The shuttle in the second dimension

　While walking on the road, Wu Zi glanced at Lin Xuan beside him.

　"From the amount of power you used today, it seems you still understand the concept of moderation."

　"After all, I still have a lot of things to do, so any savings are appreciated. Besides, I won't really need to use my abilities until the day after tomorrow."

　Lin Xuan’s words made Wu Zi frown.

　"The day after tomorrow, Ouma or Famiglia."

　"It's Stella."

　"It seems that you are very confident in Famiglian." Looking at Lin Xuan's factual tone, Wu Zi raised his eyebrows.

　"I know Wang Ma's strength very well. Although he is very strong, he is still no match for Stella now."

　"But no matter how strong Familian is, he won't be your opponent, even with just your swordsmanship."

　"Of course, I still have some confidence, but this time I want her to understand more clearly the gap between her and me, to let her know that her strength is still far from enough to beat me down, so as to put more pressure on her."

　"You really have good intentions."

　"I've been very considerate of you."

　"You're such a smooth talker." Wu Zi said unhappily, rolling her eyes at Lin Xuan.

　"Don't you like it?" Lin Xuan raised his eyebrows and smiled.

　"I don't hate it." Wu Zi whispered with a slight raise of the corner of her mouth.

　-

　"Hmm~~~~" Dao Hua opened his eyes with difficulty and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling in front of him. A slight moan came from his mouth (hx).

　"I failed——" Dao Hua sighed (hx) as he recalled the scene at the end of the game when his [Ming Shen] was easily cut open by Lin Xuan.

　"450 You're awake, Daohua." As soon as Guideyuan Bifang came back from washing the fruit, he saw Daohua lamenting his failure.

　"Pfft--" However, when he saw Daohua's face, Guidehara Kanata, who had tried to hold back his laughter, finally laughed out loud.

　Dao Hua: “???”

　Dao Hua blinked cutely, not knowing what his friend was laughing at.

　"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it." As he said that, he found a small mirror in the drawer of Guideyuan Bifang's ward and handed it to Daohua.

　Dao Hua: "..." Dao Hua, who was still confused, finally understood why her friend couldn't help laughing when she saw her own appearance in the mirror. If it were her, she wouldn't be able to help herself either.

　The little turtle on the cheek and the three words "Little Confused" on the forehead, Dao Hua knew who did it without anyone telling him.

　"He said this is a small punishment for not taking care of your body." Handing the small note on the table to Daohua, Guideyuan Bifang said.

　"A small punishment?" Looking at the words on the note, Dao Hua gently touched the little turtle on his face (hx), and Dao Hua sighed.

　"I would rather you draw this little punishment for me yourself while I'm awake, Lin Xuan—"

Chapter 181

　"Hu——" With the exhalation of foul air from his mouth, Kurogane Ikki ended his training for the day. Although he wanted to continue training, he knew that if he continued, the training would be too short and ineffective, and any longer training would cause deeper fatigue to the body, which would definitely affect his condition for tomorrow's game. Besides, he didn't have much physical strength to continue.

　Picking up the sports drink to replenish his energy from the chair, Kurogane Ikki was about to take a sip when an inexplicable feeling (hx) flashed through his mind.

　"Who!?" Kurogane Ikki turned around while moving to the side.

　"Ah~~~Brother Heitie is really not bad~~~He actually discovered me." Covering her face slightly with a folding fan, Xijing Ningyin said with a smile.

　"It's you, Teacher Xijing. You scared me." When he found out that the other person was someone he was familiar with, Ikki Kurogane let down his guard, and his body, which had been prepared for battle, relaxed again.

　"Brother Heitie, you are too sensitive. I didn't mean any harm just now."

　"It's a habit, a habit." Kurogane Ikki explained with two dry laughs.

　"I heard from Xiao Hei that you give off a different vibe earlier. I suspected you'd reached that point, but I didn't believe it. But after coming here today, I see it's definitely different. You've actually entered the realm of the demon." Looking Kurogane Ikki up and down, Xijing Ningyin exclaimed in amazement. "It's incredible."

　"Does Xijing-sensei also know about demons?" Kurogane Ikki asked in surprise after a moment of silence. He hadn't told anyone about his demonic status, not even his own sister, Shushiku. He didn't know how Xijing Nene knew.

