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Chapter 22: Sky (Tsuna) vs. Braver (Finn)
The clash between Tsuna and Finn officially began.
"He's on fire!! His head is literally on fire!!"
"T-This is bad!! We have to put it out!!"
"W-Water!! Somebody grab some water!!"
"R-Right away!!"
Seeing a pillar of orange flame erupt from Tsuna's forehead, Tiona, Lefiya, Tione, and Raul completely lost their minds. The rest of the Familia wasn't faring much better, panicking at the sight of a boy casually burning alive.
"Calm down," Finn ordered, keeping his eyes locked on Tsuna. "The flames aren't harming him. It seems this is his unique combat style."
The panic subsided slightly at Finn's reassurance, though the sheer shock of the spectacle left the crowd reeling.
"A combat style where your head catches fire...? What kind of joke is that?" Loki muttered.
"He's strong," Riveria noted quietly.
"Aye. Not a single opening. I can see why Finn acknowledged him," Gareth agreed. While the others were distracted by the flames, the two veterans were busy analyzing Tsuna's flawless stance.
"Let's get back to it, shall we?" Finn gripped his spear, returning to his combat stance as he meticulously analyzed his opponent.
What we know so far: he has overwhelming combat sense, and he uses the backward propulsion of his flames for high-speed mobility and aerial maneuvers. Finn rapidly sorted through Tsuna's known arsenal, formulating the optimal countermeasure. If that's the case... this is my only option.
Finn kicked off the ground, closing the distance in a blinding flash. He swung his spear in a massive, two-handed horizontal sweep.
A burst of flames erupted from Tsuna's hands, propelling him out of range before the blade could connect.
Now!!
"!?"
Using the momentum from his initial swing, Finn forcefully pivoted, sweeping his spear behind him in a deadly arc. Exactly as he predicted, Tsuna materialized right at his back.
Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise, but his reaction was instant. He caught the tip of the spear with his left hand, and using Finn's own momentum, effortlessly hurled the Prum captain into the air with one arm.
Instead of fighting the throw, Finn let go of the spear. Flipping mid-air, he brought his right heel down toward Tsuna's skull in a vicious axe kick. Tsuna calmly raised Finn's stolen spear horizontally above his head to block.
"!?"
Finn's kick never connected with the shaft. Instead, he twisted his body mid-drop, driving his right foot hard into the dirt. Using that anchor, he instantly unleashed a devastating palm strike with his left hand, aiming directly for Tsuna's solar plexus.
Before the strike could hit, Tsuna blasted backward, simultaneously hurling the golden spear straight at Finn's face like a javelin.
This is—
Finn contorted his upper body backward in a dramatic arc, narrowly dodging the whistling projectile. The moment the spear passed over him, Tsuna reappeared behind his blind spot. With a swift, fluid motion, Tsuna kicked the hovering spear high into the air.
Finn sensed a sudden, chilling dissonance in his opponent's movements.
"Haaaaah!!"
Recovering his footing, Finn unleashed a godspeed barrage of strikes. Tsuna parried the flurry with open palms, weaving through the attacks before countering with a sharp knee strike. Finn immediately jumped back to gain distance.
A split second later, the golden spear plummeted back to earth. Without missing a beat, Finn lashed out with a kick, sending the weapon spinning back toward Tsuna. The spear whirled vertically through the air, but Tsuna didn't flinch. He simply caught it with his right hand as it arrived.
And then, both fighters vanished.
A super-high-speed battle commenced, their forms nothing more than blurs of motion while the concussive sounds of their clashes echoed like thunder across the courtyard.
"Too fast... I can't see a damn thing!?" Loki strained her eyes.
"Finn is maximizing his Agility stat, while the boy is using flame propulsion to artificially boost his own mobility," Riveria analyzed. "No ordinary adventurer could track them with the naked eye."
"Seems most of our kids are completely lost," Gareth grunted, glancing at the crowd. The majority of the Familia members were standing with their mouths hanging open, their eyes darting wildly in confusion.
