Chapter 2892: Sword Devil From the moment she cut off the first arm despite all the safety precautions in place, Ketis knew she was doomed to become a famous personality in the Heavensword Association. Every swordsman or swordswoman who was capable of performing feats comparable to her ability to annihilate solid barriers were already known celebrities in the state! Their sword schools proudly promoted the strength and valor of these strong and powerful sword initiates. While not all of them were guaranteed to trigger the transformation that could turn them into swordmasters, they were still eminently stronger than practically every other citizen of the Heavensword Association! The entire society of this sword-obsessed state revolved around exceptional swordsmen. From the media to cultural perception, the Heavensworders always paid a lot of attention whenever a new sword initiate emerged among the ranks of swordsmen! "Miss Larkinson!" A reporter followed by a recorder bot tried to squeeze past the barrier of Swordmaidens just outside the arena building. "As the new head of the Annihilator Sword School, what is your ambition? Will you seek to revive it to its former glory?" Ketis tried to maintain a cool and impassive expression as she briefly turned to face the journalist. She quickly recalled the pre-canned answer that she had drilled into her mind. "The Annihilator Sword School has sunk to its lowest point in its history, but has always managed to endure. With my leadership, the school shall rise to greater heights! By the time the Greater Omanderie Festival has ended, I aim to expand the ranks of my school with ten-thousand students and instructors!" Ten-thousand members! What a shocking goal! While Ketis had certainly proven her strength in battle, she was not a real swordmaster as of yet. If she possessed a level of strength that was comparable to an expert pilot, her claim wouldn't draw too much attention. The original Annihilator Sword School never took in more than a thousand students. This was because the sword style it taught was very difficult to learn. Since no one else aside from Venerable Trey Walinski was able to display his sword style, it took a lot of courage for sword students to invest years of training before they even had hope of touching upon the essence of annihilation. The founder of the sword school was also selective about the students he enrolled into his school. While more members typically conveyed greater prestige, it was not always good to take responsibility for so many people at once. The fact that Ketis signalled that she intended to defy this common sense was enough to get tongues wagging! Though she continued to present a specific image to the news media, inwardly she began to feel amused. Was this what Ves always felt when he addressed the public? It was so easy to generate attention! As long as she said anything that was shocking or unexpected, she was sure she could leave a memorable impression in the minds of her audience. She had to clamp herself down and restrain herself in order to avoid going off-script. No matter what, the plan to revive and empower the Swordmaidens mattered much more than any vanity she gained out of this circus. Ves continually served as a role model and example for her. Even if she couldn't learn all of his methods, she could still imitate them. It was fine as long as her performance was convincing enough. Another journalist tried to squeeze closer. "Miss Larkinson! While our state has officially recognized you as a Heavensworder, you have also insisted on maintaining your allegiance to the Larkinson Clan. Where do your loyalties lie? Will you leave the Heavensword Association as soon as the festival is over?" This was also a question she expected to face. She did not lie when she filled in the forms that allowed her to acquire her new citizenship. Swordsmen and swordswomen disdained lies and hated it when they were misled. She would certainly not make the mistake of pretending to be a committed Heavensworder. "I am loyal the values and ideals of both the Larkinson Clan and the Heavensword Association." She calmly replied. "To me, loyalty is not exclusive. You can be loyal to your family, your colleagues, your boss and your state at the same time. It is never the case that someone must choose to be loyal to one of them at the exclusion of others. So frankly speaking, I am proud to be both a Larkinson and a Heavensworder! As long as my clan and my new state do not have any contradictions or competing interests, there is no reason to pick one over the other." "Isn't that a duplicitous answer? Tell us the truth! The fact that you haven't ended your association with the Larkinson Clan means you still prize it over your new citizenship. Just admit that you just want to use the Heavensword Association for your own ends!" Ketis continued to keep her cool. She merely exhibited a modest smile. "As the leader of the Annihilator Sword School, I aim to make it great and spread its sword style across the stars. Compared to staying in the Majestic Teal Star Sector, I believe I can do much more for our local swordsmanship tradition if I bring a portion of our heritage to the Red Ocean! The Larkinson Clan will not hinder us from reaching our goal. In fact, it's the opposite! Since the clan is an avid user of swordsman mechs, it will welcome the rise of lots of strong swordsman mech pilots!" A third journalist shoved aside a rival and asked his own question. "Aren't you just a lackey of the Larkinson Clan? You just want to poach more talented swordsmen from our state in order to fill the ranks of your true masters. You're no Heavensworder!" Ketis tried to repress her anger. She would usually lash out at this point, but the importance of her current role couldn't be overstated. "Please do not impinge on my honor, sir. I am a swordswoman. Please give me the same level of regard you show to other swordsmen and swordswomen. I fought honorably against many pirates in the Nyxian Gap, so please don't slander my name. If you wish to question my integrity, then please back your statements with proof." Fred Walinski quickly interceded before more journalists tried to irritate Ketis. "Alright, alright! Interim Director Larkinson will no longer be available to answer your questions. Please direct your inquiries to me. As the former head of the Annihilator Sword School, I am happy to clear your doubts." Once Ketis entered the shuttle, she sighed and slumped in her chair. "How exhausting!" "You'll get better, Ketis." Commander