A Rival Appears?!

The inspector's frigid face twisted with fury as he spoke.

"As a special favor, I shall only kill you halfway."

"Whoa. Aren't you just overflowing with mercy."

I gripped my sword in both hands and put on my scariest face. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The captain of the guard fidgeted, reaching a hand toward me in a panic.

"You don't have to do this for us! You'll get yourself hurt!"

"You all fought alongside me, didn't you?"

"Huh? Ah— yes."

"Then we're comrades. That's enough for me."

Back in Korea, "comrade" was nothing more than a hollow, bloodless title. But this place was different, wasn't it?

Aki shook her head, trying to talk me down.

"But this is our problem. If the sparks catch you too…"

I had something I wanted to say to people like this. I watched the inspector close in and let the words out.

"Today that inspector is going to throw his weight around on all of you. Tomorrow it might be his wife, or his kids, doing the exact same thing. Are you going to just take it then, too? Because I don't want to."

I stepped forward. I drew a deep breath and steeled myself for the fight.

That kind of power-tripping society? Korea was more than enough of that shit. "Don't you know who my father is? My mom's a lawyer, she's got a black card," and on and on!

Just thinking about it made my stomach turn. A society that looked the other way and called it "just how the world works" was every bit as fucked.

If only for the quest, I put extra steel into my glare and locked eyes with the inspector. A nasty little smile crept across his mouth.

"The law exists to be obeyed. To flout it so openly — and to shield the vermin who do — is to raise a hand against the law itself. And to raise a hand against the law is to raise a hand against the Emperor!"

"Racial discrimination and indiscriminate assault count as the law now? Give me a fucking break. This is exactly why you don't hand titles to half-assed pricks. They start thinking they're actually somebody."

Why the hell is the Emperor coming into this, you pointy-eared moron.

The inspector nodded at my retort. His blade gleamed with a cold light.

"You shall be executed on the spot."

A rush of air — then pounding footsteps!

He closed the gap in an instant. Faster than I'd expected. The light in his chest wasn't even blazing at full strength yet!

Alright. Time to get unorthodox.

I slid my sword back into its sheath and dipped my upper body, then drew in a single iaido-style cut.

A hiss of steel — a slash — a ringing clash!

But the blade bounced off something. The moment it touched him, it was thrown aside.

What the hell just deflected that? There's no mana signature at all.

A wet punch of impact!

A vicious, ice-cold pain tore through my chest. The inspector had driven his rapier straight in.

"Ghk…!"

"Is that all you've got, Hero?"

I twisted free, watching one corner of his mouth curl up. Any deeper and that thrust would've been a real problem. I went on the offensive immediately.

This scratch? Nothing!

I clenched my teeth and swung. He deflected it and closed the distance again, coming in with the raw, charging pressure of a wild boar.

Not falling for it this time.

I took a half-step back and put everything I had into a wide, heavy cut — enough force that he shouldn't have been able to just bounce it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away.

A whistle of air!

He ducked, took another step in, and drove the rapier forward at the speed of light. If I stayed on this line I was going to eat it again!

A solid, meaty thud!

…Yeah, no.

Him closing that extra step was exactly what I needed to plant a front kick in his gut. He staggered back from the hit, and I pressed in right behind it.

I was a heartbeat from driving the blade home when the inspector — who'd looked half-stunned a second ago — snapped right back. Instead he smashed down with Dawn Guardian and thrust his estoc in the same motion. An absurd exchange of offense and defense. I caught it on my shield and gave ground.

A cold smile touched his lips.

"Yes… that's more like it. A little resistance makes the killing so much sweeter. Pure evil!"

"You crazy bastard — and you're not?"

"My name is Kalsas Comstrider. Entertain me further, Hero."

He mocked me to the bitter end. I leveled my sword at him and mocked him right back.

"I've got a thing for women, so I'll just send you straight to hell. Your pointy-eared, iron-rice-bowl ass."

A rising hum!

His Force Heart began to blaze in earnest. He was going all out.

Here it comes. This time it's the real thing.

A rush of air, then a storm of footsteps!

I threw myself backward in a wide retreat. He was still faster. He appeared in front of me while I was still in the air, eyes wide with contempt.

"Is running all you know how to do? This is why humans are so primitive."

The estoc arrived first. I knocked it aside with my shield, but my arm went numb. Jesus, how hard was he hitting?

I wasn't just going to sit there and take it, though.

"How about this, then? You pointy-eared son of a bitch."

I ignited my aura. This was my first real gambit!

I kept my body as light as I could and slipped around to take his back.

A deep thrum — a ringing crash!

Kalsas didn't even turn around. He just laid his rapier back and caught the blow. Then he spun and fired a side kick. I took it on a cross-guard and slid back; he clicked his tongue.

"You humans really are primitive. Why temper the flesh into a weapon when you could simply use a tool?"

"You're the primitive one. Don't those ears get in the way? They smell or what?"

"You've got some nerve."

A rush of air — a scream of steel! Hiss, hiss!

Kalsas moved at a speed I couldn't even see. Honestly, I couldn't track him no matter how hard I tried. He was simply too fast. And this bastard wasn't even using mana while he fought. If he'd been dumping mana, at least there would've been a trail to follow.

