With a burst of golden energy, Lucius surged forward, reaching Cheon Ha-rang in an instant.
He then moved his feet, legs, waist, shoulders, arms, and wrists to draw his sword horizontally.
Now, he couldn’t alter the trajectory of his attack mid-swing.
I am naturally timid and cowardly.
If something seems uncertain, I simply don’t move.
I took a step to the right, pivoting around the wooden sword resting against my chin.
– Clang!
The clear ringing sound of the wooden and real sword colliding echoed through the training hall.
Lucius’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“One.”
A clear and beautiful voice floated into his ears.
But for some reason, hearing that voice rendered Lucius immobile.
…This is a first for him.
Lucius thought to himself, “Who am I?
I am the so-called Hero.
Stronger and braver than anyone, the one who is meant to stand against evil at the forefront.
Yet here I am, frozen in fear, unable to move?
At this rate… I’m not a Hero, but just a pathetic coward.”
Lucius’s brow furrowed in frustration.
While Lucius was frozen, lost in self-loathing, Cheon Ha-rang, with an expressionless face, spoke as if it were nothing.
“Two.”
That meant,
“You can attack freely for now.”
What a miserable statement that was.
As he clenched his teeth, golden energy crackled around Lucius.
“Get a grip.”
This isn’t a real fight, just a friendly match.
I can’t crumble here.
And all that happened was a single sword clash.
He hadn’t lost yet.
Once more, Lucius rocketed toward Cheon Ha-rang.
He swung his sword vertically.
– Clang!
Cheon Ha-rang easily blocked his sword with her wooden sword.
“Three.”
In the clash, they couldn’t use both hands.
Making a quick judgment, Lucius retracted his sword and swung his left leg toward Cheon Ha-rang’s abdomen.
Cheon Ha-rang moved back gracefully as if throwing herself away.
“Four.”
Lucius didn’t stop.
Using the momentum from his swung leg, he spun around and sliced horizontally with the sword held in one hand.
– Whoosh!
As Cheon Ha-rang stepped back, a slicing sound echoed through the air.
“Five.”
With the distance now opened, he had one move left.
Judging he couldn’t achieve anything in close combat, Lucius exhaled sharply.
“Hah!”
He coated his sword with dazzling magical energy and struck downward into the air.
With a ripping sound of slicing wind, a crescent-shaped mass of magical energy raced toward Cheon Ha-rang.
A glimmer of surprise appeared in her eyes for the first time.
With a smirk, Cheon Ha-rang gripped the wooden sword with one hand and lowered the tip to the ground.
“Did you think I couldn’t do that?”
With a voice brimming with laughter, she scraped the ground with her wooden sword, aiming for the sky.
A black energy resembling Cheon Ha-rang’s pupils formed in the air.
Soon, it tore through space and clashed with Lucius’s crescent.
– Bang!
The intense noise gave Lucius a headache.
Lucius waved his hand through the billowing smoke, squinting to see.
Through the haze, he caught a glimpse of Cheon Ha-rang’s figure.
…Had he failed?
A sigh escaped Lucius’s lips.
He knew there was a wall between him and Cheon Ha-rang, but he didn’t expect it to be this formidable.
He couldn’t even reach her.
With a slight frown, Lucius pushed through the smoke toward Cheon Ha-rang.
There, she stood with a bright smile.
Upon seeing that, an eerie chill ran down Lucius’s spine.
…Wait a second.
Cheon Ha-rang finally opened her mouth.
“Five.”
Cheon Ha-rang, bending her knees, raised her sword with one hand, getting into position.
“Now it’s my turn!”
As if she was about to leap at him.
“I guess I should repay you for that fun show!”
Panicking, Lucius broke into a cold sweat and opened his mouth to say –
“Wait, Cheon Ha-rang! I-”
“Let’s go! Try blocking this better than the Nameless!”
Whether she didn’t hear him or chose to ignore him, Cheon Ha-rang charged at him.
“Damn it!”
