In response to Musashi's words, both of his katanas changed color, taking on a shade of blue so light that it seemed almost transparent. And just as with the previous spell, the legendary swordsman's body became enveloped in an extremely bright aura, this time blue.
"Another spell I've never heard of… So this one is your true History Magic, and the previous one was merely a spell I wasn't familiar with?" Roterberg said thoughtfully.
But he immediately shook his head.
"AHAHAHAHAHAH! It's possible, but I don't think that's the case. The names of those two spells are far too similar to be unrelated, and I've heard that it's not uncommon for a History Magic to be divided into several techniques with different effects…" he said cheerfully.
Then, with obvious excitement, he added, "But I doubt you'll give me an answer, so it doesn't matter—I'll figure it out once I experience it for myself… BUT FIRST, YOU'LL HAVE TO MANAGE TO CATCH UP TO ME!!"
His voice was overflowing with optimism.
Afterward, he carefully set his warhammer down on the ground.
Then he cast the spell, "Come!"
A katana with a completely black blade instantly appeared in his hands.
'Earth and Water… if I remember correctly, those are the names of two chapters from his famous book, The Book of Five Rings. I'm practically certain those two techniques are part of Musashi's History Magic. And if the title of that book is any indication, there should be five in total. So if this magic is truly based on that work, there should still be three more techniques left…' Lucas mused to himself.
"What do you think, Alberia? Do you believe those two spells Hero Musashi is using are part of his History Magic?" Luvrio asked, looking Lucas directly in the eyes.
"Yes, I think they're definitely part of his History Magic. After all, the names of those spells are—"
Lucas began answering without thinking too much about whom he was speaking to.
Then he suddenly realized it and stopped mid-sentence.
'Hurry, Lucas, hurry! Think of a reason Alberia could have reached that conclusion without knowing anything about who Miyamoto Musashi was in his previous life!' Lucas urged himself frantically.
For no more than half a second, Luvrio looked at "Alberia" with a confused expression before she quickly continued:
"—They're e-evidently exotic, especially the first part. It's in a language I've never heard before."
"I agree with Queen Alberia. I also believe those two techniques are part of Hero Miyamoto Musashi's Historical Magic, although I must admit that, in my case, I have no particular theory to support that conclusion. Unlike Her Majesty, it is more of a conviction based purely on instinct," said a new voice, refined and elegant.
Turning around, Luvrio, Lucas, and Sequoria immediately recognized the owner of that voice.
It was the other Hero participating in this tournament—Julius Caesar.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Hero Caesar. What brings you here?" asked Luvrio.
"First of all, Katerina asked me to inform Queen Alberia that she is doing well, both physically and mentally, so there is no need for concern. As soon as her legs have fully healed, she intends to join you immediately," Caesar explained.
Warm smiles appeared on both Lucas's and Sequoria's faces upon hearing Katerina's message.
"Second, if I may, I would like to watch the matches with you, just as we did on the first day of the tournament."
Before responding, Lucas glanced at both Luvrio and Sequoria.
Since neither seemed to have any objection to Caesar's presence, Lucas replied, "Yes, of course. Please, take a seat next to me, Caesar."
"Thank you, Queen Alberia," replied the Hero.
He then sat down and immediately turned his attention back to the match between one of his companions and another Hero.
Meanwhile, Musashi had already begun running toward his dwarf opponent.
At that same moment, Roterberg started channeling mana into his black katana.
A second later, before Musashi could close the distance between them, the weapon began to shine with an intense white light.
"Take this!" Roterberg shouted cheerfully.
Then he swung the katana in a powerful horizontal slash through the air in front of him.
At that exact instant, the blade returned to its original black color, and a crescent-shaped slash shot out from it at tremendous speed.
The projectile released from the katana called Klingenauswurf, one of Roterberg's many inventions.
It was composed entirely of pure mana, without any elemental attribute.
The blade itself had been forged from a rare metal known as Supogin, a material with an exceptional capacity for absorbing mana. However, if moved too quickly after storing a sufficient amount of mana, the metal released that energy in a physical form, creating high-speed crescent-shaped blades capable of striking distant targets.
But even so, the Hero continued moving straight ahead without changing course. And when the blade of pure mana was only a few centimeters away from him, he suddenly stopped.
If he had done nothing, the crescent-shaped blade would have struck him squarely in the chest.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Musashi reacted with a combination of incredible speed and absolute composure. He bent his head and upper body backward toward the ground while keeping both legs perfectly straight and motionless. The flexibility displayed by the swordsman was so extraordinary that even the most skilled and experienced contortionists would have looked on with envy.
Even Roterberg was genuinely surprised by the feat.
That surprise was immediately followed by another booming laugh.
"Return," said the dwarf.
The Klingenauswurf instantly returned to the arsenal on his back.
Then he declared, "Come!"
A massive shield, taller than Roterberg himself, materialized in his hands.
With that, he considered himself ready to withstand any attack, since his opponent had already closed nearly all the distance between them.
Having successfully avoided the projectile, Musashi resumed his charge without hesitation.
Naturally, that level of flexibility was not something Musashi normally possessed.
It was one of the effects of Niten Ichi Ryu: Ring of Water.
While the Ring of Earth enhanced all of a person's physical attributes—especially defense and endurance—the Ring of Water dramatically increased the flexibility and fluidity of the user's body.
But that was, of course, far from the spell's only effect.
With another sudden burst of speed, Musashi arrived directly in front of Roterberg.
The dwarf immediately raised his enormous shield. Musashi, however, paid it no mind.
Using the longer of his two katanas, he slashed directly at the shield.
