Ch.43Chapter 43. Knight of the Iron Wall (3)

Doing two things at once was definitely not easy.

I’d been practicing, but given who my opponent was, trying to focus on both magic and swordplay left me feeling inadequate on both fronts.

Still, it wasn’t a complete failure.

At the very least, I’d managed to make this man grip his sword with both hands.

“…Heh heh.”

As soon as Lois gripped his sword with both hands, his eyes changed.

Until now, his gaze had been focused on reading my movements, but now there was fighting spirit in his eyes.

‘Yes, this is how it should be fun.’

Now I could feel a bit more comfortable showing my skills.

Seeing Lois looking at me with his sword in both hands and eyes full of fighting spirit brought back old memories.

Back when I crossed swords with Lois as the leader of the Black Shadow Corps.

That was before the Black Shadow Corps became as famous as it is now.

Right before I stole the Dragon Heart from the O’Neil Kingdom.

Back then, if you asked someone if they knew what the Black Shadow Corps was, far more people wouldn’t know.

Thanks to that, we could carry out public requests without any issues.

At that time, monsters were rampaging in the northern part of the continent, so monster subjugation requests were coming in to almost every organization.

The rewards were substantial, so we had no reason to refuse the requests, and that’s where I met Lois Sinclair.

By chance, I found myself on the same battlefield as Lois Sinclair, among armies from different countries and mercenaries from all over the continent.

Of course, our unit, consisting of just Erika and me, operated as a kind of separate detachment, but we attended the same meetings.

Even back then, when I told Lois I could use both swords and magic, he seemed displeased and suggested we spar whenever we had time.

That’s when I realized, ‘Ah, this person is a traditionalist.’

Whoosh—

As Lois openly swung his sword first, I didn’t dodge but swung my sword toward him as well.

Clang—

Lois’s sword, with fighting spirit clearly visible in his eyes, was definitely overflowing with power compared to before.

I could still feel that he was holding back, but then again, so was I.

Clang— Clang—

The problem was that once Lois began swinging his sword in earnest, I had no time to focus on magic.

While I could use my sword as freely as if it were part of my body, the magic I had recently acquired was still at a beginner’s level.

Being able to create wind without any calculation process was very convenient, but being unfamiliar with it actually became a hindrance in this kind of combat.

It wasn’t easy to focus on anything else while parrying the sword of the Iron Wall Knight.

‘Alright, I’ll set magic aside for now.’

I was just as competitive as Lois, who embodied the traditional knight.

Especially in one-on-one battles, I tried to avoid losing if at all possible.

Woong—

I deliberately gathered the mana I had been dispersing around and started to concentrate.

From now on, if I stubbornly tried to incorporate magic, I would end up losing miserably.

Teleportation was a technique that both Elaine and Emily, who were watching nearby, had already seen, and since I had introduced myself to Lois as a magician, I could use it freely.

‘My stats and experience have increased since then.’

When I sparred with Lois in the north before, I was judged to be losing.

We couldn’t finish the duel because monsters suddenly attacked, but anyone could see I was on the losing end.

This was my revenge match after a long time.

Woong— Clang— Tang—

I completely turned off my focus on magic and concentrated solely on the sword in front of me.

True to his title of Iron Wall, Lois showed no openings.

Earlier when he was holding the sword with one hand, there were openings here and there, but now that he had taken a proper stance, he was truly like a wall.

This feeling of facing a wall with just a sword.

It’s similar to back then.

Woong— Clang— Woong— Clang—

I started attacking while openly mixing in teleportation.

In a one-on-one sword fight like this, the most efficient use of teleportation wasn’t suddenly appearing behind the opponent.

Rather, fighters above a certain level don’t panic when their opponent suddenly disappears; they calmly respond.

If someone disappears from the front, they’re most likely to appear behind or above, and someone like the Iron Wall Knight wouldn’t fall for such a simple trick.

The most effective method in this kind of battle was to subtly adjust distances.

For example, when the opponent expects an attack from a 45-degree angle from above, slightly changing it to come from a 35-degree angle instead.

Clang—

This not only confuses the opponent but also makes it difficult for them to block properly.

When swords clash at an angle rather than head-on, it interferes with the smooth transition to the next move.

Clang— Clang—

But the Iron Wall Knight truly lived up to his name.

Even as I continued to launch confusing attacks, Lois instinctively twisted his wrist or moved his body to counter each of my strikes.

