Rematch
Rematch
An abandoned lot where ruined buildings stood in clusters.
It was where the military buildings abandoned when the fortress city transformed into a trading city stood gathered.
Even though the buildings had been abandoned, dangerous items still remained, making it difficult even for vagrants to stay. It was the last remaining vacant lot inside the Duchy's capital.
I brought Vid here with me.
At the mention of a fight, Vid had followed me without hesitation.
Anyone else would have thought first of reporting me after seeing that I possessed two abilities, but to the man following me, a fight seemed far more important.
Knowing that, I had shown him my other ability as well.
"Ho, you knew about a place like this? Aren't you from the Carlos Kingdom? The clothes you're wearing look like the Royal Academy uniform, too."
Vid seemed to like this place as well.
Broken buildings and a vacant lot devoid of any human presence. It was certainly a good place to fight.
Besides, there was one more reason I chose this place.
"I kept thinking about it in prison. Your inherited ability isn't just one, is it?"
Did he really have to ponder that in prison? When we met before I died, he had recognized it at a single glance.
"Once I confirm it properly and drag you in too, everyone will be thrilled."
He didn't seem completely brainless. He was just overconfident in his own abilities.
"I don't know how you managed to possess more than one ability, but you're not the only one with multiple abilities."
He drew the sword at his waist as if showing off.
Seriously, it was ridiculous enough that they had immediately released someone who had threatened the Grand Archduchess, but they had even returned his confiscated weapon?
Was the Julian Duchy a vassal state of the Empire rather than a vassal duchy of the Carlos Kingdom?
I had felt this before, but the way things ran in this duchy was simply laughable.
Well, now was not the time to worry about the Duchy.
I also drew my sword. Not the Academy Standard Sword at my waist, but the greatsword from my chest.
"Oh? That huge sword came out of there? Is that some kind of relic bag?"
Vid seemed a bit surprised to see me pull out the sword, but he looked even more excited.
"As expected, there's no way someone with that kind of skill is just an ordinary student. Come on, take everything out. Let's have a proper clash."
Just as he said, I brought everything out.
I pulled out my dagger and checked my ring and necklace.
I tossed the Academy Standard Sword aside and sheathed the dagger at my waist, where my sword used to be.
Preparation complete.
The tip of the greatsword began to shimmer with mana.
"Heh. I knew my eyes didn't deceive me. In that case, let me show you mine!"
Vid tightened his grip on his sword.
Whoosh.
The sword began to burn. Flames flickered up his arm all the way to his shoulder.
The warmth heated the entire vacant lot.
Even standing more than ten meters away, I could feel the heat.
But just as when I had seen it before, the fire did not harm him at all.
Neither his hands nor his flame-engulfed clothes showed any change.
Besides, those flames weren't just attached to his sword and arm.
Whenever he swung his sword, the surroundings were swept up in the blaze, and sometimes sparks even flew far away.
After returning to the past, I had constantly pondered one thing.
A way to defeat this man without falling victim to those flames.
Those flames were an ability that harmed others but not himself.
It was an ability like a game skill I used to enjoy in my past life.
Attacking from somewhere the heat couldn't reach, or killing him before he could use that ability, would be the best options, but unfortunately, neither was a method I could use right now.
Instead, I had found another way.
"Now, come!"
As if drawn in by his words, I lunged toward him.
Though we were more than ten meters apart, the gap between us vanished in a single step.
At the same time, I thrust the greatsword toward him.
Swish.
The massive yet sharp blade surged toward him.
The shimmering sword aura at the tip of the blade pierced through the flames first.
"Tch! Is it really getting cut away by pure mana? Did Carlos knights have this kind of ability?"
Vid dodged in dismay.
It was amusing to hear him say the exact same thing as before while dodging, but bitter to see him recognize the 'Mana Materialization' I had obtained from Katrin at a glance this time, too.
'He probably noticed because of those punctured flames again.'
Those flames were not only good for offense and defense, but were also highly effective at breaking the invisible 'Mana Materialization' ability.
