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435 p2. Noble Faction and New School Year [8]

 

「Got you!」

「Naive!」

Lou’s two reddish short swords and Dreyfus’s great sword gave off sparks.

(What’s a good fight…)

So far, Lou is superior in martial arts and swordsmanship, and Dreyfus is superior in soul dress.

It looked like a stable back-and-forth offense and defense, but it was a little different in actuality.

「Eat this! Tiger Gravel!」

Dreyfus activated his soul dress ability and shot sharp stone pebbles at high speed.

「This much is nothing.」

Lou handled the attack with splendid agility, but…

Due to the extremely wide range of the attack, it was impossible to completely avoid it. Small open wounds were opened up on her limbs.

(It’s starting to get intense…)

Lou has not yet used her soul dress ability.

To be more precise, it can’t be used.

Her soul dress〈Companion Partner〉has the ability to forcibly link her condition with that of her target.

To put it simply, it links the wounds of her body.

For example, if Lou slashed her own right hand, her target would also take the same amount of damage in the exact same spot.

It’s an extremely powerful ability that eliminates distances, obstacles, and skills, but…

Because the power is based on the premise of self-harm, it is almost completely useless in a one-on-one battle like this.

(It’s tough…)

In fact, in the battle up to this point, Lou hadn’t used her ability even once, and was forced into a strained match.

After that, the sword fighting gradually heated up, and when the open wounds on both fighters became clearly visible – “that time” had come.

「Grizzly Break!」

「Shit!」

A powerful blow was landed when Lou’s posture was broken.

「This is the end! –Elephant Stomp!」

As Dreyfus swung down his soul dress, a giant earthen hammer appeared overhead and swung down at Lou.

「Cra–」

In an instant, a terrifying impact erupted, and a violent cloud of dust rose up.

「Dreyfus’ powerful blow explodes! Is there nothing else contestant Lou can do!?」

When the medical team prepared for dispatch as the commentator stirred up the situation,

「–Too bad!」

An unharmed Lou jumped out of the dust cloud.

「Impossible!」

Dreyfus was dismayed at the unbelievable situation.

Lou, on the other hand, seemed to have decided that this was the point of victory, and closed the distance at full speed.

「Coming straight at me!? Seems like I’ve been underestima– Wha!?」

Dreyfus took an interception stance, but for some reason suddenly lost his posture.

Looking at his right leg, fresh blood gradually flowed down onto the arena.

「What…… is this!?」

A momentary confusion.

Immediately following that,〈Companion Partner〉was thrust at Dreyfus’ neck.

「Do you still want to continue?」

As Lou’s cold declaration echoed,

「Fuu… I surrender.」

Dreyfus lowered his gaze quietly.

「–Winner, Lou Lorenti!!」

As the referee declared the victory, the venue suddenly erupted.

「It was a lightning-quick, raging development! For a moment, I thought Dreyfus had won, but at the last moment, there was a big reversal! This is the finals of the Sword King Festival, after all. What a high level match! You can’t miss even a second of the fight!」

Amid cheers erupting from Thousand Blade Academy’s audience seating…

(……What is the meaning of this?)

I was not fully satisfied with the explanation.

〈Companion Partner〉is a link between your own and the other person’s condition.

As the dust billowed up, Lou probably activated her ability, stabbing her own right leg with her sword, and impeded Dreyfus’ mobility.

But somehow Lou remained unharmed and only Dreyfus’ right leg was injured.

(No, more importantly…)

The attack that Dreyfus unleashed definitely landed on Lou.

It’s almost impossible to dodge that unless you’re a strengthening-type soul dress user.

(…Is Lou hiding some other ability?)

She’s a bit mysterious to begin with.

She has amazing swordsmanship and martial arts that you wouldn’t expect from a first-year student.

Even before she took the entrance exam at Thousand Blade Academy, she had somehow mastered her soul dress.

Despite this, she was not a famed swordswoman.

(……Let’s ask her about it next time.)

Anyway, we were able to get off to an auspicious start.

At this rate, I’d like us to win the next match as well.

■

And so the next match – the match between Sie Arcstria of Thousand Blade Academy and Godric Emerson of the Imperial Academy – was as intense and beautiful as it could have been.

(……Beautiful.)

The president used her exquisite swordsmanship and the ability of her soul dress〈Aqua Queen〉to launch a wide variety of continuous attacks without even having time to catch her breath.

On the other hand, Godric wielded his honed swordsmanship and soul dress that controls crystals, launching multi-stage attacks without gaps from every angle.

It was a clash of skill and technique.

A fierce battle between two swordsmen of the same type.

「That’s enough! Winner, Godric Emerson!」

Godric won the match by a small margin.

「Huff… I am sorry I lost.」

The president bowed her head apologetically after suffering many open wounds in the heated battle.

「No, it was a great fight.」

The president and Godric were on par with each other in strength, and the difference between victory and defeat was really tiny.

I’m sure if they fought ten times, they’ll end up with five wins and five losses.

「Kuu, it’s a pity…」

「The difference was paper thin, though…」

Lilim-senpai and Ferris-senpai regretted it as if it were their own loss.

「President, that was a nice fight.」

「It was so amazing that it took my breath away.」

「It was wonderful! Without a doubt, it was one of the best bouts of this tournament!」

Ria, Rose, and Lou also spoke words of praise.

「Thank you, everyone. ―Then, Ria-san, I’ll leave the next match to you.」

「Yes, don’t worry.」

Ria, who was handed the baton by the president, was filled with a sense of responsibility.

■

「Next is the Midfielder battle! Ria Vesteria VS Nemenen Totter will begin! Both players, please go up to the stage!」

Following the commentator’s instructions, Ria and Nemenen moved onto the stage.

「Are both of you ready? Then – Begin!」

As soon as the match started, both of them manifested their soul dress at the same time.

「Invade -〈Fafnir〉!」

「Power is Beauty -〈Ultimate Green〉!」

Nemenen’s Soul Dress〈Ultimate Green〉spread a forest over a wide area and freely manipulated the plants within its range.

Black and White Hellfire Vs Forest Plants.

In terms of ability compatibility, Ria should have an advantage.

But here – an “abnormality” occurred.

For some reason, Ria’s soul dress didn’t manifest…

「Uh, uh… why now… it should be much later in the future…」

She held her chest and fell to her knees.

「Ria!?」

At the same time as my scream,

「Ria-sama!」

Claude-san’s expression changed, and she jumped out of the audience and rushed over to Ria.

「Oops, this is not allowed! Security, please take action!」

The Holy Knights in charge of security were dispatched, and the venue became noisy.

「Ria-sama, are you okay!?」

「Haa haa… I’m okay…」

「What about〈Fafnir〉!?」

「I was… somehow able to suppress it. It’s still much earlier than “estimated”. Looks like my strength hasn’t accumulated yet…」

We explained to the dispatched Holy Knights that Claude-san was a student at Senba Thousand Blade Academy, and headed towards Ria, who was still breathing wildly.

「Ria, are you okay!?」

She nodded weakly in response to my question.

「… yeah, after a while… it should get better.」

After that, the Sword King Festival was temporarily suspended.

As a result of the referee’s discussion regarding the handling of the Midfielder match, it was a foul defeat for Thousand Blade Academy.

The starting point of the problem was Thousand Blade Academy’s contestant, Ria Vesteria.

The fact that Claude Stroganoff, who jumped out of the audience, was also a student at Thousand Blade Academy.

According to the referee’s explanation, the decision was made after considering the above two points.

Well… I guess we have no choice but to accept it.