Chapter: 290
The sword still remembered the first duel with Lucy.
The day when she almost committed an irredeemable sin because she couldn’t control her emotions.
If it weren’t for the young lady’s mercy, she would have lost her dream that day.
At that time, Lucy seemed so weak that it was hard to believe she was the daughter of Benedict Allen.
She couldn’t even run a long distance and was sprawled on the ground.
She was overwhelmed by the weight of the shield and mace.
She could handle the shield decently, but swinging the mace was a sight to behold.
At that time, the sword didn’t think Lucy would grow significantly.
Talent usually shows its sprouts from a young age. To think of her change as steep was more blind faith than a hopeful observation.
It wasn’t just the sword who thought this way.
Anyone in the Allen family’s territory would have that same thought if they knew who Lucy Allen was.
And now, a year has passed since then.
Lucy has been proving her worth as a human by herself, with her abilities, not by anything else.
“Don’t you think your attack is kinda sloppy?♡ If you want to be thrown away, just say it, okay?♡”
“Given your relaxed demeanor, isn’t there too much tension in your lips?!”
The sword forced its heated head to calm down, furrowing its brows.
Who would have thought I’d actually find the young lady so demanding when thinking about her?
The strengths Lucy was showing now weren’t few.
First and foremost, the incredibly solid shield stood out.
Even as the sword swung with its aura, the untouched shield seemed to choke the opponent standing across from her.
But was it just the shield that was solid?
No.
The mace that Lucy firmly held had enough power to make even the sword feel threatened.
The moment she leaves even a little opening, her mace would thrust in and shatter a bone somewhere.
What made this factor even trickier was that Lucy understood these two facts all too well.
Hiding behind the shield to make her opponent anxious. If the opponent tries to break through, she threatens them with the mace, forcing them back.
If the opponent makes a mistake in the meantime, she swings the mace, crushing them.
If such offense and defense were combined clumsily, both would end up sloppy, but with Lucy, there was no need to worry about that.
With countless experiences under her belt, Lucy wasn’t clumsy enough to make such mistakes.
Knowing her strengths and maximizing them in combat.
While it sounds trivial when said, how many people fail to maintain such obvious things?
In just a year, she established her combat methods from scratch.
Truly, it wouldn’t be strange to call her a knight now.
To deal with this, when the opponent tries to maintain their strength, what should one do?
One must somehow make them give up that strength.
They need to draw the opponent out of their territory and into their own.
The experienced knight knew this fact and had the skills to execute it, but…
Even so, he couldn’t escape from Lucy’s domain.
“Sloppy mutt♡ Where shall I find a new owner for you?♡ I don’t know if anyone will take in a shabby old dog like you, but I’ll inquire♡”
“I’m highly sought after, you know!”
Every time Lucy spoke, warmth filled the swordsman’s head.
His sanity gradually scattered.
No matter how hard he tried to keep his mind focused, the sword moved forward at some point.
Thus, the knight had no choice but to dance within Lucy’s realm.
Haah. She truly is too much to handle as an opponent.
If it’s not suppression by skill and strength, how can one possibly win against her?
If someone is at a similar level or weaker than her, could they even escape her territory?
Sure enough, they would be toyed with in here, and at some point, lose their sanity and become a sacrifice for the mace.
Someday, that might be me.
But not today. Not today can I lose to her.
If that happens, I might end up tossed aside like the poor stray dog she mentioned.
It’d be disgraceful to already become a failure that would be talked about by some gossip instead of a bard’s tale.
So, let me show the young lady.
This knight.
Your pooch.
Just how sharp my teeth are.
The sword evaded the shield flying toward its face and took a step back.
As the distance between them widened, in the silence created, Lucy stood still, watching the sword’s movements.
“Tired already, sloppy mutt?♡”
“No. As you know, a knight of the Allen family can keep going for about a week without sleep.”
“Then why are you running away?♡ Scared?♡ Afraid of getting hit with the mace?♡”
“I need to give you some space so you can see my moves well.”
The sword spoke with a smile as it infused its aura with color.
Just as it had done when facing Duke Burrow, a white aura like snowflakes enveloped his sword.
“I’ll show you the sword of an Allen family knight.”
The origin and goal of the Allen family’s swordsmanship. A strike with power close to the extreme.
Lady Lucy. Please feel how sharp your knight’s fangs are.
The moment the sword raised the blade, Lucy said nothing.
She simply smiled at the corners of her mouth and pushed her shield forward.
Then, the divinity she possessed concentrated atop it.
