Before Tola‘s twin swords could reach Yujin, dozens of spears rushed at him instead of their master's blade.
Each one was a strike from a high-level Arts user. They left no footprints, no trace of their passage. They had no physical form, yet possessed physical force. That contradictory premise rushed forward to kill Yujin.
Not one, but many. Dozens of spears sought to end him. Yet Yujin did not stop. As if to crush them all and advance, he simply rotated his spear and charged.
The air wrapped around the spear tip, creating a storm. He shattered the dozens of thrusting spears and pressed forward. As if no one could stop his advance, he kept going.
It was a thrust containing a lifetime. The will of the Pegasi, who had crushed the enemies of Kazimierz dozens of times, was here.
But it was the same for Tola.
Channeling a power thousands of years old, no longer inherited but manifested through atavism, Tola swung his twin swords. The blades, transformed by devouring the darkness, resembled those of the Khagan, the pinnacle of the Nightzmora and the greatest conqueror of Terra.
Not evasion or countering. A head-on clash of pure power against power.
The ground split. Wind and turbulent air were ground away. The shockwave ravaged the surface, producing a roar so loud it was hard to believe it came from humans.
Crunch! GRIIIIND!
Neither yielded a step. The blades and spear they thrust at each other were repelled by the recoil. Bodies were thrown back, victory unclaimed by either. Tola and Yujin rolled roughly on the ground, but both sprang up without hesitation.
"One more time."
The match wasn't decided.
The storm created by the two parted, and Yujin took a stance. But this time, he wasn't holding a spear, but a sword in a thrusting position.
Holding it in a reverse grip over his opposite shoulder, his posture radiated pressure.
The spear and sword they had thrust at each other were embedded in the ground and flung away. It was too far to retrieve them, so they both took the same stance again.
Yujin‘s strength wasn't just using learned techniques as is. It was application beyond replication. And evolution.
"You intend to recreate that ultimate technique... with a sword?"
Tola scoffed. Having clashed once, he knew. That technique just now was real. The trembling sword and hands told Tola the weight of the technique.
But if he intended to rush Tola again.
Tola would gladly accept the challenge. He had no intention of avoiding it. His heart beat fiercely, proving he was alive.
A worthy rival he might meet once in a lifetime. Was this how the Khagan felt when he cut down the Pegasus?
Spreading fear is the nature of the Nightzmora, and the desire for conquest is the Khagan's sustenance.
Recalling the old verse, Tola raises the army shattered by the Pegasus's spear again. The Kheshig serving the Khagan rise with spears, looking unchanged from a moment ago.
This time, instead of rushing from the front, the Kheshig rush first as if escorting Tola.
This is a hunt. A hunt to kill a rampaging beast. The Kheshig rushed to hunt the beast, but Yujin was no beast.
From the moment he drew upon the Star, all of Yujin‘s movements showed only cause and effect. Mere constructs of Arts couldn't catch him. Thrusting dozens of times with the degraded technique and wrapping wind around his blade to shatter Tola's Arts, Yujin leaped into the battlefield.
'Anyway, my body can't hold out any longer.'
With every passing second, he felt his body breaking. The third star delayed the damage and pain, allowing him to continue fighting, but it couldn't erase the wounds that were already there.
Tola, facing Yujin, was in much better shape. Although he had taken cumulative damage from Yujin‘s two ultimate strikes, he too seemed to have crossed a wall, continuously spewing an endless army from the darkness.
Even cut down, there was no end. But he didn't give up. It wasn't his first time experiencing this.
It was the same when facing the Nachzehrer King, Yujin‘s Master, Netsalem.
A walking army, an endlessly pouring legion of rot.
Experience allows for more efficient movement. Yujin swung his sword in a trance, thrusting, and retrieving the spear that had fallen far away.
Then, once more.
He thrusts the spear. Just like when he clashed with Tola, the spear harboring a storm tore through the earth and rushed at Tola. It rushed forward, grinding everything in its surroundings.
Crack.
Tola‘s sword and the spear collided. Tola‘s sword struck the shaft, not the blade, and the spear shattered in half, cutting Yujin‘s body.
It didn't end with a single blow. He was the master of the army, so the Kheshig led by Tola thrust their spears at Yujin.
"…No!"
