The massive pillar of petals shot towards him, but with his newfound buffs, Haruto sped past.
If this was a casual meeting, not a life or death battle, he could've taken a moment to appreciate the beauty of the realm. It was a relatively small space, only around 50 metres in diameter.
It mainly consisted of a straight path in the middle of the realm, with towering cherry blossom trees lining the avenue.
It was pretty, romantic even, if those same trees weren't constantly spewing out clouds of murderous petal hornets intent on flaying the skin from his body.
The tendrils of petals corkscrewed, cutting him off from all directions. A tinkling laugh came in the general direction of Tsubasa.
"Oh, you poor thing, look at you! It's fine, I'll make sure to take care of you..."
As he analyzed the surroundings, the petal wall circled around him, cutting off all points of escape.
The walls slowly closed in, and he was certain he was about to be shredded.
Then he remembered.
That anime he watched the day when he reincarnated? What was the name? Oh, it didn't matter, but he remembered something very important.
In that show, powerful characters utilised a thing called 'Domain Expansion'.
Quite similar to here, I would say. A visual and tangible manifestation of their power!
Yet weaker characters were still able to survive in this domain through a 'basic domain'.
It allowed the user to negate the effects of the 'domain', and while it was temporary, it was better than being slowly shredded right now.
Thank goodness for real-world anime!
Haruto visualised his mana coalescing around him, drawing every single particle of mana he could as close to his body as possible.
Then, he let the particles diffuse out into a small radius, creating a sort of barrier.
As the petals hit his 'basic domain', they shrunk and withered away, yet he felt the integrity of the structure collapsing.
Concentrate, Haruto, concentrate!
The petals in this realm were, after all, made of mana, and mana could be controlled by a stronger person!
Drawing yet more mana to himself, he struggled to keep the structure intact, viscerally aware of the chilling whistling sounds the petals made when they shot past his head.
The cyclone of blossoms whirled, and Haruto found himself on the verge of collapse.
"Tch, you're pretty interesting, huh? Figuring out 'Mana Realm' by yourself is no mean feat. I guess you really are as strong as Master says. I'll have to go all out."
"Huh?"
The petals all retreated, leaving the realm empty except for the trees and the road.
Tsubasa stood in front of his realm, and he noticed the petals layering themselves over her sword, tightly packed in until her sword looked like it was wrapped in a pink sheen of metal.
She slashed her sword, and suddenly, a thin, concentrated blade of petals sliced through his 'Mana realm' or whatever they called it.
While his realm had been good enough to hold back the equivalent of a raging storm, he was helpless against the mana equivalent of a .50cal bullet.
The wave tore through his defenses, slicing into his stomach.
He curled around the impact, praying it wouldn't hit any vital organs.
Blood gushed out, staining the floor red. The petals regrouped, wrapping around Tsubasa's sword as she raised it above her head, preparing for the final strike.
His stomach was a roiling mass of burning pain, and he hoped that wasn't his innards spilling out of the cut.
She brought the blade down again, and Haruto summoned his dazzling blades, hoping they could afford some measure of protection.
The blades cut through the slash, but the vast majority of the petals were unaffected, continuing their trajectory towards his head.
He rolled just in time, but the blade bored down in his kneecaps instead, half severing it from the rest of his leg.
Collapsing, he felt the exhaustion, blood loss finally seeping in. His mana realm dissolved, leaving him defenseless as Tsubasa stalked over to him.
His eyes rolled up into his head, and the world faded to black.
...
A bright flash illuminated his vision, and Haruto snapped to awakeness.
Huh? I'm still in the realm?
The cherry trees still lined the road, and he still lay there, unconscious as Tsubasa lifted her sword again.
However, this time he could see his body, because he was...floating outside of it?
Examining his body, he was surprised to find it in an incorporeal form, more like a spirit. Did this mean he was dead? Did all the dead people of this world go through this?
But Haruto had a feeling. This was different. He felt it in his bones.
And he was proved correct, as a pulse of inky mana roared out of him, laced with notes of red bloodlust.
His body moved of it's own accord, swaying to it's feet like a disconnected puppet.
Tsubasa laughed, the same dainty laugh she usually wore, but this time it held a hint of steel in it.
"So...that's what you truly are huh, Haruto? Can you even hear me in there? I knew you were strong when my master said you had potential rivalling his, but never did I expect you to show it like this!"
She slashed again, sending the same blade thin arc of petals.
This time, however, his puppeteered body neatly swayed to the side, bringing up it's own sword.
