The brief silence was broken by Aleph’s revetion.

  “Remember the guy I told you before? The one who authored the books I gave you. I let you fight him.”

  “Your friend…”

  Sakura was well aware of Sasaki’s swordsmanship. He did not hold back when choosing the principles to impart. As such, she aowledged the skill of a man who swung his sword tless times meaningfully.

  Throughout all of her simutions…

  …she could not see their fight’s ending.

  “Do you knoce?”

  Just like that, a fight between two swordsmen was decided.

  ******

  Sakura’s hometown was in the Far East. Away from the bustliropolitan cities such as Nagazora, the two sisters were born in the tryside. They kept strict adhereo their culture, and as such, the older one, Sakura, maintained a disciplititude to what she was attached to the most—swordsmanship.

  She once wielded a sword to protect Rin. It was unfortuhat fate had other things in store.

  Their parents died in an act. Their retives divided their ian the grounds of their young age.

  Ultimately, Sakura’s talent ended up in the eyes of Fire MOTH’s bck gloves. Rin’s life was used as a chip for Sakura to work for them.

  Swoosh-!

  It was a wide field of grass. Numerous sakura trees stood tall in a ly-arranged line, making it clear someoed them here.

  “Mister Aleph. Is my big sis about to fight someone?”

  “Yeah. This might be the first time you’ll see her in a.”

  Not far away from them, Sakura looked at Aleph with a plicated gaze. It began with Aleph’s suggestion of letting Rin see her fight. It did end up with the tter being a spectator.

  “The fight only st for fifteen minutes. Regardless of the oute, that friend of mine has to leave.” Aleph said. “Though I believe you settle it ihan five minutes.”

  He gave Sakura time to process everything. His attention was briefly taken by this spot’s beauty.

  ‘It is… I’m not mistaken. It’s the pce Kevin visited… after her death.’

  Tap.

  It was akin to a drop of water. The cursed energy in Aleph’s body went through his Sephira Crystal. The ive energy turned into its inverse form—positive energy. It was simir to the reversed curse teique. Only their mediums of version were different.

  One came from his cursed teiques in his frontal lobe. The other came from his fragmented Sephira Crystal. It wasn’t wrong to say Aleph had way more means pared to before.

  Their surroundings ged swiftly. The paradise in Albion’s mind briefly overpped with the sight in his eyes. Only, it was far more underwhelming. Still, it was enough for the child at his side to wonder.

  “Wow… Flrew out of nowhere!”

  “Fu…”

  Aleph’s sigh was seen by Sakura’s keen eyes. She wao ask how… no, why their surroundings ged. However, she was interrupted by Aleph.

  “I made the surroundings tougher. It would be meaningless in a real fight, but it’s a pity for a sight like this to be destroyed, even actally.”

  “...”

  Sakura fell silent. She felt that she never fully kneh at all. She heard his experiences, but it was not everything. His motives from a year ago, as well as his reason fhting now…

  She did not know anything at all.

  Who would’ve expected that a man capable of single-handedly crushing a Herrscher cared about a tranquil sight?

  “I’ll call him out now.”

  Her thoughts were halted.

  A tall red Tate maed out of nowhere. Its gap showed a vague dark enviro.

  Tap.

  Tap.

  Ripple-!

  A man came out of it. He was wearing the traditional outfit of the people from the feudal era. A long nodachi was hung behind his back with a blue sheathe. His long hair and peaceful gaze gave off a special aura.

  ‘Is this how it is?’

  Aleph focused more on the effects brought by Sasaki’s arrival. The visible effects included the distortion of space. His elemental sight also caught the momentary adaptation of Sasaki into “this world”.

  {Results: From the stored data, it is judged that the natives of the otherworld were suppressed by the textures of humanity and an active will interfering in a world’s development…}

  The world where Sasaki came from was plicated. pared to this world that only had the Co of Finality as the maniputor behind the ses, the Fate World had the textures of humanity, mysteries, and the two wills affeg it.

  ‘I really o create a general thearding the retivity of a world’s ws…’

  Aleph’s mind raced as he thought of a new research dire.

  “It is o meet you in person, Miss Sakura.”

  “It is also o meet you.”

  Their first csh began in the form of sg each other out. It is also known as a pre-judgement before a fight truly begins. This process exists in every fight, though it could be felt more promily in duels.

  “I believe you wao seek an answer.” Sasaki spoke elegantly. “Whose sword will triumph the other’s… and the likes. Let’s not waste any more time, shall we?”

  “I agree.”

  In terms of raw physical strength, Sakura far outcsses Sasaki. The same thing would happen to Sasaki once she faced Sakura, a high-level MANTIS, in a fair fight.

  What they were looking for wasn’t a fair fight, but…

  Sou-!

  g-!

  g-!

  …a csh between their bdes.

  Swoosh-!

  It all happened in a moment. The moment two loud strikes resounded, a strong gust of wind inated from the ter point. It rustled Rin’s shoulder-length hair as well as the newly-grown flowers.

  A thin line of blood appeared in Sakura’s face. Sasaki’s helpless smile, devoid of sarcasm, expressed his internal state in full.

  “The world is truly a vast pce.” He stated.

  “I never mao block the final strike.”

  Sakura swiped the blood on her face with her fingers.

  “It was surprising you blocked two of them.”

  It was a battle of teiques.

  The pinnacle of Sakura’s abilities y in her ability to literally ‘stop’ time. Utilizing her swift speed, it turned into a deadly on. It already derailed from the usual abilities and was resulted by Sakura’s sheer talent in swordsmanship. The MANTIS surgery only awake.

  Meanwhile, Sasaki’s Tsubame Gaeshi was also a teique that defied the norm. It allowed him to strike three times—in the same pce, at the same time.

  It was something that touched upon the parallel worlds based on quantum theory. Simply put, his teique overps three possibilities where the strikes ‘hit’ his oppo, thereby all the strikes being unblockable.

  Ohese two teiques cshed, Tsubame Gaeshi prevailed, but with only a narrow margin.

  “Let’s fight again.”

  Sakura’s words uhed all of her past frustrations.