“Noel, I know what you intend to do.”
These were the exact words spoken by Hugo a month ago, when he deduced the true reason for the Seven Star Cup.
“You said you do not intend to lose, but you do not intend to win either, do you?” he said with a grin. “If I am reading things correctly, then your real aim is to use the battle between Zeke and Leo to your advantage.”
Perhaps because of his excitement at having solved the puzzle, Hugo pushed the bridge of his glasses up before going on.
“I predict that if two EX-Rank Seekers meet in battle, it will cause a disaster. There will be no escaping it. And if you stop that disaster from getting out of hand, you will prove in front of the whole empire that you’re above them both. That is your goal, isn’t it?”
I nodded.
“What do you mean, ‘a disaster’?” asked Leon.
“Only Noel knows for certain, but based on what I have heard of Zeke and Leo and their personalities,” said Hugo, putting a finger to his lips, “ they are sure to break the rules. They’ll turn their fight into a full-on deathmatch.”
Leon almost bent over backward in shock. “Wait, wait. You’re telling me you plan to stop two EX-Rankers gone wild?! How?!”
“It is possible with your X Invincible skill. It is the ultimate defensive skill because it blocks any attack once. That is how we create an opening.”
“But we only get one shot! What happens after we create the opening?”
“Noel uses Roaring Thunder.”
Roaring Thunder—a unique kicking technique that hit the target in the chest with such force it gave them a heart attack. Leon crossed his arms at Hugo’s reply, then jumped into another question.
“Can he even hit an EX-Rank opponent with the attack?”
“He can,” Alma chimed in. “If he tried it on both of them, it’d be impossible, but just one? It could work. But the best-case scenario is having one of the two near death and the other exhausted from the battle. If Noel can analyze the battle up until the moment of our surprise attack, then use his precognition, he can dodge whatever attack Zeke or Leo throw at him and land a direct hit.”
“Will Roaring Thunder have the same effect on an EX-Ranker?”
“Their bodies are built just like ours. That I can guarantee.”
“Come to think of it, you’re a descendant of Alcor, aren’t you?”
Alcor Judikhali, former leader of the Society of Assassins, was Alma’s EX-Rank grandfather. Alma had learned her skills from him, so she knew the limits of EX-Rank Seekers. As the grandson of Overdeath, I was in the same boat.
“Sudden cardiac arrest occurs when outside pressure causes the heart to spasm, and this pressure doesn’t have to be strong. What’s important is ensuring the shock reaches the heart. As long as you make that happen, it doesn’t matter who your opponent is.”
“I-I see…” said Leon, nodding.
Hugo cleared his throat. “Alma, can I assume you are done with your analysis of Roaring Thunder?”
Alma nodded, then leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Hugo’s usually so quiet, but he’s a chatterbox when he gets excited, huh?”
Unfortunately for Alma, she spoke loud enough for Hugo to hear, and dead silence fell between us. A moment later, we went on as if he’d heard nothing.
“Back to the topic at hand… If everything goes according to Noel’s plan, the tournament brackets and individual results are irrelevant. No matter how the brackets are set and who fights whom, either Zeke or Leo will win. At some point or another, the two will have to meet in battle.”
“And when those two fly off the handle, which they will, whoever can stop them proves themselves to be even stronger.”
“Exactly. Even without winning the tournament, Noel showing he can handle two EX-Rank Seekers in such a public arena will prove he is worthy of commanding our forces in the battle against the Valiant. “
“What happens if some other Seeker moves in and tries to stop them before we can?”
“Even if a group of A-Rank Seekers were to try to move in, they hardly stand a chance without a strategy. You have seen a fight between EX-Rankers firsthand—even the boldest Seeker is going to think twice before intervening in a battle of that magnitude.”
“Yeah, diving into a fight like that with no plan is practically suicide.”
“The only person who might intervene is Victor, a fellow EX-Ranker. But given his age, he doesn’t have the power to stop Zeke or Leo. And let’s be clear: a fight between living gods is not something you see every day. Most people are going to be more invested in the outcome than they are in stopping the fight from happening, you know?”
Hugo looked over at me for an answer. I grinned.
“Amazing,” I said. “Exactly right.”
With my thoughts racing at high speed—and at my upper limits—I experienced the world as though it were entirely frozen. The particles of light floating around me were the remnants of the barrier that Leon had cast on me. I had evaded Leo’s punch, but the shock wave of it still destroyed the barrier. There was, at present, 0.01 second before my Roaring Thunder connected with Leo’s chest. It was not enough time for any ordinary person to react, but maybe it would do for an EX-Rank Seeker. Despite that, Leo didn’t move. There was only one explanation: the battle with Zeke had left him too drained.
Leo had overwhelmed Zeke in the end, but the fight had moved faster than the human eye could follow. Plus, the massive attacks put Leo in a weakened state. He couldn’t avoid my Roaring Thunder, nor could he counter it. Despite all this, I caught something in Leo’s eyes: a smile.
Leo had to understand what I was doing; he saw Koga use this very kick against Arthur. But even if he were seeing it for the first time, he had such refined tactical senses that he would know the purpose of my attack.
Nevertheless, there was no fear or panic in Leo’s eyes—there was only joy and bloodlust. If you do not stop me here, his eyes said, I will kill you with my next strike.
There was only a small chance that Roaring Thunder would work on Leo. He was exhausted, sure, but he was still in better condition than I’d expected. At this rate, even a direct hit had barely more than a nil shot at stopping him cold.
My precognition showed me a vision of what would happen if my Roaring Thunder failed. In that future, I would end up impaled on Leo’s fist. But the future was not set in stone. All the same, there was only 0.01 second before impact. Just as it was no longer possible for Leo to avoid my attack, it was no longer possible for me to stop it.
And so what?
It was an instant that spread into near-infinite directions, and among them a memory of a particular day surfaced in my mind.
“One in ten, I’d say.”
Those were Gramps’s first words when he came to.
“You did good,” he said, rubbing his chest. “I’m EX-Rank, but that Roaring Thunder hit me flush. I might not have anything more to teach you.”
There was a wide grin on his face, but I was far from satisfied.