8. Bianca del Castana - 10
8. Bianca del Castana - 10
The woman called Bianca del Castana knew Kain von Estel's full combat history in detail. She knew precisely what martial techniques he employed, exactly how strong he was — she knew it all, thoroughly. How could she not? During the days of the Expedition, when Kain was being taught Flowing Star by the Imperial Princess, Bianca had assisted with that training in more ways than one.
Flowing Star. The ultimate counter-technique: centered on the user, it controls every flow within a fixed radius regardless of type, amplifies those flows, and returns the force to the opponent intact.
To put it another way, it was akin to an invincible shield. An attack, no matter how powerful, ordinarily needed to make contact with the body to take effect. But Flowing Star severed the flow of the attack before it reached the user, nullifying it entirely.
Of course, it had limits. Controlling the flow of an attack that possessed overwhelming power, or one whose area of effect was absurdly vast, placed enormous strain on the user. Had that not been made clear moments ago? Even after sacrificing one arm, Kain had managed nothing more than altering a part of the trajectory of Bianca's White Flame's Lament — he certainly had not returned it to her.
Yet despite those limits, in Bianca's eyes, Flowing Star was undoubtedly a miraculous technique that did not fall short even when compared to magic. To control all energy within a fixed area according to the caster's will — that was a feat current magical scholarship could not reproduce, and the fact that it was achieved through swordsmanship, which was in essence merely an extension of human movement, only made it more formidable.
But at the same time, that was all it was. She acknowledged Flowing Star as an exceptional sword technique, but in the end, it was still only a sword technique, and its essence was nothing more than a counter.
A counter was a technique that presupposed an opponent's preemptive strike and returned that force to them intact. In other words, it was a sword technique whose primary purpose was to fell an opponent, yet possessed the contradictory flaw of being unable to launch an active offensive against that opponent.
And most critically, Flowing Star was no more than a sword technique. No matter what tricks he attempted, only the reach of his blade fell within his attack range. The situation would differ somewhat for a Master who had awakened Aura, but Kain had not awakened Aura.
Which meant the countermeasure against him was truly simple. Maintain a set distance and commit only to ranged attacks. An exceedingly simple and textbook solution, but when a mage fought against a swordsman, no method could be more effective.
Fweee—
Without an activation word, without even an incantation, a torrential volley of rays of light burst from Bianca's fingers. She had prioritized quantity over destructive power, reducing their lethality against a human to the bare minimum, yet they still carried enough force to casually pulverize a normal boulder. Their number: a full eleven.
"Kh!"
Clang—!
Some he deflected by swinging his sword, some he met with his trembling left hand to alter their trajectory, some he dodged through fluid movement. Kain tried desperately to close the distance with Bianca.
But in the end, it was all meaningless.
Boom!
The moment Bianca raised her foot and stamped the earth, a violent shockwave exploded outward from her, and the ground around her was utterly pulverized. As the very foundation tilted, Kain's movement was unavoidably checked.
Fweeeeee—!
Seizing the instant Kain's movement stopped, a flash of light on a scale incomparable to before blazed toward him!
Kwaaaaaa—!
A deafening roar erupted, and a canyon carved itself into the earth where they stood — the scar left by the flash of light Bianca had launched as it cleaved through the ground.
But Bianca, who had fired the spell, did not so much as blink. Neither did Aria, who was obediently spectating their duel under Kain's strict instruction. No, Bianca instead wore a bitter smile and spoke in a low voice toward the scene of destruction where the dust was still rising.
"I know you're not dead, so how about you stop playing dead?"
"...You saw through it?"
When the reply came back — a reply that, depending on how you heard it, was almost insufferably casual — Bianca finally let out a scoff.
"Who did you think wouldn't notice the trajectory warping at the last second? And besides, flash-type magic is the easiest kind of energy for Flowing Star to control. Who do you think helped you train in the first place?"
"...Ah. I seem to have forgotten something rather important."
As the dust settled, Kain came into Bianca's view, outwardly unscathed. But his nonchalant attitude aside, his actual condition was far from favorable.
Just now, the flash of light she had fired had been so powerful that he had managed only to nudge its trajectory at the very last moment. The force had been so immense that even that imperfect flow control had made him lose his grip on his sword. From his right palm, blood was leaking from the shock.
"Kain, it's useless. Stop this. If you thought I — someone who knows your entire arsenal — would allow you to get close even a little, you're gravely mistaken. For you, there isn't a single chance of victory."
"...Well, you never know until the very end, do you?"
With those words, Kain picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground. No matter how you looked at him, Kain showed absolutely no intention of surrendering.
'...The situation's turning fairly difficult.'
Outwardly, he was forcing an air of ease, but inside, Kain was nothing but impatient. If things continued this way, his odds of victory were slim. He did have a few hidden cards, which was why he had stepped forward with such bluster. But he had to get close to her at least if he wanted to play any of them.
As Kain adjusted his stance, looking for an opening against Bianca, she studied him and posed a question.
She had meant not to ask until the very end. She had resolved never to ask this question during a fight, but the pride of a woman had surged up inside her, and she could not endure it without asking.
"...Kain. I'll ask you one last time. What in the world is your reason for protecting that woman to such lengths? Do you truly think she's worth protecting — worth fighting me like this?"
Unknowingly radiating a sharp killing intent, Bianca's face as she directed the question at Kain was the face of a woman looking at a man.
"...It isn't as if I'm fighting because I want to. But if I don't do even this, you intend to see it through to the end with Aria, don't you, Bianca?"
