Reinhard held the Dragon Sword Reid, his expression turning solemn.
Even against a vastly weaker opponent, the knight among knights would always show them the respect they deserved in battle.
And this time, his opponent had actually drawn a reaction from the Dragon Sword itself.
That alone was enough for Reinhard to become serious for the first time in a long while.
While Reinhard observed Shiro, Shiro was likewise studying the world's strongest man.
Unfortunately, he could not find a single opening.
If someone wanted to write a book describing the ideal stance for a knight in a duel, Reinhard standing there with his sword would serve perfectly as the illustration.
Still, Shiro was not discouraged.
If Reinhard's weaknesses were that easy to find, Shiro would instead have to question the overall strength of this world.
If there were no openings—He would simply create one himself.
Shiro stepped forward.
Reinhard's vision blurred, and his opponent vanished from sight.
[Nukiashi]—
A special form of footwork that concealed the user within the opponent's subconscious awareness.
Shiro appeared behind Reinhard and swung his sword down without hesitation.
Clang—!
Yet despite completely losing sight of Shiro, Reinhard blocked the surprise attack through instinct alone.
[Divine Protection of Initiative]—He cannot be caught by surprise, and Reinhard's first attack is guaranteed to hit.
[Divine Protection of First Sight]—If an attack can be perceived, the opponent's first attack is guaranteed to miss, even from a blind spot or without conscious awareness.
But Shiro was not finished.
He stepped back.
His sword transformed into a white meteor and silently thrust toward Reinhard once more.
From his footwork to his attack—There was no sound whatsoever.
After Edelweiss's relentless refinement, Shiro's Twin-Wings Sword Style had long since reached an extraordinary level.
At this moment, every ounce of energy was concentrated purely into offense.
The strike did not shake the air.
It did not even produce sound.
It was the ultimate high-speed slash, killing both the opponent's vision and hearing.
Clang—!
Boom—!!!
The sound of crossing blades rang out again, only to be immediately swallowed by the atmosphere exploding around them.
Reinhard's silver-white blade once more intercepted Shiro's strike.
[Divine Protection of Second Sight]—If an attack can be perceived, every attack after the first is guaranteed to miss.
After only two brief exchanges, Shiro already understood just how troublesome Reinhard was.
The Divine Protections surrounding him were absurdly unreasonable.
And Shiro had no idea how many more he possessed.
At this rate, the fight could continue forever.
Unless Shiro found some way to negate Reinhard's Divine Protections, defeating him would likely be extremely difficult.
At that moment, Reinhard twisted both hands.
As he forced Shiro backward, terrifying Sword Intent erupted from his body and soared toward the sky.
Overwhelming sword pressure filled the surrounding air.
Then enormous quantities of mana gathered around Reinhard's blade, eventually producing a dazzling blue radiance.
Although the Sword Saint family's unique constitution prevented Reinhard from using magic—At this moment, the mana floating throughout the atmosphere gathered around his sword of its own accord.
The ground was peeled away.
Violent wind pressure battered Shiro's skin.
When Reinhard swung the Dragon Sword, the spectators almost felt as though the heavens themselves would be split apart.
Then—
Under Emilia and the others' shocked gazes, the Dragon Sword in Reinhard's hand became a falling meteor and descended toward Shiro.
Boom—!
The sky seemed to tear apart.
The atmosphere screamed.
Dazzling blue light swallowed everything in their vision.
Under that single strike, whether animal, plant, or magical beast—Nothing should have been able to survive.
And yet—This was merely an ordinary attack from Reinhard while he was serious.
Watching the scene, Subaru unconsciously swallowed.
Only now did he truly understand why Reinhard was called the strongest.
And he finally understood why Old Man Rom had been so shocked when Shiro challenged him.
Unlike Subaru, who was focused entirely on Reinhard's overwhelming strength, Emilia stared anxiously toward the spot where Shiro had stood.
She had never studied swordsmanship.
Naturally, she could not understand the profundity of the Twin-Wings Sword Style.
So from her perspective, Shiro was undoubtedly powerful—But facing Reinhard, whose casual serious strike could produce destruction on this scale, still seemed far too reckless.
Yet when the light finally faded—Shiro appeared before her completely unharmed.
His sword was held horizontally in front of him.
The overwhelming force carried by Reinhard's strike had somehow disappeared without a trace.
[Ayatsuji Ittou-ryuu Secret Art: Ten'i Muhou]—
Perceive the flow of all things, then disperse incoming force through minute movements too subtle for the naked eye to detect.
The ultimate art of receiving and redirecting force.
At this moment, there was probably no technique more suitable for fighting Reinhard.
Reinhard's swordsmanship came from the Astrea family.
And their swordsmanship possessed one characteristic that could not be ignored.
Honesty.
Not because straightforward swordsmanship was inferior.
But when two fighters were evenly matched, fighting openly and directly meant lacking the deceptive techniques needed to break the stalemate.
Therefore—Until Reinhard found a way to overcome [Ayatsuji Ittou-ryuu Secret Art: Ten'i Muhou], Shiro would remain undefeated.
From here on, the battle became a pure contest of speed.
Whoever discovered the method to counter the other's technique first—Would win.
Their offense and defense clashed thousands of times within only a few seconds.
Every collision between their blades sounded as though a bomb had exploded between them.
Violent hurricanes swept across the land.
Even the distant trees nearly had their roots torn from the ground.
On one side stood the Twin-Wings Sword Style, with technique refined to its absolute limit.
On the other stood the sword of a knight who crushed everything head-on with overwhelming power.
Perhaps the only thing they shared—Was that both had already surpassed the limits of human swordsmanship.
Trees.
Rocks.
The earth.
Even the air itself.
Everywhere was covered in dense sword scars of countless shapes.
"N-No way..."
"Mister... he's actually fighting Reinhard evenly..."
Felt stared in disbelief.
She and Emilia's group had already retreated much farther away to avoid being caught in the aftermath of the battle.
In a single day, Felt's worldview had been shattered again and again.
First, someone surpassed the speed she was most proud of.
Then she discovered that the person who hired her was actually a notorious criminal.
And now, the man who had outrun her was fighting the legendary Reinhard to a standstill.
Felt could no longer even imagine what bizarre thing might happen next.
Surely Reinhard would not suddenly tell her to go become king or something.
Still completely unaware of what awaited her later, Felt let her imagination run wild.
…