Chapter 164
Chapter 164
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 164
Chapter Title: The Dual-Wield Showdown
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I held the weapons Gaspar had handed me and faced off against my opponent.
A single spear would have been enough to deal with this woman, but I decided to use both dual-wield weapons anyway.
That way, if word spread, my retainers might pick up on my trail through the rumors.
“Dual-wield weapons…?”
Lucrezia’s face twisted. It must have been an unheard-of martial arts system to her. And rightly so—even on the continent I came from, Chester Style users were extremely rare.
“What are you standing around for? Come at me.”
“Hmph! I’ll see for myself where that confidence is coming from!”
She kicked off the ground and charged. Even her movements were clumsy.
Her spearwork was no different.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The spear tip sliced through the air.
I easily dodged the attacks and, at the moment she tried to pull her spear back, struck the tip with my sword.
Clang! As the spear shook, her balance crumbled along with it. I seized the opening and thrust my spear to her throat.
“That’s one life.”
“…!?”
“If you can’t accept it, come at me again.”
“Gah!”
She took two steps back, steadied herself, and charged once more.
It was the same no matter how many times she tried.
Our physical abilities might be similar.
But the depth of our martial arts was worlds apart.
This woman, Lucrezia—what could she be called? She was all size and no substance.
And I had a pretty good idea why.
‘It’s because the reasons for learning martial arts are different.’
The biggest reason people in this world learned martial arts was to slay monsters. So their systems were inevitably tailored to fighting monsters.
In contrast, the martial arts from our continent had been developed purely for human combat.
That made all the difference in interpersonal battles.
To me, her spearwork was painfully predictable, her movements overly large and wasteful. The openings were endless.
I could handle her without even using aura.
I dodged the incoming spear thrust, closed in, and drove my fist into her solar plexus.
The impact must have been severe, as she dropped to her knees and began vomiting up her guts.
“Guh… hack…!?”
“That makes five lives.”
I kicked up the spear she’d dropped and caught it in my hand.
“Your weapon’s gone now—want to call it quits?”
The crowd in the square buzzed.
“Who the hell is that guy? He just toyed with the woman who beat Frieden…”
“It’s like he’s playing with a child.”
The humiliation must have hit hard, because she straightened up on trembling legs.
“Not yet…!”
“Saying that won’t change the fact that you’ve got no weapon.”
“It doesn’t matter!”
I wondered what she’d do, but it seemed weapons really weren’t a big deal for her.
Energy gathered in her grip, taking the shape of a spear. A transparent one.
‘Glass? No, this is… ice?’
It was like a thick icicle sculpted into a spear.
‘So this is magic…’
She’d only used body-enhancing support spells until now, but it looked like she was getting serious with magic.
My curiosity piqued, I couldn’t help but ask.
“Aren’t your hands cold holding that?”
“Shut up!”
“No need to push yourself. Here, take your spear back.”
“Ah…!?”
I tossed it to her, and she looked embarrassed.
“See…”
Even so, a metal spear was far sturdier than an ice one.
“Ahem!”
She cleared her throat awkwardly, set the ice spear on the ground, and picked up the one I’d thrown.
The crowd erupted in laughter. Lucrezia gritted her teeth, swallowed her humiliation, and resumed her stance.
“I get it—you’re strong. Plenty strong. But I wasn’t going all out either!”
“That mindset itself is the problem…”
Well, I’d heard the same from my master plenty of times, so I wasn’t one to talk.
“From here on, I won’t hold back. Hah!”
It turned out her claim of not going all out wasn’t just bravado.
Her fighting style changed completely.
Rustle! Several icicles formed around her and shot toward me.
They looked far more powerful than arrows, so I had no choice but to back away and dodge.
At the same time, she closed in.
My balance thrown off by the icicles, I crossed my weapons to block her spear.
Crack! In that instant, the weapons blocking her spear began to freeze.
‘It’s freezing!?’
Frozen in their crossed position, I couldn’t move either spear or sword. Meanwhile, her spear slipped free of the ice as if it were nothing.
Having my weapons freeze solid was a first for me, so even I was thrown off.
‘Is this how fights work in this world…?’
Just as I had the edge in pure martial arts duels, she had her own tricks.
‘No choice.’
I channeled my aura to its limit.
The tangible energy surged through my weapons, converting the ice she’d made into mana and dissipating it.
“Weapon Spell…!”
Her eyes widened.
Sensing something ominous from me, she hurriedly retreated and fired more icicles.
I swung my aura-infused spear, obliterating them in one go.
It was one of aura’s primary functions. I’d only learned this recently, but aura could nullify an opponent’s mana.
People here called it Weapon Spell and held it in high regard.
“A Weapon Spell like that!”
“Unbelievable!”
With plenty of adventurers in the crowd, gasps echoed through the square.
