*Clang*

My sword swung with great power. I hit her body unrestricted. She didn't parry me at all, nor did she cast a barrier spell. Yet the moment my sword made contact a metallic sound was heard and sparks flew. Due to the force of the impact, the Goddess got pushed back but immediately regained her stance.

"What the hell did you do?"

"Confused? It's quite simple. Because I was on countless battlefields, I slayed many enemies and bathed in their blood."

That sounds disgusting. Who would do something like that?

"Some of those enemies were dragons. Bathing over and over made my skin impenetrable. Amongst all the Gods, my skin is the toughest. You won't be able to slice me."

I see. So that's what this is about. Reminds me of the legend of Siegfried who slew the dragon Fafnir and became invincible. However Siegfried had a weak spot. I doubt Anri has one. I took a quick glance at Yuki.

"Darling, it's not like I can't cut her. I assure you I won't break no matter how hard her skin is. But… if you want to slice her, you'll have to put more power into your swings. 

Don't think I haven't noticed, but… you're still holding back."

True. And there's a good reason for it. I never used my full strength because I myself can't control it. In this fight I've been gradually raising my power level the moment I could adapt to it. If I were to use all my power at once, it would be like trying to fire a cannonball through a pistol barrel.

"Are you done spacing out? I grow tired of games. It's time for me to turn this fight into a proper war."

A powerful aura gushed out of her, almost forming a raging tornado. It was pure crimson. But what followed was more scary. A weapon manifested in each of her remaining arms. Now she had a weapon in all six of her arms. A broadsword, an axe, a dagger, a trident, a mace and finally a katana. All pitch black.

"Brace yourself."

Shit!

She charged at me with all her might. I didn't want to get caught up in her attack so I raised Yuki and used her similar to a staff.

"[Cross Blizzard]!"

"That won't work!"

Despite the fact that I fired a barrage of snow and ice similar to a giant laser beam, she intercepted it with all her weapons and sliced right through it. Before I realized she was once again staring me in the eye.

I needed a crutch to be able to handle this, so I immediately wrapped Yuki in the Nether Flames.

"Then let's try this: Crimson Lotus Stance: Everflowing Blade!"

Anri's sword emitted a black light! I deflected the sword, and used it as a shield to protect my throat from her Katana! Anri took an offensive stance and all her weapons were assaulting me. Similarly, I use all the speed I can muster to counter all the flashes of black light.

The blue from my Nether Flames clashed with the black from her weapons. The speed was so great that it was impossible for a normal person to could no longer capture our movements. Our swordplay was so perfect that it surpassed the abilities of human beings…

"Onee-chan's blue light is spreading further ahead and is starting to swallow the black light.

She's pushing further! She's going to overwhelm the Goddess!" (Gamma)

"Gamma… your analysis is wrong…" (Sasha)

Both the twin lolis had a pained expression on their faces.

"Look at Shishou's face. She is sweating so much that it looks like a flowing waterfall." (Sasha)

"Remarkable. You're stronger than any mortal I've faced up until now. However, you still disappoint me." (Anri)

An overflowing jet of black light engraved a more complex geometric pattern! It swallowed Edel’s dance of flames in a fraction of a second!

Edel began to retreat because of the pressure emitted by all the weapons!

"Oh dear. The agility of your sword movements have slowed down considerably. What happened? Have you reached your limit?"

Anri raised both corners of his mouth in a devilish way.

"Shishou is… in trouble." (Stella)

That was the fact of things. I couldn't keep up. Slowly but steadily my body started to gain wounds. Scratch on my cheek, cuts on my abdomen and legs… I started to bleed as I couldn't block all her attacks.

“I guess I’ll wrap things up then. Not even your ice will save you. [Samsara Crush]!”

The Goddess of War slammed her trident from above! Despite my flexibility, dodging this while brushing off the remaining weapons was impossible. I took a direct hit.

“GUAAAAAHHAAA!!”

I forcefully vomited blood. The shockwave from hitting me was so great that everything around was blown away. Naturally, I was sent crashing as well. Shit! This was the first time I felt such pain. My head felt like spinning. If not for my mental training I probably would have passed out from the pain.

“I guess that’s about as far as you go. The fact that you’re still breathing is a miracle in itself. But my strike caused heavy internal damage. In the end… you didn’t manage to satisfy the itch in my soul. You are weak.”

She had a point. About my body being in rough shape that is. I could just give up here.

“No… hang in there!” (Sasha)

“That’s right! Shishou is the absolute strongest! Don’t give up!” (Stella)

“Against all logic calculations… we believe in you, onee-chan!” (Gamma)

These girls…

“Pipe down you brats. I don’t like nosy children. You’re only making me feel worse.” (Anri)

“Don’t give up Shishou! You can do it!” (Stella)

“Please get up…” (Sasha)

“I told you to shut up! Do you want me to slice your mouths off?” (Anri)

“Yare, yare. If you girls are rooting for me that much… I guess I have no choice…”

Just as Anri turned her back at me, raging blue flames exploded from behind her. In an instant, the entire landscape turned into an ice field. When she turned around her eyes were opened wide in surprise and her jaw dropped. Right now I was enveloped with ice dragon wings, claws and talons just like I was during my fight with the Demon Lord of Mind. And my bleeding stopped. All my wounds froze.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!? You were as good as dead.”

“Since this is technically a sparring match I didn’t want to do this. I basically don’t know why I even reacted to the words of those girls. Would have been easier to play dead.

But you said something that bothered me. You called me weak. Well let me show you just how ‘weak’ I am. Combined with these flames, I will unleash the true Nakajima style.”