Ryu swung his sword, eager to fight, and took a step forward.

But in the next instant, he stopped his attack and quickly stepped back.

He hadn't thought it through before taking that step, but his danger sense had activated, and he realized that if he continued his attack, he would be the one getting defeated.

(Ryu was trying to avoid using the Divine Eye, but his danger sense was always active passively, so it was unavoidable that he reacted instinctively.)

The future his sense showed him was...

...The lightning-fast large sword was about to strike Ryu's head, right after Iraira's small sword deflected the blow Ryu had delivered.

This was the second time he'd been in such a situation. Did Iraira's strength rival Reinarde's?

Of course, since Ryu was wearing his dimensional barrier armor, he wouldn't be hurt if he were hit, but it wouldn't do for him to be hit, as that would mean losing the mock battle.

He tried to bait her with attacks from different angles, but he could only see the future where he dodged, and the large sword hit him. Iraira's dual swords were perfectly coordinated, defensively and offensively, creating a highly refined dual-wielding style.

...

On second thought, it was only natural that he was at a disadvantage. It was two against one.

Ryu remembered his martial arts-obsessed friend from his past life, who had said that dual wielding was stronger than single-sword wielding in Japanese kendo.

There was a time when dual wielding was all the rage in the kendo world, and all the dual wielders were winning.

But the kendo elders thought that was unfair, so they changed the rules to make it harder for dual wielders to win.

Specifically, they decided not to count strikes from dual wielders as valid hits.

In Japanese kendo, you don't just get a point for getting hit with a bamboo sword. A strike needs to be recognized as a "valid hit," and to be valid, it needs to be "in harmony with mind, spirit, and body." It has to meet certain conditions, like "spirit," "posture," "strike location," "blade position," "blade trajectory," "awareness after the strike," etc. If all the conditions aren't met, it won't be considered a valid hit. And apparently, "strikes with one hand in a dual wielding style" are generally not considered a valid hit unless it's a really amazing strike because they don't meet the requirements for "harmony with mind, spirit, and body."

But in a simple "hit and run" scenario, where whoever touches the other person wins, it's obvious that two swords would be stronger than one.

For example, in boxing, if a fighter could only use one hand and another fighter could use both hands, the two-handed fighter would be far stronger.

In kendo, if the only rule was to hit, it would make sense that dual wielding, where you could strike with one sword while defending with the other, would be stronger.

But in reality, kendo is based on the premise of using real swords. There's a reason why it's difficult to wield a heavy sword with one hand. The kendo elders weren't wrong to decide what they did.

It's true that if you use a heavy, real sword with one hand, you'll lack maneuverability compared to using both hands. And the destructive power of a single-handed swing with full force is completely different from a two-handed swing with full force.

Miyamoto Musashi is famous for dual wielding, but it's a well-known fact that he hardly ever used dual wielding in actual combat with real swords.

But in another world, Earth's common sense doesn't apply. The people in this world use magic to enhance their physical strength, so they have superhuman strength compared to humans on Earth. (Or maybe their weapons are enchanted to reduce weight.)

That changes things. If you're fighting with light knives, and your opponent has two in both hands, while you only have one, the person with two knives would have a huge advantage.

...

Ryu tried to figure out how to attack, trying different angles. But no matter how he tried to strike with one sword, he couldn't avoid being hit by the other sword while he blocked with the first. That was the only future he could see.

It was impossible for him to win against a master who had honed their technique to that level, even though Ryu had improved.

But what about "Sword Saint" Reinarde? He's a single-sword wielder who uses both hands, but how would he fight against Iraira's dual wielding, if he were a "Sword Saint?"

It would be interesting to see them fight. Who would be stronger? Reinarde is obsessed with swordsmanship, so he'd be happy to spar...

Ryu was momentarily lost in thought, reminiscing and fantasizing, but it wasn't the time for that.

Iraira, who had been waiting the whole time, saw that Ryu's hands had stopped and instantly went on the offensive.

Her step, and the swing of her large sword, were like lightning.

And it was too late to step back and create distance, too late to step forward and block the attack. It was a perfect technique, with perfect timing and distance.

Block it? No, too late. The large sword was just a little faster than Ryu's sword, which was belatedly raised in defense.

...He could barely avoid the blow by twisting his body at the last second.

But even if he dodged the large sword, he wouldn't be able to dodge the small sword's lightning-fast thrust, which was launched at the same time.

Ryu was going to be hit by the thrust...

...That's the future he saw in a flash of foresight.

Each attack was difficult to dodge on its own. And they were coming at him simultaneously. Even with foresight, he couldn't find a way to avoid both. It was truly impressive.

Ryu was certain that this woman was the equal of, or maybe even surpassed, the "Sword Saint" in skill.

How much training had she done to achieve such a level of mastery?

Even if she had the "Swordmaster" class, or even the higher "Sword Saint" class, it would still require hellish training to reach that level.

...

He was going to lose for sure.

Normally, he could use "Accelerate" and create a slowed world where he could calmly devise a strategy.

But Ryu was practicing self-control and avoiding time magic right now. He wasn't using the accelerate pedal.

The attack he had foreseen was about to begin. He only had a moment. He had to make a decision.

What did Ryu do?

Iraira's attack began.

The two clashed.

Ryu disregarded his self-imposed restriction on time magic and activated the accelerate pedal.

Next Episode

Ryu discards self-control and uses dual wielding!

Stay tuned!