Chapter 39
“One more time, El. It'll be different from before.”
“Haha…”
Awakening in a situation like this? Is he the protagonist?
How can he do something so absurd so nonchalantly?
I could feel magic power packed into Ian's sword so densely that even I couldn't imitate it.
Ian must have awakened his Spirit Throne. If I had to name it, would it be the Spirit Throne of Focus?
Awakening in the middle of a crisis…
Really…
“That's so cool…”
A hero awakening in the middle of a crisis.
Who wouldn't love that?
Probably no one.
I don't like being the one creating the crisis… but since I've been cast in this role, I should play it properly.
-Tap,
I tossed the disguise magic tool I always wore far away.
There was no point in keeping up the disguise now.
At the same time, my hair turned black.
The beautiful, somehow otherworldly blue vanished, revealing the pitch-black hair unique to the North's great noble house—the Whitewolf family.
-That hair…
-Could it be the North's…!
“…El. Could it be, you…?!”
Oh dear. Don't be shocked already.
-KWA-AAA!
“Guh…! What kind of magic power…!”
I drew out all the magic power I had.
Not as the academy cadet El, but as Plia, the youngest Swordmaster—I drew out everything I had.
My pure-white magic power took the shape of a sword, becoming an Aura Blade.
How long had it been since I'd shown this much of my power in front of others?
“Amazing, Ian. You made me draw out my full strength.”
“You don't mean…?”
Since I'd gone this far, it was only proper to introduce myself.
“My real name is Plia. Plia Jegen Whitewolf, the youngest Swordmaster.”
I pointed my sword at Ian and declared,
“I'm the swordswoman who's going to defeat you.”
…
Arin, who had been cheering for Plia, felt her thoughts come to a halt.
“…Huh?”
So El was actually Plia Jegen Whitewolf, the Grand Duke's third daughter, and the youngest Swordmaster?
‘…I knew El was a noble! But I never imagined she was this high-ranking!’
Arin's silent scream went unheard as the fight continued to heat up.
…
The air froze, and a storm of cold swept through.
“Guh…”
If Ian's Focus pushed cutting power to its absolute limit, my freezing was about dominating space.
Slowing my opponent and speeding myself up.
“Here I come.”
I charged in at a speed incomparable to anything so far.
When it came to speed, only Plien or the Hero could probably keep up with me.
“Third Form: Snowstorm Drill.”
A blizzard that easily surpassed the speed of sound engulfed Ian.
“Guh. Haaah!”
But even if I'd gotten faster, Ian wasn't about to just take the hit.
Besides, even if my attacks grazed him, magic power gathered there at a rapid pace and blocked them.
A protective aura… though maybe the range is too small to call it that.
Still, it blocked my attacks completely.
To break through that, I'd have to thrust with all my strength, too.
“My turn!”
Ian's sword came down toward my shoulder.
Since I was right up against him, dodging would be difficult, right?
Ian knew it, too. With my stance thrown off, I wouldn't be able to break through his defenses.
Well, it was clever, but this much was nothing.
“Too slow.”
Freeze the concept.
The air. Space. Time.
I couldn't stop them completely, but I could slow them down about a hundredfold.
Only for a brief moment… but that was more than enough to dodge.
-Whoosh!
“What?!”
From Ian's perspective, my movement must have been almost like teleportation.
“You don't get a turn.”
I immediately continued my attack.
“Fifth Form: Spirit-Cutting Divine Dance.”
I kept pressing the attack without giving my opponent a chance to strike.
Even without using the Twelfth Form, all my attacks grew stronger the more I chained them together.
Again and again. Without end.
“Haaaaah!”
-Clangclangclangclangclangclang!
"Grr…! I'm not going to keep taking this!“
Naturally, Ian didn't just keep taking my attacks. He countered, too.
His attacks were slow, but every blow carried threatening power.
If I took one hit wrong, it'd be curtains.
It was similar to, but different from, Uncle Luke's Severance.
Uncle's Severance could cut anything, but it could only slash. Ian's Focus, on the other hand…
“Burst!”
-KWA-BOOOOM!
“Kyaah?!”
Apparently, it could explode like this.
No, I'd expected it could explode, but the power was incredible.
Was it not just gathering power, but amplifying it as it gathered?
What a pain…
“It's a power that grows stronger the more you attack, right? Then if I interrupt your attack, its power should drop sharply—”
“As if.”
-BAM!
“Guh…! Its power doesn't weaken even when the attack's interrupted? That's cheating!”
The power he'd built up didn't disappear the instant his attack was interrupted.
Well, it did diminish quickly.
He was using his Spirit Throne to forcibly hold on to power that should have been fading, so it took a lot of stamina, too!
The important thing is that it doesn't disappear, right?
“Tenth Form: Ice Blossom Dance.”
Taking advantage of Ian's brief lapse, I continued my attack.
“Guh!”
Ian barely blocked my sword as he tried to put some distance between us.
Trying to run? No chance!
“Eleventh Form: Ice Blossom Extreme Slash!”
At long range, I can just hit him with ranged attacks!
Dozens, hundreds of sword waves pressed Ian without giving him a moment to breathe.
He was defending calmly, but blocking every last one was practically impossible.
