Moroboshi rushed forward with his greatest speed yet. He unleashed his Astral Trio, aiming for Ikki’s brow, throat, and solar plexus—a combination that was certain to put an end to their fight.
There was no way Ikki would be able to evade the attack. On top of being unable to control himself, he also had a thigh injury. Resigning himself to defeat, he reflected upon the bitter feeling it left in his heart.
“Tomorrow, I’ll be the greatest opponent you could have ever asked for.”
He had been unable to keep his promise. He hated the fact that he couldn’t return the favor to his proud foe, who wished wholeheartedly to fight him at full power. For that reason, he swore to himself that he would continue fighting until he was physically unable to. That was the least he could do.
That’s why I can’t use Ittou Shura. Not yet.
As long as he was dealing with this bizarre condition, using his time-limited trump card would be putting it to waste. Doing so would nip his chance of victory in the bud, and he couldn’t bring himself to do that. Until he fell unconscious, no matter how unsightly it was, he would continue to fight without giving up on even the slightest chance at victory.
With his resolve steeled, Ikki lifted the tip of his sword to meet Moroboshi’s attack. Then, riddled with wounds and facing certain defeat, he readied Intetsu. The situation he found himself in brought back a memory, if only for the span of a mere moment.
Come to think of it, this is just like what happened back then.
His desperate battle against Edelweiss at Akatsuki Academy’s schoolyard resurfaced in his mind. The situation had been desperate indeed, as he’d been robbed of his vision and left with no time to think. Because of that, the memory of the fight wasn’t well-formed, but the similarities between his tattered state against Moroboshi and that of back then helped make his recollection more vivid.
What did I do back then? Surprisingly, the memory of how he’d responded to the approach of the world’s strongest knight came back to him with ease. That’s right. I tried to use the swordplay I stole from Edelweiss.
Edelweiss’ swordplay was fast enough that even the afterimages it left behind were impossible to perceive, but fortunately, he had been able to piece it together based on the movements of her body. Her swings were oppressively fast, but Ikki had uncovered the secret behind them: she did not need time to accelerate.
Normally, even regular sword swings were slow when they were started. For the tip of the blade to reach full speed, some measure of acceleration was necessary. However, in none of Edelweiss’ movements was there any amount of acceleration. The moment her heel lifted to step forward, her sword was already at top speed. It was an instantaneous stop-and-go, jumping straight from zero to a hundred and back.
Though seemingly useless, it was actually an incredibly strong power. Such extreme changes in speed allowed one to seem many times faster than they actually were, and the lack of a slow start made it extremely difficult for foes to focus on the sword itself. In the space of their battle, Ikki had discerned that much of Edelweiss’ fighting abilities.
Using what he’d gleaned from her, he had, in his final moments of consciousness, attempted to replicate her skill using Blade Steal. He’d had no proof that he could imitate it, he’d simply decided that, because it was the strongest sword style he’d ever seen, he should learn to use it. Perhaps, then, attempting to replicate it against Moroboshi was his best course of action. Though he was too battered to do so properly, there was no doubt that its strength would be of some use to him.
Maybe I can at least…
With that thought in mind, Ikki cast his mind back. He recalled the feeling of fighting Edelweiss, and gave an order to his reluctant body. The world’s best swordplay was… was…
“Like this.”
Instantly, Ikki became as light as a feather. He weaved through the intervals of Astral Trio like the rushing wind, passing by Moroboshi to deliver a deep horizontal slash to his torso. It was as if his condition had never even affected him; he was moving with speed comparable to that of Ittou Shura.
The intersection between the two fighters happened in the blink of an eye. Before he could figure out what had happened, Moroboshi sank to the ground, unable to muster so much as a scream as blood spewed from his body.
“What the…?” Ikki asked himself. Even he struggled to understand that everything that had just happened was his own doing.
“Wh-Whaaaaat?!”
Shocked by the incomprehensible turnabout, the venue exploded with shouts of confusion.