Chapter 783: The present young nobleman 2
About an hour later, Dianne stood in the grounds of General Lucas’s mansion, holding a curved sword with a blade drawn. General Lucas also held a curved sword. Although such matches were usually fought with wooden swords, General Lucas had said, 「We won’t be able to exchange many blows with such fragile swords」, so they had agreed to use real swords instead.
“I know it’s none of my business, but please be careful”
When I whispered this to Dianne, she lowered her eyes and shook her head.
“It’s not none of your business. The difference in our skills isn’t as great as you think”
“……Is that so?”
“You’ll see. That’s Aurora’s older brother, after all”
Dianne said this, but she remained relaxed as she shouldered her curved sword and stepped forward. General Lucas made no move to defend himself, letting his sword hang limply. But as Dianne said, if you watched him without letting your guard down, there was indeed no opening to be seen. I’m no martial artist, but I imagined various ways Dianne could attack him and judged whether I could intuitively see a decisive blow. I couldn’t see a way to exploit General Lucas’s weakness and finish him with a single strike.
“I don’t feel like I’m going to lose, though”
“You wouldn’t stand a chance, Naris”
“That’s true. Captain Dianne’s attacks are incredibly varied……from orthodox sword techniques to martial arts that clearly go beyond the use of a sword, she constantly attacks the limits of her opponent’s ability to respond. The only people who could go head-to-head with her are Bonaparte, the Holy Sword Saint, and Grand Knight Lister from the Kalwin Incident, right? If it’s just a match, then Knight Berga and Knight Levinia might be good contenders”
Naris’ analysis is sharp, considering that she sometimes gets beaten up when she barges into practice.
Actually, I do know who Knight Chief Berga is, but who is Knight Chief Levinia? Is there someone that strong?
Ignoring the whispers of the audience, Irina stood casually between the two and thrust her hand forward as if to divide the space between them.
“This is just a contest of skill. Fight a battle that will not shame my eyes. Do you understand?”
“Yes”
“Yes”
General Lucas and Dianne give short replies, and Irina slowly steps back and lowers her hands.
“Begin”
Contrary to the tension in the air, her declaration seems somewhat slow. Neither of them attacks immediately. Irina is near the center of the ring. If they swing their swords with full force, they will hurt her. I wonder if this is meant to cool them down, I think as I watch their movements alternately. The distance between them is about 6 to 7 meters. It’s a little too wide for the start of a match, but for them, it’s already a matter of a single step or a single sword stroke, and even the slightest opening could be fatal. However, there are no openings. Moving at this point would only give the initiative to the opponent. Slowly, without compromising their reaction speed, they move their feet while watching each other’s moves.
At this point, it becomes clear that the Ace Knight team is in a different league from Dianne. Against Anzeros and Aurora, Dianne would have charged in more recklessly and fought with ease.
……Just as Irina moved away from the middle of the two and crossed her arms to steady herself.
“This is too boring. Let’s do something flashy”
Dianne rearranged the curved sword she had been carrying in one hand into a proper stance and stepped forward. General Lucas reacts. The step forward seems shallow, but she cleverly maintains her distance with a diagonal leap, not exposing herself to Lucas. Lucas almost falls for it, but he resists, lowers his sword, and follows Dianne’s movements……no. Just as he turned to face her, his body floated into the air. It wasn’t just a feint, but a step to distract her consciousness with a compact shock wave at close range.
“You……!”
General Lucas floated in the air while spinning his body like a top, regaining his balance……from there, he launched a surprise attack on Dianne from the air, tracing an unnatural trajectory.
“He flew!? Didn’t he just do something like a birdman!?”
“Ho. It’s magic. He must have created a foothold in midair”
“That’s cheating!”
“Calm down, Naris. You’re an elf, so it shouldn’t be that difficult”
“No, I can’t do it! I can’t even create light!”
I tend to forget this, but magic seems to be surprisingly easy when you try it.
Even if it’s difficult to fly through the air like a birdman or a flying dragon, creating a platform for one step seems to be something that can be done on the spur of the moment.
Thus, General Lucas and Dianne, who had come to a standstill and were now within striking distance of each other, began a fierce sword fight.
At this stage, it seems like Dianne has the upper hand……but surprisingly, General Lucas is not giving up.
“No way. He’s stopping Dianne’s rush!?”