Seeing this, Raquelamalin screamed. Arms pierced, chest penetrated. Yujin, impaled by dozens of thrusting spears, bled and rolled on the ground.
They weren't the only ones watching Yujin. Clad in silver armor, standing stiffly, one of the knights asked their superior.
"Commander."
"…We do not intervene."
The knight who had patted Yujin‘s shoulder, the man holding the title of Silverlance Pegasus, granted only to the commander of the era.
"But if we leave him like that."
"It is not over yet."
Hearing that, they turned their gaze back to the arena. Yujin, pierced through his limbs without even armor, stood up again using the spear shaft as support.
"Thousands of years ago, the war between the Pegasus and the Khagan ended in the Khagan's victory."
Tola‘s voice, far away, was clearly audible. Yujin gritted his teeth and stood up, but couldn't put strength into his arms and legs.
"It will be the same this time. If your body was normal, we could have had a better match... but this time, it is my victory."
"…Not yet, it's not over."
Cough, hack. Yujin spat out the blood filling his mouth.
That is the Khagan.
The hero who conquered the whole earth and brought it to its knees.
If his Master had fought him, the spear wouldn't have broken. It would have crushed the sword whole and pierced Tola‘s heart without breaking.
Then, what is the difference between the Master and himself?
The whole world has turned black. In the world changed by accelerated thought, only platinum light had color. Carefully wiping the blood blinding him, Yujin let out a hollow laugh.
"Heh, see. Still not enough..."
If only he had a little more time with his Master, if only he hadn't been wounded.
Such assumptions are meaningless. It has already happened. He is already standing on the arena, and the duel is ongoing.
But there was one thing Yujin didn't know.
Yujin used the swordsmanship and spearmanship he learned from him for the first time. Without time to reflect while training, he threw his body into the fight continuously.
Technique and experience are proportional. Even while fighting now, Yujin‘s technique grows. Carving his own flesh and bone, Yujin was following in the footsteps he had walked.
Yujin gripped the spear shaft. There was no blade, but seeing blood flowing down the shaft, he grabbed it. In that appearance, platinum eyes shone clearly.
A knight is a noble being who illuminates the world.
Someone said it, but he didn't know where he heard it. Thinking of the words that suddenly came to mind, Yujin used the earth as a stepping stone and leaped.
He couldn't lose. Not to let everything he had done so far go to waste, to keep the promise with a boy.
Gathering the remaining Arts and the power of the Star, Yujin‘s whole body operates to implement the technique he remembers, even on the verge of losing consciousness. Bleeding and punctured, the light of the third star filled the gaps and moved his body. Pegasus wings unfolded, and golden feathers fell onto the earth.
To bridge the gap between his Master and himself.
The knight stands up once more.
Tola closed his mouth seeing that. An honorable knight was trying to meet a rightful end. Then, Tola also gathered the Kheshig and advanced them.
What can be done with a bladeless spear? Others might say.
'What is that?'
Blurred vision, body reached its limit, but his mind somehow led his body and activated Arts. Before Yujin even noticed, the sword he was holding clung to the spear shaft.
"Sword... spear?"
A unique form of weapon.
Seeing it, Tola looked at Yujin quizzically.
Crunch.
And, rupture.
The spears thrust by the Kheshig shattered. The bodies of all rushing Kheshig were ground away. Again, the beginning and end were invisible. Tola twisted his body and gripped his twin swords.
But unable to see the beginning and end, he couldn't react.
No sensation in his left arm.
Turning his head, he saw an arm flying through the air, caught in the aftermath far away.
The man he met in his memories had already taught Yujin everything. How to apply it and fight was up to Yujin.
And, in that moment just now.
Yujin reached his Master.
One arm remaining. Arts running low from summoning the Kheshig, which could be called an army. Rationally, he should stop fighting, but Tola rushed at Yujin.
Sword and spear collided as if to devour each other. Since their bodies weren't intact, everyone watching this match knew those two knights were burning their lives to fight.
Parry, dig in, block, retreat.
Now a pure duel, unable to use Arts.
A single mistake and one of them falls. Every moment is a series of choices. But even with death right before their eyes, the two knights did not retreat.
However, the difference was.
A single Star.
Yujin took a large step. The third star supported Yujin‘s body from collapsing.
