The fight goes on, and the crowd got stirred up as Walter guarded against Anil’s attack.

“…!”

“Kh, not again…!”

‘If only I can get a hit in…!’

Anil backed off a bit before lunging with a thrust. Walter only got the time to clash it with his gauntlet’s knuckle.

‘Damn, I think I have to do that…!’

Taking another backstep, Anil charged in once more, this time unleashing a wide slash. Walter tried sidestepping to the right, but it still grazed him.

“Tch…!”

“Battle point, down by 10%.”

…yet his right fist didn’t stop at all, something Anil realized too late.

“…!?”

“Eat this!!”

With a body blow and a loud crash, Walter sent him flying. Anil recovered at the last moment, but as soon as he landed, he staggered and coughed.

“…it hurts.”

“Battle points, down by 25%.”

The Atlantic students cheered on the announcement, recovering some of Walter’s confidence.

‘I can do this…! I am an A-class duelist too…!’

All this, however, didn’t deter Anil in the slightest, and after cracking his own neck, he took the offence with fury again.

“OOOOOHH!!”

“Quite the loud one, aren’t ya!?”

Exchanging blows, for every one Walter could overpower, his opponent would dish another attack faster than he is.

‘So persistent…! Then…!’

Evading another slash, Walter swayed back and raised his fist.

“…!”

Sensing danger, Anil tried to backstep…

But it wasn’t aiming for him at all. Rather, Walter struck the ground near his feet.

“Gotcha!”

“…!?”

The shockwave was small, but enough to make Anil lose his balance. Walter used this chance to tackle him, and then releases a powerful straight punch.

“DORYAH!!”

Anil was sent flying from the blow, and he only managed to roll safely after hitting the ground. Even then, Anil still quickly drops to his knee, breathing raggedly.

“Battle point, down by 25%.”

The cheering grew louder as Walter took the lead, while on the other hand, the Pacifics began to look slightly grim.

“…he’s quite good.” Reika muttered.

“Well, he’s an A-class for a reason…” Mei added.

“Now, what are you going to do, Anil?” Kouji wondered. “I’m sure you’re more than this…”

Slowly, Anil rose to his feet, still keeping the same furious expression.

“Oh, now you’re getting serious. Bring it!” Walter shouted while grinning.

The one thing which was different however, was Anil’s stance, as now he held his Garuda with one hand, letting the tip to touch the ground.

“…!”

With only a grunt, Anil run as fast as possible towards Walter, with his ground-scraping firangi producing sparks.

“Nice fireworks! But…!”

Walter charged as well to anticipate his attack.

“I won’t let you!”

Anil jumped, and twirling his body, his spinning attack clashed with Walter’s gauntlet. However…

“…!?”

Instead of deflecting, Anil’s sword barely scratched his Pioneer. He put more strength into his own rotation, and like a frenzied top, Anil landed consecutive strikes on Walter’s unguarded side and rear.

“Gwah…!”

Anil didn’t stop there, and just as Walter managed to turn around with considerable effort, he already swung his blade down.

“Argh…!”

The attack knocked Walter away, forcing him to use his gauntlets to brake.

“Battle points, down by 40%.”

“Armstrong-kun!” Minato shouted.

‘That’s a nice combination.’ Sigulf mentally commented. ‘But most importantly…’

‘How did he spin like that!?’ Walter thought. ‘I know my Arms is heavier, but still…!’

He eyed Anil, who has returned to his fighting stance, ready to strike.

‘Shit, does this means…?’

“Anil figured out his weakness already, huh.” Mei mused.

“Big and powerful, but a little low on the mobility de gozaru.” Reika joined.

“Yeah, when you’re slow like that, spinning around for coverage won’t be an easy task.”

“So it would be wise for Anil not to fight frontally…” Misha concluded.

Again without any words, Anil rushed towards Walter. Only this time, he’s solely aiming to outmaneuver him, something Walter painfully aware of.

“Dammit, trying to backstab like this…!” Walter cursed while exchanging blows with Anil’s sword jabs.

‘If I keep defending, I’ll lose by time out, but… Attacking him is exactly taking his bait! What the hell should I do here!?’

The clashing of steel slowly grinds Walter’s patience down.

‘Shit, defending ain’t my style! If I have to lose, at least…!’

“OORYAH!!”

Walter slammed his fist to the ground, creating a shockwave. Unfortunately, Anil opted to jump slightly forward instead.

“Wha—“

Barely evading his punch, Anil then kicked Walter’s gauntlet as a jumping platform. Going slightly over his height, Anil descends in a roll, enough to deliver a single stroke.

“Kuh…!”

Quickly recovering, Anil stood up and follows with another spinning strike, knocking Walter away a fair distance.

“Gah…!”

“Battle points, down by 20%. 15% remaining.”

