Chapter 143: I Will Win
"Full-Body Take Over: Yoriichi Tsugikuni!!"
Ren's body began to change. His modern, casual clothes dissolved, replaced by a deep red haori over a black hakama, the traditional attire of a samurai from a bygone era. A long katana, its hilt simple and unadorned, appeared in his hand.
But the most striking change was not his clothes; it was his aura.
Ikaruga's smile vanished, replaced by an expression of pure, unadulterated awe. "Is this... the 'Sword God' Yoriichi Tsugikuni...?"
The air around Ren became perfectly still. His sharp, confident, and sometimes arrogant personality was gone, submerged beneath a profound, deep, and almost sorrowful calm. He just stood there, yet to Ikaruga's trained senses, he was a perfect, impenetrable void. He had no openings. He had no killing intent. He had no wasted motion. He was, in every sense of the word, a master.
Her hand, which had been resting lightly on her own sword, now gripped it tightly, her knuckles turning white. She could feel it—this man possessed the pinnacle of sword skills.
"Thank you!" Ikaruga said, bowing deeply, not as an assassin, but as a warrior.
"No need to thank me," Ren said. His voice was different now—calm, deep, and indifferent. "I will not hold back."
"Please do!" Ikaruga said, her own expression hardening into one of absolute seriousness.
"Then, this humble woman will make her move!"
In a flash, she moved.
"Moonless Style: Sword Flash!"
It was a high-speed iaijutsu draw. Her blade left its sheath, and in the same instant, a crescent of invisible, cutting force screamed through the air, aimed directly at Ren's neck.
Clang!
Ren's sword was already there. He hadn't seemed to move. He had simply drawn his own blade and held it at the precise angle needed to block the invisible slash.
Ikaruga's eyes widened. 'He saw it? He saw the blade of the wind?'
"Moonless Style: Multiple Sword Flashes!!"
Not giving him a moment to breathe, Ikaruga exploded into motion. She vanished from her spot, her feet barely touching the crystal floor. Dozens of afterimages flickered into existence, surrounding Ren in a perfect circle, each one launching a "Sword Flash" from a different angle. It was a 360-degree cage of invisible, cutting death.
Ren remained calm in the center of the storm. His sword became a blur, but a calm blur.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang-Clang-Clang-Clang!
He didn't move his feet. He simply pivoted, his blade a perfect, flowing shield, meeting every single invisible slash with economical, flawless precision. He was blocking an impossible, omnidirectional barrage with the bare minimum of movement.
"Amazing...!" Ikaruga breathed, skidding to a halt on the far side of the room. "Truly worthy of the title 'Sword God'."
Her heart was hammering in her chest. 'He's not just blocking. He's predicting. My speed, my ultimate advantage, is utterly useless against him. He isn't even breathing hard.'
"What about this move then!"
She sheathed her sword, her stance low. She began to channel her magic power, a dark, purple aura swirling from her body and into the hilt of her katana.
"Moonless Style: Garuda Flame!!"
She drew her sword again, this time unleashing a violent, massive wave of purple, demonic flame. The fire took the shape of a screaming, monstrous bird, its talons aimed at Ren.
Ren took a single, low stance. His blade ignited, not with purple magic, but with the pure, golden-red flame of the sun.
"Sun Breathing: First Form: Dance!"
He unleashed a single, powerful, vertical flame slash. It was a perfect, spinning wheel of solar fire.
The two flame slashes collided in the center of the room.
Boom—!
There was no contest. The purple "Garuda" was instantly vaporized, its dark magic annihilated by the pure, concentrated power of the sun. The explosion blasted the room, sending a thick cloud of smoke and debris everywhere.
"Sword Flash!!"
Like a true assassin, Ikaruga used the smoke. She burst through the cloud, her blade aimed true, having used the explosion as a feint.
"Die!!"
"Moonless Style: Yaksha Flash Void!!"
She swung her sword at Ren's body, a sure-hit attack aimed to decapitate him.
Fwish!
Her blade cut through empty air. She felt no resistance, no sensation of hitting anything solid.
"What?!"
Ikaruga didn't expect her sure-hit attack to miss. Ren's figure slowly dissipated before her eyes like a heat haze.
"Sun Breathing: Fourth Form: Fake Rainbow!"
"An afterimage?! Where is the real body?!"
She immediately spun, searching for Ren's true location, first checking behind her. But as soon as she turned, she found nothing there, and no one to her left or right either.
"Sun Breathing: Tenth Form..."
A calm, emotionless voice came from directly above her.
"...Haze!"
Ikaruga immediately felt a chill of dread, a premonition of death, and quickly looked up.
As soon as she looked up, she saw Ren, upside down, spinning in the air, his blade a rapidly spinning vortex of Sun Flame, descending upon her like a falling star.
Pfft—!
She was too slow. She couldn't even raise her blade.
"Uwaaaaaahhh!!"
