Chapter 52: Bianca and Gloria

“Next, Semi-Final Match 2! Bianca Latia Serenade, Gloria Grimm Barcarolle, come forward!”

Hearing the referee knight’s voice, I took a deep breath and stepped up to the arena. Gloria, who had already stepped up from the opposite side, stood with a fearless smile. Her cheeks were slightly sunken, and although she had lost some of her former brilliance and looked somewhat shadowed, her eyes alone were shining brilliantly.

“Well done coming here without running away. I’ll praise you for that. You remember the promise, right?” “…I know. You too, throw away that Magic Sword when you lose.” “Of course. Though there isn’t a one in a million chance of that.”

Gloria draws the pitch-black Magic Sword ‘Discord’ from its scabbard. Confronting it like this, I feel the ominous aura has become stronger than before. Just how much power has it stolen? I also draw the Magic Sword ‘Ensemble’ at my waist. Strangely, the ominous pressure I felt from ‘Discord’ seemed to soften. Is this also Ensemble’s power? We hold our swords ready and face each other. Waiting for the referee’s signal to start the match.

“Begin!”

Simultaneously with that voice, Gloria leaped in. Stepping straight in, a sharp thrust unleashed as if extending her whole body assaults me.

“Kuh!”

I parry it just in time. However, Gloria‘s sword, which I should have parried, drew a strange trajectory like a snake and headed towards me again. I parry it in the same way. But no matter how much I parry, the sword tip persistently heads towards me. On the defensive, I jumped back once, trying to take a large distance.

“I won’t let you escape.”

Gloria closes in on me as I jump back. I managed to catch the descending Magic Sword ‘Discord’ with ‘Ensemble’, but an impact strong enough to numb both arms hit me. Ridiculous strength…!

“Take that, take that, take that!” “Kuh…!”

I single-mindedly continue to deflect Gloria‘s sword strikes raining down one after another. For a while I was purely on the defensive, but eventually, I began to vaguely read the trajectories of Gloria‘s sword strikes and which direction they were coming from. Calming down, Teacher Julia‘s thrusts I received in training were far faster. To me, who received sword strikes called ‘Sword Flash’ countless times, Gloria‘s sword looks slow. As I could read Gloria‘s moves, my deflection speed gradually increased, and now I could even perform the feat of repelling Gloria‘s strikes before she could launch them.

“You little…! How persistent!” “Say whatever you want!”

Parrying the Magic Sword ‘Discord’ greatly, Gloria took distance. With the exchange of sword strikes finally stopped, I exhale slightly. It’s okay. I can fight well enough. In swordsmanship, I’m not losing to her. The special training drilled into me by Teacher Julia over this past month is paying off. Gloria is probably impatient. If it were any previous opponent, clashing swords this much with the Magic Sword ‘Discord’ would have drained their magic and stamina, leaving them exhausted. Unfortunately for her, that effect doesn’t work on my Magic Sword ‘Ensemble’. This ‘Ensemble’, forged by the legendary Magic Sword smith Balkblay, is made of Mithril which repels magic power, and additionally has anti-‘Discord’ inscription magic carved into it. That’s why my power won’t be stolen. The rest is a battle of skill.

“Hmph. It seems your skill has improved somewhat. But my victory is unshakable!”

Gloria runs toward me again. The next moment, Gloria‘s figure vanished as if melting into the atmosphere. Gloria’s ‘Gift’, huh! The moment I heard the tap of a stepping footstep, I rolled backwards with all my might as if falling. Rolling on the arena floor, I immediately regained my posture and stood up, and Gloria‘s figure emerged in the place where I was just a moment ago.

“I didn’t think you’d dodge. Wild intuition is not to be underestimated, it seems.”

Even if she calls it intuition, I can’t deny it. I just happened to hear footsteps and dodged reflexively, but if that had been a thrust, it might have reached me. However, is it my imagination? It felt like the time Gloria was transparent was longer than before…

“Then I’ll change methods a little.”

Gloria‘s figure disappears again. I strained my ears, preparing for Gloria‘s invisible attack. However, just as I heard a small wind-cutting sound—shupi—almost simultaneously my shoulder was stabbed. Of course, thanks to the barrier, there is no physical injury. Just a small impact and a hole in the clothes at the shoulder. Gloria probably decided to keep her distance and thrust instead of getting close to slash. Thrusting motions involve less movement than slashing motions, making it difficult to catch the sound of movement.

“Fufu. Oh my, this is more interesting.”

Gloria, revealing herself, smirked. However, her figure disappeared immediately, and this time my thigh was stabbed. Following that, my flank and upper arm were stabbed. Since all are shallow, the paralysis effect of the barrier isn’t significant, but if this is repeated, eventually I won’t be able to move.

“If you admit defeat quickly, you can avoid further embarrassment. What will you do?” “Tch, mind your own business…!” “Then I shall pierce you more!”

Kuh, no choice…! The moment I heard a slight footstep, I released the power of the Magic Sword ‘Ensemble’.

