CH 23

Chapter 23 , Duel

I woke up feeling exhilarated.

I was at my peak and Misha had cast several recovery spells on me in the middle of the night to get me ready for my duel with Lucy.

'Mmm------ '.

Thank you."

I get up to thank Misha, who is lying on my bed with her upper body on top of me.

I get up and thank Misha, who is lying on top of me in my bed.

After breakfast, reading, studying, and my daily  trains routine, I headed to the practice a little earlier than usual.

⚪️.

On my way to the training hall, I ran into Saraswati, who was leaning against a wall in the hallway of the mansion.

Apparently she was waiting for me here.

"Are you really going to win?"

I could see her often, and she must have been watching my hard work from afar over the past week.

Saraswath's question no longer had the air of making fun of me that it used to have.

'It's natural. I've been working hard, and my desire to win has become even stronger."

'Why did you go to such trouble ------?"

" Because I can't allow my efforts to go unrecognized. I will prove it by winning. I will prove that I and you - an be strong."

"You can say such things because you don't know what she's really capable of.'

'That may be so."

"Then..."

"Then what?"

You think that makes me give up?

I know more about Lucy's unreasonableness than you do.

Lucy is still a pretty little girl at this point

After five years, her physical growth will gradually catch up with her talent, and even adults won't be able to beat her.

Knowing this fact, I'm not going to give up.

Well, it may be too much to ask Saraswati, who has always stood side by side with her twin and has always been compared to her.

"You can't convince me any more than you can convince other."

"That's true.'

"So, I'll show you the result. I' m going to show you that I can win".

There was no more conversation between us.

Saraswati, who did not doubt Lucy's victory, followed me to the training ground with a somewhat disappointed look on her face.

Well, I can understand Saraswati's feelings.

I think about it because I've really devoted myself to the spear this past week.

I think Lucy is too over-specialized.

She imitated on the spot the technique we had spent a whole day trying to master, and even improved on it.

If we were shown something like that, our motivation would probably be dampened.

Oh, I'm going to fight such a monster now, aren't I?

After walking for a while, we arrived at the training area.

Lucy, who had arrived earlier, greeted us with dead fish eyes.

"Are you really going to do this?"

"Of course I''m going to do it. That's what I told yesterday."

"Even ------."

Lucy looked behind me at Saraswati with worried eyes.

I might lose and Saraswati might give up on my efforts because of the result.

I felt something burst inside me when she looked at me with such concern in her eyes.

What the hell is that?

I'm the one who's going to fight now, right?

It's amusing that the sisterly love is so deep, but what about me, who have been working so hard for the past week to the point of puking blood, and who am standing here with determination?

Am I sure I can win?

Genius, get off your high horse.

Hey, look at me.

"Come on, let's get started.'

I held my spear up, ready to say whether or not I was ready.

"------ got it."

The rules are that you lose if you surrender or obviously can't fight anymore. And there is no magic allowed.

"------ magic, right?"

"Because this time, you have to win with the spear."

"---- is fine."

She looked as if she wanted to say that the spear alone would not even be enough to win the match.

I'm going to rip that expression off your face right now and surprise you.

" Saraswati, please give the signal to begin."

"Why me?"

"To keep things as fair as possible."

"Then why don't you just flip a coin?"

Saraswati, who was standing away from us, comes up to us and holds up her hand like a referee.

It seems that Saraswati has a kind heart, after all.

"Hmmm."

Concentrate.

The opponent is a genius who will be a future world-class figher .

If I make even a single mistake, I will be choked out in a heartbeat.

Make no mistakes, and give it the best of yourself.

I took a final breath to prepare myself once again.

I was calm now.

No matter what comes, I'll be fine.

'Then, let's begin!'

⚪️.

At Saraswati's signal, I kicked the ground as hard as I could.

Not forward, but backward. I jumped back as far as I could and took a defensive stance with my spear in front of me.

If I didn't do that...

If I hadn't done that, I would have been knocked unconscious by Lucy, who stepped into the space on cue.

A sword approaches from below, as if scooping her up.

Lucy may have meant it as a check, but it was so sharp that even I could not help but admire it.

I managed to catch it with my spear, and both of my arms shot up with a strong impact.

"No way!'

------ You are weak."

The wooden sword is slammed into the empty torso as it is.

Although she had the same physique and slender arms as Saraswati, the intense pain that gushed through her body was incomparable to her sister's!

"aagh!"

All the air in my lungs was pushed out, and the unexpected pain blew away my thoughts.

