81 – Climbing-16
It was a simple attack. Compared to Oksana’s mighty force, it was infinitely restrained, just an attack to gauge the opponent’s skill.
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Evan was shaken by that light attack. Iris was watching the scene with a calm face, as if it wasn’t surprising.
Whether Evan is sincere or not, the difference in skill is too great.
Among her knights, there won’t be many people who can fight Oksana and win. If you were to choose from Evan’s age, she didn’t even have that.
However, his courage and unbreakable will deserve praise.
Because I threw myself into a battle where defeat was obvious against someone who had no reason to fight.
He has to go back quickly. As long as Evan is here, he will arouse Logan’s suspicions if he unnecessarily prolongs his time.
Even if you talk more with the northern princesses, it was better to return Evan to the Colosseum as soon as possible.
“As expected, that won’t work.”
“However, she recovers quickly. With this, Oksana can have some pretty fun fights.”
Oksana, she enjoyed fighting more than anyone else. Either losing or winning.
But she didn’t have many people to fight her. People with skills that matched the level were not so idle, and the royal family in the north also didn’t want their daughter, who was a golden jade leaf, to do dangerous things.
Her safe and regretless fight will be a valuable and precious memory that her empire can make for her.
“Suddenly the end-“
This fight itself was entirely made up of Evan’s consideration. Iris, she was afraid to see it.
“Huh?”
It did not collapse.
He who was supposed to have fallen and was rolling on the ground a long time ago was still standing with both legs on the ground.
“This is…”
“It’s amazing. I didn’t expect male gladiators from the Empire to be like this.”
Alexandra smiled brightly at the pleasant miscalculation, but Iris couldn’t bear to see the sight.
“I… I didn’t know.”
Lose. Evan can’t fight Oksana and win no matter what. It was natural, and nothing will change that fact.
But he was still standing. It didn’t even seem like Oksana was watching her.
“Haap!
It was screaming cutely, but the power contained in that sword was formidable.
In the first place, he wasn’t in a calm state enough to take care of me and give me a hand. Because she was just enjoying the sweet feeling of battle.
“How…”
Iris couldn’t believe the sight in front of her eyes. He still hasn’t fallen.
It doesn’t make sense. The power is different Although he may have a stronger physique, northern warriors have been trained to put mana into her body since they were young.
But he was there. Even after Iris looked away a few times, even after he was knocked over dozens of times.
“This is…”
“You have received a great gift.”
Scary. Iris trembled in fear.
Oksana’s sword was getting more and more brutal. ‘Can’t this be? As if she was shouting, ‘Can’t we do this?’, Her sword was swinging more and more irregularly and fiercely.
It wasn’t only Alexandra and Daisy who wanted Evan not to get hurt. Iris, too, couldn’t hurt the man she invited.
Nevertheless, he straightened up again, gripped her sword and shield, and glared at Oksana in front of her.
“Ah…”
Even if you lose, there is nothing you can do about it. Fighting itself has meaning. You just have to do your best until the end.
Those light words contained such a desperate and noble will.
But even that was not tied to anything.
Promise with the empire and national interest, or money or honor. Nothing could bind him and make him fight like that.
That is, doing everything in your power to be happy. Looking at the smile that leaked out from his serious expression, I could clearly see it.
“This is it.”
Fighting to stand on the same level as the person you love. Without being restrained by anyone, they fight to earn their own living.
The ‘reason to become a gladiator’ he had heard passed through his mind.
When I first heard that story, I thought it was a man trained as a spy in a foreign country making excuses. He didn’t even think to listen properly.
However, no matter how you think about it, it was sincere.
‘I… What did I do?’
There are people who fight like that for no reason, just to be happy.
Compared to that, Iris’ life was no different from that of a fugitive.
Since the life of the royal family who did not become emperor would be miserable, she became the princess.
The life of a woman who has never met a man will be miserable, so I became a woman.
