I am the protagonist

He knew that if he acted now, he might be able to escape wounded, but Lord Irie would definitely die at his hands.

Protecting Lord Irie is a mission given to him by Lord Byakuran. If he cannot even complete the mission, he is not qualified to go back to see Lord Byakuran.

[The Phantom Knight is stronger than I imagined!]

While responding to the Phantom Knight with his swordsmanship, Yamamoto was also secretly alarmed by the Phantom Knight's strength.

The speed at which the sword was swung was extremely fast.

[While using one sword, one can also use the other hand and both feet to wield three other swords.]

Each attack had a strong combo effect, and the sword strikes also incorporated illusions to confuse my eyes.

[If it weren't for Sasagawa-senpai's method, we wouldn't have been able to break the opponent's illusion so easily.]

Only when he truly faced it did Yamamoto realize how troublesome the sorcerer was.

Once you see an illusion, your five senses are already under control. There may be many ways to get rid of it, but the more powerful the illusion, the harder it is to get rid of.

The current Phantom Knights don't use many illusions.

The problem is that the Phantom Knight is using illusion magic while also attacking with his sword, which means he can only barely parry.

The Phantom Knight not only possesses superb swordsmanship, but also illusion magic that is difficult to discern.

No wonder Tsuna wanted us to fight him.

[Tsuna wants us to learn how to deal with sorcerers... Did Tsuna know from the beginning that we would be facing off against sorcerers?]

Thinking about it this way, Yamamoto already realized that he didn't know enough about Tsuna.

My previous impression of Tsuna was that he was an interesting person.

But now my understanding of Tsuna is different.

Just like this incident, if they hadn't made ample preparations beforehand, he didn't think they could have dealt with such an experienced warlock.

Even though we've both preserved some of our strength, I'm still no match for the Phantom Knight.

Yamamoto, who had fought against him, was very self-aware.

Having gained sufficient combat experience, Yamamoto also retreated to the back.

"You win."

You are much better than me now.

Yamamoto was completely convinced of his defeat this time.

He's just not good enough, but next time he won't surrender so easily.

It was just a trivial gain or loss.

This defeat will only motivate me to keep striving.

[Heh~ There are still many formidable enemies, and I'm not complacent with my current strength.]

This defeat also served as a wake-up call for Yamamoto.

He is not strong enough yet; at least not yet. He has not yet gained the power to face any situation, so now is not the time for him to be proud or complacent.

[I won't be bored anymore.]

I really hope I can get stronger quickly so I can fight the serious Phantom Knight again.

Let's see how Gokudera handles this.

After their encounter, Yamamoto gained an understanding of the Phantom Knight's strength.

If you don't have a certain level of melee combat skill, it's best not to get caught by the Phantom Knight, because once you do, you'll never be able to break free.

However, this kind of close-range combat is probably the most difficult for Gokudera to defend against at mid-to-long range.

Yamamoto is now quite interested in seeing how Gokudera deals with the Phantom Knight.

The Phantom Knight, who had stopped fighting, took a breath.

If the fight continues, it's impossible to know who will win or lose.

He felt immense pressure when he fought Sasagawa Ryohei.

He faced even greater pressure in his fight against Takeshi Yamamoto.

As a fellow swordsman, Illusion Knight could see the speed of Yamamoto Takeshi's progress, and he could also see that Yamamoto Takeshi had absorbed most of his combat experience in a very short time, and even almost overwhelmed him with his swordsmanship.

This time, my greater combat experience gave me an advantage, but I definitely won't be so lucky next time.

After defeating Sasagawa and Yamamoto in succession, even the battle-hardened Phantom Knight felt exhausted.

Now I need to face someone else.

[Gokudera Hayato, according to Byakuran-sama's information, this man excels in mid-to-long-range combat.]

If that's really the case, then it's my victory.

It's unrealistic for mid- to long-range warriors to engage in close-quarters bayonet combat.

The Phantom Knight did not consider a mid-to-long-range Guardian to be a match for him.

Even so, the Phantom Knight did not regard his opponent as a weakling. His unusual personality made him somewhat worried about Gokudera Hayato's strength.

"Phantom Knight, I won't give you a chance."

The ring, now ignited with the flames of death, immediately drew the weapon from the box.

[Should we end this quickly?]

Phantom Knight believes that Gokudera Hayato is also aware of his disadvantages.

Getting too close like this could be a trap; let's take a step back and assess the situation.

Choosing to engage in close combat directly against mid- to long-range fighters is a very foolish move.

All mid-to-long-range units will avoid close combat, so they will take many precautions when they get close. Rushing in without understanding the situation is suicidal.

Gokudera calmly drew his weapon and fired a shot at the Phantom Knight.

The crimson flames of death energy transformed into bullets.

"!?"

【Danger! 】

Phantom Knight can not only catch ordinary bullets, but can even easily cut them with his sword.

But this time, his danger instincts told him to dodge.

