I pointed my sword at him. “Nguyen, I commend you! You led your formidable forces through danger and peril to arrive before us today—a feat only a seasoned general is capable of. As a show of respect to your skill, I promise that if you and your men retreat now, we will not give pursuit. You escaped with your life three months ago. Don’t squander it here!”
Nguyen’s eyes widened slightly before he burst out laughing, the sound so loud it was akin to a clap of thunder over the battlefield. In the next instant, though, he had stopped, eyes narrowed. He swung the halberd above his head several times before he aimed it at me.
Then, he charged. I followed suit immediately, my black mount’s mane whipping through the air.
“You are a brave one indeed to stand before me without any fear,” he yelled. “However!”
In the second that our horses galloped past each other, Nguyen struck with his halberd. I managed to parry the terrifying blow with my sword. The screech of metal upon metal was deafening and my hand went numb from the impact. What strength!
Though no one said anything, I could hear from the quiet buzzing of our audience that they were taken aback that I survived Nguyen’s furious attack. There was distance between Nguyen and me now, but Nguyen charged me once again.
“Your bluster borders on delusion. Die, Chou brat! I swear on this scar you left upon my face that I will offer both your head and your sister to Emperor Adai!”
“Ha, who’s the delusional one here? No villain will ever lay their hands on our adorable little princess!”
One strike, then two... The speed at which we swung our weapons increased with every attack and sparks flew through the air with each parry. I could hear the sword Meirin had chosen for me scream under the pressure. I directed my mount away and put some distance between us.
As I tugged on the reins to turn my horse around, I taunted, “You know, father saw through Gen’s plans a long time ago! We’re the ones who’ll emerge the victor!”
“That’s enough nonsense out of you, brat!”
We charged at each other for the third time. I dodged his thrust and, taking advantage of the opening, I slashed out with my sword. He managed to block it. We ran, neck and neck, across the battlefield, never letting up on the offensive. I aimed my sword at his throat, but he used the flat of his blade to protect himself.
“You’re good!” I exclaimed even as I tried to break through his defense. “If you worked for father instead, then Ei would’ve long since unified the land. And you’re telling me there are three others as strong as you?!”
“I should be the one saying that!” Nguyen’s eyes sharpened and I could see suspicion in the way he looked at me. He swung his halberd irritably, knocking my sword away, and backed up his mount. Pointing his weapon at me he bellowed, “Just who are you, brat?! Why do you possess such skill, yet you’ve never shown your face on the battlefield until now?”
“Ha! Do you even need to ask?” Thanks to the furious barrage of attacks it had been made to contend with, my sword was at its limit. If only I had the Heavenly Swords...if I had even one of them... Stop. That’s enough complaining for now. I had to end this duel quickly, otherwise I’d lose from the difference of quality in our weapons. “My goal in life is to become a civil official! That’s literally all I want! Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t even be standing here right now. I’d be peacefully living out my days in some countryside town. So stop messing up my life’s plans!”
“Utter nonsense!” Nguyen snarled. With his face twisted in fury, he charged. He swung his halberd above his head, both hands wrapped around the shaft. It was his biggest attack today.
I held up my sword to try and parry it away, but... “Tsk!” The blade snapped in half. Its tip spun through the air before sinking into the ground.
Nguyen grinned, confident in his victory. “Luck was not on your side. Now die!”
“You dummy. It’s not my time yet!”
“Huh?!”
With the little bit of blade still in the hilt, I barely managed to deflect the attack. Then, I turned my horse around and raced for the gate. “Teiha! My bow!”
He had returned to the ramparts with the other soldiers to watch over my duel. My sudden order took him by surprise and he hesitated for a moment, but recovered quickly. “R-Right!” He grabbed my bow and quiver and tossed it at me with all his might. “Lord Sekiei!”
It’s too far!
I could hear the thunder of hooves behind me as Nguyen closed in. “It’s no use, prodigal son of the Chou family! I’ll kill you where you stand!”
“No, thanks!” I leaned over, nearly toppling out of the saddle, to grab the bow. I managed to snag a single arrow from the falling quiver and in a smooth movement I nocked it, turned, and shot.
“Argh!” Taken by surprise, Nguyen wasn’t able to react. It sank into the bracer on his left arm.
Damn, not deep enough to injure!
“L-Lord Nguyen!” the enemy cavalrymen cried as they charged forward. At the front of the line was a commander who had covered the lower half of his face with a demonic mask.
I adjusted my position in the saddle so I was sitting properly again. Then I galloped back towards the gate.
“Chou Sekiei!!!” Nguyen roared from behind me.
I turned around and yelled back, “Sorry! We’ll have to finish our fight later!” The moment I dashed back into Keiyou, the gates closed with a boom. I shoved the broken sword back into its sheath, leaped off the horse, and took a deep breath. “Jeez, I almost died just now.”
The greenhorns were staring at me in disbelief while the veteran soldiers smiled. So long as the soldiers’ morale recovered—even a little—then it was worth it. As I stroked the black horse on its head, Teiha ran down the stairs so fast his feet hardly touched the steps.
“L-Lord Sekiei, are you all right?!”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Oh, you’re just the man I was looking for, Teiha. My sword broke. Get me another one.”