bookcurios Chapter 706 - 706
Chapter 706 - 706
"Has contestant Kurogane Ikki, the Uncrowned Sword King from Area A's second round first match, still not arrived at the venue?"The host's voice echoed from the broadcast system.
The preparation time had ended, and the match was about to begin, but the officials' platform still hadn't received any signal of Kurogane Ikki's arrival.
The members of Hagun Academy felt their hearts leap to their throats.
"Let's wait a few more minutes. If there's really no other way..."
"He's here!"
Just as the committee was discussing how to handle the situation, a figure swiftly dashed into the competition arena.
All eyes turned to see a black-haired boy panting heavily as he appeared in the combat zone.
"What's he wearing?"
"Did he just come from the hospital?"
He was even wearing hospital patient attire.
He had come in such a hurry that he hadn't had time to change clothes.
Ignoring the scattered laughter from the spectator stands, Kurogane Ikki reported to the officials' platform and quickly entered the preparation room.
"Today's first match features contestant Kurogane Ikki, the Uncrowned Sword King from Hagun Academy, versus contestant Byakuya Jougasaki, the Heavenly Eye from Bukkyoku Academy! Both contestants, please enter the arena!"
Soon after, the match officially began.
Kurogane Ikki's opponent in this battle was none other than the runner-up of last year's Seven Star Sword Art Festival!
Byakuya Jougasaki, known as the Heavenly Eye, had mastered the divine skill of Complete Mastery, just like Kurogane Ikki.
Not only that, his Blazer ability was called Forced Transfer, which could move any object within a fifty-meter radius to pre-set coordinates!
Before the battle began, he would gather intelligence on his opponent, completely master all of their habits, and calculate nearly a hundred moves for the upcoming fight.
During this process, all he needed was to touch his opponent once to transfer them out of the arena.
Thus securing victory.
This was the Blazer known as the Heavenly Eye.
See through everything, then strike precisely with a single decisive move!
In combat formats like the Seven Star Sword Art Festival, this provided an astonishing advantage!
"Kagami, what did you mean about the schedule changes being related to me?"
In the spectator stands, now that everyone saw Kurogane Ikki had finally arrived, they set aside their worries.
Eiji turned to Kagami Kusakabe, continuing to inquire about the reason.
"Well, about that..."
Kagami Kusakabe chuckled and pointed around the spectator stands.
"Have you noticed? There are exceptionally many foreign journalists today! Even though the Seven Star Sword Art Festival is just a domestic Japanese student competition, and even with Akatsuki Academy's participation, it shouldn't attract this many foreign media outlets, right?"
Indeed.
They had noticed this earlier.
The number of foreign media today was several times greater than yesterday!
Moreover, Eiji had noticed that those media outlets were intentionally or unintentionally directing their cameras toward him.
"To be honest, those media are all sent by countries affiliated with the Alliance!"
Kagami Kusakabe revealed the key point, her expression serious.
"To put it simply, their goal—no, I should say the Alliance's goal—is to build momentum for Eiji-kun! To let the entire world know that a Sword God has been born within the Alliance!"
Everyone gasped upon hearing this.
The Alliance's goal?
Was this directed by the Alliance headquarters?
"Wait, wait, wait, they're just a bunch of students, right? How could they be connected to an enormous global organization like the Alliance?"
"As expected, the Sword God is just amazing, isn't he?"
Everyone watched Eiji with awe and admiration.
"Although yesterday's battle was intense, it ultimately went unnoticed by the public. So the Alliance needs Eiji-kun to demonstrate even more of his power! That's why they deliberately pressured the committee to compress the schedule!"
All for the sake of making Eiji fight one more match!
Then, with extensive foreign media coverage, the Sword God's fame would truly spread across the entire world!
The Sword God was undoubtedly a world-class super powerhouse!
Even for the Alliance, this was unquestionably a massive morale booster!
The Alliance urgently needed to establish this god, to turn the Sword God into one of their flagship symbols, thereby showcasing their own strength!
In other words, this was a public opinion campaign orchestrated by the Alliance—a movement to elevate a god to the divine throne!
"Of course, there's another reason!"
Kagami Kusakabe adjusted her glasses.
Just as she was about to continue, the surroundings suddenly erupted in commotion.
Because, while they were discussing, something astonishing had happened in the battle arena!
"Fighting two matches in a row, with the next opponent being extremely troublesome—Kurogane Ikki definitely won't use Ittou Shura against me!"
Byakuya Jougasaki stepped into the battle arena.
At the same time, he was brimming with confidence.
Heaven itself was on his side!
If Kurogane Ikki were to use Ittou Shura, then he probably wouldn't be his opponent.
But if it were just a sword technique duel, he was absolutely certain that Kurogane Ikki would lose on the nineteenth move by using Shinkirou to leap to the right!
This calculation process contained no errors—it was an inevitable outcome.
Up until now, Byakuya Jougasaki had defeated far too many opponents with his Perfect Mastery, and he had immense confidence in his computational abilities.
"This might be unfortunate for you, but sorry, I'm taking this match!"
Byakuya Jougasaki muttered to himself.
There was no denying that the Uncrowned Sword King was strong—perhaps not even inferior to Yuudai Moroboshi—but unfortunately, this time his opponent was him!
"Ittou Rasetsu!"
And then.
He lost consciousness.
"The match is over! The winner is Kurogane Ikki!"
Even Shinguuji Kurono was momentarily stunned before announcing the winner.
"Huh? It's over already?"
"Hey! Did it even last more than a second?"
"That was way too abrupt!"
The spectator stands erupted in uproar.
The battle had ended the moment it began.
Kurogane Ikki leaned on his sword, panting heavily.
Byakuya Jougasaki lay collapsed not far from him, already unconscious.
That's right.
He also possessed the ultimate technique of 〈Perfect Mastery〉, so he had calculated the same outcome as Byakuya Jougasaki.
On the nineteenth move, he would be forced out of the arena by Byakuya Jougasaki!
So, he deliberately did the opposite!
The moment the match began, he poured all his magic power and physical strength into a single strike, unleashing Ittou Rasetsu—a move that amplified his power hundreds of times—to decide the match in one blow!
"According to the committee's calculations, this match ended in 0.8 seconds, setting a new record for the fastest defeat in the tournament..."
Even the commentator was speechless.
What in the world was that?!
This is a competition—you're supposed to make it exciting!
If it's not exciting, the audience won't be satisfied!
Soon after, two stretchers were brought up, carrying both the winner and the loser away.
"The next match is Shizuku's, right?"
After coming off the stage, Kurogane Ikki was still thinking about his sister's match.
"Shizuku can't make it. She's still unconscious from giving you a blood transfusion."
But Stella's blunt words instantly dampened his mood.
"Match two in Area A: Due to Hagun Academy's 〈Deep Sea Witch〉 Kurogane Shizuku's withdrawal, Rokuzon Academy's 〈Iron Mad Bear〉 Renji Kaga advances to the next round!"
"Eh? How could this be?"
"I was waiting for Lady Shizuku to scold me!"
The audience immediately erupted in discontent.
"This is the second reason!"
Kagami Kusakabe sighed.