"Neither of us are surprised at being the last ones to stand on this stage. Our difference in power compared to the other competitors is too immense after all."

The Blind Swordsman stood in front of Kai with his hair swaying in the breeze. The two of them weren't a distance and instead just a few steps away from each other.

Though to outsiders, it seemed like they were having an amicable chat, their bloodlust continued to seep out of every pore of their body and a sword would be drawn at any given moment.

"Hey, how many of you flies do I have to swat down before the bastard hero comes down here himself?"

The Blind Swordsman wasn't provoked by any of Kai's words towards himself but whenever Kai insulted Howard, he would begin shaking in anger.

"You dare...!"

It appeared that was the last straw for The Blind Swordsman as he approached Kai even more and they began to clash foreheads. Kai was shorter but only by a bit, the two of them glared into each other's eyes as the stage beneath them began to crack from their aura alone.

...

"Why is Kai provoking him?!"

Yoko yelled out in utter disbelief.

"Well, after all is said and done, I doubt Kai can just contain his anger when facing off against one of the culprits for this world's destruction. He's that sort of person, after all. To meticulously prepare something but not even care if it doesn't come into fruition just for that one moment of satisfaction."

After a heartless assessment, Erina sighed but underneath her mask, her mouth was slowly forming into a smirk.

Amelia had kept her eyes on the stage this whole time but all of a sudden, her eye flashed with a strange light and she turned to the side.

"I come without any intention of doing harm, Vampire Princess."

The guardian of time sat next to Amelia. Unlike the rest of them, she was only covered by a hood and no mask, they could see the tips of her silver hair and immediately became alert.

"This is the same scent that I smelled around the house before. Who are you?"

It was obvious that she wasn't in the mood for jokes.

The guardian gulped and hurriedly explained, "you know of his return from the future but not the method. Me and my people, the guardians of time are part of the reason he was able to do so."

"Then what do you want with us?"

Amelia narrowed her eyes and faced the guardian. Her irises had turned into slits and were dyed in red at some point. Her two fangs also grew larger and the tips could be seen poking out of her lips.

The guardian broke out into a cold sweat and stuttered, "I want you to stop him when the time comes for him to make a decision. The cause and effect—the balance of this world isn't something that just anyone can interfere with. He has touched and changed the flow of time far too many times and as one of the people responsible for making him do such things, I feel the need to help him but I won't be able to do anything.

"In exchange for changing the past, he has sped up a tragedy and on that day, he will lose someone very important to him. When that day comes, I want you all to stop him. He will definitely try to defy fate and reverse time once more but no matter what, he can't be allowed to do that. He won't listen to my words and only those of you here have a chance of stopping him."

Erina peeked in from Amelia's side.

"What is that day and when will it happen?"

Instead of responding to Erina, the guardian locked eyes with Amelia instead. When that happened, Amelia's eyes flickered and the animosity that she was emitting faded.

"I'll stop him."

"...On behalf of the guardians, thank you and... I'm sorry."

The others were confused and it seemed that only the guardian and Amelia had understood. It didn't look like they had any intentions of revealing what they knew to the others.

...

Back at the stage, the announcer was about to raise the curtains on the finals. Everyone was already prepared to evacuate the people. Kai knew that the moment the two of them began fighting, let alone this arena, even the city was at risk of being destroyed.

Luckily, Aubrey Academy was in the same city and would definitely be able to help reduce the damage. Neither Anne nor the principal would be able to realize that he is actually Kenji after all.

"The match between the masked participant and the blind swordsman will now start!"

As if to signify that the match is different from the rest, he began using magic to shoot a small fireball in the sky. The moment the fireball exploded, then a match that none of the people present would be able to comprehend would start. Kai wouldn't hold back even a little bit of his power from the start.

While thinking such thoughts, Kai's artificial eyes and limbs' gears and magic circles began to surge in power.

In response to him, the Blind Swordsman leaned forward, put his left foot back, and held the handle of his sword.

BOOM

At the exact same second that the explosion of the fireball that signified the start of the battle resounded, both Kai and the Blind Swordsman vanished from place. Erina and the others began moving and evacuated everyone and even threatened those who wouldn't comply with magic. Still, they didn't need to rely on threats for long. With just one attack, a huge gust of wind cut apart the entire lower half of the arena and it began shaking. The barrier that was put up in case of loose attacks was broken apart like it was made of glass.

Erina took charge and used frost to seal up the cracks to prevent the arena from breaking apart while the audience began screaming and yelling in fear.

The announcer that had been on the stage just until a second ago shivered while Yoko held him under her arm. She had been tasked with getting the announcer away because of her speed and newly awakened innate ability.

