Rinho, fighting the top disciple, had been driven back to the wall.

Her long, beautiful hair was partially cut, and her clothes were stained with blood.

Seeing this, the top disciple looked bored.

"Is this the One Flash Style that was called the strongest? Weak, far too weak. I see now, it wasn't that you all were strong, but that the One Flash Style itself was incredible."

Rinho silently parried the top disciple's One Flash attacks.

And then, the top disciple realized something.

"I alone am sufficient to carry on the strongest school. Once I kill you and Liam, I will kill everyone who knows the One Flash Style, and I alone will claim its name!"

It was a declaration that he would even kill the magistrate and make this ultimate sword art his and his alone.

He must have decided to put his plan into motion after killing Rinho.

He lunged forward, unleashing a One Flash.

But in that instant.

Rinho also moved forward, passing by the top disciple.

Surprised that his One Flash hadn't reached Rinho, the top disciple hurriedly turned around.

Rinho let out a small sigh.

"I've been observing your movements, and to be honest, you're a disappointment. And what's this about hammering down the nail that sticks out? You're such a small-minded man."

"What are you saying after struggling against my One Flash?!"

Rinho unleashed a One Flash of her own, and a cut appeared on the top disciple's cheek.

When the top disciple touched it, he found it was just a scratch.

But that single blow seemed to make him understand.

He began to tremble violently.

Seeing him like this, a disappointed Rinho looked down.

"I wanted to investigate how the original One Flash Style had developed, but it seems it's truly useless aside from the One Flash. It's lacking in everything, so even the One Flash has no sharpness."

Only the One Flash.

Rinho understood it as a school that abandoned all else to master only the One Flash.

Turning back to the top disciple, Rinho assumed an iai stance.

The top disciple hurriedly took his stance as well, but in the next moment, he was bisected, falling to the ground in two pieces.

As blood spread across the floor, Rinho looked down at the top disciple with cold eyes.

"A degenerate One Flash Style is better off gone."

With that mutter, Rinho began to walk away.

◇

In the courtyard, Fuuka was clashing with seven opponents, her clothes tattered and her body covered in wounds.

Surrounded by the seven and their unleashed One Flashes, she was fighting with a smile on her face.

The senior disciples were taken aback by the sight.

"How can she dodge them!? Why won't she go down?!"

They couldn't understand why Fuuka hadn't fallen, despite being outnumbered.

However, as she fought, Fuuka was realizing something.

If Rinho analyzed things calmly, Fuuka learned instinctively, through her wild senses.

"You guys really can't use anything but the One Flash, can you?"

When Fuuka suddenly mocked them, the disciples' faces twisted, and they put more force into their attacks.

A One Flash with more power than ever before was unleashed, but Fuuka nimbly dodged it.

"It's useless. You just increased the power. The One Flash—is done like this!"

She swung her two swords, and three of the disciples, excluding the senior ones, were cut down.

As everyone stood there, stunned, Fuuka shouldered her two swords.

"Your One Flash is a fake."

As Fuuka declared this, a senior disciple drew his sword and took a stance.

"It is not a fake. It is the genuine One Flash Style! The Empire's greatest sword art!"

"No, it's a fake. The important parts are missing, and your One Flash has grown rusty. Watching you all has made me realize just how terrifying my master and senior disciple are."

While disappointed in the original One Flash Style, she was also grateful that it had reaffirmed what terrifying beings Yasushi and Liam were to her.

But that was all.

They had been formidable opponents.

And she had been able to realize what she herself was lacking.

"Watching you all, I understand now. Just being able to do the One Flash isn't enough. It makes sense why my senior disciple emphasizes the basics so much."

As Fuuka muttered to herself, the senior disciple charged at her in a panic.

His instincts must have feared something.

Fuuka stood still, narrowing her eyes, but the senior disciple who leaped at her was sliced into tiny pieces.

The other disciples who saw this turned their backs and tried to flee.

Fuuka's mouth stretched into a wide grin.

"Hey, hey, you can't do that, can you? If a practitioner of the One Flash Style runs away—wouldn't you be better off dead?"

As Fuuka closed the distance to the disciples, she unleashed a One Flash at each of them as they scattered.

It was just enough power to finish them in a single blow.

She precisely slashed their vital points, and by the time Fuuka landed, all of them had fallen.

Sheathing her two swords, Fuuka took a deep breath and looked at herself.

"—Well, it's better than when I fought my senior disciple."

