Chapter 559: Jealousy is My Power (59)
Chapter 559: Jealousy is My Power (59)
Dreams are distorted mirrors that reflect one's desires.
That was the claim of a certain scholar. According to his research, the human brain reveals glimpses of the suppressed unconscious while asleep. Furthermore, those images were said to be deeply connected to the desires slumbering in one's depths.
In recent times, it was a theory facing numerous counterarguments. However, the interpretation had spread so widely across various fields that it still wielded considerable influence.
Even I, a mere student of the Swordsmanship Department, had heard of such things.
Yet, one question remained.
Why was I suddenly recalling an obscure theory?
The reason was simple.
The sight I encountered within the dream was far too unexpected.
She was a girl of small stature with delicate features, her blue eyes set against porcelain skin making her strikingly beautiful. To top it off, she wore the large, pointed hat that was practically her trademark.
No matter how I looked at it, it was the Senior Elsie I knew.
Except for one thing.
"What are you staring at with your eyes bugged out like that? I asked who you are... Huh?! Do you think the words of Elsie Lainella are a joke?"
It was her way of speaking.
I blankly tapped my ear at the rough tone I hadn't heard in a long time. At first, I wondered if it was the 'Senior Elsie' from the future, but the future Elsie tended to use more refined language.
Such raw, unpolished speech was the exclusive domain of one person.
The Elsie from before she knew me.
Could it be that the true nature of the desire even I was unaware of was this?
Perhaps I actually preferred the foul-mouthed Senior Elsie.
Even as I fell into confusion, Senior Elsie growled and slowly pushed herself up. With a crackling sound, fragments of lightning were coalescing in her hand.
Even her short fuse was a perfect match.
"Hey, still not answering? It seems you don't know who you're dealing with, but my nickname is 'Lainella's Fighting Dog'—!"
"Why are you crying here?"
It was a question I finally couldn't hold back.
Since it was a dream anyway, nothing I did would cause real harm. So, I decided to dig for as much information as possible before waking up.
Why was a crying Senior Elsie appearing in my dream?
It was a truly bothersome mystery.
It was Elsie who became flustered by my attitude instead.
"...What?"
"I asked why you're crying all by yourself. You wouldn't be shedding tears for no reason, would you?"
I took a step forward.
As I closed the distance, Senior Elsie flinched and scrambled backward.
"W-what do you care... and why are you coming closer?! Haven't you heard my name?!"
"I've heard it plenty of times. Anyway, I asked why you were crying."
Senior Elsie began to shrink back further under my assertive stance.
She had acted like a prickly cat at first, but now she was hesitating and averting her gaze like a timid lapdog. It was just as the distance between us had almost vanished.
Finally, the girl's face flushed red, and she let out a sharp shriek.
"W-what does it matter to you!"
"How could it not matter? I am..."
Your fiancé.
Those words rose to the tip of my tongue, but on second thought, there was one fatal flaw in that explanation.
The fact that this Elsie didn't know I existed at all.
If I suddenly claimed to be her fiancé, I'd be lucky to be treated as anything other than a lunatic. Besides, hadn't Senior Elsie been notorious for rejecting every man who confessed to her?
She might misunderstand and blast me with lightning.
Not that I intended to let her, but I had no desire to pick a fight on purpose either.
After agonizing for a moment, I decided to resort to my final measure.
Shink.
I pulled out my hand axe.
The girl's retinas blankly reflected the eerie sharpness of the blade. I cleared my throat with a dry cough and slightly averted my eyes.
"...Is there a need for a reason? I said I'm curious."
Elsie's reaction was dramatic.
"This guy is a total psycho!"
She jumped in place as she shouted, and I put on a dejected expression as if I were slightly hurt.
Of course, Elsie didn't seem to care whether I was hurt or not.
As I took another step forward, her face turned pale in an instant.
"Hic! W-why me of all people... D-don't come any closer... I mean, please don't!"
"If you just answer, I'll let you go quietly. Probably."
Perhaps it would have been better not to add that last part.
Elsie's legs gave out, and she fell onto her backside. The sight of her trying to scramble away from me while dragging her bottom brought back nostalgic memories.
I felt like something like this had happened before.
My pace faltered for a moment as I reminisced. When I tapped the back of the axe against my palm, the girl grew even more terrified, curling into a ball and trembling.
It was then that a tearful mumble reached my ears.
"Ugh, hic... why, why does it have to be me...?"
I was about to take another step.
But I froze and looked down, startled by the familiar question. The words coming from the sobbing girl's mouth were a question I had heard far too many times.
Why me?
"I-I'm nothing... I just wanted to act a little tough! Anyone would want that... hic, but why did Uncle... why did I... why only to me... hic, sniff..."
As she curled up even tighter, something fell from her bosom.
A jet-black rod.
The heirloom slipped out with a mournful clatter, looking terribly lonely.
I parted my lips a few times to speak but ultimately chose silence.
Because the girl was still crying.
"I-I'm scared... I'm scared of the expectations, I'm scared of disappointing them... I'm, I'm not actually that amazing..."
I felt like I finally understood.
Every human had a weak side within them. It was only natural for a being made of flesh and blood. However, martial artists who reached a certain level were different.
They were human, yet not human.
It was a trial one had to overcome to become a being called a superhuman.
To conquer oneself.
This girl was likely the fragile side of 'Senior Elsie.'
