Kays Translations

Chapter 53: You can't say for sure

(Slashhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!)

Gulf, clad in an overwhelming fighting spirit.

However, when it comes to the fighting spirit enveloping the longsword, it was exceptionally neatly wrapped.

"Woooooooooahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"

"Seeeeeeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!"

Unconsciously... Dimna, who entered a posture to give everything here, was wrapped in a dazzling light all over his body, exactly in the state of a light arrow, rushing out and piercing the commoner like a frog in a well.

What is unleashed is the fine sword technique, skill level four... Spiral Thrust.

On the other hand, Gulf, also raising a flash of spirit and a roar while running, swung down a wholehearted blow just to seize victory.

The blow is a sword technique, skill level four... Strong Blade Flash.

Both, with their whole being poured into the strike, clashed.

As a result... without a stalemate, both were repelled.

"Wha!? Haa!!!!"

Dimna was thrown slightly downwards, Gulf was thrown upwards, both crashing into the wall.

At the moment of impact from behind, both of them spewed blood and fell.

"One... Two."

Naturally, the count begins.

"Cough! Cough!! Cough!!!"

"Gh...!?!?"

Despite Gulf repeatedly coughing up blood, Dimna tries to get up and return to the ring with sheer determination, but his knees shake, and he can't stand up as he wishes.

(What is this... damn it, this is ridiculous!!!!!!)

Unconsciously, he released the magic he had left.

As a result, Dimna, who still had some magic reserves, found himself completely drained without realizing it.

The fatigue from magical exhaustion simultaneously struck, delivering a double punch along with the physical damage.

If he hadn't released all of his magical energy at that moment, it would have been Dimna who was sent flying. However, he had consumed more than he thought, and no matter how much effort he put in, he couldn't stand up properly.

"Three... Four."

And the count continued equally for both.

(Huh, huh... my longsword, it's gone.)

Gulf noticed that his weapon was missing from his hands. 

It wasn't lying somewhere nearby; rather, it couldn't withstand the sudden surge of fighting spirit that Gulf had just enveloped himself with—more precisely, it couldn't withstand the applied technique that Gulf unconsciously used.

The impact of colliding with Dimna's mighty spiral thrust, clad in intense light, also played a role, but in any case, the end had come.

(...There's still something left. This trained body, it's still here!!!!)

By the way, regarding their weapons, both Dimna's finest rapier and Gulf's sword were completely shattered, leaving both combatants without their weapons in a broken state.

(Shouldn't be happening... this should not be happening!!!!!!)

The reason, to any commoner, seems like something to angrily protest, but there is no falsehood in the determination to stand up.

Whether he can fight properly from now on is doubtful... or rather, it would be declared impossible.

"Dimna-sama!!!!!!!! Don't loseeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!"

"Just stand on the ring, and you'll win!!!!!!!"

His classmate and fans earnestly support him, but Dimna himself has no interest in them at all. He is solely focused on getting into the ring, kicking the commoner, and achieving a complete victory.

That's all he had in mind.

"Gulfuuuuuuuuu!!! Guts!!!! Spirit!!!! There's still a chanceeeeee!!!"

Despite the unchanged voices around him, Gulf, who pays no attention to them, tries to stand up to assert his own will. However, he feels the strength to rise from the voices of friends entering his ears and those who have been supporting him along with Ishud from the beginning.

As evidence of this, his knees finally leave the ground, and he manages to stand up.

"Five... Six."

The count is less than half.

Not only Gulf but also Dimna almost simultaneously stand up, advancing carefully... step by careful step.

Although they both want to sprint and jump into the ring with all their might, their bodies firmly deny that possibility. They themselves know that if they push beyond their limits, they will once again kneel on the ground.

"Seven... Eight."

The countdown approaches with each passing moment.

Neither of them has yet knelt, and although they are truly taking one step at a time, they are closing the distance to the ring, reaching out.

The cheers pushing them forward grow louder, and the biggest shake of the day occurs.

(A bit more... Just a bit more!!!)

(Get up, get up. Get up and kick them down!!!)

"What!?"

At the moment both of their hands almost reached the ring, they both collapsed to their knees simultaneously.

"Nine... Ten. Gulf, Dimna Kais. Both out of the ring. Therefore, no winner!!!!"

A surprising double knockout.

There are no rules like being closer to the ring is better... There is no rule like that. If you can't get back into the ring within the count of ten, the defeat is certain without any discussion.

In this situation, those who had been cheering until the very end were left bewildered, unsure of how to react. Then, one man was the first to applaud.

That man was Ishud Regula, a person who showed no signs of being perturbed by the situation at all.

(Well... Well fought. You were amazing, Gulf. And... even that opponent who seemed to have a damn awful mindset, in the end, their spirit and determination weren't bad.)

His applause wasn't just for the friend who fought until the end, but also for the opponent who, in the end, became the catalyst to propel that friend to a new stage.

The applause, carrying such meaning, quickly spread like ripples and enveloped the entire arena.

"...Gulf didn't come back."

"That man, Dimna Kais, advancing straightforwardly, it's not surprising it turned out like this."

Even Gulf, when colliding with Dimna, had a higher chance of losing.

While calmly stating the fact that his friend didn't return to the waiting room, a small sadness was still evident on his face.

"Well, I can't deny that... but there's also the possibility of a double knockout, a simultaneous fall."

"It's been several years... no, the results haven't been recorded for over a decade."

"Is that so? But you know, an existence that makes you want to say it's impossible showed up in front of us."

"...So, you're saying that we can't assert that such a possibility is impossible?"

"That's the gist of it. Well... if he kept moving forward without giving up until the end, no matter the result, I think it's practically Gulf's victory."

Feeling the tremors in the arena, Philip, unusually, stood up with a casual yet genuine smile on his face.

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