Chapter 186 The Sword Dance Begins! The Power of Cause and Effect!
It is said that conflict is evil, and hatred is born from it!
It is said that violence is a sin, for it harms the innocent!
Even so, humanity still yearns for strength!
To hone one's will with the blade in hand, this is the tradition of a Knight!
The time has come! The 62nd Seven Star Sword Art Festival now begins!
The impassioned broadcast reverberated through the colossal dome of the arena, shaped like a mortar. The central battle ring, fitted with artificial turf, dramatically rose, signaling that the stage was ready.
Alright! First to emerge from the red gate is the Rank A Knight from Hagun Academy's first year—Arthur!
A newcomer participating in the Seven Star Sword Art Festival for the first time, his terrifying record of being undefeated in all his school representative battles speaks for itself! Let's wait and see!
Accompanied by the commentator's highly inflammatory voice, the entrance airlock's barrier slowly opened.
Arthur stepped into the spotlight, facing the colorful mist gushing from both sides.
Next, entering from the blue gate, is the Rank A Knight from Jumen Academy's first year—Shinomiya Amane!
Also a newcomer participating for the first time, Shinomiya Amane maintained a bizarre record of winning without fighting in his representative battles! He truly is walking misfortune itself!
Shinomiya Amane, with a gloomy expression, dragged his body into the battle ring, his limbs stiff, like a mummy dried for a thousand years.
Cold sweat trickled down the chief referee's forehead; his extensive experience allowed him to sense the chilling aura of danger within the battle ring.
He cleared his throat and announced loudly.
"Seven Star Sword Art Festival, first round, Area A, first match! Arthur versus Shinomiya Amane, let the match—begin!"
The moment the signal sounded, the chief referee unhesitantly pushed off the ground, leaping backward and retreating from the battle ring at the fastest speed of his life!
Everything that happened afterward fully proved his foresight.
Shinomiya Amane summoned countless unique Noble Arts, Azure, with both hands, scattering them casually in all directions.
Countless blades, like tombstones, deeply pierced every corner of the battle ring, precisely avoiding Arthur's position, forming a chilling sword graveyard.
In the stands, the audience was full of questions, and even the commentator was momentarily speechless, unsure how to describe this bizarre opening.
Arthur calmly surveyed the sword graveyard forbidden zone that surrounded him, casually drawing durandal from his storage pouch, its blade pointing diagonally to the ground.
"Hurry up, my patience with you is limited."
"Hehe… Go!"
Shinomiya Amane's face twisted into a venomous, sinister smile, and he summoned two more Azures, fiercely throwing them at the blades scattered across the ground!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Noble Arts collided wildly, the highly elastic blades acting as trampolines, sending one sharp sword after another high into the sky!
The sky full of blades transformed into a silver torrent, weaving into an impenetrable death net that pressed down on Arthur!
His vision was filled with endless sword light. Arthur's wrist trembled slightly, and the fastest sword instantly sliced through countless vacuum fault lines, shattering all the incoming Azures!
Shinomiya Amane continuously replenished his Noble Arts, but the dark slashes suspended in the air had formed an insurmountable absolute barrier, preventing subsequent blades from advancing even an inch!
Arthur casually picked up a broken blade from the ground, his fingertips feeling the faint power flowing within.
"Modifying the probability of all things… Is this a form of causal power? How does a Soul Weapon communicate with the world?"
With this question, he looked up at Shinomiya Amane, whose expression was becoming increasingly distorted, a cold arc forming at the corner of his mouth.
"Is the limit of your influence on causality only this much? If the answer is yes, then let's end this."
Before his words finished, thunder roared!
Arthur's figure transformed into an electric flash, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, and instantly closed in!
The sword light swept diagonally, reaching extreme speed!
Shinomiya Amane belatedly lowered his head; in his vision, his arms were already severed at the root!
Gushing blood stained his white clothes, and the delayed intense pain instantly consumed his reason!
"Ah ah ah ah ah! Bastard! You go to hell!"
