Ikki vs Amane

First feat - Ikki pushed back in a sword fight against Amane but causation manipulation not enough to allow Amane to get a hit in, idk how good of a feat it is tho
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His empty hands displayed countless Azure...



“Let’s change the rhythm!”



And threw them straight up.



The countless Azure thrown into the cloudy sky further increased in number in the air and fell down freely after losing momentum.



They stabbed into every place on the ring like grave-markers.



However, not a single one fell towards Ikki.



What exactly was his intention for doing that?



The instant everyone felt such doubt...



“Hoi!”



Amane threw two new Azure towards the Azure stabbed into the ground ahead.



Soon after, the thrown Device hit a Device on the ground, and bounced like a bunny by using the bent blade.



「Th-This is! The swords Contender Amane had thrown are rushing about on the ring just like pinballs! Wh-What’s with this impossible phenomenon!?」



「......Hitting the swords that are stabbed in the good spots, then continuing to bounce about with good luck......In addition, he isn’t letting them jump around at random.」



“────!”



It was at the same time the commentator Saikyou muttered that.



From both left and right, the swords that were bouncing about assaulted Ikki.



The silver bullets that closed in on him from left and right at the same time.



Though, it was easy for Ikki to repel something of that degree.



He deflected them with one strike, but──



“AHAHA. Too naive, Ikki-kun!”



Amane showered Ikki with mockery as he flicked away the incoming blades with Intetsu.



The reason immediately came to light.



Azure that were repelled by Intetsu all hit Azure that were nearby ── and once again bounced back to aim at the center of Ikki’s brows.



“Kuh...”



Ikki dodged those with his outstanding reflex and athletic ability, but the dodged Azure then hit the other Azure with good luck──



「This is...wh-what is going on!? Bounce and bounce, they hit the swords that were stabbed into the ring like grave-markers, and bounced back the blades like bullets! Like that, there will be no end to bouncing around!」



“Ahaha! Isn’t it incredible!? Yes. These are the hunting hounds that will continue to return and aim for your life even if you deflect them as long as I have the intention to pierce you. Their number will not decrease. But......increasing it is easy.”



Saying so, Amane throw countless Azure from his hands once again.



They flew through the air and increased in numbers like clones, and bounced about from colliding with Azure stabbed on the ring.



They all turned into hunting hounds while giving off solid sounds of collision.



That number actually reached over thirty──!



That had exceeded the limit of what Ikki could handle even with his swordsmanship...



“Let me make a prophecy. Ikki-kun will lose without even being able to touch me!”



With Amane’s words as the cue, the fangs of hunting hounds pointed at Ikki in three hundred and sixty degrees from all directions at the same time.



That could not be dodged.



And there was no meaning in deflecting them.



Deflecting them only meant that the same would happen again.



Stuck in that cycle, Amane showed a smile of victory...



“Eh?”



Right after that, his eyes turned into dots.[12]



The reason was, in the instant Ikki was about to be pierced by the countless blades, he ripped off his upper uniform and spun one round with it in his hand. He controlled his clothes like they were a dancer’s veil, and used the cloth to catch the Azure that rushed in from all direction at the same time.



If deflecting them would make them bounce back, he just had to stop them.



Ikki, who showed that without needing to say it, remained calm without changing his expression.

[Ikki deflecting blades that pinballed around an arena with infinite momentum control by fate itself. After 30 are bouncing around at once he catches all of them with his clothes to halt them]
- vol 8
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Ikki, who showed that without needing to say it, remained calm without changing his expression.



And then, he closed in on Amane in the next breath.



“────!?”



Amane, who was certain that Azure would make Ikki into a beehive, was late to react to that counterattack...



──His cheek was slightly cut.



“Looks like you don’t have the talent in fortune telling. Amane-kun.”



“～～～～～～～!?!?!?”



It was only a graze, without shedding any blood.



However, the blade of Intetsu definitely reached.



