noble arts 1

Within the city, the battle between the the Sword Emperor of Wind and the Worst One began suddenly.

It was Ouma who made the first move. He lifted his hand, Ryuuzume glowing with pale, baleful fire in the darkness—

"Ha!"

—and swept horizontally at a rapidly closing Ikki. Ten meters separated the two. It was a distance no blade's reach could cross, or would cross. And yet—

"Tch!"

Ikki's body, already held close to the ground in his charge, now went lower still as he dived flush to the ground in a panic. Not a moment too soon—a frigid gale passed over him, scything through the rows of trees behind him in its wake.

A blade of steel might not cross that distance. But a blade of wind was a different matter. This was the Noble Art Shinkuuha, a popular offensive technique among wind users that tore through air, creating a small corridor of vacuum. Naturally, Ouma was capable of using it.

"Haa!"

Ouma struck out with Ryuuzume once again, sending another blade of vacuum hurtling toward Ikki. A slash capable of cutting through air. While it lacked the sheer offensive strength of a fire-user's ranged abilities like Stella Vermillion's own long-range technique Dragon Fang, its supersonic speeds and the difficulty of dodging an invisible strike made it a deadly ability in its own right.