Ch.91A Guidance Match Is, Well, Like a Game for Entertaining Guests.

Imperial Swordsmanship.

The formal name is Imperial Knight Order Standard Swordsmanship.

It’s a defensive and counterattacking style that utilizes every part of a two-handed longsword to deflect and entangle the opponent’s blade, targeting vital points.

Precise techniques that would overwhelm anyone unfamiliar with them.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that, limited to pure sword combat, no more efficient swordsmanship exists.

The problem is that Imperial Swordsmanship was fundamentally designed for human opponents, so its effectiveness diminishes as the physical gap between combatants widens.

It’s almost useless against enemies with attack patterns completely different from humans.

Plus, if a longsword isn’t your best-suited weapon, you can’t properly utilize it.

That’s why knights who reach a certain level use Imperial Swordsmanship as their foundation while developing their own fighting style.

Either by incorporating other weapons for unconventional methods, or by maintaining the fundamental principles while adapting them to their own strengths.

I did the same.

With sufficient strength and speed, I had no need to use both hands, so I switched to one-handed swordsmanship and transformed it into a more aggressive form.

As for Leonore… she chose to maximize precision.

So she could somehow deflect even a single strike from someone stronger than herself.

—-

– Swish!

A friction sound like roughly rubbing book pages.

A strange noise for clashing swords, even for wooden ones.

My lightly swung strike slid away like it was gliding.

Even cutting through water with a real sword would offer more resistance than this.

“Hah!”

Leonore thrust her sword with a short battle cry.

I blocked her incoming wooden sword with the base of my blade.

In that moment, her sword tip writhed like a snake, slipping past my guard and diving in again.

Her skill is certainly impressive.

She might even have the edge over me in that regard.

She grinned.

Not an arrogant smile of assured victory, but still.

Well, it made sense, since her attack was meaningless.

I violently swept the base of my blade.

With overwhelming power and speed, Leonore’s body was flung away.

She steadied herself by touching the ground and readjusted her grip on the wooden sword.

“As expected, your strength is ridiculous. You barely seem to be using your Karma power.”

She was right.

Between us was a gap in physical ability that technique alone couldn’t overcome.

My body had already surpassed the Master level even before I awakened my Karma.

Unless I was completely ignorant of swordsmanship, which I wasn’t—I had already fully internalized the fundamental principles of Imperial Swordsmanship.

Recognizing the timing and countering it was simple.

“Well, if I went all out, I’d suddenly become a royal assassin.”

“Then I have no choice. I’ll just have to try harder!”

Leonore charged again, her face beaming with a smile.

She was purely enjoying this moment of wielding her sword.

She must have been testing me earlier, as her speed was now twice as fast.

This might be comparable to Frider. Though still no match for me.

Since there’s almost nothing I can teach her technically, I should at least give her experience facing overwhelming strength.

I raised my intensity slightly.

My wooden sword left faint afterimages as it cut through the air with threatening sounds.

The collision sounds gradually became duller.

“Haaaah!”

“You’re quite fast, but still lacking in strength.”

I swung my sword horizontally.

My wooden sword, aimed at her waist, cut through with a brown afterimage.

With enough force to nearly slice her torso in half.

“Kuk…!”

Leonore hastily blocked and twisted her body and blade to deflect it.

With intense friction, the sword tip that had targeted her waist bent upward into empty space.

Her body slid backward.

Smoke rose from the blade.

The contact point had turned black as if burned by friction heat.

Her deflection skill is truly artistic.

Though she still got pushed back from the force.

I charged toward Leonore.

If we’re enjoying this, we should do it properly, right?

“Ha, that’s it! That’s how you should come at me!”

Leonore also rushed toward me.

Our swords danced.

Without bouncing off each other, just endlessly grinding.

Faint flames rose from the overheated blades.

“Hah!”

I grabbed her leg as it aimed for my waist and threw her away.

Leonore flipped in mid-air and landed.

“You’re really amaz—”

“That would kill you.”

Leonore hastily ducked her head.

The tip of my sword, thrust in pursuit, pierced the empty space where her head had been.

Her hair fluttered in the following wind pressure.

If she hadn’t ducked, there would be a hole in her face.

I had planned to stop just before hitting, but still.

I lightly kicked her.

“Hah!”

Leonore deflected sideways and swung her sword again.

Her reaction speed isn’t bad either.

I knocked away Leonore’s wooden sword with my left arm.

I dodged her foot rising toward my chin by turning my head, then rammed her with my shoulder.

“Keugh…!”

What an undignified cry.

Leonore bounced away and rolled across the floor.

I should praise her for not letting go of her sword even then.

I could definitely feel that I had crossed the threshold of Master.

Even without imbuing my attacks with Karma power, my overall attack power had increased somewhat.

In the past, I would have needed to concentrate more to fight like this.

“Ow… that hurts quite a bit.”

Leonore stood up, wobbling slightly.

Her brow was slightly furrowed from pain, but the smile remained on her lips.

Her cheeks were even flushed.

Rough breathing, rose-tinted cheeks, flowing sweat drops—she looked… quite remarkable in many ways.

And with each exhale, her shoulders shook, making what hung below her collarbone shake as well.

