THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"Argh, fuck!! Again?! Just let me hit you once, come on!"

The is guy is a fortress, For the past five minutes, I have been dodging, evading, countering his first sword script, all the while trying to give him a hit but he just doesn't let me do so. Every time I come close, his light wall pops up just at the right time to break my momentum and allow him a strike. Thankfully I have been evading them as well but this can't go on for too long.

"Hmph. You aren't good enough for our weapons to meet. The first sword: Cataclysm."

Once again, a myriad of slashes comes to me, chasing me around the stage like a deer hunted by multiple people.. This is becoming irritating. I have been trying my best to remain calm and think straight but I don't think it can work against this guy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what a fierce battle we are watching right now!! The star of Mercuria is doing his best to overcome the gap between him and the Lord of Swords but can he do it?!!"

Of course, I can do it! What are you talking about when you don't even know what I am capable of yet!

"Let's speed things up!!" I use Disperse as much as I can and get closer to him. He looks at me like I am the most trifling thing in the world. I will teach you better!

"Tremor!!" I smack his light wall and it breaks under my script but doesn't shatter.

Seeing that, however, his eyebrows raise with surprise. I can't let that opportunity passes. Once again, I raise my raizen but right as I am about to strike…

"Hmph!" One of the numerous slashes he had unleashed hit me from behind.

I heard it coming so I am not too surprised but still, the impact was great enough to throw me to the side a little, breaking my balance again.

"It seems I have won." As Germinia's brother says that, the others slashes come as well. it is a rain that falls on me as I try to counter that the best I can.

However, this is predicted. I want him to think I am in difficulty. Just enough so for him to lower his guard.

"Ahh!!" Between my bullets that I am launching and my raizen which is countering the slashes, I can really distinguish anything.

I have reduced the power of the bullets so that I wouldn't be hurt by the explosion but the downside is that I can't nullify a lot of slashes with them. Isn't it about time yet? Normally, he should try to do something soon.

"Just accept your fate already."

Finally, I hear his voice behind me. He sneakily went behind to finish me off but I will be the one to do it.

"I got you now." I use Sphere and right as I do, the slashes and his attack both land on it, shattering it to smithers.

This guy is actually powerful enough for him to shatter my script with a single strike of his sword? Even if it was coupled with his script, it is still too much. Anyway, I should be able to take advantage of it.

I spin around in an attempt to give him a taste of Lumion but as we face each other, he still manages to block my weapon. Though, this time, he used his sword and not his script.

"Ohhh. You have light Angas as well?  I didn't notice."

He pushes my raizen away and we start a contest of speed, each of us trying to overcome the other by striking from diverse angles. Sadly, he overcomes me rapidly. He is really good.

"Did you really think I was called the Lord of swords because of my scripts?"

He moves his arms twice when I have barely achieved the first strike. Is it a difference in talent? Or is it because of the weapon I am using? Teacher said that I was focusing on strength so I shouldn't try to make fast movements or I would lose in terms of efficiency but against somebody like that, can I really afford to be slower and try to hit when I can't make a good swing?

"So what if I thought that?!!"

"You are naïve." He cuts my right shoulder then blocks another one of my attacks. "Scripts are principal means of fight for people that did not understand the beauty and efficiency of weapons."

I use three bullets made of lightning and wind but he still counters them all the while fighting me. I can't use fire here or the smoke created by the explosion might actually hinder me.

"I have made sure to master the basics, advanced and master level techniques related to the swordsmanship used in my family for generations!"

Our weapons clash and this time, he gets the upper hand as mine is thrown backward. He is putting more strength into his swing now. I must strike him now!

"And you think you can compete against me when you don't even hold your raizen properly?!!"

Finally, he knocks my weapon away with a powerful strike while using both of his hands then pierces my shoulder with his blade.

"Fufufu." Finally, your sword is immobilized. I touch my stomach with my fist then look at him with a smile. "Lightning fist."

As he tries to retrieve his sword, the shockwave f the attack throws him away, almost at the end of the stage. Still, he lands rather softly, using his sword to break off the momentum of his fall.

***

"Ladies and gentlemen!! This is…this is incredible!!! The star of Mercuria just landed a solid hit on the Lord of swords!! It is a first-ever seen!!!"

"Ohhhhh!!!"

