The Grand Duchess's Challenge
Tiss, now only two are left. It's almost over, isn't it?
And the most important opponent is still one left.
Are you talking about Luke Shire?
No, I didn't even consider that guy.
In the place where Rin disappeared, a blue-haired girl wearing a sword at her waist appeared.
The only one in the Hero Class that Tiss is properly paying attention to right now is this girl who just appeared.
She is the heroine who decorates the homepage of the game 'Project Zion', and Eileen, the Grand Duchess who was always my main character when playing this game.
After falling into this world, we met for the first time in this place, perhaps because there was no connection.
Tiss, what... are you carrying a lot of dangerous things? What is that ominous cloak?
It's the treasure of the Hero Party that Sia received, the same as my Holy Sword. It's the one the Grand Duke, Eileen's father, left for his daughter.
The only Treasure Selection participant in the Hero Class was Eileen, as expected.
Even though the North Grand Duke is famous in the community as a doting father, he seems to have entrusted the treasure repository with the intention of giving it to his daughter.
She had gathered every dedicated item: the Winter Sky Cloak, the Frost Queen's Bracelet, and the Superheated Necklace.
It looked like she had prepared the highest-grade artifact that could only be drawn in true mode, as if she had fully intended to kill me.
She had been favored both externally and internally in the game.
Even Prim didn't receive favoritism to that degree.
Just like the Jin Clan sword that Jin Seoyul received, Eileen's katana beside her was a treasure on the same level as the one the Grand Duke used, similar to a yari.
Why did they allow me to receive even a Replica Holy Sword through the proper procedure, while on the other side they let her walk around loaded with all these treasures for the duel?
Is it because Baba Yaga allowed unlimited artifacts in the duel because of this girl?
Well, maybe it was a double benefit? Perhaps she drew the scene of properly defeating a child of a former Hero Party member wearing full gear.
Even without Cheon Geomhwa, if she defeats this armored Eileen, there won't be any aftertalk afterward.
“Finally, we meet. I am Eileen. You said your name is Tiss, right? Despite your cute appearance, you are quite strong.”
“I know. The daughter of the North Grand Duke, a member of the Hero Party. Grand Duchess Eileen, correct?”
“It is an honor to be recognized by you.”
Eileen maintained her expressionless face that suited the nickname 'Ice Princess', but upon closer look, her face was slightly flushed.
If my memory serves me right, she is the type that is usually cold to match the 'battle maniac' concept, but burns hot during combat.
The Grand Duchess Eileen immediately placed her hand on the sword the moment she saw me.
“If you know I'm strong, shouldn't you just surrender? It's almost time for lunch.”
“I'm sorry, but I have no intention of surrendering before clashing swords. I especially have no intention of missing this opportunity to clash with the new Hero with full power.”
Swish.
Despite Tiss's piercing gaze, Eileen maintained an unperturbed expression.
Ah, this is really annoying.
Even if Eileen's body is fine after returning to reality after being destroyed in the subspace, the Essence and energy I consumed won't recover.
If I force it, I'll only get hungrier and more exhausted.
“One more, please.”
“No choice. Then, let's end it quickly.”
Eileen slowly placed her hand on the scabbard.
Clang.
Her hair color changed to match the sword's dark blue-black glow.
“You didn't participate because of pride in not recognizing me as a Hero, right? Or were you participating because you wanted to test who the strongest is, like Daniel?”
“It's similar reason.”
“Can you tell me?”
“It's not difficult to say, but how about you tell me if you win?”
The conversation ended there.
As Eileen grabbed the yari's handle and swung it, blue flames and sharp sword qi flew toward me at the same time as burning the surroundings.
It was at the level of a fast ball or slightly faster.
Tiss, that flame coming from the yari... I don't think we can block it.
Got it.
If it touches the ice flames spewing from Eileen's yari, it will cause burns and frostbite at the same time.
Approaching even close would damage from the ice flames, so it was safer to handle from a distance.
After widening the distance, she raised both hands.
Super Ultra Rainbow Space Thunder God Des Beam again!
Cling! Cling!
Eileen swung the yari as is and cleanly bisected the ichor bullets in half.
Hey... Super whatever Des Beam isn't working. It's a... garbage technique. Emergency patch is urgently needed.
