“I’ve got you now!” Dreyfus yelled.
“Not even close!” Lou shouted back.
Sparks flew as Lou’s two reddish-brown short swords clashed with Dreyfus’s greatsword.
…This is a great duel. So far, Lou had demonstrated superior sword skills while Dreyfus had the edge in Soul Attire ability. It made it seem like an even duel…but I knew better.
“Take this! Tiger Gravel!” Dreyfus yelled, using his Soul Attire to hurl sharp stones at Lou.
“Is that…all you’ve got…?!” Lou shouted, gracefully dodging the stones. The attack had an incredibly wide range, however, and a few of the projectiles ended up grazing her limbs.
…She’s starting to struggle. I don’t know how much longer she’ll last.
Lou wasn’t using her Soul Attire ability. She couldn’t. Her Soul Attire, Codependent Lover, linked her condition to her opponent’s, meaning that any wound she inflicted on them would also be done to herself. If Lou cut her own right hand, for example, her opponent would be dealt an identical injury in the exact same spot. This allowed her to harm her opponent regardless of the distance between them, obstacles in her path, and difference in skill. Unfortunately, it also required her to harm herself, which made it practically unusable in a duel like this.
…That’s rough. Lou hadn’t used her ability once so far, and she was struggling because of it.
The duel only heated up from there until, shortly after cuts and bruises began to appear on their bodies, the moment finally came.
“Grizzly Smash!” Dreyfus shouted, swinging his sword in a powerful strike.
“Crap!” Lou yelled, her stance broken.
“You’re finished! Elephant Hammer!”
Dreyfus swung his sword down, and at the same time, a giant earthen hammer appeared above Lou’s head and descended powerfully toward her.
“Oh no…!” gasped Lou.
The hammer made contact with a massive boom, violently kicking up a cloud of dust.
“What a ferocious attack by Dreyfus! That had to hurt! Is it all over for Lou?!” the announcer cried out excitedly. A medical team prepared to head for the stage.
“Nice try!”
Lou appeared from the dust cloud, completely uninjured.
“I-impossible!” Dreyfus said, visibly flustered.
She sprinted toward him, seeing an opportunity to seize the duel.
“A head-on charge?! You really think something like that will… Huh?!” Dreyfus gasped. He’d been preparing to counterattack when he suddenly collapsed.
His right leg was bleeding.
“What…?!” Dreyfus said, confused.
A moment later, Lou had Codependent Lover pressed against his neck.
“Shall we keep going?” she asked coldly.
“…No. I surrender,” Dreyfus said quietly, lowering his eyes.
“Lou Lorenti is the winner!” declared the official, and the crowd erupted.
“Talk about a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it development! Just when it seemed like Dreyfus had won the duel, Lou pulls off a shocking reversal! This is truly going to be a Sword Master Festival for the ages! Don’t leave your seats for a moment, folks!” the announcer said.
Thousand Blade’s seating section cheered excitedly, but I found myself distracted. Something didn’t sit right with me.
…What happened? Lou’s Soul Attire, Codependent Lover, linked her condition to her opponent’s. She must have activated her ability in the dust cloud and stabbed her right leg to immobilize Dreyfus. But how had Lou not been injured?
Actually, more importantly… It definitely looked like Dreyfus’s attack had hit her. Escaping from that should have been impossible for anyone without a self-strengthening Soul Attire. Is Lou hiding another ability?
Lou was already an enigma. She was abnormally skilled for a first year and had somehow obtained her Soul Attire before taking the Thousand Blade entrance exam. Yet for some reason, she wasn’t particularly well-known.
…I’ll have to ask her some questions later.
Regardless, she’d started the tournament off for us on the right foot. Hopefully we could keep this momentum going and take the second duel as well.
The next duel between both teams’ seconds—Thousand Blade’s Shii Arkstoria and Divine Emperor’s Godric Emerson—was breathtakingly beautiful.
…I’m in awe.
