The Hero and the Guillotine
The Hero and the Guillotine
After that, with just a few more swings of the sword, Siegfried's swordsmanship had noticeably stabilized.
Even Siegfried himself, when I asked out of curiosity, seemed to find it hard to put into words exactly what kind of sensation it was. He said that at first he had no idea, but as he kept going he gradually got the feeling that this was the right way or something?
"That's really fascinating. Still, I'm glad I don't think I'm going to lose to Hero yet."
"What, you brat? That's it. Draw your sword! Let's go again!"
"I was about to say... hmm, no. I think it's a good idea to give it a try."
I'd been about to pull out the 'you fucking suck at this game' line again, but then I thought, if his swordsmanship was this much better after being such a mess, his spirit arts and magic must have improved even more, so I decided to accept. Actually, sparring with a stronger Siegfried was beneficial for me too.
"But is it okay for you to flash your combat power around anywhere like this? Doesn't the Empire say something?"
"Of course they will?"
Faced with Siegfried's utterly shameless reply, I just nodded instead of bothering to ask further. He said he'd handle it himself. We both set down our wooden swords and naturally drew live steel, and the students who had been watching began to stir even more.
"Ah, so I can make excuses later, just so you know, now I use things other than swordsmanship too?"
"Oh? Have you learned some new skills? Magic?"
"More precisely, a magic tool."
As I started to remove my cape and set it down, Sheryl naturally came over and held it for me. I thanked her, took a deep breath, and lightly whistled to pull out a needle and show it.
"What the fucking hell?"
Sure enough, Siegfried's eyes went wide as he stared in shock at the needle floating beside me. Yes, you know about True Father's weapon too.
"Little brother... have you become Mary Poppins...?"
Fuck, control your expression! Control your expression!
"...What the hell is that?"
I managed to suppress the laugh that was about to burst out from this unexpected attack by crumpling my expression, barely hiding it. Damn it. I had expected a joke like Eldu Udon or Eldmia, but I'd never imagined he'd skip two steps ahead and spout something like that. In answer to my question, Siegfried kept looking at the floating needle and replied with a meaningful smile.
"Ah, it exists. It's a term for a really cool, true man."
This bastard?
"For that kind of thing, it sounds like a woman's name, doesn't it? Are you trying to trick me?"
"Ah, no! What are you talking about! Why would I trick my little brother? Why are you being so hurtful?"
This... this guy's not fit to be a true mage. Lying, seriously. Not forgetting to eye Siegfried with suspicion as he flustered the moment his weak point was hit, I stopped Laika from coming up to the sparring ground. I only let Laika fight opponents weaker than me when there was no real risk; against someone on my level or stronger, I worried Laika might get hurt.
"Wow, the more I see it, the more amazing it is. What's that magic tool called?"
"I just named it Needle."
"Why not name it Yaka Arrow instead?"
"Why make it needlessly hard to call? Stop talking nonsense and get ready."
Even as he chuckled, Siegfried muttered, 'Life is seriously fucking amazing,' and I couldn't help but smirk. It made me look forward to what expression he'd make when he learned the truth later.
"T-Teaching Assistant Ega? Weren't you using wooden swords to keep things moderate and finish quickly?"
As we faced each other ready to go, Griwills belatedly came over and spoke with great bewilderment. Siegfried laughed and answered for me.
"Wooden swords are for learning, but real swords are for fighting, aren't they."
"Huh? What exactly..."
"Ah, with swordsmanship alone I still can't beat him. But it's embarrassing to learn while using a real sword, right."
This time I'd made a spontaneous decision and had nothing to say, but unintentionally Siegfried ended up covering for me. With gratitude, I responded to Siegfried.
"You lost with swordsmanship alone even after using everything you had last time, didn't you."
"I'm definitely winning today, fuck!"
Using my affectionate reply as a signal, Siegfried rushed in without hesitation. It wasn't just a simple physical charge; as soon as he took four steps, a spirit stirred up wind, creating a scene that would make anyone who couldn't receive spirit aid in battle feel miserable. But perhaps it wasn't for acceleration, because even after wrapping himself in wind, Siegfried's speed as he charged at me hadn't particularly increased.
A different feeling from the wind blade I had experienced last time. Was it a barrier to block the projectile needle? Maybe he was regarding it as having the power of a crossbow at best.
"You really underestimated it."
-Pshoo!
The needle spun.
Siegfried's attention was already sufficiently on the needle, but I spun it more and faster than usual so that in that brief moment he would feel enough of a threat. As the sound of the needle tearing through the air beside his ear grew louder, the moment Siegfried's brow furrowed as he noticed the anomaly, I fired the needle at full power. The target was half a handspan from Siegfried's left ear. Since he tended to lean to the right when dodging on reflex, it was the safest threat point with the least risk of injury even if his reaction was late.
