The day of the mock battle with Serrulata that I had decided to prioritize soon arrived. Her partner, Euryops, suggested that we battle as real saints, so the princess would be fighting as well.
Both pairs stood facing each other on the training grounds after class. It was a battle between two of the top pairs at the academy—Bronze and White. Myra, who had just happened to show up, was acting as the referee. A short distance away, Orlaya was also watching, which made the princess a little nervous.
“Just do what you always do,” I reassured her.
“R-Right.” Although she nodded, she immediately froze up again. Her sister’s gaze had a significant impact on her. Still, once the battle started, she wouldn’t have the leeway to worry about any spectators.
“I’m lookin’ forward to seein’ what the first-place scorer is made of.” Serrulata gave a ferocious grin, revealing her sharp teeth as her long, black hair swayed behind her. When combined with her sharp red eyes filled with eagerness, the impression she gave off was that of a wild animal. Her partner, the silver-haired Euryops, projected calmness and tranquility like a lone wolf.
Serrulata held two blades, and her holy woman Euryops drew a sword of her own. As this was a mock battle, we were all using wooden swords.
“Princess, I’m counting on your protection,” I said.
“Of course.”
Myra raised one hand, then lowered it. “Begin!”
On her signal, three people immediately dashed forward—me and both members of Bronze. Serrulata’s posture was oddly low to the ground, almost like she was running on four legs. Her swords approached me as though crawling along the ground, closing in on me like a stag beetle’s jaws. Strengthened by her holy woman’s Physical Enhancement, they came at me with enough force to overpower the princess’s protection and break my ankles.
Rather than backwards, I jumped to the left to avoid her. Euryops was to my right, so I was creating distance with her as well. She seemed to have predicted my moves and unleashed a swift thrust while I was in midair. I could have repelled it, but doing so would have left me vulnerable to Serrulata’s follow-up. That said, being in midair, my options were limited. Instead, I determined the trajectory of her thrust, then grabbed her sword and pulled.
Euryops’s eyes went wide. We were using wooden swords, and I had the princess’s Physical Protection on top of that, so I managed to stop her thrust as particles of light protected my right hand. After landing, I locked eyes with Euryops, who had been pulled off-balance, then pushed her at her holy knight with a grin. Serrulata would have to go to the left or right. Either way, I would be able to deal with her.
“Lift up your legs.” Euryops immediately responded to Serrulata’s curt order. Falling down after being pushed by me, Euryops lifted her knees up to her chest, creating an opening for the black-haired beast to dart through.
She picked the most direct option! The jaws were closing in on me once again, but I had options. I drove two stakes into the ground right in her swords’ paths. One was my own sword, and the other was the sword I had stolen from Euryops just a moment ago. I stabbed the two swords into the ground before her swings could gain momentum, blocking her attack. I then went to stomp on her now exposed head, only to stop just before committing.
Realizing that her attack was going to be blocked, Serrulata had released her swords, placed both her hands on the ground, then moved like she was going to roll forward, passing between the two swords I had driven into the ground. Just as her feet were pointed skyward and she reached the proper trajectory to strike at my chin, she unleashed all the power stored in her folded arms. If I had noticed even a moment later, I would have been hit.
Pulling a sword out of the ground, I leaped to the right. I had expected Serrulata to pass by me, but that didn’t happen. She grabbed the wooden sword I had left behind, deftly shifting her posture in midair, and landed on the flat of the blade. Then, using the sword as a foothold to jump off of, she pulled it out of the ground and swung at me.
“Ha ha, not bad.” She had impressive control over her body and courage. Her attacks didn’t leave me any breathing room.
“Right back at ya!” she replied, baring her sharp teeth. Her cheeks were flushed from the excitement of battle.
Yeah, I get the feeling. Knowing that the fight would continue no matter what I did was a little annoying, but more than that, it was thrilling. If she were an enemy, I would kill her and be done with it. Allies, however, I could fight over and over. Still, that didn’t mean it was okay for me to lose. Beating people like her was how you could tell just how strong you had gotten.
I met her oncoming downward strike head-on. With an upward swing, I split her wooden sword in half. Still in the air with her arm raised, she looked completely vulnerable.
One second. No, not even that—one tenth of a second. That was how little time I had. I shifted my focus away from a follow-up attack and instead readied my sword to defend myself. Then her attack came.
Her left hand should have been empty, yet it was holding a wooden sword. She swung horizontally and I just barely blocked it in time. However, my guard was poor, and although I was unharmed, my sword was unable to withstand the blow and shattered.
Tch. If I’d been a tenth of a second faster to notice, I could have saved my sword. How she’d acquired the sword in her left hand was clear as day—Euryops had thrown it to her. Despite their simplicity, the precise movements they had gone through to achieve that result were impressive. Euryops had slipped into the blind spot created by Serrulata’s body, keeping her actions hidden until the last second. Then, with perfect timing, she had thrown the weapon so it would land precisely in her partner’s hand. Serrulata was just as impressive, swinging the sword like she’d been holding it from the beginning without so much as turning around.
They had to have a lot of experience together to be capable of that. Their teamwork was immaculate—no doubt the result of their bond together and harsh training. Having only met less than a year ago, there was no way the princess and I would be able to imitate them. It was truly superb.
Throwing away the broken sword in her right hand, Serrulata replaced it with a new one. Euryops had probably thrown that to her as well, which meant Euryops had lost her weapon. She thought restoring Serrulata’s two-sword style would give them a better chance at victory than continuing to wield a weapon herself and had put aside her pride. They really did make a good pair. Choosing victory over attachment was my kind of style.
Serrulata bore down on me with her two swords. Changing to a backhand grip, I fended her off with the remaining half of my wooden sword, using it more like a knife than a sword. Two swords means twice as many attacks—that was the sort of logic a child learning swordplay for the first time might be drawn to. It sounded nice if you could actually pull it off, but it was just as nonsensical as saying that you’d be twice as efficient at doing paperwork if you could write with both hands at the same time. If you’re making twice as many moves, you have to be able to think about twice as many things and have a body that can keep up. But on the other hand, if you were talented enough, it was certainly possible.