Chapter - 10

What… is this!?

Ikki's eyes widened in shock at the sudden anomaly in his body that occurred as he and Ouma were about to cross swords. This was the precise moment that he had concentrated all his energies unto. The moment when he should have parried Ouma's attack, and then gotten within his guard. Yet at this decisive moment—it was as though the connection between his mind and body was suddenly severed. He was conscious. Yet his body would not move.

What… is happening!?

He had no time to be surprised, however. He was the only one who had stopped. Ouma's blade was upon him in a flash.

Shit!

He barely managed to get his guard up before it made contact with his neck.

But he had taken Ouma's earth-splitting physical strength head-on.

"Gaaaah!"

Ikki was blown dozens of meters of away as though hit by a heavy truck, smashing against a stone wall.

"Gah-hak!"

A gout of bloody mist came forth from his mouth—the impact had reached his internal organs, wounding them. The bones in his arms were broken up to the elbows from taking that slash squarely. But, at this moment, both those things were irrelevant to Ikki.

What was that, a moment ago…!

At the moment of the decisive clash, he had frozen up mysteriously. Why had he stopped? Ever since he had taken up the sword, this had never happened before. But even as Ikki was driven to distraction by this mysterious occurrence within his body—

"Hmph."

Ouma spoke, his voice rankling with impatience.

"what are you so surprised about? Surely you do not think that you could continue as-is after having fought the world's strongest swordsman? Even if your body is fine, she left her mark on your spirit."

"…Eh!?"

"To think you couldn't even accept her gift, and yet dared to bark at me. You who know not your place—"

Even as Ouma reviled him thus, he gradually settled into an offensive stance. He lifted his hand, blade held parallel to the ground. In an instant, Ryuuzume burst forth in a nimbus of as-yet unmatched light as its blade was clad in wind. The result was one of extraordinary scale as the revolving winds devoured the atmosphere around them, threatening to suck all the surrounding objects into its grasp. Layer upon layer of cutting gale coalesced, forming this single blade of air. A blade of a whirlwind, capable of slicing all in its path.

Yes, this was the Noble Art that had felled both the Crimson Princess and Raikiri.

"For a con-artist like you, Kusanagi is overkill. However, it would be just as distasteful were I to fail to slay you by not completing the task. Therefore, take this special favor gratefully—and die."

Having delivered his parting shot, Ouma swung, sending his greatest technique at the severely wounded Worst One.

I can't take this technique on…!

He had to avoid it, by any means necessary. He was concerned of course, by the meaning behind the 'gift' of Edelweiss' that Ouma had spoken of. Still, he chased it from his mind for now, ordering his body—still wracked with damage done by the impact—to flee the oncoming threat with all its might.

But he froze up again—just like before. His brain desperately appealed to his body to flee, but his flesh was frozen, unresponsive. Were his bodily functions disabled by the damage? That possibility arose first in his mind. But checking his wounds, he dismissed it—they was severe, yes, but not the point where he would be immobile.

Then, why? He couldn't understand. He couldn't understand. But at this rate he would take the blow squarely.

Kuh!

He had to think of something. But nothing came to his mind, the only part of his body that had not yet stopped, even as its gears churned at full speed. He was about to be swallowed whole by the titanic force of that wind blade—

"Tear 'em to shreds, Tora-Ou!"

A young man wielding a yellow spear interposed himself between the Worst One and the blade of compressed wind that threatened to slice him to smithereens just as it would anything else. Well-built and with eyes like a predator's, it was the Seven Stars Sword King, Yuudai Moroboshi.

"Tear 'em to shreds, Tora-Ou!"

With a cry that pierced the skies, he thrust the golden spear at the descending tornado. Golden light shot forth from the point of the spear, the radiance swiftly taking the shape of a tiger's head—jaws open and fangs bared. The golden tiger created of magic power seized the oncoming wind blade in its wide open maw, bit down—and Ouma's trump card, the Kusanagi that had so easily taken down the Crimson Princess and the Raikiri—first rate student knights in their own right—was literally torn to pieces. Split asunder down the middle by the tiger, the blade of wind dispersed and ultimately dissipated into nothingness.

"You 'kay, Kurogane?"

Moroboshi asked as he stood between the brothers as Ikki's shield.

"Mo, Moroboshi-san, why are you h—?"

"You forgot somethin', so I came to give it back to ya."

So saying, he tossed an object towards Ikki's chest—his student datapad.

"The doc said you were headin' back on yer own. I was just takin' it easy, following the road back to the hotel… and then somehow just stumbled on some outrageous sibling argument."

Moroboshi then turned from Ikki to Ouma.

"Yo, long time no see, Ouma. Haven't seen your face around since the we were in elementary school."

"Moroboshi, the Star of Naniwa… or should I say, the Seven Stars Sword King?"

"Ha. I don't wanna be called no Seven Stars Sword King by you. You weren't even at that year's Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival."

Moroboshi spoke, referencing their old rivalry in elementary school.

"Winning that title don't mean a thing to me… well, let's leave that one aside for now."

As they exchanged words, Moroboshi scanned the surrounding area and frowned at the sorry state it was in. The deep crevasses carved into the ground. The trees felled by the whirlwind. The broken stone wall.

"Ain't this a little overboard for a sibling argument? Someone might've died if I din' step in!"

"That would be the Noble Art that can negate all other Noble Arts—Tiger Bite. You managed to shatter Kusanagi and even Mukou Kekkai."

"Aye, dat's how it is. In other words, your power over wind ain't got nothin' on me. Now that you know that, lemme ask you… you gonna continue this silly fight? You keep makin' a ruckus in my home turf, you'll be up against me."

Threatening Ouma in a voice sharp as a dagger, Moroboshi thrust his spear, infused with the power of the Noble Arts-negating Tiger Bite, at him.

