Episode 192 Battle for Power (2)
The training ground was plunged into silence.
A cold wind blew between Abel and Saki. Abel was the first to open his lips in the silence.
“You want to have a go at it? Why?”
Saki was silently following the path of the bowstring. The answer was already decided, and all you had to do was say something. In addition, there was an unspoken pressure not to ask why.
A look of bewilderment came over Abel’s face. At first he was shocked, but after a while he became speechless.
‘Yeah, that’s how Saki was originally.’
The reason Abel was uncomfortable with Saki was because of her self-righteous attitude. She would just blurt out her own business like this.
It’s not like she only did that to Abel. She just treated everyone the same.
The cadets did not dislike Saki because of her equal treatment. On the contrary, many cadets thought she was cool. She treated everyone coldly regardless of their status, so everyone was equal in front of her.
I did have some similar conversations with Weapon, but that was it. Once I finished what I wanted to say, I finished the conversation without looking back.
Saki basically doesn’t reveal her true feelings, except to one person.
‘… I always smile when I’m with him.’
Abel narrowed his eyes and looked at Saki. A feeling of disgust rose to his vocal cords and scratched his throat.
Abel crossed his arms imperiously and asked back.
“I came here for personal training. There’s no reason for me to accept a match when you don’t even tell me why. And it’s quite unpleasant to come to the training ground with such a purpose.”
Saki shrugged and shook her head.
“Excessive self-consciousness. Abel, you don’t know because you haven’t been to the training grounds lately, but I’ve been here all the time. The decision to have a fight was made on the spur of the moment. The reason… I don’t want to bother saying that. So I’m going to do it, I’m going to say it.”
“…under.”
Abel, who was so shocked, let out a hollow laugh. How can someone ask for something like that? It was as if he was the one who was asked, and he was rude. A small crack appeared on Abel’s face.
‘I would like to agree and help him learn from that attitude, but… … .’
It was too much to accept, because it was going according to Saki’s intentions. Then, I would end up getting involved with her. Furthermore, there was the issue of pride, and the reason and purpose were unclear, and even the justification was unclear.
The true meaning of sparring is respect for the opponent. This was a sparring that did not satisfy anything.
‘It would be better to just reject it here.’
Just as Abel was making up his mind, another person entered the training ground. It was Yoo Se-in.
“Why is he… … ?”
This was unexpected in its own way. Just as much as Saki, if not more, the person who was far from the training ground was Yusei. Saki also seemed surprised by her appearance, as if she had been unexpected.
The already ambiguous atmosphere became even more ambiguous. With Abel and Saki’s gazes focused on him, Sein somehow stood between the two. Sein’s pupils were still black. The only person with an iris color like that was Kang Geum-ma, after all, because they had a relationship. It was set that Yoo Se-in and Kang Geum-ma were relatives, and everyone believed them because of their black eyes.
Se-in looked back and forth between the two people. Then, as if he had read the mood, he smiled faintly.
“I can judge.”
Se-in rummaged through his pockets, then took out a whistle and blew it.
…Why are you carrying something like that? Abel and Saki had the same question. In any case, the judge had already appeared. Se-in looked at Abel and Saki with his eyes.
‘Not starting?’
It seemed like if I left, they would lose. After a moment of panic, Abel’s eyes quickly became sharp.
Even though it was a bit reckless, the situation encouraged sparring. Although I didn’t know the purpose of the sparring, I didn’t really have any reason to avoid it.
Abel wrapped both hands around the hilt of the sword. He took a deep breath and collected his momentum. He stood tall in the center as if the blade was cutting her left and right. It was an implicit acceptance.
“What is the sparring method?”
Saki hung the quiver on her shoulder without changing her expression. The arrowheads were all sharp and pointed.
“What are you talking about, Joaquin Academy. Of course it’s subspace sparring.”
* * *
“What the heck is this situation… … ?”
It was the words that came out of my mouth right after I arrived at the training ground. I could sense the presence of people even before I entered. I entered without thinking much about it, but a combination of three people who didn’t seem to fit at all greeted me. Abel, Saki, and Sein.
Moreover, when I entered, a temporary subspace curtain was deployed. This means only one thing. Subspace duel. At first glance, the duelists were Abel and Saki. The person holding the whistle seemed to be the referee.
‘Isn’t it too much strength for a sparring match?’
Sparks flew between the two, and a sharp glare shot out of their eyes. Tension filled the training grounds, heightening the atmosphere.
‘Living? Before? No, that’s… … .’
It was a fighting spirit. But it was a bit too much… If I had to make a comparison, it was like a beast baring its teeth to grab its prey. I don’t know what it was, but it seemed like the target it wanted to grab was firmly entangled.
If not for that, I wondered if the air current could be this fierce. The gazes were something close to obsession. They were determined to defeat the opponent and win.
‘Suddenly I got chills… … .’
As I was sneaking out of the training grounds, my eyes met with Sein’s. Abel and Saki were so focused on each other that they didn’t have time to look at me. Of the three, Sein was the only one who noticed me.
Se-in’s black eyes stared at me intently. Having seen so many different colored eyes, they seemed strange. However, that may be because Se-in is the most subtle character to me.
