Chapter 256
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 256
Chapter Title: Part 2 Chapter 22: Sparring (2)
"Hm."
Jamie was lying on his back, gazing up at the sky.
Even he had to admit it was a truly splendid ambush.
No matter how much of a Sword Master she was, he figured she wouldn't have been able to handle that ambush easily.
Yet here he was, sprawled out on the vast grassy plain.
A mocking voice came from above his head. It was Isis.
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
She hadn't even drawn her sword.
In fact, she hadn't been carrying one on her at all.
Without any weapon whatsoever, she'd effortlessly subdued the ambushing Jamie with her bare hands and slammed him to the ground.
He'd managed to wrap his body in mana to block the damage, but he hadn't expected her to seize his wrist so easily.
"Still, an ambush feels a bit cheap~"
"Ahem."
Jamie cleared his throat awkwardly and got up.
Then, feeling a bit embarrassed, he asked,
"How'd you block it? I thought the timing was perfect."
To an outsider, it might look like he'd just charged in out of nowhere, but that ambush had incorporated a lot of psychological warfare.
He'd created an atmosphere where it seemed like he absolutely wouldn't ambush her, even pulling his back foot in slightly to make it look like he wasn't about to lunge.
He'd perfectly managed his gaze and breathing.
Then, without any preparatory motion, he'd exploded into the attack in one go.
"I told you, it wasn't bad. But that's all there was to it. Don't you think ambushing head-on has a very high chance of failure to begin with?"
"Fair point."
No matter what psychological ploy you used, the opponent was constantly receiving information through their senses.
Even so, since the ambusher struck first, the opponent's reaction was inevitably a beat late.
Against someone of similar skill, it would land nine times out of ten, and even against a stronger foe, they'd have to take some damage even if they blocked it.
Jamie had thought Isis would block it but not perfectly.
No matter how he thought about it, the timing had been superb.
"Try thinking differently."
"Thinking differently?"
"The ambush wasn't bad. If I were at your level, I would've been seriously hurt. But since your opponent's me, it's a different story."
"Showing off?"
"Haha. It might sound that way, but I'm not joking~"
Isis spread her arms wide, assuming a completely defenseless stance.
As Jamie squinted one eye at her, she said,
"Come at me again. I'll show you what went wrong."
"...Then I won't hold back."
Jamie formed a mana sword again and charged at Isis.
This wasn't an ambush, but to his eyes, Isis truly seemed defenseless.
If he closed in and swung like this, he'd surely cut her down.
Reaching right up to her, Jamie unleashed his strike without holding back, just as he'd said.
He didn't think she'd die or anything.
As expected, Isis smiled.
Her hand moved at tremendous speed.
That was all Jamie saw.
'Damn...'
Why was the ground above his head?
He felt a strong wind tousling his clothes and hair.
The sensation of his body floating up.
Isis had merely extended her right hand a bit while lightly twisting the hand gripping his sword.
She hadn't put any strength into it at all.
'She's using my own force against me.'
His father, Count Welton, had told him something like this once.
'When using a technique, you don't always have to pour in only your own power. That just tires you out faster. The higher the realm of mastery, the more often you use the opponent's power instead of your own. It's more efficient on your energy, and sometimes it can inflict far greater damage.'
The higher the realm, the more you relied on the opponent's power rather than your own.
It described Isis to a tee.
Martial arts were strange the more you knew about them.
Unlike magic, body techniques sometimes produced phenomena akin to magic.
Right now was a perfect example.
She'd subdued a full-grown man—a heavy, muscular one at that—with just a twist of his wrist.
Wasn't that practically telekinesis?
In that brief moment of falling to the ground, Jamie thought a lot.
Bam!
"Kuh!"
His back arched like a shrimp.
Lost in thought, he hadn't protected his body with mana this time.
The dizzying pain made tears prick at his eyes, choking his breath for a moment.
As he lay there unable to speak from the pain, sky-blue hair fell in front of him, blocking out the sun.
"Get it now? Your movement was maximal, but mine was minimal. You might've had the initiative, but I closed that gap with the tiniest motion."
"Hoo. And you used my own force to slam me down?"
"Exactly."
The pain in his back subsided a bit.
He couldn't just lie there anymore and shot to his feet.
He spread holy power through his body to suppress the lingering ache.
Jamie brushed the grass off his clothes and turned to Isis with a grin.
"Fun, huh?"
At his reaction, Isis blinked in surprise before grinning back.
"What do you say? More?"
"Teach me another one."
"No. That's enough with me. For five years of training, your skill is surprisingly impressive, but you're still no match."
"Then?"
"Forgot? This is the Frontier."
The Frontier was crawling with powerhouses.
Jin was standing in front of Jamie's house.
It was his first visit since learning that Jamie was a black sorcerer.
At first, he'd been furious at the betrayal of being deceived all this time, but after hearing the full story from Isis,
once the misunderstanding cleared up somewhat, he'd wanted to have a proper talk with Jamie.
So last night, he'd gone to find him, but there was a fight with Hawks.
It was sudden, but he figured it was a necessary process, so he'd chosen to watch.
And when he heard Jamie had won, he'd been inwardly thrilled.
He'd thought about going right away but figured he'd be exhausted from the fight, so he'd come today instead.
But.
"The Young Master stepped out for a bit."
"I see."
"What's he up to at the crack of dawn?"
"I have some business with Jamie Welton."
Jamie wasn't in his lodging. Instead, there was the Valkyrie Princess Vena and the ancient beast Behemoth.
He had no idea why they were here so early, but he'd come at a bad time and was about to leave and return later.
That's when Vena suggested,
"He probably went for a walk, so he'll be back soon. Come inside. We were just preparing breakfast—join us."