We should add magic stones later and make it triple acceleration.
That... seems like a good idea.
Just like the sign characters of the Hero Class, even as a freshman, she was quite strong.
Like Daniel, it seemed difficult to bring down Eileen with a fast ball level of harassment.
Then, what should I do? It looks like I won't be able to win easily.
Um... no choice. I think I need to use power up to the level I faced Violet.
Got it...! Aim for elimination within 5 minutes, plan B, go!
Air filled her lungs.
Goooo.
By sucking in the surrounding oxygen, the air began to tremble.
The inhaled oxygen spread throughout her body through the blood.
The blood that normally flowed was delivering dozens of times the normal oxygen to every corner of her body.
Second heart... activating.
Thud-thud!
The second heart that had been stopped began to beat again.
Her brain synthesized various chemicals including adrenaline and spread them throughout her body via blood.
Last time, she had deliberately deactivated all physical abilities to adapt to the mimicry ability, but this time it was different.
The Hoyeonjigi mindset, which had perfectly adapted to the mimicry, made her fight with an always calm mindset in an efficient way.
Having gone through all sorts of situations and grown, the vessel she had now possessed even the ichor of the shapeless form to replace external transformation.
Even under the same conditions as before, the output was incomparable.
Let's go.
Go!
Creak.
By putting strength in her feet and lowering her stance, the floor of the arena screamed.
And she charged forward as is.
Kakakakak!
The yari and ichor blade clashed head-on.
Flowers and embers scattered in all directions.
As if surprised at how fast it was, a flash of surprise passed through Eileen's cold eyes.
“Kueet...!”
Definitely close-range finish. If necessary, prepare to cast limited evolution excluding external transformation with a 10-second limit.
Received.
It couldn't be dragged out long.
Eileen was a natural genius.
If she gave an opening, she would quickly learn Tiss's tactics and respond somehow.
She charged with momentum and pressed forward without stopping.
While using the ichor not as external transformation but as a maximum shield to block the ice flames, she kept digging forward, forward.
“I knew you were aiming for my back, but you came head-on.”
“This is the Silent Killing Method.”
“I didn't know that!”
Kakakakak!
The Silent Killing Method of White Ghost was quite different from the media assassination where she sneaks up on high-ups in the dark, erases presence, and slips away silently.
Of course, it was a superb technique to use in that way, but the main stage where White Ghost fought was battlefields against monsters like Abaddon.
More often than not, she had to pick out especially dangerous enemies in the midst of a brawl and quickly deal with them while fighting alongside the Hero.
In other words, the Silent Killing Method itself was closer to the act of cutting off the enemy's neck head-on based on superhuman combat ability rather than assassination.
Clang.
The moment Eileen sheathed her yari, the alarm of life that she had felt when facing Cheon Geomhwa rang.
She's strong for a freshman. Is it because she's related to the Hero Party like Tiss?
She probably learned from the Grand Duke, so it's not wrong. In my opinion, the most important thing is that movement.
She drew the yari from the scabbard and swung it. After swinging once, she always sheathed it back in the scabbard.
Even in the dozens of exchanges with me, Eileen never stopped maintaining that action.
Is there meaning in doing that action of sheathing the sword in the scabbard?
Self-restriction. It seems like an action following Self-Gears.
Eh? The Gears used when making a contract? Then, what's the benefit?
Shan, the ability is influenced by the person's mindset and thoughts more than expected.
Depending on how skillfully and proficiently one imagines and handles the emerged image, even a normal ability can become a magic blade or a powerful ability can become a useless junk.
By forcing oneself to take a specific action or imposing restrictions on oneself to make the imagined image more concrete and firm.
Through the restrictions one imposes, one obtains greater power.
That's Self-Gears.
“After swinging the sword once, I must definitely sheath it in the scabbard before the next attack.”
Eileen's Self-Gears from my memory.
By sheathing the swung yari back in the scabbard, she tightened her mind and drew it again.
Every time, not only the mindset but also the sharp mana wrapped around the sword was reset.
Normally, this is something learned by upper-class students of Academy 3rd year or above, but because her father is a former Hero Party member, her pre-learning ability is no joke.
Crack!
“...!”