That situation shook Amane so much that he could not rebut the provokation.



(I-Impossible......! Even though it was a graze, to think an attack actually hit me......!)



What exactly had happened?



He could not comprehend it at all, but Ikki would not give him that much free time to think deeply about it.



Chasing after Amane as if not letting him run away while being shaken, he pulled out Azure next to him and switched to two-sword style.



He trampled down Amane’s defense with a combo attack that could be seen as a roaring tide, and aimed at Amane’s carotid artery in a pincer attack with both swords.



The blades missed...



(Again......!)



A shallow layer of skin on his neck was slit. In addition, the new wound even showed a trace of blood.



The blade clearly went deeper than before.



Nameless Glory was already activated.



Even though any action that could’ve harmed him should not have been possible.



──Why?



Amane’s confusion finally erased his nonchalant smile and blood drained from his face.



He could not understand the reason, but at least he was sure that it was closing in on his own life.



“D-Damn!”



Amane cursed as he was forced into a defensive fight.



He wished to the goddess, not to defeat his opponent, not to injure his opponent, but to not get injured himself.



However, rather than stopping, Ikki’s fierce attacks only increased in intensity...



「The attack and defense have turned around here! Contender Kurogane cleverly created a chance in the long range defense, and grasped the pace! Attack and attack! As if the proud Bad Luck was not functioning! Contender Shinomiya can only defend one-sidedlyyy!」



He continued advancing while sparks flew around as the metal blades collided.



Forward, forward, with certainty.



The steps taken were steady, the strikes were strong, it was exactly the usual Ikki.



That situation not only shocked Amane, but also Shizuku, who had experienced his power first-hand.



“Wh-Why? Nameless Glory is a causality interference that forcefully causes the opponent to make an error......! Getting close would cause the feet to slip, using magic would cause the calculations to go haywire. Even though it’s such a cheating power......”



Ikki’s movements in chasing Amane were flawless.



He did not trip and fall onto the ground like she did.



Why?



“How is Onii-sama avoiding that influence......!?”



To Shizuku’s doubt, Kurono pointed out “That’s not it. Kurogane-imouto”



“Not it, you mean?”



“Kurogane is not avoiding the error. Amane’s causality interference is definitely working. ──Vermillion. You can see it, right?”



She said so and turned her gaze towards Stella.



In response, Stella’s pupils shook in admiration and envy as she nodded her head.



“Yeah......As expected, Ikki is incredible......!”



“What do you mean?”



“In other words, Kurogane is receiving Nameless Glory directly from the front. The strike just now makes it three times. Before was four times. If you watch carefully, you can see that Kurogane’s posture is collapsing. However, he changed the slip beneath his feet to a circular motion of slash, spreading the burden on his almost snapping muscles to the muscles around them, fixing all the errors in an instant, in less than one tenth of a second.”



“Such a thing can be done!? Even though there’s no telling when an error could happen!?”



“It’s impossible if you think about it. The errors of Nameless Glory happen far faster than the limit of reflex for humans. You will not make it in time if you think about it with your head......However, there exists one exception. In the past, a certain famous swordsman achieved enlightenment at the end of his swordsman career ── into the realm of 「Isshintou」.”



That was combining heart, body and sword into one, the essence of sword and heart as one.



Only those who trained to the extremity and crossed over countless deadly moments could arrive at that epitome.



“The swords of those swordsmen in this realm would slash their enemies faster than the wielders’ will. For any kind of change in their condition, without needing to think, their muscles, marrow and cells, with form and technique carved from the tens and hundreds of thousands of repetitions, would respond to any kind of change in condition, guiding the body into the most optimum action without the interference of mind. What Kurogane is doing is none other than this. No matter how his posture collapses, no matter what kind of unexpected situation happens, that man’s body knows how to fix it.”

[Ikki can effectively use ultra instinct, attacking without thought and automatically fixing the errors that occur from literal fate manipulation attempting to reality warp him into fucking up his swings]
[can scale with shizuku fucking up her magic control with basic spells, and the moon feat]
- vol 8
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After finishing the work of stopping his heart, Amane was about to finish him off.



