109 Episode 108 Yun Yao (1/2)

I'm buried in a dream sequence from this morning.

”How do I defeat someone who knows the future?　Well, that depends on what kind of ”knowing” you're talking about. Is it a smell, a sensory epiphany, something in writing, or something you can see?

It's not so difficult to know by writing. The information that comes in is a written transcription of your opponent's movements. You have to retranslate it into an image in your brain. You can see the result, but not the details of the movement, so it's a flawed sense to use in battle.

If you can smell or feel the opponent coming, you can use your senses to dodge his sword or use its trajectory as a weapon against him. If you want to be able to move in advance, you have to make sure that the time between when you feel the sensation and when you take the action after you feel it is as close as possible. Even if it is sensed, it is meaningless if the action does not catch up with the sensation.

If you can see the result, you can move in a way that your opponent's eyes cannot catch. Human vision is a vague thing. If the connection is not clear, the brain will make it add up on its own. Even if you know the result, if you don't know the process, you can't know if there's a gap, and you can't make a countermeasure.

”What?　It's all the same in the end?　If you can't outsmart them, then you can't let them use their power anyway, right?　The only other thing you can do is take away their vision or interfere with their vision of the future to obscure it. I don't think you can do that.

...... After talking about this, the old man looked very angry.

I don't think he was really made to lick his lips by such a person.

Nevertheless, he listened to me earnestly and gave me a concrete plan.

It sounds absurd. But in the end, what the old man said may be all that matters.

If a person can see the future, you should either prevent him from seeing the future, or even if he can see the future, you should hunt him down so that he can't respond, or take actions that will frustrate his subsequent movements.

So, what did the old man who was talking to the man say after that? .......

--If you can't do anything about it, use your strongest sword. It's the only way to do it.

The mightiest sword.

Yes, the strongest sword.

That's the only time the old man said such a nonsensical thing.

He had always said that there was no such thing as a sword and that special moves were just a fantasy, but that was the only time he said it with any truth.

Kenjutsu is the accumulation of repetition of kata and experience.

There is no such thing as a sword that can absolutely defeat an opponent.

Swordsmanship is the art of slipping a simple, flashy swing into an opponent's flesh at the slightest opportunity in a reading contest.

There is nothing dynamic about it.

That's what he said.

That's what the old man was saying.

And yet he said something contrary to that.

Then the old man must have known what the strongest was all along.

Basically, ...... sword techniques can only be used to thrust, cleave, or cut down head-on.

When you get right down to it, it all boils down to how well you can penetrate the gaps in your opponent's consciousness, advance your sword, and bring him to the brink of death.

Even in a fair fight, it is a surprise attack because you are trying to exploit an opening in the opponent's mind.

If it is not a gap created after an exchange or a pitched battle.

Ultimately, the first move ends up being a brilliant surprise attack.

If it's a surprise attack without a counterattack, it's not so bad.

What counts in sword fighting is arm strength and speed, and the only way to make full use of them is to swing straight through.

If the speed of the sword slows down as much as you add tricks to it, then no matter what you do, your special kills must be limited to three: thrusting, cleaving, and slashing down.

With that in mind, what I have now is a one-handed thrust using Kanre? No--

After all, it would be a head-on slash down.

A head-on slash is the basis of swordsmanship in that man's country.

It's the first thing they teach you when you pick up a sword, and everyone practices it.

You should keep your armpits tight, extend your arms firmly, do not put any force in your hands, and put force into the sword as if you were squeezing a tea towel when you swing it.

After cutting down, stop the sword so that it is as parallel to the ground as possible.

You must continue to do this a thousand or two thousand times a day.

That is why a head-on slash is the strongest of all sword techniques.

(It hurts that I can't use my left arm, but if anything, this is probably better...)

There are not many techniques that I can use.

In fact, there are very few techniques that can be called skills.

Then, it is only natural to resort to head-on slashing.

Now that I have achieved that extreme concentration, this technique also has meaning.

Suddenly, I remembered the stance that the old man had sometimes shown me.

He lifted the sword and pulled the hilt to the right side of his face.

The right hand grasps the hilt firmly, and the left arm is drawn as relaxed as possible to the forearm, almost resting on the hilt.

The left elbow is held tightly against the chest, still relaxed.

The left elbow should be kept close to the chest, and the left arm should be kept close to the hilt. ...... This will reduce the power of the sword because the left arm cannot carry the power of the sword when swinging down.

The sword and arm are one, and the tip of the blade goes to the sky.

All you have to do is step forward until the tip of the sword reaches the opponent, swing, and cut him down headfirst.

Control your senses and the delay will come, just like before.

It's OK to hit each other.

Defeat is assumed.

No regard for victory.

With this, you slash him with every blow.

That's it.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Parth.