-Pang!
In response to the needle fired with a loud noise that would have hurt me too if it had burst right next to my ear, Siegfried protected his head with his greatsword without a moment's hesitation and very slightly leaned his body to the right. If he had fully seen the needle's trajectory, there was no way he would have blocked with his greatsword, so it seemed the speed at least exceeded his expectations and kinetic vision. The judgment was good but a poor move. He should have just dodged. If left as is, the needle that would have torn through empty air collided with Siegfried's greatsword, producing a roar like a hammer striking an iron ingot.
"Crazy fuck?!"
The power of the needle, which even the wind barrier couldn't slow, was truly immense. Siegfried, who had been bracing the flat of his greatsword with his forearm, had his upper body twist to the left, creating a clear opening. Naturally, having already moved my body at the same time I fired the needle, I didn't miss that opening and attempted an upward slash toward Siegfried's right armpit. Even while his body was twisted, Siegfried kept his gaze straight on me and shouted with a furrowed brow.
"O lightning that flows backward!"
There was no need to think; it was a spell for magic, but I couldn't react. Because faster than I could respond, lightning surged up from the ground and flowed along my sword and Siegfried's greatsword, giving a tingling shock.
"Tingly, little brother?"
"That's not very good. There was no sign at all, how?"
Startled by the shock that made my ear canal go 'wooong!', I stepped back, but Siegfried, who had also been damaged by the electric shock, was in the same boat. Siegfried clenched and unclenched his tingling hands, gave a confident smile, and readjusted his stance as he spoke.
"It's a technique where you pre-charge simple attack spells. Looks like this, but I made it myself. Named it Battery."
"Damn effective, I see."
No joke, it wasn't something I could block by reading Magic Sight. Should I say it felt like magic was suddenly summoned out of thin air? It was magic manifested at a faster speed than that insane spear-wielder Siren or whoever I experienced in the Empire. And Siegfried made that? I thought it might be a level that could contribute to a new paradigm like the war magic of erosion.
"It still needs improvement and has quite a few restrictions, but it’s usable at this level. So, can you feel how much I’ve improved?"
"I feel the progress, and at the same time I can see what hasn't changed. You had other spells but the one you could activate fastest was that lightning magic just now, and the others weren't. Thanks for letting me know."
"...Damn it. This is why I hate perceptive bastards."
His spirit arts didn't seem to have changed much, his magic was trained to extremely reduce the penalty of incantation, his swordsmanship was still below Griwills, but his physical ability was on par with Yekaterina. As expected of a Hero, he was all over the place.
"I always feel this, but Hero is a really bothersome opponent in a prolonged fight."
"...That's a compliment, right?"
"Who knows. Anyway, that's why I'll go for a short decisive battle."
The greatsword, which blocked the needle that could pierce through armor and even break through projectile protection, and only had a few scratches, seemed worthy of being called a consecrated Holy Sword. If it's that sturdy, maybe it will hold up? Seeing that infuriating talent-freak—no, that Hero freak—made me want to use everything I could as well.
"Don't complain if your sword gets cut."
"What?"
Ahh, the cool and heavy sensation of Magic Power flowing out from my fingertips and coating the sword. Time to return to Light Sword Eldmia.
"Hah, how are you going to cut this..."
While Siegfried diligently reacted to my words, I lunged in with double acceleration and swung my sword. In that brief instant when Siegfried extended his sword forward to block the diagonal slash from the lower left, I felt the Magic Power I had applied for the sword's irregular acceleration flow quickly through the still-building Magic Organ. First, a sensation I'd never felt before, like antibiotics entering a blood vessel and flowing with the bloodstream. Second, the sharp strain that should have been felt in my muscles was completely absent. Finally, as I was astonished that the sword swung faster with far less Magic Power, my sword slashed upward against Siegfried's greatsword.
-SKRREEECH!
And with an intense cutting sound, in an instant sparks flew as if touching a grinder, and at the end...
"...fuck?"
Siegfried's greatsword had been reduced to a great/sword.
Siegfried, who had planned to exploit the advantage of his weapon and first thrust his sword to block the attack before closing in, looked dumbfounded, even breaking his stance as he raised his severed greatsword to show.
"Crazy fuck!"
I had done it with full intent, but honestly I'd never imagined it would be cut so cleanly, so I could only show an awkward smile.
"Hahaha."
"What are you giggling about! Fuck, my Holy Sword turned into a broken rune sword!!"
"Hahahaha."
Really, a lot of things had been crushing Siegfried's spirit today.
How delightful.