At Kain's answer, Bianca felt heat surge to her head even more fiercely. Was that supposed to count as an answer?
"Do you know something? Your answer sounds logical on the surface, but in reality, it's nothing but a contradiction. The day you left House Castana, you told me this: you couldn't look only at me because of the people of your territory — people who looked only to you."
"....."
"Then what about her? Isn't that woman the very person who, in the distant future, will drive every last one of those territory people you are meant to rule to their deaths? And yet you defend her like that, while pushing me away — why? Answer me!"
At Bianca's words, Kain gave a bitter smile. She was right. His current actions were profoundly hypocritical. A contradictory mess. Small wonder he was receiving harsh words from Bianca.
But for him, too, it was unavoidable. If he had not stepped in, Aria would have died at Bianca's hand. He hated that. He hated Bianca killing Aria, and he hated Aria dying by anyone's hand. If he had stood by and watched it happen, he would have regretted it. He simply did not want to regret it.
And besides, he had already accepted Aria. She was indeed the future Winter Witch, but at present, she was also a maid of the Estel Duchy and a mage. That meant she, too, was one of the territory people he was responsible for protecting. So—
"I'm sorry, Bianca. It's just a mess, with no logic or anything. But I only wanted to stop you."
"...Kain, you..."
"And if she does become the Winter Witch, I'll take responsibility even if it costs me my life before then. I'll drive my sword into her heart myself. But."
He would never let that day be today, he declared, raising his sword toward Bianca once more.
Watching Kain, Bianca slowly closed her eyes. Truly, he was a brazen man, stubborn beyond belief both then and now. And utterly infuriating. Even so, to stand there and so casually declare that he was prioritizing another woman in front of her!
"Fine. If that's how it is, then I, too, will start getting serious from now on."
If that was how you wanted it, then here and now, I will put my feelings above my love.
In an instant, a suffocating Magic Power began to leak from Bianca. Faced with that overwhelming magical pressure, Kain swallowed hard without realizing it. The real fight was only beginning.
"Land of White Night."
When Bianca lightly pressed her foot against the ground, the earth for hundreds of meters in every direction transformed into an ice sheet in the blink of an eye. With friction reduced to near nothing, Kain momentarily lost his balance and staggered.
"Thorns of Severe Cold."
Kwagwagwang—!
Spikes of ice erupted high from all sides. Kain's surroundings were instantly thick with a forest of ice. Each individual ice spike boasted sharpness enough to pierce through a human torso with ease. With this, she could pin down his movements and prevent him from rampaging freely!
"...Huh?"
Her prediction was off. Kain was sprinting across the frictionless ice sheet as naturally as if he were on flat ground. He was correcting his entire body's balance using Flowing Star.
He cleaved through the ice spikes blocking his path with his sword, leaped over them, and reached right before her eyes in mere moments. The fact that the ground was all ice may have actually accelerated his running speed.
"Hmph!"
Of course, Bianca had no intention of allowing that so easily. The bloodbath with Aria had consumed too much Magic Power, leaving her no leeway to deploy multilayered magical fields, but she didn't need anything of the sort.
"Winter's Crystal Wall."
Guwoong—
A massive semicircular ice wall, well over a meter thick, materialized between Kain and Bianca. Kain focused the flow of his entire body and swung his sword at the barrier, but its thickness was so great he couldn't destroy even half of it.
"It's pointless. You'd need Aura at the very least to break this wall, wouldn't you?"
So saying, Bianca snapped her fingers.
In that instant, the ice spikes around Kain underwent an abrupt phase transition, turning to vapor, and then—
Kwagwagwagwang—!
A colossal steam explosion erupted. With no warning whatsoever, Kain was swept up in the blast without so much as a scream.
Bianca was serious. And he wouldn't die, probably. As long as that woman — Ariel Tiere, the one she loathed the sight of — was present, most injuries could be healed.
"...I, too, am a woman who can deliver when it counts. Even if my opponent is you."
The steam slowly dissipated. The once-white haze gradually cleared. But then.
"....!"
He was gone. The figure of Kain, whom she had assumed would be sprawled on the ground, swept up in the explosion, was nowhere to be seen!
"Over here, Bianca."
From right beside her, a familiar voice reached her. At the sound, Bianca started as if her heart would leap from her chest. She had not lost track of his movements for even an instant — how?
It was, of course, an application of Flowing Star. By controlling the flow, he had refracted all light and sound heading toward him, temporarily erasing himself from the world.
Bianca's face flushed with bewilderment. To have allowed him to get this close without even perceiving it!
...But at the same time, this was as far as it went. Kain lacked the offensive means to pierce this thick ice wall. As long as she remained barricaded inside it, her victory was an unchangeable fact.
But it was at that moment. A blue energy began to rise from Kain's sword like a heat haze. The instant she saw that energy, Bianca unconsciously raised her voice.
"Aura?"
Wooung—
As Kain adjusted his grip on his sword, the blue energy, reminiscent of a clear sky, began to pulse. The force surged like a storm and then, according to Kain's will, coalesced into a single blade that seemed capable of cleaving all things, radiating a chilling pressure!
"Reverse Moon."
The instant Kain's lips moved, countless slash lines embroidered the empty air in their wake — slashes impossible to trace with the naked eye. A moment later, the thick ice wall that had guarded Bianca shattered into dozens of pieces and scattered.
Kugugung—
"...Kain, don't tell me, you..."
Without even paying mind to the disappearance of her last bastion, Bianca simply stared blankly at the blue energy flowing from Kain's sword. Kain merely shrugged and answered.
"You didn't think I stepped up to face you without any plan at all, did you?"