Chapter 97

The three ducal families said to have greatly contributed to the founding of the Arium Empire.

The ancestors of those three families had all been swordsmen, and each of them had fought in their own unique way.

The ancestor of the Balmuth Family, a vampire who chose coexistence with humans, possessed Blood Energy, a hereditary power that strengthened the body by using blood as a medium.

The ancestor of the Hawkbat Family wielded the power of a contract born from an eternal pact with the Spirits of Wind.

And the ancestor of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family…….

‘He used the power of magic.’

People of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family were naturally capable of using magic.

That didn’t mean they were a family gifted with extraordinary magical talent, and even their most proficient fire magic wasn’t anything exceptional compared to other magicians.

But the ancestors of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family had blended their own swordsmanship with that fire magic.

Graceful movements, dazzling technique, and on top of that—flames.

For countless years, the swordsmen of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family had refined the harmony between their swordsmanship and fire.

And the result of those hundreds of years was now…….

“Ugh?”

…unfolding right before my eyes.

‘…I’m screwed.’

I couldn’t form any proper plan against an opponent whose moves I couldn’t predict at all.

She wasn’t the strongest opponent I had ever faced, but she was the most troublesome.

Even now, Sara swung her rapier at me.

Her rapier, its blade wreathed in flames, drew a red streak as it flew toward me.

Its trajectory was impossible to predict, but thanks to the Attack Prediction Skill, I managed to block the rapier easily.

“Not bad. As expected, your defense doesn’t break so easily.”

Sara spoke in a tone that sounded genuinely impressed.

And the moment her words ended…….

Fwoosh―!

Three streams of flame shot toward me.

Once again, the Attack Prediction Skill informed me in advance where the flames would strike.

But the problem was—

‘It’s an attack I can’t block.’

If it were a sword or spear or any solid weapon, I probably could’ve blocked it.

But fire, with no fixed form, couldn’t be blocked with a blade.

Which meant the only option was to dodge.

“Huuuh.”

Rolling my body to both sides, I somehow avoided the flames.

Rolling that widely inevitably created openings in my stance.

Naturally, Sara aimed for those openings and tried to thrust at me with her rapier.

Clang―!

I barely managed to block the attack.

I was still on the ground, unable to fully get up, but my instincts somehow made my arm move in time.

“…You blocked that?”

“The only thing I’m really good at is blocking, but I’m extremely good at that one thing.”

After knocking Sara’s blade aside, I quickly got to my feet and regained my stance.

I pressed my sword as close as possible to my torso and arms—the opening posture of my defensive swordsmanship.

“As you wish, I won’t go down easily.”

“…In the end, I’m the one who’ll win.”

The flames around Sara flared even more violently.

Watching them, I organized my thoughts.

‘Sara’s flames are magic. The more she uses them, the more mana she consumes.’

The Isrinbloom Family were not born as magicians.

They possessed far less innate mana than professionally trained magicians.

‘I’ll just have to endure until she runs out of mana.’

Just as Sara was aiming for my openings, I also had to hold out until she showed an opening of her own.

The problem was…….

‘The question is whether I can actually endure that.’

The flames around Sara grew more and more intense.

Jason said Sara’s flames weren’t all that threatening… but no matter how I looked at it, that was total nonsense.

Those flames looked insanely dangerous.

“He’s holding out better than I expected.”

From the second-floor stands, Jason spoke to Lisa.

“As I said, he may not be great at attacking, but when it comes to defense he’s definitely above me.”

“He’s probably above me too. I couldn’t last that long against Sara.”

Lisa nodded with a blank expression.

Seeing that, Jason tilted his head and spoke.

“By the way, why don’t you look nervous at all? I thought you’d be worried about Gideon.”

“I may look calm, but I’m worrying a lot. I’ve been worried from the start about whether Gideon might get seriously hurt.”

“Then let me rephrase—looks like you’re not really expecting anything?”

“If you mean expecting Gideon to win… Jason, you know he can’t win, right?”

“Hmm, can’t say anything to that.”

Jason replied with an awkward laugh.

Hearing their conversation, Layla tilted her head.

“What do you mean? Gideon can’t win? Why? He looks like he’s holding out pretty well.”

“Lady Layla, even if Sara looks silly most of the time, she’s quite strong in actual combat. Even if Lisa and I rushed her together, I’m not sure the two of us could beat her.”

“Huh? Sara’s that strong?”

“In human-to-human combat—in duels—she’s extremely strong.”

Lisa added an explanation.

“If the Balmuth Family is strong against non-human enemies like monsters, then the swordsmen of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family are the Empire’s best when it comes to fighting humans.”

“That’s why Gideon lasting this long is already impressive.”

Jason looked back at the arena.

Gideon was somehow blocking Sara’s rapier while dodging the flames flying at him.

“Normally you wouldn’t last this long. And the strategy Gideon chose… well, it’s reasonable enough.”

“Huh? What strategy?”

“He’s planning to endure until Sara’s mana runs out.”

Lisa also watched Gideon and Sara’s spar as she spoke.

“If it weren’t for those flames, Gideon actually would have a chance of winning. He must’ve realized that, which is why he chose this strategy.”

“Then doesn’t that mean Gideon could win?”

“I’d love to say yes, but……”

“He won’t.”