Yet instead of the loud metallic clang one would expect from the collision of two metal objects, a different sound echoed through the arena.
For only the briefest instant—so quickly that it was almost impossible to notice—there came the sound of water striking metal, followed by the sound of flowing water.
Neither Roterberg's shield nor his armor appeared to have suffered any damage.
The same was true of Musashi's katana, which remained completely unscathed.
For several seconds, it seemed as though nothing had happened at all.
Then blood began to drip from the narrow gaps in the dwarf's armor.
"What?!" exclaimed Roterberg in complete surprise.
Pain was clearly radiating through his body.
Yet he was absolutely certain that his armor remained in perfect condition. There should have been no way for an attack to penetrate it.
Taking advantage of his opponent's confusion, Musashi attacked again. This time, he used both katanas to perform a swift cross-cut.
Even through his surprise, Roterberg attempted to defend himself with his shield.
But once again, the sounds of flowing water and water striking metal echoed through the arena.
And once again, the dwarf felt pain.
The amount of blood seeping through the gaps in his armor visibly increased.
BUT!
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! INTERESTING!!!!! NOW THAT'S AN INTERESTING SPELL!"
The delighted dwarf's voice thundered throughout the stadium.
Musashi's second strike, though considerably more painful than the first, had snapped Roterberg out of his shock.
And judging by the expression on his face, he seemed to have figured out how his opponent's spell worked.
Musashi immediately launched another attack with one of his katanas.
"Return," said the dwarf.
The massive shield vanished from his hands and returned to the arsenal on his back.
Then he declared:
"Come!"
An absurdly long katana—an odachi—appeared in his hands.
Its blade was decorated with no fewer than twenty midnight-blue gemstones.
Without wasting a moment, Roterberg swung the odachi and intercepted Musashi's attack.
Just as had happened with the shield, Musashi's katana appeared to pass right through the weapon.
But then something extremely strange occurred.
The blade of the katana Musashi had used for the attack vanished completely.
And this time, the dwarf blacksmith appeared to have suffered no damage whatsoever.
For half a second, an expression of pure panic flashed across Musashi's face.
But a moment later, his gaze returned to its usual relaxed calm.
Without hesitation, he immediately leaped backward, attempting to escape the reach of his opponent's odachi.
But Roterberg still attempted to strike his opponent, and thanks to the incredible length of his odachi, he managed to carve a fairly deep gash across the lower part of Musashi's stomach.
The Hero, however, had anticipated this outcome as well.
It was calculated damage.
He knew he didn't have enough time to switch techniques or even deactivate the spell. And trying to parry with his remaining katana would have been... well, it would have been almost the same as not parrying at all.
"Ah..." the exiled Hero muttered, sounding slightly discouraged.
Then he added, "I suppose you've figured out the effects of the Ring of Water. What exactly does that odachi do? Does it absorb water?"
"Exactly!" replied the dwarf.
"I don't know if you watched Minister Macro's match the day before yesterday, but the stones embedded in this odachi—which I've named Dürre—are the same type of gems he used as the main component of his Sponge Bracelet. They draw in and absorb all the water in the surrounding area. And while that spell of yours is active, every time you use those swords, they automatically turn into water, don't they?" he explained, his voice filled with amusement and good humor.
"Ahh... Yes, you're right," Musashi admitted.
"But I'm afraid I'm not kind enough to explain a technique to someone who has already figured it out."
Niten Ichi Ryu: Ring of Water did far more than grant its user superhuman flexibility.
Whenever Musashi attacked while the technique was active, his katanas would transform into water for a fleeting instant. In that liquid state, they could flow through every possible gap, crack, or weakness in an opponent's defense, cut the target from within, and then almost immediately return to their normal form as blades.
What had happened against Dürre was simple.
The very moment Musashi's longer katana transformed into water, it was instantly drawn into and absorbed by the Azzurrentite embedded throughout the odachi.
As a result, the Hero's attack had been completely neutralized.
In fact, the spell itself had been rendered almost entirely useless. For that reason, Musashi immediately deactivated the technique.
The blue aura surrounding his body vanished.
His shorter katana returned to its normal color. And the blade of his longer katana reformed as though it had never disappeared in the first place.
This was one of the secondary effects shared by every technique that formed part of Musashi's History Magic.
Any damage inflicted upon the swords being used in conjunction with one of those techniques was completely erased the moment the spell was deactivated. The weapon would return to exactly the same condition it had been in before the technique was activated.
Naturally, any damage that had existed beforehand would remain untouched.
As Musashi stared at the restored blade of his katana, relief spread across his face.
He let out a long sigh before saying:
"I have to admit, seeing the blade of a katana I'd only recently finished repairing disappear completely nearly stopped my heart for a moment. Even though I knew it should theoretically return to normal, I'd never experienced it being entirely absorbed before. You never know—perhaps this could have been the one time it didn't come back."
Then, for the first time since the beginning of the match, his expression became one of complete concentration.
"But it doesn't matter."
His voice grew calm and resolute.
"I decided that I would give everything I have in this tournament. And when you pour your entire soul into weapon, it's only natural that there's a chance it might break."
"OF COURSE!!!" Roterberg roared in his thunderous voice.
"Otherwise, we blacksmiths would become useless! Come on, Hero—show me this 'best' you are talking about! I'M READY!"
A massive grin stretched across the dwarf's face.
In response, a small smile appeared on the legendary swordsman's lips.
Then he chanted:
"Niten Ichi Ryu: Ring of Fire!"
A brilliant red aura immediately engulfed his body.
At the same time, the blades of both katanas turned crimson as well. Yet it was not the deep red of smoldering embers. It was the vivid red of a fire that had only just been ignited.