Chapter 5

-Greetings, Nova Arena fans! I am NJA caster Shinohara Kenichi. Sitting right beside me is commentator Ito Masanori, who has been with Nova Arena Japan since the very beginning.

-Hello, everyone. Ito Masanori here.

-Many of you might wonder why the two of us are covering an amateur league match instead of the pro league. But how could we pass on a blockbuster like this? The moment word broke that Akwi and Ninja were matched up, we rushed straight to the booth!

-Right off the bat, Ninja takes control of the distance. His positioning is exceptionally impressive. That movement clearly comes from vast experience. He isn’t rushing a single thing.

-Akwi, on the other hand, is playing conservatively, running a thorough probing phase. He’s chosen not to force an engagement early on!

-True, but giving ground like this means the fight inevitably flows at Ninja’s pace.

A sharp, cut-off breath preceded the sudden strike of Ninja’s curved blade.

Go Taemin brought his sword up lightly to deflect the blow. A dull sting radiated into his palm.

If his body hadn’t been tempered to the limit, that blow would have severed his neck right through his parrying blade, even if he managed to block it.

In the next instant, Ninja’s curved sword curved like a serpent, snaking in toward Taemin’s flank.

He had read Taemin’s sword line and adjusted his angle of attack mid-swing. Worse, it was no isolated strike.

Taemin gave ground in a long retreat, focusing entirely on defense.

It wasn’t the strong who survived; it was those who survived the longest who were truly strong. That was a truth Taemin had learned to his bones through ten years of actual warfare.

His opponent was a grizzled veteran who had logged a staggering twelve thousand matches in the amateur league alone.

The relentless flurry of sword strikes closed in around his windpipe.

The man maintained exact distance, denying Taemin even a breath to attempt a counterattack.

Darting in only to pull back, looking like he was withdrawing only to thrust right back in — Ninja operated with the unmistakable precision of a seasoned hunter.

Taemin parried each attack calmly, circling along the outer edge of the altar.

Opportunities to counter weren’t completely absent. But whenever an opening emerged, his opponent either stepped back first or redirected his blade entirely.

It was as if Ninja had anticipated exactly how Taemin would counter.

Taemin smirked inwardly.

Fighting someone with vast combat experience was always treacherous.

A solid defense that made zero mistakes came as standard equipment, and their sense for timing hit-and-run engagements was unnervingly sharp.

The man before him fit that exact description.

Pretending to fall for it, Taemin casually slipped his blade toward an opening the man exposed.

As if he had anticipated that exact response, Ninja ignored the thrust and drove his blade straight between Taemin’s brows.

Across Taemin’s retinas, vivid red lines twisted in violent warning.

It was a classic ploy typical of battle-hardened veterans.

Almost savoring the icy sensation grazing his forehead, Taemin tilted his head slightly to slip the trajectory.

A paper-thin margin.

Ninja’s curved blade cleaved empty air.

-Akwi was in serious danger just now! If he’d stepped in a fraction deeper, that could have ended in an instant knockout!

-The skill gap is noticeably wider than expected. It’s not so much that Akwi is playing poorly, but rather that Ninja’s technical mastery is simply exceptional.

【Weak Heart】 Whoa… This is the first time I’ve ever seen Akwi pushed back.

└ Looks like his undefeated promotion is ending one win short.

└ Running into Ninja for the final match is just brutal. The guy’s the undisputed king of the amateur league!

└ He’s struggling right now, but considering Ninja’s edge in extended battles, Akwi might not have a chance at all.

└ Honestly, the amateur league is way more entertaining than I thought.

【Mowing Artisan】 Told you so. Ninja’s the absolute peak of the amateurs.

└ Ninja’s been grinding in the amateurs for five full years. Back around his four-thousandth fight, his win rate was only 40%, and now he’s knocking on the door of promotion.

└ What does that mean?

└ It means in his last eight thousand fights, he only lost around eleven hundred. That’s the only way you pull a win rate up to 70%.

└ He’s even more of a monster than I realized.

└ It’s not that Akwi is weak. Ninja is just absurdly strong.

Ninja pressed forward, slashing toward chest, thigh, and shoulder.

A slash. A thrust. Another slash.

Every single strike was concise, restrained, and crisp.

