Volume 15 - CH 22

Chapter 22: Sword God

The scene is now at the start of the final stage of the representative war between Vermillion and Cradleland that takes place in Cradleland’s capital Lucier. Boomer, who has been providing commentary on the war in a helicopter, is now focusing on the battle between Ikki Kurogane and Iris-Gaule Ascarid, who are clashing against each other with their skills. Iris waves around her large battle axe that is filled with huge mana which causes the surrounding asphalt, concrete and steel to be crushed. Ikki intercepts the incoming storm of destruction with fast slashes and keeps pushing her back. Ikki is using “Dokuga no Tachi” to push back Iris who is wearing her armor-shaped Device “Orichalcos”. But Iris receives no damage due to “Orichalcos” possessing defense and healing power that is unparalleled in the League of Mage-Knight Nations. She then launches an upper swing with her battle axe that breaks the ground and shoots pebbles of asphalts towards Ikki. The gravels could damage the F-ranked Ikki that has defense power no different from that of ordinary people, but Ikki receives no damage due to using “Ten’i Muhou”. Ikki then immediately charges towards Iris and she intercepts his attack. Even though the A-ranked Iris should have far more attack, defense and magic powers than the F-ranked Ikki, she is unable to overwhelm him. After exchanging some attacks, Iris’ body is suddenly pushed back greatly once her blade meets with Ikki’s blade. Ikki’s sudden huge increase in attack power is due to him using “Madoka”. Ikki had analyzed Iris using “Perfect Vision” during the first 3 minutes of their battle. As a result, he is now able to use “Madoka” perfectly on Iris and the battle is starting to be in his favor.

The blow powered by “Madoka” has caused Iris’ posture to crumble and Ikki immediately gets very close to Iris. At very close distance, Ikki launches “Rekkou” towards her. Iris releases a cry of pain and blood is coming out from the gaps of her armor. Boomer thinks that the “Rekkou” that Ikki had just launched was probably powered with “Dokuga no Tachi”. Before Iris could rebuild her position and counterattack, Ikki immediately delivers a barrage of slashes on Iris with “Raikou”. However, while Iris can’t move due to continuously receiving the slashes, the speed of the slashes keeps increasing. The barrage of slashes is actually a technique called “Amatsu Raikou (heavenly lightning)”, an evolved technique of “Kyokujitsu Isshin-ryuu · Retsu no Kiwami – Amatsukaze” that is delivered with “Raikou’s” speed. The 90th to 108th slashes are delivered in roughly one beat, like a lightning strike that roars the sky of Lucier. The concentrated attack causes Iris’ body to be blown towards behind. She is then down on the ground on her back which rarely happens to her even in the A-League. There is a pool of blood that spreads around her body on the ground. Everyone in Vermillion who is watching are cheering for Ikki who has overwhelmed the “Black Knight” who is ranked 4th in the world. Even Stella’s mother Astrea is excited to see this and asks her husband Sirius if Ikki has won. But Sirius doesn’t share the same feelings as everyone and has a grim expression. Sirius says that he is indeed impressed by Ikki’s skills and that Ikki might have already obtained victory if this was the A-League. However, this is a serious battle that bets each other’s ego and so the “indomitable” knight won’t be defeated by something of this level. After Sirius said so, Iris immediately gets back up and her bleeding has stopped. Astrea can’t believe that Ikki’s “Amatsu Raikou” did no damage to Iris, but it’s not surprising to Sirius. This is natural since the battle is between an A-ranked and an F-ranked, and Ikki understands this better than anyone. Sirius is also angry at Ikki for not fighting together with Stella.