Shii used her inherently delicate swordcraft and her Soul Attire, Aqua Queen, to perform a wide variety of rapid-fire strikes that gave Godric no time to catch his breath. Godric responded with highly polished swordcraft and a Soul Attire that could produce crystals to perform multi-stage attacks from any direction.
It was a battle of finesse between two similar fighters. The fight raged on for some time until…
“It’s over! The winner is Godric Emerson!”
…Godric eventually won by a razor-thin margin.
“Haah… I’m sorry. I lost,” Shii said, looking down guiltily. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises from the intense fight.
“Don’t apologize. That was an amazing duel,” I said.
Shii and Godric had been evenly matched, and only the slightest of differences had decided the match. I was sure that if they fought ten times, they’d end up with five wins and five losses each.
“Ngh, you were so close…,” lamented Lilim.
“That could’ve easily gone either way…,” said Tirith.
Lilim and Tirith were as upset as if they’d lost themselves.
“You fought really well, President,” said Lia.
“That was a thrilling duel,” added Rose. “I’m exhausted just from watching it.”
“It was so amazing! I’m sure it’ll end up being one of the best bouts of the tournament!” chimed in Lou.
“Thank you, everyone. You’re up next, Lia,” Shii said.
“Yep! You can count on me!” Lia responded, fired up to represent Thousand Blade.
✦ ✦ ✦
“All right, everyone, the third duel is next! It’s Lia Vesteria versus Nemenen Tottoru! Will both contestants please make their way to the stage?!” instructed the announcer.
Lia and Nemenen got into position.
“Are you both ready? On my mark… Begin!”
They both immediately summoned their Soul Attires.
“Conquer—Dragon King Fafnir!”
“Strength is Beauty—Majestic Greenery!”
Nemenen’s Soul Attire, Majestic Greenery, created a vast forest that he could manipulate at will.
This duel would be black and white flames against trees, meaning that Lia should have the advantage. However, it soon became apparent that something was wrong. Lia’s Soul Attire hadn’t appeared.
“No way… This…isn’t supposed to happen…yet…,” Lia said. She clutched her chest and fell to her knees.
“Lia?!” I yelled.
“PRINCESS LIA!”
Claude jumped out of the stands and rushed toward Lia in a panicked frenzy.
“H-hey now, that’s not allowed! Security, grab that kid!”
The holy knights entrusted with security moved toward the stage as a buzz erupted around the coliseum.
“Princess Lia! Are you okay?!” Claude asked.
“Haah, haah… Yeah…,” Lia said between pants.
“What about Fafnir?!”
“I…managed to suppress him. This is way ahead of schedule, so he must not have built up enough strength yet…”
We all rushed toward Lia, who was still breathing heavily, while explaining to the holy knights that Claude was a Thousand Blade student.
“Lia! Are you all right?!” I asked.
She nodded firmly. “Yeah, I’ll be fine… I just need some rest.”
The Sword Master Festival was temporarily suspended as the officials gathered to discuss how to handle the third duel. Eventually, they announced that Thousand Blade had lost due to a rule violation, as Lia had been the cause of the offense. It sucked…but all we could do was accept the ruling.
About fifteen minutes later, Lia’s condition stabilized.
“I can’t believe that happened… I’m so, so sorry…,” she said, bowing and biting her lip. She was being extra hard on herself because of her great sense of responsibility.
“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong,” said Shii.
“That’s right,” agreed Lilim. “We can’t say anything after the way we dragged Allen down at last year’s Sword Master Festival!”
“Don’t blame yourself,” said Tirith.
The third years smiled kindly at her.
“But because of me, we’re…” Lia trailed off, her hands clenched tightly into fists.
Rose patted her on the back. “You don’t have to worry about that, Lia.”
“…Huh? What do you mean?” she asked.
“Allen and I haven’t fought yet. Do you really think we’re going to lose?” Rose said confidently, giving Lia a fearless smile.