d quickly disappeared.

The face beneath the attacker's nose was covered by a mask. Red hair bounced in the air as if it was firing up the darkness of the night. Male, a young man....He looked to be about the same age as Layfon.

"Don't think you can escape!"

"Damn, go in! Go in!" came Formed's shout from behind.

Layfon chased after the young man. The attacker sped on the roads and jumped from rooftop to rooftop without any unnecessary movements. He was extremely fast.

"Heh."

If Layfon kept on chasing, this might take quite a while. He gathered the Kei at the soles of his feet.

Internal Kei variation - Whirl Kei.

The next moment he was right behind his target, swinging down with his sword. He aimed for the shoulder of the weapon arm. He'd smash the bone so the guy couldn't use his weapon anymore and surrender.

That was his intention at least.

"Wha!?"

His target had dodged the attack.

The young man stood at someplace higher than Layfon's current location. He seemed to have timed Layfon's attack.

(Damn.)

If this guy escaped....but the price of using Whirl Kei had left Layfon with the only choice of moving in a straight line now. This guy would have escaped while Layfon tried to stop his headlong rush.

"That was pretty dangerous."

A feeling of something expanding came from above Layfon's head. Layfon turned in midair to face his attacker. The young man readied his pose, also in midair, his body surrounded by Kei. As his foot landed on the wall of a building, he suddenly disappeared.

At the same time, Layfon was attacked on all sides.

Internal type Kei variation - Fleeting Shadows.

"What!"

Shocked, he swung at his right. The crisp sound of metal clashing against metal rang out, and the heavy impact ran up Layfon's arm. As Layfon hadn't yet stopped his headlong rush, the impact of that strike sent him flying backward.

"As expected, you can read my moves."

The eyes of the young man sparkled with joy.

Layfon blocked the consecutive attacks with his sword. The young man was attempting to stop him from braking his headlong rush. As Layfon moved, his weapon clashed numerous times with the young man's. Each strike from his attacker was heavier than the previous strike. As they exchanged blows, Layfon was prevented from changing his direction.

"Ha!"

"!"

The young man's strike went from low to high and Layfon reacted by leaping up. As his flying momentum reached its peak, he finally managed to slow himself down. He confirmed his location in the air.

He was still in the outskirts of the city, moving along Zuellni's outer area. This was the practicum area of the Construction course. Nobody was around at night. One could say it didn't matter if you destroyed the buildings here.

(Good.)

He increased the density of Kei running through his body, and swung downward at the young man following him from below.

External Kei - Whirl Kei.

Kei in the form of a twisting whirl embedded with Kei bullets spun towards the young man. The young man raised his katana in the direction of the air flow and struck down every single Kei bullet. In the sound of successive explosions, Layfon charged his opponent.

"Too naive!"

The young man received Layfon's strike. The two types of Kei joined together, then rebounded off each other in all directions. Sparks flew off the Dites and lit up the young man's face. The left side of his face that wasn't masked was carved with a tattoo.

"Wolfstein....is only at such a level?"

Words that were like the rumbling of thunder to Layfon.

At the same time, Layfon felt something wrong with his sword.

"Ha!"

Internal type Kei - Fleeting shadow.

As the young man leaped up for high speed movement, he scattered the Kei gathered at that one single point against Layfon's Kei. Layfon confirmed the sword in his own right hand. The flow of Kei had turned clumsy. He watched more closely and saw a number of small dents in the blade.

External type Kei - Rot.

His sword had been damaged.

When he realized something was wrong with his weapon, he had released his Kei to resist his opponent's move, but it was already too late.

(At this rate....already....)

He couldn't fully release the strength of his Kei at this rate.

"Is this your full power? ....That can't be. This was already in the past, but the strength of a Heaven's Blade successor can't be this hopeless."

This guy wasn't lost in the trap.

"....Are you a Military Artist from Grendan?" he watched his opponent.

The young man took down his mask.

"I'm Haia Salinvan Laia~"

A tattoo covered his entire left face. The same tattoo also covered his left arm.

"....The Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang."

Because of the tattoo, his face looked even more vicious than it was.

"Yes. I'm the leader of the third generation."

A provoking smile showed on the right side of his face.

Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang. It was a mercenary organization made up of Military Artists born in Grendan. They rode their own roaming bus, moving between cities and were hired to fight filth monsters or participate in intercity wars. Sometimes, they would train a city's Military Artists. On the contrary, Heaven's Blade successors only existed in a certain city. Their power wasn't allowed to be leaked to the outside world. Hence, the most famous group of people outside Grendan was the Salinvan Guidance Mercenary Gang.

"I never expected you to be involved in the illegal drug trade."

"That doesn't matter~ I only used them to get in here. I've no intention of helping them."

"Then why....?" Layfon said as he increased the density of his Kei, readying for the next attack.

"You shouldn't have to ask that question. Only one reason explains my actions besides business purposes - the Haikizoku."

"Haikizoku....?" Layfon frowned. He hadn't heard of that term before.

Haia also frowned. "What? You don't know? Ah....Has it been that long since you were a Heaven's Blade successor? Oh? No way? Could it be a secret?"

What a vexing guy, Layfon thought. Having flowed for so long, the density of Haia's Kei showed no signs of decline.

(Speaking of which....)

The problem was Layfon's sword. His flow of Kei was pretty rough. Who knew whether the sword could block the next attack?

"Never mind, whatever. Either way, I'm only interested in you and your skills. Your master is my master's, the 2nd generation leader, brother? Then you and I are like brothers in terms of receiving the same skills from the same tribe."

"That is my first time hearing it."

Yes, Layfon's first. But, in that case, he now understood why Haia could execute the move Fleeting shadow and also use a katana. The skill of Layfon's adopted father was different from others. It emphasized more on the way one cut and sliced. Because of that, a katana was chosen as the weapon, and the material was of steel alloy. The blade needed more delicate adjustments compared to weapons used for chopping. The material for the Dite reflected the skill of its maker.

"I'm interested in why you aren't using a katana....but never mind."

In one swift moment, Haia resumed his attack. Layfon leaped up to avoid it.

"Since you aren't using your full strength, I don't plan to fight you seriously."

Haia's attacks intensified.

(That's not too seriously....!)

Layfon concentrated on avoiding Haia's attacks as he didn't want to receive them on his sword. He was impressed by Haia's movements. He had fought numerous Military Artists before becoming a Heaven's Blade successor, and none of them had Haia's strength. Who would have thought that such a guy existed outside Grendan? But digging into the core, Haia was also from Grendan. Even so, that did not make him less impressive. Layfon was acknowledged by everyone as a genius, but he didn't think he was the strongest in the world. There were people within Heaven's Blade successors who had more experience than Layfon, who were harder to beat. Layfon didn't think he could win against Queen Alsheyra.

"Hey, hey. What is it? Show me some spirit."

But Layfon still felt that he belonged to a special group. In Grendan, a huge distance existed between Heaven's Blade successors and other Military Artists.

"Could it be that Heaven's Blade successors are only of this level?" Haia said, gradually speeding up his movements.

Layfon swung down his sword at him.

Both blades filled with Kei, the green sword clashed against the steel katana. The air around them shook.

Metal moaning ran in that air.

The green sword cracked and broke apart. Opposite the debris giving off a green light, Haia smiled happily. But Layfon hadn't finished.

"Haaaaaa!"

External type Kei, roar Kei, a threatening skill. The air shook along the wake of the huge noise, and the scattered debris flew at Haia.

"Woah!" Haia bent backward to evade the debris. Seizing this opening, Layfon gathered his Kei in his limbs. He kicked at Haia's chest and pounded into his opponent's stomach with his fist.

Haia managed to block that with his arm. Layfon's Kei sent him flying away to crash into a building still in its construction stage. Layfon varied his Kei.

External type Kei, Nine Bullets.

Layfon shot out the Kei bullets formed in between his fingers. Kei as tiny as needles chased after Haia to pierce through the building, causing huge explosions.

"Did I get him?"

No....

He sensed two more presences within the dancing dust. It seemed Haia's companions had arrived.

(Are they coming....)

Layfon readied his fighting stance, but the presences....were disappearing fast.

(Should I....chase after them?)

Still, Layfon was at a disadvantage for having lost his Dite. He decided to give up chasing them as their presence retreated into the far distance.

"....Just what're they planning?"

Haikizoku. The term brought forth a feeling of dislike in Layfon.