Chapter 237: Friendly Match (3)

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Kang! Kaang! Kang!

A relentless flurry of strikes poured forth.

It was an intense battle that pulled in the viewer effortlessly.

However, the atmosphere was one-sided.

The overwhelming offensive was coming solely from Werner’s side.

“Why is he only defending?”

“Because that’s enough.”

Carl, who easily blocked or deflected all of Werner’s attacks, offered a light smile.

‘His intentions are obvious.’

He likely wanted to extract information while concealing his true strength.

In that case, unless the opponent took the lead, there was no need to respond in earnest.

“Well, this is troublesome.”

Werner, seemingly sensing Carl’s mindset, scratched the bridge of his nose with a troubled look.

“I thought I’d just test the waters, but it’s not so easy.”

“Shouldn’t you at least reveal one of your cards?”

“……I suppose so. Life isn’t that easy after all.”

With a small laugh and a nod, Werner changed his grip on the sword.

At the same time, the aura flowing from him shifted and began to press down on Carl from all directions.

‘Unity of Mind and Sword.’

Carl muttered a quiet admiration as he watched Werner.

Those who had reached the level of a first-class fighter and beyond typically had to attain the state of Unity of Mind and Sword.

But it wasn’t until much later that one realized that this unity wasn’t meant to be taken literally.

Nevertheless, Werner reached a near-perfect form of unity, as if he had truly become a blade himself.

“Urgh.”

It was so intense that even the cadets watching nearby groaned and took a few steps back.

‘He’s got the right to boast.’

As Louis had said, Werner likely had no match among the cadets.

Glancing sideways, Carl saw not only Nerian but even Laysis watching with slightly tense expressions.

If Carl had only stood out to a minor degree within the academy, this friendly match could have gone badly.

He could have let Werner off with a light spar, but with Walpurgis Night approaching, that wouldn’t have been the best choice for maintaining cadet morale.

Clatter.

Instead, Carl lowered his sword.

He stood tall as if the match were over, not even assuming a guard stance, showing no intention to fight.

“……What are you doing?”

Werner asked, frowning.

Was he trying to end the match after drawing out Werner’s fighting spirit?

But Carl answered with a faint smile.

“Just as you revealed one of your cards, I’ve shown mine. How much you can see from here depends on your ability.”

“……?”

“Come at me whenever you’re ready.”

Werner bit his lip hard.

Was Carl looking down on him?

Surely he knew that psychological warfare like that wouldn’t work between opponents of similar skill.

‘Fine.’

Werner resolved himself.

It wouldn’t be bad to show this worthy rival that arrogance was poisonous.

If Carl used today’s loss as nourishment to grow, they could have a worthy battle during Walpurgis Night.

‘Besides, it’s just an illusion field—no one’s going to get hurt.’

Tap.

Werner stepped forward, releasing his suppressed energy.

It was to judge Carl, who seemed full of complacency and pride.

“…….”

However, the movement that just a moment ago looked like it would cleave Carl in two began to slow.

Like falling into an invisible swamp, he slowed down and eventually stopped.

‘……It’s not there.’

Werner’s eyes trembled as he attempted to charge in and swing his blade.

‘There’s no opening.’

At first, it was laughable.

Carl looked full of gaps from head to toe, so he planned to pick a spot and attack.

But the moment he actually tried to do so, a chilling image stabbed into his mind, leaving a vivid warning.

‘If I carelessly charge at him…….’

He would have been the one cut down, rolling on the ground.

Snapping back to his senses, Werner studied Carl again.

At a glance, he seemed like he was just standing there with a sword, totally unprepared.

Anyone other than Werner would have thought the same.

But upon facing him directly, all the supposed weaknesses turned out to be deadly traps targeting Werner.

‘How is that even possible?’

Was there really such an overwhelming gap between them?

Unconsciously, Werner had neared the truth, but that didn’t mean he was going to give up the match.

At the very least, he had to make it a tie, for the sake of his pride among his group.

Kwaak.

He unlocked another limiter in his mind.

As the trace of magic power began to rise all over him, one of his fellow cadets exclaimed in shock.

“To go that far?”

It meant he had drawn out his sincerity enough to materialize his magic.

Werner then stomped the ground, disappearing from everyone’s sight as if leaping through space.

Kang!

Only the sharp noise echoing through the training hall gave everyone a clue to the result.

Ka-ga-gak!

Even though he came in from the rear to target a blind spot, it was blocked perfectly.

Beyond the clashing swords, Werner let out a dry laugh as cold sweat ran down his back.

“Are there others in Bayern with similar skills? I may need to revise my strategy.”

“Are you asking me to leak Bayern’s full strength?”

Carl shrugged.

That one exchange had been enough for the match, so he gently pushed Werner’s sword aside and sheathed his own.

“……So, can you tell me what you just did? I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

“It’s called the Natural Form. It appears when you break away from formality and reach completeness.”