However, right after everyone thought that it was over, it was Amane and not Ikki, who bled.



In an instant, the unexpected outcome stunned the audience, but...



Seeing the figure of the collapsed Amane on the ground, their comprehension caught up.



Ikki had taken the control of that bout by returning a slash at the last moment.



「「「O-OOOooOoOooOoh!!!!」」」



「C-Counterattack! He cut him down instantly when we thought it was too late! Contender Shinomiya collapsed on his knees! His fresh blood made a puddle on the ring! That’s a lot of bleeding! Deep! That wound is deep!」



“～～～～～～～!?!?”



Amane fell onto the ground with all his limbs touching.



His expression was dyed in shock ── to the point that he could not even feel the pain.



(Wh-What just happened......!?)



He could not comprehend.



Nameless Glory did not activate?



No, that was impossible.



That had never happened before.



The wheel of fate definitely moved according to his will.



Ikki’s heart unmistakably stopped.



And if the heart stopped, the body could not move.



It was obvious. The heart was the pump that delivered the blood, which contained the oxygen needed throughout the entire body as its energy source.



Without gasoline circling through it, an engine could not operate, if the oxygen and energy in the blood did not circle around, the human body would not move.



Ikki’s body died......──No, he should’ve already been dead at that moment.



He should not have been able to counterattack.



(Even so, how did he move? How did he cut me!?)



“Y-You......what did you do......!?”



The confused Amane seeked that answer from Ikki, who was standing there without any trace of difficulty.



In response, ikki looked down at him...



“I moved my stopped heart myself.”



Said so as if it was nothing.



「Ah! I see, so that’s how it is! Haha, seriously!」



Saikyou, on the commentator seat, applauded at Ikki’s reply.



「S-Saikyou-sensei! What does this mean!?」



「It’s just like what Kuro-bou said. Kuro-bou’s heart definitely stopped once. But Kuro-bou made it move by himself, counterattacked and turned the table around.」



「Wha......!? M-Move you say, is that possible!?」



「AHAHA. No, well, I won’t be able to do it, you know? That’s because the heart is not something you can move with your will. Heart muscles thump according to the automatic orders given by the “Pacemaker cells”. That does not involve human will. It is purely the flesh’s rhythm maker......But if it’s Kuro-bou, he can do it. After all, he has been doing it all the time until now.」



「Eh?」



「It’s the swordsmanship of Twin-Wings. A swordsmanship that moves all the muscles in the body together in an instant. The signal that sends orders from the brain is important, but there is something else more important. That is blood. If there isn’t enough energy supplied by the blood, it will not be possible to move all the muscles in the body together. But that amount of energy cannot be supplied by the blood pressure under normal pulsation. That’s natural. A human body is not made with the swordsmanship of Twin-Wings in mind.



Then what to do? There is one answer. You can only greatly increase the standard of life activities, and consciously boost the pulse and blood pressure. In other words, if he could not do something like moving his heart with his mind, there would be nothing to talk about. Kuro-bou is using such a sword technique. And if he could move his heart with his mind, there would not be a problem if the “pacemaker cell” made some irregular movement. It is just something like switching from auto to manual.」



The explanation from Saikyou was right on the mark without any mistakes.



Ikki did just what she pointed out, by delegating the brain to control his heart muscle activity the moment his heart’s autorhythmic beating stopped.



He consciously moved his heart and picked himself up immediately.



And the “pacemaker cell” was equipped with the function of rebooting by itself once stopped using external stimulation such as heart massage or electric shock .



