anwhile, with Ryo and Garwin.
Their opening, too, was quiet...
No. Was quiet really the right word?
Ryo held Murasa in middle stance, feet set forward and back, just as always.
Garwin was as usual as well, bare-handed save for the gauntlets and greaves he had generated with his own magic.
What is this feeling?
Both of them were as they always were, but Garwin felt a sense of wrongness.
He knew why.
It was because of Ryo, standing before him with his sword raised.
If Garwin closed his eyes, he could no longer tell Ryo was there.
That was how little presence he had.
No presence?
No. That was impossible.
Garwin was a Demon Man. A Sperlno.
Erasing one’s presence enough to slip past those senses was not sothing a human could do.
And yet it was happening.
That was why it felt wrong.
The impossible was possible. That wrongness.
Garwin looked at Ryo again.
Is he sleeping?
His eyes seed closed... no, looking closely, his eyelids were open by the barest amount.
Half-lidded.
That gaze did not seem to be fixed on Garwin.
It did not seem to be fixed on him, and yet...
No. He has caught all of ... That is what it feels like.
It was not logic.
But with a certain kind of conviction, Garwin recognized it that way.
He should seize the initiative.
Garwin’s reason told him so.
He knew that.
He knew that, but when he actually tried to move his feet, his emotions stopped them.
Why?
He had the advantage in power. He had the advantage in speed. Their technique was likely equal.
As long as he did not let his guard down, there was no factor that could make him lose.
Of course there was not.
He was a Demon Man, and Ryo was human.
The difference between them was obvious.
And yet... his feet would not move.
Power? Speed? This isn’t from so superficial factor like that. The deepest part of , the deepest part of my instincts, is screaming. It’s telling this is bad.
Warning bells hamred through his head.
They were red.
A glaring red.
A shocking contrast to the blue—or perhaps transparent—water-attribute magician standing before him.
Once, he exhaled sharply, but deeply and at length.
He steadied his heart.
Garwin, too, had fought many powerful foes in his life.
When one faced a powerful foe, naturally, the heart wavered.
He had thods, of course, for forcibly calming such a wavering heart.
And yet...
The warning bells ringing inside my heart won’t vanish. Even so, I have no choice but to go!
Garwin launched in with blinding speed.
A thrust rode on that speed.
SLASH.
His right flank was cut wide open.
Almost simultaneously, the wound began freezing over from the point of the cut.
“What!?”
“Secret sword .”
Garwin was startled. Ryo struck the finishing pose with a smug look.
However...
“.”
The mont Garwin chanted, the frozen ice evaporated.
“The spell you used before to evaporate ...”
“It freezes every ti you cut ? What a nuisance.”
Ryo grimaced at having his “secret sword” countered. Garwin, recognizing how troubleso it was, grimaced as well.
Garwin launched in again with blinding speed.
An uppercut shot up as though rising from the ground.
A backfist with his left fist, a right hook...
Ryo dodged Garwin’s chain of attacks.
Dodged.
Dodged them all.
Then struck once.
“Ghh—.”
Garwin stopped the freezing, then took a large backstep and opened distance.
Garwin’s attacks did not reach Ryo.
But Ryo was landing effective blows on Garwin.
Garwin understood why.
At that instant, Ryo vanished from Garwin’s field of vision.
Garwin was being cut by attacks from his blind spots.
“What is going on?”
Garwin could not understand why that was happening.
Ryo held middle stance as always, and once again, his eyes beca half-lidded.
Why had Ryo been able to disappear?
Ryo and Garwin had fought once before.
Because of that, Ryo knew Garwin’s habits.
What kind of habits?
He knew, in “that instant” during combat, where Garwin would look.
If he moved while avoiding that spot... as a result, it looked to Garwin as though Ryo had disappeared.
For example, the place Garwin looked when he threw a right straight after a left jab.
For example, the place Garwin looked the instant he entered the motion for a right roundhouse kick.
And so on.
At the final stage of the Demon n War, Ryo had fought Garwin.
That was how he knew.
In any field, high learning ability helps a person survive.
He had experienced it once... or he rembered seeing it... he had assud that situation might happen, had thought about how he would solve it if it were him...
Whether one could think with one’s own head was extrely important.
Now, one year later, Ryo was able to advance the fight in his favor.
Not through power, nor speed, nor perhaps even technique... but through learning ability, Ryo overturned every disadvantage.
Perhaps that was a vision of how humans ought to fight opponents who surpassed them in ability.
Perhaps it showed that form. That future.
Even so, this was a battlefield.
A place overflowing with factors that could transform the situation...
anwhile, Abel.
Facing him was Orenju.
Yes, only the two of them were fighting.
That had not changed.
It had not changed, but...
From a short distance away, two servants were staring fixedly at the battle.
A female-shaped servant and a male-shaped servant.
Of course, they were not interfering, nor did they give off any sign that they would.
But Abel found them distracting.
“Those two servants are those Four Generals or whatever, right?”
Since it bothered him, Abel asked Orenju while their swords were crossed.
“Yes, they are. Don’t worry. They won’t interfere.”
“I know that. I think your pride as a swordsman is impressive. Honestly, I like it.”
“R-right.”
Orenju was surprised to be praised by Abel, the opponent he was fighting.
When it ca to the sword, Abel discriminated against no one.
“Which makes wonder even more. Why are they watching our fight the whole ti?”
“I don’t know. Lord Garwin must have ordered them to...”
“They weren’t watching when the fight started.”
“No. At the ti, they were watching Lord Garwin’s side.”
Orenju did not seem to understand it either.
Of course, it had nothing to do with the fight between the two of them.
They were not at a level where being watched by soone would make them tense up and unable to show their true strength.
And yet, for so reason, it bothered Abel.
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