Anime, Girlfriend Shokuhou Misaki.

——The world is twisted!

"……!"

Stella's body temperature suddenly soared, her hair scattered with fiery phosphorescence. The high heat distorted the surrounding air.

At the same time, a sound echoed throughout the world.

Thump, thump.

The resounding heartbeat shook the earth, completely different from a human's heartbeat.

Immediately afterward, Stella's entire body emitted a bright light from within her bones, pulsing in sync with the beating heart.

Then, a vibrant green glow emerged from Stella's abdomen.

Within that healing-like radiance, new flesh seemed to be growing.

"Laaaa——"

Stella's pink lips opened wide, revealing beastly teeth, as she howled at the sky.

The wave-like roar was nothing like a girl's voice; it was the true sound of a dragon.

However, Stella was not just possessed by the Dragon God as before; she had completely transformed into a dragon.

She was encased in scarlet armor, with green gems embedded all over it. Even her face was covered beneath the armor, and a pair of jet-black wings sprouted from her back.

"How do you feel?"

"Better than ever."

Stella gently waved her arm, and the air immediately cracked with a sound like exploding firecrackers.

"I've never felt so full of power. I feel like I could shatter a mountain with a single punch."

In fact, Stella herself hadn't realized that she was unconsciously getting excited.

She was now thrilled by her increased strength.

"Then I'm coming at you."

Stella shifted her weight from her left foot to her right, repeatedly stomping the ground.

Then, like a teleport, Stella vanished from her spot and appeared directly in front of Haramura Makoto.

Haramura Makoto followed his instinct and immediately tilted his head to the right.

The next second, a massive gust of wind pressure slammed against his eardrums, as if a cannonball had flown past his ear.

(This power enhancement...)

Haramura Makoto's face twitched involuntarily. The long sword gripped in his hand sliced through the ground beneath him, and he fell into the dark crevice that opened up.

This attack was much faster and stronger than he had imagined.

He truly believed what Stella had said earlier—that she could now blow away a mountain with a single punch. Not just a mountain; he felt like she could even shatter space itself.

When he reappeared, Haramura Makoto was ten meters away from Stella.

"Stella, it's a qualitative transformation."

Stella, who had unleashed such an attack with a single blow, didn't press her advantage. Instead, she remained in place, a bright smile on her face.

"It's all thanks to you, Makoto!"

"Thanks to you waking me up, I understand what I should do now and completely broke free from my shackles."

"As a reward, I will fight with everything I have, everything, to win in the upcoming battle."

The Stella he first met had returned.

The proud, arrogant, awkward, and understanding Stella had returned.

Haramura Makoto chuckled softly, reversed his grip on the sword hilt, and slowly released his hand, letting the sword hang freely downward.

"——『Fourth Form: Realm of Gale and Water』!"

Chapter 134: Intense Collision

A western rapier appeared in Haramura Makoto's hand.

The high temperature that had been raging in the arena instantly dropped, and the white mist that had vaporized from the field enveloped the entire competition area.

It was cold, extremely cold.

Even Stella, the fire dragon, felt a chill.

A cold current continuously converged in Haramura Makoto's direction, as if a ferocious beast from the frozen earth was about to awaken.

The next moment, a blizzard descended from the swirling dark clouds in the sky.

This cold current even passed through the barrier and struck the spectators outside, giving those affected a feeling of their blood freezing.

The referees responsible for maintaining the barrier increased their magic output to make the barrier stronger.

They quickly isolated the cold air.

If they didn't, the biggest accident in the history of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival might occur today.

"That's amazing, Makoto."

"This temperature is close to absolute zero, isn't it?"

Flames swirled, rising like a veil behind Stella, like an extension of a scarlet cloak, making the scene behind her even more vivid.

In just an instant, the piercing chill disappeared.

"It's still some distance from absolute zero."

"If it were truly absolute zero, even your flames wouldn't be able to break free so easily."

Haramura Makoto smiled as he stared at the ice crystals that had already spread to Stella's feet and were melting.

The legendary absolute zero is the temperature at which the temperature is reduced to -273.15°C. At this temperature, the molecules of an object have no kinetic or potential energy, and the momentum energy is 0, so the internal energy of the object is 0 at this time.

