71. Swordsmanship Exchange
71. Swordsmanship Exchange
As soon as the exchange tournament began, Clover Academy's waiting room took on the atmosphere of a funeral parlor.
Two consecutive losses no one had imagined possible — and their opponents hadn't even drawn weapons, taking them down with a single finger.
They didn't want to admit it, but from the moment their vanguard, sent out to seize the initiative, was felled in a single strike by nothing more than a finger, the situation had become one where nothing could be done.
They wanted to devise a countermeasure, but there was nothing they could do.
No weakness was visible. Their opponent simply dodged their attacks while simultaneously landing a single counter-thrust each time — and each time, the match ended right there.
The students who had gone out as the vanguard and second-string were rubbing the spots where Atlas's finger had struck them.
Thanks to the protective magic in the arena, they had no actual wounds, but the pain they couldn't block made them hallucinate wounds they didn't actually have.
They couldn't even lift their heads.
Like traitors guilty of high treason, they clenched their teeth and crumpled into invisible corners like human trash bags.
"This can't go on...!!"
At this horrifying sight, the hand of Margaret Alban — selected as Clover Academy's captain — trembled uncontrollably.
She remembered the small dwarf who had come out as the academy's vanguard with perfect clarity.
He was definitely the student who had been with Simoa... the Sword Saint's fiancée, yesterday.
Unless some trick was involved, how could something like that be possible with just one finger...
Her trembling was partly rage at that dwarf who was mocking them, acting as if he could win with a single finger... but more than that, she was terrified of disappointing the person who was surely awaiting their inevitable victory.
It wasn't simply fear of losing without even managing to put up a fight.
This exchange tournament was a stage where they absolutely could not afford to lose.
It was not a place where defeat would end with mere humiliation.
Because the one who had arranged this exchange tournament was none other than that person.
Just then, a low voice came from outside.
"Pardon the intrusion."
"?!!"
Before they could even react, the door burst open and someone strode in.
A crimson cape fluttered into view.
It was unmistakably Sword Saint Adolf Roang, who was supposed to be in the VIP room.
"Sword Saint-nim?!"
"No, no, stay comfortable. Don't get up."
The moment they confirmed the Sword Saint had entered, everyone tried to spring to their feet and salute, but he waved them off.
The students who had been about to rise sank back to their knees.
Seeing that, the Sword Saint looked satisfied.
But he was not pleased.
The Sword Saint who had entered the waiting room stroked his chin beard while wearing the same affable smile he showed the outside world.
"Yes, stay like that. If you stand up, the stench of trash wafts up and it's unpleasant."
At his words, delivered with a warm, friendly smile, the Clover Academy students broke out in cold sweat.
If the academy's students were to hear his scathing, venomous remarks, they would be utterly shocked.
No one could have imagined that the Sword Saint, who had presented himself as a moral, gentle, and gallant gentleman ever since arriving at the academy, would say such things.
"What was that unsightly match? Were you testing even my patience?"
"We apologize..."
"No, no... I didn't come here to receive apologies. You know that much, don't you... Or is there nothing else you can say besides an apology?"
What could they possibly say when they hadn't even been able to formulate a plan?
The vice-captain Margaret couldn't utter a single word and just kept sweating profusely, when the captain, who had been bowing his head beside her, spoke up.
"Th-that dwarf is clearly using some kind of trick...! Otherwise, there's no way we'd collapse from being hit by a single finger...!!!"
Margaret realized too late. This was a mistake.
"Don't make excuses."
The instant the captain's words fell, a blade pierced their bodies.
"?!!!"
They hadn't actually been stabbed.
They merely hallucinated it after being struck by the suffocating killing intent the Sword Saint had emitted.
"Hrk... ngh..."
Several of them couldn't endure it and collapsed.
Margaret had foreseen this situation and simply kept her mouth shut.
The Sword Saint looked down at the students with an exceedingly cold gaze.
When he saw the students foaming at the mouth and floundering, the Sword Saint loosened the atmosphere once more and smiled.
"Hah... You're so feeble, that's why you lose to someone like that... Don't disappoint me. Don't forget that I personally brought you to this exchange tournament.
I trust you won't smear any more dirt on my face."
The Sword Saint placed his hand on the shoulder of Margaret, who had silently endured his killing intent.
"I have high expectations of you, Alban... You won't disappoint me, will you... Right?"
"I will... live up to your expectations."
"Yes... I'm counting on you."
Leaving only those words behind, the Sword Saint vanished once more.
Right... They could not lose like this.
"... If we lose any more, it'll be truly dangerous. You all know that, right?"
After the Sword Saint disappeared, Margaret spoke, and a deep silence hung over the waiting room.
"We just need to win, don't we? Isn't that right?"
At that moment, someone sprang to his feet.
It was Python, the one serving as the Joong-gyeon in the exchange tournament, a man characterized by his serpentine impression.
"That's right."
"That guy seems to be pulling some trick too... so there's no need to go easy on him. I'll use 'that.'"
The moment Margaret heard Python's words, she clenched her fist tightly.
What he had declared he would use was a self-enhancement item secretly passed down in the Clover Kingdom.
It would certainly strengthen the body, but... it was a double-edged sword that could, if mishandled, turn the user into a cripple.
It was something meant for life-or-death struggles, not an item that should ever be used in a tournament like this.
