Emperor (4)
‘Not only did you bring such a toy weapon, but you dare to insult me!!!’
Dios immediately used a Black Dragon Sword technique.
《Black Dragon Swordsmanship, Chapter 3 ━ Powerless Dragon Sword》
Among the Black Dragon Sword techniques, which are mostly aggressive swordsmanship meant to instantly kill the opponent, this was practically the only humane technique.
However, Dios wasn't using this technique for such a benevolent purpose.
The Powerless Dragon Sword was a technique that allowed one to dodge the opponent's sword while simultaneously striking the flat side of their swung blade.
It was meant to disarm the opponent and then thoroughly toy with them.
In a way, it could be said that it was the most fitting technique for the Black Dragon Swordsmanship, which was characterized by its cruelty.
'I'll break that stiff neck of yours! Bow your head before the cruel play of the Black Dragon!!!'
However, Selena tilted her head.
“Hmm?”
Instructor Dios had charged in with great momentum, but he wasn't raising his sword.
It was as if he was waiting for her to swing her sword.
‘What’s this? He’s already within sword range……?’
As if she didn’t understand, Selena thrust her baguette straight forward.
*Swish!*
A sudden, sharp thrust.
Dios was startled and leaped back.
His face looked completely caught off guard.
Selena furrowed her brows.
‘What? Is he playing around?’
However, Dios’s bewilderment was genuine.
‘H-How did she instantly grasp the weakness of the Black Dragon Swordsmanship's 3rd Chapter?!’
The Powerless Dragon Sword was a technique that utilized the opponent's strength against them to disarm them.
Therefore, it was a technique that naturally had to be used against a swinging attack.
The idea was to first charge forward and then, by not raising the sword, induce an awkward swing from the flustered opponent.
It was a technique that contained the profound principle of mixing the real with the unreal.
However, he hadn't anticipated her starting with a direct thrust.
None of the swordsmanship styles he had encountered had ever begun with a thrust.
Dios wore a dumbfounded expression.
"Khehehe. Kheh. I see, so that’s it. That's what it was."
After a moment of silence, he suddenly let out an unpleasant laugh.
“I understand now. Yes, I'll acknowledge it. That first thrust just now was quite a surprise attack.”
Dios nodded.
“Zeke Clayman, that guy must have analyzed the Black Dragon Swordsmanship quite thoroughly……. And he taught you swordsmanship based on that! That's why the students in my class lost! Ha, otherwise, there’s no way the students I taught would lose to a mere girl……! I've figured it all out!!!”
Then, he looked at Selena Yohaiden, the corners of his mouth lifting into a sneer.
“I commend your effort. No matter how much you trained based on my swordsmanship, it couldn't have been easy. However! Did you think that just because that counter worked on my students, it would work on me too?! If you think the Black Dragon Swordsmanship is the only thing I’ve trained in, you are sorely mistaken!!!”
Dios boasted confidently, but
From Selena's perspective, it was just absurd.
If he entered her range, she would simply thrust quickly.
That was something she always experienced during her runs with the Instructor.
Every time she ran with sandbags strapped to her hands and feet, Zeke Clayman would chase after her.
If she fell behind even a little, a sharp thrust would come flying from behind.
If she got hit by a baguette thrust even once, the affected area would ache to the bone for three days.
Knowing the speed and fear of it, the students in Zeke's class would always thrust first if someone got close.
‘Hmm, sick……. Oh, no! I shouldn't have such bad thoughts!’
Imitating Zeke's shamelessness seemed to be making her think like him too.
Selena shook her head to clear her thoughts.
“Huhu……. Alright! So you analyzed the Black Dragon Swordsmanship. Then let me show you the swordsmanship that made me the Black Dragon Knight Commander, the Water Dragon Sword!”
“If you became the Black Dragon Knight Commander with the Water Dragon Sword……. Isn’t that wrong? Shouldn’t you be called the Water Dragon Knight Commander then?”
“…….”
Dios shut his mouth tight.
Seeing him like that, Selena couldn’t help but think of a bad word.
‘He’s, slightly worse than Rosnante, isn’t he……?’
“No more talking!”
Dios pulled his wooden sword back and swung it sideways as he charged forward.
《Water Dragon Swordsmanship, Chapter 1 ━ Rotating River Dragon》
Dios's sword approached, spinning like a top.
Its speed was certainly not to be underestimated.
And combined with Dios's strength and the centrifugal force behind the sword, if it hit, it wouldn't end with just a minor injury.
However,
Facing that powerful sword, a strange feeling arose within Selena.
‘Ah, so this is why the Instructor kept talking about his back.’
Every time Dios’s back came into Selena’s view, the hand holding the baguette would twitch.