A curse filled with extreme killing intent burst forth from his lips. The child of misfortune, favored by the goddess, his will twisted reality at this moment!
An invisible force of destiny transformed into a vicious claw, striking directly at Arthur's life!
However, just before the vicious claw touched Arthur, it suddenly froze, then unhesitatingly turned direction and fiercely stabbed its own master!
"Ugh… Hmph…"
Shinomiya Amane knelt on the ground, his heart suddenly numb without warning. The intense pain made him open his mouth in terror, but he could only emit a mournful gasp, like air leaking.
Arthur reached out and made two grasping motions in front of him, precisely pinching an invisible thread in a realm unseen by mortals.
"Hmm, compared to modifying probability, this direct application of 'results' is indeed more simple and brutal."
"Losing both arms, unable to even summon Noble Arts, are you directly resonating your soul with this power?"
Splat!
The sound of a snapping thread echoed in his mind. Shinomiya Amane, lying in a pool of blood, his eyes were bloodshot.
He looked up at Arthur, the jealousy and hatred in his eyes intertwined into a chaotic vortex.
Think about it, why?
Why is this guy the only one unaffected by misfortune?
You abandoned everything for this power, why can this guy be perfectly fine?
A gray veil gradually covered his vision, and darkness enveloped his consciousness.
At this point, only one thought remained deeply rooted in his mind—
I absolutely cannot let this guy have it easy!
Boom!
Intense magic power exploded into black flames, instantly engulfing Shinomiya Amane's entire body!
Twisted arms made of black flames wildly extended from his body; wherever they passed, all things decayed!
The chief referee, who had intended to enter and declare the verdict, suddenly recoiled, quite sensibly scrambling out of the battle ring again!
W-what happened!? Shinomiya Amane suddenly erupted with ominous black flames, has the situation reversed!?
What exactly are those black arms? Just touching the ground, they weathered the solid arena into ashes!?
Arthur casually dodged the grasping black flame arms. Faced with this chaotic and unorganized attack, he even had the room to observe his surroundings.
As the commentator said, everything touched by the black flames rapidly disintegrated into dust, and the decay was even spreading outwards.
"The ability to manipulate causality, can it be used this way?"
As he spoke, Arthur raised his hand and fired a volley of crimson magic bullets, but they dissipated under the waving black flame arms before even making contact.
Shinomiya Amane's mangled body stood stiffly like a zombie, a hoarse curse squeezed from his throat.
"Die… all those happier than me… should die!"
Arthur's eyebrows slightly raised. Through contact with the cursed power, he had already ascertained the essence of these black flames.
This was a product that had discarded all variations, highly condensing the wielder's killing intent and causal power.
It eliminated all [processes], directly reaching the [outcome] of all things—[death].
"This ability is like the Grim Reaper beckoning to the living. Even if you're just grazed a little, your soul would be directly annihilated, wouldn't it?"
Arthur, having uttered these words, put away durandal instead.
A golden membrane, thin as a cicada's wing, covered his entire body, facing this deadly curse with his bare flesh!
Bang!
He transformed into a golden lightning bolt, tearing apart the hands of death with the most violent method, bare-handed!
Black flames overflowed everywhere, and decaying ashes scattered.
Shinomiya Amane, with only his obsession remaining, let out a final howl, his killing intent fully erupting!
Countless hands of death covered the sky, condensing into a colossal palm that blotted out the sun, crashing down!
Arthur's figure, enveloped in brilliant gold, was like a spear of light tearing through the night sky, charging forward without hesitation!
His iron fist struck, and the immortal holy radiance shattered the opponent's heart!
Thump.
Shinomiya Amane's knees finally hit the ground; this punch cut off his last breath of life.
The magic power symbolizing death dissipated like mist. The causal backlash consumed him, and the child of misfortune, filled with venomous resentment, turned to ashes.
Arthur turned and left, rubbing the causal remnants still in his palm. A pale glow covered them, completely dissecting and devouring them.
"The soul and the Noble Arts are intimately intertwined, indistinguishable from each other…"
"Can baseless jealousy and hatred be catalyzed to this extent?"