Kai's hands that held the sword shook at the massive amount of power behind the Blind Swordsman's strike.

"Urk... Still quite the monster, aren't you?"

Kai managed to mutter. He felt like he wasn't blocking a sword but a tank.

If it weren't for his attempts to cancel out the force, then perhaps his entire side of the arena and a few kilometers beyond that would have long since been turned into debris and rubble.

"Change of plans, evacuate everything within ten kilometers and be ready for any shockwaves!"

When Arata heard his order, he shuddered while holding the black shield that Kai had given him. It could withstand quite the amount of force but could he? He knew that compared to the rest, his ability to block was the best and so, the last part of Kai's order was mostly focused on him.

Once Kai finished sending them his message, he breathed in deeply and used his artificial leg to push forward.

Because he was pushed back—even if just slightly—the Blind Swordsman showed surprise. But, it wasn't enough to overwhelm him. Soon enough, he exerted more force into his sword and Kai was back into his previous stance of defending against the attack.

As he was about to be overwhelmed, his feet suddenly ignited and he once more contested superiority against the Blind Swordsman. The two of them moved many times faster than the sound for the initial strike but now, both of them stood still trying to force the other into submission. To outsiders, it may look like an uneventful clash but if either of the two on the stage let down their guards for even a second, then the entire area behind them would crumble faster than a sandcastle being hit by a huge wave.

Unfortunately for Kai, even his massive amount of mana to support him wasn't enough and he lost the clash. He raised his left arm to block as the Blind Swordsman's blade made contact.

BOOOOOOOOOOM

A single slash created debris as far as the eye could see. His side of the arena was completely destroyed and so were the tens of houses in the immediate vicinity. Luckily, it seemed that Arata expected it as there was a giant wall made of earth with Arata at the very front.

"How strong are those two?! I feel like blocking that one attack shaved off ten years of my life!"

Arata exclaimed in a mix of exasperation and desperation.

"That arm of yours... is quite tough, isn't it?"

The Blind Swordsman chuckled but his expression soon turned into one of seriousness.

"Even I don't take pride in slaughtering the innocent. Why don't you say we move this battle elsewhere? You were already planning on doing it anyway."

Kai turned his head to the side and spat some blood on the floor. Just the shockwave from that one attack caused his internal organs to be disturbed.

"For a blind person, you're quite observant. Unfortunately, I don't plan on initiating that part of the plan just yet."

Kai's left eye began rotating.

Initializing Battle Protocol #7

Releasing limiters on the eyes, arms, and legs.

Complete.

Altering parts to suit rapid combat.

Complete.

The words that Kai saw floating in the air around the left side of his eye disappeared. His arm and leg had changed. The skin that covered the outside disappeared and it now had several different additions to its features.

"I upgraded my parts."

Kai nonchalantly spoke as a hatch opened on his left arm's elbow and a jet of flames boosted his arm to force the Blind Swordsman back. Then, somewhere on his lower thigh, another small hatch opened and a similar jet moved him at a speed faster than Flash Step.

Once he made enough distance with the Blind Swordsman, he held onto his sword tightly.

"I'm not ashamed of saying that I can't beat you in normal combat. I have to rely on equipment and upgrades to match the likes of you."

His arm and leg kept on making sounds while his eye zoomed in and out repeatedly.

"The me right now... is able to contend with you."

Once he finished, the Blind Swordsman began laughing.

"Hahahaha! You think that just because you've upgraded your artificial limbs then you'll be able to contend with me—a general of the great hero?! Don't kid yourself!"

His deep voice was filled with rage as he took another stance. It was the same stance that he had used against Yoko.

"One sword style: Faster than Light."

It was a technique worthy of being called a finishing move. Kai closed his right eye and relied on his left. The reason he had upgraded his eye was because he knew that no matter what he did at the moment, he wouldn't be able to match the Blind Swordsman in speed and reaction time.

That's why—instead of relying on his own body which had its limits, he worked with runes and magic, two things that not even Howard Greylock could wield perfectly.

Physical body unable to react in time.

Initializing auto-combat.

The countermeasure that Kai had applied was this.

His left arm and left leg moved faster than the rest of his body and moved to block the attack that could very well be a hundred times at the speed of sound. It was a speed that Kai's body wouldn't be able to react to no matter how much he wished. That's why he relied on runes.

WHOOSH

Just like that, the attack and the force behind it was blocked completely. It wasn't just the Blind Swordsman, even Kai was completely shocked at what happened. He made a trigger for his countermeasure but didn't expect it to work that well.

"...Looks like I stand more of a chance than I thought."

Kai laughed nervously while the cold sweat continued to drench his back.