I had used a thrust this time to avoid detection, but in the end, he had found me out.
"Hahaha, this is fun!"
Ultimately, the fight progressed much as it had before.
When I swung my greatsword to attack him, he would watch the flames disperse and dodge, and when he unleashed his flames, I would desperately retreat.
Even when I heightened my senses and slowed down time, it was no different from our past battle.
Bang!
"Ugh!"
"Haha, put some more effort into it!"
My face contorted as I blocked his sword. The weight of his blade was too great, and the flames were too hot.
Yet my opponent was even more excited than he had been at the start.
Since this was our rematch, I had had some expectations, but unfortunately, there was still a vast gap in our skills.
I lacked strength, and he was outmatching me in swordsmanship.
Because I had seen his swordsmanship before, the gap between us was narrower than last time, but since I had returned to the past, my experience remained only in my head.
My physical body was still struggling to cope with his swordsmanship.
Before I died, I had won here by using the necklace.
To be honest, it wasn't even a real victory. I couldn't pierce through the flames and ended up dying from burns.
Since I died slightly later, I suppose it wasn't a double defeat.
But I couldn't fight like that this time. Nor did I intend to.
Once again, I channeled mana into the necklace.
I didn't force it in violently like I had before I died.
Gently, making sure there were no abnormalities in my body. Only as much as I could control.
I expanded my mana through the necklace.
Hum.
The mana began to boil over.
As expected, the amplified mana was wild.
But I already had experience using mana amplified by the necklace.
I carefully guided the mana, which was running wild through my body, along its pathways.
Though it was harder than before, the mana I had carefully cultivated obeyed my commands.
My distorted vision returned to normal.
I felt a strength greater than before, but this was a power I could control.
As expected, my mana was rapidly depleting this time as well.
Unless I intended to burn away my life force like last time, I had to end this quickly.
Even so, I couldn't just leap into those flames and let my body burn.
It was time to use another method to block those flames.
Holding the greatsword in one hand, I drew the dagger at my waist with the other.
"Have you gotten stronger? How... No, wait, that should still be in testing?"
Vid stopped his attack and stared at me with a bewildered expression.
"Don't tell me, are you associated with the Organization? Was there someone left in the Kingdom's Academy?"
I had just heard something interesting.
"No, that's not what's important right now. I just need to defeat you first and then check."
But unfortunately, it seemed unlikely I would hear anything more.
Instead of listening to his story, I swung my sword at him again.
Just like before, the greatsword swung in a wide arc.
Whoom.
But both its speed and power were different from before.
Sensing this, he gritted his teeth and flared his flames even higher.
Whoosh!
The flames surging from his sword engulfed the space in front of him. It looked as if the blaze were wrapping around his body.
And then, the greatsword cleaved through the flames.
Thud.
As the greatsword passed, the flames vanished.
They didn't just vanish along the greatsword's path. The flames disappeared across a much wider area.
It was as if a giant squeegee had wiped the flames away.
"What on earth is this!"
Vid's startled face came into view through the extinguished flames.
I lunged through the gap in the flames.
Vid's face was right in front of me, and I thrust the dagger in my other hand into his chest.
"Ugh!"
Unfortunately, it seemed I had missed the mark slightly this time.
It appeared the spot I stabbed wasn't his heart.
Vid groaned and retreated.
I tried to follow up with another attack, but Vid frantically unleashed a flurry of flames to hide himself.
"Th-this, what kind of ability is this again?"
Still, it seemed I hadn't missed entirely.
His question came through the flames in a groan.
Was he trying to buy time?
It didn't matter.
I explained it to him.
"A new technique—or rather, a newly copied technique."
It was a technique Katrin used. A skill I became able to use after obtaining the shield in the dungeon.
It was a technique that expanded the shield's domain with mana to create a massive mana barrier.
At first, I didn't know how I had managed it, but before I died, I had mimicked that technique with my dagger.
Back then, I had widened the dagger's blade sideways to erase the flames.
Since it was a dagger and my first time using the technique, the area it covered wasn't very wide, but it was definitely the technique Katrin used.
