The instant the signal was given, Ikki kicked off from his starting position and sprinted toward the Seven Stars King.
“Whoa! Kurogane isn’t wasting a single second! He’s already on the offensive!”
The announcer was audibly startled by Ikki’s charge, leading to a wave of similar surprise throughout the venue. He was attacking without even taking the time to assess his situation. Careless, impatient, hasty—many would feel that it was a poor idea. Alice, however, had carefully scrutinized his options.
“Great thinking!” she praised.
“Alice?”
“There’s nothing Ikki can do from a distance, because he has no skills that work at long-range. The key to his victory is breaking past the range of Moroboshi’s spear and getting into his own range with his sword.” In other words, a swift attack was his best option. “A spear’s strengths and weaknesses are all based on reach. If he can get close enough, he’ll easily be able to get the upper hand!”
“But Moroboshi’s fully aware of that. He’s not just going to stand there and let someone get in close to him.”
As if to back up Kiriko’s claim, Moroboshi moved to protect himself. He was unperturbed by Ikki’s swift attack, moving with composure as he angled himself such that his shoulder was drawn back, Tiger King’s spearhead waiting for its prey. Everyone in the Dome immediately got goosebumps, shudders creeping down their backs.
“Hnn…!”
Shizuku, watching from the audience, was no different.
“Wh-What a man! His posture alone exudes such a strong pressure!”
As the announcer stated, the stadium-wide shudder was caused by the intense pressure that Moroboshi exuded as he took up his stance. The once-bustling crowd was frozen in silence; that one boy had captured the full attention of the tens of thousands of spectators in the arena.
Despite his swift decision-making from seconds before, even Ikki was forced to halt his charge in the face of that pressure. Moroboshi had the same glint in his eye that had stopped Yui Tatara two days earlier: Predator’s Sense. The pressure only lasted a moment, however, and Ikki then put even more strength into his halted legs, continuing his sprint toward Moroboshi.
“Kurogane may have stopped once, but he won’t shrink from battle now!”
“He’s got guts, for sure. A normal knight would have faltered and tottered around under the Seven Stars King’s pressure, but he hasn’t lost one bit of his sharpness.”
Coach Muroto praised Ikki’s courage, but Moroboshi already knew of his daring. If he wanted to put the Worst One down, he would need more than just some pressure.
“Hah!”
Just as Ikki, unshaken, stepped into Moroboshi’s range, there was a flash of light as Tiger King pierced through the air. Ikki performed a backstep to escape the attack, but wasn’t able to make it out completely unscathed—some of his hair scattered onto the ground. He had been a split second too late to dodge, owing to the spear’s incredible speed.
Cheers filled the arena once more in response to Moroboshi’s counter.
“See how sharp that was! That thrust tore through the air so fast, I think I can hear the wind from up here! Kurogane was forced to retreat. Moroboshi has ended his opponent’s charge with a single blow!”
“That wasn’t a single blow.”
“It wasn’t?”
“Try zooming in on Worst One’s chest.”
Iida operated the play-by-play camera in response to Muroto’s command. In doing so, the venue’s huge screen revealed multiple holes in Ikki’s clothes.
“Wow! His clothes are torn in two places!”
“That’s right. Include the haircut, and that makes three strikes total. It’s the Seven Stars King’s Astral Trio, a triple spear thrust that looks like only a single stab from afar. Because Moroboshi’s incredible Noble Art allows him to break enemy magic, people often fight in a way that removes that from the equation. In my opinion, though, his honed skill with the spear makes for a more dangerous weapon. Weaving your way through his attacks is a Herculean task; Worst One needs to take extra care to really plan out when and how he intends to make his move.”
Muroto’s confident explanation was tantamount to common sense. A direct charge would be too rash against the spearman whom Ikki had locked eyes with, as the spear boasted unmatched power against enemies in a straight line. Ikki’s surprise attack at the start of the match had failed, so he had to find some way to break through from the side. That much was obvious, which made his next move all the more bewildering.
Not running, not leaping, he almost seemed to stroll nonchalantly toward Moroboshi. Incredibly, he got about five feet from his foe—perfect striking range for the spear, but not for the sword—before stopping to stand completely still.
