All-Japan Ability D-Rank Tournament, Final Day.

On this day, even before the opening match, the cheering battles were already heating up.

The opposing team, Jūmonji Academy Elementary Division, is a sister school of the ultra-prestigious Tomichi Academy in the Tokyo Special Zone, so the scale of their cheering is far larger than before.

Among the supporters, there are even groups that look like middle and high school students.

Normally, Kurato would have felt uncomfortable under this overwhelming away-game atmosphere, but today was different.

That was because—

Don! Don! Don!

“Kur-a-to! Kur-a-to!”

The deep, stomach-shaking impact of taiko drums and the thick, rough voices of burly men were relentlessly pushing Kurato forward from behind.

When he looked over, he saw middle-aged men in jet-black suits, standing perfectly straight and swinging their arms.

Only the man beating the taiko drum was half-naked with a headband.

‘Why is the Byakko Society cheering for my match?’

And then—

“Ku-chan! You’re taking the championship! Smash them!”

Why is Keita yelling encouragement at Kurato so casually from among them?

And—

“Ku-tarō! If you lose, I’ll kill you!”

Why is Hinata-san next to Keita shouting what sounds more like a threat than encouragement?

At some point, Kurato’s nickname had even changed.

‘It was obviously influenced by how Keita called him, but when did those two get so close?’

“Ku-chan! If you don’t win, you’ll die!”

Keita’s panicked scream made Kurato’s head start to hurt slightly when the referee’s signal finally came.

Honestly, that was a relief.

Kurato wanted to end this chaotic situation as soon as possible.

“Begin!”

His opponent is a Goldokinesis user.

Like Raito, one of the strongest types known as the highest-tier species.

After Hinata-san’s upper-tier Boost yesterday, Kurato had expected an even fiercer match, but once the curtain rose, it turned into a surprisingly subdued opening.

Right after the match began, the opponent immediately used her ability to form a metallic membrane over her entire body.

The membrane layered itself repeatedly, becoming thick armor.

Since Kurato didn’t know what kind of attack methods she had, he planned to stick to defense for the first minute as usual.

But from the exact spot where the match started, the opponent didn’t move at all either.

It seemed she was also using a defense-focused strategy and the two stared each other down for over ten seconds.

“Sanada-san! Keep it up!”

“They’re scared of you!”

Cheers rained down from the opponent’s bench.

‘It seems Sanada-san plans to keep using this turtle-shell strategy.’

Left with no choice, Kurato moved before the first minute was up.

He aimed for the gap between her raised arms and threw a punch at her stomach.

Gon!

A metallic sound rang out that no human bodies should ever make as Kurato’s fist was blocked by Sanada-san’s metal armor.

With only a C-rank Crystal Shield on his fist, he couldn’t even leave a scratch.

“Hmph!”

Sanada-san swung her arm at Kurato with full force.

Using her defense as offense, the blow carried tremendous power.

But because of its weight, the attack speed was slow and even though Kurato was already deep inside her range, he easily dodged it.

‘Let him attack, let him enter your range, then counter.’

That must be Sanada-san’s basic pattern.

Kurato gathered his shields around his fist.

The shield shrank down to the size of a single fist and began to glow white.

The shield that had blown Yoshinari-sensei away.

A B-rank Mithril Shield.

Kurato started running.

Since even the shields supporting his movement were now concentrated on his fist, he was much slower than before.

Even so, he dodged her attack and barely slipped inside her guard.

Right in front of him was her defenseless torso after missing her counter.

He was about to strike—

“Hmph!”

—when Sanada-san launched a knee strike at Kurato.

Kurato redirected the punch that should have gone into her stomach into her knee instead, then used the recoil to leap back out of her range.

They put a few steps between them and glared at each other again.

On Sanada-san’s knee, a spiderweb of cracks had spread across a metal plate and when she shook her leg, it shattered into powder and vanished.

He managed to break the armor, but it didn’t look like it dealt much damage.

It seems she thickened that part when attacking to increase its defense.

In that case, even Kurato’s Mithril Punch wouldn’t deal damage to her body.

It would probably be the same no matter where he attacked.

The moment he tried to land a blow, she would thicken that spot to defend, or aim for a counter like just now.

In the latter case, a single mistake could be fatal.

So, what should he do?

Kurato glanced at the clock.

Three minutes had already passed.

Seven minutes left.

‘There’s no time to spare.’

Kurato thought.

