And the same number of valid hits are returned.

　I activated it.
　Cecily's "Pseudo-Polar Sky".

　There was a moment when Aila-san's movement became sharp at once as she continued her onslaught.
　If I had prompted her to activate it, it was that moment.

　Right now, Ira-san had taken a turn and was in a state of defense.
　The problem is that he is beginning to read the sword muscle.
　Cecily, who entered that state, predicted her opponent's swordsmanship on the spot and read it ahead of time.
　Furthermore, the information for anticipation is accumulated in the course of the fight.
　The longer it goes on, the more disadvantageous Ira-san becomes.
　However, even so--.

You're doing great, aren't you?

　Ray-senpai uttered almost the same words as I had thought of.

　That's right.
　Isla-san is just barely defending against Cecily-san's striking attack that entered that state.
　No - the expression 《preventing》 might not be correct.

　Aila-san was not avoiding the attacks that she judged would not become effective hits, but she was receiving them with her body.

　He would only concentrate his defense on attacks that he had identified as hard hits that would become effective hits.
　Attacks that are judged not to be effective hits are taken with no guard.
　Small damage accumulates, but the amount of damage he chooses to defend against, he is able to prevent it for sure.

'But it's just barely.......there's no way that kind of thing can last for long.......'

　Lei-senpai clenches his two fists.

　Right now, Ira-san is pouring all of her combat power into intercepting.
　Hence, she can't move to the offensive.
　Cecily-san's incessant and continuous attacks won't allow it.

''Isla........!

　There was a sense of urgency in Lei-senpai's expression that was incomparable to his own final.
　I know the feeling.
　Harriedly, Ira-san's defense is always on the edge.
　If she loses her concentration to identify even the slightest hard hit, she will receive an effective hit at that point.

　The accumulation of damage is one thing, but the bigger problem might be his physical strength.

　No matter how confident you are in your physical strength, if you keep moving like that without a break, you will eventually run out of energy.
　He has more exercise than Cecily, who is clearly moving ahead of him.
　It's abundant, but it's not infinite.
　So if the match continues to drag on like this--

　Gosh!

...What?

　The audience was surprised and nervous.

　Elbows.

　In the midst of a close offensive and defensive battle, Ira-san had tried to avoid the attack by daring to step forward earlier.
　That's when Cecily's elbow, which was just in the middle of swinging her sword, hit her in the jaw area.

　With a thud, Ira-san fell forward.
　And then she falls face down on the floor.

　Ray-senpai looked at me.

''This, this........what is going to happen?''

　There are roughly six ways to settle a match on the Holy War Festival.

　1. Either fighter can score five valid hits first.
　When the time is up, the player with the most valid hits wins (in case of a tie, the game will go into overtime after the third game).
　3. He will exceed the amount of elements in the ring.
　4. Disqualification for foul play.
　5、When the opponent indicates that he or she is losing.

　6、When the judge determines that the fighter is unable to fight due to a fainting spell.

　Don't tell me that the final match.......would this be the first time the third round of the Seibutsu Festival would be decided by "inability to fight"...?

　I could see that Lili was troubled.
　She wondered if this was the right way to end it, if it was such a quick ending.
　Now I can call it an accident.
　Obviously, it was not intentional.

　However, although you can't get an effective strike, attacking with your body is not a foul act.
　No one had done that, but if you take it to the extreme, would it be possible to aim for stunting by shutting down?
　In a way, it could be said that the back rules of the Holy War Festival had been brought to light here.

　Cecily-san looked down at the collapsed Ira-san with an expression on her face that did not seem to be clearly conscious.

　The audience began to buzz.

This is not how it was supposed to end...?
It didn't seem like it was on purpose, but...
Hey, look!

　The quality of the murmur changed.


　Ira was on his feet.


'Can you do it?

　When Lili-san confirmed that she felt like she was saved, Ira-san nodded only with a cocksucker.
　Cecily-san again, composed.
　After inspecting Ira-san's condition once, Lili-san raised her hand.

The game is back on!

　The audience erupted in wow and jubilation.

'Somehow the match seems to go on...'

　And Lei-senpai.

''Yes........since you stood up so quickly like that, I don't think you have to worry about your body in particular......''

　I can understand why senior Ray's expression doesn't float.
　Although she has regained consciousness, it doesn't mean that Ira-san's disadvantageous situation has improved.

