16. Thousand Blade Academy and the Big Five Holy Festival [6] – part 2

Sid’s〈Vanal Thrust〉goes straight for Allen’s throat.

「Allen!?」

「N-No…!?」

That’s when Ria and Rose collapsed to their knees and many of the audience covered their eyes.

「…Aa!?」Sid’s unpleasant voice echoed.

His thrust – was grabbed by Allen’s right hand. Moreover, even when he tried to shake off Allen’s hand with his prided arm strength, the sword does not budge even an inch as though it were lodged into a rock.

「Tch… your final struggle huh…?」

And the next instant, Allen lifted Sid together with〈Vanargand〉and threw them as though throwing away trash.

「The…hell…!?」

Sid was puzzled by the unexpected situation, but he immediately calmed his mind and went on guard. After that, when the cold air released from〈Vanargand〉cleared up, Allen, who should have been riddled with wounds, stood up on both feet. The numerous wounds carved onto his body were nowhere to be found. In addition, his appearance was obviously different from the past.

Long white hair that has emerged softly.

A black pattern that appeared near the bottom of the left eye.

And above all – a brutal look that does not bear the slightest resemblance to his usual self.

As though he had transformed into a completely different person.

Allen looked around the surroundings and lifted the corners of his mouth greatly.

「It’s been sooooooooo bloody long… Oi! How many hundreds of millions of years – No, how many billions of years has it been!? It has developed quite a lot, E”e!?」

Allen shook his shoulders in a good mood and started laughing on his own.

While Ria, Rose, and everyone else in the place looked astonished,

「…So he came out after all.」

Leia was the only one who had a sharp eye on Allen.

Having finished laughing, he muttered as if speaking to himself.

「Even so… Having this much incredible power, and not being able to draw out even a slight portion of it… You really are talentless in a sense… Allen.」

It was aimed at Allen, the owner of the body.

Sid asked Allen, who has made a strange transformation.

「Bastard… who are you? Don’t tell me『Spirit Core』?」

Spirit Core – it is thought that there is always one residing in the human soul. There are various types of spirits, phantom beasts, ancestral spirits, etc, and soul dress is thought to be an equipment that embodies a part of this spirit core that has its own soul.

「Me? I…」

He opened his mouth, but quietly shook his head.

「A”a… doesn’t matter… I don’t have to bother telling someone who is about to die.」

He was declaring indirectly that he would「kill Sid」.

Sid, who understood it immediately,

「Bastard… Who do you think you’re talking to? You’re an eyesore, disappear – 〈Freeze Lance〉!」

He immediately fired a super-massive lance that was more than twice as large as the ones he had fired before.

It was the size of this lance that clearly showed Sid’s caution against the current Allen.

「Allen, avoid it!」

「Please, run!」

The screams of Ria and Rose echoed.

And as for Allen, who was in front of what would be an instant death if hit,

「Ha, ridiculous!」

He hit the looming lance, casually with his left hand.

At that moment, the huge lance shattered into pieces.

「Im-Impossible…!」

Sid doubted his eyes. That was not a simple ice lance. It was a special lance with higher hardness than iron – made by the power of the soul called soul dress.

He became speechless in the face of such an absurd sight – seeing the lance being shattered, which is difficult to destroy even with a sword forged by a master craftsmen, with Allen’s bare hands.

「Pu…Gyahahahaha! Whats with that stupid look! Did you really think that such『ice play』 will work on me… A”a!?」

When Allen was agitated at Sid, a slight『red』was reflected at the edge of his sight.

「Haa…?」

When Allen suspiciously checked the source of the red, he saw slight bleeding from the back of his hand, which had just hit the lance.

At that moment, he flipped.

「Bastard, shitty geezer! The hell is this brittle body!? Don’t fool around…!」

Allen, who was yelling furiously, turned around and glared at a single point in the audience. There was an old man who had been watching the match from the start of this Big Five Holy Festival.

Hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes – were all white and his hips were clearly bent.

「Hyoho!? I’m found I’m found…!」

He soon became transparent and disappeared from the venue.

「Tch, cowardly geezer… he hasn’t changed at all… The next time I see him I won’t let him get away so easy…」

At that time – Sid, who saw Allen’s empty back, laughed boldly.

「You’re too careless, aren’t you? You turned your back to me like this! -〈Vanal Thrust〉!」

A deadly thrust that gushed out tremendous cold air and gained explosive propulsion.

But that thrust.

「Oi Oi, don’t misunderstand… This isn’t『careless』, it’s called『leeway』」

He gently pinched the sword with his thumb and index finger. Almost as if – carefreely pinching a grain of rice stuck to the clothes.

「This is a joke, right…?」

「A”a? Was that perhaps your strongest technique…?」

Speechless, Sid simply stared at the monster before him.

(Can’t win…)

He felt the feeling of『fear』for the first time in the 15 years since his birth.

Allen, who knew that Sid was speechless and that the last attack was his strongest skill,

「…Oi Oi, seriously? I see, you’re too sorry to even find the words huh…」

While desperately enduring his laughter, he shook his head left and right.

「Fuu… Well, then, I’m going to stretch my body a bit… Why don’t you keep me company?」

From then on – it could no longer be called a battle. Allen continuously unleashed punches and kicks one after another – Sid simply continued to receive it with his body.

Arm strength, leg strength, reaction speed – all of which were in a different league. Sid’s absolute superiority in his natural talent was crumbling down before Allen’s monstrous physical abilities. His confidence was completely shattered.

「HaaHaa…」

However, Sid was still standing on both legs while enduring bruises and lacerations all over his body. His superhuman reaction speed continued to shift Allen’s attacks that aimed precisely at his vitals by only a few centimeters.

「That’s it keep it up! Just avoiding it is admirable enough!」

Allen sent dry applause with no heart.

「Tch… get lost…」

Sid spat out bloody saliva. Although he was shown the difference between them, his eyes were still not dead yet.

(If this monstrous power is due to the『spirit core』, then there is absolutely a 『duration』… If that monster sinks back… I will have a chance to win…! )

He single-mindedly wished for an endurance battle.