“My body still stings. Are you trying to kill ?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
He said with a hearty laugh.
To an outsider, it might have seed like a friendly joke exchanged between close acquaintances. However, Sir Alex’s sharp gaze told otherwise.
This man was utterly serious.
He’d drawn his sword with every intention of killing .
“Young Master, allow to share an old saying from the North: ‘It’s easier to get rid of a mouth than to keep it shut.’ The wisdom of our ancestors is truly remarkable, isn’t it?”
“You’re rather chatty today. Are these your last words?”
“Haha, it sounds like you’re just as eager to kill , Young Master... How splendid.”
With a resounding whoosh, the greatsword buried in the snow was abruptly yanked out..
It didn’t take long for that blade to point my way. Sir Alex’s self-assured smile returned.
The brief clash earlier allowed him to finalize his rough estimations.
While my skill level was higher, he surpassed in actual combat experience and the unpredictability of his strategies.
This battle was unfolding in the exact opposite way of our last one.
My specialty lay in utilizing my secondary weapon and a variety of techniques during combat. But now, that very strength was being overshadowed by Sir Alex. I couldn’t help but be at a disadvantage.
To make matters worse, he had a thorough understanding of my fighting style.
Most of my techniques had already been revealed to the public. Or, at the very least, Sir Alex must have closely observed my previous duel with the elves.
It was a tough situation.
However, I still had a card up my sleeve.
In a world where even the whirling snow demanded stillness,
It wasn’t who broke the frozen silence.
With a dull thud, the armored knight’s body hurtled toward .
He was a knight fully encased in heavy armor. Thus, his weight combined with his acceleration made the force of his charge comparable to a cannonball.
Facing him head-on would leave little chance of survival.
My eyes instinctively mapped out the surroundings. The strings of space twisted chaotically in response to the movent of my hands.
Thunk—ca a surreal illusion as the world seed to distort and reconstruct itself.
By then, Sir Alex had already brushed past . Yet, as if anticipating this, he abruptly stopped in place, turning like a pivot and unleashed a strike with his sword.
Then a thrust that tore through the pinnacle of precision ca hurtling toward .
I angled the flat of my sword to deflect the blow. However, my body inevitably tilted slightly due to the sheer overwhelming weight of the greatsword.
That slight opening was exactly what Sir Alex had been aiming for.
Thus, instead of retreating, he pushed off the ground and charged toward , closing the distance and forcing his body against mine. It seed he realized I couldn’t free either of my hands from my sword while parrying his greatsword’s imnse power .
In other words, using my hatchet for a counterattack was impossible.
Capitalizing on that gap, he went for a full-bodied charge.
Gritting my teeth, I rotated my body and reversed the sword in my hand, the intricate motion causing Sir Alex’s body to sweep past once again.
But I didn’t let my rotation go to waste.
Harnessing the montum of my spin, I unleashed a sweeping slash that carved through the empty space.
Clang—his greatsword intercepted my blade. His posture was awkward, barely protecting his back, but the greatsword’s position near his center of gravity gave him the advantage.
I swiftly pulled back my sword and, as expected, the greatsword followed right after.
I dodged a few steps back, narrowly avoiding the swing.
The hem of my coat ripped against the biting winds of the blade.
It was made of a material impossible to find in the elven village—a fleeting regret crossed my mind, but I had no ti to dwell on it.
My body bent and bounced back into motion.
Just before my blade could drive into him, Sir Alex let out a fierce roar.
“Where do you think you’re aiming?!”
He brought his sword down with all his strength in a straight, downward slash.
Boom! A heavy shockwave rippled through the surroundings, forcing my blade to bounce down to the lower-left.
Once more, Sir Alex raised his greatsword high.
A crimson aura began to flicker over his gauntlet. If things continued like this, it would only be a repeat of what happened earlier.
Whether my sword would be deflected or I would manage to parry his strike, the blade would inevitably end up getting caught by his gauntlet.
The nacing intent in Sir Alex’s eyes was unmistakable.
His lips slightly moved.
‘Thank you for your effort.’
It was, in essence, a declaration of victory.
At least, as far as he believed, I had no way to break through this situation.
That was why he was igniting his crimson aura for one final, decisive strike.
To ensure my life would co to an end.
The searing aura was like blazing fire. There was no way I could take that steadily condensing strike head-on.
Right. I can’t block it.
So, what options remained for ?
The answer lay in the position of my sword.
The tip of my blade, which dropped to my lower left, began to rise and drifted through the air as if moving in slow motion.
Freed from that fleeting exchange of blows, my sword carved scars into the empty space.
Was it a fang, or perhaps a claw?
There was no way Sir Alex wouldn’t recognize this technique.
In the instant before ti resud its flow, Sir Alex’s eyes widened, his gaze filled with disbelief.
But it was already too late.
Like an explosion, five streaks of silver tore forward.
Secret technique: Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion
It was a technique exclusively passed down to the direct descendants of the Yurdina family. How could an old knight who swore loyalty to the Yurdinas for so long even fathom such a thing?
