Chapter 69: Labyrinth and Puppet (3)

Blade Catch.

It was a technique often practiced in martial arts training, but one that inevitably resulted in injury whether successful or not, making it utterly impractical for real combat.

In actual combat, it would only be used as a last-ditch gamble when facing certain death.

“…It’s been a while since I’ve used this technique, but it worked better than expected.”

Despite successfully executing such a risky move, there was no joy or surprise in his demeanor.

His mind remained perfectly calm, as if something entirely ordinary had just occurred.

‘This guy… what the hell is he?’

Before I could even process where such a monster had come from, the guy gripping the blade with both hands began to raise one leg high.

“Hm!!”

As he let out a short kiai and stomped his foot, a massive shockwave sent fragments of the shattered floor flying toward me.

“Ugh!!”

Unable to defend while my blade was caught, I immediately released the hilt and dove towards the Shadowstrike I had set aside earlier.

I grabbed the Shadowstrike that had fallen to the floor, sheathed it, and jumped far away from him.

The guy, who had somehow managed to flip the katana he’d been gripping by the blade and grab the hilt again, smirked.

“Kaka-kah! I thought you were all talk, but you’re quite impressive!! I was considered a genius myself, but you’re far stronger than I was at your age!!”

“Oh really? By the way, how old are you? I can’t tell with that tin can on your head.”

I tried to fish for information, but what came back wasn’t an answer, but a cold blade.

Clang!!

The brutal yet crisp sound of metal striking metal echoed through the labyrinth.

The soft-hearted notion of capturing him alive had long since vanished. After exchanging several lethal blows, we found ourselves continually moving until we reached the deepest part of the labyrinth.

“I had intended to finish this at the entrance earlier… but somehow we’ve ended up here.”

“Yeah…”

Behind him, I could see what looked like a door leading outside. A rectangular door emitting pure white light – touching it would transport you outside the labyrinth.

Whether he knew this or not, the guy smirked and pointed at the door, saying:

“It wasn’t my intention, but I suppose this is lucky for you. If things get dangerous, you can just escape through here.”

“What? Didn’t you come here to run away if things got dicey? Don’t you value your life?”

We slowly approached each other, trading ineffective taunts.

As we closed the distance, we soon came within striking range of one another.

“A true master always lets the amateur strike first. Draw first; I’ll counter after you do.”

“The draw is much faster than simply swinging an already-drawn sword, so I’ll be the one yielding the first strike.”

“…I knew you’d spout such nonsense, but hearing it directly makes my head spin.”

Did this guy not even know that Baldo is faster than normal sword swings, despite using Baldo himself?

“Seeing is believing, so if you don’t believe me, I’ll show you directly!!”

With a violent scraping sound, Shadowstrike was drawn and directed at him, which he parried as if to intercept.

“It seems the gods are truly fair. They didn’t give you both talent and intelligence.”

“My intelligence is as outstanding as my talent!! You low-educated f*ck!!”

“What bullsh*t!! Kuk…!!”

With that, I used all my strength to send him flying as our katanas clashed, then performed another Baldo draw towards his airborne form.

“Vacuum Slash!!”

The vacuum blade that cut through the air flew towards him with enough force to shred him, but the guy floating in midair lightly twisted his body to avoid the attack.

“Your energy control is quite impressive!! Got any other techniques? Show me more!!”

“I’ll grant your wish!!”

Concentrating energy in my legs, the next technique I unleashed was Single Flash, an Baldo technique that instantly closes the distance to slash the enemy.

I had intended to strike and cut him down while he was still airborne, but…

“I’ve seen techniques like that many times before.”

Just as I had done earlier, he pulled the scabbard from his waist, struck the ground with it, and used the rebound to jump high once again.

Far from cutting him, I had only slashed empty air. I sheathed Shadowstrike again, preparing for my next draw.

Looking at the guy who had jumped high, I thought.

If I attacked again, I only had Vacuum Slash or the shockwave I used to negate Lobo’s attack, but it’d dodge the former and easily negate the latter just as I did.

‘It’s my first time using this technique, but…’

More accurately, it was a technique I had just created, but now wasn’t the time to split hairs.

“Here I go…”

Once again, the wind blade was drawn in an instant, transformed by skillful energy control into dozens of blades flying towards him.

“Oh…!!”

Like before, he twisted his body to dodge the blades or blocked them with his katana and scabbard, but it was too much to handle everything while airborne.

Several wind blades aimed at his body sliced through the armor he wore, but unfortunately, no blood flowed.

‘Did he block it with aura? Or maybe… his body doesn’t bleed in the first place…’

While I was thinking about his bizarre body, the guy who had landed on the ground smirked as he looked at his sliced armor and said:

“That last one was quite good. Extremely precise energy control. Though it would have been more powerful if you hadn’t gone through the useless process of drawing the sword.”

[Baldo: Vacuum Splash] [Rank: B+]

[A technique that splits the slash created at the moment of drawing into tiny pieces using energy and launches them at the enemy. While the power of each individual attack is nowhere near that of Vacuum Slash, the number of slashes is dozens of times greater.

Like Vacuum Slash, if it weren’t for the unnecessary process of drawing the sword, the number could have reached hundreds.]

“You two are really f*cking tag-teaming with this bullsh*t!!”

“Two? You’re looking at empty space and spouting nonsense…”

“Shut up!! I’ll cut your body to pieces and prove that Baldo is stronger!!”

The fierce exchange that began once again left minor wounds on both our bodies, gradually staining the yellow labyrinth red.

While I managed to land several effective hits on him, for some reason not a single drop of blood flowed from his body.

