Chapter 230 - Roy vs Kuraudo
"I have some complications at the moment, so I cannot summon a Device," Roy explained casually, facing the enthusiastic Kuraudo.
Roy wasn't a native of this world, so naturally, he hadn't awakened the specific power of a Blazer. He couldn't manifest his soul into a weapon like they could. Instead, he relied on his own arsenal.
"No wonder you wanted a simple contest of swordsmanship!" Kuraudo lost a bit of interest. He looked at Roy and asked, "Won't that affect your performance?"
For a Blazer, the Device is the most critical symbol of their strength. If there was a problem with the Device, the knight's combat ability would usually plummet.
If Roy couldn't display his full strength because of this, Kuraudo would be sorely disappointed.
"Don't worry," Roy said lightly. "This will be enough to deal with you."
"Good!" Kuraudo laughed. "However, even if you are handicapped, don't expect me to show mercy."
Disappointment was one thing, but once Kuraudo committed to a battle, he fought to crush his opponent with thunderous force.
He wasn't the type to hold back out of pity. That was how he had fought Kaito Ayatsuji two years ago, and he wouldn't change today.
"Begin!"
Ayase, standing between them as the referee, raised her hand and chopped it down violently.
As her voice fell, Kuraudo moved first. He launched himself forward, closing the ten-meter gap between him and Roy in a single stride.
In an instant, he was in front of Roy, slashing downward with vigorous force.
Kuraudo wielded Orochimaru, like a club.
His blow was more of a smash than a slash. Even though the blade lacked a razor edge, the sheer weight and momentum were enough to cause critical damage upon impact.
Facing this avalanche of force, Roy simply raised his hand. He blocked the heavy strike easily with Ascalon. The two weapons collided with a heavy clang, sending sparks flying.
Blocked on the first strike, Kuraudo became even more frantic. With a wild laugh, he swung Orochimaru again, raining down slash after slash upon Roy.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Yet, Roy intercepted every attack with infuriating ease.
"Hahaha!"
Kuraudo wasn't discouraged; he was ecstatic. "Sure enough, fighting a swordsman is the most exciting thing in the world! Compared to those idiots who rely solely on magic, this is real combat!"
Kuraudo's attacks grew fiercer. The power behind his swings increased, and his speed ramped up to blinding levels.
"So fast!"
Ayase watched the battle in astonishment. She found that the speed of the two swords was accelerating rapidly. Eventually, she could only see afterimages; capturing the actual trajectory of the blades was impossible for her eyes.
"Is this Kuraudo's true strength?" Ayase smiled bitterly.
If this was his real speed, then in all the times she had challenged him before, he hadn't even been trying.
He had been toying with her. It highlighted just how ridiculous her attempts to reclaim the dojo by force had been.
"That guy... Roy... he's keeping up with Kuraudo's speed!"
Compared to Ayase, the thugs from Donrou Academy watching from the sidelines were even more shocked.
"Although he's just defending, it's amazing that he can block every hit! No wonder Kuraudo was so eager to fight him."
As Kuraudo's lackeys, they had witnessed many of his battles and knew exactly what his advantage was: speed that exceeded the human limit.
Kuraudo's Noble Art was called Marginal.
In this world, there is a hard limit to human reaction speed. No matter how much one trains, it is biologically impossible to react faster than 0.1 seconds. Nerve response speed, the time it takes for a person to complete the process of cognition, decision, and action has a physiological cap.
However, Kuraudo broke this common sense.
His nerve reaction speed was shortened by half, reaching 0.05 seconds.
This meant that in the time it took an opponent to make one move, Kuraudo could make two or even three.
In melee combat, this ability was practically cheating. It was precisely because of Marginal that Kuraudo had dominated so many swordsmen.
However, Kuraudo's absolute advantage seemed to vanish in front of Roy.
No matter how much Kuraudo accelerated, or how many unreasonable attacks he launched in a split second, they were all easily blocked by Roy.
If it were anyone else, Kuraudo's blade would have already connected. But Roy remained unscathed.
It wasn't just luck; Roy was handling it with ease. He perfectly defended against every strike.
"Kuraudo! Stop playing around! Get rid of him quickly!" the thugs cheered, trying to rally their leader.
"This is the first time I've met someone who can match me in speed!"
The excitement in Kuraudo's eyes burned brighter. The more he fought, the more courageous he became.
His face flushed not from shyness, but from the accelerated blood flow required to maintain Marginal.
Although Marginal gave him god like reflexes, it had a side effect: it burned through physical stamina twice as fast as normal.
But Kuraudo didn't care. He just had to defeat the opponent before he collapsed.
"To be honest," Roy said, calmly deflecting a strike aimed at his ribs, "I'm kind of regretting this."
Roy's voice was flat, but there was a distinct note of disappointment in his eyes.
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