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Last Embryo Volume 7 Chapter 2 Part 3

It would really be impossible to surround the giants with this.

But Ayato knows that better than anyone. Taking the pointing-out of her weapon’s weaknesses as another provocation, she silently waved her arm three times in response. If she cannot defeat her enemy with Serpens Scorpius’s cage that surrounds them, then she is simply going to switch from large curves to snake-like crawling curves to seal the enemy’s ability to use their Gifts and make it impossible to slip through the onslaught of lightning-fast slashes.

Seeing that, the young man in a turban could not help it but laugh in amazement.

「This is… my, my, you really are a skillful one!」

The man started making evasive manuevers while moving his hand to the middle of the handle of his spear-axe. Ayato clicked her tongue in her thoughts.

The double spears-wielding boy who was watching their duel from the sidelines also narrowed his eyes.

「Now this is a surprise. I never thought that I was going to see it in a place like this.」

「…. Huh? Do you know what she’s doing, Connla?」

「Yeah. The Serpens Scorpius Sword Flash that she is currently using is in a mode where it searches for the enemy against whom it has been swung at and slashes at them. If that man was deflecting these attacks half-heartedly, they he would end up with his wrists cut all over in a matter of seconds.」

The boy with the twin spears puts his hand on his mouth and begins to watch the duel between the two even more closely. What he described just now was easy enough to say, but in reality, such a trick was not an easy one to pull off at all.

There is always a small time lag before the force from the swing is transmitted from the hilt of the segmented sword to the tip of its blade. In other words, even if you were to swing your sword at an opponent after they start moving, you won’t make it in time to hit them properly with your attack. If you cannot properly anticipate how your opponent is going to move, then you will only be wasting your time and energy for useless attacks.

It was a technique of slashing at the enemy’s most vulnerable spots similar to how a snake would aim for its prey’s belly, but the youth with the twin spears didn’t expect Ayato’s opponent to dodge every single one of her attacks without getting hit by it even once.

The man in the turban continues to keep his distance from Ayato while being continuously chased by Serpens Scorpius’s blade.

「I see. With a sword technique that is this precise, it is possible to keep aiming exclusively at your opponent’s vital points. The distance that the blade can travel is more than doubled, but it is also necessary to continue to keep close attention to every single movement. I just can’t help but wonder: how long are you going to be able to keep this relentless assault up while the enemy continues to wear you down while avoiding your attacks?」

The young man pointed out a second weakness of Ayato’s weapon as he continued to dodge and avoid her attacks with the least amount of movement necessary. Under normal circumstances Ayato would have already switched to a bow at this point, but she was interested in what else this man had to say about her segmented sword’s weak points.

All of the weaknesses that were pointed out by him were ones that Ayato was already well aware of, but the story changed when he discovered so many of them one after another in such a short period of time.

That got Ayato thinking that maybe her Serpens Scorpius really had some other weakness that she herself did not understand yet?

At that point, both Ayato, who unleashed the attacks of her segmented sword even more fiercely to corner her enemy and the young man in the turban gradually began to close the distance between themselves while he continued to dodge Ayato’s attacks.

He’s no ordinary martial artist, that much was already clear. Even though Serpens Scorpius Sword Flash was not letting go of him, he still managed to get out unscratched from pretty much everything that Ayato was trying to throw at him.

However, Ayato’s ferocious attack is not something so easy that it can be completely seen through just by looking at it for a while.

「… Oi, that is some seriously terrifying amount of concentration! I had no idea that you can do so many attacks in such a rapid succession!」

「Oh, is that so?」

When Alma asked with interest, the boy with two spears nodded slightly.

「That guy’s ability to predict from where the segmented sword is going to attack him does not come from a Gift. Every martial artist who has truly achieved the pinnacle of their art cannot call themselves a true martial artist if they cannot predict their enemy’s action to at least some extent. However, as long as our bodies are the ones made from flesh and bone, our judgement is always going to be dulled in the heat of battle, and there are even going to be times when your hands are inevitably going to slip. This is especially true for those who have chosen a segmented sword as their preferred weapon of choice. If you miss one of your big moves, the return of the blade will be delayed accordingly, and you will need to make small adjustments so that you don’t leave yourself wide open for a counterattack.」

The greatest advantage that an articulated sword can give to its user is the distance it creates between the sword’s user and their enemy. If your opponent disregards it and blindly rushes forward, they are going to end up cut into pieces in an instant.

However, if you try to play it, the blade will bounce off somewhere on the bellows. There is nothing more disgusting than that it always aims at the tips of its limbs.

But if the user misinterprets the distance or makes even the slightest mistake when it comes to the speed and power of the attack, the blade will either miss the target completely or bounce off of it. And let us not forget that there is nothing more disgusting the segmented sword users always trying to aiming for the most vulnerable points of their opponent’s limbs.

However, another weak point to such an approach is that when the user of the segmented sword misses a big move, the resulting arch of the weapon that is going to be bigger than intended might end up creating an opportunity for the enemy to escape the sword’s encirclement. If the user does not correct their mistake immediately at the moment it happens, their whole offensive might as well end up collapsing.

「The Queen’s Knight definitely starts getting nervous and worn out, giving the guy in the turban more space to make his moves as a result.」

「… On the other hand though, Queen’s Knight’s concentration and force of will are keeping him from getting closer to her even if the number of openings that she is showing starts to increase. She has a lot of guts, you have to give her that.」

The boy with two spears remarked as if he was having more and more fun watching the duel.

From Asuka’s point of view, even though she herself considered it a distant history now, she knew exactly how much of a battle-hardened warrior Ayato actually was. She knew that in battle she always relied on her will of steel in her martial arts to pull her through even the toughest of predicaments without caring for things such as grace.

As the fierce battle between Ayato and the man in the turban raged on, the latter wiped the sweat off of his forehead and fixed his stance.

「…. You are even more amazing than I thought. Even though you are using such sophisticated techniques one after another, I can’t seem to do anything to break your concentration. Perhaps my initial assessment of you was a little naïve after all?」

「In that case, maybe you are going to consider withdrawing your earlier insulting remarks about my weapon?」

Ayato asked him hoping to reach an understanding, but much to her displeasure, the man with the turban shook his head in a negative gesture.

「As unfortunate as it sounds, I cannot do that. If anything, I am more convinced than ever before now. Your swordsmanship is on a truly divine level, which is exactly why it is such a shame that your choice of weaponry continues to be a shackle for it!」

The young man in the turban pointed that out while he was gasping for air.