Ikki already had delivered attacks which included “Rekkou”, “Madoka”, “Dokuga no Tachi” and “Raikou”, but the result is Iris has fully recovered. Ikki on the other hand is quite exhausted after delivering his attack just now. Even if Ikki wins in terms of techniques and his attacks hit Iris many times, he is the one actually losing in the battle due to Iris’ overwhelming defense power. Iris is not just strong in strength but also has strong determination in protecting her younger brother Or-Gaule. Her armor-shaped Device currently represents her “indomitable” determination and Ikki understands that he needs to break her armor in order to defeat her. The only possible way he can do this is if he uses his final secret sword “Oikage” which puts everything Ikki has into one strike. However, Iris has seen Ikki used “Oikage” during his match with Stella in the Seven Stars Sword Art Festival and so she would be alerted once he puts his Device “Intestu” in a sword-drawing stance. In addition, there is also the side effect of his body’s self-destruction from using “Ittou Rasetsu”. Immediately after, Iris releases a scream for being fired up and charges fast towards Ikki.  She makes a full horizontal swing with her battle axe on Ikki which he easily dodges by crouching, but the house behind him is blown away from the wind pressure. Iris then immediately swings her axe down towards Ikki’s head but he dodges by leaping towards the side. Her attack just now crushes the asphalt road and blows away the house connected to the road. Seeing this makes Ikki remember the time when Iris displayed physical strength that was able to knock BB off his feet. The healing power of Iris’ “Orichalcos” is not used for defense only. Any Blazer could strengthen their attack and speed with their mana only in the range where their body wouldn’t break, but in Iris’ case she can disregard the physical damage to her body due to her healing ability. Thus, she can release strength and speed that normally should have been impossible. Ikki then uses “Amatsu Raikou” again on Iris, but this time Iris uses her mana to increase her speed in order to try repelling Ikki’s slashes. At first, she is falling behind in speed. Even her tendons and bones are continuously being damaged and then healed while her body is trying to barely keep up with the speed of Ikki’s slashes. However, the speed of Iris’ axe swings is then gradually increasing and she is about to overtake Ikki in speed.

Ikki and Boomer can tell immediately that Iris has activated her trump card, “Regeneration Overdose (enhanced regeneration)”. It is a Noble Art that keeps regenerating Iris’ damaged body into a stronger body. Moreover, the accumulation of the strengthening that her body receives is permanent. As a result, Iris’ speed and attack power will keep increasing after every blow in this exchange of blades. “Amatsu Raikou” is then completely overtaken and Iris is delivering a rush of attacks on Ikki. He is trying to escape from this rush of attacks, but Iris won’t let him. Ikki though is still able to keep avoid getting hit by her axe swings even if just barely. In her heart, Iris praises Ikki for being able to reach this far despite having a body that is much fragile compared to his opponents’. Iris thinks Ikki will someday become a swordsman that surpasses even Edelweiss, but even so Iris believes she won’t lose. She knows that Ikki’s slashing can’t cause her damage even if it hits tens of thousands of time and that “Oikage” is probably the only technique he has that can damage her. But Iris is not worried about “Oikage” because she has seen before how “Oikage’s” initial movement is executed and so she won’t get hit. Iris’ axe swings are continuously getting stronger due to “Regeneration Overdose” and eventually Ikki’s posture is broken when her battle axe crushes the ground he’s standing on. During that opening, Iris is thrusting the butt end of her battle axe towards Ikki’s chest. However, the moment the axe’s butt end barely touches Ikki’s chest, he uses “Madoka” to rotate his body and hits Iris’ flank with his blade. Ikki’s counterattack causes Iris’ body repelled back, creating a distance between the two of them. Even though she didn’t receive any physical damage, her mind has received a large shock. Iris sees that there is no feeling of unrest or irritation in Ikki’s eyes and this makes her convinced that she was lured in. Ikki’s posture crumbling was actually a performance he made in order to ruin Iris’ momentum. Iris is amazed of Ikki’s mental power and even Boomer praises Ikki for still being calm in this unfavorable situation. Boomer is praising Ikki in a weird way which causes Ikki to have a slightly bitter laugh. Iris is surprised to see Ikki able to laugh in this situation which makes her wonder if he has a way to win this battle. However, even if Ikki’s spirit hasn’t wavered, it’s still a fact that none of his attacks will work on Iris and all her attacks are fatal to him. Thus, there’s no reason for Iris to be agitated. She believes that as long as she continues her rush of attacks, she will obtain victory. Iris then moves to attack Ikki in order to finish this battle and help her younger brother as soon as possible.

