Chapter 135 - Sword Saint
"—...So this is what Istia is like after all."
Leaving the veranda, I stood on the stone pavement—in the circle at the center of the grounds. I let out a sigh of understanding, ignoring the gray-clad woman standing silently a short distance away.
—Well then, shall we have a match?
If she was going to train me, she needed to see what kind of player I was. I understood that, but I never expected those to be the first words to follow her "I accept"...
Even if she's the embodiment of gentleness, she is still the [Sword Saint] of the East, after all.
"Are you ready?"
Her 'hideout' was nestled within a deserted bamboo forest. In the silence, where only the gentle breeze made a sound, her soft voice reached my ears with perfect clarity.
She wore a white kimono and indigo hakama, her attire unchanged. Though the design was simple, it was surely an item befitting a ranker. The sleeves might seem like a hindrance for wielding a sword... but in this virtual world, it's not uncommon for things like my [El-Gran Series] or the red cloth of my [Demon Horn Spear: Crimson Valor] to not impede movement despite their appearance.
Her attire was likely the same—it wouldn't get in the way of her swinging that odachi.
"Phew... —Yes, I'm ready."
I exhaled slowly and answered her question.
After a moment's hesitation, I summoned two [Parabellum Bullets] into my hands. Seeing the crimson daggers materialize from thin air, Ui-san blinked with a hint of surprise.
She was surprised—but not to the point of being shaken.
Her expression returned to its usual calm as if nothing had happened. She shifted the single weapon she'd been holding in both arms to her left hand.
It was an odachi, but perhaps it only seemed excessively large in comparison to her small frame.
By my estimation, its length was probably around five feet.
A massive weapon that was slightly taller than Sora, who was already petite—if a woman like her were holding that in the real world, anyone would doubt their eyes.
"Whenever you're ready."
Can she even draw that thing with her physique? Shaking off the incredibly disrespectful thought I'd had about the [Sword Saint], I lowered my stance and prepared for battle.
—My opponent is the second-ranked player. In the East, where the top rank is vacant, she is, for all intents and purposes, the strongest player there is.
The amount of resolve I had when I faced the [Sword Protector], who was now watching from the sidelines, might not be enough here.
In the sense of facing an insurmountable wall, the image that came to mind was—the majesty of the 'White' one I once encountered.
"—————............"
My body (avatar) was hot, my mind was cool.
As I sharpened my focus, I wonder what she thought. The gray-clad woman, standing serenely with her odachi, smiled as if pleased—
"Then... —The Matsukaze offshoot, Kesshiki Itto."
No stance, nothing. Just a natural standing posture.
That absolute 'stillness' captivated me...
"Here I—come."
In an instant, her presence was right in front of me.
"—!?"
"First Strike—"
There was no time to utter a word, no time to dwell on my shock.
When did she move?
When did she get so close?
—When did she even draw her sword!?
Her silver steel was already drawn, held loosely in her lowered right hand—
Her gray eyes were locked onto me.
Tremble—
"《Hisui (Flying Water)》"
—Slide—!!
An impact on my left arm, my vision sliding away, a massive wave of numbness coursing through my body, I grimaced...
"You've got to be kidding me...!!"
My now-lighter avatar let out a groan of anguish.
After a brief exchange, we were separated again. My left arm, which had suffered a merciless severing attack, flew through the air and landed on the ground between us.
Leaving the fallen dagger behind, it dissolved into a red phosphorescence, proof that I couldn't even manage a proper dodge.
I couldn't see it.
Not her steps as she closed the distance, nor the trajectory of the sword she must have swung—not a single thing.
"—!"
Her gray eyes looked at me again.
—Here I come. As if giving me a warning.
"Second Strike—"
"《Fatal Leak》—!!"
I was too late to activate the skill, and yet, just in time.
Once again, she was upon me before I could even perceive her movement—but the sword, held behind her back in both hands, had not yet been swung.
Her left hand in a forward grip on the hilt, her right in a reverse grip on the pommel. The red line shooting from the horizontally held blade of her unseen stance was a straight horizontal slash aimed at cutting my torso in two.
I visualized it in a split second—Blink Switch.
I summoned [An=ri Galta (Prologue: The Wedge-Fragment that Sings of Eternity)] just in time to block the predicted line from the left with its massive bulk—but not a flicker of hesitation appeared in the [Sword Saint]'s eyes.
"《Uchigane (Striking Iron)》"
It was a single strike that seemed to turn her entire body into an extension of the odachi. With her grip fixed, she used her footwork to pour all of her rotational force into the blade of the great sword—
"—Guh... agh!?"
It sent my avatar, along with the monstrous, several-hundred-kilogram weapon, flying like a piece of scrap paper.
—And then.
"Fifth Strike—"
A voice echoed from behind me as I soared through the air... and all I could do was laugh.
"《Karehomura (Withered Flame)》"
Thump. A faint impact on my neck.
My avatar, which had been staring up at the sky, had its HP scattered away in an instant—and as my vision spun, I saw my own torso, now separated from my head.
My vision, which last reflected the sky and turned blue, flickered and then went dark.