「That means, the “Die” just now did not deal any damage to Kuro-bou. While Ama-chan believed that he had won and closed in without any guard. Closing in on that Another One. It is a big failure that can only be called as carelessness. That is a fatal wound.」



「C-Certainly......You can tell that the wound is very deep from the amount of bleeding.」



「It’s not just that. Ama-chan’s ability is the power to change causality to suit himself......Kuro-bou pretending that his heart stopped and luring him to close in foolishly is not possible normally. That kind of mistake should’ve been prevented by Nameless Glory interfering. But......it was not prevented this time. In short, the moment he overcame the ultimate causality interference of taking one’s life, their power difference had been set in stone.」



Amane Shinomiya could not win against Ikki Kurogane.

- volume 8
[After Amane uses his fate manipulation to literally stop Ikki's heart, Ikki automatically just took control of his heart personally through Edelweiss' swordsmanship.]
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Amane raised a cry in response and lashed out countless reaper’s arms that manifested his killing intent.



Amane was way stronger in terms of magic power.



Ittou Shura’s level of magic power could not even be considered an armor.



Just a graze from a reaper’s hand would probably take Ikki’s life.



However, Ikki did not escape or show any wavering despite knowing it and moved forward──



“HAaaa!!!!”



With the swordsmanship that could be called the fastest, he cut down the reaper’s hands that pursued him like a wave of spears and moved forward.



He could not be stopped.



Not even a single step.



Not even a single moment.



Like the moonlight splitting apart the darkness of night.



The blue light scattered the pressuring black flame.



The powerful figure of that strength had stopped the feet of the audience that should’ve been escaping from Amane’s rampage, making them focus on the ring.

***


「Concentrating has brought out a flaw.」



「A flaw?」



「That’s right. Certainly, if it’s the Nameless Glory that is concentrated to the point of being visible, it will go straight to “death” while ignoring any and all processes. Kuro-bou can’t do anything about it no matter what he tries. But......concentrating the causality power of “death” has killed off the greatest advantage of Nameless Glory.」



「The greatest advantage...is?」



「The coincidence. Since Ama-chan has “only been wishing” until now.



That would be great, I wish it can be like this.



That’s why his “will” cannot be read. What kind of causality change will happen cannot be predicted.



After all, even the person who used the Noble Art does not know what kind of effect there will be.



In fact, Kuro-bou only fixed the errors caused by Nameless Glory and had never avoided it once in the match.



But now is different. The strong power of causality interference that can be seen by the naked eyes are moving according to the clear killing intent of Ama-chan. Ama-chan himself is controlling it. Then ── even thousands of reaper’s hands do not matter.



Reading the intention of opponents. ──That’s the most proficient field of the Worst One......!」


[Ikki is somehow able to cut down the black arms of Amane, basically a concentration of his wish to kill things so potent that they become visible]
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And then, two hours after Ikki was brought in.



Despite the light ‘in operation’ still being lit, one of the doctors came out of the room.



Shizuku immediately went up to him and asked about her brother’s situation.



“My Onii-sama! Is my Onii-sama saved!?”



The doctor did not shake or nod his head, and replied in a heavy voice.



“......No, we still don’t know.”



“Wh-What’s with that!? D-Don’t know you say, what do you mean by that!?”



“That’s, we don’t know what reason is causing that. We first thought that it was a heart attack. There are no external wounds anywhere, only the heart was in the state of stoppage. However, after resuscitating the heart, the brain was having issues, after caring for that then another place caused trouble......just like in a game of whack-a-mole, as if 「death」 was attracted to his body.”



Death was attracted to him.



The first thing she had connected to those words was the opponent, Amane’s ability.



However...



“But didn’t Onii-sama dodge all of it!?”



That’s right, Shizuku shouted that he had not received a single injury.



However ── Kurono told her that it was a mistaken recognition.



“You see, Kurogane-imouto. If you confirm with the recorded footage......you will know that both of his arms were grazed by the reaper’s hand when he had protected the main referee. Most likely, the 「death」 seeped in from there.”

[Ikki has solid death resistance, having a full fight after being tagged by Amane's death hands which are supposed to instantly kill whatever they come into contact with]
- vol 8
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