It is said that such a temperature cannot be found anywhere in the universe. Even the coldest place in the universe that has been discovered, called the 'Boomerang Nebula', is only -272 degrees, which is 1 degree away from absolute zero.

"Is this to seize the home advantage?"

Just as Stella asked.

A pale, snowy twilight suddenly thrust out an ice-blue spear.

Huge, sharp, and cold.

The massive spearhead fell straight down like a sword from the ninth heaven.

The next second, fiery claws swept up, and the blade-like flying flames shattered the spear. Even the blizzard behind it dissipated under this attack, and the surrounding temperature rose further.

"In a way, that's right, but it's not just that."

"I just wanted to solidify the ground here a bit; otherwise, it's too soft and uncomfortable."

Tapping the ground lightly, sliding on the layer of ice that had been plated on the ground, Haramura Makoto disappeared from his spot.

Enveloped in the swirling snow, Haramura Makoto's figure was blurred. He had somehow rushed behind Stella.

"Clang——"

In the crisp sound of a sword ringing, the shining rapier aimed directly at Stella's back.

"——!"

Even Stella couldn't help but change her expression at this magical speed.

But even so, the attack from behind would not stop.

The rapier pressed against the fiery red armor. The ice crystal rapier, with its entire body a ghostly blue, collided with the high-temperature flame armor.

"Bang——"

The armor cracked with spiderweb-like patterns centered on the tip of the sword.

The tip of the sword, thrusting forward, also melted little by little due to the armor that constantly emitted high temperatures.

Until the moment when a vivid red color entered Haramura Makoto's eyes.

"Don't think you'll succeed, Makoto."

With a sharp sound of air being torn, the crimson dragon tail directly exploded the air, striking the space as it lashed out at Haramura Makoto's waist.

"But I've been waiting for this moment."

At the moment when the dragon tail was already close at hand, a smile rose on the corner of Haramura Makoto's mouth.

"Mahapralaya!"

In an instant, cold air burst out from Haramura Makoto's center.

The scattered blood flowers froze in mid-air, Stella's movements paused, all time stopped at this moment, and only Haramura Makoto could still move normally.

Frozen Time!

Then, the time in Haramura Makoto's hand bloomed with light, turning into a beam of light that pierced through Stella's abdomen with terrifying speed.

"Puchi!"

When the sound of tearing flesh rang out clearly, the tip of the ice sword had already pierced into Stella's abdomen, leaving a hole-like wound on it, causing blood to spurt out.

"Crack——"

The frozen time shattered, and the dragon tail directly struck the air.

Looking again, Haramura Makoto had already pulled back the distance.

"It can only be maintained for 0.1 seconds. Although I knew it might not work on you, Stella."

"But I didn't expect it to only last for such a short time."

Haramura Makoto frowned.

His realm of time could not interfere with the flow of time of others without direct contact.

So he chose to use the power of ice.

Forcibly reducing the temperature, reducing the kinetic and potential energy of the molecules in the air to 0, so that it reaches another degree of space-time freezing.

For others, this can make them stop for about five seconds.

But the effect on Stella is definitely extremely low.

After all, the blood in Stella's body is the blood of a giant dragon, always burning like flames, rolling like lava.

As long as it deviates from the temperature of -273.15°, Stella's body can start moving again.

However, he didn't care from the beginning.

He just wanted to use this trick to create a gap for a moment and inflict damage on Stella.

But he didn't expect that it would only create a gap of 0.1 seconds.

"That scared me."

Stella's voice came from the armor.

Looking closely again, the armor that had been pierced by Haramura Makoto had been repaired, but it was unknown what the injuries inside were like now.

Stella raised her hands high, then slammed her hands into the ground.

"——『Dragon Queen's Nest』!"

The next second, the ground, which had been frozen into an ice surface, released a strong light that could not be looked at directly.

Immediately afterward, blood-like red flames erupted, tearing apart the entire battle circle.

The chill that enveloped the entire field was instantly evaporated.

The heat injected into the field transformed the ground of all combat areas into a sea of ​​lava.

The only footholds on the field were a few reinforced floor fragments floating on the lava.

But those floor fragments were also dissolving little by little, gradually submerging in the sea of ​​lava.

"Thump——"

Stella jumped into the scalding lava.