That the family’s secret technique had been taught to an outsider.
And the price for that revelation was brutal.
One streak twisted the angle of his greatsword.
Another deflected it upward.
The remaining three raked through thick steel of his armor, delivering him a searing pain.
Kugh—blood burst from Sir Alex’s mouth. Even then, he rely stared at with a vacant expression.
Naturally, that was none of my concern.
Right then, I hurled my hatchet.
Thunk—the unguarded Sir Alex took the blow and was lifted off the ground. I lunged forward, pouncing as though to tackle him from above.
My hand snatched the hatchet back from midair.
What followed happened in an instant.
Bang! Sir Alex’s body slamd into the ground, convulsing once. Seizing the opportunity, I brought my hatchet down onto his forearm.
There was no need to target the joints of his armor.
I simply used the back of my hatchet like a hamr.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sparks flew as the tal armor gradually buckled under the repeated blows. It wasn’t a fatal strike, but it was enough to subdue him.
“GUH, GAH, AARRRGH!”
A pitiful scream escaped from the old knight as his forearm bone twisted unnaturally.
But it was only for a mont.
With the subjugation complete, I replaced the hatchet with my sword.
It was to ensure I maintained as much distance as possible from Sir Alex, just in case.
Along the blade, a chilling energy followed, a droplet of blood precariously clinging at the end of its shimring parth..
It hovered just above the old knight’s throat.
Suppressing my labored breaths, I spoke.
“......Surrender, Sir Alex.”
“Kuh, kuhk... Kuhahahahaha!”
Laughter erupted from him, so forceful as though it might choke the life out of him.
The old knight’s body twisted almost convulsively as he laughed to the point that my body, perched atop him, was jostled by his convulsions.
My brow furrowed even deeper.
Should I just kill him here?
But there were still things I needed to hear from him. Lowering my voice further, I issued a warning.
“I said surrender. If you do, I will spare your life...”
“I-Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion...Unbelievable. To think I would see soone other than a Yurdina bloodline wield it in my lifeti...”
His words sounded like a lant.
Exhausted from laughing, Sir Alex heavily exhaled, his pained expression revealing the agony he was enduring.
“So that’s what you ant when you said you have a ‘close relationship’ with My Lady Delphine? Heh... Back in my younger days, I promised myself I’d live long enough to witness Young Lady Delphine’s wedding soday.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to surrender!”
Unable to hold back, I shouted at him.
But it made no difference. The old knight rely offered a faint smile.
“Why did you secretly attack the elves behind Senior Delphine’s back? And what do you an by saying she alone doesn’t define Yurdina? Why did you go so far as to provoke elves who were living peacefully...?!”
“Young Master.”
His voice was calr now.
The old knight quietly looked up at , wearing a gaze filled with pity..
It was the face of soone who had long transcended the boundaries of life and death.
Unease montarily washed over .
Because I had a feeling that his expression would remain etched in my mory for a long ti.
“I am already a man who died once... My parents were hunters of the forest. Until one day, they t the elves and t a brutal end.”
“Do you expect to pity you for your painful past?”
“And then my son died wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps as a knight. It was on the battlefield against elves, too... He was like the last gift left to by my frail wife.”
My grip tightened on the sword aid at his throat.
Biting my lip, I spat my words at him.
“Take a good look at the disaster you’ve caused... The elves have fallen into a cult , and now even more soldiers are dying on the front lines. Are you satisfied now?!”
“I’ve always felt relieved deep down......”
Huhu, Sir Alex chuckled hoarsely, his shoulders trembling slightly.
It seed he wanted to raise his hand, but with his broken bones, it wasn’t so easy.
“No, to be precise, it felt like there was a gaping hole in my chest. And that made everything simpler—a life without thought, lived solely for Yurdina.”
“Ha, so that’s why you went behind Senior Delphine......”
“Young Master, you have no idea of the burden Yurdina bears.”
Those words, spoken through labored breaths, froze in place.
I turned my confused gaze to him, and as if to answer my silent question, he offered a bitter smile.
“There are tis in this world when things simply can’t be helped... Circumstances that not even the Empire’s five great noble families can defy.”
“...And what exactly are those circumstances?”
Heh, Sir Alex let out a wry laugh and closed his eyes.
Then, opening them again, he spoke a single sentence,
“That’s why I said you don’t know anything, Young Master.”
Just as I was about to ask another question—
Wham—Sir Alex’s shoulder jerked up. Riding the shockwave, his tal armor lashed out like a whip.
Faint traces of crimson aura encircled it.
It would be fatal if I got hit..
I imdiately ducked and raised my sword to the side. A deafening clang rang out as the blow struck, sending my body tilting sideways.
Taking advantage of the gap, Sir Alex drove his waist forward, roughly shoving back.
Crunch. Creak.
The tal armor crumpled, emitting eerie creaks.
The way it seed to peel off on its own was a sight I had seen sowhere before.
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