༺ The First Letter (60) ༻
I pulled out my sword as Celine gazed at me with a puzzled expression. I couldn’t blame her. After all, she had never been challenged to a real sword fight before.
Moreover, it was even soon after we had a big quarrel. Slight traces of tears were evident around her eyes, and judging from her woeful voice, Celine must have also suffered in her own way.
Celine had always come first and tried to assuage my anger whenever I got riled up, and although she seemed to be trying to do so this time as well, it was pointless.
Celine and Seria’s relationship was no different from a ticking time bomb, and there wasn’t much else to say if it had already escalated from mere verbal arguments to a sword fight. Their conflicts were no longer at a point where they could be resolved by simply apologizing after pouring out their anger towards each other.
Thus, there was only one answer.
It was to give them no choice but to accept defeat, and there was only one way to make a swordsman admit defeat.
A battle with actual weapons.
Eloquence, social skills, nor anything else were necessary. Only a battle between swords would have a clear result without any room for rebuttal.
Celine still looked bewildered as she opened her mouth and stuttered.
“That, I, Ian Oppa…. W, what do you…?”
“It’s exactly as I said. Let’s go for a round with our real swords.”
Her hazel eyes blankly followed the sheath rolling across the ground before looking back at me. Just like that, she alternated her gaze several times.
A forced laughter escaped her mouth.
“……Why?”
“It’s not like you’ll be convinced with just words. It’s also not something that can be resolved just by avoiding the problem… and, you looked like you felt wronged when you fought with Seria.”
I straightened my posture – sword pointed forward and vision focused on the opponent.
Celine still hadn’t drawn her sword, but I was certain she would soon wield it. Since there was going to be one more condition to the duel.
“Let’s finish it cleanly with a sword fight. The loser will grant the winner a wish.”
“A wish?”
“Yeah, a wish. It can be anything.”
Celine’s eyes betrayed her complex emotions after hearing those words. She seemed to be calculating something, but it was obvious what she was thinking.
It must have been something like having me sever my ties with Seria.
Of course, I would have to adjust any excessive wishes to a reasonable level, but I was going to see Seria less often if that was what Celine wished for. That way, the bet could be fulfilled.
Celine seemed to have finished her calculations as her ash-brown eyes focused which signified she was going to take the battle seriously..
Her hand moved toward her waist.
“…..How will we decide the victor?”
“It’ll be when someone surrenders.”
“Don’t cry after getting hurt, Ian Oppa.”
No swordsman wielding a sword would be unprepared to shed blood. I just nodded at Celine’s grim warning.
I had my own calculations as well. Before I lost my memories, Celine and I were evenly matched in terms of skill. However, compared to then, I had achieved remarkable growth.
I even had a hatchet as a secondary weapon. It might be called a secondary weapon, but its advantages in actual combat made it more valuable than the name would suggest. Of course, there would be variables out of my control, but I determined I would be more likely to win.
Right, probabilistically. I stopped myself from becoming complacent and declared the start of the duel.
“Then… begin!”
Pat. We both stomped the ground on the signal. Celine still hadn’t drawn her sword, which meant that she was looking to end the match with a quick draw
However, since the quick-draw style heavily emphasized continuous attacks, it was difficult to recover once the flow got disrupted. Therefore, I decided to use all my strength to block Celine’s sword from the beginning.
Time seemed to come to a standstill, but it wasn’t long before it was explosively torn apart.
Our bodies and swords clashed against each other and the extremely compressed space exploded outwards as we tightened our grips on our swords.
I wanted to end it as quickly as possible. Sparring with a sword carried a high risk of injury, and both Celine and I would suffer less injuries the sooner it was decided.
Having decided as such, I swung down my sword with all the mana I could muster. A silver trajectory traced my blade towards its focal point, and it was at that moment that Celine’s arm tensed up.
Crash!
An intense shockwave exploded as our blades collided. Rather than the sound of clashing blades, it was more akin to an explosion, and I couldn’t help but widen my eyes.
The power of her quick-draw was abnormal. Between a downward strike and an upward slash, the former would be advantageous due to the added weight. However, Celine’s sword, which belonged to the latter, overwhelmed my sword with its power.
It wasn’t a sword designed for a series of attacks. It was a single blow completed in and of itself.
My sword rebounded back with great force along with the sound of mana colliding. It would be the end if the attack was allowed to continue in this manner. I grit my teeth and purposely broke my posture.
I started falling to the ground while Celine’s second strike followed. Her yellow eyes fiercely chased after my figure.
Celine swung downwards with all her might.
I had to roll across the ground to dodge. In the next moment, dust scattered the air with a boom as if there was an explosion.
The sound of compressed air bursting reverberated in my ears once more. I rushed to get up and urgently fixed my posture while staring blankly at Celine.
Had Celine always been this powerful? Although she had an astounding amount of mana, the power behind her sword strikes weren’t at this level. That strike was comparable to Thean in terms of power.
