I landed next to Soreya, and we both looked at the intruder. Though he’d been defeated, his face was wearing an expression of ecstasy. The students might be rejoicing, but our instincts were telling us to not let our guards down.
In the next moment, the two of us jumped backward. We watched in horror as his head flew back to his neck, and all the blood that had spilled out of him streamed back into his body. The chilling, unbelievable sight sent shivers down my spine.
Then, the steel of my sword began to rattle. Stop! I desperately tried to clench the muscles in my hand to stop them from shaking.
“Well...I certainly hope the two of you can do better than that,” he chuckled, picking up his blade. “That wasn’t bad, but it’s nowhere near good enough.”
Soreya and I both resumed our stances, not understanding what was happening.
He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. “How about this? Next time the two of you kill me, you win. Yeah, that sounds like a good handicap.”
“You’re talking a big game for someone who just lost his head,” Soreya said coldly.
“I am, aren’t I? But that’s because I can back it up.”
Then, he took a stance himself. He turned his body sideways and held his blade at a slant across his chest, holding the edge of it with his other hand.
“Ready or not. Here I come,” he grinned.
“Sore—” I tried to call out.
My eyes were just barely able to follow him, and my body reactively moved, but she showed no signs of that; her eyes were still focused on the spot he used to be at. Why? Why aren’t you reacting?!
He already had her in range and was swinging his blade at an upward angle. At this rate, it’d cut her clean in half before she could react.
“Calm down, Ca’al,” she muttered.
At the absolute last second, she leaped over his blade, then she used it as a stepping stone to spring forward. He narrowly dodged the slice to his neck and immediately turned his body around toward Soreya, but she was already gone. She slid underneath him and threw a swing at his back. In the next moment, a light gash appeared there, matching the trajectory of her attack.
“Good!” he rejoiced. “You might be just a little better than I thought!”
He swung his blade in a circle around him, forcing Soreya to jump backward to remove herself from his range. I took that opportunity to get closer to him.
If he’s already swung his sword in one direction, then that means there’ll be a lag before he can swing it again. That’s my window to attack. At this point, we’ll have to whittle him down. I don’t think he’s going to let us go for his weak points anymore.
The best I could do in the situation was a light cut on his arm, but still, it was better than nothing. We continued slowly chipping away at him, narrowly dodging his attacks.
I couldn’t believe how agile he was given his muscular build. It didn’t feel like we were fighting against a blade that was taller than us. He was swinging it as if it was as light as a twig. We both knew that even being grazed by it would probably spell the end, so we didn’t even think about trading damage from it for anything less than a guaranteed critical hit.
We couldn’t keep this up forever though. He didn’t show any signs of slowing down, and we were only human. We had stamina limits, and we’d reach them eventually. He, on the other hand...
“Let’s kick this up a notch!” he roared, and suddenly, he began moving even faster.
“Wha—” I exclaimed as his blade flew at me. Though I’d been able to dodge it purely with my speed before, I now had to use my blade to deflect it.
I couldn’t rely on parrying his attacks. Already, most blades were very thin and fragile compared to his, but ours, especially, might as well have been paper. They’d been specifically forged to be thin, designed to enhance the wielder’s precision and ability to make quick, clean cuts. If we took a hit at an angle that was wrong even in the slightest, our blades would immediately shatter into tiny bits of metal, and he’d easily cut us in two.
Instinctively, I could tell that the ray of hope I’d seen of us defeating him was getting dimmer by the second. He was still toying with us. My eyes flashed toward the gate. If that’s the case, then we should ru—
“We’re beating him, Ca’al!” Soreya yelled, interrupting my thoughts. “We’re not running. We can do this! Believe in me! This isn’t where we end!”
That’s right. We have the Blade Saint on our side.
She could see things that I couldn’t. She was the one most loved by the blade. There was no chance that she could lose this battle. In that case, I needed only to support her while she found the opening we needed to win.
But maybe I can do that. I looked for the right opportunity and, instead of retreating, moved closer to him.
“Oh?” the intruder remarked pleasantly. “Don’t fear me?”
No, I do. But I believe in Soreya that much more.
I ignored his taunt and began slashing at him. I knew how reckless this was, but I couldn’t come up with another way for me to create an opening for Soreya to finish him off.
But then, something unexpected happened—he caught my blade in his hand.
“Time’s up,” he chuckled. Then he kicked me with his full force, sending me flying across the courtyard and slamming into the wall before I collapsed to the ground.
I could feel all the air inside me being squeezed out. The taste of iron spread in my mouth, but I kept my eyes glued to the battle. Soreya didn’t let my sacrifice go to waste—her blade was at his throat.
We did it. It’s over!
But just as I thought that, he dissolved into a shadow before her blade could reach him. Her eyes widened with disbelief as her blade cut through thin air. She barely had any time to process what had happened before he reappeared behind her and swung his sword down, threatening to cut her in half.
She was just barely able to bring her blade behind her back to block it, but she’d only successfully blocked the initial shock of it. The weight of the heavy blade still shattered hers, sending her to the ground. The only silver lining was that she’d used the impact to avoid his blade.
“Soreya!” Master Crayne screamed out.
The intruder immediately thrust his blade, but she rolled out of the way and shakily stood up with her broken sword, which had been reduced to a glorified knife.
“Still got some fight left in you, huh?”
I gotta get up. I have to help her. Move! I tried commanding my legs, but they were still trembling from the impact.
“My name is Soreya Bryte, this generation’s Blade Saint,” she declared, fire in her eyes. “This isn’t where we end,” she said, holding up her blade.
“Marvelous. Though you may not be the Blade Saint, you certainly have the spirit.” He took a stance once more. “However, I’ve no name to give to a weakling like you,” he chuckled. “Still, you should feel honored to be the only one here worthy of perishing after tasting a decent portion of my full power.”
“Heh. Wow. Aren’t I the most special girl in the world?”
“Special? Hardly. You’ll end up the same bloody pile of flesh as the others, but well...” Then a nasty grin spread across his face. “I suppose you’ll at least die braver than the rest.” His eyes flicked over to the cowering students and then to me.
Soreya’s eyes narrowed, and her grip around the hilt tightened as she shifted into a stance in preparation for what would no doubt be the final round of their fight.