"No. I no longer desire to continue."

Closing his eyes, he recalled Ryuuzume. Moroboshi's Tiger Bite had been able to destroy his trump card Kusanagi with ease. Did he find his odds against Moroboshi's assistance too unfavorable? No. To know when to back off was never his strong suit. His reason for continuing the battle was just gone. What little interest he had possessed before left his cold eyes as he fixed them upon Ikki, who was still collapsed behind Moroboshi.

"If he cannot not accept the gift of Twin Wings, then there is no need for me to finish him off here—he will be defeated by you tomorrow. All the better. The Crimson Princess will surely wake up if she sees his pathetic form."

Throwing this last barb, he turned on his heel and melted into the darkness from which he had come. As he left, he muttered a last few words.

"Still, to have forgotten something, huh? …What a lucky man."

Moroboshi gave an exasperated sigh as he watched Ouma leave.

"Well, his appearance has changed quite a bit since elementary school, but ain't his cold attitude still the same?"

Once Ouma had completed disappeared, he then turned back to Ikki, who was now slumped against the stone wall.

"Well, what was that about? Heard y'all mention Stella-chan or somesuch. This some kind of lover's quarrel? You two brothers fighting over the same girl, like in the drama serials?"

Ikki smiled bitterly at Moroboshi's flippancy as he stood up haltingly.

"Please stop, I nearly died back there. Still, you really saved me. Thank you very much for that… and for the datapad as well."

"All good, all good. Don't sweat it… more importantly."

His eyes narrowed, and he continued in a more serious tone. He was only concerned about one thing.

"Well, what's the matter with you, Kurogane? I only looked from afar, but your movements were weird. Didn't look like it was due to your injuries either…."

He had seen Ikki when he had seemed to not flee from Kusanagi. Unfortunately, the answer to his question was something Ikki himself wanted to know, more so than anyone else.

"Honestly, I don't know what happened or how…."

It had come completely unannounced—he should have conditioned himself perfectly in preparation for the tournament. So he could nothing but shake his head.

"Is that so… but really, you looked exactly like a deer in the headlights of a really big speeding truck. Well, that can't be it, can it?"

After all, no knight who could appear at the Seven Stars Sword-Art Festival would be scared out of their wits by an opponent's technique, much less someone like Ikki, the 'Worst One' who had been brave enough to smile even when matched up against the Crimson Princess and her Katharterio Salamandra. That could not be so. Yet—

Moroboshi's casual words caused something to flash across Ikki's mind.

「Surely you do not think that you could continue as-is after having fought the world's strongest swordsman? Even if your body is fine, she left her mark on your spirit.」

These were the words that Ouma had said to him at the end of their battle. Now that he thought about it, it was indeed exactly as his brother had described it. He had fought against the world's greatest swordswoman, and lived. Been defeated by her, yet was whole. Could it have possibly been this convenient? He had come back from having one foot in the grave—but it seemed like not a thing had changed… was this line of thought perhaps a little too naive?

An ill premonition sent him into a cold sweat. This happened often in the world of fighting, with a good example being boxing. After having suffered a severe loss, some fighters would develop an extreme irrational fear of an opponent's punches and as a result freeze up in panic during the few seconds where blows were exchanged. This trauma-induced mental condition was known as "Punch Eye". Naturally, those afflicted by this condition could not continue fighting.

Some would call them broken. Could it be…that without knowing it, he had been broken? Indeed, he had checked out on the tests done after the battle with Edelweiss. He could still perform up to his usual standards in training. But none of these situations had put his life in any danger. Thus, he had not realized it till now, only to have it come out into the open when faced with the genuine killing intent that Ouma had exuded. It was a frightening thought, and unfortunately, it was not all baseless talk. Rather, it was just as Ouma had said—for him to have come out unscathed from a battle with the strongest swordswoman was unnatural. Should not it have been expected that some part of him, whether body or spirit, had been shattered during the fight?

Seeing the blood drain from Ikki's face, Moroboshi spoke up, concerned.

"What's up? You've got a scary face on… did you think of something?"

"…No… not particularly…."

He did not tell Moroboshi what his thoughts were. He could not possibly do so. He could not show his next opponent his weakness. And more importantly—

「I look forward to fighting you when you're at your best.」

—Moroboshi had looked forward to their battle so much. He would not tell him, even were his lips ripped open. Ikki forcibly quashed the uneasiness within him.

All the while, Moroboshi continued to eye him, until—

"That so? …Well, leaving that aside, let's get you to a doctor real quick, eh? Just sit down for a bit."

Dropping his pursuit of that point, he whipped out his own datapad and began dialing for an ambulance.

"Sorry about this…."

Was this really thanks, or was it an apology? Muttering these words whose true meaning even he knew not, Ikki placed his shattered hands over his chest. Ittou Shura had long since been dispelled, and the fatigue had by now risen to claim his entire body. Thanks to that, his entire body had been numbed and therefore he did not feel the pain of his wounds.

What's happened… to me? To my body…?

And yet the fear that arose in his heart of having broken somewhere as a knight did not decrease in the slightest.

Later, after having received treatment and returned to his hotel room, Ikki continued his self-examination. Diving deep within his consciousness, he examined both his body and his soul, leaving no stone unturned. But he could not find any apparent trace of affliction. Rather, he could not but conclude that he was in optimal condition. Was he really broken? If not, that freeze-up, what was it?

He did not know, and because he did not know, he could not even begin to overcome it. That boded ill. To challenge the Seven Stars Sword King while sitting on this ticking time bomb he did not even understand was reckless. This was not an opponent he could beat if his body were to refuse to move at critical junctures. He had to conquer it somehow.

But as though mocking the anxious worrying in his heart, it came.

Light. The morning. The day where it would all begin….