　"Oh~~~~ It seems you know something about demons. I'm very curious, who told you this? Could it be Yueying Moya?" She put away the folding fan in her hand.

　"No, it was Lin Xuan who told me, and - it was with his help that I was able to step into the realm of demons." Now that he knew for sure that the other party also knew what demons were, Ikki Kurogane was not going to hide it any further (hx).

　"What!?" Xijing Ningyin was stunned by Kurogane Ikki's answer. Although she didn't know how Kurogane Ikki stepped into the realm of demons, she didn't expect that it was Lin Xuan who helped Kurogane Ikki and told him about the existence of demons.

　"That kid - is he also a demon?" Xijing Ningyin murmured thoughtfully with a frown.

　"Lin Xuan said he is not a demon."

　"Hmm? If he's not a demon~~~~how did he help you?" Xijing Ningyin asked in confusion, resting his chin on his body.

　Because Lin Xuan did not ask Kurogane Ikki to keep what happened that night a secret, Kurogane Ikki did not hide it either and described what happened that day to Xijing Ningyin.

　"So that's how it is." After hearing what Kurogane Ikki said, Xijing Ningyin fell into deep thought.

　"It's pointless to say this now. Are you confident about tomorrow's game?"

　"Not at all." Kurogane Ikki sighed and smiled bitterly.

　"Although the Lin Xuan drawn by Sarah Bradley was defeated by me because he had no real inner self, I can also feel Lin Xuan's attainments in swordsmanship from him. Moreover, he has more than just swordsmanship." As he said this, Ikki Kurogane recalled the words his friend Alice said to him.

　"Ikki, I'm not trying to discourage you, but your chances of winning against Lin Xuan are slim. You're well aware of Lin Xuan's proficiency in swordsmanship, and his spirit suit ability, [Destruction], is the most powerful I've ever seen. If he wanted to, he could wipe this venue off the map the moment the match began."

　"Alice told me that Lin Xuan's spiritual equipment is very powerful. Today's match also proved this. Senior Dongtang's spiritual equipment was like paper in front of him and was easily cut through."

　"Don't be discouraged, little brother Kurogane. No one knows what the outcome will be until the final step." Xijing Ningyin encouraged Kurogane by patting him with her folding fan. Although she didn't think Kurogane Ikki could win, as she said, the outcome is unknown until the final step.

　"Well, I won't give up until this is over."

　-

　On the other side, inside [Akatsuki Academy].

　"By the way, Sarah, didn't you promise me that if we didn't advance to the semi-finals, you would stop pestering me to be your nude model?" Lin Xuan, who was reading some information about the [Liberation Corps] in the office, raised his head and looked helplessly at Sarah who was sitting in front of him and staring at him.

　Because he had some things to deal with today, Lin Xuan didn't go to Wu Zi's treatment, but returned to Akatsuki Academy alone. However, he was somewhat helpless about Sarah, the uninvited person. If it were anyone else, he would have thrown them out long ago. But Sarah was different; her fragile body couldn't withstand the torture.

　However, the reason was that Lin Xuan really liked Sarah's work and even collected quite a few of her works. As for why he had never agreed to Sarah's request to be a model for his favorite artist, it was because Lin Xuan did not like being a nude model. Although Lin Xuan liked Sarah's work, this was not a reason for him to do something he did not like.

　"It's true that I promised you, but I didn't promise you to keep it." Sarah blinked and looked like she was refusing to admit it.

　"What you said makes a lot of sense. I'm speechless." Lin Xuan complained with a curl of his lips.

　"Then can you let me be in peace these few days? I have official business to deal with." Lin Xuan said, shaking the documents in his hand.

　"You mean, after these few days, you can agree to be my model?!"

　"No, that's not what I meant."

　"Oh." After responding (hx), Sarah continued to stare at Lin Xuan.

　"Sarah, I don't like being a nude model for others. That's why I haven't agreed to your request." Lin Xuan put down the documents in his hand and looked at Sarah. "Just like you don't like others forcing you to do something you don't want to do, I don't like doing something I don't want to do."