That was how the brief staring contest with Se-in ended. She raised the corners of her mouth while holding the whistle. And she spoke to me with just the shape of her mouth.
‘Where are you going? We have to find out the cause of the fight. Who would want to see that?’
“…what?”
Before I could answer, the whistle blew sharply.
[The duel between Abel von Ibelung and Ryozo Saki will now begin.]
[May the protection of the hero be with you.]
* * *
The moment the mechanical sound signaling the opening fell, Abel jumped. In a fight with an archer, the most important thing is the gap between the two. If the distance is wide, this side is at a huge disadvantage. However, if you close the distance, you gain that much advantage.
Abel, who had reached the point in just three steps, swung his sword at a low trajectory. This was a subspace duel. He struck without hesitation in his sword strike.
‘If you only subdue the legs, street fighting is impossible.’
The blade aimed for the lower right. Saki lightly lifted her right foot. The moment the blade got close to the ground, the foot that had risen stepped on the slope of the sword. It looked like a few of the tip of the sword was planted in the ground.
Abel swallowed hard. There were very few cadets who could respond to her attacks. At best, there were only Kanggeomma and Leon.
‘I didn’t see it and reacted to it.’
This was predicted. In fact, Saki inferred this movement from Abel’s small actions. Breathing, muscle twitching, shoulder shrugging. If you can read the natural human body habits with your eyes and move first, you can respond no matter how fast.
However, all of this was possible because it was Saki. Because she had to do the collation and calculation in seconds with her incredible body vision.
‘shit.’
Abel, who had come to his senses, raised his head. Saki aimed an arrow right in front of his nose. He had to dodge. If an arrow flew at close range, the duel would have ended there. However, the attack came from an unexpected direction.
puck.
A heavy blow. Saki’s left foot hit her stomach directly. Abel’s upper body was thrown forward as if it was about to shoot an arrow. It was an illusion.
The additional attack came straight at me. Saki swung her bow like a club. I had to let go of my sword to dodge. But then the fight itself would not work out.
So Abel willingly gave up one of his shoulders. There was a cracking sound of a rib. A sharp pain paralyzed his right arm.
“Ugh.”
A thunderclap echoed in his head. Abel, who almost lost consciousness, quickly grabbed his sword. The blade suddenly came out and struck upward from below.
A bloodline was engraved on Saki’s chest, and blood flowed out. I didn’t expect that she would give up one of her arms.
Abel gained momentum. The high-flying blade reached its peak and fell.
Saki leaned back as if leaning forward. The blade sliced vertically through the space where she had been. If she had been absent-minded, the sword strike would have split her limbs in half. She was barely alive.
Saki felt a chill and hurriedly kicked away. Abel followed.
‘To spread the distance.’
There was no hope up close. There were only one or two times when he could predict the next move. The opponent was Abel. There was no way he would allow a trick like an illusory technique to be used multiple times.
Saki was clearly aware that she was inferior in physical strength, reflexes, and technique. Even knowing this, she applied for the match.
That didn’t mean he gave up on winning.
‘Just once is enough.’
Saki ran away from Abel. She kept firing arrows at him as she ran.
Abel initially dodged the arrows, but as time passed, she simply swung her sword to deflect them. The arrows were imbued with a blessing, but she also manifested a blessing. A blessing that was equal to, or even greater than, Saki’s.
The outline of the workshop was slowly revealed. While Saki’s movements became increasingly sluggish, Abel flew around. Although one shoulder was crushed, the victory was tilted toward Abel.
The distance quickly narrowed. Soon, the blade rushed toward the back of Saki’s head. The enormous physical ability felt like a huge gap. However, inertia is proportional to the speed.
‘I was aiming for this moment.’
Saki took a side step. Her feet slid as if on ice. A blind sword passed over her head.
As soon as the spine-chilling cracking sound stopped, Saki almost collapsed on the floor. Then, she pulled back the arrow.
As soon as the arrow reached the center of his lips, he released his grip. The sharp arrowhead flashed and aimed for the space between his eyebrows.
Abel was running at me so fast that I had no time to dodge… … .
Crack!
Saki’s eyes widened in shock. Abel was biting the arrow with his front teeth. Blood was welling up at the corner of his mouth.
Because of the inertia of running, evasion and counterattack were impossible. So, he decided to bite it with his teeth. Abel’s eyes were filled with venom.
Saki immediately fired an arrow. Since it was shot in an unstable trajectory, Abel was able to dodge or knock it away without difficulty.
The arrows fell without any strength and bounced off the floor, walls, and objects.
Abel flew forward. Light spread across his sharpened blade. Saki was curled backwards in front of his nose.
It was the moment when Abel was confident of victory over his completely defenseless opponent. Abel’s pupils dilated.
“Abel, you are running too fast, looking straight ahead.”
Saki smiled faintly.
“You have to live with some consideration for your future. Otherwise, you’ll get hit in the back of the head like you did just now.”
Bang. Bang. Bang. An arrow reflected in all directions aimed for Abel’s nape. The blade fell smoothly at the same time.
“Even if you lose, don’t feel too bad. Think of it as a matter of luck from here on out.”
“… … !”
An undetected arrow, a blade that strikes like a wall.
The two girls faced each other’s fate, feeling as if time was slowing down.
