Chapter 268: Competition ( 4 )

Perhaps, because of Imane's performance, the other practitioners at the two platforms decided to try and finish their fight as well.

Mourad didn't miss the opportunity after Alee decided to raise her arms to do a vertical slash.

Pah!

The young man avoided hitting the girl's vital part and decided to thrust his sword on her shoulder instead. 

His opponent is not Vinete, so targeting her throat can lead to a dangerous incident. 

Alee stepped back due to pain but she's not over yet. She showed her impressive mastery of Renzoku Waza or Consecutive Strikes…

This is a good technique to stop Mourad from executing his Seigan Stance that he used to defeat Vinete. 

Pah! Pah!

Their sword clashed together and creating a resounding impact throughout the hall. However, after two clashes, Mourad decided to finally use his footwork and move to Alee's side.

The latter was a bit surprised since she had never seen the young man use this technique against Vinete!

'Haha! Is it because I'm better than her? I guess you're taking this seriously now…' The young girl thought while subtly praising herself. 

Of course, Mourad acknowledges her skill but it doesn't mean that she's stronger than Vinete.

'You're good, Alee. But I'll have to finish this now.' The young man thought.

He stepped back for a bit to gain distance from her as if he was retreating. 

However, he was just trying to create his momentum! He then made a quick step forward and held the sword using only his right arm to stab her opponent!

Alee was unable to quickly react and could only try to move away from the sword's path. Unfortunately, it was too late for her!

She was hit again on the same spot on her shoulder! It seems like Mourad has decided to use it as his target!

"Ugh! Alright… I give up! I can't touch you…"

Alee resigned on the battle as she realized the gap in their strength. Her shoulder was also aching because Mourad targeted it as if he dislikes it a lot.

The crowd watching the fight agreed to her decision. They couldn't blame her after seeing the difference in their skills.

'Haa~ What did my shoulder do to you?!'

She could take the pain on the first two hits on her shoulder but the third or perhaps fourth or even fifth would dislocate it completely. She didn't want to wait for that to happen.

***

On the other platform, Vinete and Stasis had gotten used to their sword techniques. 

'This guy's technique is straightforward… Solid attack and defense. He uses his one sword advantage to defend from my strike while the other sword would attack.'

Vinete analyzed Stasis' swordplay. 

'It's quite annoying but it's better to fight someone like this than that Mourad.' She mused.

Apparently, Mourad's technique that uses complicated swordplay isn't something she wanted to face at the moment. Perhaps if they are allowed to use Magic Items that could aid her in battle, she wouldn't be afraid of the man's sword style. 

However, at this time, she doesn't want to face it directly. Perhaps, if they have to fight again, she would consider using two swords to deal with him. 

She may not be an expert in Nitouryuu but she had played with them before.

On the other hand, Stasis had also gotten used to Vinete's Mu no Kamae…

'Impressive… She looks like she's full of openings, but in truth, her sword's trajectory is almost unpredictable. Perhaps, I would've been defeated if I'm only using a single sword.' He acknowledges Vinete's skills after realizing how difficult it was to land a clean hit on her. 

Just by giving a single look at her stance, one would think that they could get a hit on her quite easily. 

However, once you're already on the same stage as her, you will realize that her stance was probably the best form to deal with newbie swordsmen like them.

Then, he saw Vinete attack again. 

He planned to defend with his left hand's sword and attack her Dou using his right hand's sword. However, it has been defended a couple of times already so he decided to show that his left arm can also do a heavy strike!

He will surprise her by defending using his right sword!

'She's quite far… She'll miss…'

Stasis thought after considering their distance. If he has something to boast about after learning Kendo, that is his incredible grasp of Ma'Ai.

"Hmm?" He then noticed that Vinete is not using her two hands with her slash…

Since she's only using one hand, she could increase the reach of the sword a little. This made him adjust his posture but he wasn't too worried.

He can just step forward a little once he's about to counter so he can reach her body.

However, there is something that he miscalculated! Vinete actually held the wooden sword at the end of its handle! 

Although it was only a few inches, it made her reach longer!

This is something that dual sword wielders could not easily or swiftly imitate because of how they held the sword. There is also the difference in the design of swords meant for dual wielders.

Nevertheless, even if Stasis wanted to counter, he can only try to hit her sword or perhaps her hand instead of her body or head.

Pah!

'Tsk!' 

He was grazed by the girl's wooden sword on his cheek before he could raise his sword to defend!

Her attack came too fast and the direction was also unpredictable. He thought that it was going for his heart but it moved like a snake and reached his head!

What a scary sword style!

'So this is Mu no Kamae… She's just probably unlucky with Mourad's sword stance.'

Stasis thought as he backed away from her. 

'But if this is all you've got… Then I'll end this now.'

He knows that he can still turn around the situation so he wasn't worried. He held his sword and finally changed his Sword Stance… 

Juji no Kamae!

His Zangetsu is no longer effective against her… It's time to show her the true power of a dual swordsman's cross stance.