Goddammit. I turned my aura on and I still can't keep up! This is even worse than the first time I fought Lumina.

Killing intent prickled from somewhere. I brought my sword up on reflex and the rapier came in and caught on the blade. Then the estoc darted in from the other side like a piranha and punched into my chest.

"Ghk!"

My stance broke. The rapier shivered, then split into what looked like a dozen blades and came at me in a frenzy.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

The rapier stabbed and tore through me without mercy. Chest, arms, thighs. It painted me red as it passed. I clenched my teeth and held on.

I've still got a second card to play!

I hung in there. Just as I'd expected, Kalsas poured on a wave assault. He showed himself head-on; I watched for a beat, and he slashed the estoc on a diagonal. I started to raise my shield — and somehow he already had my flank.

Too fast…!

The rapier slid into the opening. I tilted the sword I'd been holding upright in toward my body and spun it in a full circle, like a circus trick.

A ringing clash!

I barely stopped the rapier. But the estoc was already punching into my side. I drove a fist into Kalsas's chest and shoved off.

The crowd was starting to panic.

"Hero, are you alright? Please fall back — you're going to die!"

"Dammit, somebody stop this!"

"Don't! You'll just get pulled in!"

Worried voices rose from every direction. Kalsas smiled like he was savoring every one of them.

"Behold. Is a Hero not meant to give people hope? All you offer is dread and despair."

He kept running his mouth as casually as if we were having tea, and the rapier never slowed for a second. Still too fast to see. A whistle of air, a sharp crack! I could only feel it — or catch it on the shield — once it was already in my face. I slipped sideways and the rapier tracked me instantly. I smashed down with the shield as hard as I could. I felt it land clean. The parry took.

Now!

I knocked the rapier wide and started my own thrust — and Kalsas was smiling that arrogant smile. His stance hadn't broken at all. If anything, I could see the estoc already coming.

"This ends here."

The estoc drove straight for my throat. It was as if the density of space itself had changed — slow, certain, offering me death and nothing else. Too late to dodge. But I had something for that.

A rising whine, a crackle of light!

Wrapped in radiance, I dropped into the subspace. The world around me dissolved into a peaceful stretch of drifting clouds.

I let out a breath. Thank god I'd made it in time. I'd had the skill primed from the start, or this would've gone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very differently.

First, I gave Rin her orders.

"Rin. You go out first and draw his eyes. I'm counting on you!"

"Prrrrh."

Rin tossed her head with something like a haughty snort, then vanished in a flash of light. She was outside.

I followed her out immediately. The world snapped back to Weaverpool.

"Keeheeheeeeng!"

A crackle — then a burst of static!

"What is this monster?!"

Kalsas's eyes were locked on Rin, his brow furrowed hard.

"Rin."

A rolling boom — a blinding white crack!

I charged in as I gave the order. Watching that searing white bolt slam into Kalsas, I swallowed hard. Even taking a hit like that, he held. Smoke rose from him in black, shimmering wisps, and he still turned his head toward me.

"I will kill you, human…!"

He started to drive the estoc at me. But I had something for that, too, didn't I?

"Keeheeheeheeng!"

Pounding hooves, a crack of impact!

Rin slammed into him as she charged, and the estoc flew from his hand. In that opening I hurled my sword across the path he'd use to run and threw myself on top of him.

"Let's talk with our fists, you piece of shit!"

Everything on this one shot!

As an inspector, Kalsas's grappling was a flat zero. Most inspectors were like that. Put a sword in his hand, though, and he was a tree I couldn't climb — not as I was now. But if I could make him drop the weapon?

I hooked one of his legs and drove through, dumping him on his back. A clean single-leg takedown. He went down easy, just like I'd figured. I took top position in a single beat.

"Eat a few, why don't you?"

"You little—!"

A rush of air — thud! Crack! Thud-thud!

I rained down ground-and-pound like I was trying to put him through the dirt. Even taking the shots, Kalsas ground his teeth.

"A lowly human dares…!"

His grappling really was a complete zero. Having a high Force Heart didn't automatically make a swordsman any good in a clinch. Same way learning Muay Thai and wrestling in the real world didn't instantly turn you into a WFC fighter. It came down to whether you'd actually learned the techniques, and how sharp they were.

Kalsas had been coasting on his sword this whole time. I thought of the training my mother had put me through and dropped an elbow on him too. He twisted away, then braced through his hips and tried to buck me off.

"Shit!"

I was the smaller body, so I got thrown sideways. Kalsas started to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get up. I'd landed on my back; I spun a half-turn on the spot and locked down one of his legs with my arms and legs, then went straight for a lower-body joint lock. A fast imanari roll into a heel hook. I wrapped his ankle and wrenched it with everything I had.

A wet, grinding pop!

"Gyaaah!"

He crashed back down. I grabbed his other ankle and started to crank that one too.

A sickening crack!

A tearing pain ripped through my thigh. I looked back — he was driving an elbow into it. It hurt badly enough that blood welled up almost at once. Expert Mid was still Expert Mid, after all.

Clop. Clop.

Then I heard hoofbeats. Wait — Rin should've gone back to the subspace after colliding with Kalsas.

I gritted through the pain and turned my head.