Ikki vs Edelweiss round 1

And that judgment was correct. Edelweiss attacked with the wind coiling around around her. From the beginning, Ikki was confident that he had not erred in his judgment about his opponent. The moment Edelweiss swung both swords, his eyes lost sight of the attack. In confusion, he hurled his body backward.

At that instant, the air where Ikki's nose had been was split. Something invisible and absurdly sharp flitted across his eyes, just barely scraping his nose. At the odor of something burning drifted by, Ikki understood. The invisible thing that had flitted near had been an attack―Edelweiss's two swords.

I can't―see her strikes!

Because it was much too fast, much too sharp, he could not even see the afterimages of the twin pure-white blades with the naked eye. What had just barely been perceived was a glimmer of incandescence in the air due to the sword blades cutting through it at extraordinary speed.

What a temper…! If I lose focus for an instant, my head will fly…!

At this moment, Ikki abandoned any thought of taking the fight by trickery. Literally, his breath had been sucked away.

To deal with the slash that could of Edelweiss's two swords that drew a flash, he mustered all his nerves. Among the techniques he knew, the invisible technique that boasted of such speed as to be invisible. With the seventh secret sword Raikou, which used the power of Ittou Shura that was coiled around his body, he met the approaching attack.

Once, twice, three times, four times―the invisibly entangled steel gave births to white spars in the dark night. Ten clashes in all. Against the invisible chain of attacks that Edelweiss sent out with little pause, Ikki had traced back their movements from her gaze, just barely defending himself.

But from the beginning, Ikki's expression as he endured this showed obvious astonishment.

A-Amazing…!

Receiving the slashes had sent numbness from both hands to his shoulders. It wasn't just speed―but also preposterously heavy force. Despite being sent by only one hand, each was far beyond Ikki's Raikou!

Why? Ikki understood the reason instantly.

"Kuh!"

Ikki fought back with Raikou yet again against Edelweiss's approaching attack. Amidst the crossing steel that gave off sparks, Ikki was sure his understanding was correct.

That's the reason…! This person's actions aren't making any sounds!

Her steps, her slashes, everything she did was completely silent.

Sounds were waves born of impacts against the atmosphere causing oscillations. Put another way, one could call it the dispersion of physical force. So if one was able to control the energy of his actions completely, and not allow any to be consumed uselessly, what would happen? As a result of making all actions silent, one could show speed and offensive at close to a hundred percent potential.

Such a thing was not the technique of a human being, but―without a doubt, this was possible for the human in front of Ikki's eyes. Ikki understood that, and shuddered as he swallowed the saliva gathering in his mouth.

This is… the world's strongest swordsman…!
-Volume 4, Chapter 4
[Ikki defending against Edelweiss' strikes that are so fast they're invisible (including their afterimage) and with Edelweiss being so skilled that her movements don't make any sound]
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Here I go!

Against the pure white Edelweiss, Ikki set forth. And using a unique step, he created an afterimage by suddenly changing his body's speed as he moved forward―

The fourth secret sword, Shinkirou.

Edelweiss attacked the afterimage brought forth by the illusory footwork. Her two swords slashed toward it simultaneously from both sides in a cross. But since it was nothing more than an afterimage, the blades cut only air. As a result―

Her chest is open!

Aiming for that, Ikki prepared Intetsu and rushed toward it―

But suddenly, Ikki brought his body back from his charge in panic. In that moment, an invisible slash went through the space where Ikki's neck had been.

No good! Her sword travels faster than I can step in! I can't finish her like this!

If he had stood within range carelessly, he would've been decapitated just now.

- Volume 4, Chapter 4
[Fourth secret sword allows for afterimages that are good enough to trick Edelweiss]
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Edelweiss's attack tore Ikki's skin at last. What was torn was―his forehead. To make things worse, the blood that burst out from there flowed into Ikki's eyes.

My view!

Of course, Edelweiss didn't let that fatal vulnerability pass. What she unleashed was the instant cross-shaped attack that she had showed at the beginning. The pursuing sword, with its swift stroke, burned the air white―

"Haaaaa!"

But all of that was an interaction Ikki Kurogane had foreseen. He drove her off, and all of her cross-like attacks. For Ikki who had the vision of both eyes stolen away, not a bit of agitation was in him.

How? All of that was already things he didn't need to see!

I can't see the swings, but I can see through the muscles moving her body!

Edelweiss's breath. Swordsmanship. Tempo. Footwork―

It was the peerless ability of insight, stripping bare the essence of the opponent's habits through the information he gained from the opponent while fighting.

Perfect Vision―using the asset he had besides sword technique, the Worst One saw through Edelweiss's own technique. So he didn't need vision anymore. Because even without something like vision, he could predict two or three moves ahead of his enemy!

[Ikki move reading Edelweiss two to three moves ahead despite her attacks being too fast for him to see and Ikki's vision being gone due to having blood in his eyes]
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The blade of Intetsu just barely scraped along the ground―no, while scraping the ground, it drove toward Edelweiss.

