The Author's POV

'His talent isn't any weaker than Kevin's?'

The words he spoke resonated loudly within my head as I looked in the opposite direction. Where Lightning Dragon was currently standing.

"How is this possible?"

I wondered as I slowly got up.

My breath had evened out, but his words still left me stunned.

'How come I don't know anything about him?'

Was there something that caused someone so significant to disappear from my memory? ...or was he simply left out?

As I glanced at my other self briefly, I decided not to speak.

There was a time for everything, and right now, I was in the middle of a match. There was no point in wasting time on something I was most likely not going to get an answer to.

"Huuu..."

I took a deep breath.

Opening his mouth, my other self asked.

"Do you have a plan?"

I didn't answer.

Regardless, he continued to speak.

"Lend me your body and I will beat him for you."

"...No."

I shook my head before I started to channel all my mana toward my sword.

"I can do it myself."

Putting aside the fact that I didn't trust him, I wasn't going to rely on him for everything. How would I ever learn if that happened?

That.

...And the fact that I had an idea of how his eyes worked.

"Watch me."

As I extended my sword in the air, I drew a circle. Following this, a translucent yellow disc appeared before me.

Clenching my hand, the yellow disc slowly turned blue.

[Ring of Vindication] Elemental Discharge: Lightning Psyons.

My eyes locked on Lightning Dragon, who took a defensive stance as I gripped my sword and pressed my thumb against its hilt.

"Go."

Pointing in his direction, the disc shot in his direction.

In the meantime, I closed my eyes and pushed the sword's hilt upward.

Click—!

The third movement of the [Keiki style] : Void Step.

Once again, my vision warped and I appeared in front of Lightning Dragon. My vision slowed down as I activated Eyes of Chronos, and a familiar scene appeared before me. My eyes immediately looked toward his hand.

I was curious as to how he was able to move so fast.

'There must be someth...hm?'

It was then that I noticed something.

While staring at his hand, which seemed to be moving at the same rate as my sword, I noticed something peculiar.

...and it was the fact that I could see small blue threads spewing out of his hand as he tilted his sword to block my attack.

'Is this the reason for his speed?'

Though I wasn't sure, I made a mental note to myself.

'Here goes nothing...'

My sword suddenly slipped from my grasp just as I was about a few meters from him.

Reducing the effect of Eyes of Chronos, I pressed my foot against the ground and twisted my waist. Cracks formed on the area where I pressed my foot.

"Ugh."

In spite of my body's efforts, I kept pushing forward as the momentum of the attack carried me forward. Regardless, this was what I wanted as I clenched my hand into a fist.

Twisting my body at a one hundred and eighty-degree angle, I aimed the back of my fist toward the side of Lightning Dragon's face.

In the meantime, my sword which I had let go was still shooting in his direction.

With just a fraction of a second to spare, I was on my way to hitting Lightning Dragon in the head, while my sword was headed for his heart, which had been blocked by his tilted sword.

But it was then that something happened.

Right as my fist was about half a meter away from his face, Lightning Dragon's eyes suddenly shone a brilliant hue of yellow as his other hand quickly raised. Thin blue threads spewed out of his hand as his hand traveled at a speed that was faster than my fist.

'...I knew it.'

A smile crept up on my face once I saw this. Just as his arm started to move, the translucent blue ring that I threw before shifted slightly.

Shining a bright hue of blue for a quarter of a second, the blue threads coming out of Lightning Dragon's hand scattered, and his arm which was moving at an inhuman speed halted for a split second.

It may not have sounded like much, but it was enough for me.

Clank—!

After the back of my fist struck a soft surface, Lightning Dragon's body crashed into one of the walls as time reverted to its usual flow.

Bang—!

"Haa..ha..."

I gasped heavily as I rested my arms against my knees.

That move just now took about a tenth of all my mana. Additionally, since I used my head chip to supplement my attack, my mind was also fairly exhausted.

Still, I had achieved my purpose.

"...It worked."

It wasn't easy, but I had figured out the secret behind Dragon Emperor's 'All-seeing eyes.'

To call it all-seeing wasn't exactly correct.

Rather, the only thing they could do was detect the mana flow in the air. It was thanks to this that he was able to predict the movement of my sword. It only dawned on me after the first void step, as I noticed that his eyes didn't move during that attack.

But it wasn't just his eyes that were scary. No, rather, it was his inhumanly fast movements that him especially terrifying.

This added with his eyes made him a perfect counter for me.

That said.

"That isn't quite enough to stop me..."

Raising my head to stare in the opposite direction, I watched as a large cloud of dust shrouded the area in which Lightning Dragon had crashed.

The cheers from the crowd were at an all-time high as they all talked over each other.

Even then, I did not let this small victory get the best of me.

