"Wh… Wh… What?!"
"It… it broke!!"
"Arthur's Judgment of Light was actually cut through!!!"
"What in the world just happened?!"
Even the commentator was completely stunned, stammering in confusion. He couldn't comprehend what had just unfolded.
Arthur's Judgment of Light was his ultimate move—undefeated until now. Its destructive power, if not world-ending, was terrifying in its own right. Until this moment, no one had ever blocked Arthur's technique.
"What… just happened?"
Erza was equally bewildered. As someone who had personally taken that very same attack, she had a lot of authority on the matter.
Even using her strongest defensive Requip armor, she couldn't block it. The power behind that strike was simply overwhelming. And yet, this man named Yoriichi Tsugikuni had not only blocked it with a single sword—but cut through it. It was far beyond anything she could understand.
"This monster…"
Clay stared at Kaien Blaze in the arena. From the outside, it looked like Kaien had defeated him in a single strike—but only he knew how many times he had tried to test the man.
That guy was a complete and utter monster—undeniably, authentically, a super-class monster. How could someone like that not endure Arthur's attack?
Still, for Kaien to cut through Arthur's strongest technique so effortlessly… it gave even him a serious fright.
At that moment, Kaien slowly regained his focus. Only a moment had passed—but to him, it felt like he'd just lived through an hour.
"So this is enlightenment, huh?"
Having read countless cultivation novels, he had at least a vague understanding of what an epiphany was.
That must've been what just happened to him. Right now, the flow of magic through his body was effortless—reaching a level far beyond what he had ever experienced.
Only someone with a broken level of talent like Yoriichi Tsugikuni could achieve such a thing—grasping and mastering magic the moment they came into contact with it.
Looking back now, his earlier use of magic was nothing more than child's play.
But just now—by rearranging the flow of magic and condensing it into the edge of his blade—he had unleashed terrifying power.
Kaien looked toward Arthur, lifted his blade with one hand, and casually swung it downward.
Swish—!
A slash burst forth from Kaien's blade.
It swept past Arthur, who had no time to react.
CRACK—!!
A massive, clean cut split the coliseum—like slicing through tofu.
"!!!"
Everyone was stunned speechless. The commentator dropped his mic.
All eyes were locked in horror on the massive, seamless fissure. The entire stadium went dead silent.
"What… what was that?"
Kaien's attack had made no sound, but the damage it caused was undeniable. Sure, many present could break the walls of the arena with brute force…
But to slice through them so cleanly—like a hot knife through butter—without disturbing anything around it?
That was beyond explanation.
Arthur stared blankly at the flawless incision, his face frozen in disbelief.
He had thought their difference in swordsmanship was minimal… but now he realized it was astronomical.
Kaien sheathed his blade and said calmly:
"You do not understand swordsmanship. To me, you are a frog at the bottom of a well, glimpsing the moon in the sky. When the day comes that you somehow join the ranks of Nine-Star Swordsmen… you will look up at me as an ant gazing at the sky."
BOOOOM—!!
Everyone was shaken by Kaien's words. It was overwhelmingly arrogant—yet no one in the entire Kingdom of Sobea dared to refute him.
Their silence… was acceptance.
Arthur's pupils contracted. Then his knees gave out as he dropped to the ground:
"I've lost!"
"The match is decided!!"
"The victor: Yoriichi Tsugikuni!!!"
"Too powerful!! He's just too powerful!!"
"Champion of the Continental Swordmaster Tournament: Yoriichi Tsugikuni!!!"
"The strongest swordsman on the Ishgar continent—Yoriichi Tsugikuni, worthy of the title!!!"
"Sword God!! Sword God!! Sword God!!"…
The crowd erupted into thunderous cheers. Most of them couldn't even comprehend how advanced Kaien's swordsmanship truly was.
All they knew was—he was absurdly strong.
Even the top-ranked Nine-Star Swordsmen looked like kids with wooden swords before him.
But for those at the Seven-Star, Eight-Star, and Nine-Star level, what Kaien displayed was nothing short of divine.
As they listened to the crowd chant "Sword God"…
They couldn't help but think the same thing:
'Could this man truly be the Sword God?'
Because honestly—who else could possess such terrifying mastery of the blade?
Royal Palace
SMASH!
King Renault slammed his desk in excitement.
As the previous generation's strongest Nine-Star Swordsman, he knew exactly what that strike meant.
He was still reeling in awe.
Others might think Kaien's words were boastful, but to him—they weren't exaggerated at all. There was an unbridgeable chasm between them.
No amount of training would close that gap.
If he were younger, he would've begged to become Kaien's disciple—no matter the cost. Unfortunately, his body was no longer fit.
What a pity.
Still, to witness such swordsmanship in his lifetime was already a rare and precious fortune.
'If I can recruit this man for the Dragon-Slaying expedition, success is all but guaranteed…'
Suddenly!!
A voice rang out.
"Emergency report!!"
A soldier burst into the chamber, panic written all over his face.
"What's the matter? Why the rush?!"
"Your Majesty! Reports from our scouts—there's movement in the Forest of Monsters! A horde of at least one hundred thousand monsters is charging toward the city!!"
"What?! At this time?!"
The king's face changed drastically. He hadn't expected a crisis now of all times.
A hundred thousand monsters—that was a disaster-scale threat.
If they didn't respond correctly, the entire city could be wiped out.
But King Renault quickly regained his composure and issued commands:
"Ministers! Mobilize every soldier to Level One Alert!"
"Evacuate all civilians into the coliseum for shelter! And summon every swordsman currently in the city to prepare for battle!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!!"