“Ah... This match has become really one-sided, hasn’t it? The poor thing.”
“But then, look at him! Isn’t all that dodging kind of impressive? Gormus is attacking that much, but ain’t hitting him. I haven’t even seen an adult move like that before.”
“But if he doesn’t attack, he isn’t going to win. At this rate, he’s just going to get tired out, and then he’s done for.”
Maybe it was because there were other small bouts before this one, but the hopefuls who had time on their hands found themselves spectating this particular match. And as they said, in the face of Gormus’ ferocious attacks, Fie was starting to look worn down.
Fie had always loved sports more than her sister, but a princess was a princess, and princesses were not exactly known for their stamina. In addition, there was also the issue of her not eating for the past two days, and taking all of that into consideration, it was easy to see why she did not have enough stamina.
(Just... a bit more... Wait for an opening...)
Her body became heavier and heavier, and her breathing was now a halting, raspy sound rising from the depths of her throat.
And in that moment, Fie’s legs tripped over each other.
(Oh no...!)
“GOTCHA!”
And at last, a single blow from Gormus landed on Fie’s body.
She raised her own sword in defense in a last-minute reaction, but the difference in power was far too great. The impact sent Fie’s entire body up and away, flying and crashing into the wooden pen that surrounded their makeshift arena.
The impact jolted up Fie’s spine, and for a while she stopped breathing.
Fie’s body shook, and then she fell where she stood, landing on her back on the cold, hard ground.
(Quickly... I have to get up...!)
But she could not get up.
It hurt everywhere.
A ringing sound filled her ears.
(I have... have to win. I absolutely must win...)
Yet her body would not move.
(There will never be... another chance like this...! And even so...)
The notion of giving up seeped into the weakened crevices of her heart.
(Is... Is this it?)
“Are you giving up already?”
And then, a voice.
(Who...?)
Before she knew it, the face of a man filled Fie’s field of vision.
“Is this all you’ve got? Does it end here?”
Standing in front of the wooden railings, he looked down upon the fallen Fie. From behind his mask, a pair of blue-grey eyes silently bore into her.
Quiet murmurs rose up from the crowds at the sight of this man.
And so the masked man issued a straight question.
(No...)
Fie felt the strength coming back to her body, welling up from deep inside.
“No... It... It isn’t over yet!” Fie had control of her voice once again.
The sounds of her surroundings returned to her ears.
“Don’t you dare give up yet, Heath!”
She could hear Crow’s cheering.
“Oh! This one seems to still have it!”
“Yeah, but he fell over. He isn’t gonna be able to take another one of those.”
Gormus glanced in Fie’s general direction, swinging his wooden sword downwards.
Fie’s body still could not move. If she went on like this, the bout would definitely end in her loss.
With just a single moment to think, Fie decided on her next course of action.
“TAKE THIS!” Grabbing a fistful of sand with her right hand, she flung the mixture right into Gormus’ face.
“WHAT!?”
Unable to predict or defend against such an unexpected attack, the grains of sand robbed Gormus of his vision.
“Hey, that punk blinded Gormus! What a dirty move!”
“Does this kid really want to become a knight!?”
With this opening, Fie got down on all fours, rolling past Gormus’ large body.
“Kuh, where the hell did you go?!”
In his desperate search for Fie, Gormus did not notice her crouching, and was adequately surprised by Fie taking away a shoe from his outstretched leg.
“Wha—”
And with that, Fie continued rolling on the ground, placing some distance between herself and Gormus, before finally standing up.
“Hey, that brat stole his shoe!”
“What terrible conduct!”
“Hey you, that’s not fair play!”
“Heh heh heh.” Fie was holding his removed shoe and grinning like a villain in a play. Gormus started to advance on her — when suddenly, his movements stopped.
The ground of the bout pen was covered by a fine layer of sharp gravel. Although one could get used to the painful feeling of gravel eating into one’s foot, Gormus was not prepared for it — and so for a moment, he stopped.
His missing shoe threw off his movements, and Gormus had become sluggish. He was confused. Should he take off the remaining shoe? Or should he leave it on?
Although Fie had made a snap decision to remove his shoe, it seemed to have had a much greater effect than she thought.
“Now!”
Without letting the opening go to waste, Fie swung down her sword, ignoring the waves of pain through her body.
“How naïve!”
Gormus defended against her attack, and so the two wooden swords clashed.
However, Gormus was shaken from his impaired vision and missing shoe, which slowed down the movements of his sword accordingly. As he was unable to plant his foot down onto the ground, Gormus lost the ability to send Fie flying — he was unable to muster the power required to do so with his current weakened stance.
What was once a one-sided bout was now a clash of two swords.
However, Fie was still overwhelmingly disadvantaged.
“There’s too much of a height difference. He won’t be able to hit Gormus where it counts like that.”
Fie’s height — and summarily, her reach, only allowed her to hit the lower portions of Gormus’ body. She was unable to land blows on his head or neck.
And if enough time were allowed to pass, Gormus would recover from his current state. In other words, if this dragged on, Fie would have no chance of victory left.
(It has to be now!)
Perhaps because of the time they had spent clashing, Fie had gotten a feel of Gormus’ swordplay quirks. He preferred straight, direct blows at his opponent.
So Fie lowered her stance, and Gormus responded with a downwards swing.
(Just as I thought!)
Fie rolled to the side, dodging the blow, only for it to be followed up with a horizontal swing. Although Fie would have usually evaded in a downwards fashion, she jumped up high instead, evading his swing.
Viewing it as an opening, Gormus swung his sword up where he stood.
“IT’S OVER!” he roared.
(Here it comes, this is it!)
As she jumped, Fie contracted all the muscles in her body like a tightly wound spring. Then, landing on the sword that was meant to strike her down, Fie kicked off it all of her being.
“H-Hey, that kid is using Gormus’ sword as a jumping board!”
Fie’s body rose up through the air in a great leap.
Beneath her, she could see Gormus’ head. And with all the might she could muster, Fie swung her wooden sword downwards.
(I’m going to win this... I’ll start my second path!)
And so, Fie’s blow, carrying all the strength of her small body, made contact with Gormus’ head.
And then —
Shortly after —
“The winner of this bout is... Gormus!”
The match was over.
Fie sat in a corner of the arena, crying and hugging her knees.
(I couldn’t win...)
It was true that Fie’s spirited strike had been a direct hit on Gormus.
However, that alone could not topple him, although the damage that he had suffered was great.
“Guh...” Gormus’ huge body wavered.
“Are you kidding me? Gormus is...!”
“Hey, what if that kid wins?”
The spectators were stunned with disbelief at the turn of events.
Finally recovering from her leap, Fie made contact with the ground at last.
(I didn’t get him with that one blow... I have to follow up on that now...)
Gormus was still shaking, unsteady on his legs.
Fie took a deep breath, steadying her sword, before running towards her opponent with a renewed stride.
“This victory... is mine!”