Noritsugu's head snapped sideways as Merun's fist smashed into his face.
Bone rang. His vision lurched. He staggered, boots tearing through dirt as he forced himself upright, saber dipping before he caught it.
How did he—?
Merun didn't pause. He threw another devastating blow as killing intent surged again.
Noritsugu saw the strike coming and hurriedly raised his saber, but before he could, he froze once more as another bone-chilling wave of killing intent washed over him. It stopped him just a fraction of a second.
Another fraction of a second too late.
Merun's fist buried itself into his ribs.
The intent flared once more.
Another pause. Another strike.
The crowd stirred uneasily, with many unable to accept the current situation.
"What's wrong with Lord Noritsugu?"
"Did damage to his body finally catch up to him?"
"Maybe? ...I'm not sure."
Niwa and Takigawa watched closely. They knew what was happening.
It wasn't speed. It wasn't strength.
It was pressure… to be more exact, intent. Pure killing intent, all directed toward Noritsugu.
Merun's Divine Arsenal flickered from orange to a deep pure red. His aura radiated a murderous presence that crashed down on Noritsugu, forcing images of his own death into his mind.
Noritsugu's thoughts spiraled as he fought for control. His instincts screamed at him to move, but his body hesitated again and again, stolen moments piling into damage.
He was about to lose. He was about to die.
"No—!"
He abandoned instinct and swung on reflex alone.
The saber screamed through the air, a wide, desperate arc. He meant to form a Wind Wall—but no Wind Wall came.
Failure to use their crucial techniques usually meant death in the battlefield.
Luckily, the swing still caught Merun mid-charge and hurled him away, breaking the rhythm of the beatdown.
Merun skidded across the ground, carving a deep trench through shattered earth before coming to a halt.
Noritsugu gasped, chest burning.
Enough.
He raised his saber and swung again.
Then again.
Then again.
The ground split open as hundreds of new Torrential Gates bloomed across the battlefield. Gales tore upward from the scars, shredding everything that crossed them.
Cries of alarm rang out as martial artists scrambled back, realizing just how wide the technique spread. If not for Niwa and Takigawa protecting them, they would have been caught in the crossfire.
Noritsugu's breathing shifted as he pulled a blue pill from a pouch in his dougi and swallowed it whole.
As his body began emitting tiny sparks, his wounds started to heal really slowly.
Lightning Hawk Pills.
Pain ripped through his lungs as the world slowed just enough. Reactions sharpened. Movement clarified.
It would ruin his lungs later.
It even tarnished his honor even further for using illegal substances in a duel... It was just as bad as asking bystanders for help.
But if he lost here, he doubted there would even be a "later."
The boy's murderous intent made him understand that clearly.
Merun surged forward, forcing his way through the cutting winds. His body screamed as each gate carved into him, but he didn't stop.
Noritsugu pointed his blade solemnly.
"My partner," he said quietly. "Spirit Hawk Saber."
He took one last good look at his weapon.
"...Goodbye."
The molten saber glowed brighter—this time even the handle. His arms shook, not from pain or strain, but from grief.
"Divine Arsenal: Unburden."
His orange aura collapsed into the weapon. The saber burned brighter, hotter, then finally lost its shape entirely.
Then a yellow beam of molten force erupted forward, a high-pressure gale spiraling around it, made of thousands of sabers.
It was not one strike, but countless layered together—every slash, every thrust, every parry. Every battle the weapon had ever known crashed outward at once.
Niwa and Takigawa's jaws dropped as they both felt their bones rattle. This is the first time they'd ever seen someone use that technique with their own eyes.
The attack contained all the accumulated history the weapon. The sum totality of all its existence. All used up for one big, inevitable moment of finality.
The other martial artists didn't understand what they were seeing, but their jaws hung open all the same.
Merun eyes widened as he froze. He raised his arms on instinct as the ray of destruction lit the night sky and barreled toward him.
Facing his impending doom... He felt oddly calm.
All he could think of was,
"Kinda looks like a Kamehame—"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
The forest split apart.
Trees vanished. Earth peeled away. A straight line of devastation carved itself into the land.
The beam kept on, it's power surging, ripping through the earth all the way towards the ocean.
It felt like an eternity.
Finally, when the light faded, Noritsugu stood frozen, his one arm charred black and still outstretched.
His saber was gone. His precious partner.
Only twisted slag of useless ore dripped from his charred fingers.
The dust cleared... but Merun was still standing.
His left arm was gone. Most of his shoulder with it—a perfect circular void cut clean through his body.
Blood poured.
Merun smiled as he released another wave of killing intent.
Noritsugu's heart skipped.
...What else could he do? He'd already lost his saber.
Noritsugu dropped to the ground in despair.
There was nothing he could do but await for his death.
But death never came.