"... If you use that, it won't end without consequences. Can you handle that?"
"If we just lose like this, we won't be seeing anything good anyway — isn't it worth taking a shot?"
At Python's words, his eyes glinting sharply as they flickered, Margaret had no rebuttal.
---------------------------------
The Joong-gyeon, suspected of being demon-touched, burst out with boundless confidence and brandished his sword high.
"For the crime of insulting the Clover Kingdom...!! I will never forgive you, you bastard!"
He wasn't directly using demonic power. If he had been, the Headmaster watching the tournament from above would have caught him.
The amount seeping out was so faint that it would be hard to detect unless one was paying close attention, so few people here would notice it.
'... No. Calling him a demon-touched is off — what's leaking out is far too faint. Is it something else?'
A demon-touched who had contracted with a demon could naturally conceal their demonic energy, but for it to seep out this faintly was strange.
Normally, it should either not be felt at all or be felt somewhat more strongly — this ambiguous sensation was odd.
"Since you use your fingers as weapons, your range is extremely short... So you wait for your opponent to get close, then land a counter timed with their attack."
He swung his sword once, and the blade segmented joint by joint, transforming into something resembling a long whip.
It was a Snake Sword — a weapon more accurately called a whip than a sword.
"I won't fall for something like that..!!!"
The Joong-gyeon swung the Snake Sword.
The Snake Sword, constructed from sturdy steel wire with sharp blades attached, let out a piercing sound and flew at me like a serpent.
I tried to retreat moderately to dodge, but I had no idea what kind of mechanism it used — the moment I showed any movement to step back, the Snake Sword stretched out slightly longer than it appeared.
It was wire stored inside a sword that was never that long to begin with.
Its length could be extended at will, and its current state clearly wasn't even its maximum reach.
-Swaeaeaeak!
I immediately changed direction, sharply pivoting the opposite way, and a sharp sound of tearing air rang out where I had just been standing, dust flying up.
It packed destructive power as formidable as its appearance suggested.
"Ha! How do you like that? You can't even get close, can you..!! And this isn't all!"
The Snake Sword's wire, which had stretched all the way to where I had been, rapidly contracted and shrunk back down.
The blade segments of the Snake Sword began to shine, and then blue flames blazed up.
He was using an Aura Blade.
"Now take this..!!!"
He swung the Snake Sword once more.
A ferocious assault from the Snake Sword, swung in every direction to the point where dodging was difficult — I tested it cautiously, and it seemed he could not only adjust the length but also alter the trajectory mid-swing.
The Snake Sword moved flashily, kicking up dust in every corner of the arena, and within the restricted visibility, I dodged the Snake Sword's fierce onslaught as it darted swiftly.
Unlike before, when I saw that I couldn't finish it the moment we started, cheers rang out from Clover Academy's side.
It was a troublesome attack.
The blade was wreathed in aura, making it hard to deflect, and the way it twisted its trajectory mid-flight would make it difficult for an ordinary swordsman to deal with.
But I wasn't an ordinary swordsman, now was I.
'I've gotten used to it by now.'
The Snake Sword came flying fiercely once more.
I showed a movement as if to dodge to the left from the downward slash coming from the front, and the aura wrapped around the Snake Sword flashed as the attack's trajectory twisted left along with it.
But my body wasn't facing left.
The Snake Sword, fooled by a basic feint using footwork, merely struck the innocent floor.
And in the interval while the wire was retracting, I had already reached the Joong-gyeon.
-Puk!!
The moment the Joong-gyeon was hit, he didn't get eliminated right away.
He grinned, his eyes — through which dark smoke flickered faintly — widening as he looked at me and laughed.
"That's a rather paltry attack..."
"Are you aware there's a hole in your head right now?"
But it seemed he couldn't see it.
My finger had pierced through the magic and embedded itself in his skull.
"Uh... uuuuhhh???"
The magic hadn't been dispelled.
On the hologram, his head was marked in orange.
It was functioning normally.
The Joong-gyeon's face, upon confirming that my finger had burrowed in, rapidly began to deteriorate.
"The spot I just stabbed is called the Demon's Blood — an acupoint known only to Inquisitors."
"In... Inquisitor, you say?"
The moment I mentioned the Inquisitors, who excelled at rooting out demons, he fell into a state of extreme agitation.
There was no particular commotion from the spectators... It seemed they couldn't see that my finger was lodged in his temple because it was obscured by his body.
And they probably couldn't even imagine that an attack could land while the protective magic was active.
"Its effect is quite simple. When I twist my finger in this state, if you're an ordinary person, nothing at all happens.
But if you're a filthy demon-touched bastard harboring demonic energy in your body, that very instant, blood will spurt from every orifice in your body and you'll die — that's the kind of acupoint it is."
"That's a lie..!!! Th-there's no way something so convenient could exist!"
The Joong-gyeon denied it, but the effect was real.
It was such a delicate technique that even among Inquisitors, there were hardly any who could use it... but I had learned it once while hunting demons together with someone.
Ah, the dying part depended on the circumstances.
If it was a strong demon-touched, there had been quite a few cases where individuals survived even after spurting blood like that.
"Yeah, that's right. If you're an ordinary person, nothing at all will happen. Isn't that so?"
What would happen to you if I twisted this finger?
I was immensely curious.