He's at the entrance of the dojo, talking to someone who came with him. Because he is controlling his senses, the content of the conversation is unclear.

”......

It was almost the same time that Parth, seeing my stance, spilled out such words.

Charlotte jumped back significantly.

She must have realized something and panicked. You can see the strength in her hand as she grips the sword.

The lines in the text would have disappeared by now. I can't make out the details from just a list of letters.

The rest is either by smell, inspiration, or sight.

But earlier, Charlotte reacted strongly to the words, ”What do you see?

If so, vision is the most likely explanation.

And the only thing we can see visually is the future.

--Yes, Charlotte Cremeria can indeed see the future.

I don't know if it's one inch away or two inches away. But it is an indisputable fact that her precise evasion so far has been based on the visual acquisition of the future.

She may not have been able to use it all the time, or she may have fallen behind at times, but she certainly seemed to be able to see when the moment was right and decisive.

I left my stance as it was and changed my mind.

Then Charlotte's expression hardened.

It was because she changed her thought from a head-on slash down to a one-handed thrust with a kanre.

If you change your mind, your future will change. And if you are looking at that future, this change is natural. If the change in her thoughts is enough to change the future she is looking at, then she is still one or two steps ahead. In the long run, it makes no sense because she can see the future after she changes her mind, but apparently there are some ambiguities.

But we are still at a disadvantage.

The analogy is that of a mule game with a cheater. The cards in your hand are always visible to your opponent. The cards in your hand are constantly being turned over, and you can make all kinds of countermeasures, no matter how many times you switch places.

However, even if those eyes had already seen the vision of you holding the tip of your hand to his throat, there was no way you could have known differently that this move was the best one.

Even if you can see it, if you don't have the ability to stop it, the result will be the same.

As I thought about this, I suddenly felt that I was exchanging swords.

Perhaps it was because I hadn't had this kind of hand-to-hand combat with her before.

I start to move. I move my feet, rubbing the soles of my feet against the floor, and move into Charlotte's range. She may not be able to see what's coming now. She doesn't seem to be responding to our movements.

He produced his wooden sword as if to strike Charlotte, and without hitting the responding wooden sword, he slipped through and behind her.

From there, he moved to the very edge of the kendo hall wall, then turned and ran toward Charlotte.

Keeping his upper body in check, he took a step.

(Ken)

Adjusting his pace, he took another step.

.

In the midst of his acceleration, he took one last step.

.

And then he shifts to the movement technique he created, ”Kanre”.

This gait is a sudden, hyper-accelerating move that brings you right in front of your opponent and greatly disrupts his timing of attack and defense.

It is a one-handed right-handed thrust that is both fast and powerful.

Yes, this is the sword that stopped the heart of the Kuro Panther when Dusseyr attacked.

Now the technique is done. Now all I have to do is turn my body into an arrow and fly towards my opponent.

Charlotte would have no choice but to dodge as if she were running away.

If you're going to take this sword, you'll need to be precise with your swordsmanship.

...... But Charlotte did not evade.

The moment I thrust my wooden sword at Charlotte's throat, I saw her in front of me with her sword out as well.

The point of the thrust was right at her throat, as if to counter.

Charlotte didn't dodge, she didn't brush him off, and she didn't care if she won or not.

She was just trying not to lose.

Looks like it's settled.

Shortly after they put their knives to each other.

The referee, hearing Ian's words, belatedly shouted.

”That's enough!

As the referee's words echoed through the kendo hall, the air relaxed as if the tension had been released.

The people around you were so fascinated by the battle that they were holding their breath.

The sound of breathing could be heard everywhere.

Anyway.

”......, I see.

I knew this was the only way. If you can change the trajectory of your acceleration on the way, you're sure to lose if you run away.

She must have been able to see the future. If she said she could change the trajectory, she might have been able to see multiple futures.

I had called Suu extraordinary before, but perhaps it was this power that Charlotte possessed that seemed to be extraordinary.

But...

If you can't beat her with this, you'll lose confidence. ......

It's like this every time. Just when you think you've gotten a little stronger, you get crushed by someone stronger than you.

Magic, swordsmanship, and all that.

”Terrible move. I can't believe you can do that without using magic.

I looked over at Charlotte and she shivered once or twice as if she was trying to shake off a chill.

So you've managed to chill her a bit.

...... I'm a little tired.

He exhaled heavily and sat down on the spot.

You've been concentrating a lot. The exhaustion was overwhelming me.

Ian approached me.

I didn't think you and Charu would get along.

No, it's just that the plan hit the mark.

I don't think so. I don't think there was any strategy to it, though.

No. It was simply an exchange of techniques. It was not a tactical battle.

”Mr. Arx. Where does your swordplay come from?　I've been exposed to a lot of sword fighting, but I've never seen anything like it.

”Well, my swordplay is from a book, and I've practiced it privately.