Chapter 14
A lot of people gathered for the sparring match that had come together so suddenly.
They were probably curious.
After all, it was a duel between a Sword Saint and a dragon.
Of course, since the spectators were elves, plenty of them frowned as soon as they saw me.
“You’re going to fight in that form?”
“Yeah. There’s no need to make a big scene for no reason, right?”
“…I see.”
In the first place, I was short on money to polymorph again.
“Unnie… Are you sure this is okay…?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. The queen said it would be okay, didn’t she? Or do you think I’m going to lose?”
“I-I don’t think that….”
Beren and I moved to our designated positions and took our places.
A one-on-one spar.
It would end when one side surrendered or landed a clean hit.
If we both landed a clean hit at the same time, whoever dealt more damage would win.
Obviously, killing your opponent was forbidden.
Beep—
As I watched my opponent getting ready, I fiddled with my Hunter Watch.
The more viewers, the better.
A spar with an S-rank Hunter.
That ought to draw plenty of attention.
They say S-ranks are in a whole different league from A-ranks.
Besides, until now, I’d mostly been dealing with nobodies, so a lot of the fights had felt a little underwhelming.
- Hii
- Goldie hi
- What’s this? Where are we?
- [NotSuspiciousAtAll] Hii
“This is kind of a last-minute stream, but~ Today, we’re having a spar.”
- [KoiKoi] A spar?
- Huh, isn’t that the elven city?
- It is, huh?
- What are you doing there?
- [KoiKoi] Put your money down
- A spar?
I adjusted the screen to make sure Beren was clearly visible.
Sure enough, the chat started flying by.
- Who’s that?
- Wait, isn’t that Beren??
- You’re sparring with him??
- Wow, holy shitㅋㅋ How’d you get him to agree?
- Isn’t that Hunter barely active these days?
[HarvestBumper donated 5,000,000 won!]
[Hehehehehe]
- ?
- Wait, what?
- Five million??
- Oppa, are you rich?
Good, good. I knew this would draw attention.
“Are you both ready?”
“Yes.”
“I am.”
Narsil, who was acting as the referee, gripped the golden bow.
Then, as Narsil drew the bowstring toward the sky, a cluster of light gathered.
Could that be a treasure, too?
I kind of want it.
Fwoosh—
The moment the arrow of light shot into the sky, making its presence known.
[Withdrawal 500,000 won - Details: [Physical Enhancement - Gold] skill usage fee]
KLANG—
In the blink of an eye—not even a full second—Beren closed the distance and swung the sword.
The tip of the sword remained sheathed, but the blade exposed at the slightly opened bottom of the scabbard came right for its target.
When I blocked it with my enhanced forearm, I saw the Sword Saint’s gleaming eyes.
‘His eyes were practically dead until just now….’
Could he really come alive like that the moment he picked up a sword?
CLANG—
KLANG—
The sound of steel clashing rang out as we exchanged several blows in an instant.
As we moved without either of us yielding or retreating, each trying to size the other up, I could feel it.
Acceleration.
The more complicated the sword’s trajectory became…
or the more he deflected my attacks, the faster his sword grew.
The blade was occasionally moving so fast that it vanished from my sight, so I settled into a stance.
If I let this continue, his sword would only get faster.
Swish—
His sword curved diagonally.
I suddenly slipped my leg in, matching his footwork.
[Withdrawal 150,000 won - Details: [Acceleration] skill usage fee]
If my opponent was accelerating, then I could accelerate too and keep up with him.
I adjusted the flow of mana, drove my body into motion, and struck the trajectory of the incoming sword.
KLANG—
“….”
His sword was knocked away.
Its trajectory had been thrown completely off by the recoil from his acceleration, and Beren took his first step back.
“I guess a swift sword isn’t your specialty?”
- Wow, holy shit
- What am I even looking at…?
- I couldn’t see anything, though?
- [LushGreen] You can knock away a swordsman’s blade with just body magic…?
