"L-Leo just destroyed the ring and turned it into a giant rock! And Harry is still bound! Is this the end of the line!?"
"Here I come! Dragon King's Mountain Breaker!"
"UOOOOOOH!"
Harry let out a roar and put all her strength into her body. If she took a hit from that, she would be finished. The lightning binds wrapped around her body started to tear, but...
"TAAAAKE THIS!"
Rio's throw was faster.
Toward the giant rock that was flying toward her,
"Pile Bunker!"
She thrust out her right arm, the only one she had managed to free.
The sound that echoed was not of fists clashing, but of two hard objects hitting each other.
"Break it!"
"She broke it! With her motorcycle cannon, she pulverized the giant rock!"
Once one part of the binds was torn, it was easy to break free. She shook off the remaining binds, but Rio was already moving.
"Tch...!"
Harry quickly prepared a magic bullet in her right hand. But the charging Rio deflected her arm, and the bullet flew off in the wrong direction.
"Tiger Heart Palm!"
Rio's palm strike exploded against Harry. It was a blow aimed at the center of her bandage, but Harry didn't back down a single step and grabbed onto Rio's sleeve.
"You...!"
But she should have backed off instead of counterattacking.
Rio's palm, which had been in a strike, was now completely open.
"Special Attack--"
Magic gathered in her palm,
"Crimson Roaring Fang!"
And it was fired.
Harry, who had intended to fire a bullet but was instead hit by one, was sent flying. But the attack didn't end there.
"Shatter!"
"Gah!"
When Rio made a hand sign, the magic bullet exploded.
"A-a cannonball! From a rock attack to a brawl, and then to a close-range shot! Her techniques are so varied, and she has so much power! Is this the fighting style of Shunkoken?!"
The entire arena was getting fired up by Rio's performance, which was better than anyone expected.
"Harry has taken a lot of damage! A crash has also occurred in her right arm!"
In the stands, Corona was talking to Mikaya about the recent exchange.
"Harry seems to get hit and crash more often than other top fighters."
"She's the kind of girl who would rather use her magic for bullets than for defense. But even with that, she never gets knocked out or loses all her life. She has a strange kind of toughness."
In other words, she was a fighter with extraordinary patience.
In terms of fighting style, she was similar to Miura.
Harry was holding her right shoulder, which had crashed, but she quickly rotated it and checked her condition.
It wasn't a real injury, but a simulated pain. The joint itself was fine, but not many people could fight as if nothing happened.
"I didn't mean to underestimate you. But somewhere in my heart, I might have let my guard down, thinking you were just a rookie."
Harry took off the chain wrapped around her left arm.
"My bad. From now on, I'm not holding anything back or testing the waters."
Magic flowed through the entire chain, and it turned red from the heat.
"I'm going to crush you with everything I've got!"
"(Heat Chain! And it's so hot I can feel it from this distance!)"
"Rio also equips her sword! It's a weapon fight from here!"
As if it had a will of its own, the chain stretched out from Harry's hand.
"Red Hawk!"
Rio, who was at a clear disadvantage in reach, prepared to meet her.
"Haaaaah!"
The sword and the weight at the end of the chain clashed, and a high-pitched metallic sound echoed. The chain was deflected without a struggle, but...
"!"
It made a sharp turn without losing speed. It attacked her again.
"Harry's Red Hawk stretches at high speed! The red-hot chain traces an unpredictable path and attacks Rio!"
Whether she deflected it with her sword, it crashed into the ring, or she hit it with a magic bullet, it never lost speed and kept coming at Rio.
The flexible chain became a whip, and the weight at the end became a bludgeon. Since the entire chain was super-heated, any part that touched her would cause massive damage.
Before she knew it, she was being surrounded by chains. The chains would soon become a cage to trap Rio.
"(The chain attacks are tough, but even more so--)"
Rio glanced at Harry, the source of the chains.
Harry was standing there without moving since she started her attack. Her left hand was busy controlling the chain, but her right hand was completely free.
"(She's aiming to stop my movements...!)"
If she stopped moving, the fully-charged cannonball in her right hand would come flying at her.
But eventually, she would be surrounded by chains, and there would be no escape.
"(Then, before I get cornered, I'll use my lightning attack, which she hasn't seen yet, to stun her!)"
"Rio charges! Harry, what about your defense...?"
