chapter 47
47 – #47. An unexpected reunion (1)
A fleeting moment.
Laura’s pupils wavered as she couldn’t keep up with the situation.
I wonder what happened.
She wonders if what she is seeing now is reality.
Bewilderment was visible in the eyes that had been looking down at me so firmly.
… The fragments of the broken sword slowly float in the air and disappear from our sight.
‘This has to end…’ !’
Now that she was embarrassed and showed her weakness, this was an opportunity.
If it’s not now, it’s an opportunity that will never come again.
Once again, she raised the Auror sword in her hand above her head.
And.
I squeezed out all my remaining strength and struck down.
-Spot!
-Chaaa!
A momentary optical illusion is created, as if light is swinging in a straight line.
Crescent moon.
It was a crescent moon created by the mastery of the horizontal cut that had been practiced tens of thousands of times in the family’s training hall and academy.
Laura, who was facing the crescent moon up close, suffered a sharp cut on her upper body in the direction the crescent moon was bent.
Immediately, it received a huge impact and was thrown back due to the recoil.
-Boom!
“Cough!”
She spits out her blood.
He rolled on the ground and hit his body several times, and finally hit his back against a tree, causing considerable damage to the inside of his body.
“Whoa, whoa…” .”
I also didn’t have enough strength to stand up anymore.
But… It shouldn’t have stopped here.
I haven’t completely finished her yet.
-Whaaa!
A blue light appeared, and the lower part of the rising aura was tightly grasped again.
And then, with difficulty, he approached Laura, who was leaning against a tree and gasping for breath.
One step.
Two steps.
Every time I approached, my trembling leg joints screamed.
She had consumed too much of her magical power, and the side effects of overusing her body were only now appearing.
‘Not yet… !’
She had to finish Laura before she got any more nervous.
… The moment I thought,
‘Huh?’
My vision suddenly curved to the side and rapidly descended.
Her hand also strangely lost strength and lost hold of the handle of the magic stone sword that was emitting aura.
-Dang!
The magic stone sword that was lost became a hilt that no longer gave off aura and fell to the floor.
At the same time, my body too.
The tension went away and I fell helplessly to the side.
‘… ‘What happened!’
I opened my eyes so wide that blood vessels appeared.
I tried to stand up again… The body didn’t respond.
The limit has been reached.
Has not only stamina but also mana run out?
It was difficult to even breathe due to the burning pain in my lungs.
Of course, no words came out. Her whole body hurt as if it had been pricked by thousands of awls.
‘I wish I had moved forward for just 3 more seconds…’ !’
Laura, who was leaning against her tree and lowering her head, looked at me and said with a grin.
“… “Are you tired?”
And then I start to get up again.
Has he recovered in the meantime?
It was a monstrous regenerative ability. I’m sure he would have inflicted fatal injuries.
Sword Master was not only worth his name.
Her magic circulation power to restore her body was incomparably faster than mine.
“Ugh….”
However, she also walks with a limp, as if the damage she has received has not changed.
Soon it passed me by.
Toward the fallen Rosaria.
“Now that things are like this, transportation is impossible… I’ll finish it with my own hands… !”
When she reached Rosaria, she picked up a half-broken sword.
Holding the tip of the sword with both hands, she aimed at the heart, as if trying to stab it.
“Stop…” Leave it!”
She barely managed to squeeze out her voice and shouted at her.
I knew this wouldn’t stop her.
All I could do was hold out her hand.
‘The body…’ ‘Don’t move!’
Possibly spine, leg joints. It seemed like there was serious damage to the arm muscles.
I tried to force myself to move, but my body didn’t listen.
“It took so long…. Because of your incompetence… From the time we suffered damage until now… !”
Laura continued, shaking the broken sword in her hand.
“Thinking of the children who died… Atone for the rest of your life in the afterlife, incompetent princess… ! “It’s over now!”
After that.
Laura tried to push the sword with both hands and throw it at Rosaria.
I was devastated and stretched out my hand towards Rosalia.
For that short period of time, the illusion occurred that all surrounding sounds were blocked.
Laura’s eyebrows gathered in the center, probably because she was excited.
Rosaria is still unconscious and unconscious.
Very slowly.
The broken tip of the sword gradually got closer to Rosaria.
The moment Rosaria’s skin touched the sword and I thought it was over.
-Deeng!
“”…… !””
A strange thing happened.
Laura’s upper body also tilts as she loses her balance and follows the sword that is about to fly away.
In the blink of an eye, someone suddenly appeared and struck away Laura’s broken sword with all his might.
A brown robe that completely covers the body and face.
