"Shinsō—"
Silver light flared! With a rushing hiss, a dazzling Blade Flash erupted from Achill's left hand!! In an instant, it carved a cold, pale-moon-colored afterimage across the sky—
"Drip—" A trickle of crimson blood slowly seeped from 'Achill's' right cheek, then fell softly onto his right arm with a faint pat. A long, gleaming blade lay flush against his right cheek, extending far behind him, having only just grazed the side of his face—
"Oh? Now that's something..." Surprise flashed through Achill's eyes. Seeing that his opponent had narrowly evaded his killing blow at the last possible moment, he said in astonishment, "You actually dodged it?!"
"You're finished..."
"Hm?" Achill froze slightly at those words, then felt an enormous force surge through his sword-bearing right hand! Blood-red light flashed before his eyes. The crimson greatsword that had been holding his pale-moon-colored blade at bay violently knocked his right hand aside. Then, before the Shinsō in his left hand could retract, it swept viciously toward his neck!!!
"What—" His pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints. Without time to think, Achill whipped his left hand upward in a backhand slash, bringing Shinsō up in front of him—
"Screeeech—" Amid the teeth-grating screech of scraping, grinding steel, the icy edge of the incoming crimson greatsword collided violently with Shinsō's gleaming blade! A burst of dazzling silver sparks erupted—
"Thud, thud, thud—" Seizing the brief instant when their blades clashed, Achill used the powerful impact to propel himself dozens of meters backward! By then, the Shinsō in his left hand had already shrunk back to its original size!
"Tch, looks like you're no pushover either! Seems I really did underestimate you earlier—" He casually twirled the sword in his right hand. The two long, hollow, hexagonal silver wind chimes at the end of its