The stadium was charged with an electric intensity. Thousands of eyes were glued to the two figures in the center of the ring, waiting for a csh that promised to be legendary.

  Yet, in stark contrast to the roaring crowd, the two combatants were eerily still. Both Haruki Aizawa and Ikki Kurogane remained silent, maintaining a precise distance as they studied one another.

  Finally, Ikki's voice broke the silence.

  "Haruki... first, I have to apologize."

  "For what?"

  "Shizuku told me what you did. You personally threatened the Kurogane family to ensure they didn't interfere with this match. You did so much for me, yet even now, I can't find a shred of gratitude in my heart. All I can think about... all I want... is to defeat you. I really am a hypocrite, aren't I?"

  "..."

  Haruki didn't answer immediately. He slowly drew the spectral bde, Onibi. "It doesn't matter. I didn't threaten them for your sake. I just wanted a fair match against a real swordsman."

  "A real swordsman... To hear you say that makes me truly happy," Ikki said, a genuine smile touching his lips. "From the day we met, I've looked forward to this. And more than anything, I've looked forward to the moment I finally surpass you!"

  "Then come and try."

  Haruki gripped his hilt. Simultaneously, Ikki summoned his Device, Intetsu. The pitch-bck bde manifested in his right hand.

  Ikki's feelings toward Haruki were a complex tangle of admiration and rivalry. He respected Haruki's unshakeable resolve, but that respect had become the fuel for his own ambition. He had pushed himself ten times harder than ever before just to stand on this stage.

  Ikki leveled his bde at Haruki, his voice ringing across the arena. "Haruki Aizawa, I challenge you not as a student, but as a warrior! Whatever happens outside this ring, I will not waver! I swear here and now—I will use my weakest to shatter your invincible!"

  The moment the words left his mouth, Ikki unleashed Ittou Shura!

  He didn't save it as a trump card. He knew the gap between them was so vast that without his ultimate buff, he didn't even have the right to stand in the same ring. His physical stats multiplied a hundredfold in an instant.

  CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

  Despite the massive increase in Ikki's speed, Haruki's movements were effortless. He dismantled Ikki's swordsmanship with surgical precision.

  The reason was simple: Haruki had mastered Tohka's Shigan (Logic Sight). Enhanced by his Wave Arts, Haruki's version was superior to the original. He wasn't just reading electrical signals; he was perceiving the vibrations of Ikki's entire being. No matter the angle or the speed, Haruki saw the strike before Ikki even committed to it.

  "!!!"

  Realizing pure technique wouldn't work, Ikki shifted tactics. He stopped the frontal assault and used the extreme speed of Ittou Shura to circle Haruki, searching for a blind spot.

  "Using speed against me?" Haruki shook his head. "You chose the wrong opponent."

  Faint green motes of light began to drift from Haruki's body. He activated Highnder, pushing his physical vessel to its absolute peak.

  Rumble!

  To Ikki's eyes, Haruki simply ceased to exist. He couldn't track a single movement. All he felt was a sudden, violent eruption of sword-qi from the shadows.

  BOOM!

  Ikki had no time to parry. He braced his Mana Shield, but the force of Haruki's strike was overwhelming. He was sent sprawling across the arena, tumbling several times before barely catching himself at the very edge of the boundary.

  The stadium fell into a deathly silence. The crowd had expected a duel of equals. They hadn't expected to see Ikki Kurogane, the syer of A-Ranks, getting systematically thrashed.

  Haruki looked like an unstoppable demon. He had no weaknesses. He was Ikki's superior in every conceivable category—technique, stamina, mana control, and willpower.

  But Haruki didn't feel rexed. He didn't believe Ikki was done. He respected Ikki as a "True Swordsman," and a true swordsman doesn't surrender in the face of despair. They find a way to break the world.

  Haruki prepared himself. He would meet Ikki's resolve by destroying it. He would crush his spirit and his bde until nothing remained. This wasn't cruelty; it was the ultimate respect for a fellow warrior. In a duel between two people who live for the sword, only one "Path" can remain standing.

  Ikki stood at the very edge of the ring, a single step away from a ring-out loss. Most people would have fallen into despair. But the "Worst One" was different. In the face of absolute defeat, his potential finally ignited.

  Rumble!

  Suddenly, a brilliant, pale-blue radiance erupted from Ikki. His mana, which should have been at its limit, surged even higher. His presence shifted from that of a knight to something far more primal.

  "What... what is that?"

  "Is he Rank F? How can he have that much power?!"

  The audience couldn't comprehend it. Haruki, however, saw exactly what Ikki was doing. He was burning his very life force.

  WHAM!

  Ikki lunged. His speed was now so high that he actually matched Haruki's Highnder state. The two became streaks of blue and green light, cshing across the arena at speeds that left the cameras—and the spectators—completely blind.

  "WH-WHAT?! Kurogane-san is even faster than before! How is this possible?!" the announcer shrieked.

  Only Haruki understood the sacrifice. Ikki had discarded everything. To gain this speed, he had shut down his non-essential biological functions. He had discarded sight, hearing, and even his sense of touch. He was funneling every scrap of energy into the muscles required to swing a sword.

  How does he fight without senses? the masters in the crowd wondered.

  The answer was Instinct. Through years of "Bde Stealing," Ikki had memorized the patterns of combat so deeply they were etched into his DNA. He didn't need to see Haruki; he knew where Haruki had to be.

  This was no longer Ittou Shura. It was Ittou Rasetsu (Single Bde Rakshasa). For a single second, he had become a god of sughter.

  BOOM!

  The collision of their bdes shook the entire stadium. The crowd's roar was deafening, but Haruki didn't hear them. He was focused entirely on the monster before him.

  He admired Ikki's gambit. Against any other swordsman, this would have been a checkmate. But Haruki Aizawa refused to be a stepping stone. He refused to retreat, and he refused to lose.

  If Ikki was willing to discard his humanity for a single strike, Haruki would meet him with a power that transcended the soul.

  "If you're going all in," Haruki whispered, "then so will I."

  Fwoosh!

  Haruki ignited his own mana. He didn't use it for a speed boost; he used it to prime his body for his final, most dangerous branch. A dark, crimson mist began to leak from his pores, mixing with the green light of his Wuju Style.

  He was entering the Bloodlust state—the Frenzy.

  "Let's see whose soul burns out first, Ikki!"

  ***********************************************

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