The Author's POV

My eyes opened widely as a subtle yet familiar clicking sound filled the air.

'I...mpossible!'

The thought flooded through my mind as I subconsciously activated my 'Eyes of Chronos' to slow down time.

My shock grew even more as I watched Lightning Dragon slowly unsheathe his sword and aim it at me. Despite time moving at a far slower rate than reality, Lightning Dragon's movement seemed smooth and completely unaffected by the rate at which time was flowing.

Thin blue threads spewed out from his hands and sword, as the sword fully unsheathed itself from the scabbard.

What was worse was the fact that all I could do at the moment was watch as the sword slowly aimed for my heart.

But ever so slightly, I was able to move and shift my body in a way that avoided my heart. Just barely.

Spurt!

A small hole appeared on the left side of my chest as time flowed at a natural rate. Following this, my body was pierced by an inexplicable sharp pain.

"Khh..."

Despite my best efforts to distance myself from him, as he again grasped his sword's sheath, Lightning Dragon continued to pursue me. With blood dripping down from my shoulder, I pressed my foot to the ground, and cracks formed beneath the area I stepped on.

"Fuck..."

I cursed underneath my breath as I once reactivated 'Eyes of Chronos' and carefully analyzed his every movement.

This time, I activated Eyes of Chronos to its fullest potential as time slowed down even more. As the seconds passed, it became increasingly difficult to see as the skill took a particular toll on my eyes. Regardless, I persevered through the pain.

Suppressing the pain, I paid close attention to his every movement.

'This stance, and movement, it is without a doubt the Keiki style...'

Using that information, I was able to confirm that it was indeed the Keiki style. It was clear from his movements and how he channeled his mana.

It was exactly how I did it.

'...but how is this possible?'

Upon realizing this fact, many questions emerged inside my mind.

Of such question, the main one was.

'Did Grandmaster Keiki give this sword art to anyone else other than me?'

If I thought about it, this made sense.

It wouldn't be surprising if Grandmaster Keiki had set up a similar place to the one I visited, considering that his main objective was to defeat the demons.

The more people that used his sword art, the higher the chances of us winning.

That being said, he wasn't stupid to the point of giving it to anyone.

If everyone had the Keiki style, chaos would inevitably ensue in the human domain.

In other words, doing so would be the same as giving nukes to just anyone.

There was a reason why most five-star sword manuals were kept hidden. It wasn't only for the sake of keeping it to themselves, but it was mostly to limit people from gaining access to them.

That and the fact that not just anyone could practice them.

'This must be it...'

After racking my brain over the matter, this was the only explanation I could think of for why Lightning Dragon knew the Keiki style.

"...You're wrong."

But it was at that moment that a figure appeared next to me.

With his eyes locked on Lightning Dragon in the distance, he softly muttered.

"Have a better look at him."

'...What?'

Was my analysis wrong?

Gazing back in the direction of where Lightning Dragon, I did as he told me and paid closer attention to his attack.

'It's the same.'

Nevertheless, I found nothing unusual about his attack. It was exactly the same as the regular Keiki style.

'Wait...'

But just then.

My eyes opened widely as I finally took note of something.

'His eyes.'

They were shining.

And when I laid my eyes upon them, I suddenly felt naked. It felt as though all of my secrets were laid bare for him to see.

' What the...'

Shifting my body once more, I deactivated 'Eyes of Chronos'.

Spurt—!

I felt a sharp pain coming from the right side of my shoulder.

"Ugh."

As I suppressed my groan, I returned my attention to Lightning Dragon's eyes.

"They are not shining..."

This...

When I thought back about what his eyes were capable of, it finally hit me.

'That's right, his eyes...'

As I raised my foot, I whipped it at Lightning Dragon's head in a swift whipping motion. This time, I didn't apply any mana to my leg as it was, just a simple kick.

Then, while I was doing that, I activated 'Eyes of Chronos' and closely observed his eyes. I wanted to see whether they shined or not.

Swooosh—!

With thin lightning bolts spewing out of his face, Lightning Dragon moved his head back and easily dodged my attack. He then followed up with his own palm strike that directly hit me in the chest, sending me crashing against the side of the arena.

Bang—!

Suddenly feeling a powerful force hit my back, I spat out saliva and my eyes rolled backward. Slowly, my body slid down the arena's side.

"Cough...Cough..."

Coughing a couple of times, I raised my head to stare in the opposite direction. It was then that my eyes locked with Lightning Dragon who didn't seem interested in pursuing me.

'His eyes didn't shine.'

At that moment that I kicked his head, his eyes didn't shine. This confirmed it. My theory as to why he was able to use the Keiki style.

'It's all thanks to those eyes.'