Tap—
He smoothly regained his stance, like flowing water, and glared at me.
Then he lowered his stance, gripping the scabbard with one hand and the sword’s hilt with the other.
That stance looks familiar.
Is he finally going to get serious?
[Withdrawal 1,000,000 won - Details: [Dragon Eye Awakening] skill usage fee]
I awakened my Dragon Eye and watched him, preparing for his incoming attack.
Power gathered in his wrists and ankles.
I thought his style looked quite different from that of the swordsmen in the world I’d come from.
Usually, bastard swords and longswords relied on rotational force to give their attacks destructive power.
But this stance looked less like swordsmanship and more like a display of technique.
BANG—
A cloud of dust rose from the spot where he’d been standing.
Keeping himself out of sight, he charged at me through the dust.
Holding his breath, he drew his sword in a single stroke.
But it was so fast that it looked as though he hadn’t drawn his sword at all.
Even I wouldn’t have seen it without my Dragon Eye.
‘There’s a reason he’s S-rank.’
CRUNCH—
I concentrated all my physical enhancement in my right hand.
Golden scales sprouted across my human hand, and sharp claws grew from my fingertips.
Then I wedged my claws into the path of the single stroke he’d drawn.
SHRAK—
Another stroke was carved through the air.
Together, they formed an imperfect second stroke.
“…!”
KLANGGG—
A powerful gust of wind swept through behind Beren as he passed by me.
Perhaps he hadn’t expected me to block it that way, because his eyes twitched ever so slightly.
I didn’t let that moment pass. I stomped hard against the ground.
KABOOM—
The earth trembled as dust billowed up.
When the ground shook as if a dragon had slammed its foot into it, a swordsman was bound to lose their balance.
I quickly turned around and tried to grab Beren, but—
“…?”
What? Where’d he—
Swish—
From an unexpected direction.
A blade holding the moonlight burst out from the dust.
The sword’s tip gleamed brightly.
Moonlight Slash (月光斬).
KWA-GA-GA-GANG—
I hurriedly raised my still-reptilian hand to block the incoming sword.
But the attack had come so suddenly that I couldn’t absorb all its force, and I was pushed back a little.
A blue flash and its sharp afterimage remained where I’d been standing, carved out by the sword.
Shing—
As if embarrassed that it hadn’t managed to cut me, the sword soon concealed itself in its scabbard again.
Then, as I braced myself for the next attack, Beren suddenly spoke.
“…I have a question.”
“Hm? All of a sudden?”
“Why aren’t you actively attacking? I know you’ve been doing nothing but countering me.”
He asked with one hand still gripping the sword’s hilt.
I spread my physical enhancement through my body again and answered.
“If I attack, it’ll be over too quickly. Then everyone who gathered here wouldn’t have any fun.”
- Fuckㅋㅋㅋ
- Yeah, just click a button and it’s boring~
- But it’s true, the boss hasn’t attacked at allㅇㅇ
- I couldn’t even see anything
- Ah, the boss has finally unleashed 10 percent of their power…
“Are you mocking me?”
“No? I’m serious.”
Frowning at my answer, he let go of the sword hilt.
Then he gripped the scabbard of a sword he hadn’t used until now.
It looked similar to his first sword, but was slightly longer.
- That’s the first time I’ve seen him use that sword, isn’t it?
- Oh
“I’ll knock that arrogance out of you, dragon.”
Swoosh—
Dash—
The very different atmosphere made my eyes widen.
Since I’d opened my Dragon Eye further than before, I could now even read the trajectory of his incoming attack in advance.
But…
‘It’s coming from every direction?’
I couldn’t see anywhere to dodge.
Was he forcing me to counter?
If he really was aiming for a straight-on breakthrough, then…
GRIP—
Let’s see you break through.
Shing—
The sword he drew was a brilliant, pure white.
Like a blank canvas with no color at all.
Swish—
He changed the way he held the sword.
The slightly tilted blade turned blue, then pitch-black.
