Chapter 147: Kimura Sakura’s Backstab
Natsuba Taiga and Kyōkotsu Rōichi.
Natsuba Rinrei and Kimura Sakura.
On the surface, it was a 2v2 showdown, but in reality, it was a hidden 3v1.
And Natsuba Rinrei was the one.
In fact, even among all present, things were not as they seemed.
Kamishiro Naraku’s consciousness was now controlled by Natsuba Hanae, and Kujō Mien had become a mole.
On the surface, only Natsuba Rinrei was a member of Summer Harvest Mountain, but in reality, there were three…
The situation was incredibly complex.
However, Natsuba Hanae did not act at this moment. She had a more far-reaching goal.
And she also wanted to squeeze out Natsuba Rinrei’s potential.
And at this moment, with the addition of Kyōkotsu Rōichi and Kimura Sakura, the battle had reached a more intense stage.
Kyōkotsu Rōichi’s strength was a cut above Kimura Sakura’s.
Kimura Sakura was a mid-B-rank, while Kyōkotsu Rōichi was a high-B-rank.
The role Kimura Sakura played at this moment was to hold off Kyōkotsu Rōichi as much as possible, to prevent him from interfering with and attacking Natsuba Rinrei too much.
And Natsuba Rinrei, when she saw Kyōkotsu Rōichi join…
Her heart couldn’t help but tighten. Because of her previous injuries, she was now struggling to hold her own against Natsuba Taiga.
And Kyōkotsu Rōichi’s ability, Wolf Shadow, was a mid-tier among high-risk abilities.
Normally, Natsuba Rinrei wouldn’t give him a second glance. It would probably take less than ten minutes to kill him.
However, at this moment…
Kyōkotsu Rōichi’s addition was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
Kyōkotsu Rōichi and Natsuba Taiga were both from the Kyōkotsu branch and had a natural understanding of each other.
Once the two joined forces and fully unleashed the offensive power of Kyōkotsu Rōichi’s Wolf Shadow, she would surely not be able to hold out for long.
The attack power of Wolf Shadow was also considerable among high-risk abilities.
He saw Kyōkotsu Rōichi summon a black wolf beast, and then suddenly merge it with his own body. In an instant, his speed greatly increased.
And he transformed into a black shadow, rushing forward.
Fortunately, Sister Sakura had also joined the battle. Although her ability was only a high-tier among low-risk abilities…
It was also quite tricky.
She could continuously use sound waves as attacks to interfere with Kyōkotsu Rōichi’s movements and prevent him from getting close to her.
For a while, the battle between Sister Sakura and Kyōkotsu Rōichi was also a stalemate.
Just as Natsuba Rinrei was slightly relaxing, preparing to focus on fighting Natsuba Taiga, and looking for a weakness in his moves to break the situation…
For some reason, Kyōkotsu Rōichi, who had been entangled, suddenly broke free from Kimura Sakura’s entanglement.
The wolf shadow flashed.
And suddenly appeared to her left, a fist slamming towards her.
The target was her severely injured arms.
He wanted to sever her arms!
Natsuba Rinrei’s expression hardened, and her attention quickly shifted from Natsuba Taiga. Her right fist shot out at Kyōkotsu Rōichi.
“Boom———!”
A huge sound echoed.
Kyōkotsu Rōichi’s covered wolf shadow right claw was completely shattered, and Natsuba Rinrei was unharmed.
The strength of the Red Dragon’s body was fully displayed.
Her extreme strength and extremely high reflexes had crushed Kyōkotsu Rōichi’s wolf shadow.
Natsuba Rinrei was unyielding. Her left foot suddenly stomped again, wanting to give Kyōkotsu Rōichi another blow, to cause a heavy blow to his body.
However, at this moment, Natsuba Taiga’s attack arrived. He would not miss such a good opportunity.
His right fist, carrying an extreme golden aura, and even a hint of malice, slammed into Natsuba Rinrei’s abdomen.
This was an unstoppable blow.
Natsuba Rinrei’s attention was now on Kyōkotsu Rōichi. Wanting to deal with one threat first, she had undoubtedly made a slightly fatal mistake.
She had underestimated Natsuba Taiga’s decisiveness and speed.
At this moment, all she could do was tighten her abdomen.
A sound like a cannon instantly echoed.
“Boom—————!!”
Natsuba Rinrei’s already tattered clothes were completely turned to dust by this blow, revealing the crystalline red scales that covered her entire body.
And under this blow, even the scales could not withstand it.
Sparks flew, and a fist print, emitting a scorching heat, was imprinted on her abdomen.