But when he looked back up at Merun, he was already lying on the floor. Collapsed.
Silence followed.
No cheers. No outrage. Only sounds of the popping and crackling of the burning landscape.
Noritsugu fell foward, chest heaving, lungs burning, staring at the fallen boy.
It took him everything just to beat this peasant—No.
This warrior.
Just this morning... he was nothing. An ant to be stepped on and forgotten.
He looked down on his charred arm.
His techniques. His experience. His family's treasured saber—gone in an instant.
"…What the fuck," he muttered.
He sighed. It was finally over.
"So you won, Noritsugu," a beautiful voice said behind him. "At what cost?"
His spine stiffened.
Master Iaiashin stood there, calm as ever, her presence heavier than the battlefield itself.
Noritsugu didn't answer. He didn't need to. The consequences pressed down on him from every direction. His body was ruined. His future uncertain. His pride in pieces.
At least… he won the duel to the death.
The thought sent a shudder through him anyway. If the boy had lived... If he had been allowed to grow—
Iaiashin smiled, already reading his thoughts.
"He would have been terrifying," she said lightly. "Just yesterday, he could barely, barely pass a squire. Today…" Her eyes drifted to Noritsugu's arm, then his stance. "Look at you."
The shame hit harder than any blow.
Then Hideyoshi finally landed, frantic.
"BROTHER—NOOOO!"
Hideyoshi burst onto the battlefield and dropped beside Merun, hands trembling as he took in the damage. His whole upper left torso was missing and that side of his body was terribly burnt, fortunately preventing him from bleeding to death... but he looked no different from a corpse.
If not for the faintest of heartbeats.
His heart thudded wildly, stubbornly, as if refusing the idea of death. But each beat was weaker than the last.
"Master," Hideyoshi choked, bowing low as grief overtook him. "Please... Help him."
Master Iaiashin looked hesitant for a second, but eventually, she closed her eyes.
And smiled.
"Do not give up," she said, turning to Noritsugu. "Grow much, much stronger, Lord Noritsugu. Because this warrior will one day, seek revenge."
Noritsugu's blood ran cold.
Come back?
He's dead!
Before he could speak, she vanished.
In the next breath, she was kneeling before Merun, staring down at Hideyoshi with eyes devoid of warmth.
"As Iaiashin, Martial Master of Kinzoku," she said, voice absolute, "I cannot help an outsider."
Hideyoshi's breath caught as he bowed deeper.
Then she lowered herself fully to the ground and lifted Merun's head onto her lap.
"But as Itahaya Iaiashin…"
Her hand slipped into a pouch hidden within her white kimono.
"It's a good thing your Seniors left early," She remarked.
Hideyoshi's eyes widened in horror.
"…No way," he whispered. "Master—are you certain?"
In her palm rested a single fruit, faintly luminous.
A fruit from the Tree of Healings.
She nodded once.
She fed it to him.
The change was immediate.
Burned flesh knitted together. Bone reformed. Organs rebuilt themselves as if guided by unseen hands. A missing limb regenerated in seconds, muscle and skin following as naturally as breath.
Within moments, Merun lay whole.
All of a sudden, both their eyes widened as they sensed it.
His body was spotless, muscles hummed with energy. His heart thumped audibly.
This boy... his body was now at the very peak of the Squire Realm.
Iaiashin looked at Hideyoshi as he was stunned by this revelation—Merun's physicality was suddenly far, far above him.
"M-Master, that divine fruit only healed injuries, right?" He spoke with caution.
Iaiashin chose to ignore his question and stared at Merun.
It was as if this near death experience somehow unlocked something within him...
A being with boundless potential.
SNORE.
"....", They both look at each other as Merun started snoring in his sleep.
Hideyoshi couldn't help but laugh.
Why does he look like he's having the best nap of his life?
"With this," Iaiashin murmured to the sleeping, snoring boy, "You are now indebted to me, dear Merun."
She stood. Her smile was gone and replaced with her usual stern look.
The surrounding martial artists gathered on one side, kneeling.
"We return to Gifu at once," she ordered. "Hideyoshi—bind Lord Noritsugu."
"Yes, Master," he replied, forcing himself to obey. Then, hesitantly, "...What of Merun?"
Iaiashin didn't look back.
"Leave him."
Hideyoshi froze.
"He lost the duel," she continued calmly. "Thus, he is still an outsider. And this land, protected under post-war law, is much safer for him than Owari."
"Speaking of, you are to hurry and fetch the Furutsu Household to Gifu.", She said with a plotting smile.
Hideyoshi didn't like the sound of it... Master Iaiashin just used up a fruit from the Tree of Healings... and now his family will be kept under their roof in the guise of protection.
Sigh...
It seems Merun's destiny is already set in stone.
"I'm sorry for the burden, little brother."