I Became an Outcast in the Academy

9. Branch (7)

Kaaang!

“… Pfft!”

The swords thrust out with all their might intersect.

Objectively speaking, Xian is stronger than Ellie. However, recently, after Sian restored Ellie’s ‘talent’, she has achieved rapid growth again over the past few days.

The Ellie of a few days ago and the Ellie of today were people of such different levels that they could not be compared in every way.

I was sure. If it were me now, I would definitely be standing on equal footing with Xian.

But, as I face my sword like this, I automatically realize it.

Even though the power of each other’s swords is equal, the fact itself is that Xian is still located at a much higher level than Ellie.

Xian’s sword swings towards Eli’s vital spot. It’s been a long time since I figured out the trajectory of Xian’s sword and its power.

So, blocking that sword attack is an easy act. All you have to do is defend at the correct timing.

But.

“… “Ugh!”

I thought it was definitely blocked, but it wasn’t. Xian’s sword penetrates her defenses and penetrates her body as if it were a natural thing.

At the last moment, she twists her body to avoid being pierced through a vital point, but in the end, she cannot avoid being left with a scar.

I had the wrong idea from the beginning.

Her and Xian’s skills are by no means equal. There was already a huge gap between him and her that could not be bridged.

“… That’s funny. You probably didn’t think that my skills were similar to yours, right? Have you already forgotten? Who taught you the basics of swordsmanship?”

What Xian said was right. Aside from the differences between men and women, she and her cian were identical in everything, from the way they held the sword to the way they wielded the sword.

In the past, Xian was the one who taught swordsmanship to Ellie, who used to wield a sword only by relying on her instincts like an animal.

So, Ellie can never defeat Xian. Because it is the law of the world that fakes, which are originally derived from the real, can never surpass the real.

Kaaang!

The blows struck with all their might collide in the air. When Xian’s sword and Ellie’s sword interlocked, sparks flew and they began to push against each other.

But while Sian didn’t even lose her breath, Ellie couldn’t even breathe properly and she was desperately trying to block his blows.

Although it was blocking Xian’s sword, blocking the sword at the same time was its limit.

If the strength used for defense were released even just a little, Xian’s sword would definitely cut into Eli’s body.

When their swords were crossing each other, Xian suddenly looked at Ellie’s face.

And then she suddenly clicked her tongue towards her and opened her mouth.

“I guess I had too high expectations.”

Xian looks as if he sincerely despises Ellie.

“I thought you had some plan since you boldly challenged me to a duel. “If not, I thought they would have planned some kind of scheme or plot to trap me.”

But I thought that didn’t matter either. No, on the contrary, such modifications would have been even more welcomed by Xi’an.

This duel was the last opportunity that Xian gave to Ellie, who was cornered.

He could have made Ellie pay for betraying him once upon a time, but what fun would it be if he had already beaten off 10,000 of her tails?

So, Xian had already given Duke Orphega a special order not to interfere in this duel.

However, Sian’s efforts were in vain, and Ellie was so foolish that she just lunged at him without any plan.

Even though she knew very well that if they pitted their swords against each other head-on, her current self would never be able to surpass Xian.

“… That’s why. That’s why I decided to challenge my brother fairly. I knew it from the beginning. “The fact is that there is no chance of me winning this match.”

“… What?”

Even though sweat was running down her back and her breathing was already broken as she was trying to block her cyan’s sword, Ellie said this while throwing her sneer at her cyan.

“Although it may seem at first glance that I threatened my brother to set up this duel, I knew that he was actually showing me his final mercy. “If I had borrowed the power of the woman who fell in love with her brother in the first place and turned her eyes upside down, the whole situation could have been resolved a little more easily.”

Ellie’s eyes look at her eyes. In Ellie’s eyes as she looked at her eyes, there was a faint, but hateful feeling.

“Nevertheless, the reason you accepted my duel request was… To take revenge on me directly with her own hands? My brother was always like that. She pretends to be nice on the outside and pretends to be a victim, but in fact, there are several times when she acts crueler than anyone else in the world… “

“You’re shameless about the topic you started first.”

“You already knew that I was shameless. “I had long since given up all my pride when the girl who saved her life shamelessly sat in her house instead of paying her brother.”

Ellie was giggling and smiling, but she wasn’t smiling as much as her eyes.

The words she was saying at this moment, and the words she would say in the future, were all her sincerity.

“Do you know this? Actually, for some reason, I hated my brother from the moment we first met. My brother had something I didn’t have. “My brother was born and raised in the same situation as me, and I felt like he was going crazy with envy for my brother, who always shined.”