Rio put away her sword and got her electricity-infused fist ready.
"Huh--"
Harry narrowed her eyes at the crackling electricity that looked like static and shook her head.
"Lightning Fist!"
"Hmph!"
"It's a headbutt!"
A dull sound came from Rio's fist.
"Ugh, ah...!"
Feeling as if the impact was forcefully returned, she retreated while holding her fist.
"Rio's fist is damaged! Harry's is only minor!"
"Dual fire and lightning magical aptitude. I'm so jealous. That's some incredible talent. But too bad. This year, I won't go down from an electric shock!"
Rio took her stance, but...
"Too slow!"
A half-hearted defense wouldn't be able to block a fully-charged cannonball.
The magic that had been gathered in her right hand was released, and a massive "Gun Blaze" was fired.
"Ugh...!"
Rio somehow managed to avoid a direct hit, but she had jumped up for no reason, making her an easy target for the Red Hawk.
"Ahhhhh!"
Her BJ was getting torn to shreds.
And the attacks didn't stop there.
Chains wrapped around Rio's body, taking away her freedom of movement. She was then swung around and slammed into the ring.
"Harry's combo attack! That's a powerful one! Rio is down, and her life is in the danger zone from just one rush!"
Rio, out of breath, was sitting on the floor with her legs tucked in. The chains were still wrapped around her body.
"And it's a binding down! If she can't get up, the match is over. Even if she does get up, the match will resume with her still bound!"
The arena was also excited when Rio was in the lead, but the excitement was on another level when a top fighter like Harry was performing.
In one corner of the stands,
"Harry has a move like that, too..."
"She's good at turning her experiences into power."
Mikaya replied to Corona's mumbling.
"The chain manipulation she's learned from fighting Elz Tassmin so many times, and the countermeasures against the electricity she tasted a year ago from Victoria Dahlgrun."
Those were all signature moves of opponents who had given her a hard time.
"She spends a year analyzing the techniques she's been hit with, building them up, and making them her own. She looks like a slacker, but she's a hardworking type."
As they were talking,
"She's up! Rio is up at the count of eight!"
"Tch, she should have just stayed down."
"Thank you. I'll take that as 'You didn't want me to get up'."
A magic circle appeared at Rio's feet. It seemed she wasn't going to do anything about the chains that were binding her.
"...It's a strange thing, isn't it? We get beaten to a pulp, we're in pain, but if we can move, we go for the win. No matter who the opponent is, we don't want to lose."
A magic circle also appeared at Harry's feet.
"I'm the same. I'm fighting with everything I've got because I don't want to lose and cry."
A dense magical energy, like a small sun, appeared in her right hand.
"I've been giving it my all because I want to win! Even now, I still believe I can win!"
Behind Rio, fire and lightning magic took the form of a dragon, intimidating Harry.
Both were at their maximum magical power. Rio was bound and couldn't move freely. It was a head-on clash.
"Gun Blaze Full Burst!"
"Twin Rushing Dragon!"
The two cannonballs clashed in the center of the field. A different magical shockwave from Miura's "Blade Draw" swept across the ring.
"Ugh... nnnngh...!"
Harry was unable to push through the unexpected power.
The spectators and the seconds thought that there was no way Rio could win a head-on cannonball fight against the Cannonball Queen.
That was correct, and Rio herself thought so too. But even so, she chose to fight her head-on in order to defeat her.
"Here I come!"
Rio clenched her fists and declared it.
"Heave-- ho!"
"!"
Harry was shocked as a powerful force was applied to the Red Hawk in her left hand.
"Heaveee!"
"Whoa!"
Rio was trying to pull on the chains that were binding her and pull Harry closer.
She had the strength to lift the ring. If Harry let her guard down even for a moment, her body would be pulled toward her.
Furthermore, Rio's Twin Rushing Dragon was an automatic attack once it was fired. The dragon shape was not for show, as the cannonball itself would move to try to bite the opponent.
On the other hand, Harry's cannonball was a more orthodox one. She had to keep her right hand in a cannon stance.
Rio was using both hands, while Harry was using one. It was a test of strength between a cannonball and pure power.
"Lady Rio! Pull her in!"
"Leader! Go for it!"
The seconds were also shouting their encouragement.
"Nnnnnngh!"
"Gaaaah!"
Cracks appeared on the floor where they were standing from their effort.
