Chapter 72: The First Letter (72)
Chapter 72: The First Letter (72)
“That martial art you used to take down Olmar—it’s the Holy Kingdom Secret Martial Art, isn't it?”
“Maybe.”
“And that strange trajectory the axe traced when you threw it at Aisia… were you by any chance tutored by the Sword Circle?”
“I wouldn't know.”
It might have sounded like a half-hearted brush-off, but I was telling the absolute truth.
I really didn't know. I had no idea why I knew these techniques; it was simply that my body had already accepted them as a natural part of my combat repertoire.
My jumbled memories showed no sign of untangling. A throbbing headache began to set in, causing my brow to furrow slightly.
Regardless of my discomfort, the suspicion in Senior Delphine’s eyes only deepened. She pressed me with a grave voice.
“I’m not joking, Hand Axe Young Master. Those techniques are forbidden from being leaked to outsiders. They require years of disciplined training… and yet you claim you don't know?”
Everything Senior Delphine said was logically sound. Not only the Holy Kingdom Secret Martial Art, but the gathering of swordsmen known as the ‘Sword Circle’ was famous for its reclusiveness. Living on Heavenly Sword Mountain, severed from all worldly ties, they did nothing but train with the sword until the day they died.
It was a place for swordsmen who had grown weary of the world for various reasons. It was said that all sorts of extraordinary skills were developed and passed down there, but they never taught their techniques to anyone who hadn't been initiated into the Circle.
Naturally, I had never even visited the place. If I had joined the Sword Circle, I would have already renounced the world and wouldn't be standing here now.
The more I thought about it, the more absurd her deduction seemed. I let out a short, dry laugh.
“Aren't you just mistaken, Senior Delphine?”
“……So you have no intention of talking. Fine.”
Delphine pointed the tip of her sword at me. An aura as brilliant as gold flared up, and the intense heat began to distort the surrounding scenery.
“In that case, I’ll just have to use more coercive means.”
This was the woman who had shattered Seria’s Golden Silk Sword in a single blow. Could I handle her?
It was impossible. At least, that’s what I would have said until recently. But right now, I was in a state where mana was overflowing strangely within me. And then there was that intuition—a gut feeling that was giving orders to my instincts of its own accord.
I steadied my breathing and stared quietly at Senior Delphine. She, too, remained motionless.
The crack in the stalemate happened simultaneously. Both Delphine and I kicked off the ground and lunged forward at the same time.
Thump! The sound of compressed air exploding rang out.
It was Senior Delphine. With terrifying acceleration gained just from the initial kick, she was in front of me before I even realized it.
Then came the collision. Sword met sword. Clang! My blade was knocked back as if it were bending. It was a monstrous shockwave.
Even with overflowing mana, I only had one arm to hold my sword. Because of that, the power of my strike was too weak. I gritted my teeth and hastily leaned my upper body back. A wave of searing heat grazed past me.
It felt as if molten iron were overflowing. Even though it was only for a split second, the heat was intense enough to cook my flesh. Only then did I realize.
She was an opponent I shouldn't be clashing blades with in the first place. At that level of heat, my sword would bend like taffy, and I’d have to brace myself for burns. She was a troublesome foe.
I snapped my upper body back up and thrust my recovered sword forward. Senior Delphine’s blade was already coming for me again. It was a sword path faithful to the blade's primary purpose.
A sharp trajectory designed to take a life.
No matter how much of a festival the Hunting Festival was, killing an opponent was unforgivable. However, inflicting injuries up to a treatable level was perfectly acceptable.
This was due to the temperament of the Conqueror Emperor Idalos, who had established the festival. The Hunting Festival was a celebration of hunting not just demonic beasts, but other students as well.
That was why Senior Delphine and I had both kept the possibility of an encounter in mind even before entering the forest. Clashes during the Hunting Festival were rare, but they had always happened.
It was just that the probability was low. Even with hundreds of participants, the forest was vast, and it was generally more advantageous to hunt demonic beasts than to risk attacking another student. The time burden was simply too great.
Unless, of course, one happened to find prey that guaranteed a victory, like right now.
Combat was prohibited near the forest entrance. I thought that if I stayed alert until I passed that zone, I could make it through undetected, but I had run straight into Senior Delphine.
And now, that monster of a senior was getting serious. It almost looked as if her goal was to kill me rather than subdue me. Of course, Delphine wouldn't actually do that.
She was simply overflowing with confidence. It was the arrogance of someone who didn't even consider the possibility of failure, believing she could stop her blade whenever she wished.
That was Delphine Yurdina. I, on the other hand, was the type to find a way to survive, even if it meant being a bit cowardly.
Clang! Delphine’s sword and mine collided again. However, this clash was slightly different. Unlike Delphine, who swung with the edge, I caught her blade with the flat of my sword.
