Chapter 15.2 - Thousand Blade Academy and the Big Five Holy Festival [5] – part 2 (1/2)

15. Thousand Blade Academy and the Big Five Holy Festival [5] – part 2

I shuddered at the sword speed. Sid-san’s sword speed was much faster than that of Ria – much more than that of even Rose. At the level where the tip of the sword can barely be seen at the last second in a full state of concentration… an overwhelming speed.

And as I caught my breath, Sid-san glared at me.

「Oi… I came here for a『fight』. If you’re going to play a boring『shooting game』, I’ll crush you!」

Tremendous bloodlust was released from his whole body.

(He is coming…!)

I held on to Seigan no Kamae, and waited with a perfect posture. And the next moment, Sid-san was right before my eyes.

(F-Fast!)

I held my sword horizontally at once, and defended against his downwards swing. Both our swords collided, and a metallic sound rang out.

(What ridiculous strength…!?)

While enduring the blow with both hands, I saw smugness on Sid-san’s face.

「Hmm… your reaction is so-so.」

He immediately spun around and landed a strong kick into my abdomen.

「Ga-ha…!」

The air in my lungs was knocked out and I was blown back.

(Damn… Just the kick is so powerful…)

I immediately performed ukemi and returned to Seigan no Kamae. 1

However, there was no follow-up attack from Sid-san. He loosely dangled his sword, and stretched his body. It’s frustrating, but he doesn’t seem to have recognized me as a proper opponent yet. I’ll take that as an opportunity to analyse the series of attacks we exchanged.

(Sid-san’s high-speed approach was completely different from Rose’s…)

Rose’s is a『soft movement method』 that matches the breathing and blinking of the opponent.

On the other hand, Sid-san just left it to his ridiculous leg strength『Strong movement method』.

(Most of all, the thing that bothered me the most was… his swing)

To put it bluntly, the swing was too lousy. The grip was half-baked, and his flank was not closed properly. A lousy blow that was just swung down with all his strength.

(Speaking of which… It was the same for the current kick.)

It’s just a random spinning kick that he left to his excellent leg strength.

(Although it had an astounding force… it was just as rough)

If he was able to drop his center of gravity firmly and transmit power from the ground properly, I would have suffered more damage by now.

That’s right. He’s just bulldozing through with his innate natural physical abilities.

(Sid-san is undoubtedly a genius who is born only once every decade.)

It’s frustrating, but… I can never match up to him.

Extraordinary arm strength.

Excellent leg strength.

Flexible body like a spring.

All of them are first-class qualities, and all of those… is something I don’t have.

(But that doesn’t mean I can’t win…)

He desperately lacks effort, training, and above all – an earnest heart to face swordsmanship.

(And the chance of victory lies right there…!)

As I finished analyzing him, he clicked his tongue loudly.

「Tch. What are you looking at me up and down for… Anyhow, a talentless bastard like you can never win against me in your lifetime. Stop resisting and just surrender already.」

He laughed mockingly at me.

「Certainly, Sid-san is a genius. You’re in a different class from me. But – I will be the one to win this match.」

「Aaa?」

A vein popped on his forehead.

「I see I see… Aa-Aa, that’s troublesome… If you really want to die so badly… won’t you tell me sooner!?」

The next moment, with an explosive acceleration, he zeroed the distance in an instant.

「ORAORAORAAAAAA!」

And then, he swung his sword frantically. His ridiculous physical ability make even such an amateurish attack into a terrifyingly sharp, four consecutive strikes.

(Kuh, launching Yatagarasu would not stop his slashes in time…)

In this situation, it’s time for that technique to make a debut.

「Cloud Style – Cirrocumulus!」

Four simultaneous slashes, although its number is fewer, the launch speed is a cut above the rest. This allowed me to deal with all four of his slashes.

「Tch, don’t get ahead of yourself! Worthless trash!」

As all four of his slashes were cut down, Sid-san jumped high on the spot – and brought down a full swing with his whole body weight. In addition to his extraordinary arm strength, a powerful swing with his whole body weight – cutting it down with my own strength would be difficult. However, his teaching comes into play in times like these.

「Iron Cutting Style – Iron Break!」