Chapter 321
Swish—!
Whoosh—!
In a wide clearing, the Girl with White Hair is swinging her sword.
At fourteen years old, this girl, having learned nothing from an esteemed mentor due to her rural village upbringing, wields her sword with surprising natural flair.
Her teachers are the sword and nature itself.
The flowing stream emphasizes the fluidity of her movements, while a sharp-stingered bee serves as the perfect example for her thrusting technique.
Dancing with the sword, the girl utilizes her own senses and the techniques learned from nature.
She’s a child brimming with talent and dreams.
Swish—!
With a refreshing sound slicing through the air, her sword extends toward the neck of an imaginary opponent, and she holds her stance for a moment.
Breathing heavily after a series of dynamic movements, sweat beads form on her forehead and roll down her cheeks, finally dropping from her chin.
Then, in that moment, her mana clings to the sword.
Buzz….
A tiny light glimmers at the tip of her sword. It looks like it might extinguish at any second, but it’s undeniably the blue hue of mana.
Aura.
Rustle, rustle—.
Just as the phenomenon she had only envisioned starts happening, she’s startled, but only for a moment.
The girl hears irregular rustling from the nearby bushes.
A brief silence hangs in the air, but hiding was pointless.
With a wry smile, she uses wind magic to send herself into the bushes.
“Eek!”
Someone hiding in the bushes lets out a cute shriek.
The wind forcibly pulls that someone out, and as expected, it’s just who she thought it would be.
“Alicia, how long were you planning to hide and watch?”
Being floated over to Charlotte by the wind, Alicia’s hair is styled like a tornado, adorned with colorful flower petals here and there.
“Uuuh… Sister, let me go.”
“Why were you hiding in the first place?”
“Let me go! It’s scary.”
“Alright, alright. Don’t make that face; it makes me want to tease you more.”
Charlotte loves to tease her younger sister, who is four years her junior.
Before Alicia can start crying, Charlotte releases the magic. Slowly, Alicia’s body descends from the air until she can stand on her own two feet.
“…Sister, why are you leaving my hair like that?”
“Not great? I think it’s pretty.”
“Not great! Hurry and untie it!”
“Tsk. Too bad, but it can’t be helped.”
Alicia’s hair, defying gravity, settled down. Though her long hair looked messy, its shine made it bounce back quickly after a few strokes with her hands.
Seeing her lips pout, it seemed Alicia was a bit sulky.
“Ugh.”
“What, what is it now?”
“Just thought you looked cute.”
Charlotte playfully messed up Alicia’s hair again.
Alicia scolded her, but in her eyes, it was just her lovely younger sister being a bit whiny.
“By the way, Alicia, if you’re going to keep hiding and watching, why not try your hand at magic or swordsmanship?”
“Me? What can I do?”
“Why not? I think you have talent.”
“…I’m different from you, sister.”
Pride of the Village Charlotte.
Even without anyone teaching her, she managed to grasp the basics of magic all on her own.
Moreover, she was also interested in swordsmanship, so the village folks sang praises that Charlotte would one day become a hero… or perhaps even a champion.
Watching Charlotte from the sidelines, Alicia felt a lack of confidence.
“Come on, just try it. I’ll show you how.”
“I’m fine. I don’t want to fight and, more than anything, helping our parents with housework is way more fun….”
“Just give it a shot.”
Charlotte tossed over a wooden training sword she had prepared.
Caught off guard, Alicia received the sword, her body swaying under its weight. She looked at it like it was a heavy burden to swing.
“I’ll go easy on you, so just be my opponent.”
“…You’re too bossy, sister.”
“I get bored practicing alone all the time. What’s good about being sisters?”
Sighing heavily in resignation, Alicia held the wooden sword. It was her first time, but she had secretly watched Charlotte’s swordplay enough to look somewhat convincing.
“See? I told you, you have talent.”
“Are you trying to trick me again? Not falling for it.”
“Is this kid going to spend her whole life being fooled?”
“Whose fault is that?”
“Whose fault is it?”
“…….”
Exasperated by Charlotte’s retort, Alicia unwittingly tightened her grip on the wooden sword. It seemed she finally found the will to duel, prompting Charlotte to take stance and smile.
“Treat it like a real sword. Underestimating a wooden sword can lead to real injuries.”
“Got it. But this is the first and last time. I won’t help you train anymore.”
“Sure, sure. So let’s just do it once.”
“You’re not kidding, right?”
“Don’t worry, Alicia. This is the last time.”
With that, the two stepped forward and swung their swords.
The one difference from the past was that the sword they wielded wasn’t a dull training sword for safety; it was a real sword that could slice through in an instant.
Clang clang clang—!
The two engaged in a fierce battle.
Every time their swords clashed, the red aura on their blades flared up like raging flames.
Clang—!
Each—!
Kakak! Kagakagak!
The speed makes it hard to chase after the afterimages.
The aura bursts with such brilliance that one might mistake the two for having red-tinted eyes.
Even though the sun was high in the sky, their battle was filled with a group of lights illuminating the night.
A massive snake-like entity spreads from Salecius’s body, immediately attacking Alicia.