As the dust subsided, I saw Celine taking heavy breaths. There was a crater around the spot she struck with the sword. It looked as if it had been gouged out by a bomb.
“Hey, you… have you been taking elixirs or something?”
“What are you saying……?”
Celine wiped the sweat off her forehead with her sleeves while giving me a puzzled look.
“Ian Oppa, phew… you were the one who taught me. That in order to make the best use of my mana, haa, I should put my all into a single strike.”
She was out of breath after she swung her sword only twice. Granted, if one were to use their mana excessively as if it were water, it was inevitable for their stamina to take a huge hit.
It was terrifying facing off a powerful blow backed by the entirety of her formidable mana. Apparently, I was the one who gave her the advice, and I had to admit that it was an excellent one.
The only problem was that I had no memory of it.
No matter how much I tried to recall, I couldn’t remember ever having done so. If so, there was only one possibility. A cold sweat ran down my back.
It meant that it happened whilst I had lost my memory. That must have been when Celine came to the realization that rather than obsessing over consecutive blows or speed, it would be better to pour her mana into each strike to increase their power.
As someone who only had an average amount of mana, it was the most difficult type to deal with. Considering how I presumptuously challenged her without even knowing that, it wouldn’t have been strange even if Celine were to immediately agree to my duel.
Ian Percus, this motherfucker. What the hell had he been going around doing while I had lost my memory.
No matter how much I swore inwardly, the reality laid in front of me did not change. Celine caught her breath then pointed her sword at me.
“Be careful, Ian Oppa… Since I’m putting my all behind each attack, it’s hard for me to stop in the middle.”
“Well, if you’re actually worried, you can just sto…p….”
However, my suggestion didn’t reach Celine. Because before I could finish, she kicked the ground and rushed towards me.
Despite her small body, her charge was rather fast since her small figure meant she faced less air resistance. The only fortunate thing was that she was slower than usual since most of her mana was invested into increasing the power of each strike.
Admittedly, that wasn’t a decisive weakness since the purpose of the charge was to get into distance to exchange blows. However, the power behind her strikes was enough to make me avoid clashing with her.
It was better to just avoid her strikes since my sword would simply be repelled and break my posture even if I were to block it with all my strength.
Once again, Celine’s sword drew a vertical line. From heaven to earth, it was an exemplary slash. Its power was explosive.
Boom. A shockwave that swept across the ground. I narrowly avoided the sword by twisting my body after seeing its imaginary trajectory drawn in my vision.
Even so, the aftermath alone made my skin feel as if it would be ripped apart. I wouldn’t be able to recover if I allowed a hit. It wasn’t a matter of merely being injured, it was a matter of life and death.
I grit my teeth to keep my balance on the rumbling ground. Then, aiming for an opening, I stabbed towards Celine’s forearm with my sword.
However, Celine wasn’t one to let me freely get an advantage. She grabbed her sword that was stuck in the ground and crouched down. Even without crouching, her body was small so there wasn’t any room for the sword to penetrate through when she crouched down.
Celine immediately rolled past me while she sheathed her sword.
It was coming again. Her quick draw.
Celine’s body sprung towards me in a surge. In the next moment, Celine’s scabbard flashed once more.
Her charge, fueled by the negative momentum, was faster than I expected. Lacking time to respond, I grit my teeth and swung my sword down.
I knew it was a shortcut to defeat, but there was no helping it since there were no other ways to block her sword.
With a bang, my sword flew through the air as it made whirling sounds. I intentionally didn’t use much force to grip the handle. Rather, it was a situation where I held the sword with only one hand.
My free hand immediately went towards my waist and drew my hatchet.
A sharp, silver trail was drawn between me and Celine. Celine tilted her upper body backwards with all her might to dodge my hatchet. As a result, only the front of her clothes was slightly cut.
Although it would be good to continue attacking like this, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that Celine would launch a counterattack. I couldn’t bear her attack with my sword, so I’d be a fool to try to handle her power with a hatchet.
As if we had promised, Celine and I took a few steps back, and I succeeded in retrieving my sword that was stuck in the ground.
It was a short exchange, but Celine had to catch her breath, and I too had broken out in cold sweat.
Celine gasped for breath as she sheathed her sword. It seemed like she decided to decide the duel with her quick draw.
“……That hatchet, haa... is tough.”
“I want to curse the past me for giving you advice.”
Celine and I faced each other, wiping the sweat off our faces with our sleeves. Her eyes contained a sharp glint. It was an instinctual feeling. A premonition that the match would be decided soon.
Due to her physical limitations, it was impossible for her to hold a prolonged battle. Likewise, it was too risky for me to exchange many more blows due to the vast difference in our mana capacity. It was a situation where I didn’t know when my sword would soar through the sky again.
As a result, I became increasingly concerned as the fight reached its climax.
