31 – Episode 3. Unintentional attention is rejected. (9)
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“Wow!!”
It was a short match to see each other’s full skills, but it was enough to excite the people in the audience.
Furthermore, the sight of Rina giving Mine a blow was the greatest surprise that defied all expectations so far, so I couldn’t help but feel even more interested and entertained.
The people who shouted mercilessly encouraged the two to fight, but among them there were those who stared at the sparring hall with serious faces.
‘Just now…’ ….’
‘…… It seems like some people have noticed too. The movement just moments ago was clearly a movement using energy. ‘I didn’t see it wrong.’
The knight who was watching the referee from above the sparring hall was confident as he reviewed Mine’s movements.
‘That was a move that couldn’t have come out of common sense. Not only does it change the center of gravity in the opposite direction, but it also accelerates once…….’
The referee’s gaze moves from Mine to Rina after being inwardly impressed. He looked at Rina standing facing her, and she let out a sigh of regret as if she were sorry.
‘This sparring will probably be a one-sided victory for Princess Mine. No matter how good your swordsmanship is, there is a huge gap between those who feel energy and those who do not.’
While the referee was predicting the ending of the sparring match, Mine, who was frowning at the discomfort that seemed to be weighing down her whole body, heard an unknown tinnitus in her ears.
「I don’t want to die… ! I don’t want to die…… !」
「If anything, I will kill you…… !」
Mine shook her head from side to side as the sound echoed in her own head. She took a deep breath without taking her eyes off Lina.
‘From that day on, whenever her life is threatened, this is what she says.’
She clenched her trembling hands against her will. Her heart beats rapidly and cold sweat seeps out from her back and soaks her underwear.
‘Let’s calm down. It’s different now than then. Lina Spawn isn’t trying to kill me. There’s no need to kill them.’
She consoled herself and regained her pace and straightened her sword. Just like before, she observed Lina without rashly approaching her.
Lina was also paying her attention to figure out Mine’s next move.
‘Anyway, is that the Lina spawn I know? ‘It’s completely different from his aggressive appearance.’
Again, Mine glanced sideways at Abel, who was sitting in her audience.
Mine clicked her tongue when she saw her handsome face that caught her eye wherever she went.
It felt strange to see him, who was full of fun in everything and insulted the nobles with his light words and actions, watch the sparring seriously with all his laughter removed.
‘I see. Since Abel Sirius has changed, does Lina Spawn also change? I don’t know what caused the sudden change of heart, but first, I have to defeat Lina Spawn.’
Mine, whose pride was hurt by her unexpected attack, opened her eyes wide and devoted all her mind to sparring.
She could not admit anything else but her defeat. For her, her defeat meant her death, she said.
She blatantly revealed her fierceness and put all her power into her sword.
Kugugugugu—!
The illusion that the atmosphere is trembling.
No, it was not a mistake. In fact, the surroundings were shaking.
The shouts that had been pouring in just a moment ago died down at some point and became silence.
‘This…’ Mine’s power…… ?’
Lina realized how much of a gap there was just by looking at the energy Mine gave off.
“Ha….”
A listless laugh, born of desperation, inadvertently leaks out of her mouth.
‘Really, like Abel said, I might not be able to win in my life. But.’
Lina took her stance in preparation for Mine’s attack.
‘That’s not the case now.’
Mine tiptoed her toes slightly towards Lina. It was a very small preparatory movement, but it was enough to accelerate.
And when Lina saw that, her pupils dilated. Her hand holding her sword tightened and she got into a stance of counterattack.
‘It’s coming…’ !’
However, by the time Rina saw Mine’s movements and reacted, it was already too late.
Acceleration beyond expectations.
Mine closed the distance between her in an instant, forcing Lina into her sword range. As her movements became faster than before, Lina decided that she could not avoid them and sharpened her trajectory.
Pakan!
“Pfft!”
Lina is pushed back by Mine’s attack.
Even though she only hit it once, her face is distorted by the numbness that makes her whole body vibrate.
Boo!
I dodged the next attack, but the next attack came through the gap.
Kang!
‘Damn… ! I told you to avoid it as much as possible, but—!’
Kaang!
Lina’s mind began to drift little by little due to Mine’s repeated attacks.
‘How do you avoid these attacks in succession?!’
Lina managed to block Mine’s attack by sharpening her edge, but the wave created by the powerful blow took away the strength of her grip.
At that moment, Lina almost lost her sword as her hand became weak, but she was able to barely hold on by hooking her fingers around the handle.
But Mine swung her sword at Lina without any mercy, and when she decided she could no longer block, she jumped behind her and took a big bite of her body.
Boo!
She raised her sword in preparation for Mine’s next attack, but Mine did not attack Lina any further. She just quietly pointed the tip of her sword at Lina’s chest.
Tuk!
The moment Lina lowered her head in puzzlement, the decoration connected to her clothes fell to the floor.
“This is the same. Lina spawn.”
“The princess really has a personality that doesn’t like to lose.”
“That’s right. “I don’t trust anyone.”
Mine said self-deprecatingly and lowered her sword.
“…… Yes?”
Lina tilted her head to one side. This was because Mine’s answer felt like a response to her classmates.
‘That’s why I have to remain stronger than anyone else. ‘Don’t let anyone try my life again.’
Once again, Mine charged at him recklessly, and Lina dodged her sword strike with smooth movements. But she couldn’t avoid all of Mine’s attacks.
Although Mine was not aware of it, she was secretly using the energy engraved on her body.
Kang! Boom! Boom! Kang! Kang!
When she could avoid it, she boldly cut her body, and when she could not avoid it, she struck back with her sword. She didn’t forget to counterattack whenever she got the chance.
Lina was barely able to keep up with Mine based on her experience fighting the Force, but her range was gradually widening.
