Summoner Sovereign

The very essence of my swordsmans.h.i.+p.

Combine them. Combine my summoning magic, my Constellation magic, with the very essence of Miyamoto sword style that Dad taught me. It was definitely something that was doable. The very reason why I chose to summon swords – Constellation swords – instead of actual monsters. A subconscious reason, one that I never fully thought about until now.

Only by combining my Constellation magic with Miyamoto sword style would I attain the method I needed. The technique that would guarantee me a sure kill. I favored these swords, so there was no way I wouldn"t be able to come up with a ultimate attack with them, not when I combined Dad"s Miyamoto school of swordsmans.h.i.+p with these twin swords that had seen me prevail through countless battles!

Drawing from my personal combat experience and combining it with my knowledge of Miyamoto sword style, I pictured two curves. Black and white. Yin and yang. Opposites attract. Inseparability. Consecutive summoning. I must maintain the basic technique, the solid foundation that Dad had instilled within me after countless training sessions. The essence of the sword. The core of the stars. Fusion – not just nuclear fusion, but the fusion of sword and magic.

If this was a xianxia story, this would be a Divine-ranked skill. And ultimate technique, perfect and unyielding.

"Strength moves mountains," I murmured to myself, beginning the incantation. I decided to base it upon an incantation I learned somewhere from the most epic visual novel that had ever existed. "Blade cuts water. Life approaches the Imperial Villa.  Two great men, shared life."

That was right. This was the technique I came up with, after prolonged consideration and desperate innovation. An ultimate attack derived from the essence of Castor and Pollux, combined with the solid foundation established by the Miyamoto sword style that Dad incessantly drilled into me.

I knew that I had reached my limit, and perhaps even gone past it. That didn"t matter. Three attacks. All I needed to do was launch my last three attacks…!

My opponent readied herself, having sensed my determination.

I didn"t have time to study her other reactions. Whatever energy I had left, I invested it all into this final movement. My requiem, to say the least. My final act.

"Divine technique, perfect and unyielding."

I had to surpa.s.s my opponent in this last exchange of blows. Just for this moment alone. That was all I asked.

Infusing my Gemini twin swords with mana, I repaired them as much as I could, and then I threw them. I charged them with as much mana as I could afford, and I tossed them from opposite directions. The spinning twin swords homed in on the enemy"s neck, drawing an arc so that they would intersect right on my target. Their spinning figures drew a magnificent cross across the air as they closed in on Kureha. No matter who the other party was, there was no way she would emerge uscathed after being trapped between two Constellation weapons capable of penetrating steel.

Yet…the Sword Saint effortlessly blocked them both. She easily redirected Castor and Pollux that attacked her from both flanks simultaneously. I cursed under my breath, watching helplessly as she nullified my attack without breaking a sweat. The twin swords would normally return to me even if they were deflected, but Kureha sensed my stategy somehow, and she had instinctively redirected both of them behind her, far from my reach.

That left me unarmed and completely open. Seeing a great opportunity, Kureha closed in on me, seizing the moment when I was unarmed and vulnerable.

However, contrary to her expectations, I charged.

"!!!"

I wasn"t sure what the Sword Saint was expecting. Did she think I would surrender just because I was unarmed? Or did she believe I would retreat? It didn"t matter. What she didn"t antic.i.p.ate was an unarmed opponent charging straight for her in an almost suicidal manner.

However, I was far from unarmed.

"Freezing void."

"The same weapon…?!"

Kureha"s astounded gasp barely reached my ears over the din of clas.h.i.+ng metal. To her astonishment, what would have been her finis.h.i.+ng strike had been blocked by twin swords. I had completed my summoning in an instant, and using the concept that I had created, I summoned Castor and Pollux anew.

"It"s useless!" Kureha snapped, her voice tinged with frustration. She couldn"t comprehend why I was still resisting her, still engaging in such futile maneuvers. "That summoned weapon is no match for me!"

She unleashed a powerful attack meant to blow me away. However, right before her blade could reach me and shatter my Gemini twin swords…

"Strength moves mountains."

A surprise attack came from an unexpected direction.

"What…?!"

Even the venerable Sword Saint was almost caught off guard, and it was only thanks to her G.o.dlike instincts that she was able to evade the Castor that struck at her from behind. While she spun away to deal with the new threat, I took advantage of the opening that my diversion had created and struck with Pollux.

"Hah!"

However, Kureha parried my attack with her holy sword.

Wow…amazing. She was a monster.

Not only was she able to deflect my surprise attack from behind, she was also able to simultaneously parry my strike from the front, even though I had attacked her with full force. Furthermore, she obliterated the Pollux that I had struck with.

She truly was a monster…a terrifying ent.i.ty that sent chills running down my spine.

However, I already knew from the beginning just how formidable she was. Something like this…a realization such as this wasn"t enough to stop me in my tracks.

"Blade cuts water."

That was right. I had resolved myself from the start. I knew something of this level wasn"t enough to defeat her, so I had to surpa.s.s my limits and go further beyond…!

After all, if I wasn"t fighting a monster, then I wouldn"t even need to execute such a magnificent technique to begin with!

"Another one?!"

Pollux attacked her from behind again – and this time, it wasn"t the one she had just destroyed, but the one I had thrown at her earlier, the same one that she had deflected behind her.

Castor and Pollux were twin swords. They attracted each other like magnets. That was why Pollux would inevitably return to me as long as I possessed Castor!

"Kuh!"

Kureha"s reflexes were as amazing as ever, and she avoided it with G.o.dlike grace. As she did so, I smashed Castor into her unprotected chest, seizing the narrow chance for victory.