I pressed her relentlessly. First, I crossed my spear and sword to disarm her, then slipped inside and wrenched her right arm—the one trying to form another ice spear—behind her back.
Then—crunch! I slammed her back to the ground, smashing her face into the dirt.
“That’s it. I won’t humor you any further.”
“Urgh!”
The match was decided.
To spread the word, I declared my name to the crowd.
They all seemed stunned by my skill, so good rumors were sure to follow.
Gaspar alone looked exasperated, his face sour.
“Als, what the hell was that? If Illya Anpei saw it, she’d chew you out.”
“Haha, probably.”
It was hardly what you’d call a good fight.
“I’d have killed her in five exchanges.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t go around trying to kill people so casually. This is a place without wars.”
“Tch. That’s what pisses me off. Anyway, let’s go. I’ve got a mountain of things to talk about.”
Gaspar took the lead. I started to follow, but a voice stopped me.
“Wait!”
It was Lucrezia.
Her forehead must have split when I smashed her face into the ground—blood streamed down.
Her eyes burned with anger, humiliation, and for some reason, admiration as she looked at me.
“I want a rematch. That martial art you use—I know you haven’t shown it all.”
“And?”
“I want to witness it.”
“Sorry, no time for that. Maybe if there’s a chance later.”
“I see… No helping it, then.”
She muttered “Als Ilrain… Als Ilrain…” as if committing my name to memory.
I shrugged and turned away.
*
*
*
Leaving her behind, I moved with Gaspar and shared what we knew.
We agreed on our views of this world first.
“Yeah, that ‘horse continent’ is probably our continent.”
“About that… What’s the deal with that barrier centered on our continent?”
“Who knows. Hmm.”
Gaspar pondered for a long while before speaking cautiously.
“Als, do you know why magic vanished from our continent?”
“I read about it in a book. It was lost due to the gods’ quarrels.”
“Right. I used to think it was just mythological nonsense… but now it looks different.”
“The barrier was made by a god? To eliminate magic?”
“Just a guess, but it seems some god deliberately cut our continent off from the rest of the world. Maybe to create a paradise.”
Our continent had no monsters or natural disasters—aside from some divine magic, no magic at all.
The land was fertile enough that food shortages wouldn’t happen unless the population exploded.
“Hmm, not enough clues yet, so let’s table that.”
“Yeah. Not like we can do anything about it.”
Next up: the missing people.
I asked Gaspar if he’d found anyone.
“Nope. I used bandit groups to gather info, but nothing solid. Finding you is a huge win, though.”
“About that—stop the bandit stuff. What would Ymir think?”
“We’ll worry about that once we find her.”
“Whatever, handle things without banditry. You might get wiped out.”
“Tch. Fine.”
I told him about meeting Gwinter. He tilted his head, then nodded as it clicked.
“That lanky guy who seemed kinda strong?”
“Yeah. He’s searching the South Continent.”
“Doesn’t seem trustworthy, but beggars can’t be choosers… So? What’s the plan after?”
“I’m setting up a base in a West Continent city called Byeon and waiting for everyone. I figured staying put is most efficient.”
“Fair… They’ll all be looking for you. If you move, you might miss each other. Not a bad call. But playing it so passively? I’m not sold.”
“Passively?”
“This world’s more dangerous than it seems. The land’s so vast, bandits and highway robbers are everywhere.”
Our world had almost no bandits. Dense population and strong militaries meant tight state control.
There was the Bandit King Kraus Faulkner, but even he didn’t last long. Once Toonkai cornered him, he negotiated and became a guest general.
Here, though, vast areas were beyond state reach. Most forces were tied up defending against monster invasions or reclaiming monster-held territories.
“Guys like Illya Anpei or Eonia Mirabel could handle it, but the others might not. We need to find them fast.”
“I think so too, but… what choice do we have?”
A full-scale search would cost a fortune.
“There’s another way. Make yourself famous.”
“I’ve thought about that, but it’s not easy. The info network here isn’t that developed. Becoming continent-famous takes more than ordinary feats.”
Today’s event would make local waves, but it wouldn’t spread far. Even if it did, rumors distort over time.
The only idea I had was clearing a notorious bounty dungeon.
“You suggesting a dungeon raid?”
“No way. Maybe later, but not now. We lack info and manpower.”
“Then there’s no other way.”
“Wrong. There’s one more. Why haven’t you thought of it?”
Gaspar grinned.
“Use your book.”
“…?”
What was he talking about?
“That novel you used to deal with Olaf. Release it here. If it gets popular, copies will spread on their own—no cost. Books will end up everywhere across the continent.”
“…!”
“And slip in a hint about the Byeon base! They’ll catch on and head there.”
“You… a genius?”
It was a brilliant scheme.
The contents were fresh in my mind, so rewriting volumes one and two would be easy.
No guarantee it’d be a hit here, but better than nothing.
With the situation demanding action, I decided to go with Gaspar’s plan.