Inwardly, a cold streak of anger and nervousness seized Maeda. The theatrical illusion shattered in his mind. Realizing he was being played with, he abandoned the crowd-pleasing flair entirely and began fighting for real, pushing his body to its absolute maximum physical speed and technical precision.
The atmosphere shifted instantly. The wide, looping arcs vanished, replaced by tight, blindingly fast, and lethal thrusts. The air shrieked as his rapid movements generated a strong gale of wind, the blade snaking at bizarre, vicious angles meant to kill.
Hideyoshi's eyes widened slightly. Recognizing the sudden increase in lethality of the threat, his playful posture vanished. He adjusted his grip, his expression sharpening, and he finally fought back properly.
Hideyoshi spun the Dragonfang in a brutal, heavy counter-sweep.
Maeda, possessing the elite reflexes of a spearmaster, anticipated the trajectory and successfully brought his weapon around to block the blow.
What a simple strike—
CLAAAAAANG!
The impact was cataclysmic. Even though Maeda blocked it cleanly, the sheer, crushing physical power behind Hideyoshi's first real strike sent a violent shockwave traveling straight up the silk-wrapped shaft, rattling Maeda's bones and threatening to tear the weapon from his grasp. His lacquered armor groaned under the residual mechanical force.
Maeda was left in absolute, paralyzing shock as his eyes nearly popped out of its sockets.
In that single, brief collision, the true, insurmountable disparity between their physical capabilities was laid completely bare. It wasn't just a gap; it was an abyss!
Immediately, Maeda's brain went into overdrive. Time seemed to slow down as his mind raced through every possible scenario—not to win, he could already tell that he was completely outmatched. He needed to find a way to lose gracefully!
The sheer intensity of his desperation translated into a fierce, murderous focus, a heavy psychological pressure that reached right across the ring.
Sensing the sudden shift in his opponent's intent, Hideyoshi grew visibly alert. He tightened his stance, his sharp eyes narrowing as he braced himself, fully expecting the Warden to evolve and fight for real now.
But suddenly, the physical tension in Maeda's posture dissolved. A strange, knowing smile broke across his face behind his visor, as if a brilliant, narrative-saving idea had just struck him.
I got it.
He lowered his guard just a fraction, leaning forward to mutter a few words—his voice quiet and precise, pitched so that only Hideyoshi could hear it over the roar of the coliseum.
"A true hero turns others into heroes as well..."
Hideyoshi blinked, his expression freezing in utter confusion. What?
Maeda's smirk widened behind his lacquered visor, his eyes gleaming with the absolute brilliance of his own sudden delusion. He leaned in a fraction closer, letting his words carry over the shouting crowd.
"I'll let you win this time, young heir," Maeda whispered smoothly, his tone dripping with a bizarre, patronizing magnanimity. "For you, as well, need to become a hero."
What?!
Hideyoshi's brain completely short-circuited. His eyes widened, and he spiraled even further into absolute, profound confusion. For a split second, the Kinzoku prodigy wondered if the shock of his previous blow had somehow fractured the Warden's skull and scrambled his sanity.
But Maeda didn't give him time to process. Having entirely given up on the impossible task of winning, the Warden's master-class opportunism had already pivoted to the next best thing: scripting a magnificent, honorable defeat that would still leave him smelling like a righteous saint. If he couldn't win the tournament, he would share the spotlight by "creating" the next generation's hero—and look like a benevolent, self-sacrificing mentor while doing it.
All of a sudden, Maeda unleashed a rapid-fire series of lethal-looking, high-speed thrusts. To the thousands of roaring spectators in the stands, it looked like a desperate, grand final assault.
But to Hideyoshi, who was standing right in front of him, the reality was bafflingly clear: Maeda's guard was completely, laughably wide open. He was actively inviting a counter-attack.
"SUCH A WORTHY FOE!" Maeda roared at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing grandly across the entire coliseum so every single person in the upper decks could hear his "valiant" struggle. "SHOW ME THE LIMITS OF GIFU'S PRODIGY!"
Hideyoshi, operating on pure martial reflex, didn't even have to think. As Maeda's deliberately flawed thrust sailed wide of his shoulder, the opening in the Warden's chest armor practically begged to be struck. Hideyoshi reflexively pivoted, executing a textbook, fluid sweeping motion with the shaft of the Dragonfang Naginata.
BOOM!
The heavy iron butt of the naginata slammed perfectly into the center of Maeda's exposed chest plate.
Maeda put on the performance of a lifetime. The moment the blow connected, he completely relaxed his stance, allowing the kinetic force to launch him backward in a spectacular, dramatic arc.
He soared through the air, somehow slower than expected, his red armor gleaming in the sun, before skidding grandly across the stone tiles and coming to a halt right at the very boundary line.
"RRGH!" With a masterfully theatrical groan, Maeda let his pristine yari clatter loudly to the floor. He lay there, heaving dramatically for breath, ensuring the crowd saw the "exhausted hero" who had given his all against an unstoppable new force.
The crowd went dead silent, entirely captivated by the dramatic climax.
Lord Matazaemon has lost!
Moments later, the coliseum absolutely erupted into a frenzy of cheers for both the fallen veteran and the victorious young heir.
Hideyoshi stood in the center of the ring, the massive naginata resting on his shoulder. He looked down at his own weapon, then looked across the arena at the panting, subtly smirking Warden of Sakai.
The Kinzoku heir's eye twitched under his long hair. This guy... is one of those absolute lunatic scammers my mother used to warn me about!
One of his eyes twitched, In a way, he reminds me of Merun!