Gate Guardian - Song of the Frozen Soul

PHASE 44 - A BATTLE BETWEEN SIBLINGS!

PHASE 44 - A BATTLE BETWEEN SIBLINGS!

This is the judgment day for Heushac.

It was already four in the afternoon, and the sun is still irritatingly bright as ever. Summer is coming, which makes most of the people here in this gymnasium are drenched with sweat. But not the kendo champion. Helena is calm and stiff as ever.

Only a few students know this fight, and it’s not like teenagers are interested in kendo anyway. There’s only the Kendo Club members, Amy, Tiara, and I, and then the janitor who will watch this fight.

I’m playing a special ribbon in my hands as I watch the siblings gear up for their sword fight. A gadget, disguised as a red ribbon. Detective Conan style. This ribbon will be the key to Heushac’s win.

There was a long whistle, signaling that the match will start soon. Both of them are wearing black kendo armors, but their color-coded back indicates who’s who. Heushac is red, and Helena is white. Both of them positioned their bamboo swords and made a centered stance.

Then the whistle echoed throughout the gymnasium.

“Haaaaa!” Helena started with her war cry, as she mercilessly made three swift downward slashes. But Heushac managed to block it with his sword! One of the hit went to Heushac’s chest, but the referee didn’t consider that attack as a valid point/cut.

There was a lot of quick slashes, but Heushac stayed on the defensive. It makes me feel great that a hard-headed Heushac is following my instructions. I counted the pattern of Helena’s “incoming attack” and when I saw a future opening, I whispered to the red bow. “After blocking two slashes, make a thrust directly to the head!”

One, two. Those were downward hacks. After Helena’s attack, Heushac saw the opening that I foresaw, and made a piercing attack on the helmet of his sister!

The whistle blew, and the referee raised the red flag. It was Heushac’s point! Tiara celebrated with a smile, while Amy was dumbstruck.

The secret: The red ribbon is a transmitter which was connected to Heushac’s earpiece, which he is wearing right now. Nobody will notice it because Heushac’s head is covered by a protective helmet.

Also, I am able to effectively coach him during battle because I activated my Guardian Ability <Presage>, which makes me able to see Helena’s future movements twelve seconds in advance.

Of course, it’s cheating. But Helena is cheating too! How can you expect a clueless human to defeat a national champion? And I’m just practicing my tactics! I’m the field commander of the Aether Crusade!

Then the second round started. The siblings clashed their bamboo blades. There was a change in Helena’s future movements, as she was going into a counterattack. All I did tell to Heushac is to stay defensive until Helena’s quick barrages of slashes slow down a bit.

“Gah!!!” Heushac cried in pain.

Helena managed to hook his little brother’s sword and parried it straight away, as she makes a downward slash to Heushac’s head!

It was Helena’s point. The whistle went loud and the white flag was raised.

There is a limit to my <Presage>. I can accurately forecast the attacks, but that doesn’t mean that it can be dodged or parried. It still depends on the agility of the attacker and also the swiftness of the defender.

“Hey, what’s that?” Amy said as she snatched the ribbon device from my hand.

“W-Wait! Give it back!” I shrieked, as I tried to rob it from her hands, but she’s so freaking quick!