Sendra said. "Do this a couple more times and you'll become a natural like Patriarch Ves." Ketis gave her a wry smile. "I'm not sure whether that will happen as soon as you think. I'm not a natural speaker." "Well, if you don't like to talk, then fight. As long as you continue to cut down your opponents in the arena, those pesky journalists won't be able to affect you anymore. The locals love a winner." She took those words in mind as she competed the following days. As more and more challenging competitors squared off against her, she became more determined to win as decisively and domineeringly as possible in order to silence all doubts about her intentions! During a group match, Ketis, Commander Sendra and three other sisters faced a close-knit team of Heavensworders from a small sword school. Even though none of the disciples of the so-called Windblade Sword School were sword initiates, they were still inner disciples, which meant that they were highly-trained and had the potential to become greater at any time. According to the previous experiences of the Swordmaidens in the arena, these inner disciples were usually tough opponents. While they lacked actual battlefield experience, their sword drills were so sophisticated that they had an answer for anything! Yet now that Ketis and the rest of her team took their places, the stances of their opponents became more and more defensive. The Windblade disciples were very wary towards the inheritor of the Annihilator Sword Style! Ketis smirked behind her protective helmet. She smoothly unsheathed Shiva while Sharpie entered annihilation mode. The change in focus caused her to drop some of her sharp focus in order to make way for a desire to unleash destruction. "Let's follow the usual plan, sisters." Once the match commenced, the Swordmaidens boldly charged forward! Despite carrying two weapons at once, Ketis did not slow in her advance. For their part, the Windblade disciples weren't willing to let their opponents bowl them over. They managed to regain enough of their wits to execute a pre-planned strategy. "They're splitting up!" Three of the Windblade disciples moved to the left while two moved to the right. This put the Swordmaidens in a slightly difficult spot. If Ketis decided to split up their team as well, then their opponents might be able to stall her, thereby preventing her from aiding other Swordmaidens. If the Swordmaiden team decided to stick together and pursue just one of the enemy pincers, then the other pincer would undoubtedly attack their flanks! However, Ketis possessed enough confidence in her fellow sisters to be able to hold their ground regardless of the clever maneuvering of her opponents. The Swordmaidens were not fragile vases that collapsed at the first blow! "Since these Windblade disciples have taken the liberty to line themselves up, let's gobble them up piece by piece! Attack the right pincer!" The team of five Swordmaidens openly changed direction and charged faster towards the pair of Windblade disciples that had split up from their comrades. "Damn!" There was no way that the two swordsmen would dare to clash head-on against five opponents. The pair continued to run away in order to delay the moment of contact as long as possible. Meanwhile, the left pincer had already turned around in order to close in on the rear of the Swordmaiden formation. Right now, the match looked a bit silly to the spectators. The multi-level chase did not lead to any immediate excitement, so the crowd was quite upset! "Stop running!" "The enemy is in the other direction!" "Chickens! I didn't sign up to watch this farce!" Several minutes passed while the distance continued to narrow. This was because the circular arena did not allow anyone to run in a straight line forever. As the three separate groups of people grew closer, it appeared as if the Windblade disciples were about to sandwich the Swordmaidens from two opposite directions. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎 Yet just when people thought that a chaotic melee would ensue, Ketis stopped running forward and began to charge in the opposite direction by herself! "Ahh! It's the Sword Devil! Don't tangle against her by yourself!" The reputation that Ketis had acquired was so notorious that the three Windblade disciples did not dare to parry any of her attacks. Instead, they spread out and prepared to evade as many attacks as possible. Everyone already knew that blocking her attacks was an exercise in futility. The only way for them to avoid losing their limbs was to not get hit in the first place! Ketis grinned. She already anticipated this response. She chased after them for a couple more seconds before turning around to intercept the other two Windblade disciples. "She tricked us!" "What a devil!" "Go after her! Don't let the Swordmaidens gang up on our brothers!" It was too late. The two pincer strategy was of no use as long as the Swordmaidens pried them apart from each other. Due to her positioning, Ketis was able to approach her new targets from another angle and corner her two disciples! Seeing that they were about to be sandwiched themselves, the desperate Windblade disciples concluded that their tournament run would probably end unless they took out Ketis! "Attack the Sword Devil! As long as the fight is two-to-one, we still stand a chance!" As Ketis was about to clash against the two oncoming opponents, her grin had grown wide. Even as her opponents spread out a bit and launched a simultaneous attack from two sides, she whirled her body and cut both incoming swords in half! As the upper halves of the blades clattered to the ground, Ketis fearlessly stepped into one of the disciples and made a low cut that sent a leg flying! "AHHH!" Even as the other disciple attempted to run away, Ketis ran after him like a shark that smelled blood. She drew more on her augmented body, allowing her to close in remarkably quickly. Seeing that he was about to be overtaken, the remaining disciple boldly turned around in order to make a last-ditch effort at defeating the intimidating sword initiate. "Don't underestimate the Windblade Sword School!" The disciple's damaged sword began to flicker a bit. An almost imperceptible bright blue glow briefly covered the shortened edge. Yet before it could do anything more, a saber that oozed darkness brutally cut through the pathetic display and went on to slice off an arm below the elbow! [The Sword Devil has harvested yet another limb!] Ketis twitched when she heard that. She hated that name!