The reason why Rina was able to avoid Mine’s attacks until now was because the movement of her blue water stream was irregular, and she had not yet adapted to it.
So, she was barely able to counterattack amid Mine’s barrage of attacks, but through her back-and-forth attack and defense, Mine was learning Rina’s movements.
She wasn’t called a genius for nothing.
“Huh… ! Huh… !”
A rough breath escapes from Lina’s mouth.
She was receiving countless powerful blows from her Mine while using Lina Ryu, which drained her vast stamina.
Even if the impact did not directly hit the body, it was natural for breathing to become disturbed.
‘Damn. ‘It can’t go on like this.’
She did not like the pace of being dragged one-sidedly by Mine’s faster movements than she had expected.
But even though she knew that, she couldn’t think of a way to regain or break the flow that had completely gone.
Pakan!
“Ugh!”
My body is greatly pushed back by Mine’s blow.
‘Now I can’t even see a chance to counterattack… ! But you have to hold on. If you hold on…… The opportunity will come.’
Even as she thought that, she realized. The more time passes, the more disadvantaged she becomes.
In this way, nervousness arose in Lina’s mind, and even her concentration, which she had been trying to maintain, was disrupted.
Kang! Kang! Kang!
‘Once… ! Just once…… !’
She held on desperately to get her chance, but regardless of Lina’s will, her body had reached its limit.
In the end, Lina, who became impatient, rushed to Mine to create a variable for her, and she inadvertently made the fatal mistake of using the familiar Spawn style instead of the Lina style that Abel had taught her.
Spawn type—「Counterattack」.
It was a technique to hit and cut in response to her opponent’s attacks, but it was a technique that was difficult for Lina, who had lost her strength, to use.
And as if she had been waiting for that, Mine swung her sword cheerfully.
Kaang!
Lina’s arm was lifted wide by Mine’s upward thrust. Rina’s torso is completely exposed to Mine’s strike, seeing her clear opportunity.
Her arm strength, which had been lost as she had already been hit several times, could no longer protect her.
“It’s over. Lina spawn.”
She saw Mine’s sword heading for her own throat and sharpened Rinagai.
‘What should I do—!’
The moment Lina saw her sword aimed at her own neck, her memories of training with Abel came back to her.
* @ *
“I think I know everything else, but why is this so difficult?! Why do I have to spin around while practicing swordsmanship? “Am I a ballerina?”
Abel laughed at the absurd complaint.
“I never told you to spin around, right? “I told you to move her body according to the sword’s trajectory.”
“Do you know how easy that is?!”
“Who said it was easy? That is the completion of Cheongsanyusu. “I’m saying this because I can’t do it.”
“Why is it complete?”
“The number of possible movements varies depending on whether you can do it or not.”
Abel took her towel and threw it to Lina. She took it in and wiped away the sweat from learning her steps.
“Spawn style is a sword art of counterattack, but strangely enough, counteruse is not covered as much as expected. “That’s the biggest blind spot of spawns.”
“So you’re saying that the swordsmanship our spawn family has been using so far is wrong?”
“I don’t want to say that swordsmanship is right or wrong. “Just because you’re fighting back doesn’t mean you have to fight back, right?”
“But…” ….”
“Okay, if you understand, let’s try one more time.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“I understand… ….”
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At the memory of her passing like a flash, Lina reflexively took a long stride. Lina, with her center of gravity on her toes, moves with almost the same speed as the trajectory her mine traces with her sword, wrapping her pivot feet flexibly.
Lina Ryu—「Cheongsan Yusu‧Return」.
The basis of Rina-ryu, which even has a single-hit killing ability.
‘This is the completion of the Cheongsanyusu that Abel taught us…’ … !’
Lina took advantage of the small gap she had created and thrust her sword at Mine’s neck.
The two men’s swords moved towards the other’s neck, and all movement stopped with the swords touching each other’s necks. All that could be heard was the sound of the two people breathing heavily.
The referee, the people watching the sparring, and the sparrers Lina and Mine said nothing for a while.
In this quiet atmosphere for a long time, the first person to break the silence was none other than Mine.
“Lina…… !”
Mine couldn’t close her mouth because of the cool energy touching her neck. She slowly turned her squeaky head to see what was touching her own neck.
It was Lina’s sword that did not break even after being hit so hard.
“I reached it. Mine.”
The referee watched the fierce battle between the two and wondered whose decision he should listen to.
Although the attack was aimed at the opponent’s neck at almost the same time, the referee was aware of exactly who had the upper hand.
‘If it was a sparring where we risked each other’s lives…… This sparring is the victory of Princess Spawn. Although it was just a little bit, the princess’s sword reached the princess first.’
After completing the judgment, the referee raised his hand high in the sky to announce the result of the sparring. And then he shouted with all his might.
“Win! Lina spawn!”
“…… Wow!!”
A beat later, cheers and applause erupted from the audience.
Everyone was surprised and impressed by the greatest surprise brought about by a reckless challenge. Everyone applauded and praised Lina for breaking expectations and creating new results.
Lina slowly lowered her sword to the cheers of those around her. Mine looked at Rina blankly and pursed her lips.
“Ah… ….”
In an instant, Lina’s buried emotions rise. She looked like she was about to burst into tears, biting her lower lip tightly and hurriedly looking around the audience.
The person she would find first was decided.
As soon as I saw a familiar man standing in a certain place, the corners of my mouth naturally went up.
“Abel… ….”
When she saw Abel smiling and putting his thumb up, only then was Lina able to shed a single tear.
· * * *
[The quest ‘Let’s teach the wicked woman a lesson.’ Has been completed.]
[Rewards are strengthened by your unexpected actions.]
[From now on, Lina will achieve superior growth as long as you are by her side, and she will trust and love you once again.]