Two shadows were in a grassy field just outside the capital, as the sun rose to its highest spot.
Spirito arrived first and waited while sitting down, until she heard the sound of Qualia’s footsteps and stood up.
“Are you ready to say ‘I give up’?”
“Error. Saying ‘I give up’ has been registered as a prohibited action.”
“You’ll regret it.”
“Error. Word ‘regret’ not registered.”
“Then I’ll carve it into you. I’m going full throttle from the start today.”
Spirito unsheathed her fake sword, and Qualia created one with his 5D printer.
“Initiating learning.”
“Ranma, third speed.”
Her full-powered shukuchi.
It was beyond just disappearing. It was as though space-time was distorted.
After all, Spirito attacked from three different directions at once.
“Revising optimized solution.”
The speed of Qualia’s revision of calculations was also being improved, and he overwrote his course of action.
He blocked two slashes with his fake sword, and twisted his body to avoid a direct hit from the third. But the incredible impact of the sword pushing down on him left him paralyzed for a second.
“I know you have a great ability to ‘read’. Even if you’re pushed into an unforeseen situation, you can adapt right away.”
Behind, up, and front. Spirito unleashed attacks from those three directions.
Basically, it was as though there were three of her.
“Then I have to make it so you can’t dodge even if you can read! Ranma, third speed.”
Finally, an attack from Holy Sword sent Qualia’s body flying, with no mercy.
It was a fake sword with a dull blade, but it was still steel.
Qualia was sent flying a few meters, and the flesh tissue of his chest, lower back, and left shoulder was terribly crushed.
“Moderate abnormalities detected in chest, left part of lower back, and left shoulder. Risk of being unable to continue to fight detected.”
Although he was aware of the risk, Qualia still faced Spirito with a blank look on his face.
“Analyzing situation. Using your division as feedback.”
“…There was no division. I just used shukuchi to use a special movement technique. Ranma, fifth speed.”
Spirito’s body turned into a blur again, but this time, there were five of her.
That meant five polished sword semicircles.
“Situation understood. By weaving together shukuchi and stoppage, an error occurs in Qualia’s ability to receive visual information.”
Qualia blocked three attacks. The remaining two mercilessly hit his abdomen and left bicep, sending him flying.
As she watched Qualia roll on the ground, Spirito announced the name of her technique.
“This is a special application of shukuchi, Ranma.”
Qualia stood up as if nothing happened, despite the visible painful looking bruises.
“Analyzing situation. Using Ranma as feedback.”
Pain was no reason for Qualia to stop his calculations.
Ranma was a special movement technique that broke the limits, and allowed for several multiple images to exist alongside the real one.
This was no surprise, just a deviation from what Qualia expected. All he had to do was correct that.
Having a non-orthodox opponent did not change his cold and robotic strategy.
“…Ranma, seventh speed.”
Again, Ranma, this time with seven bodies.
Four made metallic sounds as they were blocked.
“…!”
“Analyzing situation.”
There were wounds on his right leg and head, and one on his abdomen that even made Spirito look away.
But Qualia did not seem to be in pain at all, as he continued his calculations.
In fact, it seemed more like Spirito was the one hurting.
It was not due to recoil from her attacks. Spirito was having trouble keeping up with the fact that no matter how many times she hurt him, Qualia always got up like nothing happened.
The hand she was using to hold the sword to beat Qualia was trembling.
“It hurts, doesn’t it? It will end if you say ‘I give up’… Say it.”
“Error. Saying ‘I give up’ has been registered as a prohibited action.”
“…I told you I will carve that regret into you.”
Qualia did not budge. The artificial intelligence did not register his own pain.
Spirito took a deep breath, as if making up her mind about something.
“As your teacher, I will teach you what ‘regret’ is. Hate me if you want. Call me a fiend if you want.”
Spirito lowered her stance, looking like a bird about to take off flying, or a flower about to bloom…
“Secret technique.”
Suddenly, Spirito was gone.
But then she reappeared, ten of her. The maximum number.
Right, left up, up, behind, forward… It was like a tornado all around Qualia.
Qualia saw in Spirito’s eyes those of a hawk pecking at its prey, as the ten blades shined like a constellation.
“Kaitou Ranma.”
Ten arches carved at his body.
Flesh was crushed, bones broken, and intense pain signals ran through his whole body.
Qualia’s body was visibly in taters, but his right leg and right arm in particular were bent in ways that they should not be.
“Beautifully bent. That should heal quickly… But even if they do, and you come again, I will be fierce as many times as necessary.”
“Severe abnormalities detected in this hardware. Unable to continue to fight.”
Spirito sighed.
Rather than being intoxicated by the joy of victory, it felt more like she was relieved by the end of a hardship.
“…Then it’s over.”
“Initiating emergency maintenance by way of 5D printer.”
“Eh…”
The light of the 5D printer appeared in Qualia’s right hand.
First it was pointed at his leg, and in the area where it shined, the wounds that clearly had a strange shape and color were healed.
“…Healing magic… Who would have thought you could use such a high level spell.”
“Negative. The 5D printer is rewriting damaged parts and returning them to how they were.”
The 5D printer could replicate healthy human body tissue, and rewriting it into the body was no issue. Qualia was aware of the peculiarities of the cells in his own body, and the shape of his genes. There was no risk of a negative response from his immune system either.
Biotechnology to duplicate humans had already been perfected when the dawn of artificial intelligence happened, so it was ancient technology as far as Qualia was concerned.
The carved flesh was visibly being closed by the shining light, and crushed bones were returned to normal with creaking sounds.
Everything was being healed.
“…What is that?”
Spirito sounded dumbfounded, as the light ran through Qualia’s whole body.
The only thing coloring Qualia’s body was the blood that was already dripping.
“All that… Is being healed.”
“Hardware repair check… Remaining issues, zero. Returning to combat learning.”
Basically, as long as Qualia’s vital activity did not cease, the 5D printer and biotechnology could restore his body.
“Analyzing situation. Kaitou Ranma learning complete.”
“…What did you say?”
Spirito mumbled, as a certain reality hit her like a death sentence.
“Calculated optimal solution.”
The path to making her say ‘I give up’ had already been unlocked.
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Thank you for the translation!
Machine learning algorithm xD
Either OHKO him or he will continually adapt from every blow.
Like I thought. You can’t challenge a machine to some kind of willpower bs lol