Yujin, a step ahead for a moment, dug in. Just one step, one might ask what difference it makes.
That one step decided the match.
The accelerated spear blade approached Tola, who was swinging his sword even after losing an arm. Even trying to react belatedly, Yujin‘s swordspear reached the destination first. The stars floating above Yujin shone, and the swordspear swung long.
Slash.
A chilling cutting sound. Tola dropped the sword he was about to swing. The starlight that followed surely cut Tola‘s body, and Tola fell to his knees.
"…It is your victory, Knight of Starlight."
The end of the duel.
Still, it was Yujin standing on the earth.
Even the commentators couldn't speak, and the audience didn't cheer with just any noise. The arena, terrifyingly quiet unlike a normal duel, gasped once again and then let out a roar.
— Who could have predicted this! The one who seizes victory at the very end is... is the Sarkaz Knight who appeared like a rising star, Yujin!
Commentators started chattering loudly. The stadium lights, beginning to turn on, illuminated Yujin. Yujin's physical condition was as good as a walking corpse, but Yujin‘s stars, receiving the light, shone even more brilliantly.
But Yujin didn't enjoy the victory alone. No one died, and the city lights returned. What Yujin wanted was to create a world where people lived like people.
Thus, Yujin extended a hand to Tola.
Platinum eyes, an extended hand. Seeing that, Tola laughed hollowly.
"…Whether you're foolish or stupid."
But he couldn't not take the hand.
Facing each other, holding hands and standing up, Tola and Yujin supported each other. Tola looked at Yujin, but a trickle of blood flowed from Yujin‘s mouth.
"I don't think this is the time for you to be supporting me."
"…Don't make me talk, it wouldn't be strange if I died right now."
They walked out together. The main stadium and the Champions Wall were close, but due to Tola and Yujin's poor physical condition, it couldn't be helped. Walking out the exit together, flashes went off, and upon reaching the end of the exit, people were surprised to see Yujin and Tola.
Naturally, they approached with cameras...
Thud. The sound of a giant walking. Blocking the pedestrians' path were his friends.
"Buldrokk, Theresis..."
"I wonder if you really need to go there in that condition, but since it seems you must, we'll clear the way."
Forcing the pedestrians back, they advanced. After walking a bit. People with a distinctly different appearance from pedestrians appeared.
"Ha."
Armorless Union. Still not finished, interfering with Yujin‘s path. Divided into teams blocking the road, they glared at Yujin.
They must know too. If Yujin walked out of here alive, that day would be the moment the name Armorless Union was erased from Kazimierz.
Onlookers and knights. People watching Yujin and the Armorless Union suddenly stepped aside.
"…Silverlance Pegasi."
Reflecting the city lights, silver shone. Every Armorless Union member with a hand on a bowstring froze, and the Silverlance Pegasi created a path and began to escort them.
"I don't like this culture or Sport Knights... but you are an exception. We will escort you to the Champions Wall."
Passing by Yujin, he stood at the front. And said.
"All units, listen. We are now transporting the Darknight Knight and the Champion to the Champions Wall."
People vanished, knights protected them. In that atmosphere where no one could pick a fight, even the Armorless Union had no choice but to retreat hesitantly.
"…There it is."
"It's easy to spot. Shiny thing."
A sparkling exhibition hall came into view. The place where champions of past Champions Leagues were displayed, and where the relics of Kazimierz's heroes were kept.
"If the board members of the Merchant Association saw this sight, they'd be slamming their desks."
Tola said with a laugh, but the moment they stood in front of the exhibition hall, the sky flashed. A massive arrow, shining bright enough to be mistaken for a meteor, approached right in front of Yujin‘s nose, but.
"Hmm."
The man standing at the front thrust his spear and lightly deflected the arrow. The way he held the spear, and the posture and action of thrusting it. It closely resembled Yujin.
"One foot was fast enough not to be caught, but annoying until the end."
The Silver Knight said and tilted his head. Yujin and Tola climbed the stairs and entered the exhibition hall, and inside the silent hall, one person was waiting for them.
"Welcome. Yujin, and Tola."
The Grand Master, the leader of all Campaign Knights in Kazimierz, head of the Adeptus Sprawiedliwi.
She was waiting for us.