However, the Sword Saint was able to parry even my final attack.

"..."

Time froze for an instant. The both of us seemed to stop, taking a split second to evaluate each other"s condition.

My attack sequence was over. Despite my best efforts, despite me summoning two pairs of Gemini twiin swords and unleas.h.i.+ng attacks from all four blades simultaneously, she had blocked each and every one of them. The outcome was as you could see right now. All my Constellation weapons were destroyed. Once again, I was unarmed and helpless, unable to do anything else.

Fortunately, Kureha was also at her limit. She had destroyed all of my Constellation weapons, but at a cost. She had left herself open, and her exertions meant that she couldn"t do anything else. She needed to recover, she needed to pull back the sword that she had swung away from herself to obliterate my summoned armaments, to reform her guard. Until she did that, until she recovered her stance, she wasn"t going to be able to execute anything else, whether it was attack or defense.

For now, it appeared that our current exchange had ended in a stalemate. The both of us were defenseless, and we had gone back to square one.

However…

My attack wasn"t over yet.

"…!"

Kureha"s eyes widened in disbelief.

I ignored her expression of shock and continued onward, reckless and uncaring. The last remnants of my mana flared up, just like the supernova of a dying sun, a star whose hydrogen reserves had been depleted to nothingness.

Life approaches the Imperial Villa.

"AAARGH!"

At that instant, I surpa.s.sed my limits. I summoned a fresh pair of Gemini twin swords in my previously empty hands. My mind snapped, and I bellowed out an intimidating challenge.

"Kureha!!!!"

Two great men, shared life.

I slashed her defenseless body from both sides with my newest pair of Gemini twin swords. Kureha saw them coming, but she couldn"t do anything to protect herself. Her body was unable to keep up with her mind. After parrying two consecutive surprise attacks from me, she was wide open, her limbs occupied for the briefest of moments.

Those short moments were more than enough.

"Ugh!"

Castor and Pollux cannoned into her from opposite sides, cleaving deeply into her body and slicing through her physical reinforcement spell. Blood splattered, her organs crushed and her spine shattered from the fatal attack. My blades had crashed into her with the force of an artillery sh.e.l.l, and even with her magically enhanced body she was unable to withstand the blow.

Blood spurting from her mouth and wounds, she toppled over.

Groaning in pain, she looked up at me in astonishment. Her body twitched from the explosive impact, and she registered the fatal wounds that had been dealt to her. However, as expected of the Sword Saint, she still somehow survived.

If I had gone for her head or her heart, I would have killed her. Well, the boundary field would have preserved her life, but it would have been decisive.

This was not to say that the blow I had dealt her was not decisive. She was clearly incapacitated and no longer able to fight. Even if they cast a healing spell on her, she would still need ten hours before she fully recovered.

I had achieved my goal.

In striking Kureha Franklin down, I had eliminated her from the team match. She was no longer in any shape to lead her Saint Teresa Academy team for the team match. The only core member left would be Rossetti Picket, because I had eliminated all the other five core members of Saint Teresa Academy in the individual matches. All they had left besides Rossetti were reserve members, students who did not have much tournament experience.

"Ugh…I knew it. You really are strong, Richard."

Lying on the ground, Kureha admitted grudgingly. Even though she vowed that she wouldn"t underestimate me, even though she knew just how powerful I was, she still made that fatal mistake in the end. She had never thought I would be able to pull off such a miracle in such an exhausted state, that I could still defeat her after five consecutive grueling matches against the core members of her school.

"The match is over…this is your win."

"…"

I wanted to thank her. I wanted to acknowledge her praise.

However…my victory had come at a cost.

Like Kureha, I was fatally wounded. That last attack, that final summoning spell, that desperate lunge and my finis.h.i.+ng blow…

…my wounds had all split open again, and blood was streaming down my entire body. I was entirely out of mana. No more spells, no more self-regeneration, no more physical reinforcement, no more attacks.

That was fine. I had a couple of real swords lying some distance away from me, but obviously I was no longer in any shape to retrieve them.

I was no longer in any shape to do anything.

"My goodness…!"

The commentator was railing above. I ignored him, mostly because my mind had blanked out. It was taking everything I had to remain standing. I felt as if I would collapse the moment I uttered a single word or budge a toe. h.e.l.l, I bet I would topple over if I even so much as move my finger. My throat crawled and perspiration dripped down my face. My eyes had closed to mere slits, and I didn"t dare to open them any further.

I was done. I had gone beyond my limits and attained victory, but at a great cost.

"Richard…?" Pearl whispered worriedly from the edge of the technical area. I coudldn"t even glance in her direction and give her a rea.s.suring smile.

"Seems like Richard has pa.s.sed out on his feet?! He defeated his opponent, only to lose consciousness? And even though he lost consciousness, he"s still somehow standing?! My goodness! Impressive…!"

Hurry up and announce the victory, you idiot!"

Gritting my teeth, I slowly raised my hand and showed a thumb"s up. I couldn"t even lift my hand past my chest, but my raised thumb was visible.

The commentator got the hint.

"The winner! Richard Huang! This must be the first time in the national tournament history that a student achieved an all kill in the individual matches!"

Whatever else he was saying ended up being drowned out by the roar of cheers that followed, the crowd going wild. I vaguely registered my friends rus.h.i.+ng up the stage and heading for me, but by now I could no longer withstand the burden weighing down upon my battered body.

I finally collapsed, allowing my consciousness to be swallowed whole by warm, comforting darkness.