Sweat ran down Akio's face as he watched Ryusei's movements. A faint smile curved his lips — the smile of someone who had finally realized that speed alone wasn't enough.
"I can't defeat him if I keep chasing him… I have to make him take the first step."
Akio lowered his gaze to the ground. The clashing swords had scorched the stone tiles, leaving dark trails, but beneath that chaos… his energy began to seep out quietly. Tiny sparks extended from his fingertips, like threads of light weaving through the cracks.
"This is my chance… {Vakin Lightning — Raijin's Vein!}"
Lightning flashed around his feet for only an instant — then vanished. It looked as if he had disappeared. No one in the audience noticed, not even Ryusei, who kept advancing steadily, the star fragments orbiting him in a dim glow.
But when his foot brushed one of the glowing spots on the floor… light burst from beneath him. A sharp electrical crack rang out, and a surge of lightning spread through the ground like a living web of nerves. Ryusei's body jolted — his arm rose instinctively, as if struck by an unseen blade, sparks scattering around him like a tiny meteor bursting within.
From afar, Akio raised his head, that faint victorious grin returning.
"Got you."
But what he hadn't realized yet… was that the flickering of those scattered shards wasn't by chance — Ryusei hadn't fallen. A faint groan escaped Ryusei's throat, somewhere between pain and fury. His body trembled, but he didn't retreat. Slowly, he lifted his head, his green eyes igniting with a cold light that looked like a dying star.
Veins spread across his face and neck, glowing faintly beneath his pale skin as if pulsing with inner light. His grip on the starblade tightened until the fragments groaned with a sound like cracking glass.
He stepped forward once — the ground trembled. A second time. A third. Each step emptied more of the fury building within him. His muscles were so tense that even the air seemed to twist with a faint heat.
He raised his head toward Akio and spoke in a low, strained voice filled with pressure.
"Do you think pain will stop me…? I've lived through years of silence harsher than this."
Then he lifted his sword — the light around him began to fracture into circles of glowing shards, as if reality itself was starting to crack in preparation for his next technique.
Ryusei vanished. Not in a bright flash — but in scattered flickers, as if the light itself had shattered. Tiny streaks of radiance appeared in every direction around Akio, followed by a faint whistling, like glass breaking in the air.
'That— Where did he go?!'
Akio turned sharply, blades ready — but the first strike came from nowhere. A quick flash, followed by blood blooming on his shoulder. The second hit his arm, the third his side. Each time, the strike landed before his eyes could even follow it.
Akio finally realized, panting:
'He's not moving fast… he's making the light itself deceive me.'
He stepped back slightly, gripping his blades, sparks flaring once again from his body.
'Calm down… think like lightning. Don't see it — be it.'
When he heard the next whistle, he didn't dodge. He charged straight toward it with all his energy. Their blades collided midair, the burst of lightning revealing Ryusei's face once again — right before him.
Akio roared, the thunder wrapping around him like a storm.
"I won't let light fool me twice!"
The lightning and starlight collided, and the clash echoed like thunder across the arena. Star fragments scattered in every direction. Ryusei's steps began to slow — not from exhaustion, but from boredom. His expression didn't change, but the deadly glint in his eyes faded, replaced by the dull gaze of a player who knew the game was over before it began.
'So noisy… all this fuss for nothing.'
He raised his starblade in his right hand and opened his left palm. Dozens of new fragments burst around him, spinning in precise orbits like tiny planets. With each movement of his body, they cut through the air, releasing streams of light.
In a single step, he moved — and no one saw what happened next. His sword pierced Akio's shoulder, then withdrew. Before Akio could scream, another strike hit his side, then his thigh. Ryusei moved silently, stabbing with the precision of an assassin, each blow repeating itself like an echo.
Akio fell to his knees, blood dripping from his limbs, yet his hands still clenched his swords. He rose again, chest heaving as if drowning, and lunged — only to be stabbed once more.
Ryusei's cold voice came from behind his mask.
"Your fall is slow… slower than I expected."
From afar, Ann watched with wide eyes, her lips trembling as she whispered,
"He's… just a boy! He can't die here…"
Ken stood still, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes held neither pity nor admiration — only that somber silence that comes before truth.
He spoke quietly, his voice barely audible through the chaos.
