CH 146

[All or Nothing]

Jarvis and I exchanged fierce offense and defense.

“W-wow, Jarvis is strong…”

“Yeah… even though Barrett doesn’t seem to be holding back.”

“He also gives off some hair-raising vibe, doesn’t he?”

Jarvis’s display of overflowing fighting spirit had the audience let out cries of admiration.

I was pushed back by Jarvis’s onslaught with her unordinary resolve—but, I had no intention of letting this situation continue and losing. I was secretly waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

—But, today’s Jarvis was a little different.

I’d seen Jarvis fight many a time.

The way she fought was refined, or should I say very efficient? There was almost no waste in her movements—she fought with the barest minimum of movements to achieve the best possible result.

However, things were very different now.

Reckless.

I thought that was the most appropriate expression to describe Jarvis’s current fighting style. Desperation to not lose oozed out of her.

That said, I couldn’t hold back, either.

It would be disrespectful to Jarvis to do such a thing; above all, the knights would instantly see through it. In other words, if I were to try to concede victory to Jarvis, the knights would only lower their evaluation of her.

So, I gave it my best.

I was going all out against Jarvis.

Then again, I got no intention of conceding victory, to begin with.

I got a lot on the line here, too.

…I mean, I saw them just now.

Tayte’s and my parents came to watch the match in the audience.

I knew Lady Lilia would be here because we had watched Tayte’s dress contest together earlier, but I didn’t expect my family to come.

Seeing them gave me a boost of fighting spirit.

—But I was at a loss.

One of the reasons was the fact that Jarvis was more fired up than usual, and the other…

“Jarvis! Aim for his feet!”

“Roger that!”

Andrei, who acted as Jarvis’s supporter, was extremely capable.

Because of him, though I was able to get some hits in, the gap between our HP didn’t shrink at all. And mine was already down to below 30.

“Kh?!”

It’d be bad if things kept going as they were.

I had to strike Jarvis with a one-hit reversal move to make a comeback.

But she wasn’t showing any openings.

In that case…

“Haa!”

I infused mana into the Holy Sword.

It was no different than usual… except this time I poured an unprecedented amount of mana into it.

All or nothing.

Whether I would be immobilized because I ran out of mana or whether my counterattack succeeded—I’d leave it up to luck. At this rate, I was going to lose, anyway.

“Hm?”

It appeared Jarvis realized my intention.

That I was putting everything into my next attack.

“As always, you are bold in what you do.”

“This is the only way I could think of to turn the tables.”

“Fufufu, I don’t dislike the calculating side of you, but I find your reckless side charming as well. But I wonder, will you be able to land it?”

Jarvis’s words weren’t mere provocation.

She was confident that she could avoid whatever I’d throw at her.

Her speed gave her such confidence.

“Well, we’ll see…”

I’m betting everything on this attack.

The fight between me and Jarvis was quietly coming to an end.