[352] A Swordsman's Conviction (4)
"Is that the skill of a swordsman who just turned twenty?"
Kuan was deeply impressed by Lai's swordsmanship.
Not only precise, but exquisite. If two bloodlines ran through the Ozent house, there was no question this was the age of the black-haired line.
"Huff! Huff!"
Rian drew breath in quick succession and propped the greatsword up with trembling arms. The greatsword he'd swung every day for a year, except when eating, had never felt this heavy.
He's lifting it. He's lifting it up.
Lai's eyes twitched. The black greatsword bearing down on him slowly began to rise.
Does he still have strength left?
After the shockwave from the sword tremor hit, there was no reason his body should still have power. Lai tried pressing down with more weight, but an immense force pushed him back so strongly he couldn't even think about blocking.
Sensing something ominous, Lai released his blade and widened the distance.
At the same time, Rian swung and pushed himself up. He tore off his ragged shirt, revealing muscles taut and bulging.
Lai took in Rian's condition at a glance.
His recovery is incredible.
To transmute a divine transcendence that surpasses the body's limits into a perfected technique requires more than ordinary asceticism. From the feedback, Lai could imagine how brutal Rian's training had been.
"I'll admit you did your best. But it's me who leads the family."
Lai used his external gravity to circle to Rian's flank. He aimed for the exposed right arm and swung his black blade.
Under normal circumstances that would have prompted a defensive posture.
Instead, Rian opened his guard and hoisted the greatsword vertically.
What the—?
Thoughts flickered through Lai in an instant.
Give up flesh to take bone? Or is offense the best defense?
Neither made sense. A greatsword is inevitably slower than a short blade.
Then Rian's greatsword, leaving afterimages, dropped straight down at Lai's brow. It was a bizarre acceleration that defied common sense.
Lai snapped his body aside, generating a muscle vibration. Following his external gravity, his body slid in a semi-circle and left the radius.
But before he knew it, Rian's greatsword was trailing behind, making the air sing.
"Damn! What the hell is that?"
Lai barely evaded by a hair and felt his scalp prickle. He had almost lost his head.
Reina, watching the fight, began to pace anxiously.
The more the two clashed emotionally, the stronger their killing intent grew. If this kept up, one of the brothers might end up dead.
"We can't let this continue! We have to end the duel."
"We can't do that. Neither Rian nor Lai would want that."
Reina turned to Tess, disappointment in her voice.
"Tess, no matter how much you want to protect Rian, this isn't the way. Those two are fighting as if they mean to kill. You should never have let Rian do this from the start."
"It's not because he hates Lai."
Tess still remembered vividly the night she went to Rian's dorm with a late-night snack and heard those terrible groans through the door.
"Rian pushed past his limits every day. And at night, he was in so much pain he felt like dying. He'd bite a rag and stay up to endure what felt like his body breaking apart."
Tess's face trembled as if she might cry, and Reina had no answer.
Even though they were family by blood, Reina couldn't understand the pain Rian had endured. Only those who'd chosen the same path of the sword could.
Lai's kick struck Rian's solar plexus. Rian sailed through the air, tumbled across the floor, and steadied himself on bended knees. He looked as if the blow had hit a vital point.
The coldness drained from Lai's face.
As time passed he felt Rian's defense hardening. He realized he was being swept up in emotion. That irritated him.
"You idiot! Why can't you see you can't handle this! Know when to stop being stubborn!"
Rian rose slowly and leveled the blade at Lai in the same stance as before.
"Bring it on."
"You really are—!"
Killing intent bloomed in Lai's eyes. The ominous aura radiating from him reached those standing at the edge of the training ground.
Lai's full-power movements were like facing a demon. Fast and precise, his swordplay began to tear at Rian's flesh, and Rian's motions gradually dulled.
The gap in skill was clear. No matter how hard one tried, there was a gulf of talent that couldn't be bridged. Yet the clearer that gap became, the angrier Lai grew.
It made him furious that the family pinned their hopes on such a pathetic fool. Rian had no future. Swordsmanship not backed by technique was just showboating.
"You stupid son of a—!"
Lai deflected the greatsword with exquisite technique and spun a kick that whipped Rian's head like a top.
For an instant he thought Rian's neck had snapped, then the body rotated with the head and rose before crashing down with a thud.
Lai drew ragged breaths and glared at Rian. Even sprawled he looked pathetic. With a solid strike to the jaw, he'd probably be unconscious until tomorrow.
"Kukuku."
Rian's lungs heaved. He slowly raised his head and tore his mouth into a grin that stretched toward his ear.
"That was ticklish. Do you think something like that can kill me?"
Lai was dumbfounded by Rian's zombie-like stubbornness. Then, with a look of contempt, he spoke coldly.
"Kill you? Do you even deserve to be killed?"
Rian's eyes snapped wide.
"You think you need to kill Grandpa's precious youngest grandson? There's no need. I can just beat you until you lose consciousness. Understand? You have no skill, no talent—you're just the youngest son in a sword family. A pathetic idiot, that's what you are!"
"All right!"
Rian curled his whole body and shouted.
"I am a pathetic idiot!"
