Nikita once again lunged towards Haruto with her fist covered in pure lightning, arched back, aiming straight up towards his face.
However, Haruto wasn't about to take her attack head-on; he hurriedly manipulated the earth, creating a large mass of dirt between them to block Nikita's fist!
Bang!
With a tremendous sound, the mass of dirt exploded upon impact, scattering dirt in all directions. Nikita's vision was once again obstructed by the dirt.
"Tsk, this again!"
She grumbled in irritation. Without relying on her sight, she instinctively moved four of her nine tails to act as a shield behind her. No sooner than she did, her tail made contact with a fist.
It moved like a snake, coiling around Haruto's outstretched hand firmly. Once the scattering debris had cleared, the sight of Nikita's tail holding his arm came into view.
"Hehehe... I've got you."
Nikita said, her sweet little lips curved upwards into a faint smile. And seeing that smile, Haruto could only shake his head.
Originally, he planned to catch her off guard and quickly end the match.
But he had underestimated her monstrous senses.
(Sigh, I guess ending this quickly won't be an option anymore... Well, whatever, if she can handle this much, then it should be fine for me to use some stronger attacks.)
He thought inwardly.
"... Guh."
But before he could make his next move, Nikita's long legs drove into his solar plexus! His face grimaced as he unintentionally let out a groan, his hand subconsciously let go of his sword from the pain as it pierced smoothly through the earth. Nikita smirked as she sent his body flying with a flick of her tail.
Swoosh!
As his body was sent flying, Haruto hurriedly twisted his body mid-air, killing the velocity of his movement and fixing his centre of gravity.
Bang!
However, without giving him time to adjust his stance, Nikita once again lunged towards him, like a beast.
"... Heh. Seeing her like this, I can't help but wonder if the others of her kind are the same."
And with a snap of his fingers, a tremendous torrent of water rose from the earth.
Fushhhh!
The water moved at an impossible speed, easily reaching a distance of a hundred meters in mere seconds. Seeing this, Nikita stopped in her pursuit as she became more vigilant.
It wasn't just one; multiple pillars of water rose from the earth one after another, casting a shadow over the surroundings. At the same time, ice gathered at Nikita's right hand, while on the contrary, blue lightning flickered on her left hand.
"Hmph, so you want to have an elemental battle. Then let's see whose elements are superior!"
She uttered, and with a stomp of her feet, she closed in on him from the front.
Haruto's eyes narrowed slightly, and while manipulating the water in the environment, he skilfully launched three jets of water with enough force to easily reduce a building to dust towards her.
Whoosh!
The three masses of water shot straight towards Nikita without the slightest hint of hesitation, moving as though it was alive. With each distance it traverses, the earth is upturned and destroyed.
However, whether it was out of hesitation to take this attack head-on, or perhaps out of realisation that it was impossible to withstand an attack of such magnitude, Nikita struck the earth.
Rumble!
As the torrent of water drew closer, from the area where Nikita's fist had landed directly, a torrent of ice was released! The three masses of water and the torrent of ice clashed towards each other, creating a world of both ice and water.
However, like fire and water, the element with the advantage continued its advancement. Nikita's ice gradually froze the three masses of water in place as it closed in on Haruto, attempting to freeze him along with the three masses of water.
"Hmph, do you think it will be that easy?"
Haruto snorted as he conjured up four balls of crimson flames measuring roughly thirty meters in diameter around him. And as he extended his hand outwards, each of the balls of flame shot off like a meteor, clashing with the torrent of ice!
However, as though to combat that, Nikita touched the mass of ice with her left hand, and lightning flickered along the mass of ice, clashing with the balls of flame.
BOOOOOOM!
A tremendous explosion occurred at the point of impact, and hot steam was created as it spread outwards, covering the area.
(Tsk, this steam is going to be a problem.)
He thought. And at the same time, he manipulated the wind to remove the steam blocking his vision. However, on pure instinct, Haruto held the side of his coat and poured his magical energy within it.
Lightning crackled around the streaks on the side as Nikita's fist made contact. After receiving his magical energy, the coat had created a defence strong enough to easily withstand her blow.
"Ngh. That coat had actually blocked my punch."