Beyond that, the movements flowed like water.

If a blow fell short, he immediately recovered. If parried, he transitioned smoothly into the next attack without a hitch.

Parrying blade after blade, redirecting each slash, Taemin fell into quiet contemplation.

The shock rippling through the blade numbed his forearm.

A sudden shift in trajectory, followed instantly by agile footwork.

This wasn’t simply a matter of having fought a lot.

This was a rhythm forged through thousands upon thousands of real battles.

Movement so refined it made the word “amateur” sound like a joke.

He truly deserved the title of the league’s strongest.

Even so, as the seamless exchange dragged on, Taemin’s breathing grew deeper, settling into an unnatural calm.

The red thread-like lines traced across his retinas were drawing consistent patterns.

At first, just keeping pace with their trajectories had been taxing, but now he could tell where Ninja intended to strike before the crimson line even finished drawing itself.

The instant their blades collided, Ninja gave a heavy shove.

Taemin’s back was pushed toward the broken stone pillars along the outer perimeter of the altar.

-Ah… What a shame. Over five minutes into the match, and we’ve yet to see a single proper counter from Akwi.

-Expectations were so high, making this one-sided flow a bit frustrating to watch. Could the pressure of that final win be getting to him?

Taemin surrendered his momentum entirely to the pressure of Ninja’s pushing blade.

His boots skidded backward, his back nearing the outer stone wall of the altar.

Riding his advantage, Ninja stepped in one pace deeper.

Right at that instant.

“…!”

An arm wrapped in black cloth spun skyward.

Ninja’s eyes went wide as he stumbled back.

-Oh! What just happened?! Ninja’s left arm has been severed!

-The moment he closed the distance, Akwi feigned being pushed back to expose a false opening, then sheared off Ninja’s left arm as he stepped in! A picture-perfect counter!

Even with his left arm gone, Ninja kept his eyes locked on Taemin, scrambling to reset his stance.

Unbothered by whether his opponent recovered, Taemin instantly closed the distance, slipping right into Ninja’s pocket.

Barely deflecting a thrust aimed straight for his heart, Ninja retreated into the moonless shadows of the ruins.

Taemin pursued him into the dark without a shred of hesitation.

Now came time for the show’s grand finale.

A low, shallow cut skimmed across the bottom.

A light feint intended to disrupt balance.

Immediately followed by a thrust half a beat late.

A distraction meant to draw the eyes.

Only then did Ninja react.

The curved sword in his right hand traced a diagonal sweep in retaliation.

The red threads crowding his vision converged instantly onto a single point.

Leaning his upper body back slightly, Taemin twisted his sword, stamping his left foot down as he drove inside.

Blades brushed past each other with the metallic shriek of scraping steel, a dull vibration buzzing into his fingertips.

And then…

The instant Ninja committed to his counter, Taemin’s blade carved through his flank along a far shorter arc.

-Oh! Ninja took massive damage right there!

-Akwi anticipated the exact timing of that counter! He deliberately leaked an opening, then sliced him open the split-second Ninja went for it. That’s a textbook feint!

Ninja staggered back a step.

Taemin didn’t press in too close, yet he held a distance that gave the man no room to breathe.

Ninja was certainly strong.

His judgment was sound, his reactions swift.

Movements honed by twelve thousand life-or-death bouts left virtually no openings.

Even that accumulated mastery proved utterly helpless against the answer key laid out before Taemin’s eyes.

Taemin’s sword cleaved empty air with indifferent ease, tracing the red lines.

No matter how Ninja responded, Taemin’s blade was already digging into the gap that would open an instant later.

The relentless pressure finally cracked Ninja’s breathing, and Taemin dropped low, lunging deep inside his guard.

Ninja reflexively threw up a defense.

As if he had anticipated that exact moment—–

A chilling sound sliced through the night air.

This time, rising from the lower left to the upper right, a deep gash opened across Ninja’s chest.

-A second critical strike! Ninja has been badly cut again!

-That was the same thing! Akwi deliberately baited a reaction, then struck the exact vulnerable window! Akwi has seized absolute control of the match!

The commentary booth was buzzing.

In stark contrast, Taemin’s movements grew steadily calmer.

A relentless sequence of strikes cornered Ninja.

Taemin didn’t needlessly overextend to finish him, either.