‘Could that be an artifact?’
It had an unusual ability, and it even responded to its owner.
…So until now, he’d been fighting me with an ordinary sword, not an artifact?
He hadn’t been using his full strength, either.
Flash—
He vanished from my sight and traced sword paths in every direction.
The trajectories filled my vision in every direction, and through the spreading strokes of black ink—
Moonlight Final Execution (月光終斬殺).
Moonlight filled the entire area.
That’s pretty impressive.
He showed me something interesting, so I should show him something, too.
If this ended here, the viewers would definitely tease me that Beren was cooler than I was.
[Withdrawal 20,000,000 won - Details: [Heavenly Chain Rending Claw] skill usage fee]
CRUNCH—
The claws on both hands grew long.
With my eyes wide open, I followed the chaotically spreading sword paths…
Swish—
At last, I caught sight of the sword flying at me through the moonlight.
It was so sharp that it looked as if it could cut through the space around it. I tensed my legs and crossed both hands.
One, two.
Now.
KABOOM—
I was knocked back at high speed, tracing a complex path as if drawing chains through the air.
Beren must have realized it in that brief moment, too.
If we collided like this, he’d be pushed back.
So he twisted the trajectory of his incoming sword.
Even if it lost some of its cutting power, that way he could still reach his opponent.
CLANG—
The sound that rang out wasn’t loud.
It was just the sound of metal striking metal.
For the sound made by a Sword Saint and a giant dragon crossing paths, it was rather feeble.
And then, in the next instant…
We both turned around to check on the other.
“Hm.”
The result was that my hoodie had been cut slightly.
Did that count as a clean hit, too?
- The boss got hit, though?
- Did the boss lose?
- The boss was talking such a big gameㅋㅋㅋ
- I was rooting for Sir Beren from the startㅎㅎ
- ???: If I fight seriously, the people gathered here won’t have any fun.
- It’s just a tiny cut on their clothes, quit making a fussㅋㅋ
Watching the chat fly by, I gave them a sly smile.
Dramatic moments always get a good reaction.
“…Dragons really are troublesome—”
Beren, who’d already sheathed his sword, looked at me and spoke.
He seemed to think he’d won because he’d landed a clean hit.
SHRAK—
“Guhk?!—”
- ???
- What the hell, that’s crazy
- Huh?
The next moment…
Blood burst from Beren’s chest.
A technique that lashes claws like chains, tearing through the sky.
Heavenly Chain Rending Claw.
The unusual thing about this technique was that the trajectory of its attack was extremely unclear.
Even though the attack had landed a clean hit, the world itself failed to recognize it right away, and the wound appeared only afterward.
Of course, it took a tremendous amount of mana to use, so I’d used it as weakly as possible.
Still, it looks cool, doesn’t it?
If I’d used it at full strength, that guy might’ve died.
And that would’ve been a complete disaster.
“I won, right?”
“….”
Beren was on one knee, gripping his sword like a support.
Thud—
I walked over to him and held out the World Tree’s Leaf.
In an instant, the energy inside the leaf healed his wound.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I mean, you were up against me.”
- Crazy bitchㅋㅋㅋ
- ‘You were up against me’ lmao
- How old is that line…
- Wow, that was fucking coolㅋㅋ
- [I'mGonnaDie] I just got here. What kind of stream is this today, meow?
- [LushGreen] Yeah, it’s already over. It was amazing just now.
- [I'mGonnaDie] ?
- Wow… I’m honestly speechless. Wow…
“Let’s go back and eat. The food must’ve gone cold.”
Beren, who’d confidently promised to finish me off before the food even arrived, looked up at me again with vacant eyes.
Then he suddenly nodded.
“…I see.”
As if something he’d been wondering about had finally been resolved.
“I lost.”
…Wait, now that I think about it, I have to travel with this guy tomorrow.
Even if it was just a spar, I’m supposed to travel with the guy whose chest I slashed?
Is the atmosphere between us going to be okay…?