Uru’s magic didn’t have a lot of force to it. Plus, he used traditional magic, which was fairly inefficient. If he pushed himself, it’d take a toll on his body.
But he resolved himself to shoulder that burden and put every bit of mana he had into his attacks.
He desperately chanted a spell. Every moment, every word, felt like an eternity.
“Flaming arrow, pierce my foe. Fire Arrow!”
At Uru’s level, the Fire Arrow spell could only shoot off fifteen projectiles or so, even if he was at full mana when he cast it. He was allowed to use magic tools to boost his magic’s potency, but the effect was negligible.
He needed to chant an incantation for every spell he cast, and the impatience he felt as he did threw him off as he tried to focus.
While Uru chanted, Ado focused mana into his sword.
Uru could tell from experience that a terrifying amount of mana was gathering at a single point.
Desperate, Uru whittled away at the pillar with his magic. But the pillar—made with magic itself—was sturdier than he’d expected. Destroying it wasn’t going to be easy.
He was panicking.
He couldn’t focus.
Every moment felt so torturously long.
Never before had he been this frustrated by his need to use incantations.
And he could tell that, behind him, Ado had finished preparing his own final attack.
“Sword Throw: Thunderblade!”
The sword flew through the air and, upon impact, stuck into the pillar and unleashed the overflowing mana Ado had packed into it. Thunder boomed; lightning split the skies, then rained down destruction on the surrounding area.
The force of the collision created a huge shock wave, and just like that, the pillar shattered and toppled like a building demolished with explosives. The ensuing cloud of dust swept over the spectators.
Behind him, Uru heard his pillar falling to pieces.
“Wha—?!”
Finally managing to crawl out of the pit, Uru saw that he hadn’t even managed to destroy one-third of Ado’s pillar. Meanwhile, Ado had reduced Uru’s pillar to smithereens.
“There’s no way... I’ve never heard of any sword skills like this. You must have used magic, didn’t y—”
“I didn’t use magic. It was Thunderblade. A sword-throwing skill you learn when you become an Elite Swordsman. It’s a more advanced version of Thundering Toss.”
“B-But that force it had—how is that any different from magic?! I won’t accept this!”
“It isn’t magic, though. Just a sword skill. It’d be kinda hard to give you any more of a handicap than you’ve already got, y’know...”
Sword skills, swordsmanship, arts—regardless of which term you preferred, they were distinct from magic in that they didn’t use spell formulas.
Magic was constructed from magic letters, so it was effectively a field of science centered around transforming mana into physical phenomena. You could probably compare it to something like programming or design.
Sword skills, on the other hand, worked by charging mana into a weapon to boost its power. While these skills did have attributes, their specific effects ultimately depended on the materials used to make the weapon and the individual’s own nature.
Some people specialized in thunder and lightning, others in fire; there were even some prodigies who had mastery over multiple elements.
That was only true of this world and its denizens, mind you. Every Swords & Sorceries player was able to use skills of any attribute.
However, being able to use many different arts wasn’t the same as having mastered them. Many arts sat there completely unused.
Plus, the more force an art provided, the more it reduced a weapon’s durability, so powerful skills came with the drawback of shortening your weapon’s lifespan.
Ado had basically used an ultimate, and one that certainly wasn’t in the repertoire of your average knight or mercenary from this world.
“I did say you wouldn’t stand a chance against Ado, didn’t I?” Zelos said. “He went through all sorts of terrifying ordeals to get this strong.”
“Bit rich coming from you, Zelos,” Ado said. “You and your group were the ones who dragged me into all those ordeals.”
“Heh... Well, it’s all in the past. Besides, I’m not as unreasonable as the rest of them.”
“Yeah, that’s true... You weren’t as bad to deal with as them. You’re splitting hairs here, though. You were still bad!”
“I don’t remember causing casualties like Brose did, at least! I took plenty of precautions.”
“Yeah, but you sure took me to some insanely dangerous places! Oh—speaking of Brose, I met him recently. He’s still doing his thing as the Barbarian. And he was surrounded by a bunch of beastfolk wives.”
“So he’s a normie now too, huh? I mean, the guy’s a furry, so I’m not exactly jealous, but...”
Kemo Brose was a disciple of one of the Destroyers, Kemo Luvyune. And just like his mentor, he was an inveterate furry. He adored beastfolk of all kinds, ranging from “pretty much a human with some animal ears and a tail” to those who looked completely animalistic.
And despite having the body of a middle schooler, he apparently had seventeen wives now. Plus, that number was climbing fast. Coming to this world had turned his dreams into reality: He had a big, fluffy harem now.
“I refuse to accept this as our duel! I refuse to accept this outcome! Waaaaaah!” Uru shouted.
“Wha— Crap!” Ado said.
“Mmm... So he’s lost it after all. Yup, about what I expected,” Zelos said.
“You’ve left me no choice,” Uru muttered. “I’ll have to abduct her, take her somewhere safe, confine her... Then to make sure she can’t run away, I’ll grab her legs and—”
“God, that’s creepy!” Ado and Zelos reacted.
Uru’s refusal to give up on his love, combined with his extreme possessiveness, had made him even more desperate. And now, that desperation was pushing him over the edge. His nature kept him stewing in his resentment, and ultimately, he seized on an extreme course of action.
He started running straight at Yui, and all of a sudden he had a knife in his hand.
Perhaps he’d determined that with Zelos and the others there, even kidnapping her wouldn’t be possible. So it seemed like he’d decided on the sociopathic option of I’ll kill you, and then I’ll kill myself! We’ll be happy together in heaven!
But his desires were not to be.
TING!
As he thrust the knife at Yui, an invisible wall repelled it.
She’d calmly activated the amulet Zelos had given her in advance.
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew... That was scary.”
“Why... Why won’t you love me back?!” Uru cried.
“She already has someone. You were never going to have a chance with her,” Shakti said. “However strong your feelings are, she doesn’t feel the same way about you.”
“You never even confessed to her, right?” Lisa said. “And now you’re just trying to force your love on her? Her heart was already with someone else. You should’ve known she was never going to love you back.”
“But what part of me isn’t good enough?! Do I need more strength?! Power?! Authority? Money?! Are you saying I’m not worth even considering?!”
People whose emotions were this out of control didn’t tend to act on logic.
Shakti and Lisa made good points, but they weren’t getting through to him.
Somewhere inside, Uru realized what they were saying was true. He’d already known it, but he hadn’t been able to accept it—and that was why he’d resorted to such extremes.
He was a lot more childish than he looked. He might’ve made his actions more noble by saying he did them out of love, but at the end of the day, he was nothing more than a nuisance.
“Um... I’m sorry,” Yui replied. “I can’t even think about anyone except Toshi, so I have zero interest in any other guy. In fact, every other man looks like a scarecrow to me. And your faces all look identical. Honestly, I can only tell other guys apart by their voices.”
“S-Scarecrows? Even... Even me? That’s how you see me? Aha... Aha ha ha ha... Oh, what a stupid...”
Now that was a clear rejection.
Just as she’d been with Ted, Yui was utterly merciless.
Being turned down like that had to hurt, even if Uru had never had a chance with her to begin with. He’d been desperate to make Yui his, even if he’d had to kill her to do so. But now, with even that option gone, there was nothing left he could do.
Theoretically, killing Ado would’ve been an option if the gap between the two of them wasn’t so enormous. But at this point, he knew all too well that would be impossible.
And so, young Uru’s intense first love was over.
After the duel, the men of the village were kind enough to drink with him and console him.
It should go without saying that the next morning, Uru was laid up with a nasty hangover.