I felt relieved that Laura wasn’t dead, and for a moment, I thought another member of the Dark Demon Church had appeared.
“You’ve changed a lot in the time I haven’t seen you. Young master.”
Soon, all my thoughts were interrupted by the words the person spoke.
A friendly voice.
Luxurious yet calm.
… Since I have been hiding my identity since the first day of school, I haven’t heard a word in a long time: Young master.
There is only one person who refers to me as Young master and uses that tone of voice.
But why?
My mind was confused.
Near the red light district, at this early hour.
She was traveling around the country, but she appeared here at the right time and struck down Laura’s sword?
I couldn’t believe it.
But.
As she pulled back her hood, my doubts were all but gone.
The smile hidden beneath the robe is soon fully revealed.
Long gray hair that is tied on one side and goes down to below the shoulder.
A beautiful doll’s face with dramatic double eyelids and a sharp nose that looks calm.
The atmosphere of holding a sword is elegant.
… I knew she was right.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Iris… sir… ?”
To me, who didn’t even know how to eat a herb.
Another sword master who taught swordsmanship in the Dukedom until the day before school started.
It was Iris.
*
“Iris… ! Why are you here… !”
Laura took a deep breath and gave a resentful look to Iris, who suddenly appeared.
I was finally able to end my long revenge.
It was the last time I would see the faces of my family who died on the outskirts of the empire.
She appeared.
Now that she is here, she can no longer kill her princess.
“Get out of the way… !”
“I don’t think that will work.”
“If you don’t get out of the way, I’ll kill you… !”
“Let’s give it a try.”
“…… !”
-Chaeng!
Laura swung the broken sword at Iris at a speed so fast that it was hard to believe she had taken any damage.
However, Iris easily blocked it.
-Tukwahak!
The collision of sword strikes so fast causes the surrounding air to swirl.
It was a monstrous force that seemed impossible to come out of their delicate bodies.
As both of them are sword masters, their ability to apply sword pressure using only their physical strength was incredible.
With the swords facing each other, Iris activates an aura.
-Hukwaang!
-Crispy!
Then, even the short blade that was still hanging on was shattered.
What Laura was holding was no longer a sword but a sword hilt.
“aaah!”
Laura threw down the sword with the hilt and swung the two daggers she had pulled out from somewhere on her clothes at Iris in succession.
The speed is difficult to follow with the eyes.
But Iris reacted with the same speed and knocked them all away.
-Chaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejaejae!
As she watched Laura continue to swing her dagger wildly, she could tell that her composure was crumbling.
“Why…” . Why are you blocking me! You know… You all know how my family died because of that b*tch… !!”
“… ….”
Iris silently blocks that and looks at Laura.
Soon Laura spun around and took her next move.
It was the secret intention of the Bukgeomryu.
Swordsmanship using minor swords such as daggers or double swords.
The northern sword style is said to be a mean and barbaric swordsmanship mainly used by the lower classes, but in fact, Laura was more skilled at it.
Because she was from the bottom slums.
It was then.
-Chaeng!
Two daggers fly in the sky.
Laura lost her dagger in Iris’s sword strike.
Laura is clearly a sword master like Iris.
There was no change in his status as a national treasure.
But….
It was an overwhelming difference in skill.
As if Iris saw through Laura’s herbivorous nature, she destroyed them all.
“Ugh… !”
Laura missed the dagger and took a wide backstep, widening the distance between her.
Then Iris, who had been silent, finally spoke to Laura.
“… If you try to find the object of your resentment, there is no end to it. In the end, it will only become the seed of another resentment.”
“How can you talk so calmly like it’s someone else’s business…” ?! “You know that her family died horribly because of that incompetent princess!”
“So you want to become the same monster?”
“I will do anything, be it a monster, if I can kill that princess!”
Xian, who was eavesdropping on their conversation while lying face down, was embarrassed.
Of course, Xian did not know the past circumstances of the two.
To find out why Laura wants to kill Rosaria so much, she has to go back to when she was young.
The intersection of orphanages.
An orphanage located on the outskirts of the Lyanna Empire where Laura and Iris grew up together.
Xian, who did not know this, could only wonder about Laura’s hatred and admire Iris’ swordsmanship.
“… Okay. “I mean, it’s interfering.”
It was that moment.
An ominous energy crept up from Laura’s body.
Xian had felt this energy before.
Dark horse.
A lump of magic that nourishes people’s lives.
“… “You’re already a monster.”
Looking at Laura, who had black demonic energy surrounding her entire body.
The serenity on Iris’s face cracked.
Slightly frowning eyebrows.
After the smile she gave to Xian, the change in her expression was.