Endurance 2

"Gah…ha!"

The feeling of something cold on his cheek—the cold stone flooring of the ring—brought Moroboshi back to his senses.

Wh…What, why am I lying down…?

Having lost consciousness for an instant, he could not comprehend what had happened to him, or that he had been hit by Ikki's attack.

For now, let's get up.

His instincts as a fighter allowed him to get up immediately even after having fallen down defenseless. Thus, even in his state of incomprehension, he got up on reflex, and in the moment that he got to his feet and his senses returned—

"G-uaa-aaaaahhhh!"

—he groaned in agony as fiery pain seared his flank.

「Moroboshi's gotten up! But as you can see, he's hurt really badly! He's losing lots of blood, and his legs are unsteady!」

Having heard his circumstances being analyzed by the commentary, and feeling his side burn, he realized that he had been injured.

What… is this? I was cut!? But I couldn't see anythin'….

As he was beside himself in confusion, he heard this.

"Aah… I finally understand."

His opponent said in a small voice.

"Kurogane… what in the world did you just do?"

What had he understood? Was he able to achieve that speed because he had understood it?

Ikki replied as he bowed slightly.

"Moroboshi-san, I'm sorry for having kept you waiting."

"You're… sorry?"

"Yes… it's all finally come together now."

Ikki was of course talking about their promise from the previous day. To give his best, and thus return the favor—a gentleman's agreement between him and the proud knight named Yuudai Moroboshi.