Seongguk – Crossroads

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“Here I come.”

Jade charged toward Lena, coating his sword with Aura.

The Barrier made using mana extremely tricky, but it didn’t completely prevent its use. He had the ‘Hero’s Power.’

“…Ah.”

Even as Jade instantly closed the distance, Lena didn’t even raise her sword properly, staring blankly at him.

‘She’s trying to deceive me until the very end.’ To Jade, Lena’s reaction was just another trick.

Jade didn’t stop his arm, swinging his sword straight at Lena.

-Whoosh!

The sword, enveloped in blue light, rushed forward too fast to follow with the eye.

“!!”

Only then did Lena seem to snap out of it, hurriedly raising her sword.

-Clang.

Sparks flew as the Aura-covered swords collided.

“Jade, please, just for a moment—”

“Looks like you have time to talk nonsense.”

During the power struggle, Jade momentarily slipped his sword, aiming it at Lena’s legs.

Lena quickly moved her sword to block the attack.

‘Yes, you would definitely block it. Then…’

Anticipating this, Jade’s sword changed course like a snake, aiming straight for Lena’s right arm.

“Ugh?!”

-Clang!

Lena, though flustered, calmly deflected the sword. She hadn’t completely fallen for the trick.

“Haa…”

Feeling the tingling in his grip, Jade took a step back.

Clean movements executed without any wasted motion. With just one exchange, he could immediately sense Lena’s level of skill.

“…Your swordsmanship is impressive as always.”

“You, you… were you really trying to cut me?”

Lena gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, trembling.

An attack that would have severed her right arm if she hadn’t blocked it.

Lena seemed unable to believe that Jade had swung his sword at her with such a dangerous intent.

“That’s right. If you hadn’t blocked it, that’s what would have happened. But you’re not so unskilled that you couldn’t block an attack like that, Lena.”

Jade never thought Lena would be defeated by something like this in the first place. And in reality, Lena’s skill was exactly as he remembered it, even after being locked up for several days.

Jade had never once beaten Lena in swordsmanship alone during their sparring sessions.

Even if mana was used in the fight, Lena was more skilled as a pure Swordsman.

“Lena, you have more talent than me. That’s why I kept learning swordsmanship from you even after becoming the Hero.”

Memories of Lena flashed through Jade’s mind.

Practicing swordsmanship together in the forest behind the Academy, and receiving help during swordsmanship classes from time to time.

After being chosen as the Hero, he focused on training in mana manipulation on the journey to Growburn Village to truly become a Hero.

Thanks to that, he was now almost as skilled as Lena in handling mana.

In Jade’s life, Lena was a friend, a comrade, and a lover. And also a ‘teacher.’

But now that all the truth had been revealed.

‘Let’s abandon any lingering feelings. I’ll end everything here.’

Lena was now just a hateful being that he had to overcome.

“Lena, you know better than anyone that I can’t beat you if I hold back.”

This was also the last courtesy Jade was paying to Lena for her role as his teacher.

“So I’m going to be serious.”

“Everything you know is fabricated! The Pope and those people are deceiving you! So let’s stop here. It’s not too late.”

“Here I come again.”

“Are you really—”

Lena was about to say something but hurriedly raised her sword upon seeing the incoming blade.

-Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of Aura clashing echoed.

Jade relentlessly poured out a barrage of attacks, and Lena gritted her teeth, blocking every one.

As the stagnant back-and-forth continued, Jade’s face gradually contorted.

-Clang! Clang! Clang!

Jade exchanged blows a few more times before finally losing his patience and speaking.

“Lena, what are you doing right now?”

“Kuh… That’s what I want to say.”

“At this rate, you’ll fail to escape. Everything you’ve planned will be for nothing.”

The reason Jade was so angry was simple.

When he swung his sword, Lena deflected, dodged, parried, and blocked everything. Lena wasn’t counterattacking even once, only defending.

It was as if he, the one attacking, was the villain, and Lena, the one stopping him, was an innocent victim.

‘Ha… I feel like I’ve become the bad guy.’

To make matters worse, the Barrier limited the amount of mana he could use. At this rate, there was no way to defeat Lena, who was solely focused on defense.

