The silver blade light surged again, an ordinary-looking strike concealing intense vibrational force. Just grazing the surface muscles would allow it to destroy internal organs—a technique specialized for opponents with formidable defenses.
Yet, facing Eiji's attack, Edelweiss remained utterly unfazed, silently sweeping her sword horizontally.
A flash of light struck once more.
The moment the sword was swung, Eiji's eyes lost track of its trajectory, seeing only a streak of light rushing toward him.
Too fast!
Like light itself!
His eyes couldn't keep up at all!
"But I can still see her movements!"
Eiji focused intensely, his gaze locking onto Edelweiss's sword-wielding right arm.
That's right—even if he couldn't see the sword's path, by observing the direction of her arm, he could still deduce where she intended to intercept!
"Here!"
In an instant, clarity dawned.
Eiji ducked lightning-fast, lowering his blade and narrowly evading the flash by a hair's breadth before slashing toward her flank!
Edelweiss's attire was revealing.
Her lower half was covered by a white skirt that draped over her snow-white thighs, while her upper body was clad only in two metal plates shielding her chest—akin to a bikini, leaving vast stretches of skin exposed.
Paired with her exquisite features, she possessed a charm that surpassed mortals, rivaling even the goddesses he had seen in DanMachi, if not surpassing them.
He wondered if she usually walked the streets in this outfit, but it clearly lacked defensive properties, practically inviting attacks on her body.
If this strike landed, her internal organs wouldn't fare well!
The moment this thought crossed his mind, another flash of light, swift as lightning, came at him.
Edelweiss's Noble Art involved dual swords.
Dodging one blade meant the other was still waiting for him!
But—
Absolute GodSpeed!
Eiji still had this ability!
The instant the flash reappeared in his peripheral vision, Eiji instinctively activated Absolute GodSpeed, setting his slash to surpass the Twin-Wings' velocity!
A glint flickered in Edelweiss's eyes, as if she sensed something.
Immediately, the speed of Eiji's blade multiplied severalfold!
Like a streak of light, he closed the distance into Edelweiss's embrace, his blade mercilessly striking her seemingly fragile flank.
Yet—
Nothing happened.
Not even a spasm of her organs—not a single scratch marred her flawless, snow-white skin.
"No reaction at all…"
Eiji's eyes widened.
Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of danger surged through him.
Without hesitation, he activated Sword Step again, retreating at lightning speed.
A silver flash sliced through the air as Edelweiss's sword swept through empty space once more.
"Incredible!"
Arisuin Nagi, watching from afar, couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
"To close the distance into the Twin-Wings' embrace… There are hardly any in this world who could accomplish such a feat!"
As the strongest figure in the world, Edelweiss's power overwhelmingly surpassed that of other Blazers.
Ninety-nine percent of Blazers could only flee in panic before her, and of the remaining one percent, ninety-nine more couldn't even withstand her first strike.
Being able to evade her attacks and even counterattack was already an achievement that left countless people in awe!
Even using his Blazer ability was completely justified.
Because when fighting her, not using one's ability would only invite ridicule for overestimating oneself and arrogance!
How many people in this world couldn't even touch her despite using their Blazer abilities?
For Eiji to land a single slash on her was already something to take pride in!
"I see. I understand now."
Seeing him escape again, Edelweiss didn't pursue.
She looked at the sword in her hand, a faint smile appearing on her calm face—fleeting yet breathtakingly beautiful, like an epiphyllum's bloom.
"Your ability is to surpass your opponent's speed, isn't it? That's why you can perfectly evade my sword, even when it's several times faster than yours. In fact, the speed of my blade becomes the very fuel you use to break through my crossed defenses."
"For a swordsman, you sure feed on other swordsmen. What a contradiction."
Truly worthy of being the world's strongest.
He hadn't even used it many times, yet she had already seen through his trick.
In contrast—
Eiji couldn't decipher the mysteries within her sword.
He could understand her ignoring the luminous blade—the slight cracks on the ground beneath her feet showed she must have transferred all the impact force into the ground the moment she was struck.
But there was no trace of how she did it. In other words, her skill in dispersing force far surpassed his!
Yet the most baffling thing was—
"Why is your sword completely silent?"
Eiji couldn't comprehend it, his sharp gaze fixed on Edelweiss.
That's right.
Edelweiss's sword was utterly unbelievable!
Not only was it as fast as light, leaving even Eiji's keen eyes struggling to follow, but more importantly—her swings produced no sound at all!
Not even the slightest whisper of wind!
No disturbance in the surrounding airflow whatsoever!
Such a sword meant she had perfect control over every ounce of her energy, with no waste in any movement.
Normally, swinging a sword inevitably causes friction with the air, leading to energy loss. No one can deliver 100% of their power—some is always wasted in the process.
But Edelweiss was different. Her sword seemed to ignore air resistance entirely, experiencing no friction with the atmosphere, concentrating all her power into a single strike. That's why her sword was silent.
Thus, she could deliver her full strength without any energy loss.
Eiji could grasp this much.
But how was it achieved?
That remained a complete mystery to him.
Such an inconceivable swordsmanship left him utterly confounded.
The gap in their realms was too vast—he could no longer decipher the secrets of her blade with just a glance or two.
"If you call yourself a swordsman, then rely on your own eyes to see through my sword."
Edelweiss offered no explanation.
As an enemy, of course, she had no obligation to.
Yet to Arisuin Nagi, observing from the sidelines, her words carried a faint hint of "encouraging Eiji to strive harder."
Was it just his imagination?
Arisuin Nagi couldn't tell.
"One more thing."
Edelweiss paused before continuing.
"From now on, I'll seal your ability. Try facing me with just that sword of yours."
Sealing supernatural abilities?
What does that mean?
Eiji's heart tightened, and a sense of foreboding crept over him.
The only reason he could exchange a few moves with Edelweiss despite being completely outmatched in strength, speed, and technique was because of his Absolute Godspeed ability.
If he lost this ability, the battle would undoubtedly become completely one-sided!
***
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