"Reinhard... was injured?"
Old Man Rom stared blankly from behind the ice wall Emilia had created, his eyes fixed on the blood-covered Reinhard in the distance.
Among everyone present, he alone possessed enough knowledge to truly understand just how powerful Reinhard was.
He might now spend his days inside the Loot House handling stolen goods for others—But decades ago, he had personally witnessed the strength of the previous Sword Saint.
So when he saw Reinhard injured, his first reaction was disbelief.
Then an absurd thought surfaced in his mind.
'Could Reinhard... lose?'
"Hey, you over there."
Felt curiously turned toward Subaru.
"How did you meet the guy fighting Reinhard?"
Shiro had already told her that he had known Subaru for less than two hours.
At the time, Felt had not thought much of it.
But after personally witnessing Shiro's combat strength, she suddenly found the whole thing unbelievable.
How did an ordinary person casually become acquainted with someone capable of fighting Reinhard evenly?
Emilia also looked toward Subaru with curiosity.
"..."
Under the curious gazes of two beautiful girls, even Subaru's shameless face showed a trace of awkwardness.
Normally, if two girls like this stared at him, his nose would already be pointing toward the sky from pride.
Right now, however—He only wanted to complain about how unfair the world was.
Why was it that they were both transmigrators, yet Shiro could injure the so-called strongest person in the world—While Subaru had exhausted himself, passed out from the heat, and collapsed on the side of the road?
Wasn't this world being a little too harsh on him?
...
"Discontinuities in the air..."
"To think swordsmanship like this actually exists in the world..."
Reinhard's white clothes had already been dyed red by his blood.
Although he had not worn his Royal Guard uniform today, he looked more like a true warrior now than at any other moment.
"Thanks for the compliment."
"To be fair, when I first saw Edel-chan's swordsmanship, I was also thinking, 'How can something this ridiculous even exist?'"
Just as Reinhard had realized, he had not been injured because Shiro's surprise attack succeeded.
Rather—Until Shiro found a way around Reinhard's Divine Protections, sneak attacks were incapable of harming him at all.
The true reason Reinhard had been injured was that after taking Shiro's kick and stepping backward, he had accidentally collided with one of the vacuum fractures left hanging in the air.
The Twin-Wings Sword Style was the strongest swordsmanship in Shiro's world.
Both its speed and sharpness had long surpassed common sense.
Because of that, every place its slashes passed through retained lingering vacuum fractures.
The blade was simply too sharp.
Even the air itself failed to realize when it had been cut.
So throughout their previous exchanges, every swing of Shiro's sword had been like a spider spinning silk.
Bit by bit—
He had woven those invisible threads into an enormous net specifically designed to trap Reinhard.
By the time Reinhard finally noticed the vacuum fractures, it was already too late.
He had long since fallen deep into the trap Shiro had carefully prepared.
"Edel-chan?"
"Is she the teacher who taught you swordsmanship?"
"What astonishing talent."
"If possible, I would very much like to meet her someday."
Yet even after discovering the trap, Shiro saw no panic whatsoever on Reinhard's face.
Quite the opposite.
After being injured, Reinhard's presence surged even higher.
[Divine Protection of Blood]—The more blood he lost, the stronger he became.
And at the same time—That injury completely ignited his fighting spirit.
For the first time in his life—Reinhard genuinely wanted to defeat someone.
So—The world answered him.
[Divine Protection of Restoration]—Increases the speed at which wounds heal.
[Divine Protection of Perception]—Allows abnormalities in the surroundings to be detected more quickly.
Two new Divine Protections appeared upon him at once.
The Divine Protection of Restoration rapidly healed his wounds.
The Divine Protection of Perception allowed him to perceive the vacuum fractures scattered around him.
As though they had been created specifically for this exact situation—The world bestowed its blessings upon Reinhard without the slightest hesitation.
Then—Reinhard vanished.
It was not teleportation.
He had simply moved so quickly that no one could even see him lift his foot, creating the illusion that he had disappeared from where he stood.
Clang—!
The harsh sound of blades scraping together rang out once more.
Using the Divine Protection of Perception, Reinhard crossed through the vacuum fractures separating them and attacked Shiro again.
Sparks burst between their blades.
The power to sever anything clashed violently against another power to sever anything, each fighting to determine which stood above the other.
Shiro gritted his teeth as he stared at Reinhard's solemn expression.
Even while they were clashing—This guy was still getting stronger.
'Is he the world's biological son or something?!'
Even an actual father would probably hesitate before handing every blessing he owned to his son.
Yet this world gave Reinhard new Divine Protections the instant he needed them!
If Shiro did not settle the fight soon—There was a very real chance he would be the one to lose.
Boom—!
The atmosphere exploded again.
A terrifying wave of energy swept through the ruined landscape around them.
Using the force of the collision, Shiro launched himself into the sky.
And to prevent Reinhard from immediately receiving some ridiculous [Divine Protection of Flight]—Shiro instantly raised his Device toward the heavens.
Magic.
Stamina.
Mental strength.
He mobilized all three at once.
Then released everything.
Visible pure-white magic transformed into a pillar of light that shot straight into the sky, staining the evening heavens white.
At that moment—Reinhard suddenly felt something lock onto him.
He could not escape.
He could not dodge.
He could not block.
Chains known as fate pinned him firmly in place.
Every attempt at resistance was meaningless.
Faced with such an almost hopeless situation—Reinhard smiled.
Like a child who had finally discovered a favorite toy, he revealed a smile completely unlike his usual dignified image.
Then he slowly raised the Dragon Sword Reid diagonally above his head.
The next instant—The world trembled.
Earth.
Sky.
Space.
Time.
Everything around them seemed destined to be annihilated by this one strike.
Every trace of mana within a radius of ten li was completely drained.
An enormous torrent of magic gathered upon the Dragon Sword Reid, eventually becoming a radiance too brilliant to look at directly.
The two stared at each other.
At this moment—Both wholeheartedly believed that the other would survive the attack.
And so—They swung their swords at the same time.
Beneath the two pillars of light, everything around them seemed pitifully fragile.
The raging torrents of magic devoured everything they passed.
Then—The pillars collided.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The entire world plunged into darkness.
The earth shook.
The sky tore apart.
Yet this apocalyptic scene lasted only an instant.
Then, under Shiro's gaze—The two pillars of light gradually began merging together at the point of impact.
Eventually—They compressed into a tiny black dot smaller than a speck of dust.
The instant Shiro saw it—His expression changed drastically.
He drew every bit of air he could into his lungs.
Then—
"RUN!!!!"
…