Until now, I was able to take advantage of my hatchet’s surprise factor, but it was now impossible to make use of it. My hatchet had become too well-known. Just like a moment ago.
If she hadn’t known of my hatchet’s existence, Celine would have been sure of her victory as soon as my sword ricocheted off. However, she calmly dodged the hatchet as if she had expected it.
There was only one solution. I was currently holding both weapons in each hand, but I proceeded to hang the sword from my waist. It was a bit of a hassle since it didn’t have a sheath, but I had no choice.
It would soon come out anyways. Celine stared at me with curious eyes as I held my hatchet.
However, even that curiosity only lasted momentarily, and as expected, she promptly corrected her posture, perhaps recalling a scene she had witnessed before.
The hatchet left my hands with a boom as the hatchet flew towards Celine at a terrifying speed.
Once again, Celine’s scabbard spit flames, and the sword that shot out like a thunderbolt struck away my hatchet. With a bang, the hatchet flew pitifully through the air.
However, what she didn’t expect was that my sword followed suit and drew towards her. Celine’s eyes betrayed her surprise and embarrassment as she didn’t think I’d even go so far as to throw my main weapon.
Even then, Celine still had room to react. She grit her teeth and twisted her body, barely managing to deflect the sword.
Once again, the sound of colliding metal reverberated through the air as the sword lodged itself into the ground. However, because she hastily twisted her body, her posture became unstable and her center of gravity shifted to one side.
It was a fleeting moment, but it was my only chance.
My eyes were drawn to the falling hatchet. Despite its weight, the hatchet rose high into the air before plummeting back down. It might even be fortunate that it was falling at the moment despite having been hit by such a powerful sword swing.
However, what mattered was its location. Celine’s sword was always drawn from bottom to top. As a result, the hatchet was forced to fly in the opposite way, drawing a parabola as it fell towards me.
I ran towards the hatchet and with a single leap, I grasped the familiar handle of the hatchet. I would be too late if I were to run towards her. Thus, I threw the hatchet with the added force of my falling momentum.
Bang! The hatchet struck Celine’s sword. Celine was already struggling to maintain her balance, so she failed to hold onto her sword as the sword fell from her hands at the sudden blow.
However, Celine was still desperate. She must have desperately wanted to separate me and Seria, she threw herself to the ground to pick up a sword.
There may have been a choice to pick up my sword, but the distance between me and herself was already very close. She seemed to have chosen the option that would buy her even a little more time.
But it was already too late. I had already started running and I was able to retrieve my sword from the ground just by bending my upper body, and Celine didn’t have enough time to pick up her sword and correct her posture.
No matter what she did, my sword would have been faster. I charged and thrust the sword into Celine’s forearm.
The forearm would be non-fatal even if stabbed, and it was likely for them to surrender because they wouldn’t be able to hold the sword anymore. It was also easy to treat at the temple.
The fight should have ended with this.
If Celine hadn’t swung her sword from a crouching position at the last moment.
It seemed to have been driven by the desire to win, but as a result, the blade moved subtly and was angled to pierce the body at a different angle.
Not the forearm, but the heart
However, I couldn’t stop. If I tried to stop the sword at that point, I would have been a victim of her blade’s trajectory.
It was a situation where both of us had to be prepared for a fatal injury.
My eyes momentarily widened at that realization. Celine did the same. She must have sensed her impending fate and closed her eyes.
Death. At least a critical injury, it was a disaster caused by an excessive desire to win. Celine’s body stiffened as she thought of the pain that would follow.
Puk. The blade sunk in. Blood spattered. Patter. The sound of dripping blood hung in the air. Along with the warmth and the damp, metallic stench.
It was only then that Celine slowly opened her eyes. Her hazel eyes were blankling looking at me.
Celine’s sword was lodged into my forearm. It was a grotesque posture. My sword had stopped right before her heart, and as a result, her sword, which was belatedly swung, dug into my forearm.
It was only to this extent since Celine tried to stop it at the last moment. It was dangerous even despite her broken posture. My arm could have been severed, or the sword may have even reached my heart.
That was why Celine closed her eyes. It was a matter of life and death. If someone were to survive, I had to be the one as the winner.
Even so, I couldn’t bring myself to swing the sword.
It was painful. The pain was akin to being burned by flames. The blade half-buried itself into my bones and was transmitting sharp pain to the nerves without mercy. Just like that, it felt like my brain was going to burn up.
The blood that flowed from my forearm dripped down onto the sword. It flowed down and stopped just before staining her chest as it fell from the tip of the sword.
Celine could only hold her breath without knowing what to do. As if she couldn’t make sense of the situation – Why I was the one bleeding and not herself.
So, I smiled.
There was a time I did this for Celine. It was in a flower garden, and Celine at that time was very cold unlike a typical child.
“…..I won, Celine.”
Her hazel pupils were staring at me without a word. Just looking on in a daze.
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