One punch wasn’t enough.

Seiji knew that Spirit-branded Retainers were humans who borrowed powers from the spirits, so their bodies were much tougher than ordinary humans’ bodies. Just one punch from [Lightning Strike] wouldn’t deal enough damage.

He needed more.

Seiji continued punching.

*Smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack smack*

He was like a machine gun… no, even faster than a machine gun!

He was currently under the effects of his [Body-Strengthening technique] spell, so his fists’ power was greatly increased. When the effects of [Bullet Time] and [Lightning Strike] were taken into consideration, the result was unbelievable.

Iroha Hasegawa was stunned by the flurry of blows!

For her, the force from the impact of his punches wasn’t that great.

But his punching speed… was inconceivable!

‘How is this possible…’

Even in the short time that she was thinking this, she received a countless number of punches.

Every single punch was aimed at her stomach.

As long as Seiji aimed for the same location each time, he figured that he would eventually penetrate her defense.

He was correct.

After a barrage of punches, a punch that dealt her significant damage finally landed!

Iroha found it unbelievable.

Her, a Spirit-branded Retainer, was actually injured by an ordinary human with such low Spiritual Power!? He wasn’t even a Yin-Yang Master or Spirit-branded Retainer!

Her original powerful blow was still on its way.

Too slow.

Seiji could easily dodge it… but he didn’t even have to dodge it.

He only needed to keep punching her!

Just how many punches had he thrown, and how many would be necessary?

He didn’t know, and he didn’t need to know.

*Punch punch punch punch punch punch punch punch punch*

He punched until her actions were no longer smooth.

Her body contorted from pain.

After Seiji confirmed that he had caused actual damage to her, he stopped punching and lifted his foot.

[Lightning Strike], continuous kicking!!

His [Lightning Strike] could be used in additional ways other than punching.

At this moment, he was basically the living version of a character from a fighting manga.

Iroha was sent flying by his volley of kicks.

Her entire body was revolving as she flew through the air.

She had a blank expression. Her mind was blank as well.

Actually, it would have been easy for her to adjust her body and land safely and steadily.

But since she couldn’t regain her senses, she crashed into the ground heavily and rolled a considerable distance before she finally stood up.

She was bleeding from the mouth as well now, and her disheveled figure seemed rather pitiful.

Seiji’s kicks had left many footprints on her clothing.

Iroha finally regained her senses and realized what just happened, causing her anger to rise to the boiling point!

"You…"

"Is this amount of strength sufficient?" Seiji asked, looking at her.

‘You said that if I showed you sufficient strength, you would listen to me speak. Then, is this amount of strength enough for you?’

That was the message Seiji was transmitting.

Iroha understood what he meant.

She should have calmed down, but… that was impossible for her!

‘I-I actually… this type of b.a.s.t.a.r.d did all this to me…’ Her heart was filled with unquenchable anger.

She was unable to think about anything else.

"You… prepare to die!!!" she howled.

Her murderous intention exploded.

She began casting a spell that instantaneously cleared out all the weeds and pebbles near her. Mana began gathering around her, as she lifted her hand and pointed at Seiji.

‘This is something serious!’

Seiji felt an enormous sense of danger. He was on the verge of making his move when—

"Stop!" someone shouted loudly.

A figure suddenly appeared beside Iroha.

*Clang!*

This person blocked a sharp blade that had soundlessly appeared from the dark night.

Immediately after, this person waved their hand and changed the direction that Iroha was pointing at.

A strong spiritual attack erupted from Iroha’s hand.

Seiji didn’t move.

Although he couldn’t see what happened, he felt a huge gust of wind pa.s.s by him several meters to the right.

*BOOM!!*

The gust of wind smashed into the remains of the merry-go-round and sent the entire ride flying with an explosion.

To Seiji, this seemed just like a rocket explosion.

The broken wooden horses and all the other shards from the merry-go-round were sent flying high into the sky, before landing with sharp cras.h.i.+ng sounds.

Seiji looked towards Iroha and the unknown person.

He was shocked to see another person there as well.