"Mmm? I can only see bits and pieces!" Tiona squinted.
"To fight the Captain on equal footing... Just who the hell is he?" Tione muttered.
Dammit!! I can't keep up!! Bete ground his teeth in frustration.
"Ais...?" Lefiya looked over at the Sword Princess in alarm.
Ais was trembling, her teeth clenched tight and her fists clenched so hard her knuckles turned white.
Frustrating...!! Ais could see the fight perfectly. And that was exactly why it hurt. Tsuna was moving with a fluidity and power that he had never once shown during their training sessions. She was forced to swallow the bitter realization of her own inadequacy—he hadn't needed to try against her.
After what felt like an eternity, the high-speed clashes ceased. The two combatants reappeared, facing each other in dead silence.
"No way... He went toe-to-toe with Finn!?" Loki gasped. Neither fighter had a single scratch on them.
"No..."
"Aye..."
Riveria and Gareth saw the truth. It wasn't an even match. While neither had taken damage, only one of them looked exhausted. Finn's face was tight with strain.
"Finn is throwing everything he has at him... but the boy still has room to breathe," Riveria noted grimly. "If this continues, Finn will lose."
"Why!? How the hell is Finn losing to some rookie!?" Loki yelled.
"That boy is no rookie. He's survived countless bloodbaths," Gareth stated solemnly. "Battles on par with the Dark Age... No, perhaps even worse."
"Worse than the Dark Age!?" Loki's face paled.
The Dark Age. An era seven years prior when the Evils—a terrorist faction led by wicked gods—plunged Orario into chaos. It culminated in the Seven Days of Death, a massacre so horrific that Babel itself nearly collapsed. It was the most chaotic, blood-soaked period in the city's history.
"If there's any conflict worse than that, it would have to be the Three Great Quests... But that was fifteen years ago! He's way too young to have been part of that! And if he survived something that big, we'd definitely know his name!!"
The Three Great Quests. The ultimate missions to slay the Behemoth, the Leviathan, and the One-Eyed Black Dragon. The Zeus and Hera Familias—the strongest factions in history—managed to kill the first two, but were utterly annihilated by the Black Dragon, leading to their banishment.
"I don't know the details either... but without that kind of experience, his strength makes no sense," Gareth reasoned.
Gareth's deduction was remarkably close to the truth. Tsuna had indeed survived apocalypses, but the greatest of them took place in the future. He had fought a world war against the Millefiore Familia to prevent Byakuran from dominating eight trillion parallel universes. The Dark Age was a localized nightmare; Tsuna had fought for the fate of existence itself.
Back on the battlefield, the two fighters stared each other down.
"That wasn't just coincidence," Finn breathed heavily. "But you weren't reacting to my speed, either. You were combining prediction, combat experience, and... something else, wasn't it?"
"Spot on. Impressive," Tsuna praised, having used his Hyper Intuition to read exactly how Finn had countered his speed.
"My thumb throbs whenever danger is near," Finn revealed calmly. "Though it only warns me that something is going to happen, not what it is. I use prediction and experience to fill in the blanks."
Since it was an uncounterable biological quirk, Finn saw no harm in revealing it.
"But you're doing the exact same thing. Right?" Finn asked.
"Spot on. Impressive," Tsuna echoed the praise.
It felt like my mind was being read, Finn thought. He must be sensing my micro-movements and killing intent to read my attacks before I make them. Is that how he countered Ais, too?
Finn realized that Tsuna possessed an ability that was essentially a vastly superior version of his own thumb.
I've been keeping up by combining my thumb's warning with my own experience, but against someone with genuine precognition, it's nothing more than a band-aid. If I keep this up, my stamina will give out first. It's only a matter of time before I lose.
Realizing his current tactics were leading to a slow, inevitable defeat, Finn took a deep breath and relaxed his posture.
"Do you still want to continue?" Tsuna asked quietly.
"I am the captain of this Familia," Finn smiled wryly. "I can't afford to look pathetic in front of my subordinates. And while I might not show it as much as certain others, I hate losing."