Ikaruga let out a painful scream as the slash connected. Several large wounds opened on her body, and a burning, agonizing pain, as if being roasted by the sun itself, emanated from deep within her.
Thud!
Ikaruga fell to the ground, her pristine white kimono stained crimson with her own blood.
"Bea...beautiful..." she whispered, her gaze fixed on Ren, who had landed softly, his back to her. "Is this... the sword art of the Sword God?"
"I actually... lost..." she coughed, blood staining her lips. "This is the first time... since I joined the guild."
"However," she gasped, her body shaking, "neither you... nor Jellal... can win. In 15 minutes... that light of justice... falling from the sky... will bury everything..."
Ren released his takeover form, the red haori dissolving as he returned to his normal self. He turned and looked down at her, his expression indifferent. "No," he said. "I will win."
His demeanor was calm, his confidence absolute. It wasn't a boast or a hope. It was a simple statement of fact.
Ikaruga was slightly stunned by his unwavering certainty. Then, a small, relieved smile touched her lips. "Then I wish you... good fortune in battle..."
After Ikaruga finished speaking, her hand fell from her sword, and she lost all signs of life.
It had been a sparring match with Erza, but this was a true battle. Ikaruga's sword skills were strong, but Yoriichi Tsugikuni's were stronger. Coupled with the Transparent World, which allowed Ren to see her every muscle twitch and every flow of blood, even Muzan had been overwhelmed, let alone a mere Ikaruga.
[Akarin's Note: The "Transparent World" is an ability from Demon Slayer used by Yoriichi Tsugikuni. It allows the user to see the flow of blood, muscle movement, and joint positions of their opponent, making it possible to predict their every move.]
Magic Council Headquarters, Era.
Inside the dark, central command room, dozens of mages rushed between glowing lacrima consoles.
"Target locked! Tower of Heaven, spatial coordinates adjusting."
"Due to the influence of the high-magic-density wavelength in that region, spatial coordinate adjustment is encountering difficulties!"
"Raise the satellite's altitude a bit more! Stabilize the feed!"
"Magic power fill rate 70%... Etherion attribute fusion complete... 15 minutes until Etherion launch."
An hour ago, Siegrain, on the grounds that Jellal was going to revive the Dark Mage Zeref, had finally persuaded most of the Council members. The vote was passed.
The Dark Mage Zeref. Even after four hundred years, the terrifying legend of this man still circulated throughout the continent. If such a person were to be revived, the entire world could be destroyed.
Councilor Orga looked at the Etherion launch platform, his face a mask of grim duty. "I never thought something like this would happen when the Chairman was unwell."
Councilor Yajima, smoking his pipe in the corner, sighed. "There's nothing we can do, Orga-kun. During the Chairman's absence, the authority to maintain order rests in our hands. Don't worry so much."
Orga's body trembled. "I'm not worried about legal issues! We are about to drop a demon on that country."
"A demon... that refers to Zeref," Yajima said softly. "To subjugate a demon, we can only pray that what we drop is an angel."
On the other side of the room, on a private balcony, Siegrain stood with his hands behind his back, watching the Etherion platform charge.
"This moment has finally arrived, Lord Siegrain," Ultear said, walking up from behind him. "Your wish of eight years is finally about to be fulfilled."
"Aren't you afraid, Ultear?" Siegrain asked, not looking at her.
"Not at all. I always believe in Lord Siegrain."
"That's true," he mused. "You won't be in any mortal danger."
"Yes! Haha," she laughed softly.
"I am a little afraid, actually," Siegrain admitted, his voice low. "If I fail, I will die. But even risking my life is worth it... for my ideals."
Tower of Heaven, Top Floor.
Jellal sat on his throne, his projection screen showing Ikaruga's body, now lifeless.
"Ikaruga has also been taken care of. As expected of Ren, the man who can defeat even a Ten Wizard Saint. The Trinity Raven... still unable to stop his advance."
He smiled. "But... I never thought that you would be the first to arrive here, Erza."
At the entrance to the throne room, Erza stood, her armor cracked and smoking, her sword planted in the floor.
"That's thanks to you," she panted, her voice filled with rage. "You sent all your strong fighters to deal with Ren, which is why I was able to get here so quickly!"
"Jellal... why did you deceive us?!"
A new voice, cracked with anguish and pure, unadulterated hatred, screamed from behind Erza. Sho stepped forward, his eyes bloodshot with rage. "We trusted you! We built this entire tower for you! Why?!"
Jellal looked at Sho, his expression one of mild curiosity, as if studying an insect.
"Sho, is it? You ask why?" he said, a cold, condescending smile spreading across his face. "Well, it's because you were easy to deceive. Because you were weak, pathetic, and desperate for a savior."
"But I am very grateful to you all. Thanks to your blind, stupid, eight-year-long faith... such a massive, glorious project was completed. You built your own prison, and now, you've even delivered my sacrifice."
[Akarin Note:
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