What he lacks right now is speed and attack power.

How can he raise both at once?

“Hey.”

While Kurato was sinking deep into thought, a voice poured down on him from above.

When he looked, his opponent Sanada-san had slightly lowered her stance and was looking at him.

“Do you want to win? Against me?”

“Eh? …Yes, of course.”

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be fighting with everything he had here.

Kurato immediately judged this to be nothing more than stalling for time.

She’s aiming for a time-out decision win.

Or perhaps she wants to disrupt the answer Kurato is about to reach.

If it’s the latter, she’s quite the strategist.

As expected of someone bearing the name Sanada.

Or so he thought, but then—

“I see. Then become my husband.”

“…What?”

At that outrageous proposal, Kurato nearly spat blood.

Why bring romance into a serious battle like this?

Is this another side effect of the distorted gender ratio in the Special Zones?

Or is this just another attempt to throw him off?

Either way, there are only about five minutes left.

Standing still is foolish.

Kurato ignored her proposal and took his stance again.

She sighed and shook her head.

“You really don’t get it. You looked promising, so I thought I’d do you a favor. That’s a woman’s heart for you.”

“Oh? You’re awfully confident.”

“Of course!”

She shouted and charged forward with her metal-armored shoulder leading the way.

“I’m one of the highest-tier species (ability types), Goldokinesis!”

Kurato raised his shield to intercept her charge.

But seeing her ‘change’ at the last moment, Kurato leapt backward.

The Iron Shield he left behind was instantly pierced by her shoulder tackle.

“Hmph! You dodged. Sharp instincts.”

Sanada-san snorted as she turned toward Kurato.

From her shoulder, a single golden spike was growing.

A metallic spike, the same color and material as her armor.

This was the other face of Goldokinesis, said to be good only for defense.

She grinned proudly.

“I’ll say it again. Get engaged to me. Then I won’t use this Golden Spear. I won’t attack for the rest of the time, so hit me as much as you like and take the win.”

“I’ll pass.”

Kurato answered instantly.

It wasn’t about preferences.

It was because the fight was finally getting interesting and there was no benefit in throwing it away.

And also because Kurato is someone who ‘cannot enter such a relationship.’

But she didn’t take his answer that way.

Sanada-san’s face flushed red.

Then—

“You’re awfully cheeky for a man!”

She charged at him fiercely.

With golden spikes on both shoulders, she looked like a golden raging bull.

Kurato summoned multiple Iron Shields in front of him.

Seeing that, Sanada-san laughed.

“Hah! No matter how many shields you make, it’s useless! I’ll teach you that a bottom-tier ability can never win!”

She slammed straight into the cluster of shields.

At her blow, the shields shattered miserably, as if foreshadowing Kurato’s fate.

Or so she thought.

Then she realized Kurato was gone and slammed on the brakes.

“What!? Where did you go! Where are you hiding!?”

“Here.”

A voice from behind.

Sanada-san spun around, but her eyes widened when she still couldn’t find him.

All she could see were shattered shields dancing through the air.

‘Get out of the way, damn it! Disappear already, you trash ability!’

As if hearing her thoughts, she swept her arms through the storm of shields.

But of course, they wouldn’t vanish.

After all, Kurato had deliberately broken them apart.

When Sanada-san finally emerged from the shield storm, Kurato was already ready.

Kurato thrust out only his right arm.

The scattered dull-gray shields gathered around his fist, fused together and formed four massive Iron Shields large enough to hide his body.

Then he concentrated mana at their tips.

Only the very tip became a translucent Crystal Shield.

And the very edge of that turned into silvery Mithril.

Shield One-Point Convergence: Shield Clouds.

It looked almost like an umbrella of shields.

Sanada-san frowned as it was pointed at her.

“…Don’t tell me you’re copying me? Thinking that if you sharpen a shield you can fight with it?”

She spoke with deep exasperation.

But Kurato—

“Exactly.”

—fully affirmed her.

“Breaking through at a single point is the optimal solution here. The best way to defeat you.”

He declared it boldly.

Sanada-san slumped.

“…Oh, I see. So you’re just an idiot. Fine then…”

Her body lowered.

Her posture dropped.

Low. Heavy. Extremely low.

She raised only her face and locked onto her target.

“Then die, idiot!!”

The golden spear surged forward.

Her arms spread wide like a trident, blocking any escape.

She became nothing more than a weapon built to kill.