Selena definitely had no talent in swordsmanship.
Less than Yuri, less than Iriel, and even less than Rosnante.
But what she saw every day was Zeke's swordsmanship.
She had been exposed to the highest level of swordsmanship in this world every single day.
So how could she possibly perceive Dios's swordsmanship in front of her?
Moreover, every day after class, she would return home and train, accumulating small but steady efforts.
Even on the days she had Zeke's class, Selena would train in the mansion's training hall.
Zeke had pointed out Selena's arrogance, but
That was the first time she had ever rebelled.
That meant that ever since she started taking Zeke's classes, she had been diligently following his training regimen every single day without fail.
The last task she had undertaken.
The task Zeke had given Selena was to cut only one of two overlapping sheets of paper.
To achieve this, it wasn't simply a matter of skillfully coating the sword with a thin layer of mana.
Of course, through this training, her ability to squeeze out and recover the necessary amount of mana had increased incomparably compared to before.
But the more important thing was:
Concentration.
A keen concentration that could sense the space between one sheet of paper and another.
By sensing the external mana, Selena became able to detect even the slightest gap within sword's reach.
This was possible because Selena possessed a rich and pure mana, along with a sensitive perception of mana.
If her body wasn't suited for the sword, she could make up for it by developing her concentration.
That was Zeke's intention.
High-level swordsmanship knowledge, diligence, and concentration.
All these elements combined and blossomed, allowing Selena to feel as if her vision had widened.
‘Ah, so this is……. what it means to see the sword.’
Even though he had neglected his training and gained weight while at the academy, Dios was still a seasoned swordsman with decades more experience than Selena.
But even his swordsmanship seemed to have openings she could grasp. So why couldn't she handle it?
Selena raised her baguette.
It was an awkward swing with no particular form or technique.
Slice!
Selena's baguette accurately sliced Dios’s back.
Pshhh!
Blood splattered.
Dios, who had been charging forward with increasing speed, suddenly stopped his rotation as he felt a burning pain in his back.
‘Kuh! What is this!!’
Dios's eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.
He belatedly realized that he had been attacked.
It was the first time his all-encompassing Rotating River Dragon had been so easily countered.
“T-This can't be……! Even the Rotating River Dragon……!”
“Water Dragon Swordsmanship……. It's like an earthworm that lives in water……. Small, tiny, and pathetic. Just like……”
Selena subtly glanced at Dios's lower body.
"Y-Y-Youuu!!!!!!!!!"
* * *
“Pfft!”
Iriel couldn't hold back her laughter any longer and burst out giggling.
Selena's muttering couldn't be heard in the audience, but it was clearly audible in the waiting room behind the arena.
“Wow……. Flowerhead is quite something, huh?”
Even before the match began, the way she got on Dios's nerves was unusual.
Some of her lines were even impressive enough to earn Iriel's admiration.
“Hmph, I never knew that prim and proper flowerhead could say such things.”
“Selena, something about her seems different.”
Soi said.
“Well, if you stick around Zeke, you can't help but be influenced. He's such an unconventional man.”
“Hmm, is it the Instructor's influence? Then have I changed too?”
Soi pondered.
Indeed, if it weren't for Zeke, she wouldn't have even picked up a sword in the first place, nor would she have been able to interact so casually with high-ranking nobles.
Zeke Clayman definitely had a knack for changing those around him.
Just look at Yuri, standing like a shadow beside Zeke, staring intently at his face.
She was looking at him with an expressionless face, but it was as if she was trying to convey countless words through her unwavering gaze.
“Definitely……. It seems that way…….”
Soi turned her head back to the arena.
She had expected Selena to be on the offensive and Dios to be on the defensive, but
Their match betrayed everyone's expectations.
Dios was relentlessly attacking Selena.
A beastly man with a massive physique versus a delicate young girl, an awkward matchup.
Selena's baguette would swing or thrust through the gaps in his attacks.
At first, Dios had tried to brute-force his way through, thinking he could withstand a few hits from a mere baguette, but
He nearly suffered a fatal injury from a sharp thrust.
Cuts, as if made by a sword, began to appear on Dios's body one by one.
Red stains scattered across the floor.
Who would consider this a sparring match between a student and an instructor?
Dios's blood-stained face no longer held any trace of composure.
He cried out, blood dripping from his mouth.
"This can't be happening. It can't be true!! It can't be!!!!! I can't be defeated here!!!!!!"
Unable to accept that all his swordsmanship had been countered, he desperately tried to salvage his shattered pride.
It was merely the desperate struggle of a pathetic man.
However,
The world of victory and defeat was merciless.
Thud.
"...Selena Yohaiden of the Yohaiden Ducal Family…… is declared the…… winner."
Selena's victory was announced.
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