Chivalry of a Dark Knight [Batman x Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry]

CH18: Golden Week (prt 1)

"This match is really heating up now, folks! Contender Tomaru has Contender Wayne completely trapped in her deadly circle but it looks like the Dark Knight of Hagun is still holding his ground!"

The excited voice of the girl in the commentary box boomed through the loudspeakers and was able to cut across the arena over the roars of the spectating students in the stands.

On the brightly lit ring below was indeed something of circle but one that didn't have any discernible outline. What made it noticeable was the whooshing gale wind and the steaks of after-images that trailed and looped around. After images of one Renren Tomaru.

Armed with her gauntlet-like Devices, the athletic tanned girl continued to zoom around her opponent until she suddenly broke from her path to dash towards him, fist extended.

Much to her surprise, Bruce was able react and swerve out of the way of her punch. She shot past him like a bullet which in a way was ironic considering how accustomed he was at dodging them. Perhaps he felt the sudden rush of air when she charged towards him or the squeak of her track shoes when she quickly turned.

Or perhaps it was just dumb luck.

Regardless, Bruce immediately counterattacked in a continuous motion by swinging his sword and hurling a conjured S-shaped projectile at her.

"Shadow-rang!"

The shadow construct was aimed at Renren's feet and she yelped, being almost caught off-guard. However, she was able to react by leaping out of the way and maintaining her momentum as her feet touched the floor.

"I hate to admit it but it does seem more effective if you yell the names out loud." Bruce internally grimaced.

"Nice try, Senpai!" Renren called out as she ran around him again. "But it's gonna a lot more than that to slow me down!"

Bruce already knew that and was aware that he was taking a big risk by prolonging the match but he believed that there was a long-term benefit in testing her abilities and limits.

He ran everything he had learned about Renren through his mind, particularly her Noble Art 'Mach Grid' which allowed her to accumulate speed as long as she continues to run. As such, it has one major weakness: if she were to stop, voluntarily or not, then her speed resets to zero and she'd have to start running again.

This means that cutting off her momentum, such as a tripping her or making the ground slippery so she'd lose traction were viable countermeasures. Bruce also considered her stamina which he theorized was also being fueled by her Mana. It stood to reason that the longer she runs, the more Mana she's burns out.

However, with all those weaknesses aside, there was a reason why Renren was considered the third strongest in Hagun. Like Saijou, she can use all that kinetic energy she gathers to increase the force of her punches. She could be strong enough to flatten a truck or, if she ran fast enough, unleash a force equivalent to 1 ton of TNT.

From what Bruce could gather, Renren was the very definition of a glass cannon.

As the action in the ring continued on, a certain black haired beauty watched from the stands completely engrossed. Her attention was focused Bruce's face and eyes and the more she keyed in on his poise, the more Ayase was reminded of her father.

"Quite a captivating specimen, isn't he?" came a voice next to her.

Ayase almost let out a squeak in surprise and her cheeks lit up bright red as she looked to her side to see the lavender-haired individual who gave her a knowing smile.