If only I could break through the barrier somehow.

As the shinobi avoided yet another lance thrust, he had such a thought.

Jumping over was possible, but it entailed the risk of getting flamed as he had no means of air control, and the fire [Inhuman] could then redirect his fire knowing Yuudai’s trajectory.

He parried another thrust, then countered with his own swing. Once again, the blade met only the hard steel of the shield.

If only his weapon was small and thin enough to strike through those tiny holes on the shield…

Wait. The holes on the shield?

---

“There’s no way Yuu-kun can beat that woman on his own…”

Such a thought raced through the head of Shiori Yamaguchi.

“He’s at a disadvantage against an enemy with such high defence…”

Then suddenly, she knew what she needed to do.

Almost all of her [Soul Energy], in one shot of acid…

The flame [Inhuman] responded with a burst of fire, but it was unnecessary.

“Where are you even aiming, girl?”

Indeed, the clump of acid was way off its mark. It really begged the question: “Where were you even aiming?”

“Now look at you, you must be almost out of [Soul Energy] given how shaky you are. Now, what should I do with such a pretty young girl...”

The flame [Inhuman] began muttering while advancing. Shiori instinctively began backing up.

But he missed something important…

The acid ball flew up, and over the flame wall.

---

Splat!

A ball of clear, sticky fluid landed behind the knight, near where the two were fighting.

“They must be having an intense fight. But that doesn’t matter, young Saito. You won’t live to see the results of their battle anyway.”

To the knight, it appeared as if it was just a stray attack.

But to the shinobi, this was incredibly weird.

The amount of smoke coming out of the acid puddle was unnatural.

She must have put all her [Soul Energy] into increasing the concentration of the acid. But it missed…

Guandao and lance clashed once more.

No, she wouldn’t be so stupid to attack with such a concentrated acid ball; given how the concentration doesn’t affect the chances of her attacks making it past the fire, she should have put her effort into quantity and not quality…

Sparks flew as the lance struck a wall.

She didn’t miss.

She’s giving this to me.

“Oi, woman! Come at me!”

Yuudai ran straight at the wall behind him, up the wall and flipped over the head of the knight who was busy thrusting her lance.

“You’re wide open young Saito, landing with your weapon behind you like that.”

The knight twirled, and prepared for another lance thrust.

Yuudai gritted his teeth and prepared to perform [Spiral Slash] once more.

The knight took no heed; All she needed to do was to block the blade with her left arm, then proceed with her thrust to have her enemy impaled.

But she too, missed an important detail.

The blade that came out from behind the young shinobi was smoking.

“Don’t underestimate me.”