He charged, swinging the greatsword. Even a stout heart would balk at approaching after hearing the wind it made.
Lai hastily raised his black blade. Bang! The greatsword slammed down, the shock running up to his knees.
Rian met the blade and shoved his face forward.
Seeing Rian's mouth split toward his ear, Lai wondered if his brother might not be sane.
Should he let this continue? Should he call a healer now?
"Mock me all you want. I've heard it my whole life. Call me pathetic, call me a fool. Scorn me, disregard me, heap insults on me. Still, I—"
Rian drew the greatsword back and took a full-swing stance.
"I will never stop!"
A hallucination made the greatsword seem dozens of times larger; Lai went pale. His brain, picturing an overwhelmingly single strike, shorted out and the expected cutting routes tangled in his head.
"YAAAAAAH!"
At Rian's kiai, Lai's gaze dropped.
The ankle!
Reading the blade's trajectory late, Lai jumped.
The greatsword gouged the earth as it passed; a slab of flattened soil rose like a mat.
A black line ran across the center of that slab. With a crack it split in two and Lai sprang out, cutting through the ground.
But waiting for him was Rian's next attack, lifting the greatsword again.
Lai was startled by a combo that ignored prior momentum. Rian arched his torso like drawing a bow, and a gust skimmed Lai's chin. Every hair on his body stood on end.
"I hear nothing! Even if everyone mocks me, I will only advance!"
Rian pressed Lai forward, spitting out all the resentment he'd held.
For the first time since the duel began, Lai was on the defensive, and the family—even Kuan—showed alarm.
Rian…
Reina's eyes softened with pity.
He'd grown up always compared to the older brother two years ahead. Honestly, even if she'd picked up a sword, she doubted she could have beaten Lai. Maybe she'd used music as an excuse to foist the burden of the blue-haired line onto Rian.
"The blue-haired line always produces a lot of troublemakers," Reina said, lips pursed as she looked to Klump.
"The black-haired ones tend to do their part. They're rational and cold. Blue-haired types are often unpredictable—single-minded and stubborn. So when a blue-haired becomes head of the family, it's a lottery."
"Grandfather was blue-haired too, and still—?" Tess asked.
"Kukuku. Surely the presence of rowdy blue-haired members is one reason the Ozent house stayed second rank. But if you look back, the name Ozent became known as a sword family because of the blue-haired line."
Klump watched Rian hurl the heavy greatsword like a storm.
"He doesn't detour. He doesn't look back. Even if he shatters when he collides, the will to push through—that is the blue-haired conviction. I don't know how far Rian will go, but when he finally turns back and looks, his path will be a straight, unbroken line."
"YAAAAAA!"
Rian attacked with nothing but offense; Lai couldn't even think of meeting blade with blade.
It didn't feel like facing a person. Lai couldn't shake the feeling that something absolute lurked behind Rian.
Divine transcendence? Power of the mind?
A spark lit in Lai's eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous!"
Lai launched himself like a spring and met Rian's blade head-on. Sparks flew as greatsword met black blade at the center of their locked gazes.
Only after the savage impact transmitted through the hilts did Lai come to his senses. He'd been more excited than he realized.
But his senses were already slipping from his control.
What is this? Even stupidity has its limits.
As he pulled his external gravity behind him and backed away, Rian lunged like a wolf and snapped at Lai. His motion—dropping suddenly in front of Lai as if given backspin—defied normal inertia.
When the greatsword neared his face, Lai twisted his ankle and spun. Simultaneously, with the sole of his other foot he stomped down on Rian's Achilles.
"Grrk!"
Twisting like a writhing beast, Lai sprang up and drove the black blade into the rear of Rian, whose knee was bent. The movement came from a trance—no thought of life or death remained.
"Rian!"
At Tess's cry, Rian twisted his torso.
From that unnatural stance he swung the greatsword wide with one hand, and the black blade flicked, sending Lai's arms flinging behind him.
"Wow…"
An involuntary exclamation escaped Lai.
His center was utterly broken. Yet Rian had flicked away his vertical cut with one hand—pure strength.
No, it's beyond that.
The laws of action and reaction didn't apply to Rian's blade. An absolute force that ignored physics was embedded in every stroke.
Haa.
Shirone exhaled the breath he'd been holding. Watching Rian drive Lai back, his chest burned hotter than any swordsman's.
"Tess."
Tess turned to Shirone, her face drained white with tension.
"Rian has really grown strong."
At Shirone's acknowledgement, Tess finally broke into tears. She knew who Rian's ascetic training had been for.
Her voice choked and she could only nod over and over.
"YAAAAAH!"
Rian swung despite the pain that felt like his body breaking. Lai no longer retreated; he parried every attack Rian pressed forward.
If this was transcending the body's limits, it wouldn't last long. If he could hold for this one more moment—no, withstand one more strike…
Lai felt his patience snapping.
Damn it! When will this end?
In that instant a thought flashed through his mind.
Ah—
He finally realized what swamp he'd sunk into.
This guy… he's a fool.
At the same time, Rian's greatsword struck Lai's black blade from below.
A metallic twang, and pain twisted Lai's finger joints. Muscles seized, his grip opened, and the black blade spun and rocketed up into the sky.