To counter a reflection-type ability—
The worst thing you could do… is to resist it.
That was the truth Eiji had come to understand.
Because once a reflection-type mage activates a reflective barrier, all force exerted on them—regardless of form—gets reflected back. Even gravity is no exception. No physical attack, no matter how refined, could ever break through.
Even if you somehow managed to redirect the reflected force back at them, it would just be reflected again. The fight would devolve into a loop of "I reflect your reflected reflection," a battle where the one relying on raw mechanics would always lose to the one exploiting the system.
And that's when Eiji realized—
Just don't resist.
As the saying goes: Survival itself is a form of victory.
As long as he remained standing, it wasn't a loss.
And so, building upon the foundation of the Taiji Sword, Eiji developed a new technique—"Blend with the Dust and Light." Through the balance of hardness and softness, he could completely neutralize the force of any blow that landed on him.
Now, even in the face of monstrous strength—far surpassing his own by several times, maybe even tenfold—he merely took two steps back.
The massive power behind Ikki's attack was absorbed through his legs and channeled harmlessly into the ground.
Not a scratch on him.
Earlier, he'd been sent flying because Ittou Shura had caught him off guard, lifting him into the air. With his footing broken, the only way to dissipate the impact was by slamming into the ground.
But now—with his feet planted firmly—just two steps back was enough.
"RAAHHHH!!"
Ikki clenched his teeth.
He still refused to give up. It was as if he were trying to burn through every last ounce of power within his body. Veins bulged along his forehead, his muscles knotted and tensed, his expression twisted in raw ferocity.
BOOM!
BOOM!
An onslaught of earth-shaking strikes exploded toward Eiji, each carrying devastating shockwaves.
"Incredible power! Kurogane's attacks are relentless—one after another! He's moving so fast that he's become invisible to the naked eye! Thankfully, the broadcast has high-speed cameras—but even then, we can barely follow the action!"
The aerial monitors displayed the battle at one-tenth speed, yet even at that pace, the images flashed by in a blur. A single exchange would end before anyone could comprehend it, and the footage would skip to the next moment.
"A-Amazing…"
"Kurogane… Was he always this powerful when he went all out?"
Gasps of awe echoed throughout the stadium.
In all of Ikki's past fights, whenever he unleashed Ittou Shura, the battles had ended too quickly for the audience to grasp what really happened. Most spectators, mere outsiders, never had a chance to truly understand how terrifying he became in that state.
But now—for the first time—they witnessed it firsthand.
Ikki, empowered by Ittou Shura, launched wave after wave of ferocious strikes at Eiji. That overwhelming, spine-chilling power—it burned itself into everyone's minds.
"Though Kurogane's attacks are ferocious, Eiji remains unmoved—his defense is solid as a mountain. He's blocked every single one of Kurogane's blows… and now, only thirty seconds remain in Kurogane's time limit!"
"If this continues—cough, well… to be blunt, Kurogane may… lose."
The fierce exchange between the two on stage had seized the attention of everyone present.
Touka, Kanata, Stella, Shizuku—even those who held grudges against Ikki, like Shizuya Kirihara, and the public who had misunderstood him—now all watched the match in breathless tension.
In the arena—
Eiji was calm. Unshaken. Tranquil as a still lake.
Like a reef standing strong amid raging currents, he was continuously driven back by Ikki's ferocity, yet his form—his stance—never wavered.
The earth beneath him cracked, spreading like a spiderweb with every impact.
And yet, every time, Eiji neutralized the force with his Blend with the Dust and Light technique.
In the span of barely ten seconds, he had already endured dozens of Ikki's full-power strikes.
Raikou, Shinkirou, Saigeki, Dokuga no Tachi—Ikki unleashed secret technique after secret technique with everything he had.
And yet—not one could bring Eiji down.
He was exactly like that reef in the ocean—no matter how the waves pounded, he remained standing.
"RAHH!!"
In another desperate charge, Ikki unleashed his finest Raikou—his fastest and most brilliant strike to date!
This strike—
It was the fastest sword Ikki had ever unleashed. The culmination of every evolution, every adaptation he had gained throughout today's battle—distilled into this single slash!
"Hah!"
Eiji exhaled sharply.
Steel clashed violently with steel, and under the crushing force of the blow, his entire body was flung back more than ten meters. His feet gouged long trenches into the earth as he slid across the battlefield.
Ikki immediately rushed in to follow up—intent on delivering the finishing blow.
But—suddenly—
BOOM!
A tremendous force erupted from Eiji's body.
Caught off guard, Ikki was blasted away, his form crashing backward through the air.
"A counterattack! Nangou has launched his first counterattack! But how did he do it?!"
"We… we don't know."
"Yuuri-chan…"
No one could blame her.
Even seasoned veterans—world-class experts—had long since lost the ability to follow the swordplay between these two.
"That was… my... Madoka?"
Ikki's eyes widened in shock.
He had used that technique before when he was trying to deal with Eiji's seamless swordplay—to dissipate force and deflect momentum. But Madoka wasn't just a technique to disperse impact. Its true essence was a move to rebound an opponent's force—requiring a distinct circular motion to redirect the energy cleanly.
As far as he could recall, this was the first time he'd ever used Madoka in front of Eiji.
And yet—
"I saw you use it so many times before," Eiji said calmly, lightly flexing his wrist, which trembled faintly from the accumulated shock. "So I memorized it."
Even with Blend with Dust and Light, it wasn't possible to nullify 100% of the shockwave from Ikki's blows. The backlash still stung.
"It felt like a good match for my technique, so I gave it a try."
In other words—
He had copied Ikki's technique in the middle of their high-speed battle. Not just that—he had refined it.
Ikki hadn't seen him spin or pivot in the usual way. Eiji had reflected his force with a backhanded motion—a modification.
And truthfully, Madoka itself had roots in Taiji, the same martial philosophy Eiji used to create Blend with Dust and Light.Ikki had been inspired by that very principle when he developed the move. So it was only natural for Eiji, who understood the source, to perfect and adapt it in moments.
That's when the cold reality hit him.
"It's over."
Ikki's heart sank like a stone.
No matter how much power he poured into his strikes—no matter how many secret techniques he unleashed—Eiji could now deflect all of them, and even reflect them back.
The explosive boost in physical prowess granted by Ittou Shura—in Eiji's eyes—was as meaningless as air.
There was only one reason:
Eiji's swordsmanship had completely, overwhelmingly surpassed his own.
The swordsmanship Ikki had spent his life cultivating—what he had always taken pride in—was dismissed with a glance. Replicated. Improved. Countered.
Not one of his seven secret swords could break through Blend with Dust and Light.
Not only was his Perfect Vision sealed—so too was any chance of mastering or turning the tide.
"The match is decided."
Atop the grandstand, Nene offered her verdict with absolute certainty.
"The gap between them has widened irreparably. Not only did Kurogane fail to break through—he couldn't even force Little Brother to reveal his Noble Art."
Kurono gave a silent nod.
Torajirou inclined his head in quiet agreement.
"Hahahahaha! Serves you right!"
A loud, mocking laugh rang out.
It was Akaza—now free from his crutch, standing tall as he burst into hysterical laughter.
"Ikki Kurogane, your time is up! You'll never beat Lord Eiji! Be smart and surrender already—hahahahaha!!"
***
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