His eyes were unique. They allowed him to see the mana flow of an opponent. My initial lack of consideration made me grossly underestimate their power.

Lightning Dragon's eyes were not the only thing I had grossly underestimated. I had also underestimated him completely.

I would've never expected him to be able to mimic the Keiki style from just a couple of glances at my sword art. By mimicking its mana flow, coupled with his incredible speeds, he was able to create a version of the Keiki style that wasn't any different from the original one.

'No wonder I wasn't able to tell them apart...'

With the mana flow being the same, and the speed of his movements also being the same, it was practically impossible for me to tell them apart.

If he could do that with my sword style, could he also do it with other sword styles?

Chills down my spine as I thought of such a possibility.

'...Just what kind of monster is this guy?'

Being able to analyze my sword art in such a short period of time, I now understood why he compared his talent to Kevin's.

He was simply a monster.

Lightning Dragon's previously vibrant eyes returned to their usual languid state when I gazed at them.

Tilting his head a little, he lazily asked.

"Is this really all you got?... Or do you still have something up your sleeves? I'm starting to become bored."

Without answering him, I wiped the side of my mouth.

"...So?"

His impatient voice rang throughout the arena.

Gazing in his direction, the edges of my lips curled upwards a bit.

"Give me a second."

'...I've figured it out.'

The way to beat him.

Taking out a potion, I quickly chugged it. Lightning Dragons' brows furrowed when he saw this. Regardless, he didn't seem to have any intentions of stopping me as he just continued watching me from the same spot.

As my wounds slowly started to heal up, I started to stretch my neck and shoulders.

After that, I calmly walked toward the middle of the arena.

Tok. Tok.

As I walked through the quiet arena, the rhythmical sound of my footsteps echoed out loud.

I only stopped when I was a couple of meters away from him.

In the ensuing silence, neither of us said a word.

As if we were on cue with each other, we both placed our hands on the sheath of our sword.

Click. Click.

Two metallic clicking sounds echoed throughout the arena as two swords suddenly intersected in the air.

Clank.

The sand beneath us rose in the air as our swords intersected, scattering everywhere. Distancing ourselves, we repeated the same thing and our swords intersected once more.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

As both of our swords continued to intersect in the air at incredible speeds, a powerful metallic ring echoed in the air for a good minute before it was replaced by more clicking sounds.

***

"Incredible..."

Edward absentmindedly muttered as he gazed at the match.

As he enjoyed the fight to the fullest, he had long given up the idea of analyzing the two contestants.

Be it Lightning Dragon or Ren, the two of them were simply incredible to watch.

Click. Click.

With each clicking sound, the two figures would disappear before reappearing in front of each other, with their swords drawn out.

Their movements were so fast that Edward was simply unable to keep track of them.

Despite that, he could tell from just how to glance how deadly each of their strikes was. Not only did they contain unimaginable power, but the speed at which they moved was simply...

"Terrifying..."

That was all Edward could mutter at the moment as his face progressively hardened.

'If I were to fight against them...'

Staring at the two, for the first time in a long time, Edward didn't feel one hundred percent confident about his victory.

While he wasn't one hundred percent confident about his victory, that didn't mean he thought he would lose.

He just thought that there was a possibility of him losing, which had never happened to him before as he had always dominated his matches.

"Hm?"

Focusing his attention back toward the arena, Edward's eyebrows furrow tightly.

"...It looks like they are about to go all out."

Within a second of his words, two massive hues radiated from the bodies of both contestants, covering the entire arena.

Silence had reigned since the start of the match, with the crowd's eyes glued to the two people in the middle.

It was then that it happened.

Extending his sword forward, Ren suddenly drew a small circle in the air. Following this, once the circle formed, he extended his arms in the air, and ten rings materialized out of nowhere.

Clenching his fists, the rings suddenly turned blue. He then raised his hand and pointed it in the direction of Lightning Dragon. In response to this simple motion, the rings quickly shot toward Lightning Dragon.

Following that, he proceeded to place his hand on the sheath of his sword.

Crack. Crack.

Suddenly, a series of fissures started manifesting around Lightning Dragon as Edward stood up in shock.

"What the..."

On the other side, Lightning Dragon's eyes shone even brighter as his hand touched the sheath of his sword.

Pressing his foot forward, he took a stance and a surge of mana erupted out of his body.

Crack—! Crack—!

Though at a much slower rate than Ren's, fissures also started to form around Ren as tremendous energy started to spew out of the two figures.

At this point, no matter if it was Edward or the crowd, it was well known that the match had reached its climax and that the winner would be revealed after the final exchange between the two.

Staring at the two individuals in the middle of the arena, everyone held their breath in anticipation.

Who was going to win?