As the tense situation continued, I unconsciously started putting more strength into my attacks.

Like Lois, I had been moderating my strength because of the onlookers, but I was starting to get excited.

‘Wow, he’s countering well.’

The fact that Lois was handling my attacks so well contributed to my growing excitement.

It had been a while since I’d openly fought against someone so strong, and this sensation felt nostalgic.

The feeling that even if I attacked with all my might, my opponent could handle it.

And just as I was putting more power into my sword, Lois was also gradually increasing the force behind his.

To the point where white mana was now emanating from Lois’s sword.

Boom—

Lois charged at me with one of his signature moves, stomping the ground.

‘Ah, should I have hidden my strength a bit?’

Seeing Lois’s serious expression and actions, I briefly had that thought, but it was already too late.

Now I don’t know either.

CLANG—!

Our swords collided with a sound of a completely different dimension than before.

The clash of swords created a shockwave, causing my hair to flutter and briefly obscure my vision.

Through my slightly obstructed view, I could see Lois charging at me relentlessly.

CLANG—! CLANG—!

With each collision of our swords, shockwaves continued to burst forth.

By now, it didn’t matter whether we were holding wooden or real swords.

Though they were wooden, if either of us took a direct hit from the other’s sword, it would likely be a critical injury.

CLANG—!

“Who are you…”

“You’re truly powerful, as expected.”

In response to my sincere compliment, Lois replied with an expression of astonishment.

And just as the next exchange was about to begin.

“Both of you, stop right now!”

Freeze—

Just as I was getting into it, I had no choice but to stop at the resounding voice from the side.

It wasn’t just me; Lois did the same.

Like me, he was about to leap forward but stopped and turned his head toward the source of the voice.

The person who shouted with an anxious expression was Elaine.

“Elaine! How dare you interrupt a duel!”

“…I apologize for that. But both of you seem to be getting too heated.”

“…”

At Elaine’s words, Lois’s gaze shifted to his own sword.

The wooden sword, which had been a deep brown color characteristic of wood, was now flickering white with the mana he had infused.

Realizing he might have gone too far, Lois withdrew the mana from the wooden sword and lowered it.

I had already lowered mine before that.

“Hmm.”

“Shall we stop here?”

“…”

Lois didn’t answer but simply swung his sword once through the air.

‘I wouldn’t mind continuing.’

I was also quite excited, so continuing would have been nice, but it didn’t seem like the best choice.

After all, I was still a student at the academy.

Of course, only Elaine and Emily were here, but if rumors spread that I was on par with the Iron Wall Knight, it might be problematic.

Addy had warned me before enrollment.

To avoid drawing attention as much as possible.

I wish I had remembered those words a little earlier.

“Ugh. Actually, my arm hurts too much. I probably would have dropped my sword if I had to block that next attack.”

I did my best to act like my arm was trembling as I lowered my sword, but Lois didn’t seem to buy it.

He continued to stare at me without any change in expression.

“Everyone, leave now.”

“What? But Father…”

“Get out now!”

“…”

‘Uh-oh….’

I thought the duel was ending, but apparently not.

At Lois’s thunderous command, which far surpassed Elaine’s, both Elaine and Emily cautiously left the training ground, glancing back as they went.

“I assume you didn’t mean for me to leave as well?”

After Elaine and Emily had left and we were alone, Lois’s expression became so serious that I tried to joke, but he didn’t seem in the mood for humor.

The atmosphere was ominous.

Whoosh—

Lois pointed the tip of the wooden sword he was still holding at me and spoke.

“Who are you? Who sent you to infiltrate the academy?”

“What?”

There wasn’t a hint of playfulness in Lois’s words.

Well, I can’t imagine this man joking around anyway.

Which means those words were completely serious.

‘Damn. Did I overdo it?’

As the situation unfolded, I regretted getting too excited earlier.

“I don’t understand what you mean…”

“Does it make sense for a first-year academy student to be able to parry my sword? You should be more careful about what you try to hide.”

“Uh…”

‘I’m screwed.’

I definitely got too excited.

“Enough. There’s no need for lengthy explanations. I don’t know what your purpose is for sneaking in.”

Whoosh—

The sword in Lois’s hand began to glow white again.

This time, it looked much more solid and well-formed.

‘Damn, what do I do now?’

In truth, I didn’t have any of the purposes he was suspecting.

It was just a quest.

“I didn’t expect you to confess willingly anyway.”

Lois’s sword tip pointed directly at me.