The Author's POV

My eyes opened widely as a subtle yet familiar clicking sound filled the air.

'I...mpossible!'

The thought flooded through my mind as I subconsciously activated my 'Eyes of Chronos' to slow down time.

My shock grew even more as I watched Lightning Dragon slowly unsheathe his sword and aim it at me. Despite time moving at a far slower rate than reality, Lightning Dragon's movement seemed smooth and completely unaffected by the rate at which time was flowing.

Thin blue threads spewed out from his hands and sword, as the sword fully unsheathed itself from the scabbard.

What was worse was the fact that all I could do at the moment was watch as the sword slowly aimed for my heart.

But ever so slightly, I was able to move and shift my body in a way that avoided my heart. Just barely.

Spurt!

A small hole appeared on the left side of my chest as time flowed at a natural rate. Following this, my body was pierced by an inexplicable sharp pain.

"Khh..."

Despite my best efforts to distance myself from him, as he again grasped his sword's sheath, Lightning Dragon continued to pursue me. With blood dripping down from my shoulder, I pressed my foot to the ground, and cracks formed beneath the area I stepped on.

"Fuck..."

I cursed underneath my breath as I once reactivated 'Eyes of Chronos' and carefully analyzed his every movement.

This time, I activated Eyes of Chronos to its fullest potential as time slowed down even more. As the seconds passed, it became increasingly difficult to see as the skill took a particular toll on my eyes. Regardless, I persevered through the pain.

Suppressing the pain, I paid close attention to his every movement.

'This stance, and movement, it is without a doubt the Keiki style...'

Using that information, I was able to confirm that it was indeed the Keiki style. It was clear from his movements and how he channeled his mana.

It was exactly how I did it.

'...but how is this possible?'

Upon realizing this fact, many questions emerged inside my mind.

Of such question, the main one was.

'Did Grandmaster Keiki give this sword art to anyone else other than me?'

If I thought about it, this made sense.

It wouldn't be surprising if Grandmaster Keiki had set up a similar place to the one I visited, considering that his main objective was to defeat the demons.

The more people that used his sword art, the higher the chances of us winning.

That being said, he wasn't stupid to the point of giving it to anyone.

If everyone had the Keiki style, chaos would inevitably ensue in the human domain.

In other words, doing so would be the same as giving nukes to just anyone.

There was a reason why most five-star sword manuals were kept hidden. It wasn't only for the sake of keeping it to themselves, but it was mostly to limit people from gaining access to them.

That and the fact that not just anyone could practice them.

'This must be it...'

After racking my brain over the matter, this was the only explanation I could think of for why Lightning Dragon knew the Keiki style.

"...You're wrong."

But it was at that moment that a figure appeared next to me.

locked on Lightning Dragon in the distance,

better

'...What?'

Was my analysis wrong?

in the direction of where Lightning Dragon, I did as he told me and paid closer attention to

'It's the same.'

found nothing unusual about his attack. It was exactly

'Wait...'

But just then.

I

'His eyes.'

They were shining.

eyes upon them, I suddenly felt naked. It felt as though all of my secrets were

' What the...'

once more, I

Spurt—!

felt a sharp pain coming from the right side

"Ugh."

my groan, I returned my attention to

"They are not shining..."

This...

thought back about what his eyes

'That's right, his eyes...'

a swift whipping motion. This time, I didn't apply any mana to my leg as

and closely observed his eyes. I wanted to see whether they shined

Swooosh—!

head back and easily dodged my attack. He then followed up with his own palm strike that directly hit me in the chest, sending

Bang—!

a powerful force hit my back, I spat out saliva and my eyes rolled backward. Slowly, my body slid down

"Cough...Cough..."

in the opposite direction. It was then that my eyes locked with Lightning Dragon who didn't seem interested

'His eyes didn't shine.'

confirmed it. My theory as to why he was

thanks

the mana flow of an opponent. My

eyes were not the only thing I had grossly underestimated. I had also underestimated him

to be able to mimic the Keiki style from just a couple of glances at my sword art. By mimicking its mana flow, coupled

wonder I wasn't able

the same, and the speed of his movements also being the same, it was practically impossible for me to

style, could he also do it

spine as I thought of

kind of monster

art in such a short period

simply

eyes returned to their usual

a

this really all you got?... Or do you still have something up your sleeves? I'm starting

I wiped the side of

"...So?"

rang throughout

of my

"Give me a second."

'...I've figured it out.'

way to

this. Regardless, he didn't seem to have any intentions of stopping me as

started to heal up, I started

toward the middle of the

Tok. Tok.

walked through the quiet arena, the rhythmical sound of my footsteps echoed out

I was a couple of meters

the ensuing silence, neither of us said

on cue with each other, we both placed our hands on

Click. Click.