Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

「...Why?」

Kamishiro muttered to himself.

He had been attacked by Chihiro many times, and he too was looking very tired. He was not able to stop breathing through his mouth and seemed to have difficulty lifting his arms. Still――

This guy is really something.

Chihiro thinks so, as he takes a few steps away from Kamishiro and takes a natural posture while holding back the desire to lie down and fall asleep right now.

「You’re showing a new ability again, aren’t you?」

「Yes, it looks like it」

That was what Suzu said just before the game started.

The other one of her two abilities, which is not [Cognitive Obstruction], is the ability to see the nature of her opponents by observing them. If she observes deeply, she can identify and analyze even the abilities of her opponent.

And such Suzu told Chihiro the following.

『Chihiro-kun has two new abilities. If you use them, you can probably beat him』

The rest is a rapid-fire explanation of the abilities.

Due to the time limitation, he could only listen to it briefly.

Kamishiro looks down at his own body without releasing his stance.

「Your attacks feel awfully heavy. Besides, if I had known your new ability before, you would have fallen long ago」

Yes.

Chihiro would never have fought for the first round. He had to be wary of Kamishiro’s attack, because he knew that if he was seriously attacked by Kamishiro, he would lose the fight.

And even though he had given it his all, even though he had given it more than his all, on the past two occasions, he had been defeated by Kamishiro’s toughness.

And it's about lack of offensive power and endurance.

But the two newly acquired abilities compensated for these shortcomings.

『Chihiro-kun first ability is to increase the stimulation. But you have to touch your opponent, so when you get hit by an attack, you can increase their stimulation』

In other words, if he activates it at the moment the attack hits, he can increase the opponent’s "pain". Kamishiro, who had taken more damage than he appeared to have, was confused and slowed down by the damage that was accumulating beyond his calculations.

『The other is the ability to share the received stimuli. If you use this, the pain should be distributed to six people including me...』

Maria, Riko, Aika, Hana, Suzu, Yotsuba.

The girls whom Chihiro has "dominated" are taking one-seventh of the damage Chihiro has received. So, even if Chihiro is hit by a heavy fist to the stomach or a kick to the side of the head, he is not damaged enough to be incapacitated.

The pain of only one-seventh of a blow is almost negligible due to his [Pain Reduction] ability.

――And in the midst of the fight, although there was little time to look away, he could glanced over to the audience to see Aika lightly healing herself and Riko and the others. Maria is not moving a bit, but she is probably activating [Self-healing].

In this way, the pain that Chihiro has shared is healed to the end.

Hence, he cannot thank Aika and the others enough for accompanying him without much explanation.

The damage is on one hand one-seventh, and on the other hand several percent more.

Let’s call them [Stimulus Sharing] and [Stimulus Smplification].

The combination of these two forces, which tilt the ratio of pain too much to the extreme, has now created a situation in Chihiro’s favor. Frankly, this combo is powerful without a doubt. Including [Pain Reduction], Chihiro should be as durable as a zombie from the outside.

...Rather, the fact that Kamishiro is still able to compete with him even after all of this shows just how unfathomable he really is.

But Kamishiro is nearing the end of his rope.

The last attack was much lighter than the one at the beginning of the game. It was a sign that he was not able to exert himself properly, and that his legs and hips were getting worn out.

Chihiro, on the other hand, still has enough time to keep fighting for a while.

Then...

「Hey, Kamishiro Yuuki? Are you going to lose twice in one day? You should be more firm!」

Chihiro heard Shuka’s voice from the side.

He looked at her and found her looking at Kamishiro with tears in her eyes. It seems, seeing him wounded all over was hard to watch for her.

Then another voice came from the stage. Sayuki stood up quickly and looked at Kamishiro with sincere eyes.

「That’s right, Kamishiro, you were going to beat me, weren’t you? Do you have time to kneel down here?」

「...Yuse-san. Shiramine-senpai」

Kamishiro gulped.

Their expectations, their trust - and their love. These things seemed to seep into Kamishiro’s heart and give him strength. It is not only Chihiro, who is empowered by the thoughts and feelings of those who are by his side, but Kamishiro too.

And at the sound of Shuka and Sayuki, some students were cheering him too.

「...Yeah. I can’t lose. I can’t lose yet. At least, I haven’t done all I can do yet」

Said Kamishiro and he exhaled.

He changes his stand. He shifts from an orthodox fighting pose to a stance in which his left arm is pulled back, and his legs are planted with a great deal of force.

――He kicks the ground hard and approaches Chihiro, then throws an all-out straight left punch to his torso.

Instantly his readable intention became reality.

This was probably the last blow.

There is no time to evade.

Even if Chihiro jumps to the left or right, he will be chased, and he will not be able to escape if he retreats as quickly as possible. Then, it is better to stand still and survive the blow.

Chihiro protects his torso with his arms.

「Ohhhhh!」

With a yell, Kamishiro’s fist punches into the center of Chihiro’s arm. Their bones creak against each other, but that doesn’t stop Kamishiro, and a bad sound comes from his fingers.

――This is the kind of overpowering that Chihiro and Maria are good at.

And Kamishiro, who was 『strengthened』, unleashed it with an incredible power.

Chihiro was choking, even though he had anticipated his position and taken a defensive posture. And even though he was about to be bounced off the ground by the impact, he could not stop himself from taking a few steps.

His eyes flashed.

He doesn’t have the strength to fight back immediately.

But...

「Kkk...」

Kamishiro, who had pulled his arm, staggered back.

he hurriedly grabbed his shoulders to support him, and he looked up in surprise, then declared in a voice that could be heard by everyone around.

He looked up in surprise, then declared in a voice that could be heard by everyone around him, with a hint of regret in his voice.

「I’ve lost. I don’t have the strength left to fight anymore」

Everyone gulped at those words, and Kaname said in a somewhat bored tone.

「Congratulations! Chisato-chan, you win」