"Oh!"

The bullet hit the wall and instantly disintegrated the wall in front of it.

"!?"

"...Gokudera Hayato is truly a man not to be underestimated."

Even the most experienced Phantom Knight broke out in a cold sweat upon seeing the horrific sight of being hit by bullets.

This man has actually mastered the power of the Storm Flame to such an extent.

The higher the purity of the Dying Will Flame, the easier it is to unleash its unique properties. The Storm Flame is the most devastating of all Dying Will Flames; once hit… it's truly fatal.

Chapter 80: Gokudera's Talent is His Brain

(Gokudera was anything but polite from the start.)

The bullet's disintegrating power was chilling to behold.

(He condensed the deathly flames into a bullet right from the start... that special wall would completely disintegrate the moment it was hit, so a bullet like that hitting a person is no joke.)

Yamamoto believed that a single bullet of that caliber could completely disintegrate a person.

(Yamamoto, I always thought that octopus head was very dangerous; I even thought it had transformed.)

(Actually, I was startled when I saw Gokudera just now.)

Yamamoto heard everything when Tsuna was speaking, and he believed that Gokudera would definitely do his best as Tsuna said, but the sudden change still startled him.

You know, when he saw Gokudera yesterday, he thought the guy was possessed by a demon.

If it weren't for Gokudera's clear and logical thinking, he would have thought that Gokudera was someone else in disguise.

However, it seems that Gokudera hasn't changed much.

(However, he doesn't seem to have changed much.)

(Just now, Phantom Knight spoke ill of Tsuna, so now he's unleashing his full power to retaliate against Phantom Knight.)

(...Ah, now that you mention it, it seems so. I thought the octopus-headed guy really didn't care.)

After this explanation, Sasagawa remembered that the Phantom Knight had just said something bad about Sawada.

(That guy's been targeted by the octopus head.)

(No wonder the octopus-headed monster was so ruthless.)

Sasakawa had witnessed firsthand just how terrifying the octopus-headed flames of death energy truly were.

Once the highly concentrated and extremely threatening death flames reveal their characteristics, their decomposition ability is undoubtedly the most destructive of all death flames.

At that moment, the Phantom Knight felt cold sweat pouring down his back.

[Is this guy... on drugs?]

I wouldn't feel this excited fighting Sasagawa Ryohei or Yamamoto Takeshi.

It's a feeling of being shot and disintegrated at any moment.

After witnessing the power of that bullet, the Phantom Knight became even more hesitant to approach.

Maintaining a certain distance can help you dodge bullets, but if you get too close and someone catches you off guard, it's a one-shot kill.

Basically, if you get hit by a single Phantom Knight, you're good to go.

His eyes swept over the box at Gokudera Hayato's waist, and even the composed Phantom Knight couldn't help but want to curse.

Does this guy have that many box weapons?

The high purity of the death flames was already terrifying to behold, and that was without the other box weapons being used.

Phantom Knight swore he had no idea Gokudera Hayato had so many box weapons.

At the same time, Phantom Knight believed that once he got close, he would definitely face attacks from those box weapons.

[...It was the right decision to initially assess the situation from a distance.]

[If I get close enough to be held back by those high-purity death flame bullets, they will definitely kill me.]

But doing so defeats the purpose of accumulating combat experience.

"Boss, isn't Gokudera wasting an opportunity by doing this?"

Tsuna shook his head with a smile.

"Kurom, you're wrong."

"Gokudera may not have accumulated combat experience through close combat with the Phantom Knights like Sasagawa and Yamamoto, but Gokudera absorbed the Phantom Knights' fighting style."

Seeing that Chrome didn't understand, Tsuna continued to explain.

“The Phantom Knight’s movements are actually very fast. Under normal circumstances, Gokudera’s bullets would not pose any threat to the Phantom Knight at all.”

"But the bullet put a lot of pressure on the Phantom Knight at the very beginning, so Gokudera reduced the purity of the Dying Will Flame in his subsequent bullets, but it still produced the same or even stronger effect as the initial one."

"Moreover, Gokudera's fighting style is mid-to-long range, and close combat is very disadvantageous for Gokudera. However, at this moment, he did not show that he wanted to engage in long-range combat with the Phantom Knight. Instead, the Phantom Knight took the initiative to create distance."

Chrome understood immediately.

“Boss, Gokudera is using his abilities to intimidate the Phantom Knight, forcing the Phantom Knight to engage in ranged combat with him in this way.”

“Gokudera still has many box weapons that he hasn’t used yet, which is what Illusion Knight is worried about. If he gets entangled by Gokudera’s box weapons, he won’t be able to dodge at all.”

"Yes."

"Gokudera has a very sharp mind. If he can be more calm when dealing with things, he can solve many problems with his mind."

"Knowing that you are not good at close combat, use various factors to maintain your advantage in ranged combat."

That's why Gokudera is the person Tsunayoshi values ​​most.