Chương 92: I Don’t Want to Be a Heroic Spirit [92]
Touka froze. The announcer froze. The audience froze.
Okita lowered her center of gravity, bending her knees slightly. She gripped her sword with both hands, leveling it with her shoulder so the tip pointed directly at Touka, taking on a Seigan stance.
Touka had seen this stance before, but this time, she sensed something different.
The moment their gazes met, she understood everything.
What was this feeling?
Her heart pounded, blood raced, her blade pulsed with excitement, and her hands trembled.
"Does she not only want to surpass me but also my Raikiri?"
"Of course. Isn't that only natural?"
Their eyes met in mid-air, exchanging a silent conversation.
"Didn't I tell you? I'll respond to your intentions, as my gift to you."
Was this arrogance? Was it disrespect?
Should she feel anger? Or exhilaration?
She didn't know, but...
"Then let me show you!"
Unprecedented radiant lightning began to surround Touka, her fierce smile twisted like that of a demon.
"My all-out Raikiri!"
At this moment, Touka wasn't fighting to prove she was the strongest, nor to defend her position as student council president.
She wanted to give her all—to show everything to the swordswoman standing across from her!
She sheathed Raijin, taking an Iaido stance.
In the next moment, a column of lightning engulfed her, and an overwhelming aura erupted from her body.
Even in the face of this natural disaster-like force, Okita remained unfazed, gripping her sword firmly. Her cherry blossom-pink hair whipped in the fierce winds, revealing her calm, beautiful face.
"First step, swifter than sound..."
In that blazing world of gold, Okita Souji appeared like a mortal ascending Olympus.
Even in the face of a god's wrath, she took her first step forward.
And with that, all sound vanished around her.
"Second step, infinite suffering..."
Surging lightning washed over her like waves, vicious lightning snakes biting at her flesh.
Though pain gnawed at her resolve, she took the second step.
She felt as if she was traversing time and space, stepping into a realm between gray and white.
"Third step, the absolute sword!!"
With her third step, she was engulfed by frenzied lightning.
At the same time, Touka's surging lightning was drawn back into the sheath.
Their eyes met in the silence, each studying the other's face as if to engrave it on their soul.
As Touka had promised, this was her true, all-out Raikiri.
In the past, to ensure accuracy, Touka would always reserve some focus for aiming.
But this time, in response to Okita's gaze and her soul, Touka had decided to pour her everything into this strike.
This was the true, complete Raikiri, shining in this world for the first time!
"Raikiri!"
"Mumyou, Sandanzuki!!"
The world disappeared.
Space stretched to infinity, and time extended to eternity.
Two lines—one gold, one silver—merged at the end of time and space.
---
The arena was silent.
Everyone held their breath, as if even the smallest sound would be an unforgivable sin.
Everyone watched intently; many stood up unconsciously, unwilling to miss a single detail.
On the shattered stage, two slender figures stood back to back.
They seemed so delicate, as if a gust of wind could blow them away.
In this silence, time seemed to freeze.
After a long pause, one of them moved.
Touka's body trembled as her spirit armament, Raijin, slipped from her hands. It broke into two as it struck the ground, and Touka collapsed, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Almost as Touka fell, Okita Souji moved as well. Though she wavered unsteadily, she forced herself upright and clenched her fist, raising it into the silent sky.
Then, the arena erupted in cheers so thunderous it seemed they would shake the stadium to its core.
"The match is over!"
Though the announcer's voice couldn't drown out the audience's roars, it was filled with intense excitement.
"Incredible! The academy's number one, Touka Toudou, has lost! The one who defeated her—"
At that moment, Okita Souji's name and picture appeared on the large screen above.
"The Flash—Okita Souji!"
"Woooah!"
Before the match, everyone had favored Touka Toudou over Okita Souji.
But in this match, the two of them had awed everyone with their fierce fight, ending it with a single stunning strike.
Even if it was just that final moment—Okita had shattered the unbeatable legend of Raikiri head-on. All doubts and questions about her were erased.
Ayase Ayatsuji and Stella embraced in excitement, and Kurogane Ikki and the others were equally thrilled at Okita's victory.
"This… I didn't expect her to win like that."
Saikyo Nene looked across the arena at the silhouette standing serenely, like the center of the world. Although she smiled, her pale fingertips betrayed her inner tension.
"Aah… the thinking of swordsmen is beyond me, after all."
Did I… win?
Okita's ears still echoed with the raging thunder, her body felt distant, and her vision blurred.
Her body bore numerous black burns, her muscles paralyzed. Especially just above her abdomen, where a charred slash wound periodically sparked with electricity.
Touching it with her hand, she could feel the prickling jolt on her fingertips.
Even as a Servant, Okita Souji wasn't the resilient type like Siegfried.
Recalling the flash of golden horizon that had passed before her eyes, Okita's amber gaze softened with emotion.
"Ah… what a beautiful strike that was…"
Then… she coughed up blood, collapsing weakly, just as Touka had before.
"Waaah! Okita is coughing blood! And she's down too! Someone help! Hurry!"
Lying in a spread-eagle on the wrecked stage, Okita Souji said one last thing before she slipped into unconsciousness.
"Even if I spat blood again… this time, it was truly Miss Okita's great victory…"
---
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