her to be wary.
"Fufu~ So this is the Noir Blade rumored by the AST and DEM," Kurumi said in her usual playful tone. She had long heard of the Noir Blade. While stealing information from DEM, she had accidentally come across information about it and became curious about it.
"Fufufu~ So you've come too. I was wondering... how strong you really are," she said, touching her cheek with her finger, her gaze full of interest.
But the Noir Blade didn't answer.
He simply stared at them each in silence. No reaction. No movement. Just presence.
And precisely because of that... the tension rose.
Kotori gripped her axe tighter, flames beginning to lick the air around her. Tohka swallowed slowly, her eyes darting back and forth between Kurumi and the Noir Blade. Shido… could only stand still, aware that he was between three forces that could destroy the school in an instant if any one of them exploded.
Kurumi, still smiling, took a step forward, observing the Noir Blade fearlessly.
"Why are you so quiet?" she asked sweetly. "You came, interrupted our battle, and now you're just standing there?"
Kaito, behind his mask, sighed inwardly.
'Kurumi… You invite danger without knowing how close death is.'
But his mouth remained shut. He hadn't come to answer… but to observe. To judge whether this duel was worthy of being called a test, or just child's play.
And by not saying a word, he had spoken louder than anyone else.
The atmosphere grew denser.
Without a word, the Noir Blade vanished.
Only a brief "whoosh!" was heard, like a gust of compressed air in a tight space.
In an instant, he was standing directly in front of Kurumi, their distance barely an arm's length away.
"Eh—?" Kurumi didn't have time to react.
BRAGH!!
A horizontal kick struck her in the side of the stomach. It was fast, precise, and contained a force inexplicable by ordinary logic. There was no flash of energy. There was no visual explosion. But Kurumi's body was immediately thrown like a doll, hitting the roof railing so hard that the concrete cracked and dust flew.
"KUHH…!"
Kurumi spat out a bit of blood from the corner of her lips. For the first time, her relaxed expression was replaced by shock and… pain.
It wasn't the physical force of the kick alone, but something that pierced her body, like an invisible impact that disrupted her spiritual balance. But no one realized that the kick had been imbued with Haki, a mysterious power unknown to anyone in the world except one person: Noir Blade himself.
Shido's eyes widened.
"Kurumi…?!"
Tohka froze. Her eyes unblinking as she stared at Kurumi, who had fallen face down, her black dress in tatters at her side.
"That… just… what?!"
Kotori gritted her teeth in disbelief. "He… didn't even seem to move…"
A thin layer of smoke rose from Noir Blade's boots, a sign of the friction between the air and the power released by his Soru. He stood still, calm, as if nothing had happened. But the atmosphere around him vibrated, making anyone who looked at him feel one thing:
This was no ordinary human.
Kurumi grimaced on the rooftop, one hand pressed against her stomach. For the first time in a long time… she felt real pain—a pain that penetrated beyond her time manipulation and regeneration. Even Zafkiel didn't immediately respond, as the shock wasn't merely physical, but spiritual.
"Ara… ara…" she muttered softly, coughing softly as she wiped the corner of her bleeding lip.
"Now I'm… really interested."
But there was no response from Noir Blade.
He merely turned his head slightly, glaring sharply at Kotori and Tohka, then back at Kurumi, who was now slowly rising from the rubble of the barrier.
Silence enveloped the rooftop.
No one knew… whether that attack was a warning, or a declaration of war.
Dust still hung thinly in the air as Kotori swung Camael—a giant black-and-red axe now emitting flames from its blade. Her anger exploded when she saw Kurumi being easily struck down by Noir Blade.
"I don't know who you really are, noir blade," she hissed, her yellow eyes blazing sharply. "But I won't stand by and watch you toy with Spirits as you please!"
Without warning, Kotori launched herself forward, charging with the flaming Camael slicing through the air.
WHAM!
Her first attack struck where Noir Blade had been standing, but the masked figure had already vanished as if vaporized.
Kotori quickly turned around, and her next attack followed with a cross slash, a fiery kick, even a heat wave released from Camael's edge. But all of it...
None of it reached its target.
Noir Blade seemed to dance between the deadly attacks. His shoulders tilted slightly to avoid the slashes, his head tilted slightly back to avoid the blasts of fire. His steps were light, but his movements were unpredictable—not human, not Spirit-like.
Tohka, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but freeze.
"He... isn't human..." she muttered softly.
Shido stood beside her, his eyes wide, his heart pounding for no apparent reason. He could feel the pressure from every step, every breath, even though Noir Blade hadn't even counterattacked.
Kurumi, now standing back, glared at the two fighting. The scar from the kick still throbbed, and her ego as the most dangerous Spirit couldn't accept the reality.
"Fufu… looks like we have a deal this time, huh?" Kurumi said, raising her right hand.
Shadows writhed from beneath her feet, forming a massive Zafkiel rifle. She aimed precisely at the Noir Blade, and in one shot—
BANG!
A spirit bullet shot out, followed by two Kurumi clones emerging from the shadows and attacking from the left and right.
Kotori didn't stop her attack. In a split second, the two strongest Spirits currently united to attack the Noir Blade from all directions. A fiery slash from Camael, a spirit bullet from Zafkiel, a physical attack from the Kurumi clone, and even a pressure attack from the surrounding air combined in a storm of destruction that shook the night sky.