Nikita murmured, her eyes widening in shock. However, faster than Haruto could move her figure disappeared from his sight. She had circled to his rear, launching a series of punches in fast, continuous succession!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Haruto's body was sent flying as each of her fists drove into his body. At the same time, the sound of bones breaking resounded. However, such noise was puny, insignificant compared with the thundering sound of land getting destroyed as her fist changed the air currents with each blow!
Haruto's body rolled helplessly across the upturned land; his black coat was stained with dirt and grime.
Alya, who was watching this from a distance where she could perfectly make out his battered figure, appeared between them as she decided to speak up for the first time.
"... Nikita, I think it's about time we end this match. He has clearly reached his limits."
"Do you really think so?"
Nikita asked, dubiously, as her crimson eyes reflected the figure of the one whom she refers to as master.
"Of course, look at him! I can't bring myself to watch this any longer."
Alya said, concern laced in her voice. Nikita kept her silence as she continued to observe Haruto, who was finally starting to get back to his feet.
"... N-No, not yet. Let's continue!"
He said, wiping away the dirt from the corners of his lips.
"B-But... Haruto, are you sure?"
Alya frowned as she asked, with a bitter grimace.
Haruto looked at his hand, which was covered with dirt, before clenching his fist.
(Not yet. I... I want to see how far I can go. At this stage, I stand no chance against the demon lord, much less against the reincarnation of the god of destruction!)
Stronger, he had to be even stronger! At that moment, he was once again reminded of something... Something he had long forgotten!
Back when he had first arrived in this world, he had almost died to protect Princess Scarlett.
At that time, he had a truly strong desire! He had sworn he would become stronger so that something like that would never happen again...
(And now look at me...)
Haruto clenched his teeth as his fist tightened. Meanwhile, the god core lit up for a faint moment. It was so faint, so subtle that it had gone unnoticed, even under Alya's keen observation eyes.
"Haruto, you shouldn't pressure your body so much. Please reconsider."
Alya said in frustration.
"No, I can continue, please, Nikita, let's keep going! Make sure you don't hold back on me. We have healing magic in the off chance that something happens."
Despite his rugged appearance, his voice was firm and steady. His expression was calm and determined. He was determined to surpass his limits and improve himself. And upon seeing the strong, unwavering glint in those pair of golden eyes, Nikita's red lips curved into a smile.
"Hahahaha! Yes, this is the master I want to see! In that case, let us continue and improve ourselves!"
Nikita felt elated; her tails opened up as she got into a stance. Haruto picked up his sword that had pierced the ground.
He held it firmly as he watched Nikita's every movement to not be taken by another surprise attack for a second time.
Seeing them like that, Alya heaved a small sigh as she disappeared to the other end of the hill to observe the battle.
For a moment, there was only silence, as both of them observed the other. Haruto's slightly long black hair fluttered in the wind. His coat, which extended down to his legs, oscillated behind his back like a curtain blowing in the wind.
Meanwhile, Nikita's long silver hair swayed behind her small, slender back as her tails moved faintly behind her rear.
With a graceful kick, Haruto made his move. Using the wind to propel himself forward, he charged at her like a rocket.
Nikita's long, slender hand moved, intercepting his kick. And with a smooth turn of her body, she swung her left hand outwards, attempting to strike his chin in an uppercut. However, as her fist was about to strike his chin, it was obstructed by a barrier of condensed wind. The wind condensed and became blades, attempting to pierce her body.
Nikita's eyes narrowed as her red lips parted. At the same time, she let out a breath, and the air seemed to freeze as the space before them was frozen solid, turning into crystal clear ice in mere seconds. Haruto hurriedly broke free from her grasp and leapt back.
But Nikita quickly pursued his figure; lightning flickered around her body, closing the distance inch by inch. Then, without missing a beat, she shot a bolt of lightning towards him. Soon, Haruto's figure was also covered in lightning, which crackled around his figure as he stopped running and instead closed in on her from the front.
BOOOOM!
The area of approximately fifty meters in diameter was blown away, trees, rock and even the soil, everything was reduced to dust in an instant. Amidst such a disastrous battlefield, two silhouettes could vaguely be seen clashing at high speed.
With each clash, the crater beneath their feet widened and deepened. Haruto and Nikita were exchanging blows while using the lightning to enhance their speed. However, even though he could faintly keep up with her speed using this method, Nikita was still a bit faster than he was.
His reaction time was still not able to keep up with Nikita's fast movements.
