Chapter 16.1 - Thousand Blade Academy and the Big Five Holy Festival [6] – part 1 (2/2)

(This is bad…)

The longer this match lasts, the more body temperature I lose. Which will put me at a disadvantage.

(It is getting worse and worse…)

Now that my body is still listening to me, I have to settle it as soon as possible. Impatiently, I immediately ran towards Sid-san.

「Eighth Sword – Yatagarasu!」

Yatagarasu, which should’ve been able to unleash eight slashes – ended up with only six slashes.

「Gyahahahahaha! What happened!? There is only『six』,you know!?」

With a laugh, Sid-san easily shot down the six slashes.

「Guh…」

With a body that has decreased functions to this extent…… There is no longer a chance to win from going head-to-head.

(If so, I just have to go for his rear…)

Then I inserted「Second Sword – Hazy Moon」in various places, exchanging blows with him so as not to seem unnatural.

After that,

「HaaHaa…」

「Nnー, reached your limit already?」

Sid-san, who was convinced of victory, slowly headed towards me with his sword resting on his shoulder.

(…Positioning is perfect)

After that, if he comes here as is, Hazy Moon will burst.

(No matter how fast the reaction rate is… A blow from the blind spot is absolutely inevitable…)

And when I was holding on to Seigan no Kamae so that I wouldn’t seem unnatural – he paused.

And then,

「…Oi Oi Oi, what is this easy to see trap? 」

He passed the sword through the space where I inserted Hazy Moon. In response to the movement, Hazy Moon cut the air in vain.

「Kukuku, how can an obvious trap like this work? At best, only a second-rate swordsman will get caught in this.」

Saying that, he closed the distance with me in an instant,

「Soraa!」

A strong front kick struck my abdomen.

「Ga-haa…!」

I heard a detestable bone-breaking sound, and rolled across the ground like a ball.

「…*cough* *cough*!」

Perhaps the broken bone had damaged the internal organs, as I was spewing out blood.

「Oi Oi that’s filthy! Who do you think will clean it up later!?…Oops my bad, even I don’t know!」

Then Sid-san stepped on my face mercilessly and laughed loudly,「Hahahahahahahaha!」

「H-Hey, that’s going too far!」

「Don’t get too cocky…」

Ria and Rose glared at Sid-san murderously. Then, he scratched his cheek with a complicated expression.

「Aa-… sorry. Certainly, that was going too far… Un, I’ll quickly kill him.」

And he thrust〈Vanargand〉at me.

Under the rules of the Big Five Holy Festival, the act of killing the other party is prohibited. However, he does not care about such a thing, and will kill without any hesitation.

「Don’t joke around!」

「R-Referee! Stop him!」

「Contestant Sid, stop it!」

Ria and Rose turned pale and the referee jumped onto the stage. However, it is utterly impossible to make it in time, at this distance.

(Shit, is this my end…)

Due to the severe frostbite, my body doesn’t move properly anymore. No, it is impossible to move in the first place because Sid-san is stepping on my stomach.

「Haha! I’m going to make a corpse that makes me laugh!」

And then,

「-〈Vanal Thrust〉!」

Tremendous amount of cold air was released from〈Vanargand〉, and the thrust that gained explosive propulsion approached my throat.

If it reaches me – I will die helplessly.

(Is this it for me…?)

I swung my sword every day

I trained harder than anyone else.

I spent more time on swordsmanship than anyone else.

I earnestly swung the sword for more than a billion years.

But ultimately – I was no good.

I lost in the face of absolute talent.

(Ria, Rose, Leia-sensei, Paula-san, and mother… sorry)

Without a doubt, I’m going to lose my life here today.

My body can no longer move a single finger.

My sword has already been blown off somewhere.

But still – my heart was not broken.

In front of my impending death – I suddenly opened my eyes wide.

I can’t close my eyes here.

Until the moment of death, cling on to『life』.

Contrary to the body that did not move, the turbid flow of emotion was swirling in my mind.

(I’m frustrated, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to lose – I want to beat this genius!)

At that time, there was something deep in my heart – something like a『soul』, whispered.

【As usual, you’re a jerk…Allen]

At that moment, my consciousness was swallowed by darkness.