"Yeah. Come on in."
Anyone would think they owned the place.
Jin fiddled with his white mask unnecessarily and nodded.
"Sure."
He had nothing waiting at home but lonely solitude anyway, so he didn't refuse and entered Jamie's lodging.
And shortly after, when Jamie returned to the lodging.
"...What are you guys doing?"
"S-Save me, Jamie! This! This isn't food!"
"Come on, Jin. Why won't you eat something so delicious?!"
"H-Her strength is insane!!"
"Nom nom nom nom nom nom."
Jin was trying desperately to escape with food smeared all over his mouth, Vena had a death grip on his waist refusing to let go, and Behemoth was ignoring the whole scene, nose-deep in his food.
"Why that..."
Isis, who was behind him and hadn't entered, saw the scene inside and fell silent.
"Stop! Stop, it's not edib... Gah!"
"Appreciate my sincerity~"
"Nom nom nom nom nom nom."
Watching the horrific scene, Jamie muttered one line.
"You pigs."
"Phew... I survived. If you hadn't come, I was done for."
His expression was hidden by the mask, but Jin was immensely relieved.
He'd even switched to a full-face mask in the meantime.
It felt like he was determined not to let even a speck of food in.
"Jin, you're overreacting. Look, Behemoth's eating it just fine. Right, Behemoth?"
"I wanna eat apples."
Jamie sighed.
He had no idea why this combination was hanging out in his lodging, but it seemed they'd shared breakfast together.
He didn't know what was on the menu, but the nose-piercing stench alone made Jin's reaction understandable.
So he said to Vena,
"Vena, no more cooking in my house from now on. Actually, don't cook in front of me at all."
"Why not!"
"Since when were you a cooking character?"
"I've been working hard at it for five years..."
"If that's the result of effort, better not to. Go swing that hammer with Phillion instead."
Thrilled at being mentioned after so long, Phillion in ring form on her finger shook her hand excitedly on its own.
"Stay still, Phillion."
Vena smacked the ring with her palm.
Phillion went quiet.
Unlike before, it seemed she'd firmly taken control from the ego hammer.
"And just because Behemoth eats it doesn't mean it's good. This guy's always eaten anything."
"Apple. Wanna eat apple, Master."
"Go eat crap then."
"Got it!"
Taking that as permission, Behemoth bolted out of the lodging like a shot.
Isis watched him go and asked Jamie,
"So Behemoth is... yours?"
"Yeah."
"Oh my."
Behemoth was the ancient beast she'd been scheming for a thousand years to claim.
She knew it was deeply tied to the Savior, but she hadn't expected it to truly be Jamie's subordinate.
"Vena, you go out for a bit too. I need to talk with Jin."
"Can't I listen from the side?"
"I'm gonna embarrass myself, so no."
"Tch."
He'd expected whining, but Vena surprisingly left obediently.
On the way out, she glared at Isis for no reason.
"And Isis gets to stay?"
"Hm."
Jamie seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking.
"You go out with Vena too."
"Tch."
Isis had thought she'd get to stay, but upon receiving the eviction notice, she clicked her tongue.
She glared at Vena, who was grinning smugly and irritatingly.
"What's with our princess?"
"You're a princess too, Isis. Have a tea time together."
"Since when do Valkyries do tea time?"
"I'm a new-gen Valkyrie these days."
Hearing Vena not backing down an inch, Jamie thought her personality had become remarkably bold.
Still, it was better than being timid.
With Vena and Isis gone, only Jamie and Jin remained in the house.
Neither spoke first.
Jin broke the silence.
"I heard from Isis."
"I meant to tell you right away, but something came up."
"I heard about meeting the ancient god slumbering in this land too. And how you fought Hawks right after. That's why I came today."
"Yeah. Neither of us are the type to beat around the bush. Sorry for hiding it. But it wasn't something I could just casually mention."
Before hearing the truth, he might've drawn his weapon on the spot.
But now that he knew how vital Jamie Welton was to this world, he had no intention of blaming him.
A man in his position couldn't carelessly reveal such a secret.
"But Isis said she didn't tell me everything. Told me to hear it from you."
"We've spent over a month together. I know your character well enough."
"..."
"So I figured it was fine to tell you. That's why I revealed I was the black sorcerer right there."
"I see."
Jamie glanced up at the ceiling for a moment, then stood.
And reintroduced himself.
"Let me greet you properly again. My name is Jamie Welton. Before that, Diablo Volpir. The black sorcerer who returned to this land to kill the Twelve Gods."
He extended his hand to Jin.
"Phew. Hearing it straight from you is a real shock."
Jin lifted his mask slightly, rubbed his face, and stood.
Then he clasped Jamie's hand.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Jin."
Jamie and Jin finished their renewed greetings and left the lodging.
Isis was waiting, leaning against the lodging's outer wall.
"Talk over?"
"Yeah. Where's Vena?"
"Piyon dragged her off. Something about pre-meal training."
Piyon was staying in the Frontier as the Valkyrie clan's queen regent, a sort of envoy and executive.
He'd heard she was currently protecting and training Vena.
Aside from a brief glimpse on the first day, he'd neither seen nor spoken to her, so he was curious what kind of person she was.
"I'll head back now. Call me if something comes up."
"Wait, hold on~"
As Jin turned to leave, Isis called him back.
"What?"
"Perfect timing. Talk's done, so shall we get to it?"
"Jin's not a bad choice."
"Choice for what?"
At the sudden exchange, Jin furrowed his brows behind his mask.
Isis smiled as she explained.
"Sort of a round-robin sparring session?"
Behind her, Jamie started warming up.
Jin chuckled dryly.
"Sounds good."