"His momentum has clearly changed."
Her fingertips sticky with the fear of death.
How long had it been since the hand that gripped the sword had become so soaked with sweat?
'…Maybe, for the first time since I fought that demon.'
Coincidentally, this opponent was also a high-ranking demon.
If not for Hans's quick thinking, she would have paid dearly for her carelessness.
The similar pressure made her knees go numb.
"Scared? Hahaha, that would be natural. You human bastards. This form — it's like I've turned back the clock to my prime!"
Perhaps he had vaguely guessed that they were at least a little terrified.
With the cocky tone and power grown even stronger, he strode toward them.
"…Hmph. Come, then, if you dare."
She was about to grip her sword tightly and respond—
"Well, scared, you say. Looking at your pathetic form, I think the only one here who could feel such emotions would be a similarly pathetic succubus."
"…Hans?"
—At the indifferent reply from beside her, not only she but the opponent, who had been in a fighting stance, froze.
"What!? Who — who said Revine was scared!?"
"Queen, you'd better put your hand to your chest and speak with a conscience. Think about that scream you let out not long ago."
"It's your fault! You dragged me into this place, into this match, when I have no combat ability!"
The woman snapped at Hans with insolence. She felt, briefly, the space between the man's brows dip inward.
"…You say my form is pathetic?"
But before she could dwell on that, her attention snapped back to the Revine warrior.
"What do you know to be spouting that? A third-rate who only excels at dodging!"
An overwhelming aura.
The fighting spirit that poured from it.
Even with the roar that froze all the fleeing students and herself, Hans didn't even twitch an eyebrow.
"Well, isn't that so? A warrior who should always advance forward is instead hamstrung by past glorious days. No development at all. Tsk, what a pity. Revine has reached as far as he can."
Rather than flinch, he mocked with that usual supple tongue.
That very provocation — the familiar sight that goaded the opponent — made Luciana, as if the earlier fear had been ridiculous, snort a laugh without realizing it.
"…How dare you!"
"Oh my. You seem to have been struck at a pressure point."
As Hans hurriedly backed away, a heavy blow crushed the place where he had stood.
'I never thought he'd smash the sparring arena itself like that.'
The training arena had been specially treated so that even if the strongest students threw their all at one another it would not collapse.
For him to have shattered it so easily—
If a direct hit were to land, there was no way anyone would survive. Its power was unquestionable.
"What do you know! You who grew more and more obsolete, to know anything about me who only had time as an enemy, what do you know!?"
At first glance it was a roar threatening the opponent, but Luciana could sense something else inside it.
A cry of despair embedded within.
"You brat don't know. Day by day my muscles thin, my bones weaken… Age for a warrior is nothing but shackles! To see the essence of my techniques that overcome that and then spout worthless evaluations!"
As a fellow warrior, Luciana could guess his feelings.
A warrior who always holds an aspiration to improve and dreams of the next level—if that is blocked by aging and mortality, how bitter that must be.
Perhaps his anguish could be something that might visit her in the future.
But… she only understood. It was not something she could empathize with.
"Oh ho, indeed. So because of that, your mind's barrier has instead regressed like this."
And as if echoing that feeling, her attendant answered.
"Regress? What a joke. You who can't even properly mount a counterattack?"
"Well, directly meeting your brutish strength head-on would be a fool's errand. If anyone could contest you at all, they'd collapse soon enough."
Hans's eyes turned toward her as he spoke. He acted as though she were the suitable person.
"Yes. I know full well you surround yourself with those who will overcome such petty problems with passion and effort."
A gaze brimming with boundless trust. How could she not repay that?
She stepped immediately between him and Revine.
—Clang!
It was heavy. The sound was not what one would expect from a clash of fist and sword, and along with it came a wave of force. To avoid being pushed back, she gripped the hilt with her sweat-slick hand and spoke her mind.
"Revine warrior. There is not an inch of error in what he says."
"…Ha! Let's hear what the descendant of a great warrior has to say."
As if she had earned that right, the demon momentarily lowered his fist and folded his arms.
In that posture there was contempt for Hans, recognition toward her, and a confidence that he would never lose.
'How arrogant.'
Was youth worth so little to him? Enough that he would discard the sharp strike that had earlier mixed caution with experience.
"…I understand. Surely senility gnaws at one's strength and makes a warrior anxious."
"Exactly! As expected from the descendant of a warrior. Unlike that fool who has no reflections on martial ways…"
"But I think you're mistaken about something."
She had not walked the path of the sword for very long. Still, she knew better than anyone that his thinking was wrong.
And no wonder.
—Rusi, you have talent. When you hold a sword you should hesitate, but do not fear.
The counterexample had been nearer to her than anyone.
Perhaps it was not the dusk yet, but her father's years could well be called past his prime.
Yet he remained.
The title of Sword Saint.
The unchanging standing and honor.
Even if age thinned muscles, weakened bones, and above all reduced the aura lethal to a swordsman, it still proved that he remained the empire's strongest swordsman—someone no one could catch.
