Seeing that people had even opened a betting pool on his duel with Rex, Minami Yojuro had originally thought about using the chance to earn some money himself. Unfortunately, his pockets were empty right now, and he could only let the opportunity slip by.
"Ahhhhhhhh—!"
"Take this! Sword Art—Lightning Slash!"
Rex knew very well that, judging from their previous clash, his chances of winning a one-on-one against Yojuro were next to none.
If he allowed Yojuro to take the initiative, then he might not even get the chance to counterattack before losing miserably.
So Rex's thoughts were crystal clear—he would probably lose, but at the very least, he had to lose in style. He couldn't afford to be humiliated in front of so many people.
"No way, no way! Rex is actually going all out? Against a rookie, he's even using a sword art like that! Is he planning to kill the kid?"
Just as Yojuro had previously learned, in Granbahamar almost everyone was capable of using magic. Skilled adventurers could even fuse sword arts with magic, producing far more powerful techniques.
And the sword art Rex had just unleashed was precisely such a fusion.
Golden light surged as mana instantly flooded into the longsword in Rex's hands. Thin arcs of golden lightning danced wildly along its blade.
The infusion boosted his speed considerably. In the blink of an eye, Rex had already dashed in front of Minami Yojuro.
But compared to the astonishment of the onlookers, Yojuro didn't panic at all. In fact, he was more curious than anything.
After all, he had only arrived in this world recently—this was his very first time witnessing its magic.
During their earlier scuffle in the forest, when Yojuro had trounced Rex and his two companions, they hadn't used any magic at all.
It wasn't because they didn't want to, but rather because Yojuro's onslaught had been too quick. Coupled with their own carelessness, they hadn't even had the time to cast a spell.
Now, as the lightning-charged slash came down at him like a thunderbolt, Minami Yojuro calmly gripped his crude bone blade with both hands, raising it just in time to block Rex's downward strike.
"BOOOOOM!"
The longsword, swung down with both hands, smashed against Yojuro's horizontally-held bone blade, releasing an enormous shockwave. Violent arcs of lightning rampaged outward, while the blinding flash of light temporarily stole the sight of everyone watching.
"Rex, are you insane? Yojuro is still just a rookie, and you actually—!"
Violent lightning flared, blinding light bursting forth as arcs of electricity shattered the ground and stirred up a storm of dust. Watching Rex and Minami Yojuro's figures vanish into the sand curtain, Soya's face twisted with anger as she shouted at Rex.
Originally, Soya had only wanted Yojuro to spar with Rex so he could better understand his own limits. Even if Yojuro were to be injured, it was still far better than him being reckless and dying to monsters in the field.
But she had never imagined that Rex would go this far in what was supposed to be a simple spar! That sword art just now—wasn't that basically a killing blow?
However, Soya's rebuke was cut short when the scene before her eyes left her speechless. She didn't even know whether to keep being angry anymore.
And it wasn't just her—the surrounding adventurers watching the duel were all dumbfounded, eyes wide, beer mugs frozen halfway to their mouths.
What had they just witnessed? Moments ago, they had all clearly seen Rex, gripping his longsword with both hands, unleash the sword art Lightning Slash at the rookie adventurer Yojuro. Yojuro had appeared unable to dodge and was forced to defend passively.
The rising sandstorm had concealed both figures, and everyone assumed the outcome had already been decided. The only question left was how badly injured Yojuro would be.
But then—what was that? The silhouette that had just flown out of the dust cloud with a whoosh—wasn't that Rex, the supposed victor?
At first, the crowd thought they were seeing things. But when another figure slowly walked out of the settling sand—one hand gripping a cracked bone blade, the other holding his weapon casually—they realized the truth. It was Minami Yojuro who had emerged unscathed. The one who had been flung away was Rex!
"So this is what they call sword arts fused with magic… Truly powerful. It feels a little like the Kido I know, though the energy is different. Speaking of which—can I still use Kido in this world? Might as well try it now."
Rex's so-called Lightning Slash reminded Yojuro somewhat of a spiritual pressure strike, though its power was weak. Still, the method of channeling energy was refreshing to him.
He raised his free hand and began to chant:
"O ruler of the skies! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, wings beating, crowned in the name of man! Heat and strife, surge of the sea, march ever forward!
Hadō #31—Shakkahō!"
As Yojuro recited the Kido incantation, a glowing crimson magic circle materialized before his outstretched palm.
The system had automatically adapted his energy to this world's magic system. Spiritual pressure transformed into mana, rising from Yojuro's body as gusts of wind burst outward, sweeping the dust away in an instant.
And in the next moment, a crimson fireball—three meters in diameter—swelled into being from the magic circle and blasted toward the direction Rex had been sent flying.
Yojuro's eyes widened. He had deliberately suppressed his power, yet the Shakkahō's size was outrageous!
Worse still, the Kido had lost its usual stability after conversion. Instead of holding in his palm, it discharged instantly the moment his chant ended.
The fireball, blazing like a miniature sun, roared across the guild hall, scorching the floorboards in its path.
"Crap!" Yojuro cursed, immediately moving. He had only intended to give Rex a lesson, not kill him.
From their earlier clash, Yojuro already had a clear measure of Rex's strength. If Rex were to take this Shakkahō head-on, he'd have no chance of surviving.
Yojuro had just registered as an adventurer today. If he accidentally killed someone in the guild hall, he'd be branded a criminal before his career even started.
With a flash of movement, his feet tapped the ground—Shunpo! His figure vanished from sight, leaving the crowd bewildered.
When their vision finally caught up, they gasped in disbelief. Minami Yojuro had reappeared ahead of the rampaging fireball, intercepting his own attack before it could annihilate Rex.
°°°
A/N: Stoneees