The two slashes collided, and the ground exploded.
"Flash: Thrust!"
Arthur drove his foot down and surged forward, thrusting his sword straight at Kael Vane.
"Sun Breathing, Seventh Form: Solar Thrust!"
Kael Vane's body flared with heat as he thrust forward to meet him.
CLANG—!
The tips of their swords met. Light and fire burst outward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground around them split and cracked from the impact.
"Flash Sword!"
Arthur's blade moved like light—fast, sharp, relentless.
Kael Vane swung to meet him, catching every strike and turning each one aside.
"Sun Breathing, Eighth Form: Glimmering Sun!"
Kael's blade shimmered like heat haze. Arthur jumped back, sure he'd avoided it.
Then his expression snapped tight.
The blade that had looked just out of reach a moment ago suddenly seemed to stretch into his space.
Arthur couldn't dodge in time.
Slash!
A thin cut opened across Arthur's chest.
Arthur reacted instantly, swinging to counter.
"Sun Breathing, Ninth Form: Setting Sun!"
Kael Vane sprang up and twisted, slipping past the counter and slashing as he came down.
The unexpected angle made Arthur break into a cold sweat. He ducked—just barely—and the blade skimmed over his head, cutting away a lock of hair.
Before he could reset his footing, Kael's next attack was already on him.
"Sun Breathing, Sixth Form: Solar Heat Haze!"
A spinning, fiery slash crashed into Arthur head-on.
"Aaaaaargh!"
Arthur cried out and was launched backward.
BOOM—!
He slammed into the arena wall hard enough to crack it.
『Ooh! Arthur was sent flying by Yoriichi! Is the match over?!』
Arthur forced himself upright, teeth clenched.
『He's not done! Arthur is back on his feet!』
"You're incredible, Mr. Yoriichi," Arthur said, breathing hard. "I hoped to beat you up close… to settle it blade-to-blade. But it seems I was overconfident."
Now that he was actually fighting him, Arthur finally understood why Kray had run around like a scared rabbit.
Every time Kael was about to move, Arthur saw it—himself dying. He had to use all of his willpower to ignore those flashes.
He even tried to use them to read Kael's next attack.
But that last exchange had made something painfully clear.
Arthur thought they were trading evenly.
They weren't.
"…."
Kael Vane didn't answer.
To be honest, he'd had chances to end this instantly. But that would have been disrespectful. Arthur was the strongest swordsman in the kingdom. Dropping him in a heartbeat would embarrass him—and the host nation with him.
Kael decided to end it cleanly.
Arthur's sword skills weren't weak.
Kael's were simply better.
"But I want to see… what the true difference between us is!" Arthur said, voice low and stubborn.
He raised his sword before his chest. Magic power poured into the blade.
The light surged upward, forming a giant golden sword in the sky. It was the same move he'd used on Erza—only heavier, brighter, and packed with even more magic.
Kael Vane hated this part. This was supposed to be a sword fight, not a contest of who could throw the biggest blast.
The wind-up was so long Kael could have ended the fight several times over.
He could also dodge it.
But he couldn't—not here. Cutting in now would look cheap. Dodging would look like retreat.
So he had to block.
Kael poured magic into his own sword.
And the moment he did, something shifted.
Using the Transparent World, he watched the flow—magic running through his hand, into the steel. He felt it at the same time, not as "power," but as movement, as pressure, as rhythm.
It was as if he was seeing magic properly for the first time.
His mind sharpened until everything else fell away. Ideas came fast—too fast to name—linking together in patterns he'd never noticed.
Kael didn't know what this was.
But he knew it mattered.
If he let it slip, he'd regret it for the rest of his life.
So he stopped thinking about winning.
And sank into that feeling.
Arthur had finished charging. A giant golden sword, dozens of meters tall, hung over the arena like something out of a legend.
He saw Kael Vane standing there, unfocused—almost dazed.
Why isn't he bracing? Why isn't he moving?
But he couldn't wait. The technique was ready.
"Light's Judgment!"
Arthur gripped his sword with both hands and brought it down.
The giant light sword tore through the air, descending straight toward Kael Vane.
Kael didn't dodge. He didn't rush an attack. He just stood there.
At the very last second, instinct took over.
He raised his sword.
Slowly. Simply.
But how could one normal blade stop something like that? Erza had used her strongest shields and a barrier—and both had shattered.
This strike was even stronger.
Everyone thought Kael was finished. No one wanted to watch him get cut in half.
CLING—!
A sharp, clear ring echoed through the arena.
Then something impossible happened.
Arthur's giant golden sword struck Kael Vane's blade—and Kael's blade didn't break.
Instead, the golden sword shattered.
It split apart as if it had been cut by something far sharper than itself. The massive blade dissolved into a storm of light, scattering into the air until nothing remained.
"…"
The entire stadium fell silent.
Arthur stood frozen, realization hitting harder than the shockwave.