defeats ikki.

*Clang*

The air rang with the sound of heavy clashing metal, and the white bone blade lurched back.

"….Wh…!"

At that moment, Kuraudo's expression was frozen in shock. His full-force attack had been blocked—no, it was more than that. It had been stopped by Kaleidoscope Sara Bloodlily, the lowest opponent. Now Kuraudo was confused to the point that he couldn't recover. And the thing so surprising that he couldn't breathe was—


The thing that had blown Kuraudo's full force attack back was a black-haired boy holding a glimmering black katana.


"Purple Caricature—Crownless Sword King." [13]

And Sara said this.

"If you want to fight him so badly… then you can do it as much as you like."

Instantly, the Crownless Sword King who'd pushed Orochimaru back lowered his waist.

Oh sh—!

"Ittou Shura."

Piercing the distance clad in a blue light that cut through the atmosphere, in a flash that no sword could keep up with, he cut deeply into Kuraudo's chest.

"Gaaahhh!"

An attack that sliced his exposed skull tattoo diagonally. The unexpected blade strike made Kuraudo stagger, his blood splashing. But his shock was greater than the damage of the wound. His eyes were locked wide open at the impossible reality before him, and he had no words for it. Nor was he the only one surprised.

「Wh...What is going on!? Contender Kurogane who must be in the waiting room suddenly appeared in the ring, and attacked Contender Kurashiki!」

「I-It can't be! Purple Caricature can even reproduce other Blazers…!?」

At Sara's incredible feat of recreating a Blazer and his Noble Art, the broadcasters and their commentary and the audience and everything else was frozen in disbelief. The Crownless Sword King created by Purple Caricature didn't let this good opportunity go. With sharp strikes that were surely no weaker than Ikki's own, he pressed the attack. Against them, Kuraudo wouldn't be able to counter—

「Contender Kurashiki is on the defensive! He can't make a move! Can he overcome this situation…!?」

「This is terrible for Contender Kurashiki, isn't it? The strength of his Marginal Counter is reaction speed above human norms and the movement speed it allows. Those two speed advantages provide him all kinds of front-line tactical choices. Originally, it would make him an even match with the Crownless Sword King using Ittou Shura, and he could probably stay defensive for one minute—but it seems dual wielding is too much. His reaction speed is still better than the Crownless Sword King, but the maximum acceleration of moving two swords can't keep up with Marginal Counter. At this rate….」

They gave way. The action progressed even faster than Muroto could explain it. Kuraudo's defense with two blades finally gave way, and the strikes from a glimmering black blade the same as the real Crownless Sword King's began to mangle Kuraudo's flesh. In the middle of the ring, fresh blood flew. The Crownless Sword King had been using Ittou Shura for less than twenty seconds. At this rate, Kuraudo couldn't possibly endure.

"Dammit…!"

This fact made Kuraudo grind his teeth.

Am I gonna lose again…!?

Even though he had coughed and pissed blood, worked himself with the intent to change his own soul's shape—

Can I—not beat this guy….

His mind seemed to fracture at this frustration. While taking one hit after another from the Crownless Sword King, his heart was cracking just like his bones. But in that situation, one man's voice consumed Kuraudo's mind. That was—

「Why do you want a rematch with Kurogane-kun this much?」

At the Ayatsuji dojo, he had confronted Kaito… to kneel before the man and beg for training. This had been Kaito's response. Kaito knew Kuraudo wasn't the type to lower his head for anyone, so Kaito asked what the reason was for going this far. Kuraudo's reply was—

「I'm the same as you.」

And his gaze shifted to what Kaito was holding in one hand.

「Even though you just got out of the hospital, and who knows how many years you've got left to live, you're spending another night in a dead dojo doing stuff like this so seriously. In other words, you—hate that you lost to me, and you're not gonna let it go, right?」

「—Right.」

「I'm no different. I'm not gonna stay the loser. My insides are seething—I'm not gonna sit around doing nothing!」

That's right. That's exactly right. He wasn't going to stand getting beaten. So he'll win. He came here to win against Ikki, nothing else. So—

"...Don't… fuck with me…."

He couldn't lose. He couldn't lose to this flimsy imitation…! That honest and straightforward-to-a-fault guy wasn't waiting around for even a second. That guy was rapidly, steadily moving forward, getting farther away at unbelievable speed. But Kuraudo didn't want to be left behind. Yeah, he wanted to be like that. For the first time in Kuraudo's life, he found someone worth admiring. So—

"I'm not gonna lose! To some damn fake!"

With that blood-drenched scream, he struck simultaneously from both left and right using Hebigami. But his counterattack was weakened; Kuraudo had already lost too much blood—

*Slash*

Kuraudo's counter was brushed away, and conversely his torso was cut deeply into. The spray of blood that followed was clearly fatal. His knee was broken and his posture collapsed. His body fell to the ring at last. And at the moment of his fall—


"Kuraudooo! Don't give uuuuuppp!"


A desperate yell of support entered his ears. It was the voice of a guy Kuraudo knew well. A voice he couldn't forget even if he wanted to. When he looked in that direction, indeed that guy was there. Under the red gate, hurry from the waiting room, it was the true Ikki Kurogane. That's right, that guy definitely rushed here, if only to give Kuraudo the slightest push just as he was about to crumble any moment. And that support certainly reached Kuraudo—

*Snap*

Something exploded in Kuraudo's head, in his heart. A blaze of fury and hatred ignited.

—Why? Why are you here? Why are you cheering me on? And with that desperate expression? Why? As if I need that kind of thing from you!?





"Don't look down on me, Kuroganeeeee—!"


Kuraudo's world turned red from outrage. The oxygen-carrying blood in his body started to move at an unprecedented speed, bringing unparalleled vitality to his near-crumpled body. His feet were once again planted firm on the ground, holding Kuraudo's body strong. At that moment, Kuraudo's spirit was surpassing his flesh due to the rage toward Ikki he felt. It was a miraculous moment in which he passed his highest limits. An impossible moment that would vanish like a dream if he took even a single breath more. But for Kuraudo, it was enough. Wagering all his soul, he struck the Crownless Sword King before him in that one moment—

"HAAAAA—!"

Moving his body with extreme speed, he made eight attacks with his own self-taught swordsmanship—Yamata no Orochi.

Kuraudo did so with two swords. In other words, a total of sixteen slashes! It too was different from what it was before, now a series of slashes refined by Kaito. It was the utmost extreme that a combat prodigy born with the natural ability called Marginal Counter could achieve at this moment. Using Ten'i Muhou to slip through it like Ikki had done before would be impossible, and even the world's strongest sword couldn't defend against sixteen strikes flying toward it in an instant—

The Crownless Sword King's body was chopped to pieces, his human shape turning back to mundane paper scattering to the wind—


Two black katanas pierced Kuraudo's body noisily.


Kuraudo stared with dry eyes. Before him, there stood two Crownless Sword Kings clad in blue light, their swords stabbed into him.

「…then you can do it as much as you like.」

Kuraudo now understood what Sara had meant back then. It had been neither provocation nor sarcasm. Its meaning was literal. Sara Bloodlily could do such a thing. She could draw however many dozens of Crownless Sword Kings that it would take until Kuraudo crumbled.

"...Ah."

A gob of blood spilled from Kuraudo's mouth. Twin swords of bone fell from limp hands.

—Battle was always heartless. No matter how strong the wish one held, there would only be a single victor in the ring. The desires of those who fall are left behind, with no one sparing them a backward glance.

"D...Dammit…."

Here and now, a single man's wish to catch up and surpass his foe came to an end.