CH 40

Osiris summoned his own magic sword, and swiftly spun it around his finger.

Seto had never seen a weapon like that before.

[That blade sure looks like it was made for assassination.] (Seto)

[This is the magic sword, “Athribis*”. …And it’s in a league of its own.] (Osiris) (*TN: The kanji used for Athribis means “The King’s Heart”)

They each showed their magic sword to the other, then there was a brief moment of silence.

In the midst of this air of conflict, the soldier acting as referee signaled the start of the fight.

[Don’t worry, I won’t use it at full power. Now let’s go!] (Osiris)

Osiris pointed his sword at the boy.

A green light shot out from the blade, and his eyes were also dyed in the same color.

The next moment, three sharp slash attacks flew at Seto’s feet.

[WHOA!? That sword is a long-range weapon!?] (Seto)

[Indeed! This blade of mine specializes in firing slash attacks akin to beams of light!] (Osiris)

By pointing the tip of his sword at his target, he could easily pierce distant objects.

For someone who made his living in close quarter combat, this was a pretty bad match.

Osiris suddenly struck a series of bizarre poses in response to Seto creeping toward him.

Then a visor-like object covered up the upper half of his confident face.

[Now this is where the real fight begins. ──── JUSTIIIIIICE… IGNITION… FLYYYYYYYYYYY!!] (Osiris)

Osiris’ armor suddenly began to roar.

The enormous amount of mana in his armor, which was known to be his magic gear, reacted to Osiris’ will and sent his body soaring into the air with a jet of energy.

[There it is! It’s our captain’s Justice Ignition Fly! When he rides the sky like that, he truly is a meteor of justice!] (Soldier A)

[HUUUH!? The hell is this!? Flying armor!? That just makes him a weirdo! …And a coward!] (Satis)

As the voices of Satis and the city guards echoed from the outfield, Seto was in awe at Osiris’ style as he thought of a countermeasure.

He knew exactly what Osiris was going to do now that he was airborne.

[Hah!] (Osiris)

Green razor-sharp beams of light rained down on Seto.

The man was relentless in his attempt to inflict damage on the boy with his light slashes sweeping from above.

[Nuooooohh!] (Seto)

While dexterously and swiftly turning the hilt in his hand, Seto repelled the barrage of beams with his blade.

In the process, he came up with the idea of reflecting those light slashes back to Osiris, and immediately took action.

The four shots he deflected cut through the barrage and flew straight toward Osiris.

[Not bad…!] (Osiris)

The latter evaded them with skillful aerial maneuvers, and kept attacking Seto from the sky.

The boy moved around by sprinting, toying with Osiris from ground level.

Kh…! I can’t get a clean shot! But don’t think that’ll be enough to make me forfeit! (Osiris)

As soon as his sword emitted some sort of driving sound, it launched a rapid-fire attack that was an order of magnitude faster than the previous one.

Even though its lethal power had already been suppressed, if he let it hit him, he would not get out of this unscathed.

[Seto! Run!] (Satis)

Satis could not help but shout.

However, Seto intended to do the opposite of what she asked.

Even if he kept running away from them, one of those magic shots would eventually hit him anyway.

Going on the offensive here was a better strategy than escaping.

Seto quickly put his magic sword back into its dimensional space.

Then he dashed toward the wall in front of him at full speed.

He discarded his magic sword? What is he up to!? (Osiris)

Osiris chased after him.

Then he slowly focused his aim on Seto’s back.

Just as he was about to activate the power of his magic sword, Seto kicked off the wall and jumped high.

He flew exactly as high as Osiris, but there was still some distance between them.

Osiris kept his collected gaze on Seto, but in the next moment, his composure turned to shock, making him miss his target.

Seto’s magic sword popped out from its dimensional space close to him.

Then he performed a mid-air spinning kick aimed at the pommel of his sword.

It flew through the air like a meteor toward Osiris at the same speed as his light slashes.

[Wha-!?] (Osiris)

Taken by surprise, Osiris involuntarily twisted his body and evaded the attack.

However, that reaction caused him to lose control and temporarily fail to fly right.

When he managed to regain control, he realized that he was already close to crashing into the wall at high speed.

It was then that he understood what Seto’s aim was.

