Chapter 136 - Episode 24: I Shall Prepare a Fitting End for the Loser!
As I caught Chris's sword, I was surprised by the sheer strength of his power.
...I felt the weight and impact in my hands much more strongly than I did during the Martial Arts Tournament.
Was Chris weak during the tournament because he was in a state of tension and confusion, or is the current Chris touching upon madness and exerting his power without restraint?
Chris, having lost the hoops of his reason, appears to be a more formidable foe than ever before.
...This looks like it could be fun!
The speed at which Chris swung his sword was incredible. It was just like Onii-sama's iron pipe. Dodging it by a hair's breadth, I put a significant amount of distance between us.
...Then, Chris immediately stepped in to pursue me. An aggressive stance, I see!
"This is troublesome, I can't find an opening..."
As I grumbled while somehow dodging the thrusts he unleashed, Chris didn't even bother to answer, immediately launching into his next thrust.
"Oh, honestly!"
What fell then was lightning.
The lightning that struck Chris didn't exactly wound him, but it certainly robbed him of his vision. After all, lightning is quite blinding.
I cannot let the time Keeb created for me go to waste. I quickly withdrew from the spot and retreated to the shadow of a rock where Keeb was beckoning me.
"How thoughtful of you. Thank you very much."
"This isn't the time for 'thank you'! Violia! That arrow from earlier, wasn't it a poison arrow!?"
Oh my. I thought he was approaching me with a demonic expression, but that was what he was concerned about?
To be sure, the arrow is stuck firmly in Chris's arm, but Chris is perfectly fine.
"No, it was not!"
Therefore, the answer is 'no.' The arrow I fired at Chris was a normal arrow. I didn't use a single drop of blood. If it had been a poison arrow dyed with my blood, I would have already won by now. Ohohohoho.
"...Why? Because it might have hit me?"
"No? It was for a completely different reason."
Now then, shall we end the break here? It seems Chris's vision has returned by now.
"Now, Keeb, Lital. You two leave this place and go reinforce Doran's side."
"...Are you sure?"
"Yes. You may leave Giovan alone. I predict he has no soldiers with him. Even if he does, do not go that way. You are to go to Doran's side."
"No, I'm not worried about Giovan. I'm worried about you, Violia!"
As Keeb spoke irritably, Lital stepped forward from the side with a very anxious face.
"Violia-sama, I..."
"Lital. Your job is not to stick to me. If you understand, hurry along to Doran and the others. Please take care of things here after you've finished over there. I am more than enough for this place on my own."
Now then. There is no more time. Without waiting for their reply, I leapt out toward Chris.
Chris noticed me immediately and attacked, but behind me, Keeb and Lital had already started running. Chris's sword, his attention momentarily diverted toward them, became a somewhat spineless stroke.
"My, is it alright to be looking away?"
Seizing that momentary opening, I unleashed a thrust.
My target was Chris's arm. My sword slipped into the gap of his gauntlet and wounded his arm!
Of course, I don't have the skill to slice an arm off. Chris also immediately shook off my sword and shifted back to the offensive.
...However, for a swordsman to take a wound to the arm is quite a blow. Pain, no matter what, dulls a human's movements. The more wounds I inflict, the closer our victory becomes.
"Come now! Over here!"
While avoiding Chris's sword, I took a large distance.
Then, when Chris closed the distance again, I took distance again, and when he closed it again, I took it again...
Little by little, bit by bit, I moved our position.
We began fighting on the southern road, but as we moved from there toward the road on the opposite side of the Royal Capital, the trees became more numerous.
As obstacles increase, it must be difficult for Chris to fight. Chris has surely hunted monsters before... but this might be his first time dealing with a human in such a place. For him, whose specialty is fighting in a beautifully maintained arena, this is undoubtedly a disadvantageous battlefield.
...Furthermore, Chris, wary that traps might be set here, has clearly slowed his movements!
Yes, how very clever! That's right! To him, this is enemy territory! Even if Chris, the invader, had no proper preparation, we had over a month to prepare! It is perfectly reasonable to assume that a trap or two would naturally be set!
...However, if you ask me, being wary of traps that you don't even know exist, and slowing your movements as a result... is putting the cart before the horse. I believe it is the one thing you must never do.
To become passive out of fear of risk. That itself is the greatest risk. Therefore, the correct behavior here... is to discard the risk of traps and charge right in.
"What is the matter? Surely you don't intend to say you cannot fight calmly in a place with many trees?"
As I provoked him, Chris's suspicions seemed to deepen even further. In other words: 'Since she lured me here and is provoking me so blatantly, there must absolutely be something in this place.'
Because of that suspicion, Chris's movements have become completely dull. Even when I slash at him, he is entirely on the defensive.
...In the middle of the fight, I am somewhat conspicuously avoiding certain parts of the ground and not touching certain trees... but that, too, seems to be material that strengthens Chris's suspicion.
"What a remarkably spineless sword stroke. Aren't you being a bit too cowardly?"
"Silence! You coward!"