Lucius clenched his teeth, hurriedly taking his stance while channeling all his remaining magical and divine power into his eyes for at least a glimpse of the future.
Suddenly, he began to see the actions she would take layered above her.
Lucius held onto a sliver of hope.
Unlike during his attack, he could now glimpse the future.
How could he not feel a glimmer of hope?
With narrowed eyes, he tried to adjust his stance to defend against Cheon Ha-rang’s impending strike.
…
Previously, he had experienced something similar only once.
Countless possible futures began to overlap, distorting the recognition of his opponent.
…
His eyes reddened as blood vessels burst, leading to a stream of blood from his eyes.
“Ah…”
Lucius faced a thousand swords racing at him.
The last moment he could recall.
…
Lucius stood frozen, sweating coldly in distress.
What am I going to do…?
Before I swung my sword one last time.
Suddenly, blood began to flow from Lucius’s eyes, and he fainted while still standing.
How am I supposed to explain this to Elia?
If the clueless Elia were to see this, she’d probably think I poked my eyes out and bled.
…It sounds absurd, to be honest.
But then again, who knows?
And from his perspective, he felt a bit wronged.
He never intended to strike Lucius; he just fainted on his own, didn’t he?
He had a lot to say.
While contemplating excuses, he heard a voice.
“Lucius!”
Elia rushed into the training hall, her face filled with worry as she ran towards Lucius.
She soon realized he was merely unconscious and sighed with relief while puffing out her cheeks in disappointment, then turned to glare at him.
Tiny teardrops glimmered in Elia’s eyes.
Sweat rolled down.
…Isn’t a woman’s tear a cheat?
As he wiped the cold sweat pooling on his forehead with the back of his hand, Elia sounded off in a slightly huffy voice.
“Cheon Ha-rang! That was too much!”
“No, well… it was a duel, right?”
Elia briefly rolled her eyes at him before slowly turning her head away.
But still.
She seemed to realize that avoiding his gaze was an act of stubbornness.
Elia spoke in a small voice.
“Still… there was no need to go that far.”
“…”
What did I do to deserve this?
After solely defending and swinging my sword just once, she ends up like this.
Besides, even then, I had swung my sword with quite a bit of restraint.
This was clearly the fault of the excessively cowardly Lucius.
I feel wronged.
Pouting, I responded to Elia.
“Should I have just stood there letting her attack…?”
Looking at Elia with bewildered eyes, she seemed to realize she was being unreasonable.
Her face flushed slightly as she spoke in a meek voice.
“…I’m sorry. I was just too shocked to see Lucius bleed…”
“Well… I guess that can happen.”
Of course, I can understand.
After all, it’s one of my precious people who fainted in such a grotesque manner, right?
I can empathize.
…Though it’s a tad frustrating.
With a small sigh, I waved my hand.
“Just heal his eye.”
“Oh, okay!”
Elia nodded vigorously, placing her hand on Lucius’s eye.
From her hand, a white light started to flow and seep into Lucius’s body.
“Phew… it was just a minor injury.”
Sure enough, that’s a relief.
It wouldn’t do for a Hero who was destined to face the Demon King to go blind.
Although, if we looked hard enough, there might be a handful of blind swordsmen in this story’s universe…
But for Lucius, who has future sight, wouldn’t claiming to be a blind swordsman be a bit odd?
After that silly thought, I looked down at Elia, who was still focused on healing Lucius.
Elia gazed at Lucius with eyes glistening like dripping honey.
What a sight it was.
Anyone would think she was caring for a beloved one returning from battle.
…Leaving our Nameless behind.
“Tsk.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
With a little sigh of disappointment, I looked at Elia.
Nameless should have a decent woman by his side too.
…Why am I feeling left out?
Letting out a small sigh, I patted Elia’s back and spoke.
“Just make sure he gets better.”
“Ah, yes! Thank you.”
With Elia briefly bowing her head, I turned and left.
I should go check on Nameless.
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