"Fantastic!!"

"You are a genius!!"

"Star of Mercuria!! You can do it!! Fight!"

The stadium also turns crazy. Compliments and encouragements start raining on me. I am impressed. I didn't think he would be able to recover himself like this. That was quite the flexibility he has shown back there.

As he stands back up, His armor is bent inwards and his hair that were nicely kept are a little rough now. I go and take my raizen then face him again. The guy sighs a first time, then second and finally, after the third time, he draws out his second sword.

"You are the second one who has me go with two swords. I guess I still lack training if you made me do so."

"You can't just acknowledge I am strong as well, right?"

"Hmph. You are but a frog in a well, unaware of the world outside."

He disappears. He has actually disappeared. That was a perfect Disperse he just did there. Thankfully, his heartbeat hasn't done the same, or I would have been in huge trouble right now.

I raise my raizen and block the attack coming from the sky. However, it is so powerful that not only am I forced to put both knees on the ground, I almost lose my breath as well from the shock of the impact.

"Be ready for the follow-up."

Germinia's brother speaks right as he raises his left hand and strikes again, from the side this time. His sword is filled to the brim with his aura and the impact from it is incredible. My whole body shakes as I block the next attack.

He strikes with his right hand next, a flawless movement, empty of any and all impurities, aimed right for my neck. I am so bewildered by the way he moves now that I almost forget to use Sphere.

Still, I manage to but it gets destroyed instantly by this guy's strike, and his sword still comes for me.

"Crescent bullet!!"

I shoot nearly eight bullets without thinking and the explosion swallows both of us. I am thrown back, blind and deaf, and after I hit the ground a first time, then my body is thrown again to another side.

"You should pay attention or else you won't understand the difference between us."

I see. It's that guy. He must have stroke me. He didn't get affected by the explosion?! Seriously?!

Instead of landing, I fly way above the stage. That way, I should gain some time for my vision to recover. My ears have recovered already so I know that he isn't near me but soon enough, so many sounds feel my ears that I almost turn deaf again. The cause: his first script, cataclysm. But it seems this time, he unleashed a whole lot more of them.

Thankfully, as they reach me, I can see properly again. Though I would have preferred not to.

"Oh, shit."

It is a rain. His script fills my vision like it is raining. Not only that, they are coming from everywhere below me. I can barely see the people or the stage. Fucking bastard!!

I use Sphere and Disperse consecutively but still, most of them pass through and hit me. I block some others as well but it is not enough.

"Argh!!!" You think I will let you win that easily?! You are dreaming, man!

I fly up while being hit by his script then free fall back on the stage. This has killed an alpha gnoll, I don't think you will be unscathed from it.

"Orah!!"

Persecuted by his slashes that keep hitting me as I fall, I still manage to make it through and reach the stage. Germinia's brother is looking at me falling on him. Unwavering, he doesn't try to move away or anything. He really acts as if he could take the world on by himself.

"Take this!!"

He raises his left sword and as it clashes with my raizen, a screeching sound and as well as a powerful shockwave are emitted.

"Ugh!!" I push with everything I got, but it doesn't bulge. My raizen doesn't move and finally, with his other sword, he knocks me away again.

I land brutally on the stage, beaten up and hurt by his script but still, I can stand up so it is okay. I jump right back up, ready to take on his next attack but he didn't move from his position. Why? is he tired already? Instead of attacking me, he just turns to the presenter and looks at him with surprise.

"Referee, isn't there a problem? With this amount of wounds, he should have been teleported already."

It's only at that moment that I notice my body is covered in wounds now. Let alone the hole he put in my shoulders when I punched him, there are numerous traces left by his script on me. And most of them have made their way through that armor I spent so much money on. Sophia will kill me when she will see this, I am sure.

"Now that you mention it." The referee gets on the stage and comes to me, together with the teacher who was with us at the beginning.

They do a rapid check-up of my wounds then the referee turns around and looks in the direction of the VIP seats. A man there, an old one with a long and thick beard, shakes his head.

"Ladies and gentlemen, according to the laws and rules established for the tournament, the star of Mercuria will be disqualified for the use of drugs."

"What?"

"What?!!"

"What?!!!!"

The whole coliseum resounds with the same question as he says that. The fuck is this guy talking about?