Chapter 8 - [8] Did I Win?

"That freshman actually did it...?"

"So impressive, he actually defeated the Director!"

"Can we really say he won, though?"

"Facing the former world number three, getting this far is already remarkable."

In the spectator stands, the murmurs of a few people rose again.

Unlike the unanimous sympathy and pity from before, this time, without exception, they all expressed admiration for the boy who had fallen on the field.

Admittedly, the former world number three hadn't shown her true strength.

She had been holding back from the start, not seriously displaying her power. But even the Director, while holding back, was someone none of the spectators could confidently say they could defeat.

To have once suppressed and even defeated Kurono Shinguuji, even at the cost of near-death and even if the opponent wasn't going all out, was something to boast about for a lifetime.

"It's precisely because he was near death that it's impressive!"

Someone holding a camera, snapping away, shot a dissatisfied look at the group.

"If you were in his shoes, would you have the will to win even at the risk of death?"

The group fell silent.

In that one strike, the boy on the field had shown not just ability, but also unparalleled courage and a fighting spirit.

Student Knights, though Blazers, are mostly just students.

For teenagers who haven't fully formed their worldviews, if they impulsively release their innate Devices in Material Form, might cause irreversible consequences.

Therefore, Blazers under fifteen are obligated to release their innate Devices in Illusionary Form in any setting, as per the International Mage-Knight League's regulations.

This way, even if a blade passes through a body, it only drains stamina without harming life.

But in other words, most Student Knights have never experienced real combat. Many haven't even prepared themselves for injury, let alone near-death.

In contrast, Eiji, willing to face near-death to win, has surpassed such Student Knights by an immeasurable margin.

Incidentally, the age of adulthood in this world is fifteen.

Blazers are considered adults at fifteen, able to marry and have children.

"Ah, I've really captured something good!"

The cameraman smiled with genuine satisfaction, "When school starts and I launch my campus magazine, I'll feature this in the first issue!"

On the field.

"Junior brother!"

Touka Toudou exclaimed, her face tense as she dashed off the field.

In that moment, even Kurono Shinguuji hadn't reacted, let alone her. She couldn't stop it, and by the time she came to her senses, her junior brother was already lying in a pool of blood.

"Whew..."

Kurono took a deep breath and summoned her innate Device again.

In her right hand was a black handgun.

In her left, a pure white one.

The two handguns were almost identical, differing only in color.

She raised the black and white guns, one aimed at Eiji on the ground, the other at herself.

Bang!

Bang!

Two consecutive gunshots rang out.

In an instant, Eiji's body froze. His breathing, the blood seeping out, everything stopped, as if time for his body had been paused.

Meanwhile, Kurono's complexion improved in a breath, turning from a pale, exhausted state back to a healthy glow.

"Touka, take your junior brother to the regeneration pod."

Kurono stood up, landing on the ground.

The silver katana embedded in her chest gradually dissolved into golden particles of light, disappearing as Eiji fell unconscious.

She rubbed her chest, feeling the pain of the piercing, and couldn't help but grimace.

It still hurt.

"And when he wakes up, pass on a message for me..."

***

"Ugh..."

Eiji groaned, opening his heavy eyelids to wake up.

Before him was a pure white room, the ceiling painted a stark white, with a faint smell of alcohol and medicine in the air.

"Familiar hospital ceiling...?"

The scene and smells were so familiar that Eiji momentarily confused his memories, thinking he was still lying in the hospital bed he had occupied for over a decade.

After a while, his mind cleared, and he remembered the battle with the Director before he lost consciousness.

He only recalled using a Blazer technique he currently couldn't handle—Lightning Flash—at the last moment. But midway, his consciousness had blanked out, and he fell into a coma due to the massive side effects.

"So, did I win in the end?"

Eiji leaned back on the bed, sighing softly.

The move was powerful, too powerful for his current physical condition to bear.

His ability was , meaning "absolutely faster than the opponent." Thus, the faster the opponent, the faster he became.

By concentrating all his limited mana into a single strike, setting his speed beyond the opponent's reaction limit, he could make his speed absolutely surpass the opponent's, ensuring a hit!

The essence of this ability was causal interference, forcing a reversal of cause and effect to make the phenomenon of "being faster than the opponent" a reality, despite all impossibilities.

But in other words, using such power without inherently possessing it naturally placed an enormous burden on his body.

It's easy to imagine the consequences of his fragile body being thrown at supersonic speeds.

First, his breathing would stop, his heart and lungs would malfunction, then his skin would crack, blood vessels would burst, he'd be drenched in blood, followed by muscle fiber necrosis, bones shattering, becoming neither human nor ghost, and finally, his internal organs would rupture... resulting in near-death.

This was the Blazer technique .

A forward-striking sword technique, so powerful that even he couldn't control it.

"Junior brother, you're awake?"

The sound of a door opening reached his ears, followed by his senior sister's voice.

Turning his head, he saw the chestnut-haired girl appear at the door and enter the room, holding a silver tray piled with food.

The aroma of food reached his nose, and his stomach betrayed him with a loud growl.

"So, it's already evening?"

He realized he hadn't eaten all day.

The sun outside had set, with only a sliver remaining on the horizon. The evening glow shone through the window, dyeing the bedsheets a warm orange.

"How's your body? Recovered?"

Touka Toudou placed the tray on the bedside table, sitting on the chair by the bed, her worried eyes scanning his body.

"As you can see, fully recovered. The regeneration pod technology is incredible!"

Eiji moved his wrists and hips, feeling exactly as he had before the coma, with no injuries at all.

But this was impossible. He knew well that using would leave him near death, which is why he had repeatedly confirmed with Kurono Shinguuji before the battle if there was a regeneration pod available.

This outcome was solely due to the regeneration pod's formidable healing capabilities.