While Ikki is fighting Iris, Or-Gaule continues trying to escape by leaping on the threads that are spread all over the city but Stella with her wings of fire will caught up with him soon. Or-Gaule needs to slow Stella down and so he uses “Deus Ex Machina” to create a 300 meters tall giant made from nearby rubbles, buildings, vehicles and such. The giant delivers a fist at Stella but she swings her sword which destroys its arm. Stella then flies straight to the giant’s chest and the impact creates a hole that is 20 meters in diameter which causes the giant’s body to collapse entirely. Or-Gaule though had attached his threads into the giant and so Stella becomes entangled. However, Stella uses “Katharterio Salamandra” to burn the threads, and the office district of Lucier below gets erased completely. Or-Gaule and Stella are no longer in the sky and are grounded. Or-Gaule then remembers Iris’ action earlier and thinks it was stupid. Stella then asks if Or-Gaule doesn’t feel anything about Iris protecting him but he replies that he doesn’t. He understands that it is considered abnormal for a person to enjoy making others suffer and so he had worked hard to hide his true self when he was a child. It was really uncomfortable and not fun for Or-Gaule to pretend to be happy about something that he’s really not happy about. Or-Gaule then says Stella is the only one fighting him currently so he doesn’t need to escape anymore. He also says Stella is looking down on Iris since she left Ikki fighting Iris on his own. Ikki is strong to the point that Or-Gaule might not be able to win against him, but there’s no way he can win against Iris who can’t be cut down just by sword slashes. Or-Gaule then uses the threads coming out of his fingers like whips to attack Stella, but she catches the threads with her arm. Stella says Ikki will win because he promised he will survive and so she will do her part which is to take down Or-Gaule.

Ikki and Iris were evenly matched in the beginning but now Iris is using “Regeneration Overdose” to overwhelm Ikki. The swings of Iris’ battle axe are getting stronger and faster, and the resulting wind pressure alone is scraping Ikki’s flesh. His clothes are torn, blood is coming out from various parts of his body, and his breathing is now heavy. Everyone who is watching thinks that Ikki has fought enough and should stop. But Ikki doesn’t stop and keeps defending himself from Iris’ rush of attacks. The people in Vermillion don’t understand why Ikki is still not giving up, but Iris has realized the reason. Iris estimates that Ikki won’t be able to handle “Regeneration Overdose” anymore and will get caught by her attacks in 10 minutes. But there is no guarantee that Or-Gaule will survive against Stella for another 10 minutes. Iris’ goal is to help her younger brother and so even if she defeats Ikki, it is meaningless if Or-Gaule is killed. Ikki’s aim all along was to keep delaying this battle and eventually forcing a situation where he is able to use the only technique he has that can beat Iris. In terms of real strength, Iris is superior and so Ikki shouldn’t be able to win against Iris in a straight battle. But Ikki has been dragging Iris along with him by trying to force her to abandon long-term battle and make this into a short decisive match instead, which is why he hasn’t really been attacking ever since Iris invoked “Regeneration Overdose”. After making her decision on what to do, Iris stops her rush of attacks and creates a distance from Ikki. Iris has decided to accept Ikki’s invitation to a short decisive match even though she knows it’s a trap. She wants to save her younger brother and be by his side like they used to, even if the world doesn’t allow it. Iris then puts her battle axe over her head and releases her mana from all over her body, indicating that she’s about to show Ikki her strongest. Ikki thinks Iris’ strong feelings and all the power she’s about to release make her very strong right now. He responds by putting his sword into a sword-drawing stance and invokes “Ittou Rasetsu”. Unlike before, the blue light that would keep surging out from Ikki’s body can now be retained into his body thanks to his mana control training in Edelberg. In the next moment, the final clash between Ikki and Iris begins.

Ikki makes the first move by moving towards Iris in order to get her within his sword range. There are few conditions required for Ikki’s ultimate technique to be successfully delivered. The first one is Ikki needs to use “Ittou Rasetsu”. The second one is the mechanism of the sword-drawing, which his left hand grasps the blade so that speed and power of the sword swing will be of different dimension compared to normal swing. The last one is that Ikki needs to deliver the slash during a straight head-on crossing of blades with his opponent so that the power of the slash increases. Iris was able to prevent all these conditions being fulfilled earlier but Ikki has managed to create a situation where he is able to deliver his ultimate technique now. Iris puts her battle axe high above her head and exposes her torso as if inviting Ikki to hit her there. Iris plans to let her armor receive Ikki’s slash which will at least slow down the slash before she gets cut completely and during that moment she will swing her axe down to split Ikki’s head. However, Iris misunderstands the true characteristics of the slash Ikki is delivering. In this one slash, Ikki is giving everything he has including his ability to influence fate as a Desperado. The causation of “killing” is being influenced strongly and the result Ikki desires is being forced to occur. Thus, his final secret sword “Oikage” slashes through Iris’ “Orichalcos” with no resistance and cuts her torso deeply. The “armor” that was hit with the affected causation cracks and turns into black dust. Iris coughs up blood and Ikki catches her collapsed body.

