"What?" Seiji raised his eyebrows in surprise.

His first reaction was 'what the h.e.l.l?' However, he soon realized what Akatsuki wanted.

Seiji considered whether he should accept the challenge or leave the fighting until the official duel.

He glanced at Natsuya, inquiring with his expression about what he should do. She indicated that it didn't matter either way and that he could choose.

Since it didn't matter either way, Seiji decided to accept.

A high ability human puppet… similar to an android with artificial intelligence. Seiji was indeed somewhat curious about its battle potential.

"Rather than a puppet, I'd rather be beating up on you, but now's not the time. Plus, I am indeed curious about this… s.h.i.+n.o.bu Miaki." Seiji squinted slightly. "Let's just treat it as me wanting to try my mettle. You're willing to let her fight with me right here and now?"

"I'd be more than happy to. Harutsan, please be extra careful. If you're seriously injured, that'll be quite a bother for me."

"Rather than worrying about me, you should be more concerned about your masterpiece. If I break it, I won't be paying you for the costs incurred."

"No need to worry about that. Even if s.h.i.+n.o.bu is completely destroyed, I won't request any compensation from Harutsan at all." Akatsuki chuckled coldly. "I completely doubt that Harutsan will be able to do such a thing."

The two of them glared at each other. It was as if their gazes were clas.h.i.+ng in the air.

Seiji felt like if this continued, he wouldn't be able to hold himself back from beating up Akatsuki anymore. He stood up and started to leave.

"Natsuya, I'm going out for a little exercise. This guy really p.i.s.ses me off."

"Understood. If you want a place to fight at, you only need to tell the server and one will be arranged for you," Natsuya told him with an expression that said 'be careful.'

"Got it." Seiji nodded before he left the private room.

Akatsuki turned around and gave his human puppet girl an order. She then stood up and followed him outside.

This restaurant actually belonged to the Himiki Family, the judging clan. Spiritual Ability users often held negotiations here. Of course, it would often be the case that negotiations would break down and one or both sides would get angry and start a fight. Besides, dueling was also a type of negotiation, which was why there was actually a large dueling arena as well as judges available underground in a secret facility beneath the restaurant.

Of course, the "judges" here were actually the restaurant's servers. These duels here weren't considered official, and whether or not the customers accepted the outcome of the duel was all up to the customers. If there were customers that became serious about fighting to the death rather than simply dueling, the judges wouldn't stop them, either. The judges would merely provide objective reports about what happened to the relevant parties afterwards.

A female server led Seiji and s.h.i.+n.o.bu to an elevator that took them to the underground dueling arena.

A man wearing a white mask and black Sakura Island attire greeted them upon arrival.

"Welcome. May I ask what type of duel the two of you would like to have?" he asked them politely.

'How should I answer this question?' Seiji thought it over for a few seconds.

"Just a regular duel, one on one."

"Will it be a battle to the death?"

"I suppose not."

"Will there be any special rules?"

"No."

"Alright. I shall act appropriately as the judge and determine the victor. I shall stop the duel when I feel that one side has won." The man in the white mask… the judge bowed to them and said, "Please make your preparations. When both of you are ready, please let me know, and the duel can be started at any time."

The judge then left the arena and went into a nearby room which had gla.s.s windows that he was easily able to observe the duel from.

Seiji turned to speak to s.h.i.+n.o.bu.

The puppet girl looked at him with a completely blank expression.

Seiji walked a distance away from her before standing still.

"Are you ready?" He decided to try asking.

There was no response.

"Can you understand me?" He tried asking a different question.

Still no response.

"I don't care what you say, just say something!"

Again, no response.

There was no way to communicate… was that supposed to be how it was, or did Akatsuki modify her in such a way? Seiji furrowed his eyebrows.

He felt that a human puppet on the level of an android with artificial intelligence wasn't supposed to lack intelligence to the point of not even knowing how to speak. That meant it was highly likely that Akatsuki intentionally modified her to be unable to communicate.

Well, if they couldn't communicate, Seiji figured he might as well start the fight.