She is She She doesn’t even think about what she wants, she just clings to her façade of relationships and places.
There were many times when I said ‘I will become an emperor’, but I never truly wanted it.
After she created a ‘reason to become emperor’ that the elders of the imperial family would like and that the citizens would like, through her own advice, she just memorized it and spit it out.
“Ugh…”
Iris’ eyes trembled. Maybe she knew from the start.
The time I met Logan was not happy at all. Logan did not love her and had no intention of committing to her.
She did not have the heart to want Logan ‘to that extent’, so did she. It was an unfortunate encounter.
It was just a meeting between a ‘man with a good lineage from a foreign country’ and people looking for a ‘woman who would become emperor’.
Of course, Logan didn’t even try to keep the minimum line. However, even if he respected her ‘just a little bit’ more, it would not have changed her fundamentally.
She would have been emperor, and would have carried her babies in Logan’s arms until they healed a few.
If he fulfills his duty, the duty of bearing her child, Logan will embrace another young and beautiful woman instead of Iris, and Iris will have to play ‘a harmonious family’ with him.
On top of the fake happiness created like that, she must have sent false consolation to herself.
‘Everyone else wants this, right?’
‘Getting out of here will only make you unhappy.’
‘How many things do you want so much that you can’t be satisfied right there?’
There were a number of factors that would infuse her fake satisfaction. Iris, she would have admitted that.
In the gaze created by others, she must have accepted the life with humility because she lived a ‘satisfying life’ created by others.
“That’s no way…”
Iris’ blurred eyes opened again.
Something I really want, something worth loving.
It is not something that other people like and acknowledge, but something that I myself can consider happy even if I have this.
When Iris opened her eyes, what was immediately reflected was a gladiator fighting even after she had shaken off all thoughts.
Evan was in front of her.
/////
“Hiyap! Heeah! hehehehe!”
Her spirit was so cute, I couldn’t tell her not to shout because she was out of her mind.
However, it was not a very relaxed situation.
I feel like my legs will break at any moment. The left arm holding the shield was throbbing, and the rough breath had already reached its limit a few minutes ago.
Just by receiving the kitty punch from the tiger wearing the mask of a cat, my body kept knocking on the wall of its limits.
Can’t win. It didn’t have overwhelming swordsmanship, but it had power and sense that made it questionable whether it was necessary in the first place.
It is pointless to waste time. It seems like she’s rampaging wildly, but it’s meaningless to fight her with her stamina.
Even if I block all of her attacks, no, even if I avoid them, my body will reach its limit first.
But, at some point, she got used to her kendo.
It was a sword that was insanely fast and put pressure on me countless times, but at some point I saw a pattern like a thread.
I did not miss that opportunity.
“Hey?”
“Haaa!”
It was the final blow that gathered the remaining strength. After letting her sword flow to the shield, she struck with the barely created margin.
This was probably the first time he had ever made a proper attack.
All of my attacks were blocked by the shield or blocked by her sword and faded away.
Clashing sword to sword against a sword that was difficult to block even with a shield couldn’t be said to be an act of winning.
In order for me to win, it was a choice I had to make inevitably.
I did not cross swords with her simply to outlast her. I did not endure this just to become a human punching bag and block her attacks.
My sword swung hard, hitting her side.
“Uh… Huh?”
“Ouch!”
Success. Certainly, there was a valid hit.
Perhaps, I might have been caught off guard by that fact.
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Oksana’s right shoulder, which was screaming in pain, slammed into my chin as it slammed in front of her.
In my fading consciousness, I analyzed my pain.
I forgot how many times I had a sword fight. This fight is not a fight that ends with one effective hit.
Not being able to catch Oksana’s physical bullet charge, which reflexively rushed at me, was my mistake, which has no room for excuses.
‘Still, because I ate one shot…’
I smiled, which might be a bit ugly, and slowly fell to the floor of the gladiator arena.