Alden looked at his opponent, Ryou, as his crimson eyes glowed slightly. All the noise within the stadium vanished due to [Voidheart] as his focus narrowed to the man before him.
The sword in his hands pulsed, as if sensing the excitent of its owner.
With that, he pushed off the solid ground and vanished, reappearing midair beside Ryou, leaving a trail of shockwaves in his wake.
Usually, he didn’t attack first, but Ryou was different, he was an expert-ranked individual, soone far above him.
His sword moved instantly, appearing a few inches away from Ryou’s neck but before it could even touch him, his body shifted like liquid before rging with his own shadow and appearing right behind Alden.
Before Alden could even react, a punch laced with imnse mana ca for his face. He knew if it connected, his face would burst like a waterlon, though in the current scenario, he would simply get transported out.
So, on pure instinct, he moved his sword in front of his face as the punch connected with the blade instead.
A shockwave erupted as Alden was hurled backward, crashing into the barrier before he could even control his montum.
A dust cloud spread outward, but as it cleared, Alden wasn’t there anymore.
The crowd was surprised, but Ryou wasn’t. He moved his hand behind him, his arm instantly covered in shadowy armour as Alden appeared beside him, his sword connecting with Ryou’s arm.
Another shockwave erupted.
Tsk.
Alden clicked his tongue.
He definitely has so shadow-related supre ability.
He deduced it almost imdiately from how Ryou had pinpointed where he would appear after he used [Shadow Step].
And because of his higher rank, his reaction speed is much faster as well but most of all, he is experienced unlike rookies.
This bastard...
He isn’t like the sheltered ones, instead, he is a battle-hardened veteran.
His mind spun rapidly to find a way to breach his defense.
From what he had noticed, this guy had so strange relationship with shadows, so Alden knew using shadow elents would be disadvantageous.
So, he shifted his grip on his sword, his hands twisting effortlessly as he attacked from a different angle.
"Is that all...?"
Ryou smirked confidently as he moved to defend against the attack but right then, Alden loosened his grip on his sword and ducked.
His sword vanished right before it could connect, appearing back in his hand using the recall function as he swung from the crouching position.
Ryou was caught off guard as Alden’s sword drew the first blood in this battle.
Tsk, I was aiming to slash him apart.
Alden clicked his tongue.
Even with this surprise attack, Ryou had sohow managed to dodge slightly, making the injury as small as possible.
Still, Alden wasn’t discouraged. Instead, a smirk appeared on his face.
"Is that all...?"
He mocked Ryou with his own words.
Ryou’s face didn’t change much, but sothing in those abyssal eyes shifted as he vanished, appearing in the air as countless black spears ford behind him.
Five, ten, twenty, forty, seventy...
Alden’s eyes widened as the sky above the arena filled with sharp black spears completely made up of shadow.
The bastard. Ryou, whose face always remained expressionless, smiled slightly.
"This is my all. Try to survive this."
With those words, he swung his hand down.
Alden’s instinct flared as the world slowed down.
His crimson eyes glowed nacingly as his grip on his sword tightened. He didn’t look at the spears and instead focused on his mana and his sword. This was sothing he had been practising recently. It wasn’t completely stable, but it was the only way for now.
He released a deep breath as he opened his eyes and saw the spears moving toward him in slow motion, the world turning grey.
He activated his [Ruinous Severance], bursting his mana at perfect intervals to speed his sword beyond normal limits as his sword slashed across the air at inhumane speed.
He gritted his teeth.
More.
I need more.
He didn’t stop there.
Along with Ruinous Severance, he also activated the second step of his sword art, [Ruin Arc] simultaneously.
Ruinous Severance made his sword move faster than ever before, while Ruin Arc released a destructive arc of energy with each swing.
Within just a few seconds, before the spears could touch him, he had swung his katana nearly a hundred tis, sending that many arcs into the air.
Veins in his hands ruptured, but he didn’t care as he kept going.
Finally, the attacks t mid-air as an explosion surpassing anything in the whole tournant erupted, a dust cloud blanketing the entire arena.
The crowd had gone completely silent and still, never expecting this kind of showdown between re first-year students, as even third-years didn’t co close to causing this much destruction.
They held their breath as the dust cloud started fading. Within it, they saw two silhouettes, one boy standing, the other kneeling.
Nobody dared to utter a word.
The one kneeling was Alden.
One of his arms had gone limp, barely connected to his shoulder by thin muscle strands, while a gigantic spear was impaled slightly above his chest, barely missing his heart.
anwhile, Ryou was standing tall in front of him, his back toward the crowd.
"Did Ryou win...?"
Soone in the crowd muttered, but before anyone could respond, Alden started chuckling, his voice echoing in the silent stadium.
His arm bled, blood pooling at his feet, he even coughed blood a few tis, but he didn’t stop laughing, almost as if possessed.
After a few monts, he stopped and looked at Ryou, slightly raising his head.
"That was a great match."
As soon as he said those words, he pushed Ryou’s body slightly with his intact hand as it fell onto the ground, revealing a massive slash across his chest, his internal organs were visible as his intestines spilled out slightly while his eyes were completely white as his body faded.
Alden hadn’t won because he was stronger, he won because Ryou had never expected that kind of attack from him, though Alden wasn’t very satisfied because he knew, if it had been a real battle and this was the outco, that ant he would have died as well but in this case, his body simply started vanishing, being escorted to the dical room to be treated.
Before he could completely disappear, he raised his clenched fist in the air as a silent declaration of his victory.
The referee arrived, slightly hesitant.
"The winner is Alden."
He announced as Alden’s body faded completely.
Only once he vanished did the crowd snap out of their daze. Still, none of them cheered, so seated closer to the arena started vomiting, still recalling Ryou’s condition, while others twisted their expressions before looking away.
But all in all, they understood that this wasn’t just any tournant match, this was the rise of a new star, a star fated to lead their generation.
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