The swing was big, like a sharp gale. However, it would probably not reach Edelweiss. If Ikki's sword was like a gale, Edelweiss's sword was like a flash. Without a doubt, she would block.

However―that was nothing to worry about. Because this technique was purposely such that there was meaning for it to be blocked. In the instant that the opponent defended against Intetsu, from his feet to his fingers, all of his muscles worked together, flexing to cast forth a shock wave.

The human body was mostly flesh made of and filled with water. Therefore, it was fragile against vibrations. If a slight ripple was made on a human body that was vulnerable to vibrations, the interior of that body would be disrupted. For example, there was a type of penetrating blow in Chinese martial arts that used this principle.

In other words, Ikki's attack was a penetrating blow using an edge. It would bypass armor and strike the internal organs. If blocked with swords, it would strike both arms. Arriving at the human body through vibration of the sword blade, it was a poisonous stroke that brought disruption.


The sixth secret sword―Dokuga no Tachi[6]

[Ikki's sixth secret sword involves sending vibrations into the body for internal damage, even if they block with a sword]
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Muscles burst through his skin all over his body, and blood flew all around.

Why? The reason was something Ikki realized instantly. It was simple. Edelweiss had done exactly what Ikki was about to do―with a speed and destructive power an order of magnitude greater.

As a result, the shock wave Ikki was launching at Edelweiss had been completely extinguished, and the waves that remained had conversely destroyed Ikki's body instead.

Ikki had intended to see through Edelweiss's sword. But all of that was an illusion. All he saw was what Edelweiss wanted to show. Everything had been in the palm of her hand all along.

This reality made Ikki's body shake in cold fear.

To this… degree…?


Exhausting all his strength, betting on all his techniques, using the best tactics he could devise―he couldn't even touch her.


The world's summit… is this high… this far away…!?

Before such strength that his own scale could not measure, Ikki felt terror.

And in the next instant, the end came. Against Ikki who had lost all methods of attack, Edelweiss swung the sword in her right hand―the white blade flew invisibly, broke through the blade of Intetsu, and sliced into Ikki.

"Ah."

From that one blow, the wound Ikki received was not deep. However, because the Device crystallized from his own soul had been shattered, Ikki's consciousness and body crumbled down.

Edelweiss did not give the final blow. He understood that there was no need for it. Having ended the fight, she turned her gaze away from Ikki―


"UuuaaaAAAAAAA!!!"


But at the moment Ikki's body would've hit the ground, incredibly, Ikki mustered as much of his strength as he could, and refused that last act. Grabbing a piece of Intetsu that was flying through the air―

"Aaaaahhh!"

He slashed at Edelweiss again.

That broken edge was easily blocked by the pure-white blade.

"…You still wish to continue?"

Ikki's action had made Edelweiss's heart waver just a little. She asked the knight who was now breathing over her shoulder, yet still grasping the broken shard of his crystallized soul.

"It is plain to see that with the difference in our strength, you cannot even hope to win by chance. The sword formed from your soul is broken, your consciousness faint. Your body can no longer fight either. Despite that, why do you hinder me? I have no desire to injure children unreasonably. Since the beginning, I had no intention of killing you or your sister. Compared to keeping me here, you are putting your little sister in danger. Lord Wallenstein is not one to show children mercy, I fear. …Do you not also know this?"

[Ikki stands up and keeps fighting despite his muscles and internals being shredded and his crystallised soul being shattered (which on its own should KO anyone it happens to in-verse)]
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Edelweiss brought Ikki Kurogane down with a single cut.

The expression of the winner… was dyed in astonishment. What she thought back on was the instant of conclusion. The unbelievable incident that developed amidst the entanglement that shined as if with light.

In that instant, Ikki Kurogane had, in front of the world's strongest sword—of all things, he had attacked on his own accord.

Until now, it could not be said that she, the world's strongest, went easy or acted the slightest bit hesitant while using the sword. Becoming serious, she had charged deep in order to take Ikki's life, but he had driven the blade infused with his soul into the needle-thin gap.

To the end, he had been trying to win against her. Against that edge, Edelweiss had been forced to protect herself completely, and as a result—her attack had faltered. A single step had rendered her fatal blow useless.

And so, Edelweiss had not slayed Ikki Kurogane's spirit.

Furthermore, that last bit of swordsmanship he showed was unmistakably—….

"…Amazing. I never thought it would be to this degree."

***

"…Eh?"

Kurono saw something she couldn't believe at the edge of her peripheral vision.

It was where Edelweiss had been standing just a while ago. Upon the white concrete. What remained there was—red spots.

They were only a few drops, but without a doubt, they were bloodstains. They didn't come from Ikki, but from the one who had been standing there seconds ago. What that meant was—

He wounded her!? A kid who just came of age, against the world's highest…!?

Indeed. He had reached her.

Just a few drops. It was so shallow that one couldn't really call it a wound—even so, the sword of the Worst One had definitely left proof on the world's highest.


[At the end, despite his injuries, he managed to counter Edelweiss' finisher with her own style well enough to avoid being killed and even wounding her, slightly]
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