Black and white thunderlight descended, transforming into two figures. White Night flicked his index finger against the blade. "My, my, Stella, you look a little worse for wear~"
On the other side, Dark Lightning burst from Bronya's palm, forming an electric field that enveloped the terrorists present.
Although it used the methods of Yang Lightning, Dark Lightning's bone-eroding, marrow-devouring nature remained unchanged. The gun-wielding terrorists all collapsed limply.
"They're under control, White Night." Bronya approached White Night from behind, taking up a back-to-back stance with him.
"Mm."
White Night nodded, then wiped his sword like Decade and approached Smile. "Now you're the only one left. What, aren't you going to struggle?"
"..."
Smile took several steps back, but quickly realized—he had nowhere left to retreat! His cowardice turned into rage as he lunged at White Night. "You bastard!!!"
"Clang—!"
A cold flash of steel gleamed. However... when Smile came back to his senses from that dazzling blade light, he burst out laughing. "Hahaha!!! You idiot, you actually rushed right at me!"
White Night's slash had struck Sin on Smile's left hand. He had not gone around it; he had met it head-on.
"Now experience your own attack!" As he spoke, Smile threw out his right fist.
But it was useless! White Night exerted force through his wrist, and Myriad Phenomena flashed with blade light as it met Smile's Spirit Armor once more... and White Night still won! A severed arm sprayed blood as it flew into the air.
"No, impossible! H-how could this happen?!!" Smile clutched his severed arm, disbelief written all over his face.
As Bronya looked on helplessly, White Night swung his sword with flair, splashing blood in a graceful arc. "The reason a sword can become my weapon is because only I can break it with my own hands."
"The same goes for power."
At this point, he was thoroughly satisfied. Sure enough, Old Ancestor Kevin's quotes really had style!
Once the incident had settled down, Ikki and Arisugawa, who had been hiding in the shadows, also rushed over. Only...
"Ah!!!"
Just then, a woman among the hostages stood up and pressed a gun to a middle-aged woman's temple. "Nobody move! If anyone tries anything unnecessary..."
"I'll kill this woman!"
Everyone's attention was drawn over. Smile, who had just been wailing on the ground, revealed a villainous grin. "Didn't expect that, did you, brats? To think we'd blend into the crowd..."
However, before he could finish, Dark Lightning flashed... By the time everyone came back to their senses, Bronya had appeared beside the woman and seized her wrist with one hand.
Under the immense pressure of Bronya's grip, the woman could no longer hold the pistol and let it fall to the ground.
Um... White Night turned his gaze toward Smile. "So, what were you trying to say just now?"
"And you over there, are you still not coming out? Or did you not get a chance to make an appearance, so you're planning to slink away?"
"..."
A stretch of silence followed. Finally, where White Night was looking, a transparent figure gradually revealed himself—Kirihara Shiya.
Red hair, clothes resembling Yagami Iori's... unfortunately, he lacked the aura to carry that outfit.
"Long time no see..."
After revealing himself, Kirihara Shiya wisely did not look at White Night. Instead, he turned his hostility toward Kurogane Ikki. "Kurogane Ikki, you still haven't left the school?"
White Night did not intend to get involved in that dispute. At most, he would find time to help Ikki improve. It would be ridiculous if, with his intervention, things turned out worse than in the original story.
Not long afterward, the police arrived and took all the terrorists away. With that, the attack incident was considered concluded.
"What's wrong with all of you?"
After dealing with the statements, White Night saw everyone looking deeply worried. Naturally, he understood why, but he still needed an excuse. "Ikki, you explain!"
(And so on, and so forth~)
After getting the general picture, White Night put on a thoughtful expression as well. "I see... Hunter's Forest really does counter you badly~"
The Blade Skill "Hunter's Forest"—it could completely conceal not only one's body, but even one's presence. It was all-around active camouflage.
"That's right. Ikki doesn't have any wide-area attacks. Just locating his opponent's position is already extremely difficult."
"..."
This was a complete matchup disadvantage! For a time, the atmosphere grew silent. Until...
"Hey, Ikki!"
White Night reached out and firmly pressed a hand onto Ikki's shoulder, staring intensely at him. "Is that all the determination you have? For something like that, you just need to keep getting stronger, don't you?"
Meanwhile, Bronya also gave Stella a push... White Night had jumped in a little too early and squeezed out the heroine's scene.
"That's right!"
Finally, encouraged by Bronya's push, Stella stepped forward. "Ikki is the knight who defeated me! So I believe completely in your strength, and in the effort behind that strength."
"You absolutely cannot admit defeat like this!"
"Stella..."
Ikki looked at the girl trying so hard to encourage him, and something different seemed to spill forth from his heart. "Thank you, Stella."
"You're right. I really was worrying too much before. Don't worry, I'll definitely pass the selection tournament and become a representative! After all, I still want to fight you again."
Seeing him pull himself together, everyone present could not help smiling.