[̵̛̻̱̫̔̉Ṣ̸̛̅̃k̵̛̩̔͂í̵̝͝l̵͝l̶͚̟̟̉̀̀:̷̭̳͕̀͛͠ ̴̳͍́C̶͖̲͕͐͝o̵͍̝̽͜r̶͔͎̓̀͂r̴̢͓͎̊̊͠ū̶͍̄̚p̶͕̾̓t̷̻̻͗̐ę̷̥̉d̴̩͂ ̸͍̼̫̎͘B̸̛͖̺͇̀l̵̳̜̑͛̀a̵d̸̠̈͂ę̴̨̛̮̂s̸̗͖̖͊̈́]̷̪͕̥̅̋̚
The same inky black and red mana blades Haruto had seen pinning Ryuujin to the wall sped towards Tsubasa, and he gasped in surprise.
He always had a feeling, but he finally had confirmation it was really him. But who was controlling his body? It clearly was very powerful, perhaps that...thing...from the abyss?
But whatever it was, it was strong. The mana blades tore through the makeshift shield of petals Tsubasa pulled up, and when she tried to dodge, the blades shifted, homing in on her.
She flipped through the air, sending more powerful tendrils of petals towards his body.
A faint tether still connected Haruto and his body, so he recieved sensations, the smallest thoughts, faint as they were.
But what he could feel throught the tether was...overwhelming bloodlust, and...ecstasy.
Whoever was controlling his body, it was enjoying it. And for some reason, Haruto was, too.
His avatar sped towards Tsubasa, tearing deep gouges in the realm with it's sword.
Bearing down on her, spirit Haruto finally saw a glint of real fear in Tsubasa's eyes. While this might be her realm, what she was fighting wasn't even of this world.
[̶̝̆S̶̠̝͕̽́́k̷̠̘͇̋̽ì̴̺́͛l̷̢̠͓̀̕ḻ̸͍͂̈́:̷̢̯̩̾̀̚ ̷̨̅͒͐Ḣ̷̞̲̝͌ḙ̶̳̽̇̍l̴̞͇̣̔͒̀l̴̢̦̐f̷̧͂̃i̷̝̪͎͌̓̍r̶̥͙͑ē̴̥̻̞ ̴̞͋̍S̷̻̩̾̋͆l̶̫̦̈̃ȃ̵͇̽s̵̝͛̅̕h̵͈̑̄]̵̔̔ͅ
A searing, red-hot power burst from his sword, and he could see thin red lines showing on the blade.
Whatever power his sword was harnessing, it clearly was too powerful. This strike would be it's last.
Tsubasa couldn't avoid it, Haruto's avatar was simply too fast. So, she erected a multi layer barrier of petals, doing her best to guard the strike as she could.
As the blade tore through the barriers, reaching closer to her body, she pulled her final trick.
[Skill: Bamboo Deflection]
The image of the bamboo appeared, standing in the path of his blade.
Yet the fiery aura surrounding the blade completely ignored it, and only a small spurt of mana was deflected, cast to the side into a cherry tree.
The mana hit the tree, instantly obliterating it in a fiery explosion. Tsubasa raised her sword, a futile gesture.
As the sword impacted, a massive shockwave ring tore through the realm, obliterating everything in sight and turning the entire scene into a hellscape of fire and raw, destructive energy.
As the dust cleared, Haruto found himself feeling sorry for Tsubasa. While it was clear she tried to kill him and was working for a mysterious 'master', she seemed to harbour no real malicious intent.
So when he saw Tsubasa, still alive, he was stunned.
But what was even more shocking was the scene laid before him.
Kensei Zenka himself stood over Tsubasa, his blade extended, blocking the full power of the hellfire slash seemingly without effort.
Kensei nonchalantly dusted ash off his clothes, patting Tsubasa's head.
"You did well, m'girl, showing me his full potential. It was very remarkable. Even I didn't think he was this poweful! He even singed my skin a little, see?"
A tiny line of red showed on Kensei's skin at his wrist, denoting the halo of fire and destruction.
Yet it has only left a small, superficial mark in Kensei. He was truly a beast.
The arena was crushed, only a smoking crater remaining.
Kensei easily held a struggling Haruto avatar under his other arm, bulging biceps preventing any movement.
"I take it you're not exactly yourself at this moment right now, young Haruto. Don't worry, I'll fix you up in a jiffy!"
[Skill: Dragoneye Tears]
A drop of clear, shining fluid formed on the edge of Kensei's blade, and he dropped it into Haruto-avatar's screaming mouth.
Spirit-Haruto was instantly snapped back into his body, and he had barely a moment of consciousness before the pain from hundreds of bruises, cuts and lacerations caused him to black out instantly.