Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume20 Chapter8 (section)

===Part 1===

Under the Gate to the Otherworld, piercing the sky...

Two flashes of light, one white and one black, kept chasing each other and clashing, so fast that it was confusing to track with the naked eye.

Sword strikes clashed with god-like speed, instantly creating showers of sparks and metallic clanging of blades.

(...! What is going on!?)

While engaged in the intense fight, Kamito wondered in puzzlement.

(Compared to earlier, the movements are completely different!?)

Every attack launched by Kamito was read through completely.

Something was weird. He had a kind of premonition.

"Do you find this intriguing, Ren Ashbell?"

Behind the crossed blades, the Holy Lord spoke.

"I have granted a portion of this vessel's right of control to her."

"What are you talking about?"

"After all, I have yet to grow accustomed to this body."

Hearing that, Kamito understood. The mentioned "her" was referring to&mdash;

"...Sacred Maiden Areishia!"

"Areishia Idriss was the best princess maiden in all of human history. This was also one of the reasons why I chose her as a vessel."

"...I see, so that's why my sword moves are being read, so it's the princess maiden's&mdash;"

A princess maiden's intuition.

It was an ability possessed by top princess maidens such as Rubia and Fianna, as well as Claire though in an unreliable fashion.

This natural talent allowed them to sense phenomena in the world in the form of premonitions.

Sacred Maiden Areishia's intuition was said to dwarf even Rubia who was known as the most elite princess maiden.

That sharp intuition was practically akin to predicting the future.

(...Swinging the sword by instinct rather than relying on swordsmanship, huh?)

The Demon Slayer and Terminus Est produced sparks between them.

The Holy Lord stepped forward, flowing into the next attack in one breath.

The slashes were coming even faster. These movements were almost as though they were performed by a completely different person.

"...!"

Kamito released gathered divine power and jumped back, creating distance.

"Go forth and pierce&mdash;Vorpal Blast!"

He swung the demon sword of darkness. Jet-black lightning attacked the Holy Lord all at once.

However, the divine power of light emanating from all over the sacred maiden's body neutralized the lightning of darkness.

"...No way!?"

To think the attack was canceled simply by divine power&mdash;

Crushing floor tiles underfoot, the Holy Lord closed in on Kamito.

Kamito instantly thought of dodging, but quickly abandoned the idea. After all, his movements would be predicted by the princess maiden's intuition even if he tried to dodge. In that case&mdash;

Kamito readied his two swords and chose to fight head on.

He would use overwhelming destructive power and quantity of attacks to overwhelm the enemy!

"Absolute Blade Arts&mdash;Bursting Blossom Spiral Blade Dance, Sixteen Consecutive Hits!"

"Terminus Est, O queen of steel ruling all swords&mdash;"

Instantly, countless swords of light appeared around the Holy Lord.

The unleashed swords of light blocked each and every one of Kamito's strikes.

(...! Every strike from the Bursting Blossom Spiral Blade Dance ended up blocked!?)

No, not just blocked.

Two swords of light got through and left a cut each, one on Kamito's leg and another on his arm.

"Guh&mdash;!"

Groaning, Kamito could not help but collapse on one knee.

"This is the end, Ren Ashbell!"

The Holy Lord raised the sacred sword.

A massive amount of divine power surged and overflowed.

Glowing with silver-white light, the blade of Terminus Est turned the entire Holy Lord Palace pure white.

This was the light that had shattered the ground of Ragna Ys.

No, this surpassed that light.

"O darkness, return to nothingness&mdash;Deus Ira!"

The sword of light, stretching all the way to the top of the sky, swung down.

In that instant, Kamito released divine power, pouring it into the Demon Slayer.

"Absolute Blade Ultimate&mdash;Last Strike, Dual!"

This was the strongest move that Greyworth had put her life on the line in order to teach him, the move he had used to defeat Rubia during the final round of the Blade Dance.

Blades clashed.