Shiro had declared that he would turn his opponent into nourishment.
In truth—He had absolutely no idea how to do that.
Even if he were fighting Reinhard himself, Shiro had no confidence that he could defeat him with absolute certainty.
Still, he had learned at least one useful thing from his opponent.
This mysterious existence seemed to regard Shiro as one of its own kind.
Shiro still had no idea what species the other party actually belonged to.
But the fact that it regarded him as a fellow being meant one thing—Their fundamental essences were extremely similar.
Indeed—Even Shiro had to admit that the existence controlling Reinhard's body had seen through him from the moment they first met.
His identity as an outsider.
And even some fundamental aspect of himself that Shiro did not yet understand.
Nothing had escaped its eyes.
However—That very similarity also told Shiro something else.
Even if this thing could control Reinhard's body, victory was not necessarily impossible.
And if victory was possible—He could ask all his questions after beating the answers out of it!
Combining the principles of Twin-Wings with Nukiashi, Shiro instantly vanished from "Reinhard's" sight.
Petelgeuse had fallen to this same technique earlier.
On the very first step, Shiro used Twin-Wings to bring his body to maximum speed.
Then, using the principles of Nukiashi, he slipped into the blind spot of his opponent's consciousness.
Almost no one should have been capable of stopping it.
By the time an opponent realized Shiro had launched an attack—His sword would already be descending at full speed.
As an ambush technique, it was virtually flawless.
However—The instant Shiro entered his opponent's attack range—
Clang—!
The Dragon Sword flashed silver-white.
Its blade appeared perfectly in the path of Shiro's strike and blocked it head-on.
"So you inherited Reinhard's Divine Protections too."
Shiro could not help voicing his surprise.
That defense had not come from "Reinhard's" own skill.
It came from the world's love for Reinhard.
[Divine Protection of First Sight]—
If an attack can be seen, the opponent's first attack will always miss.
[Divine Protection of Initiative]—
He cannot be caught by surprise, and Reinhard's first attack will always hit.
The two Divine Protections activated together and stopped Shiro's nearly perfect ambush against the Dragon Sword.
Shiro had already suspected that the other party could use Reinhard's Divine Protections as well.
Actually witnessing it was still impressive.
"But I already expected you to block this one."
The instant their blades clashed again—Shiro deliberately allowed his Device to be knocked away.
It was not because his arm strength was inferior to "Reinhard's."
He had done it intentionally.
Because that force was exactly what he needed for his next move.
Using the force transmitted from the Dragon Sword into his Device, Shiro planted one foot firmly on the ground.
His entire body rotated around that point like a compass drawing a circle.
Then—
With even greater speed than his previous strike, Shiro brought his sword crashing down toward "Reinhard."
Clang—!
[Divine Protection of Second Sight]—
If an attack can be seen, all attacks after the first will also fail to hit.
Just as expected—Shiro's second strike was stopped by another of Reinhard's Divine Protections.
Yet rather than becoming discouraged—A satisfied smile appeared on Shiro's face.
"Now you've used up everything you had to counter my opening attacks!"
The instant those words fell—
"Reinhard's" heart skipped a beat.
Something was wrong.
But before he could react—Shiro repeated the exact same motion.
His body traced another perfect arc through the air.
The next instant—
BOOM—!
An unexpectedly terrifying impact slammed into the Dragon Sword.
"Reinhard" was violently launched away.
His body became a red meteor, vanishing into the forest several kilometers away at a speed impossible for ordinary eyes to follow.
"That's what happens when you trust your Divine Protections too much."
Watching the red streak disappear into the distance, Shiro immediately circulated his magic and pursued.
Ever since his first battle with Reinhard—Shiro had understood that defeating him meant dealing with the two Divine Protections that prevented surprise attacks.
Being able to unconditionally make an opponent's first two attacks fail was undeniably powerful.
It made dragging an enemy into Reinhard's preferred rhythm incredibly easy.
But because "Reinhard" relied too heavily on that advantage—He had subconsciously overlooked something.
If he wanted to force Shiro into his rhythm—Then he had to directly receive Shiro's first two attacks.
Otherwise, Shiro could simply retreat after each attempt.
That would waste both Divine Protections without allowing "Reinhard" to gain anything from them.
And under those conditions—What Shiro needed to do was very simple.
He exploited the fact that "Reinhard" was guaranteed to meet his first two attacks head-on—And used one of Kurogane Ikki's Seven Secret Swords.
The Third Secret Sword—Madoka.
It was the most difficult technique to learn among Ikki's Seven Secret Swords.
When Ikki had once asked Shiro for guidance on the Twin-Wings Sword Style, Shiro had taken the opportunity to learn Madoka from him in return.
The principle behind Third Secret Sword: Madoka was simple to describe—Receive an enemy's slash with your own blade.
Then circulate the force of that strike throughout your body in a perfect circular motion.
Finally—Return every bit of the received force back to the opponent through a reversed counterattack.
Against "Reinhard," who was guaranteed to meet the first two strikes directly—It was almost a perfect finishing move.
In other words—The final blow that sent him flying contained the combined power of his own first two counters—
Plus Shiro's final strike.
"Cough..."
"Impressive."
Standing inside a crater cracked like a spiderweb, "Reinhard" tore off the pure-white Royal Guard cloak covering his body.
Beneath it was a black, close-fitting combat outfit.
"So this is what you call human wisdom?"
His voice carried genuine admiration.
Even he had not expected someone from beyond this world to bring him such an unexpected surprise.
Because Shiro had prepared the trap while his opponent remained unaware—That final strike had inflicted considerable damage.
Calling it a severe injury would not have been an exaggeration.
But—
Would that make him weaker?
The answer was no.
The world's love for Reinhard extended far beyond those earlier Divine Protections.
[Divine Protection of Bloodshed]—
The more he bleeds, the stronger he becomes.
Now that Reinhard's body had been severely injured—Its combat power had more than doubled.
In other words—Unless an attack killed him instantly, any injury merely made him stronger.
A silver-white figure appeared beside him in the blink of an eye and launched another attack.
At the same moment—The Dragon Sword Reid in "Reinhard's" hand erupted with brilliant blue light.
The real battle—Was only beginning.
…