Then, I pushed off to create distance. Realizing my intention, Delphine instead stepped forward, closing the gap.
Several exchanges followed. Each time, my sword was knocked away due to my lack of physical strength, and I was forced to retreat step by step. A mocking smile played on Delphine’s lips.
But I was merely holding my breath, watching her.
I felt it. A certain refraction—a vague sensation that was almost within reach but not quite.
My memories became a jumble. The threads of unfamiliar recollections began to unravel haphazardly.
Within a hazy landscape, a woman spoke in an emotionless voice.
“Stillness in Motion.”
“……What?”
A voice asked back, sounding incredulous. Even so, the woman showed no sign of boasting or mockery. She simply offered advice as if stating a plain truth.
“To put it simply, it is a state where being still and being in motion become one. It is the most core teaching of the Sword Circle.”
“How is something like that even possible?”
“Why would it be impossible? All movement begins from stillness.”
The woman had a melancholy look in her eyes. Her weary face was particularly pitiful. Silently, a man raised his sword.
“Observe your surroundings carefully. The things you thought were still, and the things you thought were moving.”
Following the man’s sword path, the scenery tore once again.
“Only when you can no longer distinguish between the two can you finally enter the first stage of ‘Stillness in Motion.’”
I snapped back to reality just as the lingering echo of that voice faded. Delphine’s onslaught was becoming increasingly fierce.
Clang! My sword was knocked away yet again. My arm muscles, pushed to their limit, throbbed with pain. I bit my lip and forced strength back into my arm.
As I was forced to retreat, Delphine’s sword pierced through the opening. She wore the smile of a predator facing its prey.
“I see you still have the leisure to daydream, Hand Axe Young Master?”
“In that case…” Delphine muttered as her body surged forward like a rising tide.
It was a sudden burst of speed. She had still been holding back. Her sword dropped to a low stance.
It was a familiar posture. A ready stance I had seen somewhere before.
Seria’s image flashed through my mind. It was the Yurdina Secret Sword Art that she had shown me twice today already.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, I threw my body backward. This wasn't the time to worry about pride. Proof that my judgment was correct appeared immediately.
Simultaneously, five golden lines were carved into the air.
It was as if a lion’s claws had raked through the space. For a moment, it felt as if the world itself were dripping golden blood from the wounds. It was impossible to distinguish between the True Strikes and the Feints.
I rolled across the ground, gasping for air.
It was the ‘Golden Silk Sword.’ For me, who was currently struggling to parry even a single one of Delphine’s strikes, there was no way to withstand that technique.
So, what should I do?
If I couldn't get close, I couldn't end this. If I kept being pushed back like this, I would eventually be finished off by Delphine as she looked for an opening to surge in. I was the one at a disadvantage in terms of stamina.
But if I blindly rushed in, I would be cut down by that terrifying swordsmanship. Five strikes where True and Feint were indistinguishable—the mere thought made my knees weak.
Is there no way to counter it? Even while panting, I desperately ransacked my memories.
Come to think of it, how did the demonic beast respond to Seria’s Golden Silk Sword?
Right, it avoided it.
Just as I had thrown myself back, no matter how mysterious the swordsmanship, it didn't matter as long as you weren't within its range. If I could dodge it by a hair’s breadth, a counterattack was possible.
But that technique involved five simultaneous strikes. A trajectory that was impossible to evade—that was the true terror of the Golden Silk Sword, the secret technique the Yurdina family, the Lords of the North, took such pride in.
Just as I was about to reach the weak conclusion that I should give up…
Like an intuition, certain memories flashed through my mind. Things Teahn had said, things Reto had said.
‘Space,’ ‘Refraction,’ and ‘Topology.’
All sorts of geometric shapes and coordinates floated in my head. Distorted, bent, and yet, if they were one…
There was no time for long deliberation. I gritted my teeth and rolled across the ground once more. Golden aura surged into the spot I had just occupied.
Sizzle! The sound of earth burning frantically reached my ears. I staggered to my feet.
“I’m disappointed, Hand Axe Young Master. Are you only planning to stall for time?”
With a smirk, Senior Delphine seemed to have completely regained her composure. In contrast, I was exhausted and unable to use one arm.
I had no choice but to gamble. Instead of answering, I threw the dagger I had tucked away.
It was the dagger Delphine had given me. She wasn't flustered by the sudden attack and swatted the dagger away. The dagger spun through the air.
I surged forward through that opening. Even though a gap appeared, Delphine’s overwhelming physical abilities forcibly closed it.
And then, as expected, she transitioned into the low sword stance.
The demonic beast had avoided this by contorting its body. But I was merely human. I didn't have the talent to bend my body like that.