　How should I break this situation against that 《Pseudo-Polar Sky》?

　Forward.

　With a momentum that could be called a rush, Ira-san moved forward.

　With her signature straight-line trajectory, she showered Cecily-san with a series of blows.
　Standing on the receiving end, Cecily-san scattered the slashes while dexterously dodging them.

''Eh?''

　Lei-senpai rolls her eyes.

''Ah, Ira........''
Ira, Mr.?

　The throbbing that should have disappeared earlier was shaken back again.

　After Cecily-san played a series of shots at me, Ira-san--


　You're pointing your sword at an empty place and you're swinging it.


It wasn't.

　It wasn't that I had regained consciousness.
　It wasn't because there was no damage done that I got up right away.
　It was just instinct, that's all.
　Combat instincts.

　That's why I'm still conscious.
　The thing that hasn't disappeared is the will to fight.

..........

　The will to fight, will...?

Shit!

　I leaned away from the railing.
　The will to continue the battle - if Cecily-san recognizes that I'm still an "opponent", I'll get attacked like that!
　Cecily, who is in the current 《Polar Sky State》, doesn't understand her opponent's exact state!

　My fears became a reality.
　From behind Ira-san, who was waving his sword in the void, Cecily-san jumped into the air with her sword at the ready.

''Ira-san!''
Ira!


　The sound of the blade and the blade striking each other.


　The sound of blade and blade striking each other rang out all the more loudly.


"Prevent, that's...?

　Immediately after recognizing Node-san's voice, which had been watching in the distance, overlapped with my call, to my surprise, Ira-san blocked Cecily-san's attack, which was coming from behind.

　Ira-san looked back at me.
　I could tell by the look in her eyes.

''I'm not back yet........''

　He hasn't regained full consciousness yet.
　His eyes aren't focused yet.
　But...

The light in his eyes has not gone out.

　Cecily moved on to the next attack.

　That's right.
　Just because the attack was blocked doesn't mean the attack ends there.

　Immediately after Cecily-san showed a pretense of leaving once, as if her body had become a return blade, she stepped into the super close proximity in one step.

''---, .......good!

　The Holy King-sama sent a taut exclamation.
　It was a move that even Saint King-sama, who had been learning the sword from Cecily-san's grandfather all her life, couldn't help but groan, or so it seemed.

　Ira-san, whose body axis was shaken by her opponent's movement, almost lost her balance.
　Cecily-san's sharp, arcing sword--


　Gosh!


--, .......................

　Cecily missed the attack and fell backwards.

'I, that was... not--'

　Headbutt?

　Cecily, who was about to come into super close proximity, and to my surprise, Ira ate a headbutt from her.

　No, but I think she was right now.
　I couldn't make it in time with my hands, and Cecily-san was wary of Isla-san's hand and foot movements.
　So he couldn't have prevented an effective strike other than that.
　It was probably an instinctive decision, but Ira-san's decision right now was not wrong.

　Fufu, Rei-senpai wiped the sweat from her forehead.

''It's harrowing, but.......most of all, it's a muddled way of fighting between two noble ladies.......''

　The crowd seemed to feel the same way.
　A splendid final between the daughters of a splendid nobleman.
　For those of us who had imagined such a final, it would be a development that we had never imagined.
　But I can see it.
　Sure, it may not have been what you imagined.

　But everyone in this hall can't take their eyes off of it.

　That feeling of being mesmerized and not being able to take your eyes off of it, I can understand that feeling too.

　Once again, the sword fights resume.

　Both sides don't take a step back.

"C'mon, Iraaaaah!

　Senior Ray cheered.

''..........''

　The problem is that the more time passes, the easier it is for Cecily to predict your swordsmanship.
　The key is how to attack this--

Hmm?

　Huh?
　Even with the passage of time, it doesn't seem like Ira-san is at much of a disadvantage........
　No, it's more like........pushing?

　I stared at him.

"!

　...right.

Hey!　Ira is pushing it, Kurohiko!　I don't know, but I'm not sure, but that means Cecily can't predict Isla's swordsmanship like she did with our chairman!
Blur, it sounds like...
Blur?
''I noticed it when I looked at Ira-san's sword tip. The tip of the sword is subtly, erratically swinging....
The tip of the sword?
Yeah.

