Chereads / The Strongest Swordsman Chronicle / Chapter 17 - The Long-Awaited Battle Begins

Chapter 17 - The Long-Awaited Battle Begins

The final day of the World Swordsmanship Tournament has finally come and all of the audience was looking forward to it. It was more crowded than usual at the audience's place. Who doesn't want to watch it? The battle between the three years champion and a swordsman who wields the Demon King Sword.

At the same time, it is a battle between 2 Elementalist, one with the <>, the Light Elemental Lord contracted spirit, and another one with the <>, the Demon King's previous contracted spirit.

The wind was blowing very fast and the atmosphere that morning was very noisy, and shouts were heard from the audience. That means that they can't wait even more and wanted to watch the duel.

The last match of the World Swordsmanship Tournament will begin soon. But, Ryuji hasn't come yet. Hotaru and others started to worry if he didn't come, or his wound was getting worse. They didn't have any choice but to pray that nothing happens to him.

(— Please, hope that he was alright.)

"— To all the audience, it's already time to start, but Akihiko Ryuji hasn't arrived yet. According to the match rules, if he doesn't show up in 15 minutes, he will lose by default, " the referee declared.

"No way! What are we gonna do if he hasn't come? " Hotaru asked Luna.

She stands up and circulates from her seat. She told Hotaru that she would find him before the 15 minutes end.

"I will find him and bring him back, " said her.

Luna runs out of the arena to search for Ryuji but still hasn't found him. Her instinct told her that he should be at the mansion and without wasting much time, she decided to find him at the mansion. She goes upstairs and opens the door. When she opened the door, she was surprised that her instinct was right!

Ryuji was still laying on his bed and his face looked like in pain. Rissa, who was trying to wake him, was shocked when Luna suddenly barged into the room. Rissa was angry at her.

"— Wait, don't you know how to knock before entering someone's room? " speak Rissa angrily.

"I apologize to you later. Right now, he only has 15 minutes left before they withdraw him. "

Rissa was stunned. 15 minutes? They don't have much time now, but how? Ryuji's injury was worse than yesterday. If he fights like that, who knows that it might risk his life. They tried many times to wake him up but failed. A few seconds later, he finally woke up and saw both Luna and Rissa sitting behind his bed.

"Everyone⎯ Ouch! "

(— Ah, it really pains!)

"Wait, are you okay? " Rissa asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But my wounds still hurt and it hurt even more than yesterday, and I don't think I can fight⎯ "

"— You're not a person who easily gives up. "

Ryuji was silent. He was very familiar with the voice that suddenly appeared in their conversation. He looked at the door and was shocked, and not only was he the one who was shocked, both of them too. A 16 years old girl with black short-haired, wearing a white dress. There's none other than...

"— K-K-Kasumi!? Why are you here? " Ryuji was stunned and stuttered to say it.

The voice that he heard earlier was his little sister, Akihiko Kasumi. The one who stood behind her was his mother, Yuuya Kayano.

"— And not to mention, Mom too!? " again, Ryuji was stunned.

Kasumi walks to Ryuji's bed with a serious face.

"Did you think why am I here? Of course, this is because of you, Nii-san. You're not the one who easily gives up like that. I know, you're stronger than me, or even Kuroyami. But, if you give up now, you would end up letting him kill the innocent people and make them go through the suffering, " said her.

"Kasumi was right, our world depends on your hand right now, Ryuji. You're the only one and our only last hope, " his Mom continues.

Ryuji realized that he was being selfish and ignoring the others. What both of them said was right. He can't give up right now, whether he should defeat him or not it will be nothing.

"I'm sorry, both of you were right. I should go now, and I believe that I can defeat him because I believe that I was stronger than him…"

Ryuji woke up from the bed and changed into his usual clothes, a long black coat. After he changed, he opened the Gate to the arena's field.

"I'm off first! " said him while holding Rissa's hand.

Luna, Kasumi, and his mother wave their hand at Ryuji while carving a smile on their face. They will go to the arena after Ryuji arrives there. He walks through the Gate and in a blink of an eye, he has already arrived at the arena's field.

The audience, as well as Kuroyami, was stunned when they saw Ryuji arrive there in a blink of an eye. Right now, Ryuji was the only one who can use the Gate spell because he was the one who invented it.

The atmosphere began to chaos again when Ryuji arrived. The wind that blows faster now has slowly calmed. Kuroyami and Ryuji were standing towards each other and not to mention, they also wore the same black coat.

"I think that you're gonna withdraw because of the injury, but looks like I have mistaken. You're a tough one, and ever since when I saw you for the first time, I have been thinking... "

Kuroyami stopped his words and grasped his right hand. While grasping his hand, the silver spirit seal on his right hand started to shine, and the gun sword, <>, appeared on his right palm. With a heated glare at Ryuji, he continued where he left.

"— ...That I want to fight with you! " he continued.

Ryuji smiled. While forgetting all his pain, he pointed his hand forward and the purple spirit seal started to glow. After a few seconds, the <> appeared at his left hand.

"— The same goes here. Now that I'm standing here, I don't intend to show a shameful fight...of myself, to you, and to everyone who supported me, " said Ryuji.

"— So I'll swear now that Here and Now, the Power within Me Shall Defeat You!