Even backed into a corner, Finn's eyes burned with resolve.
"Sawada Tsunayoshi. A warning. From this moment on, I will become a berserker whose only purpose is to destroy you. I won't be able to hold back. Are you still willing to fight?"
"I told you to come at me with the intent to kill. And no matter what you throw at me, I will fight with my Dying Will."
"I see. Thank you."
Finn discarded his spear, letting it clatter to the ground. He slowly closed his eyes.
"Is he going to use that!?" Riveria gasped.
"Have you lost your mind, Finn!?" Gareth roared.
Both of them instantly realized what Finn was about to do.
"Magic spear, pierce my forehead that offers blood."
With his eyes still closed, Finn began his chant. A dense, blood-red magic gathered at his left thumb, sharpening into the shape of a spearhead. Without hesitation, Finn drove the thumb directly into his own forehead.
"[Hell Finegas]!!"
The magic violently surged into his body. When Finn opened his eyes, they were stained a terrifying, bloodshot crimson.
Hell Finegas was a high-risk enchantment that sacrificed all rationality, forcefully drawing out raw combat intent in exchange for a massive boost to every physical parameter. It turned the calm, calculating Braver into a mindless berserker. For a commander like Finn, using this magic meant completely abandoning his role as a leader.
Right now, Finn didn't care about tomorrow's expedition. His only goal was to destroy the opponent standing in front of him.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
"!?"
The berserk Prum shattered the distance between them, launching a devastating right straight. Tsuna crossed his arms to block, but the sheer kinetic force shattered his defense and sent him skidding violently backward.
His power and speed are on a completely different level! It feels exactly like fighting the Deathstalk Squad!!
Tsuna's mind flashed back to the future, to the biologically modified super-soldiers programmed by Iris to feel no pain and fear no death.
In a fraction of a second, Finn vanished, reappearing directly behind Tsuna to deliver another lethal strike. Tsuna instantly aimed his palms toward the earth, blasting a massive torrent of flames to launch himself into the sky. Finn's fist tore through empty air.
"He's flying!! He's actually flying!! That's amazing!!"
"You've gotta be kidding me..."
"He's using fire propulsion to stay airborne... what a cheat," Bete grumbled, eyes wide.
Tiona was starry-eyed, while Tione and Bete stared in disbelief. The rest of the Familia looked up at the floating boy as if he were a myth come to life.
"What the hell is going on with him!? Flyin' around ain't fair!!"
"To think he could take to the skies..."
"Aside from Perseus, I've never seen anyone capable of such a feat," Gareth muttered.
Loki was practically seething with jealousy, while Riveria and Gareth were thoroughly impressed.
He's fast!?
Tsuna barely had a second to catch his breath before Finn catapulted himself into the air, closing in like a missile. Tsuna arched his back, narrowly evading the airborne tackle. Seizing the opening, he grabbed Finn's right leg and hurled him back toward the ground. Finn spun gracefully in mid-air, landing on his feet with a heavy thud.
With both hands raised, Tsuna triggered another massive burst of flames, rocketing downward to deliver a high-speed dropkick directly at the grounded Finn.
"AAAAAAAH!!"
"!?"
Finn didn't dodge. He caught Tsuna's dropkick squarely with his forehead. Tsuna's eyes widened in pure shock at the sheer madness of the move.
Before Tsuna could react, Finn grabbed both of his legs. Opening his mouth in a feral roar, Finn slammed his skull forward in a brutal headbutt aimed straight at Tsuna's shin.
"X-Cannon!!"
Just before the headbutt could connect, Tsuna fired a concentrated sphere of flame at point-blank range. A massive explosion consumed them both.
"A point-blank blast!? The kid's insane!!" Loki shrieked.
"No. It was the correct tactical choice," Riveria corrected. "Taking that attack head-on would have been far worse."
"Sacrifice the flesh to sever the bone. He's got guts," Gareth praised the split-second decision.