　When I was in the previous world, I read something about it.
　It's like a great swordsman doesn't let his opponent read his swordline by continuing to casually shake his blade tip without stopping it with a snap.
　Since I'm in a semi-unconscious state right now.......is that like a byproduct of a fortunate occurrence?

　Anyway, Cecily has not been able to correct and predict even the width of the blur.
　It's becoming difficult to predict the sword streak on the spot and on the spot.

　Even though it's a byproduct, I didn't know there was such a way to break it.......

　Perhaps it could be called a victory of Ira-san's will.

''Effective strike!

　Lili's hand went up.

"Huh...


　Ira-san's sword struck Cecily-san's neck, whose expression was slightly distorted.


''Got it!　Ira took one, Kurohiko........!

　You jumped up and down by me, Rei-senpai.

"Gosh...

　Four.
　Just one more to go.
　To the winner.

　Ira-san continued to attack.
　The sharpness of her sword is increasing.
　Does this mean that her consciousness has become more pure?
　Maybe the semi-unconscious state of mind made all the unnecessary thoughts disappear from Ira-san's mind even more.
　Pure battle thoughts--.

　No, or should I say combat instinct?

　If Cecily-san's 《Pseudo-Polar Sky》 was taken as a calculative battle thought, then Ira-san's current thought could be called an instinctive battle thought.

　Then the current situation is a battle between calculation and instinct.

　The two people on the battle platform were already sweating.
　The temperature of the venue was not low.
　The heat was robbing them of their strength.
　In a sporting match, it would be like the endgame where they were on the verge of running out of energy.

　The sweat of the two men seemed to glisten on the battlefield.

　The fierceness was increasing.
　They were breathing heavily on each other.
　Their physical strength should have been drained to near the limit.
　And yet - the sharpness of the swords is increasing.
　Both of them.

　The sound of the sword and sword echoing together creates the illusion that they are playing music, as if they are playing music.

　The two men are not in a normal state of consciousness right now.
　But they are both looking straight at the same thing.
　That's where they're going.


　To the victory.


I want Ira to win, but I don't know who's going to win anymore.......

　Senior Lei completely raised the white flag regarding predictions.
　But is there anyone in the hall who can predict the winner of this match?
　I can no longer predict it either.
　But here's one thing I notice.

"Cecily, Miss--

　Maybe because of the heat of the game, I was sweating too.
　But a ray of cold sweat ran down my forehead.

　It's unmistakable.

　It's unmistakable.
　I couldn't help myself.
　Not one thing.
　No doubt about it.


　Genius.


How far do you think you'll go to evolve?


　I even corrected for the blur of Ira-san's sword tip, and finally--



　I've been matching the forecasting calculations



　In this.

　In this phase.


...a valid hit!

　A wave of cheers of wahhhh covered the Great Sacred Ground.
　The direction in which Lili's hand was raised.


　Cecily Arkwright.


'Whoa!　Cecily Arkwright has one back here!
Hey, that's it!　That's it!　Did you see that?
'Oh!　It was a blow fired with such an exquisite plane that it seemed like there was no other way to do it........!
'Oh shit!　It will be too good for the final, this match........!
Hang in there, Miss Cecily!
Ira Horne!　Let's go one more step!

　A wave of throbbing, a whirlwind of excitement, formed.

　Mr. Node felt that the guards had already disappeared from his consciousness.
　Ms. Dearles watched with a gasp, but her gaze was hot.
　Mr. Gaiden is leaning back against the railing.

　Now.


　Four to four.


　Whether you cry or laugh, whoever gets the next effective hit wins.

　Moreover.

Hey, Kurohiko... it's like you two are acting weird.

　Was it the effect of the effective hitting we just saw?
　Or was it because he was out of fuel in some way?
　I don't know why.

　Either way.

"Hah--Hah...!　I'm sorry, Cecily....hmmm...maybe I've been a bit crazy up until now...but it's the final game, you know. I want to be done with Cecily and I want to be done with you!　I'm glad I'm becoming clearer........!

　Breathing hard, Ira-san laughs challengingly while dripping beads of sweat on the floor of the battle table.

''Hah--hah...hmmm...I'm the same way...''

　The two of them are now fully conscious again.

　Without wiping away the sweat, Cecily breathed heavily.

'Isla--'

　Being re-positioned, the twin swords.

　At the moment when Cecily-san regained her stance, the sound disappeared from the hall and the air seemed to tighten.


''Let's get this settled.