"We're ready!" Seiji shouted towards the judge's room.

"Alright. Three… two… one, duel start!" The judge's voice rang out through the entire arena through some speakers.

Seiji cast [Body-strengthening technique] on himself and got into a combat posture.

s.h.i.+n.o.bu Miaki remained there silently without moving.

Seeing this, Seiji decided to rush and punch at her!

The puppet girl observed his attack and instantly cast a barrier along with the [Body-strengthening technique]. She lifted her left hand…

*Smack!* She accurately blocked Seiji's punch.

Immediately following after this, she balled up her right hand into a fist and suddenly punched towards Seiji's stomach!

*Boom!* Seiji felt a heavy impact when he blocked her fist.

The sound of physical impacts echoed continuously as the two of them exchanged punches and kicks at high speed that soon turned this into a fierce fight.

s.h.i.+n.o.bu's movements were rather simple and seemed quite mechanical, with her strength being slightly above Seiji's.

"I feel like I'm fighting with a robot…"

Seiji gradually got used to her movement patterns, then took advantage of a predicted movement to put all his strength in a kick aimed at her stomach!

The puppet girl was sent flying backwards by the impact, but soon adjusted her posture midair and rushed back at him without even needing to stop and rest!

She didn't feel pain, she didn't hesitate, her attacks were strong, and she remained expressionless throughout… the more Seiji fought with her, the more he realized that he was indeed facing someone who wasn't human.

The second time that he managed to send her flying with a kick, s.h.i.+n.o.bu suddenly increased her speed and power by another level, and came back at him with a punch that sent him flying as well!

Seiji cast [Evolved Body-strengthening technique] on himself in midair and made himself golden in appearance as he landed back on the ground to continue the fight.

Seiji intentionally feigned a weakness and activated [Bullet Time] right when she viciously punched directly at his face!

Then, he also continuously activated [Lightning Strike]!

His fists landed on the puppet girl's body like continuous flashes of light, and broke through her barrier! His fists then hit her head!!

There was a dense succession of sounds of impact as the silver-haired figure went flying backwards. She twisted around in the air and rolled several times on the ground upon impact before she backflipped and finally stood up again after sliding a long distance.

"Victory has been determined. The gentleman has won!"

A spotlight instantly shone upon Seiji, together with the sound of applause and upbeat music.

Seiji was rendered speechless.

Well, the judge did say that he would stop the duel when he "determined that a side had won…" and Seiji did say that this wasn't going to be a duel to the death.

Just as his cheeks were twitching, something flashed red in s.h.i.+n.o.bu's eyes.

s.h.i.+n.o.bu's Soul Core increased its power output yet again and provided a burst of power to her!

A dark-red mist enveloped s.h.i.+n.o.bu as it began whirling around her at a high speed. The mist attached itself to her entire body.

She demonized into "Nightmist Form!"

The puppet girl transformed into a dark-red shadow and stepped forward, vanis.h.i.+ng in the next instant, leaving nothing but faint dark-red mist behind.

Seiji sensed danger upon seeing this scene and instantly decided to cast [Evolved Mana Barrier] upon himself.

A dark red figure appeared before him, and attacked with both her hands.

Demon Break, "Night's Embrace!"

A thick black mist attacked Seiji, while s.h.i.+n.o.bu's hands managed to penetrate through Seiji's golden light [Evolved Mana Barrier] and make contact with Seiji's body!!

[Bullet Time] activated once again!

Seiji used [Lightning Strike] again, intending to knock her away just like last time.

However, when he punched her this time, he couldn't feel any impact at all. Instead, it felt like his fists were punching a sticky substance!

That was obviously an effect of the dark-red mist enveloping her. It had the ability to entangle anyone who attacked her in her shadow form!

Seiji could only do his best to dodge her attacks then.

He utilized his footwork in an attempt to dodge her attack.

However… he was completely unable to dodge.

*Boom!* A black flash shaped like lightning combined with a dull explosion sent Seiji flying.

Blood dripped through the air.