But suddenly, her eyes lifted.

She noticed a strange sound coming from Kurato.

There—

“What!?”

Kurato’s arm was spinning at high speed.

No—

The four shields floating around his arm were spinning.

They no longer retained their original shape.

Spinning at high speed, they looked like a single sharp horn.

Wiiiiiiiiiin!

A high-pitched cutting sound ripped through the air.

An unpleasant sound that revived old trauma.

But there was no option of retreat for the charging bull.

Her spearhead crashed into Kurato’s rotating shield.

Giiiiiiiiiiin!!!!

A deafening metallic screech.

The grinding, scraping discord of metal on metal.

Kurato’s high-speed shield and Sanada-san’s spear collided.

They matched.

They were equal.

“What… what is that!?”

Sanada-san’s eyes went wide.

Goldokinesis, one of the strongest abilities.

Create Shield, the symbol of the weakest.

And yet, here they were, colliding and standing equal.

Unable to understand, she demanded an answer.

“What is that thing!?”

“This? This is the Spiral Shield Drill.”

“A… drill?”

“That’s right. And…”

Kurato grinned fiercely.

“This is my ability!”

At that moment, a small cracking sound rang out.

A tiny fracture appeared at the tip of the golden spear.

The crack spread instantly across the entire weapon.

Then—

Pan!

The golden armor exploded into fragments.

Kurato’s drill swung down toward the stunned Sanada-san.

“No! This can’t be! My strongest… my Gold—”

Her scream vanished.

So did her body.

But Kurato’s fist didn’t stop.

It couldn’t stop.

It drilled into the ground where she had stood.

Only after carving into something solid did his Spiral Shield finally stop.

A massive hole large enough to hide a child remained.

‘Where did she go?’

Kurato scanned the area.

‘Where?’

Up, down, left, right.

Nowhere.

‘Underground? Invisible? Does Goldokinesis have that kind of ability too?’

Cold sweat ran down his back.

Then—

“That’s enough!”

The referee’s voice rang out.

‘Time’s up?’

Kurato looked at the clock.

There were still two minutes left.

Then why?

“Winner, Makishima Kurato!”

‘What!?’

Kurato was too shocked to even raise his arm.

But once the heat faded, he understood.

‘Ah. She bailed out.’

At that moment, thunderous applause surged through the venue.

Even from the Jūmonji Academy side, there were cheers.

While Kurato was impressed that they could applaud even an opponent, his parabolic hearing picked up voices.

“That was amazing! A boy actually won! And against Sanada-senpai!”

“Yeah, but she got too greedy.”

“She tried to recruit him and make him her own. Serves her right.”

‘So that’s the inside story.’

The applause wasn’t just pure praise.

It also carried a sense of catharsis at punishing someone who tried to cheat.

Either way, Kurato raised his hand and thanked them.

* * *

After the match and a simple awards ceremony, Kurato headed home.

Keita said he was going sightseeing in Izu with his father.

Hinata-san had already left with her entourage.

Maybe she still felt bitter about losing.

Still, looking back, the D-rank tournament ended surprisingly quickly.

Only the Hinata match and the Sanada match felt truly meaningful.

But he was glad he could test his new techniques.

And meeting Hinata-san, a rough gem of potential, was a blessing.

But there were also downsides.

After the tournament, girls and women who wanted to get close to Kurato swarmed him.

With the desperate support of the staff, Kurato and Yanagi barely escaped and teleported near the parking lot.

That’s when even more troublesome people were waiting.

Two women in nun outfits blocked their path.

“God has granted you a great honor. For the peace of this world, will you not lend us your power?”

‘Suspicious religious recruiters.’

Probably an underground organization disguised as a religion.

No matter how much Kurato and Yanagi refused, they wouldn’t move.

Then shady men appeared behind them.

‘This is bad.’

Kurato grabbed Yanagi’s hand and tried to escape on his shield skateboard.

But burly men blocked the rear too.

Then—

“Hey. Do you know whose friend this kid is?”

‘The Byakko Society.’

Hinata-san and her bodyguards.

The nuns fled pale-faced.

“Don’t stand out too much,” Hinata-san said with a wry smile.

She and her group escorted Kurato across prefectural borders.

They had been protecting him the whole time.

‘Strong power attracts bad people.’

He had stood out too much.

Later, Ryuko called Kurato.

“Kurato. Withdraw from the All-Japan C-rank Tournament.”