Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Swordsman? Or Knight? (4)
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"Fun, isn't it? I even offered to take you under my wing, and you turn me down, only to come back with a duel challenge."
Lucas said with a grin. His eyes were fiercely narrowed, but that ferocity didn't hide any displeasure. If anything, it was closer to amusement.
'What are you thinking, Ban?'
To be honest, he didn't know much about Ban. His memories of the village amounted to a scrawny kid always peeking into the training grounds.
What was this kid after from him?
Unfortunately, Ban had no intention of revealing his inner thoughts to Lucas. The boy who had gripped his shortsword and delved into the depths of the sword's world needed to keep his secret as long as possible.
But even as he thought that, Ban might have secretly hoped Lucas would see through him entirely.
"......Lucas. Doesn't this shortsword look familiar?"
"Shortsword?"
Lucas's eyes narrowed. A strange smile crept onto his lips a moment later.
"Where did you get your hands on that?"
"I picked it up from the guard unit. They said it was the sword used by the great Lucas...... I admired you."
He had no idea how Lucas would take those words. Maybe he'd think Ban admired him because he became a knight. But Ban's admiration stemmed from an entirely different reason.
[ You have grasped the shortsword of the 'Talent Overflowing Swordsman'. ]
[ Analysis of this sword is already complete. ]
It was a sword he'd swung endlessly. Even after fully understanding Lucas's shortsword, Ban couldn't easily let it go. It wasn't just because tracing the remnants of talent left on it brought happiness.
When he faintly glimpsed Lucas's world, feeling a young swordsman with little experience inching toward the sword's ultimate realm through sheer sensation alone—Ban felt both hope and envy.
He wanted to enter that world.
He wanted to possess that world.
He wanted to surpass that world.
Young fighting spirit surged from Ban's entire body. Lucas smiled. He didn't like Ban simply because they hailed from the same region. The moment Ban bared his claws before him—that instant sealed it. Lucas could never dislike him from then on.
"Just one thing, Ban. You pick such pretty words, but refuse to become one of mine—it's only making my regret grow."
"I figure your regret won't cost me anything."
Ban gripped the shortsword tightly. A blade forged from ordinary scrap iron. Compared to one made of steel, its durability would be lacking, but it didn't matter. Against the gap between him and Lucas, the difference a sword could make was negligible anyway.
The location was Citadel's open plaza. With the crowd gathered around, Ban and Lucas faced each other. Royal Knight Order members, academy students, and even ordinary citizens encircled the square, watching their standoff.
Just the reach of Ban's energy cracked and split the dirt ground. Onlookers clicked their tongues in awe, but Ban wasn't satisfied.
'I can't gauge him.'
Lucas didn't even place a hand on his shortsword. He wasn't emitting the kind of sharp menace that would slice flesh just by approaching, like Ban's. And yet—perhaps because of that—Ban couldn't calculate Lucas at all.
It felt like a single tree trunk standing there in human form. As if swinging at it would cleave through without resistance. The problem was, that was impossible. This was Lucas. The sword hero who rose to vice commander of the Royal Knight Order with nothing but innate talent, no family blessings.
He couldn't even measure the distance. Nothing was visible. So Ban gave up trying to see.
He hadn't thought he could win from the start.
In that case, he'd simply show it.
How far he'd chased after him.
He gripped his sword. The traces left on Lucas's shortsword could no longer help him. He'd grown far too much for that.
He condensed his qi. No need for brute, overwhelming force. He poured in the power—and faith—to precisely cut Lucas.
And then—he charged.
"......Hmm. Not bad, that kid."
"Worth the vice commander's interest."
"Infusing will into his sword already......"
As Ban swung his shortsword, the watching Royal Knight Order knights nodded. They'd wondered why Lucas bothered with this greenhorn, but now it made sense.
It was a fine slash. No excess motion, clear signs of long training. 'Sword that Cuts the Sky.' The will to slice through anything blocking the path—even those ignorant of swords felt a chilling dread from it.
And that slash was blocked by Lucas's sword.
"........!"
"That's it?"
Lucas didn't swing his shortsword. He didn't deflect Ban's slash. He simply raised his blade and blocked it. As if catching a ball tossed by a child.
Ban hastily retreated, cold sweat dripping. He couldn't comprehend it. It was a slash that could cleave through a lump of metal. Yet it wasn't deflected or parried—just blocked?
[ You are clashing swords with an opponent of higher level than yourself. ]
[ Sword Path analysis speed is adjusted to the minimum level. ]
Lucas's 'defense' slowly seeped into Ban's mind. But that information only confused him more. The block just now wasn't some special technique. It was truly, purely a defense—a 'block.'
"More overwhelming than I thought......................Lucas."
"So, want to call it quits now?"
"No way."
Ban bared his teeth in a grin. His eyes tore fiercely, but they never left Lucas's hand. Lucas didn't smile. He regarded Ban with calm eyes.
"Cut properly. Before I get disappointed."
"......Got it."
Ban poured strength into his sword again. He gathered his focus. He infused this single slash with a lifetime of slash memories, stolen experiences, and the will to contain them all.
Qi erupted with enough ferocity to melt the blade. Centered on the shortsword in Ban's grip, the air currents twisted and coiled, making it look less like a sword and more like a tiny whirlwind.