The silver fox was known for not only their control over ice and lightning, but also their monstrous strength. Their speed is also several times faster than a human can run.
The sounds of fists clashing echoed through the area. Nikita thrust her fist, clad with both ice and lightning, outward.
However, the corners of Haruto's lips lifted as he raised his leg, landing a perfectly timed knee strike directly into her abdomen.
Nikita grunted as she was sent backwards, but she skilfully took advantage of his attack to perform a somersault to gather distance between them. At the same time, Haruto tightened the grip on his sword as his brow furrowed into a frown.
"Ice, lightning and that ridiculous, monstrous strength. All of these combinations make her an extremely formidable opponent. And also... Her keen instincts allow her to always be aware of her surroundings, even in situations where she can no longer rely on her vision."
Haruto muttered to himself. Just how was he supposed to defeat someone like that? At the end of the day, he was only human after all. Even though his senses were heightening thanks to spirit arts, if his reaction isn't capable of following the high movement speed to keep up with his opponent, what's the point? He didn't have an absolute advantage as she did.
(... Actually, could I somehow gain an advantage if I used spirit arts to get an advantage on the battlefield?)
At that moment, a thought came to his head.
Nikita held the place where she was injured. However, while they had paused for a short while, the injuries to her abdomen had already healed. Now she was back in perfect condition. But before she could move, Haruto had made his move.
Rumble!
The sound of crackling lightning resounded as the blade of his sword shone, seeing this Nikita narrowed her eyes and quickly deduced that he had imbued the blade of his sword with the light element.
As though to counter it, she created a blade of ice, and both used lightning to enhance their speed as the fierce sound of blades clashing resounded through the area. While they were locked in a fierce struggle, Haruto manipulated the soil!
The earth shook violently beneath her. And on pure instinct, Nikita quickly moved away from that spot, and lumps of dirt rose from the earth, changing shape. Countless earth spikes suddenly protruded from the soil, stabbing straight up at the sky!
Nikita felt the vibrations of the earth and evaded the spikes as she ran.
But Haruto wasn't done yet. The sky above their heads suddenly darkened as bolts of lightning fell from the sky!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each time the bolts struck the earth, the soil was scorched black as that part of the earth was gouged out.
(Tsk, how bothersome.)
Nikita grumbled even as she moved, evading the bolts of lightning. With a stomp of her feet, ice jutted out of the ground, creating several blades of ice which hovered silently around her.
"Hmph, you think this is enough to defeat me? You're going to need more than just this."
She snorted as she sent her ice blades towards the sky.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
With a thunderous sound, the ice blades exploded once the lightning had struck the blades. Several explosions took place in the sky, stirring the wind. However, Haruto smirked as he used it to his advantage.
Swish!
"Wh-What?"
Nikita's eyes widened faintly, and from the side of her cheek a thin red line appeared there as blood slid down to her chin.
(Th- This wind.)
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
With each move, more cuts appeared over her body as though she was being attacked by an invisible blade.
"No, these wind... He had actually turned the area into a domain of blades using the wind."
Only someone with absolute control over air currents could achieve such an incredible feat. While this was something someone like a wind spirit or the wind goddess could casually do, she didn't think Haruto could achieve such a thing.
Watching this from a long distance away, Alya was also shocked. Her green, emerald eyes widened faintly.
"A-Amazing. It's not just the wind; his mastery over the other elements has also reached a ridiculous level."
While Haruto's control over the wind had heightened due to his contract with the spirit of wind, it wasn't the same for his other element. The wind type attribute will always be his strongest due to their contract, but...
"... Why is his growth moving so fast?"
At this point, instead of confusion, Alya was rather exasperated. Meanwhile, as Haruto continues to manipulate the air currents in the surroundings and the soil beneath him. His control over spirit arts was gradually strengthening.
Each time he manipulated the air, the earth or the lightning in the sky, his control was gradually improving. He could feel it; he was becoming stronger!
However, Nikita clicked her tongue as she felt frustrated about the disadvantageous situation she was in.
"Sigh, it can't be helped."
She mumbled to herself.
At the same time, the ice and lightning core within her body began to emit a faint light as she used them at maximum efficiency.
....
Meanwhile, as the battle between Haruto and Nikita was getting more heated in another space, an important discussion was currently taking place.