After avoiding the descending yari, the ichor coated on her hand was swung once, firmly holding the blade without the Self-Gears buff.
Then,
Chwaaaak!
“...!!!”
“Now, you can't sheath it in the scabbard, can you?”
Tiss thrust her ichor into Eileen's scabbard.
If the power only increased at the moment of sheathing the yari in the scabbard and drawing it, it would have been to prevent her from returning to the scabbard at all.
Now, Eileen's swordsmanship could no longer land effective hits on Tiss.
So, now.
Clang...! Kyaang! Kwakwakwakak!
She pressed and pressed and pinned down as is.
Eileen, who could no longer sheath her sword in the scabbard, held the sword with both hands and barely endured Tiss's attacks.
“Kueet?!”
“How is it? Can you... exceed the limit?”
Shan, prepare.
Okay. 10-second limit release standby. Countdown 5, 4, 3...
She tried to send Eileen off comfortably who couldn't even properly speak.
Creep.
Eileen, who had braced herself, deliberately retreated greatly backward using Tiss's attack.
After that, she took a stance holding the sword with her right hand and grabbing the blade with her left hand.
With the extreme action of discarding the left hand and using the scabbard instead, Tiss smiled wickedly.
As expected, she's the sign heroine. It would have been nice if she had formed a connection with this girl instead of Siu, Sia, Irumina, or Prim.
That's that, and now it's time to end this duel.
10-second limit evolution casting preparation complete!
Activate!
With the sense of omnipotence felt from her whole body, she quickly turned and stabbed faster than Eileen could respond.
Swagak!
Eileen turned her body with only instinct after not seeing or feeling anything, and swung the left hand scraping the blade, causing the red-mixed blade to swing.
Clang.
Eileen retrieved her yari and sheathed it in the scabbard.
The ichor that had been blocking the scabbard had already disappeared.
“Not bad.”
“Was that... the real power of the Hero?”
“Something like that. Let's meet again at a good place later.”
Crack... cruch.
Countless white lines were drawn across Eileen's whole body.
When they crossed each other, the winner and loser had already been decided.
“Then, now I'll tell you why I participated.”
“It's not a great reason.”
Eileen forced a stiff smile as if hiding her embarrassment.
“If it's you, the daughter of the North Grand Duke, and you, the daughter of White Ghost... I judged that it might become a good relationship that helps each other.”
Eileen slightly blushed and swallowed the aftertalk.
She even knows how to make that expression.
She's an Eileen who needs friends, even if she acts cool.
Is that so?
She roughly understood what she wanted to say.
She wants to be friends with me?
“See you later.”
“Yes, I look forward to our next meeting... I guess.”
—Pak!
Following that line, Eileen's whole body shattered into pieces and turned into sand in an instant.
“Next.”
Now, only Luke Shire remained.
Instead of the sand-turned Eileen, Luke Shire appeared with a deathly pale face.
“Neck... neck...”
The guy muttering incomprehensible words in the air suddenly looked at Tiss and shouted with difficulty in a pained voice.
There was no hesitation.
Immediately concentrating all remaining energy in her legs, she leaped using the ichor and cut off Luke Shire's neck.
Thud.
When she picked up the head of Luke Shire that fell to the floor, it had a face full of regret and remorse.
What? Why is he apologizing right away? And why doesn't the game end even though I cut his neck?
Thud-thud.
Even after cutting the neck, the anxiety didn't disappear.
The alarm of life kept ringing.
“Hey, little Hero. I'm really sorry.”
T, Tiss...?
What's wrong?
G, suddenly no outside sounds are h, heard.
That can't be.
Even the sounds outside the subspace couldn't be heard by Shan?
For that to be possible, only an existence that can cause dimensional interference could do it.
In other words, as long as the Calamity-grade monster doesn't move, it's impossible.
“S, sorry. I'm sorry. I... because of that... pride... I made the worst judgment. That teacher... that teacher...”
“What are you talking about? Say it in an easy-to-understand way.”
“When I return to reality... my neck first... w, w, w, w... will...!”
Up.
After stopping Luke Shire's words, his eyes rolled back white.
The headless body of Luke Shire, whose neck had been cut, slowly stood up.
Flap!
From the cleanly cut surface, hundreds of suckers sprouted densely on a black sunflower.