Rein rushed in as soon as he drew his swords, unleashing relentless slashes unto Clyde, who was defending them with ease without the use of his Spring. As they continued, it became clear to Rein how much stronger Clyde is while using a sword. His previous hesitation was now gone, and what was left was unrivaled confidence in his swordsmanship.

They both took a step back.

“Your swordsmanship is impressive as expected Sir Rein. But I will also stop holding back. I suggest you do the same. This is not the same as the preliminaries. I promise that you will lose if you do not use your Spring,” Warned Clyde.

Rein was for some reason looking into the waiting room, his eyes darting around it.

“Once again, you pay no attention to your current fight!” Yelled Clyde, activating his Spring. He dashed towards Rein, and slashed at his swords, trying to get him to drop them. But, when he did, Rein’s entire figure disappeared into thin air. Suddenly, Clyde sensed something from behind him. He turned around, seeing Rein winding up a swing with his swords downwards at his tachi. With the little time left on his Spring, he dodged while he still had the chance. His Spring deactivated, leaving him unable to activate it for another 10 seconds. Rein knew this, and took advantage of that fact, making more after-images of himself to attack Clyde. Once again, Clyde was able to defend relatively easily. He was able to take a moment to breathe, using a Kazaha school technique used to clear one’s mind. He took a deep breath.

“Seeking Blade, Cognitive Cleans!” When he opened his eyes, Rein realized something.

“Guess these illusions won’t work anymore.” He said as he released his hold on Clyde.

“Unfortunately, the Kazaha school prides itself on meditation. It is nearly impossible for me to be affected by illusions at all. I am deeply impressed that you even affected me in the first place. Your Spring must be incredibly strong.”

“Yeah, looks like I’m gonna need to try something else.” He continued to look into the waiting room, with a concerned look on his face.

“My apologies Sir Rein, but are you perhaps looking for something? You keep averting your gaze.”

“Oh, not really. I was just wondering where Chloe was. She’s not in the waiting room, so I’m a bit worried.” He said as he feigned concern.

“Ah, I neglected to mention this to you. Chloe told me to tell you that she will be sitting with your sisters up in the stand. I apologize for not telling you earlier, it must’ve been clouding your thoughts during our fight.”

Rein looked up to where Chloe was in the stands and made eye contact with her. He didn’t wave, smile, or anything. He simply looked. Chloe was surprised and confused to see him looking her way, but she simply followed what the other 2 girls were doing and waved happily. Clyde waited for him to look back, letting him quell his worries. Rein looked back at Clyde and readied his stance.

“Thanks for waiting. Though, I knew you would.”

“Of course. It would be dishonorable to attack a foe in that state.”

“Okay then, let’s recommence.”

Rein lifted his foot and stomped it on the ground, causing the stone tiles on the floor of the arena to start levitating.

“What’s this? A second Spring?” Thought Clyde. The crowd though, reacted for a different reason. It was not because they thought Rein activated a second spring. They couldn’t see the illusions that Clyde previously saw after all. But for some reason, they still erupted.

Rein began running around Clyde, using the floating tiles as cover from Clyde’s line of sight.

“Now, activate your Spring and guess which one I’m behind!” Exclaimed Rein. Clyde did just that, activating his Spring and once again slowing time. He turned around and powerfully but hesitantly slashed a tile, cutting it in half. Nothing was behind it. He didn’t have much time left to find him. Using up 3 seconds to breathe in, He noticed small changes in the environment around him. He turned around again, this time with a smile on his face, and confidently slashed through a tile, revealing Rein behind it. Despite time being slowed, Rein was still moving at remarkable speed, but not fast enough to dodge a precise strike to the hands, once again aimed to make him drop his swords. But, when Clyde’s sword made contact, it was like he was slashing a substance even stronger than the tiles he cut through. Rein had encased his hands and his grip on the sword with stones and reinforced them with his own energy. Clyde’s Spring deactivated, making him take another step away from his opponent.

Rein could feel his energy draining slowly.

Energy: 542/750 (Draining)

He looked back at Chloe, who was staring at him with a horrified expression. Emria and Saphrilla were trying to snap her out of it, but she wouldn’t budge. A million thoughts were running through her head. ‘How does he have that Spring?’ or ‘Could he be… no, but there’s no way.’. As more and more thoughts invaded her head, she got up and ran down the stairs of the stadium, followed by Emria and Saphrilla.

Rein glanced over at the principal and Wallace, the latter being held back by a group of guards after seeing Rein’s newly revealed power. Wallace looked incredibly angry and was resisting the restraint from the guards who held him. Julianne was simply sitting in her chair and observing the spectacle.

Rein looked back at Clyde, who was still recovering his Spring. He knew that it would be futile to try and attack him, as Clyde’s prowess with a sword is nothing to scoff at. But he was about to try anyways before he was stopped by Clyde.

“Wait. Why..?” Asked Clyde severely confused.

“Hm? Oh, you mean this power?” Rein smiled at him.

“Why do you have the ex-Orthlys royal family guards Spring? I… don’t understand. Just a moment ago, you were making illusions of yourself…”

“You sure you weren’t just imagining those? Oh wait, I guess you were.” Rein laughed carelessly.

“If you do not wish to answer my question, then very well. But if I win this duel, you must tell me who you really are, Rein Xilris.” Said Clyde as a serious glint flickered in his eyes, indicating that he was now going all out.

“Fine. That conversation stalled you enough time for your Spring to come back up. Come at me.” Rein taunted him.

Clyde once again activated his spring. This would be the final time. He swiftly dashed towards Rein, who, once again, was still quite agile within the slowed time. Though, his speed did not matter when it came to Clyde’s next attack. He focused all of his energy on the next two strikes. He was betting it all on this, an attack so powerful that it could break through Rein’s energy shield. Once again, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath and put his sword back into its sheath, while still holding on to the handle. He opened his eyes and slashed upwards on Rein’s right-hand wrist, where his stone shield was. It completely shattered it, causing the sword to fly out of his hand. Clyde then used the momentum and slashed downwards at his left-hand wrist, getting a direct hit. This time, the shield was able to stay intact, meaning that Rein still held on to his left sword. The two attacks drained through Clyde’s energy, making him deactivate his Spring early.

Rein’s right sword landed blade first into the soft dirt ground under the missing tiles he used for cover. He ran over and ducked down to pick it out of the ground, but when his hand wrapped around the handle, he found himself staring directly into Clyde’s blade.

“I win Rein. Give up and drop your other sword,” uttered Clyde, breathing remarkably heavier than before.

“Damn, you’re good Clyde.”