“Breaking away from formality…….”

Werner grasped a faint clue from Carl’s words.

It was undoubtedly referring to swordsmanship, footwork, and other various combat techniques.

“So abandoning form means reaching a realm after completely mastering those things, doesn’t it? That won’t be easy.”

“Oh?”

Seeing Werner instantly pierce the core, Carl let out a low murmur of admiration.

He had occasionally thought it meaningless when veteran masters of the martial world taught a move or two to green juniors.

‘So that was why.’

Watching Werner absorb and organize his advice proved surprisingly interesting.

It was a different kind of enjoyment from when he had taught Laysis.

However, Werner seemed slightly embarrassed, lowering his head toward Carl with an awkward expression.

“I came to pick a fight and ended up receiving help instead.”

“Were you aware of that?”

“Of course. I’m not that shameless of a person. I just wanted to say that it was something necessary.”

Something necessary.

It was likely related to politics or relationships between academies.

Since it had nothing to do with him, Carl shrugged and spoke.

“I was planning to beat you thoroughly and chase you out, but you seemed sincere about the sword, so I changed my mind.”

“Hahaha…….”

Werner laughed while breaking into a cold sweat.

After clashing swords directly, he could vividly imagine what would have happened if Carl had truly meant to beat him down.

“This Walpurgis Night swordsmanship tournament will be fierce. There are so many strong ones.”

“Fierce?”

Carl tilted his head at the question-laden remark.

Was he saying that even after seeing the gap between them just now?

Werner quickly added, as if to prevent misunderstanding.

“We didn’t just visit Bayern. We went around other academies as well. We fought countless opponents to gauge their general level.”

He raised his fingers to count a few, then nodded.

“At least three. Aside from you, Carlos, there are three people I couldn’t defeat. I’m curious who will take first place. Of course, I don’t intend to give up either. There’s still some time left, so I’ll train without giving up until the end.”

Werner clenched his fist, showing his determination.

What Carl caught, however, was that there were three more cadets besides himself whom Werner could not defeat.

‘That makes no sense.’

Carl felt puzzled.

Werner was a top-class fighter even among first-year cadets.

It would already be unfair to call him second place, yet his ranking had fallen that far?

“…….”

Carl turned his head and looked over the Bayern cadets.

Only those with the greatest talent in the Empire could cross the threshold of Bayern Academy.

In truth, Nerian and Louis were strong enough that it wouldn’t have been strange for them to win previous Walpurgis Night events.

It was only because of the variable named Carl that the abilities of Laysis, Maximilian, Gale, and the other cadets had grown so outstanding.

‘Which means they must have a similar variable as well.’

Carl looked at Werner.

The man before him had valid reasons.

He likely came from a good family, with an excellent bloodline, a wealthy upbringing, and instruction from a fine master.

But not everyone could be the same.

‘Perhaps.’

Carl narrowed his eyes.

He already knew that the Powers of the Demon Realm were planning to make a move during Walpurgis Night.

Crown Prince Yulian and the Empire were also preparing for it.

Ideally, canceling the event itself would have been best, but Crown Prince Yulian was said to be aiming to wipe them out in one sweep during this event.

‘It is a good opportunity.’

What they coveted was the blood and flesh of heirs from so-called prestigious families.

With an event gathering all of those in one place, it was only natural for them to salivate.

In the worst case, there was even the possibility of numerous devils or members of the Demonic Race descending there.

Of course, Carl had no intention of standing by and watching.

“Alright, then we’ll stop here. It’s about time to leave. I have another schedule after this.”

“Are you heading to another academy?”

“No, I only scheduled Bayern for today. Since it’s the Empire’s greatest academy, I didn’t know what might happen. It was a wise decision.”

Werner gave a bitter smile and looked around.

The friendly match had ended in a crushing defeat, and even the representative duel had ended in loss, outwardly close but showing an overwhelming gap against Carl.

“The continent really is vast. Even within the Empire there are people this strong, so who knows how many more there are outside.”

Werner grumbled as he sheathed his sword.

It was somewhat unfitting for someone of prestigious lineage and talent to say, but when someone with incomparable talent stood right beside him, that disparity applied equally to anyone.

“Let’s go now. We’ll see each other again later. I’ll be waiting at Walpurgis Night.”

Werner and the other cadets flowed out of the training hall like a receding tide.

Left standing alone again, the Bayern cadets began packing their things as if it were finally over, but Carl turned and blocked their path.

“You saw it, didn’t you? The opponent is taking this seriously enough to go around friendly matches. If that’s the case, then we should show effort to match.”

“Uh…….”

When Maximilian, who had been excitedly thinking about returning for dinner, hesitated, Carl shifted his gaze toward him.

“Maximilian, you’re getting extra training. I’ll make sure you can win no matter who comes out on their side.”

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