　"Hmm~~~" Lin Xuan used Sarah as an example to explain, which made Sarah ponder. "So as long as you don't feel disgusted by this matter, you won't refuse, right?"

　"Well, you can say that." Hearing this, Lin Xuan suddenly felt that Sarah was not so unreasonable.

　"How about this? Go back and think about this matter carefully this week. If you can give me a reason why I don't mind it after a week, I'll agree to it. How do you say that?"

　"Hmm~~~~~" After thinking for a while, Sarah finally agreed. "Okay then."

　After saying that, Sarah left with a pensive look on her face.

　Looking at Sarah's back as she left, Lin Xuan also breathed a sigh of relief.

　"Finally, I can focus on my work."

Chapter 1 Semi-finals

　After the qualifying lists of the four regions abcd were finalized, the exciting semi-finals also kicked off. For this competition, even the world's third-ranked magic knight [Yashahime] was invited. The semi-finals were divided into two games, one between Kurogane Ouma from region a and Stella Familion from region b, and the other between Kurogane Ikki from region c and Lin Xuan from region d.

　The first match to begin was between Ouma and Stella.

　Although the audience had a sense of resistance to Wang Ma because of his behavior in the previous competition, Stella, as an international student and princess of another country, was different. The audience had great enthusiasm for her. As soon as Stella entered the arena, she received cheers from many spectators.

　"Princess Stella, come on!!"

　"There are two games to be played today, please don't damage the field."

　A large number of supporters, both men and women, turned to Stella as she entered the arena. As for Wang Ma, there were only some people discussing him, and not many people supporting him.

　"Black Iron King Horse." Looking at the man in front of her, Stella clenched her fists.

　"Today, let's settle the grudge you caused by destroying the Pojun Academy."

　"Are you still concerned about what happened that day?" Wang Ma said coldly, looking at the girl in front of him calmly.

　"How could I not care? I'm going to beat you down today."

　"Hmph." Wang Ma snorted coldly at Stella's threat and ignored it.

　“Lets go ahead!!”

　"Roaring loudly——【Dragon Claw】"

　"Come and serve me—[Fei Long Zui Jian]"

　As the game started, Wang Ma and Stella summoned their own spiritual clothes one after another.

　Wang Ma's spiritual equipment [Dragon Claw] is a [Nodachi]. Compared to the [Feilongzui Sword], the blade of [Dragon Claw] is too slender, but at the same time, the slender blade also gives [Dragon Claw] a physical attack range that exceeds that of [Feilongzui Sword].

　At the beginning, Wang Ma took the lead and in an instant, dozens of vacuum blades flew out, aiming at Stella.

　On the other hand, Stella had no intention of holding back her strength. She activated [Dragon God Possession] right from the start, and with that terrifying power, she swung the [Feilong Zui Sword] in her hand, directly dispersing those invisible vacuum blades.

　"This move?" When Wang Ma saw Stella perform [Dragon God Possession], he raised his vigilance to the highest level. On the day of the attack on [Pojun Academy], Stella, who was seriously injured by Lin Xuan, relied on this move to hold on until Xijing Ningyin's arrival. Although he did not go all out at that time, it was enough to attract Wang Ma's attention and interest. At least he felt a strong sense of danger from the other party.

　"Wang Ma, you have to hold on well, otherwise don't blame me if you die." Stella raised the corner of her mouth, grinned, and rushed towards Wang Ma.

　When Stella got close, Wang Ma swung out the Dragon Claw. However, facing the gleaming cold blade of the Dragon Claw, Stella not only did not try to dodge, but even swung her fist directly, hitting the Dragon Claw.

　Originally, with the sharpness of the Dragon Claw, slicing through Stella's fist would have been easy, but this didn't happen. Despite being struck by the sharp blade of the Dragon Claw, Stella's fist didn't leave a single mark. Stella, who should have been in danger, didn't, but Wang Ma, who should have been safe, did.

　Feeling the power transmitted through the [Dragon Claw], Wang Ma almost couldn't hold the [Dragon Claw].

　At this moment, Wang Ma recalled what Lin Xuan had said to him before the match. 'Stella's ability isn't a natural interference type, but a conceptual interference type—[Dragon]. I wonder if your [Dragon Claw] can pierce a dragon, Wang Ma.'