# 052 Reward of Victory
# 052 Reward of Victory
The swordsmen who took part in the Sword Demon God's festival were mostly formidable warriors, but that did not mean the truly peerless masters of the continent's swordsmanship entered the lists.
Because this was a "festival."
Even if it was a sword duel drenched in blood and slaughter, the very fact that it bore the name of a festival meant the participants' skill could not be called especially high.
In name, they lured the strong by telling them to challenge the Sword Demon God or the Sword Demon Saintess, but in reality, many regarded it as a stepping stone to a higher level.
How could someone who could not even win the festival dare set foot in the true arena of the upper rounds, where swordsmen of a higher realm fought?
To stand in the true venue of sword duels, one had to place at least fourth.
So she had to win.
If she fell in the mere round of eight, then to the people of the Land of Darkness, no matter who her opponent might be, she would be dismissed as "the one who stopped at eight."
"Y-you, you...!"
As if it were not vexing enough that every one of her attacks was blocked and she was being pushed back, her attacks had gradually ceased to land at all.
As though she had foreseen every strike, Vorpal Rabbit leisurely parried, evaded, and intercepted every attack.
Was she aiming for a war of attrition?
No.
This was provocation.
It was a declaration of absolute confidence: no matter how you tried to attack me, I could block every strike.
And in fact, not one of Iyelrin's attacks had so much as grazed Vorpal Rabbit.
Still, I had a chance.
It was clear that her opponent was weaker than herself.
Vorpal Rabbit's technique in handling a sword was undeniably exceptional, but she lacked decisive single-blow striking power.
The moment Vorpal Rabbit broke into her territory and closed in to swing her sword—the moment she seized that opening, Iyelrin would win.
So then...
"...Hah?"
Vorpal Rabbit was looking somewhere else entirely.
The sight of her turning her gaze toward the audience stands—toward the VIP seats, of all places—sent a surge of fury through Iyelrin.
"You bitch...!!"
That expression and those eyes, as if someone like Iyelrin was beneath her notice.
Consumed by rage, Iyelrin moved to pour mana into her sword.
Aura Blade.
The realm of imbuing one's blade with mana was a level that no half-baked swordsman could ever reach, and the same went for her opponent.
"Haaaaah...!!"
From Iyelrin's sword, a pitch-black demonic energy began to seep forth.
As mana began to flow along the blade, the crowd roared in anticipation of a duel about to grow fiercer than before.
The appearance of sword energy, an Aura Blade, meant that someone was certain to bleed—and more often than not, the one who failed to manifest an aura would have their head lopped clean off.
"Before I carve that smug face of yours, I'll slice every stitch of your clothes off first...!!"
It had taken some time, but Iyelrin had finished pouring Aura into her entire sword and stood ready to swing it.
No matter how well Vorpal Rabbit blocked sword strikes, the Aura would cut through her blade, shearing it in half as easily as slicing through jelly.
"My victo—"
Goooooo.
"!!"
Iyelrin involuntarily retreated a step.
Her body had instinctively widened the distance against the razor-sharp intensity that seemed to prick at her very skin.
"What in the...?"
Mumble, mumble.
Vorpal Rabbit had bowed her head and was murmuring something under her breath.
She had begun to whisper so quietly that even Iyelrin, the closest person to her, could not hear it, and a reddish energy began to emanate from her body.
"...That is?"
Saaaaa.
Was it visible only to her?
Could others not see it?
Iyaaaaaaaahng────!!
That crimson shadow stretching out behind Vorpal Rabbit?
Could they not see that silhouette of a rabbit, distorted and steeped in a demonic aura, blazing with crimson glare as if it were about to devour everything in its path right this instant?
Goooo...!!
The rabbit with the crimson glare settled into Vorpal Rabbit's sword.
Upon the slender iron blade, a red energy—an Aura—began to gather.
The Aura seeped from the hilt, rippling across the whole of the blade as it crept upward, seeming to form a shape around the sword, and Vorpal Rabbit began to stride forward, one step at a time, very slowly.
Sliiide.
She was unmistakably just walking forward.
Sliiide.
Yet every single one of those steps was heavy.
The crimson glare visible through the bangs that fell over her slightly lowered head evoked the colossal rabbit that had loomed behind her, baring razor-sharp teeth in a mad grin.
"Y-you...!!"
She could not lose.
Whether Vorpal Rabbit suddenly went berserk or not, she herself was someone destined to ascend to greater heights.
In a battle of Aura against Aura, she had more than enough of a chance!
"Kyaaaaaah!!"
Iyelrin shrieked and sprinted forward.
The first strike was ever the key to certain victory.
No matter how the opponent reacted, if she swung her sword with overwhelming force, victory was assured.
And so, pouring every last drop of Aura into her blade—
Sha-slice.
It was cut.
The sword, poised to slash diagonally, had nothing left but the naked blade cleaving empty air; the tip had been severed at a slant, as neatly as a chopped vegetable.
Clank.
The severed blade-edge spun into the air and tumbled outside the arena.
And then a blade the color of fresh blood touched Iyelrin's throat.
"...A nuisance."
Turned slightly askew, Vorpal Rabbit's upraised eyes lacked any focus.
"Get lost."
Pwa────ck!!
A heavy impact struck Iyelrin in the stomach.