Oh no,

First, I had to get my distance, then my spear, and before that, my breathing---

" slow."

The foot that tried to step back was stomped hard, and the movement was blocked ahead of time.

And then the body in close contact. What the hell are you going to do at such a close range, not even at swordpoint, let alone with a spear?

'What?"

Suddenly, my body was enveloped in a floating sensation, and my vision spun around in a circle. Before I could even prepare myself for what was about to happen, my body was slammed into something, and a sharp pain echoed through me.

I look at my view, which has been knocked sideways, and realize that I've been knocked to the ground.

I went into a grip from zero distance and was thrown, presumably.

I tried to get up in a panic, but my legs were relentlessly knocked off the ground, and to add insult to injury, my head was pushed in hard, knocking me to the ground again.

'Gah!"

I could not help but be shocked at the difference between the two as I clenched my teeth against the intense pain that was shooting through my entire body.

Oh, no.

I didn't know she was this strong.

And I still don't feel like she''s really serious at all.

"You bastard!"

Look, , look!

What the hell is Lucy up to?

I try to get up, but Lucy looks at me like I'm a dead fish.

. She's looking at me like she sees every move I make and wants to make sure I don't make a move.

Oh shit, there's no chance.

I can't believe they won't even let me get up.

, "------ get up, . You're going to win, right?

"Oh, yeah, for Christ's sake."

At least get up! If I knew it was coming, I could have handled it!

"Don't call me a coward!"

!" I throws a handful of dirt at Lucy's face, and gets up...

------

She turns her face away from me and catches the dirt with her cheek, and then she blames me for getting up exactly when she did.

I growled in frustration as I met the ground for the first time in I don't know how many times now.

"Damn it, get her up!"

"Because ------ Norwin's weak."

"Oh, shit!"

The spear that I swung at Lucy's feet was blocked by the sword on the ground, and I was unable to reach

Too far. Too far.

I don't feel like I can even hit her, let alone win.

"------ Is it over already?"

If it were the end, it would be easier.

Such a feeble sound suddenly comes to mind.

I can't win. I will never win.

Negative feelings swell up.

"Ah!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Saraswati.

The resignation in her eyes grew stronger as she witnessed Lucy's strength.

The look she gave me was mixed with pity.

The way she looked at me was laced with compassion, the way she looked at someone of her own kind.

I see, for Saraswati, I am just an ordinary human being, bouncing against the wall of talent.

I see.

Is this what Saraswati was feeling?

If this is the case, I can't lose.

---I really wanted to show it a little later.

"All right."

Lucy looked at me suspiciously as I nodded my head while lying down.

I was looking down at her from an overwhelming advantage, and I bet everything I could do at the moment.

First, I threw the dirt with my left hand, and at the same time, I got into the act of getting up with one hand and one foot, and then, after I finished throwing, I held out my spear with my left hand, and in addition, I stepped on my other foot so that I could fly back and forward anytime I wanted to.

That day, as I was leaving my parents' house, Nicolas said to me,

'What you need is to make everything have multiple meanings. One action has one meaning, and this is no different than the progress of an ordinary person. If you want to go to the next level, you need to put two or three meanings in everything you do, leaving the geniuses and the ordinary people behind.'

Those words can be used in battle.

If I can' t win with my talent, I'll fight that way.

Instead of giving one piece multiple meanings, I'll take multiple actions at once.

Now, how are you going to handle that, genius?

Lucy took the flying dirt with her cheek as before and side-stepped to avoid a torn-up strike, but at that point I was flying backwards in a big way.

I got up

The fact that I made it through the last move suggests that Lucy couldn't handle my feint-fest.

If that was the case, I still had a chance to win, depending on how I handled it.

Phew.

Focus up, don't let up.

All I need now is the ability to process information, parallel thinking, and the perseverance to keep practicing the countless feints I've thrown out.

"AAAAA!"

I stepped forward, weaving together my gaze, shoulders, arms, legs, spear, standing position, and countless feints at the same time.

----"- trouble."

Lucy can't ignore that.

That's right. The moves that I employ as feints are all moves that, if they succeed, will lead to effective strikes.

If she sees them as feints from the start and ignores them, I'm going to turn them into real attacks.

So Lucy can't be bypassed, and as a result, it's

------" awkward."

Lucy, who is slightly late to react, just barely avoids my strike.

I was too wary of feints, so I was late to notice the real target behind the feints.

This is great.

It works.

My way of fighting is working for the strongest fighter in the game!

With this, I can win!