In the arena.
Roya gripped his sword with both hands. Facing Drake's storm-like barrage of attacks, he blocked a few strikes with simple swings, then suddenly brought his sword down in a fierce slash. A faint silver-white glow flickered along the blade.
When sword pressure is guided outward and released as a long-range attack, it becomes sword energy. When it is condensed without release and gathered along the edge of the blade, it becomes sword beam.
Clang!!!
Drake did not underestimate him. Facing this strike, he crossed the sword in his left hand and the four-bladed axe in his right in front of himself, colliding directly with Roya's blade and producing a sharp ringing sound.
Sparks flew everywhere. Fine cracks appeared on both Drake's sword and four-bladed axe. The damage was minor—still far from enough to destroy either weapon completely.
Looking at the tiny chips carved into his weapons by Roya's strike, a strange glint flashed through Drake's eyes. He then shook his head and spoke.
"An impressive sword technique, but… it's a pity."
"Over these two months, your strength and speed have improved tremendously. However… the gap between us is too large. Two months is simply too short. You've narrowed that gap considerably, but not enough to overturn it."
As he spoke, Drake swung both weapons forward.
Whoosh!
Roya withdrew his sword and retreated several steps, stopping at a short distance.
Looking at Drake, a subtle, inscrutable tone entered Roya's voice. "Two months… is it really that short?"
Drake raised an eyebrow slightly, unsure what Roya meant. In his view, if Roya could maintain such terrifying growth, then perhaps in another two months he truly would surpass him.
Seeing Drake's confusion, Roya suddenly chuckled softly. The corner of his mouth lifted into a faintly sinister arc.
"Do you know… why my combat assessment score was first place?"
Those words finally made Drake frown.
The combat assessment had taken place a month ago. If it were Roya now, perhaps he might have surpassed Drake and taken first place back then—but Roya from a month ago absolutely could not have done so.
Even taking a huge step back—assuming Roya already possessed his current strength a month ago and truly could achieve such a result—then how was Hina's second-place ranking explained?!
This had always been the mystery Drake could not resolve.
"Why?"
As Drake frowned, Roya's face suddenly revealed a slightly eerie smile. He said nothing, merely lifting Engetsu and placing it horizontally before him.
"Because… of this!"
At the instant those calm words fell, a strand of flame suddenly ignited within Roya's eyes. The fire seemed to originate from his very soul, as though it contained the power to destroy the world itself. Roya lightly gripped Engetsu with both hands and slashed fiercely toward Drake.
Ittōryū: Kasō!
BOOM!!
A crimson flame suddenly erupted from the blade, wrapping itself around the sword. As Roya brought it down, the flames crashed straight toward Drake.
The scarlet fire seemed to condense into a gigantic flaming sword several meters long. In an instant, the surrounding air scorched and warped. Even before it landed, waves of searing heat swept outward in all directions.
"What?!"
Drake had still been uncertain a moment earlier. In the next instant, his expression changed drastically. Staring at the oncoming flames, disbelief flashed through his eyes.
Fire?!
Flames?!
Could it be… that the forest fire during the combat assessment was—
By the time Drake reacted in shock, the flames had already reached him. Though he instinctively tried to retreat, it was far too late.
The fire engulfed the entire frontal area, spreading over a range of ten meters in an instant, forming a curtain of flames that surged forward. With the inferno crashing down upon him, Drake could only desperately swing his weapons, attempting to disperse the flames.
RUMBLE!!
The crimson fire swept through like a collapsing mountain, instantly engulfing Drake completely and swallowing him whole. At the same time, a scorching heat wave exploded outward, rippling in all directions.
The moment the flames appeared, every recruit outside the arena stared in disbelief, shock etched across their faces.
A sword… had produced flames?!
Even standing outside the arena, they could feel the heat rush toward them, filling the air with a scorching aura. The recruits standing closest instinctively staggered backward.
As they stared at the blazing inferno, some of the shocked recruits suddenly realized something. Their eyes widened even further, nearly popping from their sockets as they stared at the flames in the arena.
"No—no, that's not right! This fire… that forest fire…"
One recruit remembered. Then a second. Then a third.
Nearly all the recruits from the same squad as Roya recalled, at almost the exact same moment, the forest fire from a month ago—the one that had nearly dominated the entire Fifth Squad's combat assessment.
At the time, that fire had appeared far too suddenly, spreading almost instantaneously into an uncontrollable inferno. It had left everyone baffled.
And now, it seemed—
That forest fire had been caused by Roya's power?!
No wonder!
No wonder Roya's results had ranked first in the entire camp. It wasn't due to tampered records, nor sheer luck from hunting beasts nonstop, but rather… that forest fire which had nearly engulfed half the island, annihilating countless ferocious beasts!
As the realization struck them, the recruits' expressions froze into blank disbelief. Their minds roared like thunder, leaving nothing but emptiness.
Recruits from other squads reacted slightly slower, but upon seeing the flames soaring skyward, they too quickly connected it to the "accident" during the Fifth Squad's combat assessment.
The entire venue was shaken.
All of this happened in mere moments. By now, the flames in the arena had begun to subside—or rather, they were fully concentrated around a single core.
That core was, naturally, the position where Drake stood.
"Hah!!"
Amid the raging fire, a furious shout rang out. A violent shockwave erupted from the center, blasting all the flames outward.
At the same time, a figure leapt out from the inferno and landed on the ground at a distance.
That figure was Drake.
At this moment, Drake was in an extremely battered state. His body bore multiple burn marks. His clothes were charred in many places, dotted with embers, and several faint tongues of flame still clung to him, continuing to burn.