The last thing she saw was Vorpal Rabbit's eyes as the girl spin-kicked her—sunken. No, brimming with anticipation.
"Hah."
The moment she saw the face of that girl—no, that female—who was obviously itching to knock her down so she could fawn over her master and be showered with affection right away, Iyelrin reflexively retched.
"Crazy bitch...."
Crash────!!
Iyelrin lost consciousness as she was embedded in the wall of the audience stands.
* * *
She had won.
Savoring the joy of victory, Sharia left the arena and swiftly headed toward the audience stands.
"Whoa, boy...."
No one stopped her as she ran.
Everyone immediately pressed themselves against the walls, looking Sharia up and down, but Sharia did not care in the slightest about any of that.
Aura!
The realm of infusing a blade with mana!
Even knowing how to use just the tiniest bit of Aura was a tremendous ability—enough to earn a knighthood in a barony or viscounty.
In a duel between swordsmen, swordsmanship was essential by default, but before a blade wreathed in Aura, no matter how brilliant the swordsmanship, it was meaningless.
Snick.
Because the sword would be cut through.
Regardless of the blade's strength, even if Aura were infused into a cheap, rusty sword, a masterwork blade painstakingly forged by an artisan would be sliced in two in an instant.
She had reached such a realm.
With whom could she share this joy?
Naturally, her teacher.
It was thanks to her teacher, who had taught her swordsmanship and at the same time poured vast amounts of mana into her, that she had grown strong.
At first she had been suspicious, and in the middle, he had just been a pervert—but seeing visible growth like this materialize not even in half a year, but in just a few short months, how could she not be glad?
To celebrate the win, she would have sex with him.
Having awakened her Aura, the chances were high that today he would do it the way Sharia wanted.
"Heu-heung, heu-heu-heung...."
Joy made her steps even more buoyant.
The joy of victory was one thing, but she was also brimming with joy at having awakened her Aura.
At last.
The mana her master had placed inside her body had begun to stir awake.
The mana that until now she could do nothing but let flow through her, she could now make entirely her own.
If so, then she could grow even stronger, and her revenge could draw nearer.
"...Ah."
Sharia realized it.
Just now, she had thought of him not as her teacher but as her "master."
Was it because she had become absorbed in the role of Vorpal Rabbit—the rabbit slave?
No.
It was out of gratitude toward the one who had made her strong—so strong that even if she went to any other country, she could rightfully be granted a noble title again, she who had been a fallen noble.
Out of gratitude toward the man who had turned a burdensome nuisance, treated as a deadweight copper badge, into a swordsman at platinum badge level or higher before she knew it.
—If you have received grace, you must repay it.
She had only ever received from him, while the only way she could repay him was with her body. Having no choice but to express her gratitude that way left a faint bitterness in her heart.
Precisely because of that, Sharia might have unknowingly leashed herself by her own neck.
There could be any number of reasons, but...
Thump, thump.
Struggling to calm the heat surging through her lower belly, Sharia opened the door to the VIP room.
Since a barrier of mana had already been deployed, Sharia was able to enter the room without anyone's interference, and her heart full of joy—
"Master! ......"
"Oh, you're here."
She saw her master.
She saw a woman, propped up on her hands against the wall with her ass raised high, panting raggedly in front of her master.
Glug, glug.
White, sticky semen trickling down the woman's thighs.
Judging by the color, by the smell, and by the trace of the mighty mana she could now plainly perceive, it was unmistakably her master's semen.
And if that was true, then this woman was...
"Huh...?"
"I didn't come inside."
Chuckling, her teacher pointed beneath the woman's rear.
Just as her teacher said, the lower portion of the bunny girl's outfit showed absolutely no sign of having been pushed aside or torn.
"I came on her thigh. Come now, do you really think I'd violate a virgin, and the Heavenly Demon Saintess at that?"
"......"
"I can send her off just like this without needing to stick it in and shoot inside. Heh-heh."
Snap.
The moment her teacher snapped his fingers, a mattress woven of mana spread out beneath the woman.
"Good work."
As her teacher let go of the woman's waist, she collapsed forward onto the mana mattress at once, as if crumpling.
At the sight of her ragged panting, Sharia swallowed dryly without meaning to.
"She didn't even put it inside... is that possible?"
"Looks like she's sensitive, like someone else I know."
"Who?"
"You."
Her teacher spread both arms.
Still with his pants down and his rigid cock standing proudly erect, her teacher pointed downward with absolutely no hint of shame on his face.
"Congratulations on your victory. You've finally awakened your Aura too. How about a present for making it into the quarterfinals?"
"...What is it?"
"My cock."
"......"
Sharia immediately knelt before her teacher—her master.
"I'll... clean it for you."
A cock that had been bouncing against another woman's bare skin.
Lick.
Just as Lilith used to do, Sharia gently took the cock with her tongue as if to nibble it.
* * *
The defeat of Iyelrin, who had been tipped as a favorite to win.
While many were thrown into confusion, a man in a black robe was moving through the darkness, cutting through the crowd.
"Uuu, uuuuu...."
Following behind Iyelrin, who was dead drunk, the man wore a fishy-smelling smile in the darkness.
Tap-tap, tap-tap-tap.
Making strange sounds, the man tailed Iyelrin.
Tap-tap-tap, tap-tap.
Suspiciously cloaked entirely in black, the man's pupils were slit vertically, long and narrow.