Killing Intent Detection (2)

Harold, who called me to the Swordsmanship Training Ground during personal time even after class ended, and then swung his sword before I was even ready.

At his brazen attitude, I slowly started to boil with rage, and my mind filled with nothing but thoughts of how to beat the crap out of this professor bastard in front of me.

‘First, I absolutely cannot block this bastard’s sword with my body. I need to somehow continuously evade and move even half a beat faster….’

In a duel between swordsmen, being unable to block a sword with a sword was a fatal weakness. This was because, fundamentally, moving a sword was much faster and required far less stamina than moving one’s entire body.

The fortunate thing was that Lillith wasn’t a character with low speed in 『Luminor Academy』, so if I used buffs, Shockwave, and the spirits’ support appropriately, it might be possible to land a blow on Harold.

“Mana, envelop my body!”

-Whoosh!

“Arcane, sharpen that blade!”

-Clang!

First, I used Spirit Awakening to raise my basic physical stats, and then used Sharp Blade to enhance my weapon.

Neither of the two buffs had a very long duration, but it didn’t matter. After all, he was an opponent I had no chance against unless I finished it in a short period.

If this bastard was determined to send me to the Church, then I’d send him there instead. I had no intention of cowering and trembling at his trivial background as a Part 2 boss, a Sword Master, or one of the Emperor’s Three Swords.

‘Sally, every time I use Shockwave, add power with Flame Explosion. Sei, I need your help with movement support using a tailwind.’

‘Leave it to me!’

‘…Understood.’

Against Harold, any half-hearted offensive magic would just be countered. If I wanted to defeat him, using a sword was the only way I had any chance.

Deciding to dedicate all other magic and auxiliary means to supporting a single sword strike, I first focused on evading Harold’s incoming attacks.

-Whoosh!

“……!!!”

Startled by Harold’s blade, which accurately aimed for my ankle, I quickly stepped back.

There was a way to evade by jumping into the air with Sei’s help, but I didn’t use it. That monstrous bastard was capable of bringing his sword straight into the air and cutting me down the moment I took a step off the ground to avoid his blade.

In a battle against a superhuman, I absolutely could not leave my body vulnerable for even a moment. And one of the actions that would leave me vulnerable was recklessly launching myself into the air, so if he attacked low, stepping back was the most standard evasion maneuver.

“……Hmm.”

“Hmm,” my ass. What the fuck is that “Hmm”? That dog-like bastard, seriously.

That Sword Demon, whose thoughts remained inscrutable, kept swinging his longsword as if to cleave my body, and I frantically moved my body, adjusting my posture with Shockwave, struggling to deal with the imminent danger.

‘Harold’s sword-swinging speed is a bit slower than my magic casting speed, but….’

The problem was that I couldn’t use ‘predictive casting’ for my magic while evading his sword.

Attempting predictive casting in front of that madman, who could instantly change his sword’s trajectory after confirming whether his opponent’s feet were on the ground or not, was essentially revealing my next evasion spot.

If I could accurately predict how Harold would swing his sword, I might be able to create an opening through continuous evasion and get a chance to stab him in the side with my sword. But if that were possible, I’d be the Sword Master, not him.

The next most realistic scenario was to wait for Harold to make a single mistake… but unfortunately, unlike the Harold in the game, the Harold of this world was not an easy opponent.

‘Originally, the Harold in the game wasn’t in his right mind because of Ethan’s death.’

Unlike the game, which forcibly created weaknesses for the protagonist to win, the Harold of this world was the Sword Demon himself, never letting his guard down.

Within the impenetrable gaps, my body gradually began to tire.

‘Fuck… Just once, please, fuck…’

Just let me stab that dog-like bastard in the side once.

I don’t care if I’m bedridden for days from the side effects, just give me a chance to hit that damn bastard even once.

Because I genuinely wanted to stab him once, not just safely spar back and forth.

While desperately evading Harold’s attacks with the help of various support magic, with such thoughts.

‘……Huh?’