An intense pain instantly swept through Natsuba Rinrei’s entire body. However, she gritted her teeth and didn’t make a sound.
But her body, affected by this punch, was sent flying, and blood splattered on the ground.
Halfway through being thrown, Natsuba Rinrei gradually and with difficulty recovered.
She twisted her body, trying to choose a position that would lessen the damage. With the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, she fell back to the ground.
Natsuba Rinrei knelt on one knee, blood trickling from her lips.
Her right hand clutched her abdomen.
Only a pair of unextinguished, crimson dragon pupils firmly stared at Natsuba Taiga and Kyōkotsu Rōichi, who were dozens of meters away.
And Kyōkotsu Rōichi’s right arm’s wolf shadow, which had just been destroyed, also consumed more than half of his supernatural power. After a moment of twisting, it returned to its original state.
Seeing this, Kimura Sakura’s pretty face turned white.
The previous battle had made her originally exquisite makeup completely messy. She quickly ran to Natsuba Rinrei’s side.
And helped her up, her eyes filled with tears. She said with a tearful voice,
“Are you alright, Rinrei?”
“Why don’t… why don’t… we surrender? Let’s not fight anymore…”
“After we surrender, the president will surely find a way to save us…”
Hearing this, Natsuba Rinrei’s dragon pupils stared at Kimura Sakura for a moment, then looked at Natsuba Taiga.
She pursed her pink lips and said,
“Sister Sakura, surrender is useless.”
“Natsuba Taiga’s every attack is aimed at my internal organs, my vital points.”
“This means he has no intention of letting me go.”
“He just wants to kill me.”
“The good news is, Kujō Sujin hasn’t acted. I don’t know what kind of agreement he has with Natsuba Taiga. This is our only chance.”
Natsuba Rinrei had stared at Kimura Sakura just now, and a hint of suspicion had already risen in her heart.
If the previous situations were accidents or coincidences, then when Kyōkotsu Rōichi had attacked her just now, Kimura Sakura had seemed as if she couldn’t fight at all, and had not blocked or restrained him in the slightest. This was very strange.
However, until now, she still didn’t want to believe it.
After all, to her, Kimura Sakura was the one who had given her the first ray of protection, like an older sister.
And in Natsuba Hanae’s impression, in the original story, Kimura Sakura was also the one who had backstabbed Natsuba Rinrei when she had advanced to A-rank.
She knew what Kimura Sakura meant to Natsuba Rinrei. And because of this, she needed the absolute truth, to make Natsuba Rinrei completely despair of Kimura Sakura’s meaning.
If Natsuba Hanae killed her, or if Natsuba Rinrei killed her without knowing the circumstances, it would leave a permanent scar in Natsuba Rinrei’s heart.
This would be an unstable factor for her future promotion, which was not what Natsuba Hanae wanted to see.
And this was also one of the reasons why Natsuba Hanae hadn’t acted until now.
Natsuba Rinrei stared at Natsuba Taiga.
And murmured to herself,
“Almost there, almost there.”
The supernatural power in her body was mobilized to the extreme. Her blood boiled like lava, and her crimson scales from time to time emitted a scorching heat.
In her dragon pupils, a flame seemed to burn.
Filled with a full violence, and a hint of madness from the exhilarating battle.
Since she was a child, this was the first time she had been in such a desperate situation. Natsuba Taiga’s “White Tiger” ability, although on the same level as her “Red Dragon,” he had been at peak B-rank for who knew how many years.
And she had only recently reached peak B-rank.
Although under her mother’s power, her current peak B-rank was also incredibly solid, but compared to Natsuba Taiga, who had completely mastered the power of a peak B-rank, she was still a little lacking.
In the next moment…
Her dragon-like voice came out again.
“Again!”
And the tiger’s roar responded.
“Courting death!”
The two figures, one red and one white, once again entangled, and began to crazily exchange blows.
Fists, legs, heads, knees, tails, everything was used.
The walls, the floor, and various decorations instantly shattered.
The two were like a whirlwind in the Hero Association, destroying everything.
Whether it was Natsuba Rinrei or Natsuba Taiga, they both had the combat bloodline of a Susanoo direct descendant. The more they fought, the braver they became, and there was no fear in their eyes.
As for Natsuba Kouryu’s situation, it was because his fear of the Sanctuary Flame had surpassed his bloodline.
But even so, when Natsuba Kouryu fought, his fear had also greatly disappeared.
The final fear was from the most primal fear of death.