“Whaaat?! What in the world is Kurogane planning! I-It’s almost like he’s asking his opponent to attack!”
Both play-by-play and analysis were agape. His actions were entirely incomprehensible; they almost looked to be provocative. Then, a few members of the audience caught on, and one section of the arena erupted with shouts.
“Don’t underestimate him, Boshi! Kick his ass!”
“This Tokyo kid’s just got a big head!”
As if responding to their voices, Moroboshi repeated his special move from before: a volley of stabs known as Astral Trio.
“There he goes! The Seven Stars King comes in with a furious assault on his fearless opponent!” It was a rain of death, not unlike a bullet hail let loose by a machine gun. Unavoidable, unblockable—or so it was thought to be. “I-It’s not working! The attacks aren’t hitting! Even with its incredible speed, Astral Trio hasn’t put so much as a scratch on its target! Kurogane is avoiding the spearhead so elegantly it almost looks like he’s dancing! Talk about magnificent footwork!”
Ikki was avoiding Moroboshi’s Astral Trio, which could strike thrice in the space of a single breath, by moving left and right instead of forward and backward. The Noble Art was so terrific that it could almost have been said to be superhuman, but despite being well within its range, Ikki was evading every blow. It was a situation that he had intentionally put himself in, for he knew of a technique far faster and far sharper. It was the Sword Eater’s Marginal Counter.
The Sword Eater’s Marginal Counter far surpassed a human’s maximum reaction speed, allowing him to strike eight times in such rapid succession that it created the illusion of simultaneity. Compared to that, Astral Trio could be followed by the naked eye with ease; it wasn’t nearly as overpowering as the impossible illusion of eight fangs closing in all at once. Ikki needed only to calmly read the spear’s path of movement and he would have no trouble dealing with Moroboshi’s technique.
For ten full seconds, Moroboshi attacked and Ikki evaded. As if deciding that it was a fruitless endeavor, Moroboshi leaped back to create distance between them once again.
“Moroboshi can’t take it! He’s been forced back! Incredible, Ikki Kurogane! It’s like he’s paying the King back for that pressure at the start of the match, forcing him to retreat without landing a single hit!”
“The heck?!”
“No way!”
“Whoooa! That guy’s seriously a Rank F?!”
“So cool!”
“Cheers and cries alike rise from the crowd. These fighters sure know how to make a match exciting!”
“He’s making it very clear how he managed to achieve victory over past representatives like The Hunter and Raikiri. I’ve never seen a fighter as quick and fearsome in mid-range combat as he is. That said, it seems that neither fighter is giving his all quite yet.”
Muroto’s gently whispered words were the truth. Though it looked as though Moroboshi was overwhelmed, he curled his lips into a smirk and spoke to Ikki.
“You’ve got some nerve, making me a part of your warm-up. Well? Feeling good yet?”
“Yeah. Thanks to you, I’m absolutely certain now. I’m definitely in top form today.”
Neither side had meant for their game of cat and mouse to be a true trading of blows. Ikki had stepped into the danger zone and continually evaded Astral Trio for the sole purpose of making sure that his body did not flinch in fear, and, understanding that goal, Moroboshi had offered a helping hand. Ikki thanked him for his kindness, for it was because of him that he could have conviction.
His legs carried him well. His movements were sharp. His field of vision was wide and clear. Even if he had only narrowly evaded Moroboshi’s spear, there was not the slightest bit of fear in his heart. There was no sense of unnaturalness like there had been when he’d fought Ouma the night before.
Ikki could fight. With that realization, for the first time since the starting signal, he wielded his sword with a true thirst for battle.
“Perfect.” Moroboshi nodded in satisfaction. “That’s the end of your free lunch, then. Time for me to get serious.”
The pressure emanating from Moroboshi instantly grew stronger, to the point that just looking at him made it hard to breathe. It was undoubtedly the pressure given off by a King. However, Ikki still knew that he could win. He had gleaned an important piece of information from their short exchange.
The way Moroboshi uses his spear is exactly the same as it was in the videos I watched. He has a fatal weakness!