As her voice fell, Fujiwara fiercely drew her katana. With the glowing light of her Vision, a slash imbued with purple Thunderclap and Flash rushed towards the girl.
Shiki maintained her unruffled demeanor. She made no movement even after seeing Fujiwara's slash, until the distance between them was less than half a meter.
Hum
Violent electro element adhered to the blade. The Kujikanesada instantly transformed into a "lightsaber," then Shiki swung it backhanded, directly cutting through the incoming slash.
She didn't use her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception; instead, she cut it down with her own sword skills. Those six months of bird-slashing weren't just about learning Tsubame Gaeshi.
At this point, Fujiwara had already instantly pursued her. She had never expected to defeat her opponent with one move, so after unleashing the slash, she directly used electro element acceleration to appear in front of her opponent.
Fujiwara held her sword with both hands and swung it downwards. Shiki easily dodged by stepping aside, but Fujiwara had excellent control over her own strength. The katana had just reached the height of her neck when it swung towards the direction Shiki had dodged to.
Clang!
Sparks flew. Shiki swung her sword to deflect Fujiwara's slash, then reached out and conjured a golden Thunder Sphere three meters behind Fujiwara.
Fujiwara noticed the opponent's small movement and immediately launched a flurry of slashes like a storm. Shiki naturally parried all of them. For a moment, the dojo echoed with clanging sounds. One might have thought it was Amenoma Smithy.
Ah Chuang: "Master, why do I feel like someone's stealing our work?"
Amenoma Tougo: "???"
Fujiwara's offensive intensified, but her footwork had already been led astray by Shiki. She had studied Mikoshi Chiyo's sword dance, so when it came to storms of attacks, she was stronger than Fujiwara.
Indeed, after one of Fujiwara's slashes, which was slightly lacking in strength, the rhythm completely shifted to Shiki's side.
At this moment, Fujiwara felt what a true electro element storm was.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang
The speed at which Shiki wielded the Kujikanesada was so fast that only afterimages remained. The dazzling Bloom of golden sword light made it impossible to discern which strike was real.
The dojo floor was covered with countless sword marks, all from Shiki's sword dance. Fujiwara was able to block them entirely due to the inner eye she had developed over years of combat.
But with each blocked slash, her arms gradually began to go numb.
Suddenly, the continuous impact on her hands stopped. Shiki leaped high from the ground, twirled the Kujikanesada in her hand, and then thrust it heavily forward.
Fujiwara's pupils constricted. She quickly brought her sword horizontally to block, but the result was a massive force that sent her flying directly backward.
Bang!
A person was embedded in the dojo wall. Fujiwara's arms gradually went numb; the force from each of Shiki's slashes naturally increased incrementally.
As the saying goes, 'many a little makes a mickle.' The force generated by each parry was temporarily carried by Shiki's footwork, and the final thrust released all of that accumulated force.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Fujiwara pried herself off the wall. Blood still stained the corner of her mouth, indicating that the last blow had caused her significant internal injuries.
Her accompanying sword also let out a cry of unbearable strain, breaking into two pieces.
"Give up, Chika."
In her Selfless State, Shiki had already analyzed the approximate injuries on Fujiwara: displaced and bleeding internal organs, and a broken rib on the left side, most likely the second one from the bottom.
"No... not yet..."
Fujiwara wiped the blood from her mouth, then increased the output of her Vision. Instantly, violent Thunderclap and Flash filled the entire dojo.
Toumon, seeing this, flashed in front of his disciples, slamming his palm onto the ground. Transparent water screens covered all the disciples.
Kazuha stood up and stepped forward, intending to persuade Fujiwara, but Shiki extended a hand to stop him.
"Some people, you know, won't shed tears until they see the coffin."
Shiki held the Kujikanesada with both hands, placing it beside her face, while her legs assumed a high horse stance—the starting posture for Tsubame Gaeshi.
Aside from the Thunderclap and Flash, this was the first time Kazuha had seen Shiki make a specific move, and Fujiwara on the opposite side also became extremely vigilant.
"Secret Sword!"
As these two words were uttered, Fujiwara's eyes widened. Through her inner eye, she seemed to have already seen herself falling to the ground, dead.
She couldn't block this sword!
But the arrow was on the string and had to be loosed. She could no longer control this violent electro element; it had to be unleashed.
At this point, Fujiwara simply gathered the electro element onto her broken sword. Soon, a giant sword, five meters long and composed of Thunderclap and Flash, appeared in her hand.
However, it was already too late...
"Tsubame Gaeshi!"
The moment the words fell, in this space illuminated purple by the Thunderclap and Flash, it suddenly darkened. Immediately after, three golden sword lights, like twisting spirals, appeared in front of Fujiwara.
At this moment, everyone present widened their eyes. Why were there three slashes appearing at the same time?
Especially Fujiwara, as the one directly facing Tsubame Gaeshi, she even heard the wailing of space itself.
Pfft!
Three splashes of blood bloomed on Fujiwara's body: one on her left leg, one on her right abdomen, and the last on her left chest.
"Ugh..."
Fujiwara fell to the ground with a thud, and the giant sword condensed from Thunderclap and Flash, now unrestrained, began to tremble.
Seeing this, Shiki transformed into a golden lightning bolt and arrived beside Fujiwara, then picked up the gigantic lightning sword.
The power originating from the Raiden Shogun began to exert itself, and the purple lightning gradually became assimilated by Shiki, eventually being completely absorbed into her body, leaving only a broken blade in her hand.
Clang!
Shiki dropped the broken blade and said, "Chihua, you lost."
"Yes... I lost..."
"Is this the sword skill you comprehended? A sword skill that cannot be blocked, striking three times in an instant..."
Fujiwara looked at the girl in front of her with a bitter smile. She had lost, and she had lost completely.
"No, you're mistaken about one thing. It's not striking three times consecutively, but striking three times at the same time," Shiki said, sheathing her Kujikanesada.
"Do you understand what that means?"
"...I don't understand..."
To be precise, Fujiwara couldn't even imagine how to strike three times at the same time.
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