Ryuga offered no reply to Biran’s taunt. He simply held his Iai stance in stony silence, his gaze fixed on his opponent.
Misinterpreting that silence as confirmation that he had hit the mark, Biran grew bolder, his voice dripping with arrogance.
"I’ll admit, slashing the ocean in half was a hell of a surprise. No jokes, you really had me there for a second. But I’m still standing, and I can still fight. Of course, I wouldn’t mind going another round right here, but... I think a strategic retreat is more my style right now."
"......"
"Naturally, you aren't about to let me walk away, are you? That’s why you’re wound up like a spring, ready to strike. The only problem is whether I dive into the sea to the right or the left. You’d probably love to split the waves again, but if you create another precipice like that, you’ll swamp those boats and everyone on them. You have to dial back the power this time, don’t you?"
"......"
"That means it’s a one-shot deal. A gamble on whether your intuition is faster than my dive. I bet you’re thinking about it right now, aren't you? Tearing yourself apart trying to guess which way I’ll run. Am I right?"
"......"
"Kishashashashashat...! Nothing to say? Well, I’d be nervous too. If I get away, those little friends of yours fighting on the Sunlight are going to be in a real bind...!!"
Ryuga remained a statue, refusing to acknowledge the second taunt.
Assuming Ryuga was simply trying to avoid being baited into a conversation, Biran glanced at the towering walls of water to either side before locking eyes with the swordsman again.
Too bad for you! I’ve still got a secret technique up my sleeve!!
Being dragged onto dry land by such absurd force had been a shock, but Biran knew that when it came to a pure footrace to the water, he held the overwhelming advantage.
He dropped his center of gravity, telegraphing a leap to either side. Then, with a jagged smirk, he lunged violently toward the right.
The moment he saw Ryuga’s eyes widen and his hand blur toward his hilt, Biran let out a triumphant roar.
"Kishashashashashat!! Too bad, you moron!!"
As he screamed, Biran unhinged his jaw and unleashed a torrent of water. By spraying a high-pressure stream like a geyser, he forcibly cancelled his momentum mid-air and vaulted in the opposite direction.
You’ll never correct your trajectory in time! This match is mine!
Biran knew Ryuga was a master. He realized that a simple dive to either side would have been met with a superhuman reflex and a lethal slash. That was exactly why he had decided to use those very reflexes against the swordsman, exploiting his opponent's heightened focus.
By intentionally feinting a leap and then snapping back the other way, he intended to force a miss or an aborted strike. It was a clever play meant to leave Ryuga in the dust—but Biran’s logic had been flawed from the very first step.
"...Wha?"
Suddenly—for the second time—the wall of water that should have been his sanctuary vanished.
Biran gaped in shock, but it wasn't that the sea was gone. His eyes could still see it.
The sea was above him. And it was below him. The specific section of the wall he had been aiming for was gone... no, that wasn't right.
It was floating. The ocean hadn't vanished; it had been hit with a horizontal strike so massive that the entire column of water had been severed into upper and lower halves.
"Y-You can... slash horizontally, too...?"
It was a simple matter of physics. If he could unleash a vertical strike capable of parting the sea, he was naturally capable of a horizontal one that divided it. It was a basic truth, yet Biran had truly believed that no human being could possibly be capable of such an absurdity.
Biran’s fatal mistake wasn't underestimating a master; it was failing to realize that the man before him was the Strongest Swordsman, a being who existed far beyond the realm of common sense.
"Gagh?! Haaah?!"
On the boats, Marcos and his companions felt a sudden, weightless sensation, as if the world beneath them had briefly dropped away. From the shore, the members of the Security Force watched in disbelief as the entire surface of the sea seemed to lurch upward.
Then, like a Daruma Otoshi game where the middle piece is struck out, the floating section of the sea crashed back into place. Biran’s scream rang out, swallowed by the roar of the water as he was cut down.
Following the massive impact, the fish-man reverted to his human form and tumbled across the seabed. As the ocean slowly began to reclaim its territory, he looked up at the approaching Ryuga.
"E-Either side... it didn't matter... did it? You were... you were planning to just cut the whole thing horizontally... no matter which way I ran... weren't you...?"
"No. I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while, but every single one of your guesses has been wrong."
Ryuga reached down and retrieved a clear plate engraved with the letter 'P'.
He had been unable to speak underwater, and Biran had bombarded him with questions ever since they hit the sand. Now, as a final declaration of victory, Ryuga delivered the answer he had been holding back.
"All I was thinking was: you’re incredibly annoying, so stop asking me questions."