While Kazane and Naoki were fighting the devils and Yumika's group was fighting Black Dragon Hagasu, the battle between Jinrai and Old Jinrai was also still continuing. Above the heads of the people running around to escape the Hirukos, that battle was taking place on the rooftops of the houses, and right now, it seemed Jinrai was on the defensive as Old Jinrai fiercely attacked.
「Drop dead already!」
「Shut it! You're merely my right arm; rebelling against me is what's wrong here.」
After Jinrai shouted that, Old Jinrai closed the distance at once.
「Unu!?」
Spear technique『Weeping Willow』into『Spin』. Old Jinrai used Yumika's specialty, but Jinrai anticipated it and blocked the spear shaft with his own spear shaft before his legs were caught.
「Naive!」
Jinrai shouted, but Old Jinrai grinned. Immediately after, Old Jinrai forcibly stepped forward and rammed Jinrai. Their body specs were different. At this short distance, Jinrai couldn't defend.
「Ku!」
Jinrai was pushed off the roof and hung in the air.
(Hah. I of all people.)
But Jinrai wasn't flustered. Jinrai had already entered the mental concentration territory of『Zone』. After he grasped the surroundings, he sent the Adhesive Sword in his artificial arm flying and hooked onto the railing of a balcony, then used the momentum of his fall and the Adhesive Sword's stretching and contracting nature to jump to another building's rooftop.
「Tch, are you a street performer?!」
Old Jinrai's calculations had failed due to Jinrai's unexpected movements, and he raised a criticizing voice as he chased after him.
「Shut up. I use whatever I can use. That's my policy.」
As Jinrai replied, he made a U-turn and rushed toward the approaching old Jinrai. The midair clash of spears scattered sparks, and they passed by each other without either causing any damage once again.
(However, this guy truly is me after all?)
Jinrai once again set foot on a roof, and while facing Old Jinrai and assuming a stance, he thought that. The more they thrust their spears at each other, the more he could understand that their idiosyncrasies were the same. Since they could predict most of each other's movements, they couldn't make any opportunities for powerful techniques, so they had no other option but to continuously make simple thrusts against each other. Their state was now almost like a repetition draw in shogi.
However, they were still in the wait-and-see stage right now. The equilibrium would likely immediately collapse as soon as Jinrai removed his prosthetic arm. And it seemed that was the same for the other party.
(It seems that guy also has『something』.)
Jinrai glared at Old Jinrai in front of him.
「Hm」
「Hm」
Then, as if they had made an agreement, both jumped backward. Both of them smiled as they looked at their opponent.
「Should I say as expected of myself? It means we can read each other's inner thoughts.」
「Since it seems we both see that this will never end as it is. In that case, we'll have to display what happened after we were separated.」
Jinrai unlocked the breastplate that held his prosthetic arm in place, removed artificial arm『Cindy』, and made it move independently with its auxiliary arms to withdraw. Now that he only had one arm, when Jinrai took a stance, he only had the white dragon fang spear『God Eater』, which had absorbed Gungnir, in his left hand.
「Did you acquire that power while I was gone?」
「Rynox gave it the name『Unicorn』.」
Old Jinrai frowned at the name Rynox. He was also『Jinrai』. Rynox's name had a special meaning.
「In that case, should I also go receive a name from that guy?」
As Old Jinrai said that, his gauntlets, greaves, and chestplate began to move one after another, opening to expose the contents. Then red light leaked from inside. It seemed Old Jinrai had a body inside. The red glow was coming from it. Then Old Jinrai's face also started changing from black to transparent red crystal.
「What is that?」
「Right now, other than the living flesh of my right arm, my body is made of Magic Life Stones. This armor also acts as a seal and limiter. And now I have released that. Do you understand what that means?」
It was different from just before. That presence was as if a giant beast was in that place. Then Old Jinrai announced.
「My current self is a little too strong. Shall I end it immediately?」
Without pause, he started running.
(Fast!?)
Jinrai's eyes opened wide as he saw Old Jinrai accelerate even faster than before. The light leaking from the open part of the armor became a trail that marked the trajectory of Old Jinrai's movement.
「NUuuUOOOO!」
Then Old Jinrai thrust out the spear in his right hand, and red Fighting Spirit was emitted. That destroyed the roof he and Jinrai were standing on and the surrounding structures before it crashed into the watchtower further back, causing that to start collapsing as well.
「That's a vulgar way of fighting.」
However, Jinrai splendidly avoided that powerful attack. Jinrai squinted as he said that, and Old Jinrai smiled as he replied.
「This body has things I didn't have before. Vast magical power. Superhuman ability. Now, you can't win against me.」
「It's precisely because I've arrived beyond that point that I'm here now. There's no way I'd lose to someone wallowing in their own power.」
Then Jinrai stepped forward. Unlike Old Jinrai, who had acquired enormous magical power, Jinrai's body remained the same as before. No, the loss of his arm's Astral Body had definitely reduced his quantity of Magic Power.
However, the current Jinrai was purely『strong』.
Jinrai's spear, clad in honed white Fighting Spirit, knocked down Old Jinrai's black spear, which was wrapped in red Fighting Spirit.
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