'Impressive.'
Watching Ban, Lucas sincerely admired him. How many swordsmen had that level of skill at his age? Whatever the number, they all became famous enough for the world to know.
But even so, Lucas remained unperturbed. He was a bit too strong to tense up.
"Hup!"
Ban's slash came. A storm of qi wrapped around his blade, fierce enough to shred the opponent along with their sword on contact—but Lucas simply raised his sword.
Their levels were different. That was the thought of everyone watching the duel. Ban's sword, carrying a small disaster, lost power each time it met Lucas's indifferently extended blade.
Ban knew it too. So far away. Much farther than he'd imagined. But that wasn't a problem. His ability lay in closing that vast distance.
[ Analyzing the Sword Path of the 'Swordsman Blessed by the Gods'. ]
[ The opponent persists only in 'blocking'. ]
[ Understanding of 'blocking' increases. ]
Little by little, Ban began to understand Lucas. What attacks he'd blocked until now, how much pain and sacrifice came with each one. Slowly, but relentlessly.
Lucas kept insisting on blocks alone. He didn't attack even once. Like Ban deflecting Anya's strikes. As if demanding he show something real.
That must have been why he could find an opening.
Lucas had no gaps. Creating one was Ban's role. Just before the qi-wrapped sword clashed with Lucas's blade, the whirlwind on Ban's sword vanished. The moment Lucas's brow furrowed, Ban's sword—still touching Lucas's—whipped in an entirely different direction.
Deflection.
Arrow, fireball, sword, fist—Ban's deflection could redirect anything regardless. A stationary sword was no exception. Lucas's blade slid outward along Ban's edge, and in that instant, Ban's sword thrust straight for Lucas's solar plexus......
'Ah.'
It didn't pierce.
Lucas's eyes gleamed. Until moments ago, his face had been expressionless without a hint of a smile—now it was the face of a beast, just like Ban's.
Light flashed.
The sword Ban felt from Lucas could only be described as light itself.
Lucas's shortsword split apart. No, not just his shortsword. Ban spat up blood. From the long gash across his chest, blood welled and poured.
"Whoops."
Lucas showed no hint of apology. Sympathy had no place with swordsmen.
"You surprised me."
".......Kuh."
His knees trembled. The wound was deeper than expected. Even as his sword hand stiffened, Ban refused to kneel. He let out a ragged laugh. Blood and saliva dripped stickily between his red-stained teeth.
"Treating your junior like this......"
"Didn't expect it to go this far. Thinking to break my defense there—sly side to you. Good job. Pretty clever move."
"Lucas. How strong are you...... exactly?"
"Who knows. A lot?"
"In the world...... what's your rank?"
"......Too far back to count on fingers."
Ban’s pupils bloodshot. He knew. He'd known. It was a fight he couldn't win. And yet it burned. Not just from losing. He'd thought he'd closed so much ground...... But peering inside, the gap between him and Lucas felt the same as when he was a rookie guard—no different.
His chest throbbed. From the wound, or thirst, he couldn't tell. Ban looked at Lucas. Eyes shining with what seemed adoration, envy—Lucas inwardly marveled.
'......Been a while. Since I've seen eyes like that.'
'Life' filled those eyes. Ban laughed.
"I told His Highness...... I'd become the world's strongest swordsman."
"Heard that. Cocky."
".......I challenged you knowing I'd lose."
He looked ready to collapse any second. Reduced to this from one slash. Ban mocked his own frailty but pressed on. Maybe just bravado, but a man's life had moments demanding it.
"But it's weird...... I hate losing."
Youth was inherently contradictory. Fearing age's arrival yet unable to bear youth's immaturity. Ban was no different. He was still young. Naive. Time was on his side, and he believed his sword would one day reach Lucas.
And yet he lived in the now,
Unable to reach Lucas—and that was unbearable.
'Sorry, Anya.'
Anya's face suddenly surfaced. The face about to cry as she looked at him. He'd only guessed her feelings then......
Now he thought he understood.
If this was how she felt, he should've been kinder.
Ban assumed his stance again. Despite the blood soaking his uniform from his chest, he didn't slump. He couldn't.
Lucas's expression watching him was peculiar. Joyful, perhaps pitying. He spoke quietly.
"Stop. You can't cut me."
"The slash I showed earlier...... I named it Sword that Cuts the Sky."
But even that couldn't cut the sky.
What a swordsman sought to cut was never something cuttable. Understanding that, Lucas finally burst into laughter. This cheeky junior was endearing and commendable. Ban gathered qi again.
"You stop training not when you can't cut...... but when you can."
"......Why drag me into your training? You're such a mystery."
Lucas shook his head. He lifted the corner of his mouth.
"Fine. Let's see. If you can cut me or not."
A shout of spirit. Flashing sword light. Gasps and sighs raining down. Blood staining clothes, sweat wetting hair. Clashing blades and the setting sun. Crowds unable to tear away despite duties. The unyielding sword hero and...... the young swordsman hurling eggs endlessly at a rock.
That day, the fact Ban ultimately couldn't cut Lucas wasn't so important.
At least that day, he wore the face of the swordsman he'd always dreamed of being.