Jason shook his head as he explained.

“Gideon’s concentration and stamina will hit their limit before Sara’s mana runs out.”

Jason finished speaking and pointed at Gideon.

As he said, Gideon already seemed to be losing focus little by little.

“Well, he still looked fine physically, but considering attacks were flying in from every direction… yeah, a human can’t keep their focus for long.”

A moment after Jason finished speaking.

Sara’s flames struck my left shoulder, and with my fading concentration, I couldn’t evade the attack.

The Blessing of Water activated, forming a shield around my body, but it was far too thin to block Sara’s flames.

The thin water shield was pierced effortlessly, and her fire burned my shoulder.

“Gideon…….”

Lisa shot to her feet.

She was now looking down at me with a visibly anxious, genuinely worried expression.

But despite the severe burn, I surprisingly didn’t scream even once.

“Shouldn’t they… stop the match? Anyone can see that injury is bad enough……”

“Noona, calm down and sit first. Whether to stop it or not is for Instructor Luke to decide.”

“But…….”

“Look at Gideon’s eyes.”

“Huh?”

Lisa looked toward me, and Jason spoke with a grin.

“That’s the look of someone who hasn’t given up. Luke knows that too, which is why he isn’t stopping it.”

As Jason said, I was already back in my stance.

My face twisted in pain, teeth clenched hard.

“Seriously… I told him not to push himself…… even when I say it……”

“Noona. Gideon may act all polite and respectful toward us, but… he’s actually pretty stubborn.”

“…Right. He does have… a strong dislike for losing.”

Lisa muttered with a worried face.

Beside her, Layla watched the match in silence, palms sweating, looking even more tense than Lisa.

“What? You’re not giving up?”

“I did tell you that… urgh… it wouldn’t be easy to defeat me, didn’t I?”

It hurt.

My left shoulder hurt like hell.

I’d never taken a burn this severe before.

But strangely enough, it was still bearable.

‘I didn’t think I’d get used to pain this quickly.’

I’d been through all sorts of things over the last two months.

Maybe because of that, I’d become able to endure injuries like this.

But it was still searing pain—pain far stronger than anything I felt before.

‘How could Jason say this wasn’t threatening? It pierced through Aura. It’s insanely dangerous.’

I glanced at my left shoulder.

Anyone could see it was a severe burn.

Leaving it alone too long would be bad.

‘If I at least had a water bottle, I could pour water on it and heal it… shame I can’t.’

If this were a battle without rules, I could’ve dumped water over myself and used the Blessing of Water to heal, but in this match, I could bring only a weapon.

Someone might ask why I couldn’t heal using the water from the Blessing of Water itself—but unfortunately, that kind of loophole didn’t work.

Only external water could be used for healing; the water created by the Blessing couldn’t treat my wounds.

‘Sigh… she must still have tons of mana left. I feel like I’ve held out forever, yet her flames are still burning strong.’

I had planned to endure until Sara’s mana ran out, but now it looked like I would collapse first.

I needed another method.

But no matter how much I thought, nothing came to mind.

‘Using Peregrie’s power to make wind… won’t work. Sara controls those flames perfectly. And I doubt I can strike her with thunder either…….’

If the fight weren’t bound by rules—if honor didn’t matter—I would’ve found some way to win.

But since it had to be fought with only a weapon and inherent abilities, I was at a disadvantage in multiple ways.

‘Also, this Water Rune is honestly useless early on. What kind of water shield evaporates instantly from flames? It’s way too thin.’

I sighed, complaining silently to myself.

I had expected the shield to be weak, but this was just…….

‘…Wait.’

Weakness aside, the shield was made of water.

And water could extinguish flames.

The problem was simply that it was too thin and too widely spread to block anything.

Suddenly, I remembered what Lisa had told me before.

‘It’s thin because it’s spread out wide. If you cluster it in one place, wouldn’t it naturally become thicker?’

At the time, I’d only briefly considered it and dropped the idea, but now it might be the only method.

After organizing my thoughts, I raised my sword and took my stance again.

‘The shield appears on its own when I’m in danger, but if I focus…….’

When I focused on the rune inside me, the shield soon appeared around me.

Sara gave a small scoff at the sight.

“Doing something pointless again? My flames pierced through that flimsy shield just moments ago.”

“…You’re absolutely right. This shield is far too thin to block your flames, Lady Sara.”

Even while answering her mockery, I maintained my focus.

If I could summon this shield voluntarily, I should also be able to change its form.

I should be able to gather it in one place…….

‘I can.’

The shield, previously spread thin around me, gathered into a single mass before me.

Once it came together, it formed quite a thick amount of water.

If I used this properly…….

“I don’t know what you’re plotting, but I’ll finish this now!”

Perhaps sensing something was off, Sara sent three streams of flames at me all at once.

But I was already prepared.

The clustered water crawled up my arm, climbed along it, and coated the blade of the Mistcatcher.

Water soon covered the entire blade, and I swung the Mistcatcher directly at the incoming flames.

Ssshhhhhh―!

“…Huh?”

As the water-coated Mistcatcher cleaved through the flames, Sara let out a startled voice.

Seeing that, I smiled with certainty.

‘My chances of winning just skyrocketed.’

What troubled me until now was having no way to block her flames.

But if I could block them, then the story changed entirely.

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