Chapter 57
Surprisingly, the Hero’s lecture was more useful than I’d expected.
Since he was the Hero, I’d expected something like a sparring class, but surprisingly, he was good at theory, too.
What was impressive was how entertainingly he told stories about his past.
It was like a teacher giving a lesson through stories about their first love, except the lesson was incredibly useful.
Even I learned a lot from the lecture, so the other students must’ve learned even more.
The funny thing, though, was Ian’s reaction.
“…Was Father always this good at talking?”
“…How do you not know that?”
“No, he’s never acted like that around me before.”
…
I had a feeling that was probably the case.
Even earlier, the moment he dropped the act, he started talking to us familiarly, like some guy from the neighborhood.
When he told Ian stories, he probably didn’t speak as calmly as that. He must’ve bragged about himself in an exaggerated voice.
Going on about how Dad did this and that~.
“It must be about time to wrap up class. Good work, everyone. After seeing how you participated in class today, I can see that the Empire’s future is in good hands.”
He had a point. The students had been especially attentive today.
Though I suppose that’s what happens when a famous person comes in as a guest instructor.
“We’ll hold the next class in the sparring arena. Get ready and meet me there.”
“Huh? There’s another class?”
I thought he was leaving after this one.
“Your attitude has been so good today that I’ll make an exception and add another hour of class. I’ll tell the instructor in charge
myself.”
Aha. So that’s the act he’s going for.
I wasn’t planning to do this, but you’ve all done so well that I’ll give you another lesson~. That sort of thing boosts your confidence.
I wonder if that guy was a teacher or something back on Earth.
Anyway, telling us to meet him in the sparring arena means he’s going to hold the classic sparring class after all.
Sparring with the Hero… I’m looking forward to it.
Maybe I can take a step forward?
…
I arrived at the training grounds fully prepared.
“…Plia. Aren’t you a little too prepared? Are you planning to fight to the death?”
“Of course not. I’m just going to fight with the mindset that I’m going to kill the Hero.”
“How is that any different from fighting to the death?!”
There’s a big difference.
Even if I truly intended to kill the Hero, my chances of beating him would be next to nothing.
If I didn’t go that far, he’d take me out in an instant.
I’d have to do this if I wanted to last even a little while.
Come to think of it, what kind of aura did the Hero have?
Even if you possess a divine power, you can wield an aura once you become a Swordmaster.
That meant players could create their own auras in the game, though the game would forcibly balance them.
If the Hero was a Grandmaster, his aura must’ve been powerful enough to be called a divine power.
I’m curious what it is… but I’ll probably figure it out once we start fighting.
“It looks like everyone came well prepared. Then… Plia. Come forward.”
The Hero pointed to me first.
Heh. Did he recognize that I was the strongest?
I thought he might call Ian first.
“I’ve heard plenty about you being the youngest Swordmaster. I’d appreciate it if you showed me your skill today.”
“The honor is mine. It’s a privilege to spar with the legendary Hero.”
He spoke as if we’d only just met, so I played along. It’s important to save face in situations like this.
“I see. Then let’s begin.”
With that, the Hero began to release his aura.
“Ghk…”
It wasn’t an aura steeped in murderous intent like before, but his restrained aura was actually harder to withstand.
-Gwah!
-Gurgle…
It was enough to make the weaker students drop out already.
Of course, I wasn’t about to be cowed by that kind of pressure.
I was nowhere near the Hero’s level, but I wasn’t so weak that this alone could take me down.
If anything, that pressure was probably his way of telling me to give it my all.
In that case… I had no choice but to show him my full strength—or even more.
“Here I go!”
I immediately froze time and charged at the Hero.
I’m a speed-focused swordswoman. I’ll overwhelm him without letting up and seize victory in one fell swoop!
“Frost Sword Art, Form Twelve: Ice Dragon!”
A blue dragon coiled around my sword.
This was the only technique I had that grew stronger with each consecutive strike, and my only way to beat the Hero.
He’d just block any other technique.
“Haaaaah!”
Within frozen time, I swung my sword dozens of times each second.
Though only a second passed for me, hundreds of strikes must’ve been sweeping toward him in reality.
But…
‘He can keep up?!’
The Hero paid no heed to the frozen time and deflected every one of my attacks.
…How was that possible?
I’d expected my time freeze not to work on him.
When I sparred with Plien, Plien had forcibly broken free of the frozen time, too.