He simply accumulated wounds wherever the red lines revealed a gap, wearing down his opponent’s stamina and steadily driving him toward the edge of the precipice.

Ninja barely held on, raising his blade with his remaining arm.

His balance was already completely broken.

Taemin took another step in.

Rather than swinging his sword, he drove his shoulder forward, erasing the space between them with his torso.

Ninja’s back slammed hard against a fractured stone pillar.

Every avenue of escape evaporated.

-Ah! He’s backed into a dead end! It’s a crisis! There’s nowhere left to retreat!

-The biggest issue is that even in the darkness, Ninja has failed to gain any initiative whatsoever! Isn’t this exact battlefield his absolute favorite kind of terrain? Yet his signature sharp in-and-out hit-and-run play is nowhere to be seen!

Ninja gritted his teeth.

Raising his sword with his solitary arm, he struggled to stabilize his footing.

The scales had already tipped too far.

Taemin drifted like a ghost across the borderline where the tip of Ninja’s sword could barely reach.

One step.

Then another.

Guided by the crimson trajectories traced before him, Taemin pinned down Ninja’s gaze and breath within a hair’s breadth of distance where the man could never land a blow.

-What an astonishing sight! Akwi looks far more seasoned than Ninja!

-Look at that — he still doesn’t rush in! He’s waiting for the exact moment Ninja is forced to move!

Ninja’s shoulder twitched ever so slightly.

A tell of an impending counterattack, a final gamble to reclaim momentum.

His curved sword snaked in along a low path.

Back against the wall, his options were few.

With stealth and spacing both off the table, only one path remained.

A single, desperate breakthrough wagered on his life.

Ninja’s form seemed to scatter into the darkness, only to dart into Taemin’s blind spot an instant later.

A final ambush, quiet enough to swallow the crunch of rubble underfoot!

Before Ninja had even materialized, a single crimson thread was already brightly etched across the pitch-black void before Taemin’s eyes.

Taemin shifted his frame along the line.

Like an action actor hitting an established mark, he slipped through the fleeting pocket of space as the curved blade whistled past.

And then—–

-Ah…!

-Akwi dodged it! No, not just dodged—!

The final strike Ninja unleashed cleaved empty air.

In contrast, Taemin’s sword impaled the man’s heart with absolute precision.

The masked man froze where he stood.

Eyes wide, he could not take another step.

A moment later, as the blade was drawn free, the body that had weathered twelve thousand brutal fights collapsed limply to the ground.

[Participant 3 has been defeated.]

[Victory!]

The commentators erupted.

-It’s over!

-Match over! Akwi takes down Ninja… and successfully achieves the amateur league’s first-ever undefeated promotion!

-Ah… We’ve waited so long for this moment! Ladies and gentlemen, Japan finally has a talent capable of reaching for the Super League!

└ Whoaaaaaaaaaaaa

└ Eh??????????

└ Insane… I’ve got literal chills

└ Can’t believe I saw this live

└ Wow

└ No way I’m sleeping tonight

└ I screamed out loud

└ Wow

└ Wow

└ Did anyone see that final movement?

└ Undefeated promotion confirmed!!!!!!!! It actually happened!!!!!!!

└ Ninja really lost..?

└ Undefeated promotion!!!

└ He read him like an open book

└ Even on replay, that makes zero sense

└ Goosebumps

A massive deluge of comments flooded the stream.

It was truly extraordinary.

For a participant who had emerged less than a month ago, everyone watching the match had been swept into a frenzy.

And all from a mere amateur league bout.

[Participant 2,749]

[Record: 100 Matches, 100 Wins, 0 Losses (Win Rate: 100%)]

[Requirements met. You have been issued a ‘pro license.’ Sincere congratulations on becoming a warrior!]

[Pro league matches will proceed after a contract is executed. Please wait accordingly.]

[A Nova Arena representative will deliver the contract in person shortly.]

[Should there be additional guidance, a separate notice will be provided.]

As the fallen man’s body dissolved into shimmering motes of light, a deep stillness settled over the ruins.

Standing atop the altar where battle had ceased, Go Taemin bathed in the falling starlight.

One hundred matches, one hundred wins, zero losses.

Just like that, he had successfully carved his name into this new battlefield.