Naris reacts to everything. General Lucas coolly parries Dianne’s relentless slashes. I can’t see everything with my own eyes, but Dianne’s attacks are by no means one-dimensional. She uses both her body and the hilt of her sword to attack, but each time, General Lucas skillfully dodges and avoids injury.
……He’s concentrating on defense. He’s deliberately letting Dianne attack. In an instant, the tables are turned, and now Dianne is on the defensive. Dianne doesn’t seem to be in pain, but she’s clearly unable to land any effective blows.
“……Ho. So that’s Aurora’s older brother……”
“Laila”
“At that level, he’s learning and assimilating things at an alarming rate. He’s not just clumsily imitating others, he’s expanding his techniques on the spot”
“……The longer this goes on, the more dangerous it gets”
“It might be. But Dianne doesn’t seem to be without a strategy”
The offense and defense switch again. They parry each other’s rushes. The reason they can’t find openings in each other’s rushes is probably because Dianne has a lot of tricks up her sleeve, while General Lucas is highly creative. The screeching of swords echoes continuously through the green-tinged blue sky. But.
“……Ah, I see”
Finally, a difference appears between the two. General Lucas is a genius. He’s even more talented than Aurora, who showed such growth. His fighting ability is even more based on talent than Aurora’s. ……In other words, he doesn’t rely on effort as much.
“……Ku……!”
“He certainly has the raw material, but……he’s still just raw material”
No matter how many dozens or hundreds of sword strikes she endured, Dianne’s sword speed and footwork never faltered. She remained calm despite performing what seemed like non-stop movements, her stamina seemingly endless. However, General Lucas’ sharpness began to visibly decline at a certain point. He began to lose more sword fights. When it becomes difficult to swing at the correct angle, it affects the durability of the sword. For example, if the blade is struck flat, the sword will easily bend and lose its center of gravity. A sword swung with an off-center balance loses significant power and puts excessive strain on parts that are not meant to bear such force. A few exchanges later, General Lucas’s curved sword broke and flew away, revealing his weakness.
“Guaa……!!”
“That’s enough”
General Lucas protested, breathing heavily, but Irina silenced him with a cold glance.
“Know when to quit, Sky-Blue Prince. ……This is no disgrace. No one in the Northern Forest has ever made it this far against Dianne”
“……Ha”
It was meant as a consolation, but it was the truth. It was rare for anyone to fight Dianne without holding back and not be overwhelmed. ……Well, if we’re not limiting it to the northern forest, there’s Felios, the Gold Arm, and if he was in top form, he might have been able to hold out this long. So it’s not a great achievement 「As an elf」, but 「As a northern elf」.
So, what are your thoughts on that?
“……I see, so his weakness is the same as Aurora’s, his lack of stamina……”
“Naris. Do you have enough stamina to mock him?”
“Hmph. I don’t do things beyond my capabilities, so there’s no problem”
Naris and Sharon are pretty much like that. When I turned my gaze to Anzeros, who had been watching silently,
“……If Andy hadn’t landed the first blow, it would have been a complete disaster. He’s really a nasty type”
“So you think so too?”
“It’s because it was Dianne-san that you were able to defeat him. With my sword, I can only imagine him defeating me no matter what I do”
“…………”
In the end, Dianne-san didn’t land any effective blows either……maybe she intended for it to end like this from the beginning. Unfortunately, Anzeros would have a hard time with any techniques beyond that. And the non-combatants were just celebrating their victory, so I ignored them and turned my attention to the female knight Fiona, just to see her reaction, but she seemed to be saying something smugly. I asked Mira what she was saying.
“A dull sword is no good. That’s what decided the outcome”
“……Haa
Princess Ran sighed heavily. Ah, no, we’re used to it, so we understood what was going on, but don’t be so disappointed, Princess. I can understand why you would feel that way, considering that she is supposed to be the representative of Saint Gardo. After a light meal, we returned to the hut, and when we were carried out by Laila, we saw General Lucas lying on a bench in the garden, looking grumpy, being talked to incessantly by some cute elf women. It’s not like Lucas to smile so brightly when he sees women……I thought, but maybe those are his proud wives. He said he’d make Anzers his seventh wife, so he must have six. ……Yeah. I was thinking I had to do something to save face, but I’m starting to think that maybe I don’t need to be so considerate. I want you to comfort me to your heart’s content.