So, there was only one answer.
I had to bend something else.
I recalled the story from the unfamiliar memory. The thing that is still, and the thing that is moving.
As I passed through successive stages of acceleration, time began to slow down. And just as Delphine’s sword was about to trace a golden point upward…
Time finally came to a halt. The sensation that had seemed so elusive finally manifested. Now I could see it.
My vision was diagramming the space. In that time that split moments into fragments.
The woman was right. The thing I thought was still was actually moving.
Space connected like lines. And those became points, and then nothingness again.
I pulled at those lines as if tearing them away. Like ripping up a complex coordinate diagram in a topology textbook.
It was a bizarre sensation. The five golden lines distorted and collapsed. I slipped through the gap.
The first thing I saw was Senior Delphine’s blood-red eyes, filled with shock. That was when I swung my sword.
But Delphine wasn't an easy opponent. In that brief moment, she reinforced her strength with an explosion of mana and pulled her sword back. Then, an upward slash.
With a thunderous boom, my sword flew into the air. My muscles, already exhausted to the limit, couldn't withstand such a sudden impact.
My posture broke, and just before the match was decided…
I called out the name of the comrade I had trusted until the very end, the one capable of returning to battle in a short time.
“Seria!”
Delphine’s eyes darted urgently behind her. There, Seria, who had been running toward me from the moment I distracted Delphine with the dagger, was already within arm's reach.
Three blue gashes were carved into the air.
Slowed time began to flow again. Crunch! With that sound, all of the sword paths Seria had traced were shattered once more. By a single horizontal slash.
Just like their previous exchange, Seria was sent flying with a scream.
But the difference this time was that Delphine had to pay a price as well.
My hand went to my waist. Just as I was about to draw my hand axe, my eyes met Delphine’s.
In that moment, I knew.
I’d be too late. Even though I had distracted her with the dagger, created an opening by refracting space, and had Seria target her from behind, I would be too slow if I tried to draw the axe now.
This was the skill of the person who held the top rank among the Academy’s seniors. It was a level worthy of the honorable title, no less skilled than a professor.
If I couldn't draw the axe, there was only one answer.
Use the weapon that was already out. The dagger that had been spinning through the air suddenly plummeted vertically.
Delphine, seemingly having forgotten the dagger’s existence amidst the successive ambushes, stepped back. I lunged forward by that same distance. My hand was already fumbling at my waist. There was only one way not to be late.
My mouth caught the falling dagger. Then, squeezing out my last bit of strength, I dove into Delphine’s embrace.
That was it.
The blade of the dagger was pressed against Delphine’s throat. A little more pressure, and it would pierce her flesh. We were at a distance where our breaths mingled and our scents filled each other's noses.
Delphine’s body froze. Her blood-red eyes stared blankly at the face of the panting man before her.
It was my victory. I was already too deep inside for Delphine to swing her sword. And if I just applied a little pressure with my jaw, her life would be over.
I asked.
“Ver'ict?”
Because my voice was muffled, it ended up being a comical sight. It couldn't be helped with a dagger in my mouth. Nevertheless, a faint smile played on my lips.
Drip. A bead of sweat that had been running down my forehead fell from the tip of my chin.
Delphine said nothing for a long time. Various emotions flickered through her eyes.
Disbelief, humiliation, anger, denial, and finally, after a long while, resignation.
A sweet sigh escaped her lips. Then, she spat out a single sentence.
“……It’s my defeat.”
With that, Delphine threw the sword she was holding to the ground. It was a sign of surrender. She let out a laugh, as if she found the situation absurd.
“To think my first defeat would be to a man whose name isn't even known… I can't believe it.”
She shook her head. As if saying that any more words would only make her look pathetic, she crossed her arms and spoke to me.
Her attitude was as haughty and confident as ever.
“I swear on the honor of the Yurdina family. I’ll leave quietly. Hmph, congratula—Aaaaah!”
But before she could finish her sentence, a silver flash pierced Delphine’s shoulder.
I had drawn my hand axe.
The sound of cartilage shattering echoed. The axe blade buried itself in Delphine’s shoulder.
Blood sprayed out. Delphine looked as if she truly couldn't have imagined this. A shrill scream escaped her.
From the sudden pain, Delphine clutched her shoulder and collapsed. She looked up at me with eyes filled with equal parts confusion and fear.
Ptui. Only then did I spit out the dagger. I spoke with an expressionless face.
“Why are you ending this on your own? We’re just getting started.”
Then, I decided to borrow Delphine’s favorite phrase just this once.
“What was that old saying… Survival of the Fittest, was it?”
In Delphine’s blood-red eyes, an emotion I had never seen there before began to well up.
Her pupils trembled; it was pure, unadulterated terror.