Alicia doesn’t evade. Instead, she charges forward, activating Curse Magic to create a dragon horde resembling snakes, clashing against the snake entity.
The two Curse Magics cancel each other out.
Alicia doesn’t stop and unleashes a critical strike.
However, she fails to connect and is destroyed by Charlotte’s critical hit.
The swordsmanship of a master.
And the transcended Curse Magic.
The two women, combining their techniques, are more dazzling and dangerous than any flower.
Chwa-jajajak—!
Around Salecius, drills of steel thorns suddenly sprout from what was once an empty floor, immediately firing towards Alicia like missiles.
Special elemental magic reinforced.
It clearly possesses enough power to inflict fatal wounds.
‘But, this should be enough to break through.’
Alicia, also unleashing elemental magic, imbues the tips of her steel thorns with Holy Light.
Learning from the hero Helion, the teachings of Holy Magic, the basics.
Kwa-gagagang!
Alicia’s magic shatters Salecius’s thorns as she charges in.
Salecius swings his sword to crush them.
However.
‘……!’
Alicia seizes the moment.
Generating explosive winds, she closes the distance in an instant. Their eyes meet. Without hesitation, Alicia swings her sword.
No matter how trained a swordsman is, there’s no escaping this moment.
But Salecius is not human.
Kwad-deuk—!
The sound of shattering bones echoes as Salecius’s arm, holding the sword, twists unnaturally and swings.
Kagakagak—!!
Once again, the red aura clashes.
Salecius’s broken arm heals in real-time. But Alicia does not wait for her opponent’s injuries to fully recover.
The manifestation of Curse Magic.
And it contained a considerable amount of mana.
‘…—….’
Salecius mumbles in an unknown language to counter the impending doom.
The interpretation spell meant to dispel the Curse Magic.
Tsu-zu-zu-zu. Chaang—!
In the end, the curse is destroyed before it can fully manifest. Salecius pours even denser purple mana into his sword.
Gradually his aura begins to change.
It’s more than just that of a first-class swordsman wielding red aura.
The power only a select few who break through their limits can handle, known as transcended swordsman abilities.
‘Red flower….’
Alicia sees the flowers blooming on Salecius’s sword.
Deep red flowers that appear as if they’ve fed on blood. Perhaps it’s an illusion, but it almost feels like they’re exuding a scent…
‘No, it’s not an illusion…!’
Hastily generating explosive winds, Alicia increases the distance.
Just a small taste, yet it feels like thousands of needles piercing through her insides.
It feels like being pricked by thousands of needles.
‘Countless particles of aura are spreading with a fragrance. If I just stand here and breathe it in, my organs would fall apart.’
Alicia expanded her sensitivity to mana and surveyed the radius of the aura.
Particles of red flowers rush in like yellow dust.
It seemed she could inflate her body as much as she absorbed Salecius’s mana.
『—……—.』
Meanwhile, Salecius’s lips twitched.
With hollow eyes devoid of the light of life, she seemed to say something to Alicia.
Alicia narrowed her eyes, focusing on the meaning. She needed to assess the risk of curse magic being used.
At that moment.
『…——are you trying to?』
For the first time, words resembling human speech came from Salecius’s mouth.
It seemed she was asking something.
『Wh…—why—…did it?』
The voice of a long-lost sister.
Not the twisted tone of a monster, but extremely similar to her sister from the past.
『…Ah. …Ah. —Expression… Ma. Wond…—ering.』
Sentences gradually began to form.
With each completion of her sentences, Alicia’s expression contorted further.
“…Don’t mimic me.”
Alicia, growing increasingly furious, muttered under her breath. As she clenched her sword, it reacted by increasing the aura’s density.
However, no matter what Alicia said, Salecius continued to move her lips.
『Isn’t… that so? I think it’s just like that.』
“Saying things in my sister’s form, stop pretending to be her!”
Alicia charged forward again, generating a massive storm of mana.
Unlike before, when she had been calculating, adapting to Salecius’s strength and technique, this time she was emotional and wild.
Kagarararang—!!
The two swords clashed with a spark.
Unless she gathered mana at her feet, it felt like she would be blown away by the intense pressure.
Alicia blocked her breath with a very thin red aura. Breathing became difficult, but it provided at least minimal defense against the red pollen.
Moreover, Alicia revealed one more card she had.
Her body was suddenly enveloped in a pure white light.
An overwhelming boost to her stats as her entire body was covered in armor glowing white.
Helion’s Fourth Unique Spell.
Spirit (氣魄).
It had been four years since Alicia became Helion’s apprentice.
She could now use the unique spell of the legendary hero Helion.
『…See? I knew you had talent.』
“……!”
Alicia’s eyes widened. The Salecius in her gaze was not expressionless as usual.
Rather, it seemed to hold the demeanor of a killer who could kill without a second thought.
It felt as if the past of the person Alicia missed the most had been transferred directly.
Her looks, her voice, and now even her expression.
No matter how much one might try to deny that this was a monster to be dealt with, it was indeed Charlotte herself.
『Don’t worry. Alicia. This is the last time.』
“Don’t—!!”
Using the hero’s spell, Alicia screamed as she unleashed all her mana.
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