Having triumphed over her fellow practitioners, Fuuka moved on in search of her next enemy.

◇

"The truth is always cruel."

My kimono was in tatters.

The training suit I wore underneath had also ceased to function and had been automatically purged.

I took off my jacket, leaving me bare-chested with only my hakama pants on.

Blood was flowing from my wounds, but they weren't fatal, so I ignored them.

Sheathing the sword in my right hand, I held it in my left and looked up at the ceiling.

The lights were dazzling.

And I was starting to feel ashamed of my misunderstandings up until now.

"So Master never drew his sword from the very beginning."

As if my realization didn't matter, the disciples of the original One Flash Style surrounding me unleashed their attacks.

I pushed the guard up slightly with my thumb, and then made a crisp click with the sword.

And what happened then?

The bodies of the seventeen disciples, including the senior ones, crumbled to pieces, collapsing to the floor and bleeding out.

There was no spray of blood.

—And I hadn't drawn my sword from its scabbard.

I had just made a sound.

With that simple action, seventeen people were sliced to ribbons, and the room was filled with cuts.

It was a secret art I had reached at the end of harsh training.

The One Flash existed in a realm that could not be reached by strength, skill, or even magic alone.

This meant that the techniques I had been using until now were just imitations of the One Flash.

"No wonder Master didn't carry a sword. —He never needed one in the first place."

Thinking back, when I reunited with Viscount—now Baron—Raizel on his territory, Master wasn't wearing a sword.

It wasn't that he didn't have one—it was that he didn't need one.

I probably couldn't do it now. If I wasn't wearing a sword, I probably couldn't unleash a One Flash. Even if I could, I would surely fail.

"So this is the real One Flash."

I muttered and turned my gaze to the one who had survived.

One person was left alive, but his face showed he couldn't comprehend what had just happened.

I slowly approached him.

The man, his face filled with fear, unleashed a One Flash while trembling.

His aim was so off that I didn't even need to dodge the slashes.

"D-Don't come any closer! Stay awayyyy!!"

Seeing him crying and screaming, it was pathetic to think he was from the same One Flash Style.

When I stood right in front of him, the man collapsed and fell on his rear.

The smell of ammonia wafted up from the floor, but I ignored it and asked my question.

"Where is your master?"

"Huh?"

"The master of the original One Flash Style. What's his name? Where is he? And our master is safe, isn't he?"

My control over the One Flash—the true One Flash—was still immature, and it was frustrating that one person had survived.

However, if one person survived, I could get information from them.

"Answer me. Where is your master? And our master?"

"W-With the magistrate..."

I hadn't sensed a strong presence near the magistrate, but hearing that was enough. I sent the man's head flying.

Sheathing my sword, I made a click sound.

Then, the thick door that had been sealing the room shattered into pieces and collapsed.

It seems I had been wrong from the very beginning.

The ultimate secret of the One Flash Style was to cut without drawing the sword.

"Now then, I suppose I'll take Ellen and proceed deeper."

I had overcome one wall.

All that was left was to rescue Master Yasushi.

◇

"What do you mean, not drawing the sword?!"

The Guide, who had been monitoring Liam, couldn't process what he was seeing.

He couldn't believe Liam, who had just declared that the secret of a sword art was to not draw the sword.

Gudwar was the same.

"It's true that some schools say the best outcome is to not have to draw your sword, but this is different! The meaning is different! What do you mean he's literally not drawing it?!"

A slash that was neither swordsmanship nor magic.

The Guide and Gudwar were flustered by the answer Liam had reached.

They had prepared a large number of One Flash Style users to defeat Liam, only for him to defeat them and become even stronger.

For the Guide, it was a nightmare.

"Gudwar, if it comes to this—eek?!"

The Guide tried to discuss the next plan with Gudwar, but Gudwar's face was bright red, and he was emitting steam.

It seemed Liam was absolutely not to Gudwar's taste.

"I was expecting a blood-pumping, heart-pounding battle, but how can something like this be allowed! I'll crush him. Liam will definitely be crushed here!"

Liam's One Flash Style was no longer a sword art.

Having made that judgment, Gudwar grabbed the Guide with his tentacles.

"S-Stop it. It hurts!"

As the captured Guide struggled, Gudwar tightened his grip to vent his frustration.

"This is because you did something unnecessary!"

"How unreasonable!"

He called it unreasonable, but Liam had grown this strong because of the Guide's interference.

