Chapter 150: Loki vs. Johanna 2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 150: Loki vs. Johanna 2
I was lying with my head in Johanna’s lap while she gently stroked my hair.
The two of us chatted idly about nothing in particular.
It felt like an event straight out of a dating sim, but for me, this had become a part of my daily routine. At first, it had been awkward and embarrassing, sending butterflies through my stomach, but after months of this, it felt more awkward not to do it.
However, despite the comfort of Johanna’s lap and her right hand rhythmically petting my head, I felt incredibly uneasy.
The source of my anxiety was Johanna’s left hand, which was currently resting against my throat.
“Can I attack now?” she asked.
Her vacant blue eyes looked down at me. To anyone else, it might have looked like she was joking, but I knew Johanna was asking in dead earnest.
I was momentarily stunned by her sheer audacity. “Uh... shouldn't you wait until we actually start?”
“Why?”
When she tilted her head and asked "why" like that, I was at a loss for words. How was I even supposed to explain the concept of a fair start to her?
“...I can’t?” Johanna asked, her voice sounding genuinely dejected.
She’s too cute!
The words, “Of course you can! Do whatever you want, Senior!” almost clawed their way out of my throat, but I managed to suppress them with superhuman patience.
Phew... this isn’t easy.
Fortunately, after a long session of persuasion, we managed to agree on a compromise: we would only start once both of us were standing and ready.
* * *
At Croa Academy, a lack of effort was synonymous with a desire to be expelled.
Because of that, the training grounds were packed from dawn until dusk, and the school provided a vast array of practice weapons for the students. The only reason no one had ever witnessed Johanna and Loki training together was simple: they arrived at the grounds long before any other students even woke up.
Loki stood opposite Johanna, both of them holding identical wooden swords.
In the game Croaka, encounters with Johanna were rare. While Croa Academy served as the primary setting, the protagonist, Lucas, was a first-year, while Johanna was a second-year. No matter how high the degree of freedom in Croaka was, a game was still a game; the player couldn't just interact with a senior whenever they pleased.
Consequently, while Loki knew almost everything about the skills and techniques of the Special Class students, he lacked specific data on Johanna’s personal style or the true extent of her power.
Nevertheless, Loki felt a surge of confidence.
‘Let’s test the waters first without using illusions or magic tools.’
Of course, thinking he could defeat Johanna with pure swordsmanship was the height of arrogance.
‘But I should at least be able to hold my own, right?’
Loki pulled a silver coin from his Pocket Dimension and held it up so Johanna could see it clearly.
“We start when this coin hits the ground.”
“...Okay.”
Loki tossed the coin high into the air. It reached its apex and began its descent. The moment the silver rim touched the floor of the training ground—
Step.
Loki lunged straight at Johanna.
Strengthening his body with mana, he moved with such explosive speed that he was nothing but a blur to the average eye. Johanna remained perfectly still, holding her sword with both hands in front of her chest—the most basic, textbook stance of a swordsman.
Even as Loki closed the distance, Johanna didn't twitch.
Having reached her in an instant, Loki maintained his momentum and activated Shadow Step. Using the skill while carrying that much speed allowed him to vanish from Johanna’s front and reappear behind her in the blink of an eye.
He was in her perfect blind spot.
Loki swung his sword before Johanna could even turn her head. It was a strike delivered at a speed that an ordinary swordsman would never be able to react to.
Johanna, who had been standing like a statue, finally moved her arms.
Her movement wasn't fast; it was slow. It wasn't forceful; it was soft. It looked far too sluggish and weak to intercept Loki’s high-velocity strike from behind.
And yet, Johanna’s wooden sword met Loki’s before his could reach her.
The sword Loki swung with all his might, fueled by mana and acceleration, collided with the sword Johanna swung gently from her stationary position.
— Clang!
Surprisingly, it was Loki who was sent reeling back. He stared blankly at Johanna, who had already returned to her basic stance as if nothing had happened.
‘This isn't going to work.’
He knew it after just one exchange. They were operating in different dimensions. Trying to take on Johanna without his illusions or magic tools was no different from a human trying to wrestle a lion barehanded.
Without hesitation, Loki pulled a flash grenade from his Pocket Dimension and hurled it.
‘Let’s see how she reacts to this.’
Johanna had seen Loki’s flash grenades a few times before—once when he fought Rophri, and again when he dealt with Mordor’s subordinates. Normally, if someone knew a flash grenade was coming, they would close their eyes or shield their ears with mana, but Johanna did the opposite: she lunged toward Loki.
At first, Loki thought she intended to cut the grenade out of the air, but even as she closed in on it, she showed no intention of swinging.
‘Wait, did she realize?’
When Johanna’s body collided with the flash grenade, it vanished into thin air.
Loki was inwardly horrified. She realized it was an illusion?
