Battle at The Epitome

The weapons started hurling around the three, not giving them room to breathe. Ed noticed that Adriana's skin seemed like it was made from steel, as the weapon would hit her, and she wouldn't bleed.

'Let's see if she can handle this.' Ed thought to himself as he enhanced the weapons. Some of these weapons were magical, while some were simply sharp. He activated their total power and in an instant, the pressure on the three increased.

"Hnggh!" Maria gritted her teeth and focused her QI on her hands. Unlike the other two, she didn't have a weapon and could barely defend herself.

'I'll just take one of these weapons!' She thought to herself as she looked at a flaming sword. She reached out to grab, and as she wrapped her fingers around it, she plummeted towards the ground. It felt like she held the entire planet.

"I'm not stupid enough to let you steal one of my weapons, you know?" Ed said, and as she tried to release the sword, it was already too late. The weapons started targeting her one by one.

However, something shocking happened. Letif hurried away from his initial position and appeared in front of Maria. He used his body to block the weapons that were about to strike at her. His body started falling towards the ground.

"Again, I'm not stupid enough to fall for such a trick," said Ed as a flame ball appeared on his palm. He sent it flying at a certain position, and as it blew up a figure emerged.

"You look rather tired. You would have had a better chance if you fought only for yourself." Ed looked at the haggard looking Letif and could feel that his QI reserves were less than a third of what they had been.

'I should hurry up…' Ed thought to himself. He started controlling some of the weapons with his hands. Since they were in his range of En, he could easily manipulate the battlefield.

"Tch is it me or are these weapons getting faster?!" Adriana frowned as her skin started getting more and more red from all the attacks.

"They're not getting faster, they're teleporting!" Letif shouted as he noticed the irregular behavior of the weapons. Ed started using Space magic on the weapons to increase the difficulty. Little by little, the three of them found themselves near one another. They had each other's back and believed that this would be the best way to avoid the weapons.

"Idiots…" Ed smiled as he withdrew his three Katana. The other three were blissfully unaware of this as they fought against the weapons for their lives. The only one that noticed was Alexander. But, he didn't say anything.

"Three swords for three enemies." Ed a stance with his three weapons. Each one of them was clad in deep black Haki with a reddish glow. On top of that, each one of the weapons produced its own glow. Shusui had a black-purple color. Ame-No-Murakumo had a deep green color, and Muramasa had a deep red one.

"Reflect on your choices in your next lives. 1080 Pound Cannon!" Ed spoke lightly as he swung his sword. Each one of them cut through the air, producing three flying slashes in the respective color of the swords. The three slashes merged together, forming a gigantic spiraling attack.

"Crap!" Adriana was the first one to notice the incoming attack. She tried to escape but she couldn't find a way out. She and the other two put their all and tried to counter the attack, but to no avail. That single attack was much stronger than all three of them combined, as it engulfed their entire being.

Three bodies dropped back to the ground, and Ed could confirm three notifications from his system. He checked his stats and smiled. Only a smidge more of Exp and he could be able to level up to Immortal Establishment.

"I'm afraid I let you wait for too long, Sir Alexander."

"No, not at all. This was the most comfortable chair I've ever sat on. It also came with an incredible show," Alexander said as he sat up. Ed could notice that his body was slightly shaking, but it didn't seem to be out of fear, but excitement.

"Your swordplay is unmatched…I come from the Sword sect, and I'm its master. And yet, I don't think I can best you if it comes down to swords only!" Alexander praised Ed, but also let out information about himself.

"I see. It is my honor to cross swords with you, a sword master. I'm guessing this fight will be short lived then?"

"Indeed. A battle between people at the epitome of something always lasts much less of a time than normal battles."

Alexander stood right in front of Ed and unsheathed his Nodachi. Ed stored both Muramasa and Ame-No-Murakumo and kept only Shusui.

"Let me create a more suitable area," said Ed as he switched the surroundings. It looked much more like an open-air Dojo with the sun shining down upon them.

"What an incredible power…"

"Then let us begin."

A flash burst out of the two weapons as their master clashed. Both of them put their entire power behind the attack, and both of them were thrown hundreds of meters to the back. Yet, in less than a second, they clashed once again. Each time they clashed, they would be thrown to the back. But, they would recover much faster. After a dozen or so clashes, they weren't thrown away, but their bodies sustained some cuts.

"Zangeki!" Alexander shouted as he swung his weapon over a hundred times in less than a second. Ed activated his EMS, Ryūsui Seikūken, En, Parallel Thinking, and Observation Haki. He could barely dodge the slashes that cut up the ground beneath him. He was cut up a couple of times, but his Regeneration managed to plug those in a heartbeat. His reservoir of KI increased majorly thanks to his power up, so he was able to handle it.

"HA HA HA! It's been a long time since I've had this much fun, Edward Avalon!" Alexander laughed maniacally while slashing with his Nodachi. Ed couldn't hide his excitement either, as it has been a long time since he fought an opponent that could push him to his limit. If it wasn't for his Berserk skill giving him such a boost, he wouldn't win.

"Willow!" Alexander put his Nodachi next to his waist and it pointed to the ground. Then, he raised it up in gentle yet lightning fast movements, all the way until it pointed to the sky. These movements looked like they took a long time, but in reality; they only lasted for a fraction of a second.

Alexander slashed down, while Ed slashed up. Ed knew that a strong attack was coming, so he prepared beforehand. He used Nen to coat his weapon along with Haki. The two swords clashed and caused the air to be blown away from their surroundings. The disappearance of air caused their bodies to suffer through the change in pressure, but they grit their teeth through it.

Ed felt overwhelmed by the sword strike he had experienced. It felt like thousands of strikes were attacking him at once. Like a willow's leaves, they assaulted him one by one. Until he was blown away by the Sword Sect's master. Their clash ended and the air rushed back to its original place.

Ed got up from the place where fell, blood dripping from all over his body. He coughed a couple mouthfuls of blood and started walking towards Alexander.

Alexander wasn't in a better position. Although he won the exchange, just crossing swords with Ed caused his body's muscles and skin to tear. His eyes looked bloodshot and he was wheezing for air.

"This'll be the end, Sir Ed."

"Indeed it will, Sir Alexander."

The two men could tell that the next exchange would be the last. Ed withdrew the sheath of Shusui and put his sword there. The two men stood less than five meters in front of each other, similar to the time the battle started. It hadn't been even five minutes since Ed had killed the other three commanders.

"Willow!" Alexander went through the same motions as earlier. Ed put the sheathed Shusui by his side and held the handle and the sheath while crouching a little. The two men moved in an instant, at the same time.

"Ittoryu Iai: Shi Shishi Sonson (One-Sword Style Re-Sheath: Death-Lion's Song)" Ed used his skill and in an instant, the two men clashed. They stood five meters away from each other, showing their backs to one another. One of them fell on his back.