The smoke cleared. The blast had stopped the headbutt, but Finn still had a vise grip on Tsuna's legs. Hell Finegas was keeping him anchored; unlike Allen Fromel, Finn wasn't going down in one hit.
"X-Cannon!!"
Tsuna fired a second point-blank round. Another deafening explosion rocked the courtyard.
"A second one!? He's not hesitating at all!?"
"He's a monster..."
"Just who exactly is this boy...?"
Aki, Raul, and Alicia watched in pure terror as Tsuna ruthlessly bombarded their captain. The rest of the Familia shared their horror.
The smoke parted again. Incredibly, Finn was still holding on.
"X-Cannon!!"
Tsuna fired a third time. The explosion was so powerful it blew them both apart, finally breaking Finn's grip.
"Cough! Cough!"
The recoil and heat of firing three consecutive point-blank blasts had taken its toll; Tsuna was coughing violently. But when he looked up, Finn was still standing. He was heavily damaged, blood dripping from his armor, but his crimson eyes still burned with murderous intent.
He's tougher than I thought... So this is the true strength of a captain from Orario's strongest Familia.
Tsuna marveled at Finn's sheer durability.
In that case...
Tsuna extinguished his flames. He hit the ground running, sprinting straight at the berserk captain. Finn matched his charge, though his speed had significantly dropped from the accumulated damage.
"!?"
Just as Finn pulled his arm back for a right straight, Tsuna aimed his right palm to the left, firing a burst of flame to instantly strafe to the right.
Operating purely on instinct, Finn lunged to his left to intercept.
Now!!
Timing it perfectly, Tsuna aimed his left palm to the right, firing another burst to violently snap his momentum back to the left. Finn tried to reverse his trajectory to give chase.
But he couldn't.
"!?"
Finn's center of gravity betrayed him. His body titled backward uncontrollably. His eyes widened in absolute confusion as the ground rushed up to meet him.
It was an 'ankle break'—a phenomenon usually seen in high-level basketball that occurs when a defender's momentum is entirely committed to their pivot foot, only for the offensive player to instantly change direction, causing the defender's ankles to "break" and send them tumbling to the floor.
Pulling it off required flawless timing, predictive accuracy, and overwhelming speed. Tsuna had all three: Hyper Intuition to read Finn's center of gravity, and the Sky Flames to execute physics-defying directional changes. Furthermore, the trick only worked because Finn was operating as a mindless berserker, completely lacking the rational foresight needed to anticipate a feint.
"Gah!?"
As Finn fell backward, helplessly exposed, Tsuna stepped in and buried a devastating right hook into his stomach. Finn crashed into the dirt, the impact knocking the wind from his lungs.
"It's over."
Tsuna balled his left hand into a fist and swung it straight down toward Finn's forehead.
"Eh...?"
Everyone flinched, expecting a brutal finish. But the punch never landed. Instead, Tsuna gently pressed a flame-coated index finger against Finn's forehead.
The feral, bloodshot crimson melted away from Finn's eyes, replaced by his usual, gentle blue. The sudden clarity hit him like a physical blow. He blinked, utterly disoriented, trying to process why he was on the ground.
Tsuna had used his flames. Just as he had dismantled Ais's Ariel, he invoked the unique characteristic of the Sky Flame—Harmony—to forcefully synchronize with and neutralize Finn's magic, breaking the berserk state.
My magic ran out...? No, it was forcefully dispelled!?
As his rational thought processes returned, Finn quickly deduced what had just happened.
"My flames possess the attribute of Harmony," Tsuna explained, pulling his hand back. "So I harmonized with your berserk state and returned you to how you were before you activated it."
"Harmony..."
Understanding the terrifying utility of Tsuna's power, Finn let out a long breath, his expression shifting from confusion to a profound, refreshing sense of defeat.
"Do you still want to continue?" Tsuna asked.
"No. I yield. You win."
Knowing that his absolute trump card could be casually swiped away, Finn, the great Braver, gracefully admitted defeat.
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