It is meaningless. Ellie continues to shout, even though she knows full well that the words she is saying are as empty and worthless as anything else.

“That’s why I wanted to win. I wanted to surpass my brother just once. Even if it is an unforgivable method… I wanted to beat my brother… !”

They had all lived miserable lives without parents in the lowest place in the world, but one lived like an animal and ended up lying on the cold street waiting for death, while the other was four girls in the same situation as herself. He even took responsibility and took care of her until the end.

Although the starting point was the same, the endings they faced were very different.

What is the difference between the two of us that makes one shine as dazzlingly as a star in the night sky, while the other is unable to completely shed the temperament of living like an animal?

“That’s why I betrayed my brother. If things continue like this, I will never be able to overcome my brother, so I will have to follow him while looking at his back like I always did, and there is nothing I can do except be jealous of my brother in my heart like I always did… !”

Even if I thought about it, I knew better than anyone else in the world that it was a lame word.

But I have finally realized it. The fact that this was his true intention that he had been hiding until the last moment.

Lobelia, Leticia, and Sepia may have betrayed their brother for her own gain, but Ellie believes that she has been swayed by the opinions of other women for no particular reason and has been swayed by the opinions of other women. I thought it was a betrayal of my brother.

But it wasn’t. It was a feeling that she had buried deep in her heart and denied until her last moment, so she only now realized it.

She realized that not only this time, she was the kind of woman who was ready to betray her husband at any time if she had the chance.

“So I have absolutely no regrets. No, I can’t. Her brother had made a mistake. You shouldn’t have picked me up off the street that day. You shouldn’t have saved my life. “If that were the case, the girl who saved her life that day wouldn’t have repaid her kindness like this!”

Jeojeok.

The moment Ellie uttered those words as if crying, the sword she was holding began to crack.

It was the limit. It was no longer possible to block her Cyan Sword with Ellie’s power.

“… Ah.”

The sword I was holding crumbled like a cookie. At the same time, Xian’s sword rushes toward Ellie’s heart.

Even though she clearly knows it, she cannot react. She knows that if she continues like this she will die, but she has no way to avoid death.

But in her last moments, the feeling she felt as Ellie saw her rushing sword was relief.

Boo!

Xian’s sword pierces Ellie. Ellie just watches with blank eyes as the blood flows down her sword body.

Surprisingly, I didn’t feel any pain. Should I say that it is a blessing in disguise.

Blood flows from the corner of her mouth. But she doesn’t even think about wiping the blood away, she gently licks her mouth.

I liked the duel with Xian. Because she came here knowing full well that she couldn’t win anyway.

From the beginning, she came here only to say this.

“… Brother. “Are you listening to me?”

“… Uh. “I’m listening.”

“To say I’m sorry… I won’t bother. I’ve done too many things to my brother to say such embarrassing things. In the first place, trying to be forgiven by someone just by saying sorry is… “I also think it’s irresponsible.”

If you’re going to apologize, why did you do it in the first place? If I hadn’t done something like that from the beginning, I wouldn’t have had to apologize.

In Eli’s opinion, apologizing was just a thief’s mentality of doing something wrong and then trying to get forgiveness from the victim later.

And if she apologizes now, won’t all the times she felt jealous and inferior while looking at her brother over the past ten years become meaningless?

So she doesn’t apologize. Even for her own pride, and for Xian’s feelings. Never.

“Be careful of Lobelia and Leticia. The two of them… She doesn’t just have an ulterior motive to drive her brother out of Luthra, she’s trying to take advantage of her brother. So, just like they did to me, never fall for their provocations… “

If her brother, who defeated her so casually, is defeated by Lobelia and Leticia, Ellie’s reputation will be lost, so for her own sake, her brother must win.

And since I don’t like Lobelia and Letesha so much, I never want to see them doing well.

It was really selfish, but that was Ellie’s true intention.

“… Brother, I hated you, I hate you now, and I will hate you in the future. And I don’t regret anything I’ve done. But-“

I can never say anything more than sorry. No, I don’t want to do it. But… I know at least how to take responsibility for my actions.

Using the last of her strength, she forcibly brought up the remaining mana in her body and concentrated it on her right hand.

Ellie holds with her bare hands the sword of Cyan that is piercing her own body. And taking strength into her own hands –

Boo!

Her blood rushes. The sharp blade splits Ellie’s body and cuts her torso in half.

She doesn’t know if her brother will be satisfied or not, but she wants him to know that this was her best.

“I was all wrong. So, sorry… “