Now it’s the Pacifics’ turn to get excited, while the home spectators began to worry.

‘That’s some agility he got there…’ Sigulf thought.

“Augh, why did it come to this!?” one student lamented.

“Anil, you can do it!” Kouji cheered from the other side.

Anil’s expression didn’t change, but determination quickly flared within him. Meanwhile, Walter was breathing heavily, trying to keep his stance right.

“Shit, you’ve gotta be kidding me…!”

“We don’t have much time left…” Eliot muttered.

“It’s… OVER!!”

With a loud scream, Anil dashed forward, ready to end the match.

“Gh…!”

Walter braced himself against his approaching opponent.

‘Where it’ll be!? Where he’ll be coming!?’

Anil suddenly hopped and whirled his body, seemingly targeting Walter’s leg.

‘Down there? Then…!’

But as soon as his feet touched the ground, Anil kicked as hard as he can, propelling him up and catching Walter by surprise with a rising slash.

“UOOOOOH!!”

“What the…!?”

It was strong enough to push his fists back, effectively breaking his guard. Seeing a now defenseless Walter, Anil increased the strength of his rotation, and unleashed a descending, pirouetting slashes.

“EAT THIIIIIIIIS!!”

“Gaaah…!!”

The assault thrashed Walter across the field. Anil, having landed safely, watched in silence.

“…we got the lead taken.” Eliot muttered.

“Battle points 0, cannot continue duel. Winner, Anil Kumar from Pacific Academy.”

The Atlantics were obviously disappointed with the result, while their visitors celebrated in a mix of cheering and sigh of relief.

“Dizzy… Too much spinning…” Anil clutched his own head as he slowly got up.

Approaching the groaning Walter, he offered his hand without saying anything.

“…argh, right. I lost…” Walter said before accepting it and stood up. “Well, congrats. You earned it. You got a crazy style!”

Anil was silent, but the glint in his eyes and nodding indicated that he was appreciative of his words. Sharing a handshake and friendly back pat, the two split up to return to their own teams.

“Uhh…” Walter said to the group while scratching his head. “Sorry, I lost…”

“Armstrong, you…!”

Walter winced, seemingly resigned himself to take Eurypha’s wrath, yet…

“…get some rest. It was unfortunate.”

“Eh? Aren’t you mad?”

“I am mad, but what can I do? Besides, the opponent was just good, that’s all.”

“Good, huh…”

As Walter passes by, Minato pats him in the shoulder.

“…thanks, man.”

Atlantic’s students were talking among themselves, definitely worried now that their visitors gained the early advantage.

“Next duel, please select your representatives.” The system prompted.

“Right…” Eliot responded. “Since now’s our turn to announce first… Amakawa, we leave it to you.”

“Yes, Sir!”

Almost every spectator was surprised with his choice.

‘So it’s him… Either last fight’s my chance, or…’ Sigulf thought.

“They really want the win, huh.” Mei commented. “And to think they still got both Dog Boy and Miss Highlander…”

“What should we do, Houjou-dono?” Reika turned to Kouji. “Who should go this time?”

“Hmm… We don’t really have much choice on this matter, do we?”

“Eh? But—“

“Umm, it’s alright…” Misha spoke up. “If it’s my role, even just to hinder him, then—“

“Misha, stop. Don’t say that.” Mei cut him off.

“M, Mei…?”

“Look, no matter how strong he is, we don’t simply give up before the fight.” She continued. “You’re better than you think. He’s not invincible. Hell, if you win here, it’ll be better for all of us!”

“Mei… A, alright! I’ll do my best and win!”

“That’s more like it! Now go!”

“Right!”

With Mei’s encouragement, Misha stepped into the area with confidence.

“Second match, singles. Minato Amakawa versus Misha Smirnov.”

The crowd cheers loudly as another duel is dawning.

“Minatooo! Don’t lose!” Carmen supported him the loudest she can.

“Amakawa! You can win this!” Eurypha followed, refusing to lose to Carmen.

“…else, I’ll gut you.” Ilma joined in her own way.

“The girls are really lively when it comes to him, huh…” Yuu laughed wryly.

“Man, it’s not fair…” Walter sighed.

“Go, go, Atlantic!” Alba cheered as well. “…hey, Siggy! You should do it too!”

“Huh? There’s no reason to.”

“Hee… I see you trust him to win now. Since when you got friendly with him?”

“…not really? I mean, you do know too how strong he is.”

Their exchange continues, as if to forget the tense air surrounding the duel. At the middle of the fight area, the boys faced each other.

“Minato, I’m sorry…” Misha said. “But I’ll end the interschool match here!”

“Unfortunately, I can’t let that!” Minato replied. “This match… Victory will be ours!”

“Very well then…! Have at you! We’ll decide this through the duel!”