I still remembered how it had felt.
The greatsword was wider and sturdier than the dagger.
I swung the greatsword once more.
The flames were wiped away, and the heat subsided.
"Damn it!"
Vid swung his sword desperately.
Clang! Clang!
With the flames gone, it ultimately became a battle of strength and swordsmanship.
My swordsmanship was still lacking, but my strength was no longer inferior. In fact, I overwhelmed him.
Slash!
And I wasn't lacking in experience, either.
The experience I'd gained while dying, along with my experience facing him in my previous life, was more than enough to make up for my lack of swordsmanship.
And in the midst of all this, my opponent was getting hurt.
Blood splattered,
Clatter!
Vid's sword shattered.
"Are you... practicing on me?!"
Vid spat his fury at me.
Did it look like practice to him?
Well, I had persistently targeted his sword to test my newly acquired technique.
Indeed, if you looked at it that way, I couldn't complain if he thought of it as practice.
But I was also doing my absolute best.
Controlling the amplified mana was no easy task, and avoiding getting burned as I moved was quite a challenge, too.
Dealing with his superior swordsmanship was difficult as well.
Even so, it wasn't as bleak as it had been before I died.
If anything, I was enjoying it a little.
Was this how Vid had felt until just moments ago?
Since his sword was broken anyway, further testing would be difficult.
Fighting him again made me realize something.
If I grew older and developed my abilities through training and real combat, I could easily win even without the necklace.
His outstanding swordsmanship was the problem. To deal with it, I had no choice but to find a knight with superior swordsmanship.
So, I decided to end the fight.
Once more, I swung the greatsword with all my might.
The flames were wiped away, and his broken sword stood in the way of my greatsword.
Clang.
But a broken sword couldn't properly block my greatsword.
Slash!
The sword aura erupting from my greatsword sent blood spraying from his shoulder, and as blood obscured his vision, my dagger thrust forward once more.
Thump.
This time, it pierced him cleanly.
Blood trickled down the side of the dagger, while blood spilled from his mouth as well.
His broken sword clattered to the ground. The flames dispersed, and the heat vanished.
If he had been wearing the plate armor worn by the black knights, my dagger wouldn't have pierced him so easily.
But since he was the one who hid his identity, he had no right to complain.
The dying man did not voice any complaints. Instead, he stared at me with an inquisitive gaze.
"Who on earth are you? A multi-ability user is surprising enough, but to have that kind of experience at your age... and on top of that, your movements were as if you had fought me before. That makes absolutely no sense!"
Unless someone could repeat time, it certainly made no sense.
There was no one around, and the man was now drawing his final breaths.
I revealed the truth to the curious man.
"I possess 'Death Regression', the ability to return to the past when I die."
The impulse to tell a dying man the truth probably came from a desire to share with someone else a secret I'd kept entirely to myself.
Perhaps I was using the dying man as a sort of 'bamboo forest' where I could vent.
I hoped his dying curiosity was somewhat appeased.
But his reaction upon hearing my words was different from what I had expected.
His eyes widened, and Vid spat out blood as he laughed.
"Keu, hahaha! So the reason things have been going wrong all this time was because of you? Everyone's going to find this so absurd when they find out..."
He drew his last breath, laughing until the very end.
It was a strange death.
And those were rather ominous words.
If his intention was to leave me deeply unsettled, he had succeeded spectacularly.
But just because I was unsettled didn't mean I had any intention of stopping what I had to do.
I searched the corpse. Unfortunately, there were no relics or anything that could reveal his status.
I tore up the floor of the ruined building, dug up the ground, and buried the corpse.
One of the reasons I came here was that it was a good place to hide a body.
After hiding the corpse beneath the building's floor, covering it with dirt again, and replacing the torn-up floorboards, no one would ever know a body was hidden there.
Well, I had succeeded in taking care of the most dangerous individual.
Now, it didn't matter if the situation changed from how it had been before I died.
And my work wasn't finished yet, either.
After scanning the surroundings one last time, I left the abandoned barracks.