"Although I'm grateful that you helped my brother recover, don't you think you're standing a little too close?" As she spoke, Shizuku separated the two of them.
Only then did Ikki and Stella realize how close they had been. From a distance, they had even looked as though they were kissing.
"Eeeeh?!!"
Almost instantly, Stella felt the blood rush to her head, and her whole face flushed red. "N-no, it's not like that."
"I-I was only..." Stella stammered out a long explanation for her actions.
With the weight on their hearts temporarily lifted, everyone's interactions returned to how they had been before.
"As expected, cheering someone up is still a girl's job~ Don't you think, Bronya?"
"Bronya has no interest in that."
Her tone remained as flat as ever. Yet faintly, the corners of her mouth seemed to have curled upward.
By the time they returned to the academy, night had already fallen. Everyone ate together in the cafeteria and walked back toward the dormitories.
"Although a lot happened today, overall, it was still a pretty good weekend, right?"
"That's right."
"Indeed."
"Agreed."
White Night did not join in... Turning an anime into live action still felt strange to him, no matter how long it had been. "By the way, Ikki, isn't your match scheduled for the day after tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Is something wrong, White Night?"
White Night patted Ikki's shoulder and revealed his purpose. "Since we still have time tomorrow, come train extra with me! Let me see what else you can improve."
"You're aiming for the Seven Star Sword Martial Festival. You can't lose in the selection tournament, so do your best~"
Special Training
The next day, the selection tournament had officially begun. At the training grounds, Stella, Shizuku, and the others had not come.
"You're not going to watch the matches?"
"There's no need. Stella and the others will definitely win." Ikki stood directly opposite White Night, Yin Iron in hand.
"That's true."
White Night nodded and casually summoned Myriad Phenomena. "Ikki, you noticed it then too, right? I pinpointed Kirihara Shiya precisely."
"Do you know why?"
"...Bioelectricity?"
"It does have something to do with that. But... the most important thing is perception! Ikki, you rely too much on your eyes." White Night pointed out his weakness.
As he spoke, he did not look at Ikki, merely running his fingertips over the blade. "Maybe it's because of Mimicry Swordplay, or perhaps because of your innate talent? Your dependence on your eyes is far greater than your dependence on your other senses."
Um...
Ikki fell into thought. White Night stopped and waited for him to think his way to an answer. "Sound?"
"Think again."
White Night shook his head. The blade in his hand swung casually, still producing the Weasel Slash Phenomenon as sword marks tore across the ground.
Sword Qi, sword marks...
Ikki suddenly realized it. "Air currents! As long as something has a physical form in nature, its movement will inevitably produce air currents!"
"That's right, unless they specialize in wind-element abilities."
If one could control air currents, it would indeed make up for that weakness. But Kirihara Shiya could not do that. It was beyond him.
But that was not all White Night wanted to say. He intended to take the idea further.
"You've already experienced Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu before. I found it in an ancient text."
At the right moment, White Night put on a regretful expression. "Unfortunately, it was far too incomplete, and much of it was missing. But in that book, I also saw mention of a certain realm..."
—"World of Insight!"
A realm where one's perception reached the highest domain through some method! One could even see through living bodies, including their nerves and tendons.
"To be honest, I think that description is a bit too absurd. Besides, the training method is completely missing, so there's no way to begin."
White Night merely introduced a concept, making Ikki consciously try moving in that direction. As for whether he could ultimately achieve it? Heh~ That depended on fate.
"All right, enough of that. Let's begin the special training."
White Night took out a specially made blindfold. "Close your eyes and use your hearing, touch... and so on, to perceive this world from a new perspective."
"Wait! The person I'll be sparring with in a moment..."
"That's right, it'll be me."
As he spoke, White Night tossed the blindfold to Ikki and stroked the blade. "Don't worry. I'll use the back of the blade. Do your best, Ikki. I believe in your potential."
"..."
A period of silence followed. Easy for him to say; he was not the one getting beaten up. Still, Ikki ultimately chose to put on the blindfold. He gripped Yin Iron tightly in both hands and took his stance.
"Looks like you're ready."
Since this was only the beginning, White Night instantly closed in on Ikki and struck directly at his neck with the back of his blade.
This direction!
Although Ikki sensed it, he was still a step too slow. Having lost the eyes he relied on, he was not used to it yet.
"Ikki, you're a little slow." White Night offered that assessment, then swiftly pulled back to prepare his next attack.
Um...
When White Night did not attack, Ikki's senses perceived nothing but complete darkness. It seemed as though there was nothing there at all.
"Looks like we need to take this step by step."
This time, White Night deliberately gave him a verbal warning, clearly telling him which direction he would attack from.
Ikki swung his sword to block... but he was still slow. The blade missed by a hair's breadth!
"Any improvement is a good thing. Again."
The attacks came faster. But this time... in that pitch-black world, something seemed to echo? Like ripples spreading across a calm lake.
Um... Over here!
"Clang—!"
Before you continue