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「Oh……?!」

Perhaps it took her by surprise, Yua’s eyes slightly widened.

「Mu——?!」

Inglis was just as surprised. While it was indeed a minor technique, it was still Ether that Inglis shot. She had thought it would pierce through Yua’s light ray, but the two projectiles erased each other.

The light ray packed much more power than Inglis thought it would. Although, the fact that her Ether Pierce set it off meant Inglis’ calculations weren’t off the mark.

「Pow pow pow!」

Pshoo! Pshoo! Pshoooo!!

Three shots in a row!

「Not this time!」

Inglis countered with three shots of her own, causing the light bullets to flash in between the two. It acted as a screen, Yua’s figure vanished at the same time the flash happened.

「Hyaaahh!」

Inglis had also initiated her next move simultaneously. She stepped diagonally aside to her left and unleashed a blow to her back. At that very moment, Yua’s figure appeared where Inglis’ fist went flying.

Kabooom!

「Guhok!」

Yua’s body was blown furiously into the distance. She then sprung up the very moment her body touched the floor.

「Yosh!」

Inglis nodded to herself. As she had aimed, she was able to detect the movement of mana even with her eyes open now. The only reason the first hit landed on her was that Yua’s ray of light disrupted the flow of the ambient mana, causing the mana traces of Yua’s movements to be overshadowed

This time, the light rays were canceled out at a distance away from Inglis by her Ether Pierce, so the movement of ambient mana in her immediate vicinity was left unperturbed.

The key was to intercept the light rays with Ether Pierce. While Inglis did shoot a mass of Ether to the environment, Ether was not mana, so it did not cause any fluctuation in the ambient mana. Therefore, the slight traces of mana caused by Yua’s movement wouldn’t be drowned out.

Hence, she was able to react accordingly. The fact that she could do all of it with her eyes open was an undeniable sign of progress. On that front, the whole process was satisfying.

However, it didn’t mean it would assure her of victory. After Yua’s body sprung up after she hit the floor, her figure vanished midair.

「——!」

Inglis didn’t feel any movement of mana. However, a distorted silhouette suddenly showed up at the edges of her vision. It was Yua, her finger gun pointed at her. In terms of simple distance, she was much closer to Inglis than when they traded shots before. Around the same length as where their projectiles clashed before. In other words, the distance between them was halved.

Pshooo!

Yua launched her ray of light from where she stood.

「There!」

Pshooo!

Inglis reacted instantly, intercepting it with her Ether Pierce. However——

「Oh no?!」

The distance was simply too short. She could feel the undulating movements of mana in the air from the collision.

It meant that the traces of Yua’s movement would be overshadowed. The light ray was shot from such a close distance, so mana fluctuation near Inglis was still perturbed even if she intercepted it.

If it was like this, Inglis wouldn’t be able to read Yua’s next step!

「Hyah!」

The very moment that thought crossed her, Inglis kicked the floor and leaped straight up. She didn’t know where Yua would come out, but this was an emergency maneuver. She would have a wide field of vision from up above, thus allowing her to see Yua’s next step. She would, but…

「Hello.」

The voice was from above her.

「……?!」

Inglis turned her face up as fast as she could, and there, for a moment, the image of Yua swinging her kick showed on the edges of her eyes.

Kabooom!

Inglis was knocked down by a tremendous impact, and the floor was already upon her.

「Kgh!」

She managed to break her fall using all of her limbs, then immediately jumped aside.

「You’re good! As expected of you, Senior!!」

Yua always looked absentminded, but her techniques were truly ingenious. Even if her light ray was offset, the aftermath of the shot that was fired from such a perfect distance disrupted Inglis’ prescription of mana. Yua knew exactly well what was happening during the fight and how Inglis managed to read her movements. Above all, she made her next move corresponding to what she had learned. What outstanding battle senses.

「Another pow!」

Yua once again appeared close to Inglis to shoot her ray of light from her fingertip.

Intercepting the light rays using Ether Pierce from that position would be pointless. The aftermath of the collision would make the ambient mana unreadable. On the other hand, if Inglis didn’t intercept it, the incoming light rays would disrupt the ambient mana all around Inglis. Either way, Inglis wouldn’t be able to see through Yua’s vanishing entrance that would come subsequently. It was Yua’s perfect distance.

If Inglis really wished to prevent that shot from happening using any means necessary, she would have activated Ether Armor. However, she would never resort to something so tactless.

She only needed to flip over the tide of battle to her favor. After all, if she were to use absolute means to win the battle, then it wouldn’t lead to her personal growth.

Not to mention, she still had more cards up her sleeve!

「I’ll be on the offense from now!」

Inglis lowered her body and plunged headfirst into the ray of light. The ray brushed past her face by a paper-thin margin, but speed was of the essence now. Inglis had to step in and attack before Yua could do her vanishing movement after she fired her shot.

At such a short distance, Inglis wouldn’t be able to stop the ray of light from disrupting the movement of mana. but it made it easier for her to jump straight into Yua’s arm length. The aspects of a battle could change depending on the distances between the two parties. Yua was an opponent that required Inglis to go through so many trials and errors, how amusing!

「Hyaaahh!」
「I need to knock you out then!」

KABLOOOM!!

Inglis’ and Yua’s fists collided head-on, releasing a terrifying sound of impact. The head-on clash was slightly dominated by Inglis, perhaps due to the momentum she built on her step in. Yua took a step and two backward.

「There’s more coming!」

It was time for offense! Yua wouldn’t have any opportunity to shoot the ray from zero distance!

Inglis took another step forward, unleashing a roundhouse kick. Yua used her arm to parry it as her figure started to go blurry.

「I won’t let you go!」

Even if she were to vanish, Inglis still could feel the movement of the ambient mana. Four steps to the right, she lunged an elbow strike! Yua appeared in the place where Inglis’ elbow went, her flank pierced.

「Guhk. That hurt!」

While she didn’t sound that hurt, Yua cowered a little. Was this the first time Inglis’ blow hit her squarely?

「Outmatched? No, I can still…」

Yua’s pupils seemed to glow in a pale prismatic light…