Ikki declares that he has won this battle and Iris who is leaning on his shoulder also agrees. Iris’ abdominal wound is very severe and what’s more fatal is the side effect of “Regeneration Overdose” which her body that was strengthened too much has already exceeded the limit that can be maintained without “Orichalcos”. Therefore, Iris’ body begins to self-destruct the moment she loses the healing power of "Orichalcos". Her organs have burst, her muscles are torn and her brain tissues are dead. Iris’ body can no longer maintain the shape of a person and the damage she has received cannot be cured with “Capsule”. This is natural since the accumulation of body strengthening she received from “Regeneration Overdose” is permanent. Her physical body is altered to the point she cannot control with her own will and the self-destruction won’t stop. In other words, Iris can’t be saved anymore. Even though she knew this would happen, Iris kept using “Regeneration Overdose” for the sake of someone she loves. Suddenly, she notices that Ikki’s body is trembling. It’s natural since Ikki is not the kind of person that enjoys experiencing someone else’s death, especially when the other person was a friend and the result is brought with his own hands. Despite so, Ikki is doing his best not to show any sorrow on his face. Iris then gathers any remaining strength she has left and tells Ikki to forget about her. However, Ikki says that he won’t forget her. Even if history labels Iris as a villain, Ikki will always remember that she was a kind person who would desperately save her only family member even if the entire world became her enemy and that he won against such an amazing knight. He will carry all this on his sword because it’s the chivalry that he has chosen. Though she couldn’t hear Ikki’s words, Iris could tell from his body’s warmth that he will remember her and so she thanks him. Iris’ final thought is apologizing to her younger brother for not able to win even though she did her best. “Black Knight” Iris-Gaule Ascarid accepts her ending as she goes into a permanent sleep while being embraced by Ikki as shown in a pic.

Boomer announces that Ikki has won his battle against Iris. Seeing Ikki laying down Iris’ body makes him believe that Iris is dead. Boomer and everyone in Vermillion are praising Ikki for his victory and are relieved that he’s safe. Sirius on the other hand has become speechless because as a warrior he understands better than the Vermillion citizens about how Ikki achieved his victory. Sirius knows that it wasn’t really a close match because even though Iris' ability was superior, everything that happened since the beginning of the fight was within Ikki’s strategy. Ikki actually won against the world’s 4th ranked knight without being in any danger. This opinion is shared by powerful knights around the world who saw the match or will watch it later in a recording. After his victory, Ikki is now recognized as a knight representing the League of Mage-Knight Nations and he has earned a new nickname, “Sword God”. After laying down Iris’ body and cleaning off her blood that’s on his face, Ikki is struck with the reality of having killed someone and such feeling is strongly burning inside him. He is desperately fighting off the uncomfortable feeling since the war is still not over. He doesn’t think the current Stella will lose to Or-Gaule but he should fight while he still can. He has used up his mana and physical strength, but he can still fight. The backlash from “Itto Rasetsu” this time is not as bad as before thanks to Edelweiss’ training. After improving his mana control, Ikki was able to use his Noble Art more efficiently by concentrating the strengthening of his body on the necessary parts instead of his whole body and putting the energy that would have just wastefully damaged his body on his sword instead. He then restores his physical strength through autophagy, which is originally a mechanism to produce energy in starvation state but someone who can control their body as well as Ikki can activate this excessively. However, his physical abilities are not at maximum specs and his physical strength can only last about 5 minutes in another fight. This should be enough even if he can’t do much about his mana. Ikki then says to Iris’ laid down body that he won’t apologize because he also has someone important, and heads towards the next battle.