Judging that he would lose instantly in a pure swordfight, Loki gave up on blocking and focused on evasion using Shadow Step. His movements became erratic, following paths so unpredictable they were difficult to counter even if one knew they were coming.
Reaching Loki, Johanna swung her sword. From a distance, it looked like she was swinging at empty air, but Loki was terrified to see the wooden tip suddenly materialize inches from his face.
— Slash.
He barely managed to block it with a steel shield he hurriedly yanked from his Pocket Dimension.
To an onlooker, pulling out a heavy metal shield during a wooden sword spar might seem like cheating. But Loki wasn't looking at the unfairness of his tools; he was looking at what used to be a steel shield.
‘What’s really unfair is Johanna cutting through a steel shield with a wooden sword.’
If he stayed within her reach, he would never win.
This time, Loki pulled out a real flash grenade and threw it at her feet. Johanna, who had been charging after cleaving the shield, instantly retreated, squeezed her eyes shut, and coated her ears in mana.
An opening was created, but Loki couldn't capitalize on it; he had to take the same precautions to avoid blinding himself.
‘Then, this time, another illusion.’
Loki projected a fake flash grenade and tossed it. He planned to charge the moment Johanna closed her eyes to defend against the "holy light" again.
Instead, Johanna charged right through the fake, ignoring it entirely.
“Wait, Senior, you’re being really unfair! You could at least fall for it once—”
Before Loki could finish his sentence, Johanna was on top of him.
‘Shield again? No, she’ll just cut through it faster this time.’
With a "do or die" mindset, Loki detonated a real flash grenade right in front of his own face. Both of them closed their eyes and protected their hearing, but neither stopped moving.
In the total darkness of his closed eyelids, Loki swung his sword toward where he sensed Johanna. Johanna made the same judgment.
— Clang!
Their swords clashed in the white noise. They opened their eyes almost simultaneously.
‘At first, I thought she was reacting based on pure intuition or reading my psychology...’
But Loki was now certain. Johanna could perfectly distinguish his illusions from reality.
* * *
A significant amount of time had passed since the spar began.
In Johanna’s vision, dozens of Lokis were charging toward her—fakes created by his illusions. Anyone else would have hesitated, paralyzed by the sheer number of targets, but Johanna lunged forward without a second thought.
Fake.
Fake.
This one is real.
She ignored the phantoms and focused entirely on the true Loki.
Johanna knew the secret. Loki’s illusions weren't clones; they were products of his imagination. No matter how much he practiced, there were bound to be microscopic discrepancies from reality—the way light hit a sleeve or the sound of a footfall. An ordinary person would have to stare intently for several minutes to notice. Distinguishing them in the heat of battle was supposed to be impossible.
But Johanna could see through them with a single glance.
‘I have the upper hand with the sword,’ she noted.
The problem, however, was Loki’s magic tools. His peculiar footwork was visible, so she could manage it, but the tools popping out of his Pocket Dimension were a headache. To make matters worse, he rarely used the same tool twice, constantly cycling through new and bizarre inventions.
‘It doesn’t matter. I just have to cut them all.’
As Loki swung his sword again, a sudden question escaped his lips. “Senior, you’re having fun right now, aren't you?”
“................”
Even while speaking, Loki pulled out a bomb and threw it. Realizing she shouldn't cut an explosive, Johanna tilted her blade and batted the bomb away like a baseball.
K-boom!
The explosion created a thick screen of smoke. Loki and Johanna backed away from each other, watching through the haze.
Johanna pondered his question.
She liked swords. She liked the act of swinging them. The sensation of clashing blades with a worthy opponent was the only thing that made her feel alive.
However, there weren't many people who could withstand her. If she went all out during the Academy’s regular sparring sessions, her opponents would be broken in a single strike. But Johanna had been taught that sparring was a conversation—a matching of rhythms—not a slaughter. Thus, she never gave her all.
Until now. She had been enjoying this match so much she hadn't realized she hadn't said a word since they started.
“And you’re also feeling a bit unsatisfied, right?” Loki added.
His words hit the mark. She was unsatisfied. It wasn't because Loki was weak; she was giving her all in her current state.
But only in this state.
‘How does Loki know everything without me saying a word?’
“No one knows what you're thinking if you don’t speak.”
That was the phrase Johanna had heard most often in her life. Why? Why do I have to speak for people to know? You don't believe what I say anyway.
Perhaps that was why she had been drawn to Loki from the start. He expressed himself truthfully with his entire being. That he liked her. That he cherished her.
No more words were needed.
Loki and Johanna lowered their wooden swords at the same time.
Loki pulled his specialized sword-stick from his Pocket Dimension, and Johanna drew the genuine blade at her waist. They leveled their real weapons at each other.
“Senior, don’t cry if you lose to me, okay?” Loki teased.
“You can cry,” Johanna replied softly. “I’ll comfort you.”