If you think I'm a coward, you shouldn't have gone out of your way to come fight in this coward's territory.
"...Look. Another strike has landed, hasn't it?"
While mocking him appropriately, I succeeded this time in threading my blade through the gaps in Chris's armor and slashing his flank.
...It seems Chris is finally starting to panic. The more wounds he takes, the less he can fight. Chris should understand that well.
"Now, where shall be next? The leg? The chest? Or... yes, if you wish to offer up the eyeball I 'overlooked' at the Martial Arts Tournament, that would be fine as well!"
Therefore, I give Chris one more provocation here.
Chris, who was already in a state driven more by madness and impulse than reason, seemed to recall many things he didn't want to remember at my words.
To him, the defeat at the Martial Arts Tournament must be one of the top one or two stains on his life.
...And for Chris, that stain must be incredibly effective. After all, it is because of that stain that the current Chris is leaning toward madness.
"I will kill you, no matter what! For the sake of the country, I must kill you here and now!"
"My, you say 'for the sake of the country,' but I wonder what exactly this 'country' you speak of is."
I somehow parried and dodged Chris's sword, which was unleashed with terrifying speed, and somehow slipped under the next strike.
As I thought, Chris is much stronger when he's tinged with madness!
...But, I shall go even further beyond that!
"I'm not telling you to work for justice. I'm a villain myself, after all."
I kicked a pebble toward a section of the ground I had been pointedly avoiding until now.
Doing it casually, to the end. ...But that very casualness creates a mystery, you see.
It means my suspicious behavior was successfully captured by Chris's careful observation!
"However, just one thing. ...The thing you truly wanted to protect wasn't the country or appearances, was it? You value your own status and fame, don't you?"
"Silence! A mere arch-criminal like you, speaking as if you know anything...!"
Chris seemed to show a bit of agitation, as if trying not to listen to my words. My, how truly clumsy. He really is just a noble who lives by lining up pretty words. I don't hate the arrogance of nobles, but being unable to recognize arrogance as arrogance is simply being a fool.
"...And yet, being unable to admit that you love status and fame is clumsily unsightly. You should just be open about it instead."
Seeing my movements until now, Chris must have thought I was going to activate some kind of trap. He changed direction and took distance just as he was about to step in.
...But behind him is the very tree I was blatantly careful not to touch.
"It's not bad, you know. Status and fame. Why not? Yes, I love arrogant people, you know? I'm the same way. Be arrogant. Be strong enough to be permitted to be arrogant. ...Yes. If you are not permitted, it is because you are weak!"
By the time Chris realized, it was already too late. I threw a stone at the tree behind Chris.
"If you have a complaint, defeat me! If you cannot win, crawl miserably and die! You are the one who chose a way of life that basks in the spotlight by trampling over the weak. Surely you've long since had the resolve for this!?"
Following the stone that flew toward the tree, Chris's gaze moved.
Amidst the suspicion of not knowing what would happen, his attention was pulled in various directions, and his vigilance tightened, but no matter how much it tightened, dispersed vigilance... is of no use at all.
When I slashed at him then... Chris's reaction was delayed.
"...And, regarding your clumsy and comical way of life, just one last thing."
For just a moment, our blades locked.
But that, too, was only for a moment.
"If it were me, I would have done it much better."
In the next instant, I had sent Chris's sword flying. Ohohohoho!
Chris looked dumbfounded.
'I thought Violia Nico Fortesia would use some kind of trap, but nothing happened.' He has that kind of face.
Of course! After all, even I don't know about the existence of traps around here! Even if there were traps, I can't use what I don't know about!
"Now then, this is the end."
I lunged my sword toward Chris, who had stopped moving the moment his sword was deflected, and just like a reenactment of the Martial Arts Tournament, I stopped the blade just a hair's breadth from his eyeball.
Chris, finally unable to move, and I, pointing my sword at him.
...Then, applause broke out.
"My, quite a fine display of skill, Violia. You've grown."
"Onii-sama! Were you watching?"
Onii-sama, who emerged from the shadow of a tree, had a broad smile on his face. To receive words of praise, it was worth the effort!
"But listen, young lady. Please, from next time, don't wander around where someone has set traps."
Oh, I noticed Giovan had also come out. ...He really is good at hiding, isn't he...
"Could it be there were traps around here too?"
"There were. There definitely were. And I was the one who cut them. Honestly, if the young lady had gotten caught in them, it would have been a disaster."
Well, thank you for that. ...Well, it went well, so the process doesn't matter!
"Anyway, young lady. What happened to the talk about reinforcements coming to my side? I was all alone and lonely, trapping and processing the soldiers who came by every now and then, you know? If there had been a few more soldiers, I might have died, you know?"
"My. I thought things would work out because Onii-sama was there."
"Fuhahaha! A brilliant reading! My dear sister! That is exactly right! Judging that the direction opposite the Royal Capital would be thinly guarded, I moved that way!"
Oh, as I thought. It seems there was no need for worry! Ohohohoho! My reading was perfect!