However, the Noir Blade…
Still hadn't drawn its sword.
Barehanded, it twisted its body, blocked one attack with its palm, kicked the Kurumi clone back into the shadow, and then twisted narrowly to avoid a Camael blast that destroyed part of the rooftop wall.
Her movements were smooth yet precise. Each one seemed like the result of thousands of battles. There were no wasted attacks. Even when hit by the splash of heat or the pressure of the explosion, his body remained upright, not being pushed back even half a step.
Kotori began to grit her teeth. "Why isn't he countering…?!"
Kurumi also began to realize something. "He's holding back… even when we both attack at the same time…"
Shido, on the edge of the arena, grew increasingly panicked. "Kotori! Kurumi! Stop! You can—"
But his voice was drowned out by the continuous explosions and bangs.
Tohka grabbed his arm. "Shido… if we go in now, we'll die."
And she was right. Because what they were witnessing before them wasn't just a fight.
It was a dance of death.
And amidst the storm of fire and bullets, the Noir Blade stood still… untouched. The eyes behind his mask showed no emotion, only a cold assessment of their opponent, who was losing their breath.
The battle raged on like an uncontrollable storm. Flames blazed, shadows danced, and the power of two of the greatest Spirits crashed against a mysterious figure who hadn't yet shown any intention of seriously fighting back.
But at that moment...
Noir Blade stopped in his tracks.
Behind his mask, his sharp eyes assessed the scene. Kotori's breathing was becoming erratic. Kurumi was still smiling, but her eyes couldn't hide the fact: she was exhausted.
"It's no use."
Those words went unheard, only the faint whistling of the wind that followed.
WHUSH!
In an instant, Noir Blade's body disappeared. And before anyone could realize it, he was standing before Kotori, breaths away.
Kotori's eyes widened. "What—"
BRAGH!!
A powerful punch landed squarely on Kotori's stomach, coated only with a tiny bit of invisible Haki. There was no flash. No explosion. But the effect...
Kotori's body immediately lifted off the ground, flying backward, and hitting the rooftop like a broken doll.
"KOTORI!!"
Shido shouted, his voice echoing.
Tohka froze, her face pale. Shido ran without thinking, tears welling in his eyes. He no longer cared about the danger or threat, only the sight of his beloved sister lying motionless.
"Kotori!! Please… don't—!"
Kaito didn't look at Shido. He turned slowly, his gaze now fixed on Kurumi.
Kurumi, who had initially been enjoying the fight, could no longer maintain her sweet smile. Her gaze turned serious, filled with wariness.
"Noir Blade… you're truly interesting," she muttered, taking a half step back.
But it was in vain.
"WHUSH!"
In an instant, Kaito was at her left side.
"UGHH—!!"
A horizontal kick struck Kurumi's left abdomen, hard and powerful. Despite her efforts to resist, her body was still thrown against the rooftop parapet, shattering the concrete and sending her to her knees.
Kurumi coughed. A trickle of blood fell from the corner of her lips, but she remained conscious—though her body shuddered from the pain that pierced her very core.
She stared at the Noir Blade, now standing alone in the middle of the rooftop, amidst the rubble, flames, and ruins.
She didn't say a word.
But the aura she radiated—cold, dense, and oppressive—seemed to stop the entire world. No one dared move. Even the wind seemed to still around her.
Shido fell to his knees, his hands clutching the unconscious Kotori, his eyes wet with tears.
"Tohka… what… what should I do…?"
Tohka stared blankly at the Noir Blade. Her soul screamed for action, but her body refused. Her intuition—as a Spirit, as a combat creature—screamed loudly: don't approach him.
The Noir Blade simply stood. Straight, still, like a pillar of judgment. It needed no weapons. No words were needed. He had asserted his dominance with just two swift attacks and one cold decision.
[Ding! Main mission completed]
[Mission: Defeat Nightmare and Efreet
Status: Completed
Reward: Conqueror's Haki (Perfection) (S), 1x Legendary Ticket, 10,000 XP, 2,000 PS]
With his mission complete, Kaito decided to leave immediately. He used his omnicore to completely erase his presence and disappear without a trace.
Noir Blade, the masked figure who had shaken the entire rooftop with just two attacks and his mere presence, had simply vanished. There was no sound, no light, no flash. He vanished without a trace, as if he had never been there.
Only the remnants of his aura lingered faintly in the air, like an unhealed scar.
Kurumi, still kneeling and grimacing from the pain in her left abdomen, stared at the empty spot where Noir Blade had stood seconds before. A faint smile reappeared on her face, one not of triumph, but of interest… and caution.
"Fufufu… truly an interesting creature," she whispered softly.
Wasting no time, Kurumi immediately stepped on her own shadow, her body immediately swallowed into the darkness. She vanished into the shadow dimension, leaving only the sound of the wind and fading shadows.
Now, utter silence hung over the partially destroyed school roof.
Only five people remained.
Mana, Origami, and Kotori lay unconscious, their injuries severe, though they were still breathing.
Meanwhile, Shido remained kneeling beside Kotori, his body trembling with emotion, and Tohka stood behind him, gazing at the rubble and the returning calm sky.