"Strength is not realized only in direct confrontation. It's a pity you cannot see that and are lost in youth."
"Bah, you speak as if you were great, but you're no different from that bastard. All you do is block and dodge!"
Once more, a crimson aura-swathed palm strike flew.
It was heavy. Clearly, in sheer power it was an upper-level hit compared to before.
However, the heaviness was only that. The finesse that had made his attacks difficult before had crumbled under all that force.
"Haha, you lot hide in your caves like gargoyles and curl up flat, but your mouths are alive and well!"
"…Still haven't noticed, have you."
On the surface it looked that way. She had changed the shape of her sword to a greatsword, lowered her stance as much as possible, and was only deflecting or evading attacks.
She could not launch any solid counterattack. If she were swept away by that storm of force, defeat was certain.
'But blocking it is not that hard.'
The off-beat strikes that had been difficult to counter were long ago turned into blows relying solely on power.
Even the spinning strikes that could come from unpredictable angles were too straightforward.
It was like watching the demon that once attacked Speda Castle.
There were differences. If that demon knew nothing of technique, the present one gave the impression of awkwardly reproducing the skill he had originally possessed, suddenly afforded great strength.
'If this were a normal sparring, my stamina would slowly be whittled away and I would have lost.'
This was not sparring.
It was a desperate duel with real blades. A war between humans and demons.
One could not insist on fairness in such a place.
Right now, withstanding and buying time was enough. This place was an academy, not the demon's territory.
"It seems that when you grow young your judgment falls as well."
Like her attendant, she pursed her lips and teased the opponent. She pinched at his most sensitive part—his youth.
"Everyone, pay attention!"
From the collapsed stands below. Professors seriously wounded here and there. Students who had just received treatment and were rising. It was a truly dreadful sight, but paradoxically, it was an opportunity.
"In the heart of the central region, where the future trees will grow — in the very center of the Empire — a demon has appeared. And yet why do you stand idle?"
The opponent was a monster. Clearly one of the Four Heavenly Kings directly under the Demon Lord.
But conversely, the demon was a rat in a trap.
Yes, its power was high. In this world, one strong could crush dozens or hundreds of weak.
'But the professors and students here are not simple weaklings.'
Most of them were nobles who had received early education and were proficient in handling aura and mana.
Though they might be crushed horribly in one-on-one combat, if they swarmed together they could at least hold his ankle.
If the elderly warrior Jaihin were here earlier, even if the opponent were numerous he would have used that to his advantage. But the current 2nd phase was intoxicated by strength and would not even consider that. It was the same in the original story.
'Besides, with all this commotion, that old man will arrive soon enough.'
One enemy. Many allies.
Considering the opponent, it was dangerous, but it looked like a fight worth trying.
"But…"
"It's a demon we only heard of in rumors. How can we beat it?"
"Even professors were taken down in one blow…"
It was frustrating. To the ones showing no spirit, she clicked her tongue and pointed one finger.
"Look over there!"
What her fingertip pointed at was a girl slight to the point of seeming fragile, facing a huge demon with a single sword.
'…Fragile, are you? Who am I to judge a beast like that.'
She was gracefully redirecting the overwhelming gusts and fierce aura-laden palm strikes with fluid form.
"Lady Luciana is holding him back on our behalf! With your small help, even a demon could be defeated!"
She shot a glare at those who represented the Emperor faction in the stands.
"Crown Prince! Your fiancée is in such danger—are you going to start by running away?!"
"Ah, no. It's just that I—"
To the Crown Prince she put the onus of his position.
"Kaspera sisters. I address you. The Emperor faction is putting effort into defending this sacred place of education. Shouldn't you aristocratic faction also be fulfilling your duty?"
"...."
To the aristocrats she appealed to their pride.
"Lady Pannel! As former student council president and as the representative of the seniors, please make a decision! The juniors are giving it their all!"
"…Evacuating the students should be priority. But leaving the rear to the juniors is not the attitude we should take."
To the seniors she appealed to their pride.
After creating a stage from which they couldn't back out, she bowed slightly in closing.
"Please, lend your strength! With all of our power combined, even if the opponent is a 'high-ranking demon' we can defeat him!"
Driving off a high-ranking demon would be a boastworthy achievement, and some of the nobles' expressions changed.
"Ugh, suddenly an ice sheet…?"
The frost magic that appeared was of a dimension far beyond what she had imitated. The caster glared at her.
"…Hmph. Even if you hadn't said anything, I would have stepped in. I don't intend to hand the glory of demon-slaying entirely to the Emperor faction."
At a single glare they would quickly cower and tremble — the theatrics were excellent.
Once one provocateur joined, the heat spread among the students in an instant.
"Lend your strength to Lady Luciana! Don't let the noble faction beat you!"
"Combine the power of lightning! Thunderball!"
"Lucy! Hold on a little longer! Fire Arrow!"
Various nobles' magic showered into the sparring arena.
Thus, the prelude to a counterattack began.
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