Gudwar's anger was not misplaced.

"If it's come to this, I'll bury Liam no matter what! That guy is bad news. If we leave him be—he'll definitely become our enemy! If we don't eliminate him here, his blade will reach us!"

The steam released by Gudwar turned black and spread into the surroundings.

It stretched out into space, summoning Liam's enemies.

The Guide watched the scene while being squeezed.

(W-With this, Liam is finished.)

Even while being tormented by Gudwar, the Guide was willing to endure it if it meant Liam would be defeated.

◇

Two malevolent beings sought to kill Liam.

The black steam, invisible to humans, reached into space and spread.

Watching it from the bow of a black warship was a being of light in the shape of a dog.

In the soundless vacuum of space, it let out a single howl.

That howl transcended space and reached the one it was meant for.

◇

"Hmm? Did I just hear a dog howl? Well, that doesn't matter."

In the room where Chester was waiting for someone, Yasushi was on display in a cage, like a product.

He himself was quite panicked.

"They all lost? All thirty of them?!"

Watching Chester's back as he listened to a report from his subordinate, Yasushi snorted.

(Oh? Could it be that a rival faction has launched an attack? Good, go ahead and defeat these guys, then rescue me. Did my prayers to the gods work?)

The captured Yasushi had been praying every day for someone to come and rescue him.

Since he was a man who could do nothing on his own, he turned to the gods in times of trouble.

Yasushi was naively delighted, thinking his wish had been granted.

If they were Chester's enemies, they might rescue him from his capture.

As Yasushi harbored such a faint hope, he felt a strange chill.

A shiver ran down his spine.

(Did I catch a cold?)

As he was escaping reality, thinking about sleeping warmly tonight, the door to the room was sliced to pieces.

(Hm, my rescue—huh?)

Yasushi's eyes lit up with anticipation, but from the spot where the door had been sliced and collapsed, two figures could be seen.

The one who appeared was—Liam.

The grown-up Liam was more robustly built than the version Yasushi remembered.

Upon finding Yasushi, Liam straightened his posture.

"Master, I apologize for the delay."

As the battle-scarred Liam appeared, Yasushi also straightened his posture and sat in seiza.

He feigned a calm demeanor, but inwardly he was screaming.

(God, not him!! Anyone but him!! Send him away, quick!)

Of all people, the one person he least wanted to come to his rescue had arrived.

Behind Liam was a red-haired girl.

That girl called Liam "Master."

"Master, the master of the original One Flash Style is not here."

"We can just ask Chester where he is. —Now then, are you the one who abducted my master? You're prepared for the consequences, I assume?"

As Liam threatened Chester in a terribly cold voice, a heavy atmosphere enveloped the room.

It became difficult to even breathe, and Yasushi couldn't stop his cold sweat.

But it didn't end there.

"Oh my? Is my senior disciple the first to arrive?"

The one who appeared next was Rinho, also in tatters.

However, upon entering the room and finding Yasushi, she broke into a wide smile.

"It's Master! Masterrr!!"

As Rinho waved her hands wildly, Fuuka burst into the room from behind her.

She too was covered in wounds, but her eyes were teary with joy as she looked at Yasushi.

"Finally. I finally get to see you! We came to rescue you, Master!"

Yasushi desperately smiled at the four who had come to his rescue and gave a small nod.

(I never wanted to see you guys again! Why are you all acting together when I sent you to defeat Liam!)

Yasushi was at his limit, unable to comprehend the situation.

So, he let whatever Chester was saying go in one ear and out the other.

Chester was holding a switch.

"Don't come near me! If you take one more step, your master will be blown to smithereens—what?!"

Chester showed them the switch, but the moment he brandished it before Liam and the others, it shattered into pieces.

Then, near Yasushi, figures emerged from the floor and walls.

Those masked individuals were apparently Liam's subordinates.

"Lord Liam, the explosive device has been disarmed. All traps have also been dealt with."

Liam just muttered, "I see."

Then, he turned his gaze to the trembling Chester.

The terrified Chester couldn't withstand Liam's pressure and drew his sword.

"Y-You monster!"

An immature One Flash was unleashed, and Liam intercepted it.

Sparks flew between the two.

Chester unleashed the One Flash again and again, but Liam intercepted them all.

Liam put a hand to his chin and glanced at Ellen.

"This is perfect. Ellen, you deal with this one."

"—Yes."

Ellen stepped forward to face Chester.