“[Duo]!” “What!?”

In an instant, another me is born behind me. Back to back, the two of us simultaneously flashed a horizontal slash with the Magic Sword ‘Ensemble’ we held. Gakin! The sword of the me behind was deflected. The next moment, Gloria‘s surprised face emerged there.

“Magic Sword…!”

The other me disappears. A clone pulled from another timeline. Current me cannot sustain it for long. And Gloria found out that this ‘Ensemble’ is a Magic Sword. Ideally, I wanted to use it as a decisive factor for victory, but losing like this would mean nothing.

“To think you were a Magic Sword holder too. Where did you get it? The ‘Black Market’ after all?”

Black Market? Did Gloria obtain the Magic Sword ‘Discord’ there?

“As if I would buy something in such a suspicious place. This is something I received from Lady Sakuraile.” “I see. As expected of the Ducal House of the Imperial Brother, giving one or two Magic Swords to an apprentice knight is nothing to spare, is it?”

Wrong. This sword is not something I got from the Ducal House. It is something Lady Sakuraile gave me. A Magic Sword made for me, given to me because she believed in me, to fight Gloria. For the sake of this Magic Sword too, I cannot fight clumsily.

“Let’s go, ‘Ensemble’!”

I unleash a thrust toward Gloria. At the same time, I activated [Duo] only from the arm onwards. My sword splits in two, and each tip assaults Gloria.

“Wha… !?”

Gloria deflects one sword with ‘Discord’, but the other grazes her upper arm. Kuh, shallow!

“…I thought it was a Magic Sword that creates illusions, but it seems I was wrong. Both possess substance… Is it a Magic Sword that creates clones?” “I don’t need to explain to you!”

The ability of the Magic Sword ‘Ensemble’ is, strictly speaking, the ability to interfere with time and space. Shamefully, I can only handle a fragment of it yet. Even though I did special training, it was only for three weeks. I think even a Knight Order Grand Master would find it impossible to master everything about a Magic Sword in just that time. In the end, I have no choice but to compete with the cards I hold. I unleash a [Duo] thrust toward Gloria again. However, Gloria disappeared again matching my thrust. The next moment after I thought She disappeared, a small pain and shock ran through my left shoulder. It seems Gloria circled around and slashed me. Reflexively I slash in that direction too, but ‘Ensemble’ only echoes a vain wind-cutting sound. Gloria appeared diagonally to the left, a little distance away. Kuh, that [Transparency Camouflage] Gift is troublesome after all. She isn’t blending into the surroundings like protective coloration, so there are no shadows either. All that’s left is to rely on sound, but if it were a quiet place maybe, but there are many spectators around us. Amidst their cheers, distinguishing only the sound I want to hear is difficult. Furthermore, Gloria is wary and has been moving without making loud footsteps since earlier. Reading her movements like this is impossible. If I could grasp the flow of air slightly felt by Gloria‘s movement, maybe reading it wouldn’t be impossible, but…

“Guh!?”

My shoulder on the back side is slashed again. At this rate, my movements will be gradually sealed, and eventually I will lose. Just for an instant is fine. If I just knew where she was…! At that time, one idea floated in my mind. I don’t know if I can do it. But I have no choice but to try. Every time Gloria disappears, I swing my sword around blindly. Naturally, such attacks don’t hit, and threading through that interval, Gloria carves up my body. Just a little more…! Moving around on the square floor stones of the arena, I finished the setup. Now I just wait for Gloria‘s move…!

“You really are persistent. But, I’ll have to end this soon!”

Gloria‘s figure disappears. The attack is coming! I turned my gaze to the arena floor. My ‘Gift’, [Elasticity], can slightly extend or shrink the length or height of things I touch. And that effect is exerted even if I’m wearing gloves and not touching directly. Furthermore, even without using hands, if a part of my body is touching, I can give that effect. Yes, I can use the ‘Gift’ even with the tips of my toes wearing shoes. When I moved around earlier, I shrank the ‘height’ of several floor stones around me. They are supported by similar floor stones around them, so they are invisible from the outside, but they are in a state floating slightly from the ground. What happens if Gloria steps on that floor stone────! One of the floor stones diagonally to my right sinks slightly.

“There! [Duo]!”

By the power of the Magic Sword ‘Ensemble’, another me was born. Connecting the place where Gloria originally was and the place where the floor stone sank in my head, I read her movement. Two of me swing ‘Ensemble’ down at the aimed spot, and two sword flashes draw an X. A sensation that is not hitting empty air.

“Gah…!”

Gloria, with the flank of her clothes torn, emerges on the spot. Even if she could block one sword, it seems she couldn’t block the other. I caught Gloria properly for the first time. As if to follow up, I slashed again, but she leaped backward and ‘Ensemble’ cut the air.

“Really annoying… tsch! I intended to save this for the finals, but change of plans!”

As Gloria shouted that, something like black mist blew out from ‘Discord’—buwa—and changed into a long, thin shape. Suddenly bending like a whip, a tremendous impact assaulted me.