Chapter 116: Final [2]
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t afford to.
Because in the next breath, her blade came down again—clean, fast, and sharp.
Clang!
I barely managed to deflect it with my dagger, the force of the blow rattling up my arm. She wasn’t going easy. If anything, she was pressing harder now, testing every bit of my strength and reaction time.
I stepped back to create distance, dragging in a sharp breath.
"You’re being unusually aggressive, My Lady."
Her lips curled into a faint smile. "You wanted a real duel, didn’t you?"
I couldn’t help but chuckle, despite the pressure. "Then I guess I should respond in kind."
She didn’t say anything—but her posture shifted slightly, just enough for me to know she was anticipating it.
So I moved.
I lowered my body and dashed forward, this time meeting her blade head-on. My dagger clashed against her sword, and I twisted my body to her flank, drawing the short sword from my hip in a blur.
Clang—!
She blocked it, of course. But her footing shifted just slightly. She hadn’t expected a strike from that angle.
"You’ve improved," she said coolly, pushing me back with a strong parry.
"You sound surprised," I grunted, planting my feet firmly on the ground.
"I am." Her eyes narrowed, but not with contempt—curiosity.
She lunged again.
And this time, I met her halfway.
Steel rang against steel as our blades clashed over and over. Each swing was faster than the last, each step a blur to those watching. The crowd could hardly keep up, but I could hear them—the growing gasps, the murmurs of awe.
"He’s keeping up with her..."
"He is really good..."
"Wasn’t he a servant?"
That last one made me grin for a brief second. A servant. Right.
I ducked a slash aimed for my shoulder and countered with an upward thrust. She dodged by a hair’s breadth and retaliated with a sweeping kick that nearly knocked the wind out of me.
Thud!
I stumbled but kept my footing, just barely avoiding a downward slash that would have ended the match.
She didn’t stop.
And I didn’t want her to.
And just like that—she moved.
Faster.
Sharper.
She wasn’t holding back anymore.
And I couldn’t afford to either.
This wasn’t just a match. It was a battle—one that neither of us would walk away from without something breaking.
...The small edge I’d barely managed to maintain crumbled all at once.
Now I was on the defensive, and she was pressing in hard.
If she were anything like Gareth or the others I’d faced before, I might have kept up. They were strong, yes—but predictable. Arrogant. Reckless.
But Alice?
She wasn’t arrogant for no reason.
She had defeated the top contenders of the entire tournament—Amelia, Serena, and even a few more strong opponents in the tournament.
So I had assumed—hoped—that most of her aura was already spent.
And yet here she was. No hesitation. No signs of fatigue. Charging in with precision and bloodlust like she’d just stepped into the ring.
Aura, like mana, wasn’t infinite. It burned with every attack, every defense. She should’ve been running low by now.
"I’ve conserved more than enough aura to finish you," she said coldly, "despite all your pointless chatter."
"...!"
Her sword trembled in her grip—and so did the aura around it. A violent, almost predatory hum pulsed from the blade.
"Let’s see if you can dodge this one, too!"
She lunged.
The thrust was fast—blinding—but I was starting to adjust. Her movement patterns, the faint blur of her aura... I could almost see the arc before it happened.
Almost.
—BOOM!
A shockwave burst out from her sword mid-thrust. Sparks scattered, and the trembling aura exploded in a radius, forcing me back.
"Ugh—! What the hell is this?!"
The attack wasn’t a thrust at all. It was a trap.
I barely escaped a direct hit thanks to pure instinct and my trained reflexes, but even then—
The moment I dodged, a wave of dizziness slammed into me.
Like a spinning top, the world tilted. My knees nearly buckled.
I bit the inside of my cheek—hard. The metallic tang of blood hit my tongue, snapping me back to clarity.
Then pain followed.
A hot sting bloomed across the side of my face—inside, from where I’d bitten myself, and outside, where a shard of her aura had grazed me.
Blood flowed. Warm. Slow. Both inside and out.
"That technique...?" I muttered.
Alice didn’t smile. She didn’t even gloat.
"I knew you’d try to adapt. Did you really think I wouldn’t prepare a countermeasure after all our spars?"
"...Ha." A dry laugh escaped me.
This was insane.
A wave of disbelief crashed through my chest.
She hadn’t just trained to fight me—she had trained to outplay me. To beat the version of me that improved mid-fight.
And she was doing it.
Every breath I took felt like borrowed time now.
She was stronger than I imagined—and she was still two moves ahead.
"When did you learn this technique?"
"Everyone has hidden ace on their hands."
The air between us crackled, thick with tension and heat. My grip tightened on my weapons, both arms burning from fatigue.
She wasn’t wrong. Everyone had an ace up their sleeve. But hers felt like a dagger at my throat.
"I take it this isn’t something you learned from your usual instructors," I muttered, shifting my stance.
Alice said nothing at first. Just studied me with those cool, assessing eyes. Then, her blade dipped slightly, aura still pulsing.
"I didn’t learn it from them."
A pause.
"I created it... to fight you."
My breath hitched.
Not out of fear.
But something worse.
Something sharper.
"...You created that just for me?"
She nodded once. "You’re a fast learner. Too fast. Every time we sparred, you adapted. So I needed a technique that couldn’t be adapted to in time."
A humorless laugh escaped my throat. "You really are a monster."
"If that makes me a monster, what does that make you?" she asked quietly.
And then she moved again.
No warning. No chant. Just movement—pure, instinctual, lethal.
I met it with everything I had. Steel clashed with steel. The screech of metal echoed. My short sword locked with hers, and our faces were just inches apart.
Her eyes burned—not with anger, but focus.
"Why keep going?" she asked. "You’re bleeding. Your stamina’s failing. You can’t win."
I grinned, teeth stained red from the blood still in my mouth. "Because I have ace in my hands too."
Yeah....It was time to show aces of my hands.