The clash of strength, in which neither side was giving an inch, ended with the sound of metal breaking. The chain had broken in the middle.
"You...! "
Her cannonball was avoided.
The fact that the chain broke meant that Rio's bind was also gone. Rio, who no longer needed to maintain her cannonball, moved quickly.
She cut through the explosion and appeared in front of Harry.
"This is the finisher!"
Magical fire was concentrated in both of her hands.
"Special Attack! Woven Flame Tiger Cannon!"
"Whoa...!"
Harry tried to defend with her right hand, but a severe burn crash occurred. Her life was also at 5%.
"(I can do it! One more hit and--!)"
"TAKE THIS!"
Before she could land another hit, she was stopped by a flame bullet from Harry's right hand. But it had only a tiny amount of power. It showed that her right hand was no longer usable from the previous attack.
Harry grabbed Rio's collar and pulled her in.
But it was her right hand that grabbed the collar. The grip was so weak that it felt like it would let go with just a little bit of force.
She grabbed her with both hands and put all her strength into it.
But,
"(It won't let go?!)"
"I don't need my right hand. Instead--"
She swung her left hand, which was wrapped in a chain,
"--TAKE THIS!"
"Harry's left straight! And a follow-up attack!"
The Red Hawk was a medium-range weapon, but it also doubled as a defense for her fist and a striking weapon.
Harry, who had the nickname Cannonball Queen, naturally had her cannonball abilities on high alert. Many fighters in the tournament tried to close the distance.
Harry's counterattack when she was cornered in close quarters was a punch from her left--her dominant--hand.
With the current combo, Rio's life also went below 10%, but...
"(I know that! I've watched the match videos so many times!)"
Knowing this, Rio moved forward.
"(But I can't lose! Strike Arts and Shunkoken's true strength is in striking!)"
Both of them had low life. Rio, who thought she had an advantage in close quarters, bravely moved forward.
However,
"I told you I wouldn't hold back! I won't play your game!"
Harry retreated.
Her left-hand punches were just for countering when she was cornered. The Cannonball Queen's range was still medium to long distance.
She stabbed the Red Hawk, which was supposed to be broken, into the ground of the ring.
"!"
It traveled under the ground and came out right under Rio.
"Just because it broke in the middle doesn't mean my Red Hawk is dead! Just like me, it's a tough one!"
It was very similar to how Rio used her Lightning Binds. It wrapped around her body and stopped her movements.
"(I can't move?!) AHHHHHHH!"
This was a bind at the last possible moment. She put all her strength into it and tried to break free. The chains screamed and broke one by one.
"This is the end!"
The largest magic circle of the match was drawn at Harry's feet.
"Explosion!"
She slammed her fist into the ground.
"Volcanic Blaze!"
"!"
An immense amount of heat erupted from directly under Rio's feet--
"Match over! With 2 seconds left in the first round! Harry is the victor of this literally hot battle!"
A huge cheer erupted from the crowd.
It was a new technique for Harry, firing a cannonball from a distance instead of head-on. It was a move she had been developing for her matches against Sieglinde and Victoria, but she had to show it before the main tournament.
The match was over, and the fighters were supposed to leave the ring, but...
"Oh, Harry is going over to Rio...?"
She knelt down near Rio, who was being carried by Deed.
"Hey, you little brat. You made me use two of my secret moves that I was supposed to be saving. You're a real menace."
"...!"
The match was over, and Rio realized that she had lost. Her eyes welled up with tears, and her lips trembled, trying to hold back a sob.
"W-what's with that face? You're not supposed to cry, are you?"
"Ugh..."
Harry roughly patted her head and stood up.
"You were strong. Let's have a brawl like this again sometime soon."
She turned around and started to walk away.
"In a match or anywhere else, I'll be waiting for you."
She turned back and grinned.
"See you later, Rio."
"Yes! Thank you so much!"
The crowd gave a big round of applause to the two of them.
Clink, clink
--------------------------------------------
🚀 Want Early Access (80+Chapters ahead ) & Bonus Content?
"Loving this story so far? You can read ALL chapters RIGHT NOW by joining my P4tr3on!
✨ Unlock instant access to the full completed novel
✨ No waiting for daily updates
✨ Support your favorite degenerate author (that's me!)
Only $5.99 for the full experience!
🔗 Check my profile for the Link!!