The silver blade flashed once more. What seemed like an ordinary strike actually contained a powerful vibrational force. Once it touched the surface muscles, it could penetrate and destroy the internal organs. It was a technique specifically designed for opponents with strong defensive power.
But in the face of Ryoji's attack, Edelweiss remained completely unmoved, merely sweeping out a silent horizontal slash.
Another flash came.
The moment the sword was swung, Ryoji had already lost track of its trajectory; he could only see a streak of light approaching.
It was too fast! It was practically like light itself, and his eyes simply couldn't keep up!
"But I can still see her body movements!"
Ryoji focused intensely, locking his gaze onto Edelweiss's right arm as she swung her sword.
'That's right, even if he couldn't see the blade's path, as long as he could see the direction of her arm, he could still deduce where she intended to intercept!'
"Here!"
In an instant, clarity broke through as Ryoji ducked in a flash, lowering his blade and narrowly avoiding the streak of light by a margin close to the limit, then slashed toward her side!
Edelweiss's outfit was extremely revealing.
Her lower body was covered by a white skirt that barely concealed her thighs, while her upper body was protected only by two metal plates over her chest, almost like a bikini, leaving large areas of skin exposed.
Combined with her exquisite beauty, she possessed a charm that surpassed that of ordinary humans, and she was not inferior to the goddesses Ryoji had seen in the DanMachi world; perhaps she is even greater.
He didn't know if she normally walked around dressed like this, but this outfit clearly lacked defensive power. It practically screamed, "Aim here!"
If this strike landed, her internal organs wouldn't come out unscathed! But the moment he thought that, another flash of light struck as fast as lightning.
Edelweiss's Spiritual Item (Device) was a pair of dual swords. Passing one sword only meant the other was waiting!
However…
"Absolute Speed!"
Ryoji possessed that special ability as well! The instant the flash reappeared in the corner of his vision, he instinctively activated Absolute Speed, setting the speed of his slash to surpass that of the Twin Wings Sword!
A glint flashed in Edelweiss's eyes, as if she had noticed something.
Immediately afterward, the speed of Ryoji's blade surged several times over!
He charged forward like a beam of light, closing into Edelweiss's embrace, and his blade mercilessly struck her seemingly fragile side.
But there was no reaction at all.
Not even a twitch of internal damage, nor a single drop of blood, her skin remained perfectly smooth and unbroken.
"No effect…?" Ryoji's eyes widened.
Suddenly, an intense sense of danger struck him. Without hesitation, he used Sword Step again, retreating with lightning-like divine speed.
In the next moment, a silver flash tore through the space, Edelweiss's strike missed once more.
"Amazing!"
Watching from afar, Arisuin Nagi couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment.
"He actually managed to get into the range of Twin Wings… There aren't many people in this world who can do that!"
As one of the strongest beings in the world, Edelweiss's power overwhelmingly surpassed that of other Blazers. Ninety-nine percent of Blazers could only flee in panic before her, and of the remaining one percent, ninety-nine percent couldn't even withstand her first strike.
Being able to evade her attacks and even launch a counterattack was already an achievement that would shock countless people!
Even if he had used a Blazer's special ability, there was nothing improper about it.
Because when fighting her, if you don't use your special ability, you'll instead be mocked for overestimating yourself and being arrogantly foolish!
How many people in this world, even after using a Blazer's special ability, still can't so much as touch her!
The fact that Ryoji managed to land a single strike on her body was already something he could be proud of!
"So that's how it is… I understand now."
Seeing him retreat once more, Edelweiss did not pursue. She looked at the sword in her hand, and a faint smile appeared on her calm face, like a fleeting bloom of an epiphyllum, breathtakingly beautiful.
"Your special ability allows your speed to surpass that of your opponent. That's why, even when facing my sword, which is several times faster than yours, you can perfectly overtake it. In fact, the speed of my blade instead becomes the fuel that lets you break through the range of my crossed swords."
"You're clearly a swordsman, yet you use swordsmen as fuel… what a contradictory person."
As expected of the world's strongest.
He had only used his ability a few times, yet she had already seen through it.
On the other hand, Ryoji had failed to see through the mystery within her sword.
He could understand how she nullified the Devil Light Flowing Blade. From the faint cracks on the ground beneath her feet, it was clear that at the moment of impact, she had transferred all the force into the ground below.
There were no visible signs at all, Ryoji couldn't even tell how she did it. In other words, her technique of dispersing force was far superior to his!
But the one thing he absolutely couldn't understand was…
"Why is your sword completely silent?"
No matter how he looked at it, Ryoji couldn't comprehend it. His sharp gaze fixed on the Twin Wings.
'That's right.'
The Twin Wings' sword was incredibly mysterious!
Not only was it as fast as light, so fast that even Ryoji's eyes couldn't follow, but more importantly, it made no sound at all when she swung it!
Not even the slightest sound of wind!
There wasn't even the smallest disturbance in the surrounding airflow! A sword like that meant complete control over one's energy, every movement executed without the slightest waste!
Swinging a sword inevitably involves friction with the air, which leads to energy loss. Human power can never be delivered at one hundred percent; some of it is always wasted in the process.
But the Twin Wings was different. Her sword seemed to ignore air resistance entirely, producing no friction with the air. All of her power was contained perfectly within each strike, hence her blade was completely silent.
Because of this, she could deliver one hundred percent of her power without any loss.
Ryoji could perceive that much.
But how exactly she achieved it… That left him utterly baffled.
Such an incredible sword technique was beyond his understanding.
The gap in their realms was simply too great, he could no longer grasp the essence of her sword in a single glance.
"If you consider yourself a swordsman, then use your own eyes to see through my blade."
Edelweiss did not explain.
As an enemy, there was naturally no need for her to do so. But when those words reached the ears of the observing Arisuin Nagi, he sensed a subtle undertone, almost as if she was encouraging Ryoji to try harder to understand.
'Was it just his imagination?'
Arisuin Nagi didn't know.
"And also…"
Edelweiss paused before continuing.
"From here on, I will seal your special ability. Try to face me using only that sword of yours."
'Seal his special ability?'
'What did she mean?'
Ryoji's heart tightened, a faint sense of unease rising within him.
The only reason he had been able to exchange a few moves with the Twin Wings, despite being completely outmatched in power, speed, and technique, was because of his special ability, Absolute Speed.
Once he lost that ability, the battle would likely become completely one-sided.
(End of Chapter)
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