"s.h.i.+ka-chan…"

That’s right—it was s.h.i.+ka Kagura.

Without him realizing it, she'd somehow appeared behind Iroha with a longsword in her hand. It seemed like she was about to slice off Iroha’s neck.

The person who had blocked this blow was the person who suddenly appeared: a blonde boy wearing a black jacket.

He was holding a short dagger… no, a kunai, which was what he'd blocked s.h.i.+ka’s sharp blade with.

At the same time, his other hand was pressing down on Iroha’s shoulder, preventing her from willfully taking action.

After a standstill of several seconds.

"Seigo Harano… I apologize that I can only address you like this for the time being," said the blonde boy. "Could you please have Kagura-san here back down? I promise that Iroha won’t be rash anymore… we’re not supposed to be mortal enemies!"

Seiji blinked at this. "s.h.i.+ka-chan… come over here."

Hearing this, s.h.i.+ka slowly put down her longsword and retreated a few steps, fading into the darkness.

Moments later, she reappeared without a sound near Seiji and walked over to him.

This seemed pretty cool to him.

The beautiful black-haired girl, who could traverse through the darkness silently while holding a longsword, seemed just like an a.s.sa.s.sin to him.

Seiji was now seeing a new side to his adopted younger sister.

Why was s.h.i.+ka here? He understood it immediately; she must have been quite worried about him… so she decided to secretly follow him.

s.h.i.+ka looked at Seiji, and they exchanged glances.

She was actually really nervous about receiving a lecture from him, but when she saw that there was a gentle look in his eyes, she relaxed.

They could talk later.

Their immediate concern was the people facing them.

"Allow me to introduce myself—I’m Naoki Hasegawa, Iroha’s older brother." The blonde boy patted Iroha’s shoulder. "Because I was concerned about the situation here, I was secretly watching. Judging by what just happened, I was correct to do so. This is our first meeting, Seigo Harano-san."

Seiji scrutinized the blonde boy carefully.

Naoki had short light blonde hair and was wearing a black jacket and pants. His appearance… was rather ordinary. He felt like someone who would blend into the crowd.

Yep, another way to describe him was that he had the appearance of a side character who would easily be forgotten. There was nothing special about him at all, not to mention he was a bit short.

But not only did this ‘ordinary’ boy block s.h.i.+ka’s ambush, he even changed the direction of Iroha’s attack and wonderfully took control of the situation.

People shouldn’t be judged by appearances… Seiji felt that this was an excellent proverb.

"Pleased to meet you, Hasegawa…-san," Seiji responded.

Naoki smiled. "I apologize for what just happened; my younger sister has a bad temper. Please be magnanimous and forgive her since no significant harm was done in the end." 

Iroha’s expression changed, and she wanted to say something, but she felt a heavy pressure from Naoki’s hand on her shoulder, so, in the end, she remained silent.

Seiji noticed this detail.

"You’re being too polite. As for forgiveness… I apologize as well. My adopted younger sister… can be slightly rash."

‘Slightly?’

‘If almost cutting off someone’s head can be considered "slightly rash," then what would "rash" look like? Would she become a psychotic killer?’ Naoki coldly thought to himself.

Contrary to the friendliness he displayed on the surface, he was actually quite angry with the pair before him.

Even though he admitted that his younger sister had a bad temper, was willful, and unreasonable, she was still his family.

His younger sister had gotten thrashed in front of him, and she was almost killed, so it was impossible for him to not be angry!

But he forced himself to suppress his anger.

Otherwise, this situation would become impossible to deal with.

Seigo Harano… was an exiled member of the Haruta family, who was personally exiled by his master, Yui. But, no matter what, he was still Yui Haruta’s younger brother!

Killing Seigo… would be quite easy for him, but if he really did that, he and his younger sister would definitely die, even if they had a hundred lives.

Naoki definitely didn’t want to meet such a pitiful end.

That was why he could only smile: he had to smile, and he must smile.

"Now then, I hope that puts things behind us. Why don't I take the place of my younger sister and continue the discussion with you?"