18-Episode 18: I was shown a good one



 Starting with the first A-level swordsman, he began a series of battles with A-level swordsmen.

 The second was the 《Double Swordsman》.
 And the third was the "Holy Knight".

The 《Soukenshi》 was a swordsman-type【advanced position】that could use the 《Nintendo》 skill.
 He had a bit of a hard time with the large number of hands, but he defeated them unharmed.

 The next "Holy Knight" was not a swordsman type, but a knight type, and its greatest feature was the fact that it had more blessings than a normal human thanks to its "enhanced blessing" skill.
 For that reason, he is a troublesome opponent in terms of the rules of a match.
 Well, I was able to defeat him unscathed.

 But ........
 Can't we learn this skill somehow as well?

That's great, Mr. Arrell! There's one more! I can't believe I've managed to outsmart nine people...! Please keep on knocking down the last one as well!

 Lilia's cheers come flying in from the side of the stage.

''Oh, come on.......if we keep this up, Dragon Fang is going to win for real.......''
'How high a payout would that be........'
"d*mn, I should have put my money where my mouth is...!
No, we don't know that yet. Look. The next guy to come out of Blackblade is one of the best A-listers in the world.

Now the tenth swordsman from the Black Blade has arrived! Masamune!

 My last opponent comes up on stage.
 He is a man of mature years, dressed in a costume I have not seen before.

It seems that I am the last stronghold, that I am.

 The sword held at his waist was not the straight sword commonly used, and the blade was slightly euphemistic.
 Also, the sword's width was as thin as a rapier.

''Sword, huh?''
You are on the left, that I am. My occupation, the Swordsman, is the senior position of the Samurai, the swordsmen of the East, that it is.

 As expected of the Sword City.
 There are even swordsmen from the east.

"Hmm. This is a pretty interesting opponent.

 I held my sword at the ready.
 But my opponent didn't pull his sword out of its scabbard, he just slumped forward slightly.

''You're not going to pull it out?''
This is my stance, that it is.

 ...I see.
 There's no gap at all.
 If I stepped in carelessly, my opponent's sword would cut me first.
 My trained ability to "anticipate" ahead of time was sounding the alarm bell.

"Well........as expected. It was my intention to use my special skills to defeat you with a half-hearted sword, but they are quite sharp.

 Is it a special skill?
 It's probably a technique that can be released from that situation where the sheath is put away.
 If you're not pulling out your sword, a normal person would think that he or she is taking you for granted, and if you're not careful and step in, you'll be killed in a heartbeat.
 It's a very difficult type of skill to deal with on first sight.

 But as it is, we won't be able to see the skill we've been working on.
 That's unfortunate.

 I'm going to get closer to my opponent.

"Knowing this, are you going to jump into the land of death yourself?

 And that was when the distance between him and me was two meters.
 The killing spirit that had been quietly suppressed until now erupted from the Eastern Swordsman's entire body.
 A moment later, a sword flashed and I saw the figure being cut in two.

 However, this is my afterimage.
 I left the afterimage in front of me and started to cut at the Eastern swordsman from the side.

"Sweet, that it is.
Huh!

 However, the Eastern Swordsman was not deceived by the "after-image" and had a firm grasp on the real me.
 The proof of this is that the sword has not yet been pulled from its scabbard.

"--Iai-slaying pole.

The 《Great Swordsman》 special skill is unleashed.
 The divine speed slash - snatched a few millimeters away from my nose.
 Of course, the opponent, who is a sword expert, did not misjudge the distance.
 It's because I assessed the timing and dropped back to just barely out of reach.

"Don't tell me that you have seen through my sword perfectly, that you have........?
You're fast. But I hate to say it, but I'm used to seeing swords so fast, thanks to my mother.

 However, he was able to anticipate what kind of technique it would be, and that's why he was able to perform this trick.
 The vision I just saw made it possible.

 At that moment, the skill wasn't activated, but the hint of it was enough for me.
 It's great that he didn't get caught by my 'afterimage', but at that point it was already decided that his special skill was going to be a dud.

I've seen some good things. As a token of my appreciation, I'll show you one of my special killing skills as well.

 -- "Piercing Tempest

 Perhaps it must have looked to him as if countless flashes of light flashed.

The 《Sword Princess》's special skill, the Piercing Tempest.
 She unleashed a series of lightning-fast stabs that were just like a storm.
 There was no way he could avoid them right after he drew his sword.

 All of the blessings were blown away in an instant as the stabs hit every part of his body.

''Sho, winner, Arel! This means that all of the Black Blades have been eliminated, so Dragonfang wins!''

 That declaration caused a tremendous stir in the hall.

"He beat one of the best swordsmen in Class A........
And without ten men...?
'Blackblade shit! I can't believe we were beaten by that guild! Shame on you!
'How many bets did you think you'd have to make this time? I want my money back!

 Some were genuinely astonished, while the majority of people were betting on Blackblade, and there was some indignation from all over the place.

''Yes! It's great, Mr. Arrell!

 Lilia jumped up and down with glee.