Dark... No, Unicorn Knight (2)
Gareth's most closely guarded shame from others. The fact that he harbored vile desires born from an inferiority complex toward Leona, who was far stronger than him.
But he couldn't show it on the surface, so like a bratty little boy, he'd badmouthed her to his fellow knights, calling her unladylike.
'Pathetic bastard. What's so great about a non-virgin like Leona that you'd stoop to this shit? The woman he lusted after became my loyal hound ages ago.'
But there was no sharper blade to shatter Gareth's mentality than this.
I curled my lips into an arrogant smirk at Gareth, who was barely standing while clutching his severed arm.
"Gareth. Doesn't the swordsmanship of my hound who sliced off your arm—Silver's—look a bit familiar to you?"
He must've figured fighting me here, after all my prior bluffing, was a bad idea. Gareth, who had been eyeing a chance to flee before Silver returned, widened his eyes and glared at me.
As if recalling the scene from moments ago, despair—and even a ridiculous sense of betrayal—swelled in his momentarily clouded pupils.
"...W-what? No way, that silver-haired pervert bitch...!"
Even with his dulled mind from blood loss, Gareth finally pieced the puzzle together.
Silver hair. Overwhelming martial prowess. Muscular, lean build. Kraus practical swordsmanship. It was all evidence.
"N-no, that can't be... Vice-Captain Leona wouldn't do something perverted like... no, she wouldn't..."
Seeming to abandon any thought of escape, Gareth fully turned toward me, his eyes questioning—Is it true?
I answered with a sleazy grin and by tapping my fingers between my legs.
"Didn't her body reek of me? I fucked her plenty while waiting for you lot to show up."
"...What the hell are you talking about."
"What else? The stuff you've only jerked off to imagining with Leona. Pathetic, Gareth. She's been my woman for ages, yet you pledged loyalty to idiots like Eric and Kent while nursing that nonsense delusion."
"...She wouldn't. You worthless shit wouldn't know! Leona's so noble!"
Gareth's face drained of color worse than from his blood loss as he bellowed at me with bulging eyes.
To pulverize his already shattered mentality down to dust, I mercilessly shoved the most horrific, lewd truth into his ear.
"You know how that pussy you've fantasized about every night tastes?"
"Y-you demonic fuck... Shut up! Don't you dare defile the vice-captain with that filthy mouth...!"
"At first, she acted all high and mighty with me, but once she was under me, she clenched like a cheap slut. When I creampied her, she wagged her ass like a bitch in heat—total whore in heat. ...And that's the whore you've been in love with. Hell, that whore even cut off your arm."
"A-ah... Aaaaaah! I'll kill you right here!"
Not content with exposing his petty inferiority and filthy lusts, the woman he'd seen as an unattainable star had fallen to become the depraved plaything of the family reject he'd despised. That despairing truth—as a unicorn myself, I could empathize with the NTR agony—drove Gareth to lose all reason. Abandoning any chance to flee, he charged at me like a madman.
Shuuuk-!
Gareth's sword thrust ferociously at my nape. A knight's strike I wouldn't have even reacted to without the [Kraus Practical Swordsmanship] reward from conquering Leona.
But.
[Right nape—if I dodge, straight low slash!]
The trajectory of his swing flashed in my mind faster than he moved.
Hands behind my back, I casually leaned my upper body backward. The blade tip grazed past my nose by a hair. The follow-up low slash missed by a paper's width as I twisted my foot just so.
'Fuck, insane! I saw it coming and still... almost lost my head!'
Inside, I screamed while pouring out cold sweat, but on the outside, I feigned utter boredom, like I might yawn.
Pretending I was stronger, hiding my power, making him feel like Isabella lurked in the shadows somewhere—the only way I could win was to panic him.
Of course, if it got dire, I could bolt to Leona, but pure virgins waited behind me that I had to protect, and besides...
'How could I, as her master, do something so embarrassing in front of my hound?'
"Slow. Yawn-inducingly slow."
I said as I dodged his wild swings.
"Y-you bastard! Even in sparring! You were hiding your strength after all!"
'Nah, not at all.'
Seok! Shuuuk!
Gareth foamed at the mouth, swinging wildly. But this time, it wasn't the mad, reckless flurry from before.
His knightly instincts, briefly devoured by rage, revived upon realizing death loomed.
[Left shoulder!... No, fake-out! Real one's right flank!]
Gareth's blade feinted left, then snaked like a viper toward my right side.
The essence of Kraus practical swordsmanship in one strike.
But since I'd copied her skills as a reward for toppling Leona, pure swordplay favored me.
'Shit!'
The mind warning was quick, but my lazy reject body's sluggishness couldn't keep up.
I hastily drew my sword and deflected at an angle.
Kang—!
The clash of steel tore the darkness.
Gareth's tip grazed my side, shredding my leather vest longways. A stinging pain bloomed on my skin, blood seeping onto my clothes.
"All that bluffing and you're nothing! Aaaaa!"
Smelling blood, a flicker of confidence returned to his manic eyes alongside the madness. His sword grew sharper.
Seok! Shuuuk! Kang—!
All I could do was block Gareth's strikes.
"Ha, ha! That's right! In the end, you're just a worthless shit!"
"A trash who tried selling territory folk as slaves—you got any right saying that?"
Even as I desperately held on, my mouth never yielded.
"Sh-shut up!"
True to this era's knights and their chivalry bullshit, Gareth flushed red and swung again.
His sword assailed like a storm. Probably a skill, and even one-handed it was this fierce—if he'd had both, I'd have died in seconds without lasting exchanges. Still, I barely held. Though my body soaked in sweat, time was on my side.
Kagang! Kang!
Each clash jolted my wrists numb. His blows were heavy, shock rippling to my shoulders every block.
"Huuuugh, hahaaa! You're nothing, Werner!"
Pinning me defensively into a corner, Gareth roared.
But.
"Ha... ha... ha...!"
40 exchanges. 50.
As the bout dragged, Gareth began crumbling. Rushing in rage from the start was his mistake. Plus, terror of Isabella appearing anytime, shame of his ugliness exposed—mentally he was in tatters.
Me? Mind-reading meant zero wasted moves. Minimal dodges or blocks. Stamina gap was laughable.
[Why... why won't it land... Can't hit him properly once...]
"Getting boring. Got anything else?"
[Weird, this is weird... Feints, changes—all read a beat ahead... Like sparring the vice-captain...]
"Felt the swordsmanship gap already, right? Pull out something more interesting."
Suspicion reignited in Gareth's mind, soon turning to terror.
"Hraaaah!"
Gareth unleashed his last dregs in a finishing blow. But his breathing was wrecked, legs trembling.
[Split him in half with one stroke!]
Unbelievable power for one arm. But too straightforward, easy to evade.
I angled my sword to parry and flow, twisting my wrist.
My blade rode his and plunged inward.
"Gaaaaah!"
My sword sank into Gareth's chest.