Diether attacked his opponent's body with his sword... He didn't exert a lot of his strength in this attack as he planned on doing something else.

Pah!

​​

As soon as his attack was parried, he suddenly rammed his body to his opponent!

The latter was surprised! He didn't expect Diether to do that…

"Ahh! Y-you---" He lost his balance and was thrown out of the circle.

Diether just perfectly executed a kendo move called Taiatari!

He also avoided another strike from his opponent by using Hikiwaza as he even perfectly counter-attacked…*

His movements were so perfect and they couldn't find any unnecessary movements in his actions.

"Ho~ As expected, this guy knows swordsmanship. Is it the Northern Eclipse Style? No, perhaps the Steady Sword Technique?..."

Oliver noticed Diether's calm attitude during the whole time and saw how he swiftly fought against his opponents… He realized that the kid wasn't some newbie in swordsmanship so he got a little curious…

"Mhmm… I'm sure that this is not the Fencing of Erliente Dukedom… I wonder what it is…"

Diether's stance was quite different and his footwork was also not a random movement. It was definitely a trained foot technique…

This piqued Oliver's interest.

His main weapon was also a sword and his sword style was obviously the one taught to them in the Knights Order…

The Sun Flare Sword Style that every knight of the Sun Fire Knights must learn before they can attend an accolade.

Then, he saw how Diether easily dealt with anyone who tried targeting him… It was such an interesting sight…

"He has disciplined movements… set of patterns in his approach… It just shows that he learned it from everyday training…"

In the end, Oliver decided to directly ask the guy later on.

***

Brylle, Aldrian, and Daryl were surprised after seeing Calliope and Diether defeated the other participants.

However, none of them moved as they are still wary of the opponents beside them. It would be dangerous to act against the two young kids when they are nearby.

Then, Brylle noticed that Aldrian was stepping away.

He was unsure why he did that, but he suddenly felt an attack coming from above…

Pah!

He raised his sword to parry the attack…

He was almost hit as he kneeled to the ground. He was unable to muster enough strength so he quickly lost his footing…

"Urgh!"

He was attacked by Daryl!

"You want to deal with me with this surprise attack?" Brylle clenched his teeth but as he gathered his strength to counter-attack, Aldrian suddenly dashed forward!

This guy only stepped back to gain momentum! Daryl and Aldrian were working together!

"Ahh!"

Brylle was unable to dodge!

He was hit on his shoulder as he backed away in pain… With their Spiritual Energy, injuries like this can be easily healed in a matter of time…

However, the two didn't stop and ignored Calliope and Diether's presence.

Pah! Pah! Pah!

"This is unfair… Tsk!"

After five more exchanges, Brylle can only give up as he realized that he couldn't fight the two at the same time.

But before he could throw away his sword to surrender, he noticed Diether and Calliope that were silently waiting, he suddenly had an idea so he called out to them…

"Hey! You kids! Help me fight them! This is your only chance to win… If I'm defeated here, you guys won't have a chance of winning against these two…"

Calliope heard Brylle and weighed the situation… His words sounded logical.

She used a bit of her strength fighting the others just now, so she was sure that fighting against Daryl and Aldrian together with Brylle is the best option…

After they defeated the two, it will be easier for her to win. After all, Brylle was already injured as well…

The desperate guy can just buy her some time so she can deal with either one of the two.

She then glanced at Diether to see whether he wanted to team up with Brylle… But this mysterious guy remained standing while in his sword stance…

"Tsk… This guy looks more troubling than those three…" Calliope muttered after sensing his battle aura.

"AAh!!"

After noticing that the two were not responding, Brylle started to panic…

He made an opening and he was struck by Aldrian on his sternum… He was almost at the edge of the circle… He was about to get eliminated.

Then, before he got out of the circle, Calliope started to move. She dashed forward in an angle where Aldrian and Daryl can't see…

'A chance!'

As soon as Brylle was thrown outside the circle, Calliope arrived behind Daryl as she struck his knee with all of her strength…

Crack!

