["Hahaha, this little girl's fighting spirit is truly scorching hot! Since she's so determined to fight, young man—will you respond?" The Suiyang's sinister laughter echoed above Yanqing's head.]
[Yanqing nodded: "Yanqing will not retreat."]
["Mm, this is a matter between Cloud Knight comrades. Losing isn't a big deal, but abandoning a comrade and shaming the Cloud Knights—wouldn't that betray the sword in my hand?" Sushang turned back to Huohuo and urged: "I figure I won't last more than a few moves. You all hurry and find the General! Until he arrives, I absolutely won't fall easily!"]
[The group immediately left Dragonprayer Terrace and headed to Fyxestroll Garden. After finding the General and explaining everything from beginning to end, the General's expression became unusually serious.]
["A Suiyang that manipulates hearts under the guise of guiding swordsmanship? If it could teach according to aptitude, that wouldn't be bad. Unfortunately this monster's obsession with victory and defeat is too strong—it's truly troublesome for a child like Yanqing."]
[Before leaving, the General asked for more information about this Molten Torch. Cirrus replied that it was Blaze Origin's martial courage and the most belligerent among their fragments. But he was puzzled: "Who is this swordsman called 'Yanqing'?"]
["My disciple." Jing Yuan answered calmly.]
[Cirrus immediately let out an excited sinister laugh: "Hehehehe, no wonder I smelled a trace of sadness on you. Oh—I get it. To rescue his incompetent disciple, the master has no choice but to step in and fight personally? How enviable for 'Molten Torch'."]
["You only know the 'taste of sadness,' but not what 'sadness' truly means. My disciple became obsessed with victory and defeat, lost his way, and tried to elevate his sword art by taking shortcuts—this is my failure as a master, and the reason for my sadness."]
[Cirrus said coldly: "I advise you not to pretend to be leisurely here. Molten Torch has extremely heavy killing intent—once controlled by it, it recognizes no kin, let alone a master."]
——
A Certain Scientific Railgun.
"It won't really turn into that kind of plot, right?" Misaka Mikoto's voice suddenly dropped, a flicker of unease in her amber eyes. "Master-disciple killing each other… something like that has already happened to Jing Yuan once, hasn't it? Last time it was against his own master, this time against his disciple… please don't let that happen!"
"Calm down, Misaka." Kamijou stared into the girl's eyes. "As long as Yanqing doesn't kill Sushang, things can still be salvaged. This possession—honestly, Yanqing hasn't caused any real destruction or harm yet."
Misaka's shoulders visibly stiffened: "But I'm still really worried—what if Sushang can't hold him off, and the Suiyang completely takes over Yanqing's body and mind, making him go on a rampage in the Cloud Knight barracks…"
Kamijou thoughtfully spun the teacup on the table: "…Hey, I've noticed since earlier—you're not projecting the Suiyang possession onto Shokuhou's ability, are you? Though both involve influencing minds, the differences are pretty obvious."
"W-Who would think about that woman!" Her voice unconsciously rose an octave, drawing stares from nearby tables in the café. Realizing her lapse, she immediately lowered it. "It's just… seeing this kind of possession and manipulation makes me involuntarily think of her ability."
"Mm, the Suiyang itself is a conscious fire spirit with very high precision in possession and control, but the possessed person doesn't lose their self and can still resist the Suiyang. But Shokuhou's control… that's complete puppetry. Though less precise than the Suiyang, it can affect far more people."
"To save Yanqing, the General will probably do like Qingque did for Fu Xuan—first shake his self-awareness into resistance. If it really comes to the point where the General has to act…" Kamijou Touma gave a helpless smile: "Then Yanqing can only pray for his own good fortune."
——
[Arriving back at Dragonprayer Terrace and seeing Sushang still standing in confrontation with Yanqing, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.]
["The Valiant Guard of the Seat of Divine Foresight… is only so-so… I thought I'd be down the moment you drew your sword." Sushang panted heavily, using Xuanyuan Sword to forcibly prop up her body. "I never thought… never thought I'd last this long. I… I'm not as bad as I imagined."]
[Molten Torch's drifting voice carried a hint of disappointment: "Young man, you've hesitated—you've been hesitating all along."]
["Against an opponent with such a vast gap in strength, you've spent so much time. As a swordsman, don't you have any pride? Must the miserable defeat you suffered on Dragonprayer Terrace be repeated?"]
["It's time to act—only blood can wash away the shame on the sword…"]
[Yanqing's face stiffened, his breathing stopped. The hand gripping his sword trembled slightly—a feeling he had never had even when facing Blade or Dan Heng. He gripped the hilt tighter, swallowed, and said: "I…"]
["He won't make a move." A lazy voice came from behind Sushang.]
[Seeing his master appear, Yanqing's momentum was instantly halved: "General…"]
——
Baki.
Seeing Jing Yuan appear, Kaoru Hanayama's lips curved into a faint, almost imperceptible smile. At the same moment, Retsu Kaioh felt as if a weight had been lifted, his tense body relaxing almost immediately.
Among everyone, only Tokugawa felt somewhat disappointed. With Jing Yuan's personality, it would be hard for him to actually strike his own disciple—of course, if he were willing to personally educate his disciple, that would be incredibly entertaining. He hadn't yet seen a formal match between Yanqing and Jing Yuan.
He had already savored enough of the fight with Sushang—boring. He wanted to see rivers of blood!
"Little brother Yanqing is still afraid of his master." Miyamoto Musashi chuckled. "Just don't know if he has the courage to draw his sword against his master. If he does… counting Jing Yuan, that would make three of the High-Cloud Quintet he's lost to here."
"Miyamoto, do you really have so little faith in Yanqing?" Kaioh Kaku calmly shook his head. He removed his sunglasses, revealing those deep ink-black eyes that revealed no emotion: "After going through this upheaval on the Xianzhou, little brother Yanqing has already been reborn. Plus with personal guidance from his master Jingliu—he's gained immensely. In pure swordsmanship, Yanqing may not suffer a crushing defeat."
"Heh heh, Kaioh Kaku, have you gone senile in your old age?" Yujiro Hanma bared his fangs in a grin. "His Divine Lord is a blade even his master Jingliu couldn't avoid— with Yanqing's current skills, surviving alone would probably be difficult, right?"
"Of course, if Jing Yuan uses the Divine Lord, that's another story. But the Divine Lord is a force deployed only against those harmful to the Xianzhou—would he really use the power granted by the Hunt Aeon against a disciple whose conscience hasn't yet been extinguished?"