And this time, Natsuba Rinrei and Natsuba Taiga’s chaotic battle, even Kyōkotsu Rōichi couldn’t join in for a while, and could only stand on the side and watch.
Looking for an opportunity to insert himself.
“Boom——————!”
“Boom——————!”
Two almost identical sounds echoed. Natsuba Rinrei punched Natsuba Taiga in the left cheek, and Natsuba Taiga punched Natsuba Rinrei in the right cheek.
The two were separated again and retreated.
And at this moment, in Natsuba Rinrei’s left eye, in her originally crimson dragon pupil, a blue-green flame flashed for a moment.
In her silver hair that swayed with her twintails, a wisp of blue-green appeared, like a bird’s feather.
“Almost there.”
A faint smile appeared on Natsuba Rinrei’s pink lips.
In an instant…
The crimson flame surged endlessly, completely ignited and danced, and like a servant, it knelt before Natsuba Rinrei.
An astonishingly hot temperature swept through this area.
An invisible wave of power suddenly spread outwards, full of power.
Seeing this, Natsuba Taiga’s pupils constricted, and he was terrified. He roared in disbelief,
“B-rank critical point?!!”
“You actually reached the B-rank critical point before me?!!”
“How is that possible!”
The existence of a B-rank critical point was not determined by how long one had been at peak B-rank.
The appearance of a B-rank critical point meant that the path from B-rank to A-rank had been half-stepped. If there were no accidents, stepping into A-rank was almost certain.
However, Natsuba Rinrei’s control over the power of a peak B-rank was not complete.
It was like a baby learning to walk. She hadn’t even learned to walk, but she had learned to run.
And Natsuba Taiga was a completely different existence.
Natsuba Taiga had completely reached peak B-rank. There was no more room for improvement in peak B-rank. He was just short of entering A-rank.
He was like someone who could walk at a competitive speed, but just couldn’t reach the edge of running.
When he saw Natsuba Rinrei reach the B-rank critical point, a nameless fire suddenly burned in Natsuba Taiga’s heart, and his pupils transformed into beast-like pupils.
His pale gold was dyed with a hint of red.
His malice was fully unleashed, completely activated. A violent feeling filled his entire body.
He, who originally had long silver hair, a wisp of silver hair in the middle of his left side completely turned red!
On his right hand, incredibly sharp claws instantly popped out, filled with a pure white light.
“I’ll kill you!!”
His roar was like that of a real beast.
His right leg was filled with power, and he stomped on the ground. The ground was like a land dragon turning over, and it collapsed and rolled in layers. A huge stone was thrown backward, showing the ferocity of his power.
However, seeing this, Natsuba Rinrei couldn’t help but smile.
The several dozen meters of distance between them was for this moment.
She saw that as Natsuba Taiga was moving at lightning speed, a pair of massive dragon wings instantly appeared on her back. She flapped her wings, and a fierce wind howled.
In the blink of an eye, she was soaring in mid-air.
And beside her was Kimura Sakura, who was also floating in mid-air with the help of sound waves.
Looking at Natsuba Taiga, who was still charging below…
Natsuba Rinrei pursed her pink lips and couldn’t help but say,
“Don’t waste your energy, Natsuba Taiga.”
“Neither you nor Kyōkotsu Rōichi have the ability to fly. My goal has been achieved. As long as I stay in the air, I can wait for rescue from Summer Harvest Mountain or the Hero Association.”
“Your operation has completely failed.”
Even if there was a barrier outside, with Natsuba Rinrei’s fast aerial movement ability, she could also dodge quickly.
However…
A hint of darkness still lingered in Natsuba Rinrei’s eyes. A mere B-rank critical point, not an A-rank, was still a step behind.
In the future, if she had a chance to fight Natsuba Taiga fairly, she had to use this pressure to break through.
However, she saw that Natsuba Taiga below was still continuously accumulating power.
Her brow furrowed slightly, and a bad premonition welled up in her heart.
But she saw Natsuba Taiga grin and roar,
“Kimura Sakura, aren’t you going to help me?!!!”
——————!!!!!
Hearing this, Natsuba Rinrei’s dragon pupils trembled uncontrollably. She couldn’t accept the possibility that came to mind. She turned around.
And what greeted her…
Was a powerful sound wave, long in the making, unleashed at full force—even overdrawing her potential.
The surging power was close to peak B-rank!
“Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa——————!!!”
Under the impact of this level of sound wave, Natsuba Rinrei’s brain was instantly dizzy, and the world spun.
Her dragon wings stopped flapping.
And she fell straight to the ground.
“Boom——————!”
A cloud of dust rose.
