Speed 1.

Moroboshi shifted from his defensive stance. Leisurely bringing his spear Tora-Ou to bear tip first, he stood ready, and then—a chill ran down goosebumped spines throughout the spectator stands of the Bay Dome.

This included Shizuku.

"What… what a guy, to be able to exude such pressure just from taking a stance…!"

Yes, the source of the shivers was the pressure exuded by Moroboshi to the surroundings even as he took up his stance. Even the uproar of the crowd from earlier was silenced by that presence—tens of thousands devoured in an instant by one man standing in the ring.

Even Ikki, who had been closing for a quick attack, was forced to a halt before that pressure. This was that which had stopped Yui Tatara in her tracks two days ago: Moroboshi's Yuudai's Happo Nirami.

But it was only for a moment. Putting more power into his legs, Ikki continued his charge.

「Representative Kurogane! Despite stopping once, he's unafraid! He charges in bravely!」

「That's a strong heart he has there. A normal person would be left trembling and immobile before that kind of presence, but he is not slowing down at all.」

But this was known to Moroboshi—that this level of scare tactic could never work on the Worst One. He stood stoically till the moment Ikki entered his weapon's range. Then—

"Shii!"

—steel flashed.

Tora-Ou bared its fangs, piercing the air. Ikki backpedaled out of range, trailing wisps of his hair as they scattered gently to the wind. Perhaps he had just been a little slow to react to the spear's speed.

Moroboshi's reaction filled the crowd with cheers.

「It's, it's razor sharrrpp! It's like you can hear the sound of the spear splitting the air from up here in the commentator's box! Kurogane, he's had to fall back—with just one strike, Moroboshi has blunted his assault!」

「It's not only one strike.」

「Eh?」

「Zoom in on the Worst One's chest.」

Having been told this by Muroto, Iida zoomed the camera in. And there on the dome's giant LCD screens, indeed—nicks in Ikki's uniform could be seen.

「Th-This is…! There are spear-point cuts on his clothes in two different places!」

「Yes. Including his hair, that makes three. That is the Seven Stars Sword King's Sanrensei[1] a high-speed spear technique that from a bystander's point of view may seem like only one thrust, but in fact strikes three points at once. It's easy to pay attention to Moroboshi as a fighter possessing the strongest anti-Blazer ability, the destruction of magic. But his well-honed spearmanship is, in my view, his greatest weapon. Getting past his guard is an extremely tall order. The Worst One was strongly wary of this, and that's why he didn't step within Moroboshi's range.」