Ryuji's eyes turned purple and started to give off dazzling purple darkness when the <> appeared on his left hand. At the same time, Kuroyami looked at Ryuji's sword and realized that it was much bigger than the last time he saw it. Without hesitation, he asked him about it.

"Your sword was much bigger than the last time I saw it. Is it even the same sword? " he asked.

"Yes, it is. The sword that you saw last time is the one-handed sword. But, this time it is different because it is the original appearance of the Demon King Sword, " Ryuji answered him.

The wind again started to blow quickly in the arena. Before starting the countdown, the referee gave some speeches.

"— A three years champion, and a swordsman, wielding the Demon King Sword. Their final battle will now begin! "

"— 3, 2 1, Let the battle begin! " the referee shouted.

Both of them started to give off dazzling brilliance with their own power. It shows that they would use all of their power in this battle to strike down their opponent and the whole arena was overflowed with their immense power. The audience was fascinated by it.

Since that Ryuji wound hasn't healed completely, he could only make one swing and he has to put everything he has in his one swing or it will be wasted.

(— Damn, I could only make one descent swing. If that's the case, I'll put everything I have into this one swing.)

Kuroyami knows that Ryuji will only be able to make one swing with his current condition and he planned to avoid him, and then attack him after his attack. But, if he avoids him, people will see that he was afraid and fear of Ryuji's attack.

(— He'll come in straight on. If I can avoid him once, then I'll win. But...no way!)

Both of them dedicated all of their strength and power into their one swing. Their swords begin to glow. Ryuji started to charge towards Kuroyami with immense speed, and his speed was faster than the wind.

Kuroyami did not move even an inch from where he was standing. He planned to attack Ryuji with the full power of <>. His sword begins to shine as he chants the manifest and this time, his voice was louder than before.

"— Divine Blade Blessed by the Heaven, Command Thou to Summon the Divine light, Comes, <>! "

Filled with the Divine light, Kuroyami thrust the <> towards Ryuji who was running towards him.

"— <>! " Ryuji shouted.

The <> and the <> clashed with each other. With their immense power, the greatest shock wave ever was produced and the ground cracked radially.

A blast of mixed air and dust caught in, and the audience was having a hard time trying to see the fierce fight. The battle has not ended yet. Both are concentrating with full power to concentrate the maximum energy at the extremely small contact point and push back the opponent's attack.

"— That's Ryuji, even though he was injured, he fought like the wound and pain was nothing to him, " Luna was surprised.

That's what makes Ryuji who he is. A hard-working man who doesn't easily give up, always self-confident, and always putting his life on the line before others.

But shortly after, a faint and decisive sound echoed.

The <>, Light Elemental Lord Divine Weapon, who has been stolen by Kuroyami. From the tip to the sword, the white shining crack ran like a lightning bolt. It didn't end yet. After the crack, Ryuji uses all of his left strength and power to push the <> and at the same time, his purple eyes began to glow brighter. In the next instant, the Divine Blade <> shattered.

(— What?! It shattered!)

The <> shattered due to Ryuji's attack. Kuroyami was stunned when the Divine Blade that he stole from the Light Elemental Lord 3 weeks ago has now completely shattered to pieces.

Kuroyami lost his balance when his sword broke and almost fell to the ground. Ryuji, canceled his attack, quickly pulling Kuroyami's black coat and attacking him with his right knee, causing Kuroyami to pain in his stomach.

"— You! <>! " Kuroyami shouted.

<>, one of Dark magic that can use to summon the Dark Beast, <>, a lion with eagle wings. Dark magic is prohibited from being used by Festia and only Genestia or Demon Genestia can use it because the power can easily lead the user's to death.

Before the summoning completes, Ryuji quickly sprang to action and attacked him with the eighth skill of the Absolute Armament, nullifying and releasing.

"— Absolute Armament, Eighth Skill, Spinning Shadow! "

By nullifying the Dark magic that Kuroyami used earlier, Ryuji then releases it again to attack Kuroyami. Kuroyami froze for a moment and was hit back at the dark magic he had just used earlier to summon the Dark Beast.

When he was hit by the Dark magic itself, his whole body seemed to burn from the inside and was shouted in pain. He then collapses after being hit by it. Due to the use of Dark Magic, Kuroyami has been disqualified from the match immediately.

"— The match has been decided. Kuroyami will be disqualified immediately due to the uses of Dark magic and has been unable to fight anymore, " said the referee.

The audience, no...all of the people in the arena were shocked. The three years champion uses the Dark magic? They can't believe it with their own eyes and are disappointed in him.

"— The long-awaited final match of the 15th Swordsmanship Tournament has come to end. The winner of the 15th Swordsmanship Tournament is… Congratulations! Akihiko Ryuji! " the referee continued.

The audience gave Ryuji the greatest applause for him. But, some of it still can deny that Kuroyami has lost. Ryuji, who was standing at the center of the arena's field, almost collapsed and lost his balance. He then pokes his sword on the ground to stable his balancing.

(— Hey, are you okay Ryuji? Wait...your wound has opened a little bit and you are bleeding!)

Now, he finally realized that the wounds opened. It still caused him pain and unable to focus but he decided to hold it back. Rissa quickly change to her human form and helped Ryuji to stand.

"We've made it, Riss. "

Ryuji carved a smile on his face. From Rissa's perspective, it's like a man who has just returned from winning a war.

"Yeah Ryuji, we've made it, until the end…"