‘As expected, his body isn’t normal…’

I realized it when I sliced his armor earlier and attacked what should have been his bare skin.

The crisp sound typically heard when metal strikes metal.

Even if one could harden their skin with energy to increase durability, it couldn’t deceive the sound.

There was no doubt now that his body was made of metal, not flesh.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun… Don’t you agree?”

“Yeah, you’re right… Though it would have been more fun if you’d come in person.”

“Oh! You figured that out!!”

He fell for my casually tossed bait embarrassingly easily.

I had considered the possibility of body modification, but it seemed remote control was the correct answer.

“I wondered why you’ve been acting like there’s always a next time even when losing… Are you that afraid of dying?”

“Kaka-kah…! Would someone afraid of death wield a katana? And you seem to be under one misunderstanding – the only reason you’re still breathing is because I didn’t come here in person.”

The guy who had laughed happily took up a stance, and I also took a deep breath and assumed my stance.

And just as we were about to clash again…

“Haa…! Haa…!! I finally made it!!”

Turning my head at the voice completely out of place in this situation, I saw Jessica with her hair bun swaying, wearing a refreshing smile as she just passed through the entrance.

“Y-You…!! Surely you must have entered last…”

As Jessica and her followers spoke such carefree words, still unaware of the situation, the guy smirked and said:

“It seems some nuisances have arrived. Wait a moment. I’ll take care of them quickly and be right back.”

Just as I had done earlier, he concentrated energy in his legs and leapt past me towards Jessica.

I immediately reacted and ran alongside him, but at this rate, it seemed his thrust would pierce Jessica’s neck.

‘I could use Baldo, but if she dodges…!!’

While I was hesitating, the situation unfolded too quickly for Jessica, who couldn’t react, and he approached right in front of her.

Having come this far, I had no choice but to intervene in front of him with a “come what may” attitude.

And then…

“You crazy bastard…!”

I grabbed the katana aimed at Jessica with both hands, just as he had done earlier, barely stopping it an inch from her chest.

To be honest, I used this technique wondering if it would actually work, but contrary to my anxiety, it succeeded perfectly.

I had already coated my hands with aura, so I didn’t even get hurt. There couldn’t be a better outcome.

“Uh, huh? What’s going on…?”

As the event that unfolded in less than a second ended, Jessica finally came to her senses and looked at us.

“This isn’t an illusory beast created by hallucination, is it?! Then what on earth is going on here…!”

“Jessica, run away!!”

“What?!”

“I said run back the way you came!! If you go towards the exit, this bastard will drop his katana and chase you to kill you!!”

More force was applied to the katana stopped just in front of my chest. It was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer at this rate.

“B-But I can’t just abandon you like this…!!”

“You’re in the way!! If it weren’t for you guys, I would have cut him in half with Baldo by now!!”

After I said that much, Jessica bit her lip and began to run away.

“I-I’ll gather people and definitely come back, so just hold on for a bit!! Okay?!”

“It’ll be over before then, so just hide somewhere and come back in about 10 minutes.”

“That’s right, in about 10 minutes you’ll find this guy’s body torn to shreds.”

With those final words, Jessica hurriedly left, leaving only the guy’s katana aimed at my heart as the remaining problem.

‘Since it’s come to this, I might as well just break it…!!’

The katana was too close to escape like he did earlier.

Since it had come to this, I decided to break it and infuse my arms with aura, but he let go of the hilt even more easily than I had earlier.

“Don’t be too attached to your weapon.”

“Who are you to lecture…!! Kugh!!”

The impact that struck my abdomen flowed straight into my internal organs, but I didn’t let go of the blade I had grabbed.

“F*ck off, you bastard!!”

As I tried to kick the guy who had lowered his body to strike my abdomen, he seemed to have foreseen this and pulled his body back to avoid it.

“Kah…! Once again, the sword has fallen from my hand.”

The guy laughed self-deprecatingly and clenched his fist as if to say he’d fight with his bare hands.

And I threw the katana I hadn’t let go of even when my abdomen was struck towards him.

“…What are you doing?”

“There’s no thrill in cutting down an unarmed opponent.”

I drew Shadowstrike from my waist where it was firmly tied, scabbard and all, and said to the guy who was blankly staring at me while holding the katana I had thrown:

“I’ll end it with the next attack.”

At this rate, either the students Jessica brings will interfere, or Marina will come herself.

I wanted to end this fight before those pathetic fools interfered again. The guy, seeming to understand my feelings, said while maximizing his aura:

“…Very well. This is the last one.”

Matching him, I also maximized my aura, and just like before, we approached each other, gradually closing the distance.

After closing the distance until we could feel each other’s breath, the first to attack was me, not him.

Shing!

With a brutal scraping sound, Shadowstrike was drawn aiming for his abdomen, but anticipating this all-out Baldo, he greatly pulled his body back, barely avoiding the draw by a hair’s breadth.

The guy who leapt forward again after Shadowstrike missed brought his katana down towards my head.

However…

“Kuugh!!”

The scabbard left after drawing Shadowstrike headed straight for his abdomen, crushing his body.

Unable to withstand the tremendous impact, his body flew straight into the wall with a brutal crushing sound and became embedded in it.

“Baldo: Double Strike.”

[Baldo: Double Strike] [Rank: B++]

[When attacking an enemy with Baldo, if the opponent survives or dodges the first strike, you turn your body and launch a second attack with the scabbard.

Unless it’s a special scabbard, even if protected by aura, damage to the scabbard is unavoidable, and at this point, it would be more efficient to just wield two swords.

Of course, this doesn’t mean dual-wielding is an efficient fighting style.]

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