[65] Survival Through Desperation

Since it was impossible to break through her defense unscathed no matter what, there was only one option left.

Survival through desperation!

To change the deformation speed of his body, he had indeed exhausted all the magic power within him. His injuries were also real, leaving him truly drained.

But reaching such a difficult point was exactly the situation he had predicted from the start.

The real decisive strike was still hidden behind this!

Eiji, using the technique he had learned from Ikki, actively stimulated more of his potential by leveraging the pain throughout his body, destroying his survival instinct and digging out more physical strength and magic power from within.

His limitations were only in his combat methods, with all his other talents leaning toward swordsmanship. However, destroying the survival instinct was not among the combat methods.

Due to the limitations of the survival instinct, the power a person can exert under normal circumstances is only about half of their limit.

But if one can ignore the cries of their body and mind with an incredibly resilient will and destroy their survival instinct with exceptional body control, they can exert their full power, which is about twice the usual strength!

Eiji switched from gripping to pushing, pinning the long sword onto the transparent shield.

Then, he poured all the magic power he had forced out from the depths of his soul into his device, setting its speed to surpass Kanata's reaction limit, granting it the maximum speed Eiji could achieve at the moment!

Boom——!!!

An unexpected roar echoed throughout the combat zone.

The massive sound wave from the point-blank sonic boom sent Eiji flying.

On the other side, Kanata was equally unprepared.

Thinking the battle was already over, she never expected Eiji to pull out such a trump card at the last moment!

The sonic boom from the Bling Blade at point-blank range instantly destroyed the transparent shield in front of her.

The terrifying sound wave swept through the arena, causing countless people to stop speaking, their eyes wide as they watched the combat zone, filled with tension, afraid to miss any detail.

In the arena.

Eiji rolled on the ground more than ten times before finally coming to a stop.

He instinctively tried to push himself up, but the moment his right hand touched the ground, a piercing pain shot through him, turning his face pale.

At least a comminuted fracture, and his palm might have split open.

But he couldn't care about the pain, his eyes fixed on the opposite direction, so tense he even forgot to breathe.

Did he win?

This was genuinely his last trump card, undoubtedly giving it his all. If this didn't work, he would really have to raise his hand and surrender.

Opposite him.

As the violent wind dispersed, Kanata's figure came into Eiji's view.

She was kneeling on the ground, still not coming to her senses, her face filled with lingering astonishment.

And in the center of her chest, a silver, radiant katana was now embedded.

"I... lost?"

Incredulity flashed through her mind.

But at this moment, she actually felt a bit of relief.

Then, her consciousness gradually drifted away, and finally, everything went dark.

Thud!

Kanata fell to the side.

In the moment before she lost consciousness, what entered her vision was the satisfied smile of the young man opposite her.

"——That's it! The winner is Eiji Nangou!"

Kurono quickly stepped forward, confirmed Kanata's condition, gave Eiji a somewhat surprised look, and promptly announced the outcome of the match.

"Finally won..."

Eiji couldn't help but plop down on the ground, a drained yet satisfied smile on his face.

So great!

This was the kind of battle he wanted to fight!

This was the kind of victory he wanted to win!

He wanted to win such thrilling battles, where he could turn the tables even in the most adverse situations!

——This was what would bring him more growth.

The moment he relaxed, the intense pain from his entire body and the fatigue from destroying his survival instinct simultaneously attacked his brain.

Eiji's vision went dark, and he soon collapsed, fainting in a spectacular manner.

Shortly after, two stretchers were brought up, carrying both the winner and the loser away.

"In the blink of an eye, the tables were turned! The winner of this match is Class 1-1, E-rank knight Eiji Nangou! Like a dark horse, he defeated the B-rank knight who had an extreme advantage against him, and she was the second strongest in the academy! Let's give him a cheer!"

"Did a good job~"

The voice of Nene became frivolous again.

In the audience seats.

"I never expected Kanata to actually lose."

Utakata and the others still couldn't quite believe it.

They all thought Kanata had an overwhelming advantage, with a gap so large it was almost impossible to overturn, and that Kanata's victory was certain.

The strength of a gap lies in how hard it is to bridge.

If anyone could easily bridge it, there would be no distinction between geniuses and ordinary people in this world.

But Touka's junior brother ultimately forced his way across the mountain of blades, shattering their delusions with an impossible stance.

"I never thought my junior brother would lose from the start!"

Only Touka showed a proud smile.

"...This is just pure favoritism, isn't it?"

The others exchanged glances, only able to respond with a bitter smile.

***

Infirmary.

Eiji groggily woke up from his slumber, seeing the familiar ceiling.

"So tired…"

This was the first thought that came to his mind after waking up.

His entire body felt as if it had been run over by a wheel, aching all over, with his muscles seemingly devoid of any strength.

This was the aftermath of destroying his survival instinct and forcibly squeezing out his body's potential. His physical strength had been overused, causing his body to enter a state of exhaustion, requiring at least a day of rest to recover.

Eiji struggled to sit up on the bed, leaning against the headboard, and looked down at his body.

His clothes had been replaced with a hospital gown. The school uniform he had been wearing earlier had turned into rags... no, it would be more accurate to say it had been completely shredded. By the end of the battle, he had been almost completely naked when facing Kanata.

The comminuted fracture in his right hand had completely healed, and the honeycomb-like wounds from the blade domain had also disappeared without a trace, leaving his skin fair and smooth.

"Regeneration pod, you are the best!"

Eiji couldn't help but praise.

A trip through the regeneration pod could heal any injury, even bringing you back from the brink of death, making it impossible to die.

However, while the regeneration pod could heal injuries, it had little effect on physical fatigue, which still required self-care to recover.

Eiji glanced at the electronic clock on the wall.

"3 PM, so I was unconscious for about two hours."

The thought of defeating Kanata filled him with indescribable satisfaction.

He hadn't been this happy even when he defeated Kurono.

Because the nature of the two victories was completely different to him.

"Junior brother, I'm coming in."

The voice of his senior sister came from outside the door.

Then the door opened, and the girl with chestnut-colored braided hair walked into the infirmary, carrying a plastic bag filled with fruits.

"Looks like you've recovered well."

Senior sister looked him over, seeing his normal complexion, and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Mm... Senior sister, aren't you mad?"

Seeing that his senior sister wasn't scolding him, Eiji felt a bit uneasy and cautiously asked.

"Compared to the injuries you've had before, this one is considered light."

Touka felt a subtle sense of displeasure.

She should have scolded her junior brother for recklessly damaging his body again, but thinking about how this time his injuries were actually minor, she couldn't help but feel happy.

She was very unhappy with herself for starting to compromise like this.

***

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