Yes, I suppose that’s an advantage too.

If her opponent were a man, his concentration would surely falter.

Even Isabella had players who liked her just because she was beautiful.

Even after seeing what happened to the heroine characters who were invited to the imperial palace without knowing anything.

The shock on the faces of beginners who thought they were playing a simple harem game when they discovered the malicious betrayal is still vivid in my memory.

Since the invitation was under the pretext of honoring talented individuals, it was especially painful that the heroines they had most diligently developed were the ones called.

I fell for it too.

Ah, my thoughts wandered. I should focus on the fight.

I shook my head slightly and looked at Leonore again.

“How about it, shall we stop here?”

“No way. This is too much fun!”

Leonore laughed heartily.

Gripping her half-burned wooden sword, she charged again.

Yes, that’s the spirit.

I really do like her personality.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered with this troublesome affair.

I raised my sword again.

With that kind of spirit, she can probably handle a bit more pounding, right?

—-

I changed my tactics.

To a style that would clearly work well against Leonore.

Since this is supposed to be instructional sparring, she should take something away from it.

A popping sound echoed continuously, in a very rapid rhythm.

Leonore’s swordplay became frantic.

The wooden sword danced chaotically.

“Kuuuugh!”

“Finding it difficult? Your deflection is impressive, but this is how you counter it.”

Intense impact sounds rained down.

Not powerful, wide swings, but quick, short strikes focused on speed.

Like tap dancing.

When she tried to receive and deflect my strikes, I withdrew my sword without hesitation and immediately struck again.

Light attacks without much power from the start. Not even a single breath passed between sword strikes.

Though each strike carried little force… a person will be wounded if cut regardless.

Unless they’re wearing armor.

The barrage of strikes gradually broke down Leonore’s defense.

Like dripping water boring through rock.

The impacts she failed to deflect accumulated on her wooden sword, sending splinters flying.

I gave her no chance to counterattack.

Finally, my wooden sword broke through her defense and reached her.

The crisp impact sounds began to mix with the sound of flesh being struck.

Is that an irreverent expression?

Leonore’s body began to stagger repeatedly.

Since I swung without much force, her body wouldn’t burst open, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t painful.

Waist, shoulder, left arm, thigh.

Dark bruises formed on each part hit by the wooden sword.

Her arm seemed completely broken. I felt something snap through my fingertips.

“Augh!”

Leonore groaned through gritted teeth. The corners of her mouth still turned up.

…She doesn’t actually enjoy getting hit, does she?

I should knock her down once.

I suddenly extended my left hand.

The moment my fingertips touched Leonore’s sword hilt, the wooden sword helplessly shattered.

The long strike I delivered hit Leonore’s lower abdomen.

“Kuk…!”

Spitting out saliva mixed with a scream, Leonore flew across the training ground and collided with the wall.

Thrown to the floor, Leonore coughed roughly.

Her internal organs shouldn’t be damaged.

It was an attack meant to push rather than destroy.

If I had stabbed with my fingertips, I would have penetrated her organs.

“Haa… haa…!”

Leonore wiped her mouth with her forearm and stood up.

Her staggering appearance clearly showed her exhaustion.

“This is about it. You seem to be at your limit too, and if we continue, we’ll start seeing blood in earnest.”

Her left arm was completely broken, and there were signs of muscle ruptures and deep contusions all over her body.

This was a friendly match, not a duel. With injuries like that, it was time to stop.

“Kugh…! I agree this is getting excessive, but it’s still a bit disappointing. I wanted to see the full power of a Master, but my strength wasn’t enough yet.”

“Full power? Hmm… well, since it’s the last one, I suppose once is fine. Come at me.”

I wanted to try it with a clear mind too.

“Oh, you’re going to show me something? I really do like your straightforward personality!”

Leonore rejoiced.

She discarded the broken wooden sword, picked up a new one, and charged at me.

A thrust with all her might.

Since it was the final strike, she didn’t even consider defense.

Looking at her, I peered into my inner self.

At the blue light deep within my mental landscape.

The awakened Karma permeated my entire body.

And time slowed down.

My neural pathways heated up, and senses beyond human limits transcended perception.

Transcendental power dwelled in my flesh.

Everything moved like crawling turtles.

The entire world seemed as fragile as foam.

As if stomping would shatter it to pieces.

I horizontally positioned my sword and slowly brought it above my shoulder.

I felt a strange resistance, as if moving underwater.

And I swung.

Toward Leonore’s wooden sword approaching in slow motion.

The tip of my slowly swung sword passed through her sword like an illusion.

I swung back again. And again. Repeatedly. Endlessly.

After about five cuts, suddenly everything returned to normal.

– BOOM!

A thunderous sound shook my eardrums.

The air exploded like a bomb with rising flames.

Leonore flew from the impact and tumbled across the floor.

I couldn’t even think about checking her condition, just replaying the scene I had just witnessed.

What was that?

A truly strange sensation, as if I alone had separated from the flow of the world.

Looking down at my hand, nothing remained.

Except for shattered fragments.

Is this my full power? It’s an absurd strength.

Exhaustion weighed down my entire body.