spearmanship 1

With this strike, I will score the opening hit! It probably won't take him down, but it will allow me to take the lead in this battle!

The very third blow he was aiming for was flying towards his thigh.

Three—now!

Regardless of how amazingly fast it was, it was still a point attack. If he moved but a millimeter away from that point, it would miss. He would take another step to the left, move into range of his sword—

Then cut his body as I pass him—

At that moment when Ikki had evaded the path of the spear with his sidestep and was stepping in range to cut Moroboshi—he saw something impossible.

The Tora-Ou that he should have evaded had made a hard left. Like a snake seeking its prey, the spear-tip sought him out.

"Uuh!"

Even though he was surprised by this unexpected sight, he made the call in an instant. Forsaking his charge, he made a great leap to the left, getting out of the spear's range.

But it was a risky evasion… and an imperfect one, at that.

「Wh-What!? With Kurogane dodging the three strikes gracefully, and Moroboshi only defending, one would think that Kurogane had the advantage—but it was reversed in an instant! He's been cut across half his ear! The Seven Stars Sword King Yuudai Moroboshi has the first strike!」

The stands were in an uproar from that opening blow. Ikki on the other hand shivered slightly, heedless of the blood dripping down from his ear.

Wh-What was that last thrust? I didn't see that in any of his replays!

He had studied Moroboshi's replays countless times in order to come up with a way to exploit this flaw, but Tora-Ou had never never showed him anything like this. Was this a new technique? No. There was something very odd going on if that was the case.

Why didn't the commentators mention this technique?

Could it be that—

—They can't see it?

Ikki's estimation had been spot-on. The curving spear had gone unseen by the audience.