The timid little girl she couldn't bring herself to discard, hidden deep within her heart.
I suddenly recalled the testimony of the Elsie who came from the future.
That she wanted to return the body, but she couldn't.
The reason for that was right before my eyes.
As I let out a low sigh, the girl's trembling voice continued.
"I-it doesn't have to be me... How can I beat that monster... Please? Just let me go now... Someone stronger and more suitable than me...!"
"Senior Elsie."
I spoke as I knelt down.
Then, as if by magic, Elsie's trembling subsided. Her blue eyes, brimming with tears, turned blankly toward me.
I deliberately lowered my posture to meet her gaze head-on. Then, I asked a heavy question.
"Senior Elsie... do you know why everyone in the world picks on you?"
At the sudden question, the girl's pupils shook aimlessly.
But after a moment's hesitation.
Elsie asked me with a faint glimmer of hope.
"...W-why?"
I accepted that tearful gaze and wore a faint, bitter smile.
And I answered.
"Because you're weak."
Drip.
The girl's breathing stopped. As the only sound in the area vanished, a suffocating silence followed.
Her dazed blue eyes were still fixed on me.
A look that said she didn't understand.
So, I emphasized it once more on purpose.
"Because you're weak and an easy target."
Soon, Elsie's blue eyes filled to the brim with tears.
A strike that crushes mountains.
True to its fearsome name, the aftermath of the Mountain-Crushing Strike was not limited to the target it hit. The earth, torn apart by the shockwave, traced a long trajectory.
The Sword Duke had been blown far away.
She had taken a punch of that magnitude in mid-air. Naturally, it was only normal for her to tumble across the ground and be buried in the distance.
However, the man's expression remained grim.
On the contrary, a faint tension even lingered on his face as he pulled back his fist. The man's golden pupils turned toward his clenched hand.
His overheated muscles were evaporating sweat, sending up a faint mist of steam. However, that wasn't where the man was looking.
A laceration on his wrist.
Looking at the wound from which blood was dripping, the man silently shifted his gaze forward.
Yes, he knew.
That it couldn't possibly end with just this.
The continent's greatest swordsman satisfied that expectation without fail.
It was only an instant.
That was all the time it took for a cut to appear, bisecting his field of vision.
Trees, rocks, and even the terrain itself were useless before that linear trajectory. It looked as if a child had scribbled over a landscape painting with a pen.
Step, step.
From far away, along with the sound of footsteps, a languid voice drifted out.
"...1,404 times."
It started then.
The forest began to collapse to both sides.
It was a bizarre sight. The entire landscape was sliced clean and fell away at an angle.
Like a crowd welcoming an Emperor, the forest split open with a thunderous roar. The sight almost looked like a curtain call announcing a new act on a stage.
And from the gap where the dust rose thick, a pair of blue will-o'-the-wisps suddenly flickered.
It was the girl.
Those eyes, glowing even in the darkness, revealed her excitement. Though she feigned composure, she couldn't hide her breath, which had grown hot with exhilaration.
A few drops of blood were splattered on the girl's cheek.
It certainly wasn't her own.
Smearing the blood on her cheek with her thumb, the monster grinned.
"I cut you that many times, yet I only touched you once... The name of the Sword Duke is put to shame."
With that, the girl licked the blood off her thumb.
It was then that the silent man finally spoke.
"...How did you survive?"
"I cut space at the last moment. To put distance between us... But your fist came flying through, tearing even the rift in space. Honestly, that man is quite obsessed with his punching..."
Then what about you?
What about the way you unleashed over a thousand strikes in a fraction of a second, and still had the strength left to tear space at the end?
The man suppressed these questions.
There wasn't much time left. So, he decided to ask only the most necessary question.
"Must we continue?"
"What a silly thing to ask... Did you think you could get me this fired up and then run away alone? I'm disappointed... nameless Master."
The girl was even humming a tune, a rare sign of her good mood.
The atmosphere suggested she had no intention of letting him go.
Knowing this full well, the man ultimately had to deliver a warning mixed with a sigh.
"......From now on, it won't end with just the two of us."
"But how can I hold back? Hmm? I'm just too curious. I want to know what kind of madman created a monster that inherits the secret techniques of two Masters."
With that, the Sword Duke slowly began to adjust her stance.
Clear intent to fight.
As if he knew it would come to this, the man gripped his sword handle with a grim expression.
While moving his other hand toward the hand axe at his waist.
Then, silence.
It was the final peace before the typhoon. A clash between two Masters would not end as a mere duel between individuals.
It would be accompanied by an aftermath capable of redrawing maps.
This was what the man meant when he said it wouldn't end with 'just the two of us.'
There was no need for a battle of wills.
All that remained was a single exchange to claim victory.
Soon, mana surged like a wildfire.
It was as if dry straw had been set ablaze. In an instant, the aura that seized the area began to shake the world at will. Even as the gale blew and the earth trembled, the faces of the two swordsmen remained serene.
And just as strength was about to enter the hands of the two combatants.
Step.
The sound of a footstep pierced through the silence. It was only natural for two startled gazes to turn toward the source.
There stood a woman with a dazed expression.
"What... the..."
She squeezed out a hollow, questioning sound.
Upon seeing this, a look of dismay appeared on the faces of the two men for the first time.
It was the reappearance of the 'Great Witch.'