Anyone could see that it wasn’t just any ordinary divinity.
Rich, warm, and noble, the divinity took a form that was completely different from what many knew.
However, nobody there claimed it wasn’t divinity.
In fact, it was the opposite. Those who saw the divinity engraved on the shield wondered if everything they had seen until now was false and if that emblem over there was real.
It was genuinely awe-inspiring and revered for just that.
“Come at me!♡ Sloppy mutt♡ Feel how dull your nagging teeth really are!♡”
“Yes, I will.”
The sword took a step forward.
Lucy took a step forward.
His sword rose high.
The divinity gathered before her shield formed a new shield above it.
All the power she held came crashing down.
She recreated the hero’s tale right before her eyes.
*
To summarize the outcome of the duel with the sword, well… she lost.
She managed to succeed in coloring the sword’s aura, as originally intended, and somehow responded to his attacks, but…
Just because she blocked with her shield didn’t mean her body was unscathed, eventually wearing down, leading to her defeat.
Given how the sword still held back up to the last moment, he probably hadn’t unleashed everything.
That guy is really excessively strong.
[No matter how you think about it, it seems like your knight has already far surpassed the typical knight level, huh?]
‘I think so too.’
Now, I can easily win against a decent knight, yet I still can’t reach the sword’s level.
Thinking it over one by one, the sword is definitely over-spec.
Good looks. Decent personality. Capable. Relatively young, promising too.
Aside from one flaw, it would certainly fit the description of a superhuman.
Except for the fact that he wants to be treated like a dog by his own master, which is a rather twisted loyalty.
…Thinking about this flaw, it’s just too big.
Just because one small part is added, it’s shifted from an ideal knight to a pervert hiding distorted desires.
No human can be perfect, but isn’t this too huge a flaw?
[Well, thanks to that guy's strength, you were able to see how far your abilities have developed.]
‘It’s certainly noticeable that my overall abilities have increased.’
I’ve grown stronger overall, but what stands out most is my ability to handle divinity.
Previously, I struggled to operate my divinity.
I had been steadily improving my skills during practice with Grandpa, but I was far from the level I wanted.
But not anymore.
With my increased ranking of divinity, my altered body now can operate the divinity as naturally as breathing.
I truly felt this change when I recreated the hero’s tale against the sword’s aura.
In the past, I could never perfectly recreate that shield technique, but now I barely succeeded, bringing it very close to the original, enough for Grandpa to be in awe.
Considering I’m still not accustomed to my changed body, will I soon be able to not just reproduce the shield technique but maybe even surpass Grandpa’s?
Hehe, I’m looking forward to it.
When that day comes, I’ll have to pretend to be a shabby old man due to the Mesugaki skill and call him a sloppy old man. It’ll definitely be fun.
“Third Prince, are you already struggling?”
“What are you talking about! Aren’t you the one who’s tired!”
As I imagined the future day coming, the voices of Arthur and Frey pulled me back to reality.
As soon as my duel with the sword ended, the two started their duel immediately without giving an inch.
It seems they got fired up when Joy told them about my movement.
I don’t know for sure, but their desire to grow stronger has emerged, which is a good thing.
“Just surrender nicely!”
“Seems like you’re afraid to lose, so your mouth is getting busy. Sloppy!”
…It must be that their desire to become stronger has indeed emerged, right?
From the duel, it just feels like they want to beat each other up.
“Seriously, they’re still such kids.”
Seeing the two of them, Joy let out a laugh.
You’re right, Joy. Those two really look like kids.
But you know…
‘The young lady’s thoughts on this…’
“It seems like silly kids know that their hair is turning the same way, huh?”
“…What?”
Did she really not know her hair was all messed up? Blinking, she created a magic mirror to look at herself and froze on the spot.
“Uh… when did this happen?”
‘Since the beginning.’
“It’s been like this since you left the room, silly young lady. Isn’t that obvious?”
Once I told her, Joy’s face turned beet red, and she hurriedly dashed out of the training room, saying she’d tidy up.
Is that really such an embarrassing thing? I thought it was cute.
“Miss.”
As soon as I was left alone, the sword came closer to me.
‘What is it?’
“What is it?”
“I just recalled a message from the Dungeon Studies professor.”
The Dungeon Studies professor? Does he have any reason to be looking for me?
As I was tilting my head, not having any idea, the sword continued.
“It’s related to the final exam. While I didn’t hear everything, it seems he wants to entrust you with the design for the final exam dungeon.”
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