"AAah! Ahh! You—you!"

His right knee seemed to have broken with that strike as he screamed in pain… Even the other recruits felt his anguish…

However, Daryl didn't drop his sword as he even tried to hit Calliope back…

Pah!

His sword collided with her's as she stepped back due to their difference in strength…

'Tsk… His strength is no joke… My hand is starting to get numb…' Calliope just wanted to measure Daryl's strength with that strike so she parried instead of dodging it.

However, she realized that parrying wasn't a good idea against these opponents. He was too strong for her…

'I didn't know we have this much difference in strength.'

Calliope quickly stepped back to get some distance.

"Whoa! She looks beautiful when she's fighting… Who said that she had scary eyes?!" Kazim exclaimed after watching the young girl.

Calliope has long scarlet hair tied in a ponytail. Her eyes are mesmerizing as they attracted him even from a distance… Her small body and fitted uniform just added to her charm.

"Hey… You're the one who said that she has scary red eyes…" Sevdi replied without looking at him. She wanted to see Diether winning this event so she remained focused.

"Did I? Well, I was fooled by others. I only heard it from them so…"

"Sshh--- Look, Diether is now moving…" Sevdi said as she looked at Diether's subtle movements…

"This…" Kazim noticed that Diether moved but found it strange…

"It's about his footwork… He's really something…" Sevdi commented after realizing how Diether was swiftly moving.

***

Diether breathes steadily as he used one of the basic footwork in Kendo to approach his opponent…

It is the Ayumi-Ashi. It is a Walking Footwork that uses Suri-Ashi to perform swift movements…

There were only four of them in the circle so Diether just had to remain calm and avoid making mistakes in his approach.

Calliope also started moving away from Diether to avoid getting attacked from behind. She then decided to go in the opposite direction

"Daryl… Can you move?" Brylle asked while staying wary of the two kids.

"It's difficult. I'll just defend my position here… Just don't get too far from me…"

"I understand…" Aldrian nodded as he held his sword and formed a stance similar to Chudan no Kamae…

Daryl was on the left side looking at Calliope while Aldrian is on the right side where Diether is approaching…

"Haa!" Calliope shouted as if she was afraid that they wouldn't notice her attacking…

Daryl and Aldrian also found it strange… However, they immediately realized that the Diether was also dashing forward now…

As a matter of fact, his movement was faster than Calliope as he quickly reached an attacking range…

Whoosh!

Everyone felt the pressure coming from Diether's attack!

It was a sword thrust filled with Spiritual energy!

'Y-you! Are you planning to kill us?!'

Aldrian doesn't have the time to ask this question as the attack came so fast…

Diether's attack was aiming for his throat!

A Tsuki!

Aldrian wanted to defend but parrying a sword thrust is easily said than done…

He tried dodging but as soon as he was about to escape, the sword suddenly moved like a snake as his movement was followed!

Pah!

He was hit on his chest!

"Ooohhp!" He couldn't breathe after getting hit! It was too painful!

'How did this happen?!' Aldrian couldn't understand Diether's technique as he endured the pain.

Pah! Pah!

Daryl tried helping him but he also had to defend against Calliope's attack… Unfortunately, she only backed away after failing to land a hit… She was fully aware that he can't follow her so she's using it to her advantage.

'Just one hit… As long as we hit them once… We can win this…' Aldrian and Daryl have the same thoughts.

They were confident with the power behind their strike. As long as they managed to hit them slightly, they were sure that they wouldn't be able to run away again…

As they thought that Diether will use the same tactic as Calliope, they saw him use strange footwork as he continuously assaulted Aldrian!

Okuri-Ashi!

His continuous movements were annoying as they couldn't hit him…

Clang!

Aldrian managed to parry one of Diether's sword strikes… He grinned slightly as he was sure that Diether would feel the power behind his strike.

However, the young man just deflected his strike and made a counter-attack like it was nothing!

It was a perfect Kaeshi Waza!