Ch.1211. Rank Determination Match (3)

# 11. Ranking Match (3)

The day after I knocked out Eve in the second match, the long-dreaded match against Raycle was finally upon us.

I calmed my racing heart a bit and stood up from the bench in the waiting room.

She, who had been watching me intently, said:

“Are you confident?”

“No.”

I still wasn’t confident.

Maybe it was because I’d watched all his previous matches, or maybe because I was thinking about the monster he used to be, but right now, I lacked confidence.

“But I’m going to try anyway.”

You never know until you measure yourself against someone.

I might be better than I think, or he might not be as good as I imagine.

‘What level is he? Around 120?’

I didn’t know his exact level, but there was probably about a 50-level difference between us.

Plus, considering his unique skill [Body Like a Sword], the difference in strength would be even greater.

The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became, so I stopped this useless analysis.

‘I just need to do my best.’

After steeling my resolve, I finally stepped into the arena.

Then I moved forward to face him.

With each step, my feet felt heavier, but it was too late to back out now.

‘It’s been a while.’

I finally reached the center of the arena.

And there, the other protagonist of this match was waiting for me, ready to fight.

I greeted him as he stared at me with his usual expressionless face.

“Hello?”

“…”

Naturally, he didn’t return my greeting.

He simply sent me a signal with his eyes.

I couldn’t ignore his gaze that seemed to demand I draw my weapon immediately.

I promptly summoned [Obsidian Blade].

-Swoosh.-

He showed interest in the black sword in my hand.

“A unique skill?”

“You know well.”

“I’ve seen it before.”

Even if it’s a unique skill, it doesn’t mean I’m the “only” one who has it.

There were cases where unique skills overlapped.

Naturally, my unique skill [Obsidian Blade] had another user besides me.

I knew who that person was, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.

He could only quietly wait for the match to begin.

“You usually don’t use skills… why now?”

“Because I’d lose if I didn’t.”

“Do you think you can win if you use them?”

His characteristic arrogant gaze was incredibly irritating.

“We’ll see who’s better when we fight.”

“If that’s what you think, I hope you give it your all.”

Before our brief conversation could finish, the referee’s whistle sounded.

-Ready! Begin!!-

As I had done until now, I rushed toward him, and he immediately activated his skill.

As soon as Raycle activated his skill, he struck me with his bare hand as I charged at him.

-Clang!-

His hand and my sword collided with a clear impact sound, and I was gradually pushed back, unable to overcome his strength.

His unique skill [Body Like a Sword] uses mana to make the user’s body as sharp as a sword and dramatically increases the user’s strength stat.

Probably no one, not just me, could beat Raycle in terms of raw strength.

“…Ugh!”

Since it was impossible to withstand his overwhelming power head-on, I shifted my sword to disperse his force.

-Clang! Clang!-

I continued to use defensive swordsmanship to deflect his attacks.

Each of his punches was deadly, but not impossible to defend against.

‘If I can hold out like this…’

It would be great if I could endure until his mana ran out, but that was probably impossible.

My mana might run out before his.

After all, [Obsidian Blade] kept breaking due to his attacks.

Still, I was defending fairly well, but…

-Thud! Thud! Thud!-

My iron-like defense was gradually crumbling under his indiscriminate attacks.

Seeing me struggle, he mocked:

“How long are you going to keep defending?!”

He shouted with overwhelming confidence.

It was a booming voice that seemed certain of his victory.

“If you just keep blocking, you’ll lose anyway.”

With an expression full of confidence, he gathered power in his fist.

I swallowed hard at the sight of his fist brimming with mana.

“Try blocking this too.”

That fist, which seemed to possess a power on a completely different level from before, made my flesh tremble just by looking at it.

‘Will I die if I get hit?’

With that terrifying aura that made me think so, he charged at me with his tightly clenched fist.

Moreover, he used [Leap] to chase after me as I fled.

I used [Swift], a higher-tier skill than [Leap], to escape, but either his [Leap] rank was high or my stats were lacking, as he caught up to me quickly.

As the distance between us narrowed, he threw that fist at me.

Feeling a threat to my life from that fist, I immediately activated my other unique skill.

Using the enhanced stats from [Mortal’s End], I barely managed to dodge that fist.

Then I swung my sword at him, seeing an opening as he threw his punch.

However.

-Clang! Clang! Clang!-

He blocked my surprise attack with monstrous reaction speed.

But I didn’t give up and kicked his abdomen with my remaining strength.

“..Kuh!”

Having taken a blow to his unguarded abdomen, he received a significant impact and was sent flying.

He got up from where he had landed, clutching his abdomen.

I smiled at him, now looking somewhat pathetic.

“How’s that? A bit painful?”

“How impudent..”

“The real fight starts now, you’d better be careful.”

I pointed my sword at him, my crimson-dyed hair fluttering.

“What kind of skill is that?”

He was intently observing my reddened hair and eyes.

“What else? It’s my second unique skill.”

He looked at my now relaxed demeanor with disdain.

“You’re quite troublesome.”

“Shut up and come at me.”

Raycle and I rushed at each other once more, extending our weapons.

-Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! BOOM!-

His fists and my sword continued to wound each other, making loud noises as they asserted their presence.

A direct confrontation with him was still difficult, but it was much better than before.

“Now you’re finally fighting like a swordsman.”

Raycle and I exchanged blows, each confirming the other’s strength.

‘As expected of Raycle.’

‘This guy is no pushover..’

I wanted to continue this dialogue of swords with him, but my vitality was being chipped away with each passing moment.

Because of this, I kept looking for openings to gain the upper hand, but he wouldn’t yield easily.

He countered my offensive and attacked me in his own style.

I did the same, but the goddess of time was not on my side.

As time passed, my breathing became more labored, and my heart burned more intensely.

“Huff… huff…”

Thanks to that, my stats increased slightly more, but it wasn’t enough.

His stats were still higher than mine, and he was much more composed.

“That skill, does it consume your health? Seems like you’re reaching your limit.”

I was struggling enough for him to notice, and the audience could also tell I was at my limit.

That’s why the audience expected Raycle’s easy victory.

***

“Wow, but Albert really did well, though the expected outcome is still the expected outcome.”

“The stat difference was too great from the start, too much for even his excellent swordsmanship to overcome.”

Looking at the early stages of the match, one could see how much their stats differed.

While Raycle was brutally attacking his opponent, Albert was deflecting attacks and countering, showing high-level swordsmanship.

However, no one would have thought Albert had the advantage in that initial fight.

Of course, she thought the same.

It was the truth, and he was at a disadvantage.

“But that skill is too much of a double-edged sword.”

As Riel said, it was indeed a double-edged sword, but thanks to that skill, he was still able to continue the match against Raycle.

It was probably a skill that increased stats at the cost of health.

“It’s definitely a good skill.”

It was a good skill that didn’t fall short even compared to Raycle’s [Body Like a Sword].

In fact, it could be considered better since it helped him overcome the stat difference.

However, its drawback was fatal.

“Still, he did amazingly well. If it weren’t for Raycle, he would have easily secured fourth place.”

“It would be more interesting if Albert won… but that seems difficult.”

Riel was cheering for Albert, but as she said, it would be quite difficult for him to win.

Seeing him struggle with rough breathing made her heart ache a little.

“Ah… it’s over now…”

Raycle raised his sword high to end the match, and Riel watched anxiously.

Just as Raycle was about to point his sword at his neck and end the match, reality took a different turn.

He once again parried Raycle’s sword and stood up again.

And as he stood up again, he looked at Raycle with a very relaxed expression, quite different from before.