Unless he blew them all away at once…?
“Haaaah!”
-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!
He blew them all away at once.
If he was going to blow things up left and right like that, shouldn't it be called Condensation and Explosion instead of Focus?
“Ian… aren't you too strong?”
“You too. How have you been hiding that much strength all this time?”
Who knows…
“I never really thought about it.”
“I see…”
Ian looked somewhat disappointed. Did he think there'd be some profound reason?
“Right now, I feel kind of omnipotent. I don't feel like I'd lose badly to you, either. I feel like I could beat anyone.”
“Ah…”
It was true. I had felt that way after awakening.
Though the feeling had vanished the moment Plien beat me up.
“If you let me beat you up a bit, that feeling'll disappear.”
“I can't do that. I have to hold on to the top spot, El… no, Plia.”
Ian's face as he said that was no different from usual.
Even as Plia, he looked at me without prejudice.
-Flush.
“…Shut up. I'm the one who's going to win.”
“Plia? Your face is a little red…”
“I said shut up!”
He's so dense!
“Let's keep going!”
I couldn't beat Ian with the approach I'd used so far.
If we dragged this out, I'd win thanks to my better magic efficiency, but there was no point in a victory like that.
Then I just needed to change my approach.
“Twelfth Form: Ice Dragon.”
The Twelfth Form was the technique I'd used while sparring with Uncle Luke.
It was called Ice Dragon because it resembled a dragon.
But now that I was going all out, its power was incomparable.
A dragon-like sword strike rushed toward Ian.
“I'm not just going to keep taking this!”
Ian responded by swinging his brilliant sword aura.
Ian's sword, packed with enormous magic power, and my Ice Dragon collided.
Ian's sword came out on top.
“Not yet!”
But the Ice Dragon didn't stop.
If once wasn't enough, then twice. If twice wasn't enough, then three times. If that still wasn't enough, I'd keep going until it was.
“Haaaaah!!”
“Grrr!”
Ian's sword, which had been blocking my attacks with ease, began to waver.
He must have been getting tired by now.
“Aaaah!”
I dodged Ian's counterattack with only the bare minimum of movement.
The Ice Dragon's successive strikes lost all their power the moment they were interrupted. There was no holding on to it with the Spirit Throne, either.
So I had to give up flesh to take bone.
-Shick!
Ian's sharp sword aura grazed my cheek.
That was dangerous. If it had gone just a little deeper, it would've been a fatal wound.
That must have meant Ian was running out of room. He hadn't considered my safety at all.
Well, worrying about each other's safety during a spar was kind of ridiculous anyway.
I narrowly dodged Ian's attacks and kept my barrage going.
Without stopping. On and on.
-KAAANG!
“Guh…”
I could feel Ian struggling now.
Even when we clashed head-on, Ian was gradually being pushed back.
So I'd finish this now!
“Haaaaah!”
-KAGAGAGAGANG!
I could feel Ian's body being pushed farther and farther back.
Good. At this rate, I can wi—
-POOOOM!
“Kyaah!”
An enormous explosion suddenly erupted from Ian's body.
What kind of power…?
The explosion could outstrip even most grand spells, and I hurriedly retreated.
When the smoke cleared, Ian stood there covered in wounds.
…Wait. Why doesn't he have an Aura Blade?
Could he have… detonated his Aura Blade?
If so, the power made sense.
There must have been a lot of magic power gathered in the Aura Blade already, and detonating it all at once would explain this much force.
How is that Focus? That's more like condensation and explosion.
But Ian himself must have taken a lot of damage, too.
“Ow, ow… That hurts.”
“Are you insane? No matter what, an explosion that big…”
“I didn't think I'd be able to shake you off otherwise.”
“You lunatic…”
He'd taken that much damage for that one reason?
“Ha. Even so, you took more damage—”
“And there was one more thing I wanted to try.”
“What do you mean…?”
-Chill!
Magic power gathered in Ian's sword.
Not only the magic power within his body, but the magic power of nature, too.
“You're… insane.”
The way he was gathering it looked just like the first time.
But the amount was different.
Not even comparable… magic power at its absolute limit.
If that finished forming…
‘I have to stop him before he gathers it all…’
“Hoo…”
Ian was concentrating with his eyes closed.
If I attacked now, I could win easily.
By common sense, waiting while someone gathered something like that would be idiotic.
But…
Ian kept gathering magic power without moving a muscle.
As if he firmly believed I'd wait for him.
“Sigh…”
If he did that, I couldn't attack him.
I let out a hollow laugh. He clearly knew I wouldn't attack him, and was doing it anyway.
What a jerk.
But at the same time, I was looking forward to it.
How strong would he be once he'd gathered something like that? How beautiful would it be?
And… could I break it?
-Vroooom!
I gathered my strength, too.
In a different way from Ian.
Instead of focusing it only on my sword, I gathered it in my legs, arms, and entire body.
-Krrrrk
As magic power gathered, chunks of ice formed on the ground.
Even if I gathered power like this, I'd get my ass kicked in a simple contest of strength against Ian.
So I'd add technique to it.
A single strike. The strongest sword technique.
“Ultimate Art—”
-Absolute Ice