But the Hero wasn’t doing that.
He was simply moving that fast within frozen time.
Damn. Wasn’t he ten times faster than me?
…Could Plien do something like that, too?
To think Plien had been holding back all this time…
Well, that didn’t mean I was going to give up.
If it wasn’t working, I’d just have to push myself to the limit anyway.
“Haaah!”
My priority now was to keep time frozen for as long as possible.
It consumed an incredible amount of mana and mental strength, but the moment I couldn’t maintain it, everything would be over.
I refused to accept such a pointless ending.
Once you start something, you have to see it through to the end!
“Hup!”
I thrust my sword toward the Hero’s neck.
-Clang!
Blocked. Then, without losing momentum, I aimed for his waist.
-Claaang!
As expected, it was blocked. But I didn’t stop attacking.
-Clang!
He blocked it easily.
-Kaaaang!
I lost the clash of strength.
-Boom!
The Hero tried to shake me off. He must have found it difficult to simply block my attacks. Instead of letting him push me away, I moved in even closer
to him.
Faster. Half a beat sooner!
-Krrrk!
“…!”
For an instant, it felt as if time had slowed down.
Could time, already frozen and slowed, have slowed even further?
I didn’t know. What I did know was that I’d found an opening in the Hero’s guard.
A clearly visible opening.
I didn’t think it was a trap. I could tell the difference.
So I swung my sword without hesitation.
A single strike strengthened by repeating the same combination over and over.
I’d never landed a strike this powerful before.
Before I could build up the stacks, either my opponent died or I was taken down.
So this should work. It has to work!
Even if I couldn’t win, I could at least land one hit…
“Well, I’ll be. Impressive.”
-Clang!
“…Huh?”
With a sound like something shattering, the Hero’s sword moved too quickly for my eyes to follow and knocked my sword
away.
…How? Time should still be frozen, shouldn’t it?
The Hero’s movements themselves hadn’t changed at all.
So time hadn’t returned to its normal flow.
What had returned was… the Hero’s sword!
The Hero’s sword had ‘pierced through’ my aura and regained its original movement for an instant.
That was why he could block my sword. If the Hero moved at his original speed, I wouldn’t even be able to react.
…But could he do that? He hadn’t erased frozen time completely; he’d only pierced through a single point and nullified
it?
…Ah. So this was the Hero’s aura.
I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I could tell it had something to do with piercing through things.
“Haa…”
“What? Is that it already?”
I put some distance between the Hero and me and released the time freeze.
I couldn’t maintain it any longer anyway, and the Hero’s sword had knocked mine aside, resetting my stacks, too.
“No.”
Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to give up.
The word ‘give up’ doesn’t exist in my dictionary!
“…I see. Excellent. Then it’s my turn.”
…What?
-Whooosh!
“Ghk!”
Despite his casual words, the Hero closed the distance at an incredible speed and was suddenly right in front of me.
I barely blocked the sword thrusting toward me, only for another slash to come flying in from the opposite side.
He’s fast?!
Blow after blow kept coming, no matter how many I blocked.
…Was this how the people I’d fought felt?
It was hard to keep blocking when the attacks just kept coming.
…No, the only reason I could block this much was that the Hero wasn’t going all out.
If he were serious, wouldn’t I already have been sent flying with my sword?
But there was a set pattern to the Hero’s movements.
It was ridiculously complicated, so I couldn’t explain it well, but it was a pattern he repeated consistently.
A repeated pattern. In other words, I could predict his actions and create an opening.
I didn’t know whether the Hero had deliberately created that pattern or if it was simply a habit.
The one thing I knew for sure was that this was my last chance.
So I had to find the surest opening and move in at just the right moment.
3
…2
……1
Now!
“Haaah!”
I froze time to its absolute limit for an instant and swung my sword at the Hero’s.
-Claaang!
Just as I’d expected, the Hero’s sword came at the spot I’d predicted.
I deflected the attack, knocking its trajectory off course and revealing a huge opening.
The biggest opening yet.
If I struck there, I could win.
But… I couldn’t strike.
“…Well done.”
Because the Hero was grinning.
Ah. He’d planned this, too. Of course, there was no way someone like the Hero would have a predictable pattern in combat.
-Fwish!
The Hero pulled his sword back in an instant and swung it at me,
-Krrk!
and the Hero’s sword sank into my heart.