"If he doesn't find a reason to stand… this will be the end."
Akio's sight was painful to behold — his body seemed to scream from within. Blood streamed from his mouth, his nose, and his wounds. Yet he stood again, swaying like a man fighting death itself. His grip stayed firm, but his breathing was ragged and uneven.
He lunged forward instinctively, each step costing him double the pain. He tried to strike from the right, but his body faltered — and in that instant, Ryusei's blade pierced his chest.
The sound of metal tearing flesh slowed in his ears, as if time itself mocked him. His eyes widened, blood spilled on the floor, and he coughed violently, filling his mouth with red. Everything around him stopped — the crowd, the noise, even the air — leaving only the faint pulse echoing in his ears.
'No… not today… I won't die today…'
Akio's body crashed to the ground, the dirt trembling beneath him. His swords clattered beside him like voices declaring the end. He pressed his hand over the wound on his chest, blood slipping hotly between his fingers. Each breath was short, broken — every inhale a new stab. His wide eyes wandered aimlessly, following the gray sky above as if it were the last thing he would ever see.
'This pain… it's burning me from the inside… Is this my end?'
His thoughts tangled with his faltering breaths, his inner voice trembling like his body.
'I haven't reached anything yet… I haven't accomplished anything… I haven't even started my journey.'
A few steps away, Ryusei walked slowly, his sword still glowing. He didn't look back. His eyes were cold — the eyes of a killer who knew his opponent would never rise again. But within Akio… there was no silence. There was chaos.
A battle between the pain dragging him toward nothingness and a faint voice sparking in his chest like a stubborn bolt of lightning:
"I wanted to be a shogun… I wanted to change this world… I wanted a real adventure, with friends I could trust… I can't let it end like this."
He clenched his bloodied hand into the dirt, sparks crawling from his fingers — small, weak… but real.
'I… can't… die now…'
Ann, on the edge of breaking, could no longer hold back. Since Mabushi's fall, she had bottled up her rage and tears, but seeing Akio drenched in blood — even though she had known him only for hours — shattered something inside her.
She screamed, her voice sharp enough to cut the silence of the arena.
"STOOOOOOOP!!! You bastard!!!"
Every head turned. Even Ryusei looked over, slowly. Ann stood there, her eyes brimming with tears for the first time, her face trembling with anger and disbelief.
She glared straight at him, her voice shaking but burning with fury.
"You call yourself a samurai… and yet you attack children?! Where is your honor?! A true samurai doesn't raise his sword against the weak. A samurai fights for justice, not for amusement! What you've done here… isn't victory — it's disgrace!"
The president froze on the platform, his eyes wide in shock at Ann's audacity. No one had ever interrupted a duel like that. Ryusei began walking toward her, each step calm but piercing through the silence like a blade.
He stopped a few steps away and looked at her with those cold eyes. His voice was low, stripped of emotion.
"This is none of your concern."
He raised his head slightly, as if addressing the entire world, not just her.
"The traditional samurai… are long gone. There's no such thing as honor or mercy in battle anymore. The only thing left… is survival."
Then he turned toward Akio's fallen body, his tone as cold as ever.
"That boy was my opponent. Don't expect me to show mercy… just because he's a child."
Ann's gaze hardened, and her voice rose again — this time filled not only with anger, but with defiance.
"What about Shogun Shiro?!"
The whispers stopped. Even the president lifted his head slowly.
"Would he have done all this if he were in your place?! Would he have struck someone who could no longer fight?!"
For a moment, silence reigned. Then Ryusei's eyes widened, fury flaring within him like a sudden spark. He took a step forward, his grip tightening until the air around him trembled, and his voice came out rough and cold.
"Don't ever mention that name again…!"
Before he could move again, the arena guards rushed in, realizing that blood would spill if they didn't intervene. One grabbed his arm, another reached for his sword, while Ryusei struggled to break free.
Amid the chaos, Ken stood from his seat calmly. He took only two steps forward, hands still in his pockets. His quiet voice sliced through the noise like a blade.
"Enough."
Everyone turned toward him. He looked straight at Ryusei, his tone cold and sharp as steel.
"Anyone who loses control over a few words… is not samurai."
Everything froze — time itself seemed to halt at those words. Even Ryusei didn't move, and the air between them trembled with pure tension.