“Don’t waste time and do it properly. You need to defeat me and escape from here, right?”

“Then, stop attacking and listen to me!”

Even amidst the urgent exchange of swords, Lena struggled to continue speaking, as if trying to stop Jade at all costs.

“Ha. Are you trying to deceive me again? Looking like that?”

The scent of chestnut blossoms coming from Lena made him want to vomit. He wanted to wipe away the whitish fluid dried on her legs immediately.

But Lena, knowing all of that, was acting until the very end.

‘Lena, I never knew you were such a cruel and vile person.’

Jade swung his sword down from above like wielding a hammer of judgment.

Whoosh— Clang!

“Kuh… Stop…”

“Then counterattack immediately. You know that if you keep going like this, you’ll be the first to fall.”

Jade knew that Lena had already reached her physical limit.

Her movements were getting slower, and her hands and feet were trembling. She was probably exhausted from the continuous battles with the Holy Knights before he arrived.

“If you hate it all so much, then just surrender. No matter how much you act, my heart won’t change. And that Wizard you trust will soon be defeated by Sir Daniel. Abandon your vain hopes.”

“Please. It’s not the situation you’re imagining!”

-Clang!

Again. Jade stepped back with the rebounding sword.

‘This isn’t easy.’

He couldn’t break through Lena’s defense.

Since the swordsmanship he used was based on the swordsmanship he learned from Lena, it seemed that his movements were being easily read.

Meanwhile, Lena was stepping backward to create distance between herself and Jade.

“…Jade. Do you really, really not trust me?”

“That’s right. I don’t trust you. You know the reason why I can’t trust you better than anyone else.”

“Then were all the words you whispered to me lies?”

-Drip.

Tears that had gathered in her eyes streamed down Lena’s cheeks.

Seeing that, Jade’s body froze for a moment.

“Hic… Was your love for me so easily shaken by the machinations of a few villains?”

“…Stop it.”

“You said it so many times, that you would love me forever. That you would protect me!”

“Shut up right now!”

Jade shouted.

He hated himself for wavering even for a moment at her seemingly wronged appearance, and he loathed Lena in front of him for making him feel that way.

“It’s not me, it’s you…”

He was angry. Jade could no longer suppress the anger that was erupting from within.

“The one who played with my heart with lies, and recklessly tore apart the sincerity of trying to believe in you until the very end, was you!”

Everything Lena said were the words that Jade wanted to say back to her.

It was none other than Lena who had trampled on his pure love, which had tried to embrace everything.

His head was hot with the extreme anger that dominated his entire body. Jade took a rough, deep breath to calm down.

“Haa, haa…”

“…Fine. I’ll do as you wish.”

Lena wiped the tears from her eyes with her hand, as if she had made a decision.

“Jade, we’re all victims. Now that I see it, I understand how much you’ve suffered. I’m definitely to blame for how things have turned out. Because I was careless and made mistakes. So I understand that you might hate me and misunderstand the situation.”

And she raised her sword toward Jade.

“But I can’t let things continue to go according to the Pope’s plan. If you won’t listen to me until the end… I’ll at least make you able to listen.”

Lena’s aura changed. Jade finally realized that Lena was going to fight seriously.

“So you’re finally showing your true colors.”

“I’m just doing what you want. Even if you’re acting like a fool… I love you.”

“You…”

“Jade, this time, I’m coming.”

Jade raised his sword as he watched Lena, who was charging at him for the first time.

-Clang, Clang, Clang!

“Kuh!”

Jade blocked the raging attacks with clumsy responses.

At the same time, Jade’s instincts as a Swordsman were admiring Lena’s swordsmanship.

‘Beautiful.’

It was a swordsmanship that he always wanted to imitate.

The density of Aura was overwhelming due to Jade’s Hero’s Power, but Lena was overcoming it with her swordsmanship.

But.

‘I can definitely win.’

Jade gained confidence as their swords clashed.

The level of swordsmanship that Lena possessed had not reached its ‘peak.’ It was not ‘perfect.’ Even her stamina was already close to the point of collapsing.

On the other hand, Jade was constantly growing, and his skills were no longer at a level where he would be helplessly pushed back by Lena.