When Tsukasa appeared, it was like the earth was weighing upon his body.
Ikki was like an atlas that was burdened by the weight of the earth and sky.
This was how he felt at that moment.
His chance to win was almost zero.
However, it was almost zero.
As long as there was a little chance, he would struggle, bleed, and do everything, so he could reach victory.
If Tsukasa's aura was like a large wave on the sea, Ikki's aura was like a froth that dissipated quickly. Yet this froth was persistent and wouldn't plop no matter how hard it was hit by the waves.
"Ikki, it seems you have mastered the Twin-Wing Style."
Tsukasa smiled and said, "It's amazing, so on this battle, don't hold back and use your everything, alright?" His swordsmanship was stuck in the bottleneck now, and all he did was master another path of swordsmanship that he usually didn't take.
After all, it was a bottleneck, and it was simply a waste of time for him to stay in the place, so he mastered other swordsmanship.
"If you don't, you will lose."
At that moment, the world turned white. Ikki could imagine the scene where his head was flying away. His eyes widened, and the color returned to his eyes as he rubbed his neck. He knew that it was just a projection of Tsukasa's killing intent. Even so, it was so powerful.
The bead of sweat trickled down from his forehead, neck, and even back. It was a cold sweat, yet he didn't ignore those sweats and pushed all of her beings into this battle, ignoring everything. Only his figure.
Tsukasa's figure was the only thing that he perceived in this battle.
He took a deep breath and said with all of his vigors. "I know that I am the weakest, and I don't have a talent, but even so, with my weakness, I will defeat you!"
"What if you can't?"
"No, I will."
Ikki shook his head and said, "In the past, everything I did was only for myself. I want to prove to everyone that I am worthy of becoming the mage-knight. I am not the useless one that everyone will ignore. Even though I don't have a talent, I will become the mage-knight."
'You don't have talent?'
When Tsukasa heard this, he wanted to slap Ikki's head.
If someone didn't have a talent, would they be able to stand in this place?
It was because Ikki was talented that he could stand up on this stage.
While Ikki's talent in swordsmanship was magical or even godly, his talent as a Blazer was simply zero.
"However, it is different now. I am going to win this for Shizuku. For Shizuku, I am going to win."
"......"
Everyone was in a daze.
No one had expected that Ikki would say something like that.
"Onii-sama..." Shizuku blushed and felt happy. She might have lost her battle, but she had her brother's love. Her heart was fluttering, and she felt the world was filled with happiness.
Tsukasa stared at Ikki for a while and said, "...sis-con."
"I-I am not!" Ikki replied, blushing.
"Well, if you only talk, then it will be impossible for you to win. So like I have said before, you should go all out, or else you'll be defeated."
Unlike his calm demeanor, his battle spirit exploded like a volcanic eruption, bringing terror in every direction. They were facing a disaster, calamity, a force that was impossible to be stopped by a human.
However, Ikki was going to face that force upfront, without protection, directly. He could feel his palms sweating, but his blade was as firm as ever.
Tsukasa also summoned his cubic before it formed into his Drying Pole. This was his favorite weapon and the one that was easiest to use by him. The strangely long blade was shown to everyone and caused a murmur everywhere.
"If I am not wrong, Sakra named his sword Drying Pole."
"It is a fitting name."
"Many people might doubt how to use that sword, but all I can say is that he is strong when he uses that sword."
"Still, if he only uses that sword now, then it means he has never gotten serious at the beginning of the event?"
"......."
The sudden revelation brought shock to everyone.
They thought that they had seen his everything, but it seemed he was still holding back!
"Just how strong he is..." Shizuku was frustrated. Her brother's love moved her, yet even so, realistically, she didn't think that her brother was able to win.
"Haha..." Arisuin only laughed awkwardly but didn't say anything. While he had passed out before, he knew that Tsukasa had dueled against the strongest swordsman in the world, Edelweiss. Even if Tsukasa didn't win, he could tell that Tsukasa was several times stronger than Ikki!
Yet, Ikki didn't care.
He knew he was weak, so he was going to give his all.
"LET'S GO AHEAD!!"
The moment the announcement of the battle started, everyone stopped blinking, afraid to miss anything that might happen in this battle.
However, Ikki didn't hold back and used his everything without hesitation.
"Ittou Rasetsu!"
The world lost its luster.
His vision, taste, hearing, touch, smell, he turned off all of them.
In this instant, he didn't even need to breathe. Abandoning all of those things, he concentrated the strength left over. All of his flesh. All of his brain. All of his blood. All of his cells, everything from them. With his personal vitality, stamina, magic power, and potential, he mustered all that he had― And for an instant, he broke past his limits!!!
His strength became 100 times stronger, and by using his ability, which doubled his power, he had become 200 times stronger!
That past week, he trained even harder, cutting his sleep and everything, so he could reach him.
However, he felt that wasn't enough.
He needed more and more.
He absorbed everything that he could, like a sponge, to become even stronger.
He stopped, thinking, and only moved consciously.
His blade, which had mastered the essence of the Twin-Wings Style, moved so fast, like a flash of light. It was unstoppable and invincible.
Anyone would be cut down by this blade.
This was his strongest!
Yet...
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!*
Everyone stopped breathing, too shocked by the scene before them.
Everything only happened in an instant, and no one was able to react.
However, Ikki was flown out off the stage, crashed under the ruin, and lay there helplessly.
"I... I lost...?"