Crap…! That sword throw was a feint!? He launched it at that speed and angle… so that I would barely manage to dodge— (Osiris)

With a loud bang, Osiris crashed into the wall and fell to the ground.

Due to the impact of that collision, he failed to land safely, and took heavy damage.

[Guhaah…!?] (Osiris)

However, even weakened, he was still a soldier.

He knew instantly that Seto would take advantage of this opportunity to launch an attack.

Sure enough, right as Seto was about to grapple him, he evaded the attempt with agile movements.

He did a few backflips as he put more distance between him and the boy, and moved to the center of the arena.

[Not yet… This fight has only just begun!] (Osiris)

[Yeah, figured…] (Seto)

Seto took a few steps closer and stopped about 3 m away from him.

Then he assumed a stance as if he was going to pull his sword from his waist.

When he saw that, Osiris showed a fearless smile.

He, too, retracted his magic sword and assumed an abstract stance.

[I know that stance. It’s a technique of battojutsu, a sword art used by foreign swordsmen, right?] (Osiris)

[……] (Seto)

[Fine then, I’ll take you on. I happen to know battojutsu myself.] (Osiris)

A gust of wind blew in the arena as the two silently stared at each other for a while.

Both of their fighting spirits filled the air with tension for their surroundings.

Seto… What’s taking you so long!? Please hurry up and draw your sword! (Satis)

Only time was on the move as Satis watched anxiously.

When they had less than 10 seconds left, Osiris’ right hand moved slightly.

In the next instant, both of them simultaneously emitted an intense light.

In a flash of red and green, they quickly grabbed the hilt of their respective magic swords as they emerged from their dimensional pockets.

Seto’s instant speed surpassed Osiris’, and he immediately dashed into Osiris’ torso area, unleashing a single sword swing from below.

Osiris responded with the highest speed he could manage and, with a small stance, pointed the tip of his sword at the boy and fired a green light slash.

Along with a tremendous impact noise and a cloud of dust, a gong resonated to signal the end.

When the dust cleared, the two of them were frozen like statues.

Seto had stopped his blade at the last moment, Osiris was still pointing his blade at him, and the two stared at each other for a while.

A quiet tension filled the air, and the outfielders held their breaths as they watched the outcome of this duel.

And finally, they talked to each other.

[Looks like… it’s a tie.] (Seto)

[Nope. Victory goes to you… Seto.] (Osiris)

After telling him this, Osiris swiftly spun his magic sword around his finger, and put it back into its dimensional space.

When they clashed earlier, the light slash he shot was slashed to pieces as if it had been absorbed into Seto’s blade.

In other words, Osiris’ attack did not hit the boy.

[Did you predict the trajectory of my attack?] (Osiris)

[Rather than saying I predicted it, it was more like… I saw it. Your light slashes come right out of your blade in a straight line. So based on the speed and the angle, I could tell which part of my body you were aiming at.] (Seto)

[You analyzed my attack… in the middle of that short clash? In that instant? …Hah. Outstanding.] (Osiris)

Osiris admired Seto’s fighting talent.

The boy put away his magic sword, and looked up at Osiris, who had fought so well, with longing eyes.

They found themselves exchanging warm handshakes.

Their firm grips conveyed their respect for each other.

Meanwhile, Satis and the soldiers who had been watching from the outfield rushed up to them.

[Ahh, Seto! Are you okay!? Any injuries!? …Aw geez, you had me so worried!] (Satis)

|Ahaha, sorry. But it’s okay now. It’s over.] (Seto)

[Hey, what’s with you guys? You’re all worked up over something so small? Disgraceful!] (Osiris)

[C-Captain! Are you all right? You crashed pretty hard earlier…] (Soldier A)

[Hmph, that was nothing. You’re forgetting who you’re talking to. ──── I’m the man known as “the light that breaks through the dark sky”, Captain Osiris!] (Osiris)

The soldiers cheered loudly as Osiris struck another series of strange poses.

[…I’ll never understand the point of posing and showing off like he does.] (Satis)

[Really? I think it’s pretty cool, though! Maybe I should try some poses too.] (Seto)

[Please don’t.] (Satis)

But now, I can finally talk to Osiris about that. (Seto)

Seto immediately approached Osiris.

He readily accepted his request, and guided the duo back to his office.