I wasn't naive enough to believe I had dealt enough damage to defeat Lightning Dragon.

...And I was soon proved correct as bolts of lightning materialized out of thin air, crashing against the ground.

Cracka! Cracka!

The arena instantly turned quiet.

Swooosh—!

A gentle breeze blew away the dust in the air, and a familiar figure could be seen standing in the distance.

Cracka! Cracka!

With lightning covering the area around him, Lightning Dragon gazed in my direction. Massaging his cheek, he slowly opened his mouth.

"You..."

His hair started to flutter wildly as the lightning around him crackled even more fiercely.

Cracka! Cracka!

"What's your name?"

He asked after a while.

Opening my mouth, it soon turned into a small grin.

"White Reaper,"

I answered as I lowered my head.

"Let's go with White Reaper for now."

"White Reaper..."

As he repeated the name under his breath, he nodded and stared at me again.

"...I will remember it."

He then took a step forward.

Half a second later, he appeared in front of me.

"Wh—"

Unable to react in time, I felt a hand press against my stomach as a terrifying force dug deeply into my body, sending it crashing all the way toward the other end of the arena.

Bang—!

My heart pounded as a powerful force crashed down on my back, knocking the wind out of me.

"Uakh!"

A groan inevitably escaped from my mouth as I fell to the ground with both knees and arms on the floor.

But that was not all.

After resurfacing in front of me, I was once again hit by a powerful force that sent my body flying all the way toward the other side of the arena.

Bang—!

"Shit…"

Once again falling to the ground, I grimaced in pain. But yet again, I was unable to gather myself as a shadow appeared next to me.

It was at that moment that I instantly activated 'The one' and snapped my head in his direction.

"Stop."

Locking eyes with me, his foot came to a stop. Quickly extending my hand, I grasped his ankle and squeezed tightly.

Cracka—!

A bone shattering sound echoed out. In spite of this, I was surprised to see that Lightning Dragon's face did not change when his ankle fractured.

Rather, it remained impassive as he kept his gaze in my direction. Jumping up with his other foot, he twisted his body in the air twisting his broken ankle even more, and his other foot came crashing down against the back of my head.

Everything happened so fast that I was unable to react on time.

Bang—!

My vision darkened and for a split second, I lost consciousness.

It was only brief, but at that moment I lost consciousness, I let go of Lightning Dragon's ankle and he finally distanced himself from me.

"Khhh…"

Pressing my right hand against the ground to lift my body up, my eyes fixed themselves on the blood that dripped down from my forehead.

"Fuck."

I cursed.

'He's really strong. Like really, really strong…'

Raising my head, I focused my attention on Lightning Dragon who quickly chugged down a potion. In a short time, his fractured and twisted ankle had started recovering in a visible manner.

Tapping my bracelet, I also chugged down a potion and my injuries started to heal.

"…Odd."

Standing back up, my forehead creased.

It was then that a figure appeared next to me. With his arms crossed, he closely examined Lightning Dragon.

He then opened his mouth.

"You felt it right? …He purposely let you heal yourself."

Glancing in his direction, I nodded my head.

"I did."

Squinting his eyes as he stared into the distance, he softly muttered.

"You better prepared yourself..."

"What?"

In the blink of an eye, his figure disappeared before I could ask him what he meant.

"...I should've known."

I secretly shook my head. My fault for expecting anything from him.

Breathing out, I calmed down and closed my eyes.

Opening my eyes again, my gaze was met with Lightning Dragon's. Sparks appeared all over his body as a powerful hue escaped from his body.

In his right hand was his sword.

In response, I stepped forward quickly, my eyes narrowing tightly. It had to be noted that in the entire match, Lightning Dragon had never used his sword.

For him to use it now...

It could only mean one thing.

He was starting to get serious.

"You…"

Staring in my direction, Lightning Dragon opened his mouth.

Staring back at him without replying, I pressed my hand against the side of my sword.

In spite of my actions, he didn't seem to grow wary as he continued talking.

"Your sword art..."

Pausing, I finally opened my mouth and asked.

"...What about my sword art?"

This was the second time he mentioned my sword art, did he know something about my sword art?

'Impossible.'

Immediately shaking my head, I put an end to such thoughts.

It was impossible.

"…"

Instead of answering, placing his sword by the side of his waist, he closed his eyes and my vision instantly darkened.

Everything around me disappeared as Lightning Dragon's figure was the only thing that remained. Whether it was the crowd or the noise coming from them, everything was gone.

Slowly, he took a stance and my heart stopped beating. Time seemed to have slowed down and my body shook.

"Th..hat stance…"

My pupils quickly dilated, and before I could say anything else, I heard a familiar clicking sound ring in the air.

Click—!