“I witnessed your match. Your sword packs quite the punch… but it won’t do you any good against me…” Eben Lustriel spoke calmly.
The match had already officially begun, but none of the contestants moved an inch from their positions.
“Your blade is swift, I can see that… and your use of Mana is exquisite. But, who’s to say I can’t match it?” Edward fired back.
Both of the boys, having great pride in their respective Martial Techniques, glared at each other as they gripped their weapons.
Edward’s sword, as usual, was a regular blade. It took the form of a longsword, having an average build and quality. This was because, in the boy’s Martial School, no matter the form of the blade one wielded, if they mastered the technique properly… the results were basically the same!
“You should forfeit and fight in the next round. You have a better chance against the other kid.” Eben pressed on.
“Why don’t you forfeit instead? You’ve already won a round, so you qualify.”
I smirked at Edward’s smart remark.
“Surely, you jest. My blade must not know defeat nor surrender.” The elite’s response came with a chuckle, as though Edward’s words were not even worth considering.
“Then there’s nothing more to discuss. We’ll be facing off again in the Semi-finals, so there’s no need to avoid fighting you.”
With this statement, both boys now began taking their battle stances, reflecting their Martial School’s fundamental techniques.
“Now, then, why don’t we have a warm-up session?”
As soon as he made this statement, Edward pressed a foot on the ground and caused it to crack instantly. Before this was evident to others, it shattered even more, giving Edward enough force to propel himself forward.
BOOOOMMMM!!!
With his heightened speed, even without using Mana, he approached his opponent.
“W-wha—?!” Eben appeared dazed by the quick pace by which he moved, quickly steeling his blade so he wouldn’t be caught off-guard.
FWOOOOOOSSHHHH
Edward swung his blade, creating a slash of mana through the air. The blue-colored crescent burst of energy raced at Eben, who easily parried the strike with his Katana’s edge thanks to his own Mana control.
BOOOMMM,
Edward’s charge resumed, and in a flash, he was right in front of Eben, who was also in stance, ready to use his signature move to one-shot Edward as he had done previously.
In a silent stroke, the brilliant katana danced, diagonally slicing through the target as in the first match.
Edward would lose consciousness and fall flat on the ground!
… Or so it was meant to be.
CLANG!
The Katana was stopped from even grazing Edward, thanks to the boy’s sword blocking the strike.
“W-wha—?!” Eben gasped in astonishment.
Such a thing had probably never happened to him before! That a peasant practicing some unknown Martial Arts would be able to block his attack.
“I asked you before… who’s to say I can’t match your blade?” Edward smiled.
“Y-you…!!!” Eben slightly lost his composure, giving his opponent the right chance to strike him down.
SKRRRIIIIIIII
Edward completely parried the katana that was still on his blade, sending Eben’s body flying backward, giving it an opening.
“This is the end!”
Instantly, the Blade God successor doubled the Mana he had on his body and concentrated a huge amount on his blade. The pressure that was building on the stage, while in merely the fraction of a moment, was enough to make my hair rise.
‘This is a big one!’ My mind rang in excitement.
His opponent was currently open and right in range. A single ‘Form’ of the 9 Fundamental Precepts would be enough and, judging from Edward’s stance, I could guess the one he was going for.
The blade ascended, covered in the deep color of highly-concentrated mana, ready to be discharged at any time.
VWOOOOOOOOOOMM!!!
It was truly the end!
“I-I forfeit!” Eben’s words rang out.
At that very moment, Edward hurriedly halted his descending blade from moving any more.
WHUUUSSHH!!!
All the air around and behind Eben evenly parted, sending a wave of pressure dancing on the stage. I could see the elite student nearly shivering in response to the blade that would have hit him if he refused to surrender.
Sweat dripped from his face and a look of both fear and frustration burned in his eyes.
Whether he accepted it or not… he had lost—miserably, at that!
The audience was certainly not expecting this, as gasps escaped their mouths. It must have been so shocking that a no-name Martial Artist would completely obliterate someone who was an elite.
Sure, it could be argued that Eben was overconfident and severely underestimated Edward’s abilities. However… a loss was still a loss!
“W-winner, Edward Karl Leon!” Klaus stuttered in his declaration, most likely also surprised by the outcome of the match.
The moment the victor was decided, Edward withdrew his sword that hung in mid-air, inches from Eben’s shoulder.
“It seems your blade has finally known defeat…” The winner’s voice trailed as he walked away from the unmoving loser.
I could see the satisfaction that played on Edward’s face. It was a sharp contrast to the one whose expression screamed of frustration and pure hate.
“D-don’t think for a second that I have been defeated! I only forfeited the match!” Eben’s voice rang out in a feeble attempt to justify himself.
Edward didn’t even bother looking back on the utterly disgraced contender and shrugged casually instead.
“Get off the stage. I need to fight my next opponent.”
I nearly cried out in joy once I heard the extremely cool response of my pupil. It was so… manly!
Eben could no longer disgrace himself anymore, so he simply had no choice but to leave the stage with his head hung in the shame of losing, no, even worse—surrendering to his opponent.
It was quite a funny sight!
The last contestant, Xavier Denmark, climbed the stage with his broadsword, looking quite unnerved as he faced Edward.
“Do you not want to surrender?” He asked.
After seeing the fight that just unfolded, what sort of fool would still want to fight instead of surrender?
Well, he was standing right on the stage!