In summary, Imperial Decree was extremely powerful, but it had three limitations: rules could only apply to objects Shin had cut, rules had to be declared out loud, and only two rules could be maintained at a time.
…I’ve finally figured it out. My careful analysis had revealed this duel to be much less difficult than it initially seemed. To overcome Imperial Decree’s defenses, all I had to do was perform three different kinds of attacks at once.
“Haah… I see your brain working, but don’t bother. There’s no point; nothing you do will work. I’m unbeatable,” Shin said. He swept his sword horizontally. “Space compresses.”
The next thing I knew, Shin was standing right in front of me.
“What?!” I gasped.
He hadn’t moved toward me; the distance between us had been erased—or compressed—until we were inches apart.
“This is gonna hurt,” he said before hounding me with a torrent of slashes imbued with an absurd amount of spirit power.
“Ngh…!” I was late to react because his approach had caught me off guard, and I was swept up in the storm.
How are his thrusts so powerful…? I tried to retreat, unable to properly defend myself, but Shin pursued me.
“I’m not letting you get away! Shockwaves become raging storms.”
Shin lifted Imperial Decree overhead and slammed it into the stage. The impact didn’t create a shockwave as I would’ve expected but a storm containing massive spirit power that ravaged my body.
Crap! He can do whatever he wants with that weapon…! Common sense didn’t apply to Imperial Decree, which made predicting Shin’s next move impossible.
But that’s two rules! He had already applied two rules during that attack, reaching Imperial Decree’s limit. If my theory was correct, the rules restricting Dark Shadow and Dark Boom were gone.
Dark Shadow.
I summoned Dark Shadow inside my left fist where Shin wouldn’t see it.
Sweet, it worked!
As I’d predicted, the rule that turned Dark Shadow into mist was gone. I now knew how to defeat him.
Let’s not waste any time! I can end this with my next attack!
I put off healing myself in favor of preparing my trap.
“Dark Shadow!”
“That move won’t… Huh?”
The dark tentacles quickly surrounded Shin from all sides, where they waited.
“Sixth Style—Dark Boom!” I roared, sending a large pitch-black slash at Shin. That was when the dark tentacles attacked.
“Hmm, you actually put some thought into that attack, didn’t you? But two attacks isn’t enou— What?!”
Astonishment showed on Shin’s face for the first time. I’d circled around behind him, hiding behind the Dark Boom.
“I’ve figured out how your ability works, sucker! Tenth Style—Clear Black Sky!”
Dark Shadow surged at him from below, my full-strength Dark Boom rushed at him from the front, and I’d just performed a vicious Clear Black Sky from behind, resulting in three attacks from different angles. That left Shin with nowhere to escape. My attacks were too powerful to block because I’d invested all my spirit power into them, and they were three different kinds of slashes, so he couldn’t erase them all with rules.
“You’re dead!” I shouted, sure of my victory.
“Not so fast, bud,” Shin said, laughing repulsively.
It all fell apart in the blink of an eye. One moment Dark Shadow, Dark Boom, and Clear Black Sky were raging toward Shin, and the next they’d disappeared like magic.
“…Huh?” I said, flabbergasted.
“Too bad, so sad. We’ll have to do this again next year,” Shin said, swinging Imperial Decree.
“Gah…!” I gasped as his violent slash tore through flesh and broke bones.
I had devoted nearly all my darkness to those attacks, leaving me to take Shin’s attack undefended. It was too much, and I collapsed to my knees, bleeding heavily.
“How…?” I mumbled.
“How, indeed? Are you hopelessly confused? That is the true power of Imperial Decree!” Shin said joyfully, throwing his arms wide.
Belittled by Shin’s words and actions, something clicked in my mind. He had been playing a dirty trick on me this whole time.
“You bastard… Did you deflect that Flying Shadow with your sword just to…?”
“Huh? Oh yeah. I did that to mess with you. I saw how hard you were working that puny brain of yours to figure out my ability, so I thought I’d have some fun. A reckless idiot like you could never beat Imperial Decree.”
He’d deflected Flying Shadow and glanced at me simply to mislead me about his ability.
I really can’t stand this guy… He’d been screwing with me the whole time as I frantically tried to search for Imperial Decree’s weakness.
“I told you at the start, remember? Imperial Decree is a perfect Soul Attire! There’s no limit on the number of rules it can maintain, and I don’t have to say them out loud, either! I don’t even need to slice the target! All things in the world must adhere to my rules! My power is almighty!” Shin declared.
“That kind of ability shouldn’t be possible…,” I said.
“Yeah, it really shouldn’t be. And yet it’s mine. That’s what makes me special,” he said cheerfully. “Anyway…I think that’s enough messing around.” His expression suddenly turned cold. “The noble faction told me about you. They said you have a savage Spirit Core. That sounds like a massive pain, so I’m gonna finish you off now before it emerges.”
“Like hell you are!” I shouted, firing darkness downward to propel myself into the air. “Die!” I filled my black sword with as much spirit power as I could and performed my strongest attack. “Fifth Style—World Render!”
“Haven’t you been listening? There’s nothing you can do. Your black sword becomes brittle.”
My black sword shattered as it made contact with Shin’s body.
“What…?!”
My strongest attack—which was able to cut through the World of Time and had gotten me out of so many tough spots—failed completely as my sword broke to pieces.
“Do you finally understand?” asked Shin. “The strongest people in any world are those who make the rules.”
He pulled back Imperial Decree …
“Grk…”
…and stabbed it deep into my chest.
Shit…!
He’d stabbed through the one vital part I couldn’t afford to lose—my heart.
No, no, no. I can’t let him pull his sword out…
I fought down the intense pain and tightened my chest muscles so he couldn’t withdraw Imperial Decree, leaving it lodged in my heart.
“Ah-ha-ha, clever. Tightening your muscles is certainly one way to prevent me from drawing my sword,” Shin said with an innocent smile. “But that’s just as useless as everything else you’ve tried.”
He thrust his sword deeper into my chest.
“Allen Rodol’s heart…stops.”
“U-urk…”
This was different from any attack I’d ever suffered.
It wasn’t just life-threatening.
It was life-ending. And there was nothing I could do about it.
What’s…happening…? My body feels…heavy. I can’t…think…
Oxygen ceased to reach my brain. My mind dulled.
Sensation grew…distant…
My vision flickered…and grew dark.
I can’t…die here…
And so, the swordsman named Allen Rodol perished.