With a sensation as if time had stopped, I felt a sense of déjà vu from when I fought Natalie just a few hours ago, seeing several golden trajectories appear before my eyes.

‘This, surely….’

Come to think of it, just a moment ago, when I parried my sword along this trajectory, Natalie’s unseen sword was deflected.

If this trajectory, just like in the duel with Natalie earlier, indicates Harold’s sword path….

‘I need to pre-cast Triple Casting so that Shockwave explodes along the predicted path, and I must maintain eye contact with Harold as much as possible to avoid creating any sense of incongruity. Anyway, Sei and Sally will take care of any minor errors and insufficient power with their support.’

I couldn’t be sure if this truly was a trajectory predicting Harold’s sword path. Perhaps what I saw in the duel with Natalie earlier was just an illusion.

However, since it was a battle where victory couldn’t be guaranteed without a gamble, I decided to bet on the side that seemed to have ‘at least’ a higher chance of winning.

-Whoosh!

‘First, the first one.’

Harold’s sword strike, flying along one of the three trajectories.

If it had been me from a moment ago, I would have just started frantically chanting Shockwave and moving my body, but now I had already set up Shockwave along the path of Harold’s incoming sword.

After lightly twisting my body to evade his sword, I took half a step towards him.

“……Hmm!”

-Whoosh!

Harold swung his sword towards me along the second sword path with an unpleasant hum.

This time too, Harold moved his sword along one of the remaining two trajectories, and the pre-cast Shockwave played a significant role, allowing me to evade much more leisurely than the first attack, giving me enough room to swing my sword once.

-Grin.

‘…Smiling?’

Harold swung his sword one last time with an unsettling smile whose intention I couldn’t discern.

Only one trajectory remained, and Harold’s sword path was also one.

I no longer hesitated, knowing I could evade without even needing to confirm with my eyes. From now on, I would only think about landing a single blow.

“…Good movement. This should be enough…”

“Dieee!! You motherfucker…!!!”

“……Hmm?”

Harold suddenly withdrew his sword and started muttering something, but my already heated mind had no intention of withdrawing the dagger aimed at him.

In what might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to injure Harold, the dagger in my left hand plunged towards his side.

-Clang!

“Gah…!! FUCKKKKK!!”

“…Calm down, you. My swinging the sword without explanation was all for your growth, Lillith…”

“Dieeeeee…!! You crazy, doting, blockhead Sword Demon bastarddddd…!!!”

“…No, wait…”

For a moment, Harold’s voice seemed to sound flustered, but the dagger in my right hand was already accurately plunging towards his side.

Even Harold, who had blocked my first attack, was unable to defend against my second sword.

-Thud!

“Guh, cough…?!”

The dagger in my right hand plunged into Harold’s side, accompanied by the sensation of piercing flesh.

It was the moment a dagger bearing the Blackwood Crest accurately plunged into the body of the Blackwood Family’s head, and an immense thrill surged through my mind at the fact that his body had allowed my attack for the first time.

-Squeeze!

“Guh, guh…. Ha, haha…”

However, even if he was injured once, a Sword Master was still a Sword Master.

Fundamentally, individuals who reached the rank of Master possessed basic physical strength far surpassing that of ordinary people, and my wrists were easily subdued by Harold’s grip as he put down his sword.

“Haa, haa, haaa….”

“…You’re too agitated. You should cool your head a bit…”

“Harold, you motherfucker!!!”

“…….”

“If I piss you off, just say it, you son of a bitchhh…!! This motherfucker just tries to kill me out of nowhere?!”

“…I wasn’t trying to kill you; this was all for your training…”

“Did me sleeping with Ethan piss you off that much?! You damn doting idiot of a father!! If it’s a spar, you should at least let me use a Training Barrier, shouldn’t you?! Did you dislike me sleeping with your son so much that you had to stab a knife into my body to be satisfied?! Huh?! Answer me, you son of a bitchhh…!!”

“…My apologies. I apologize for that.”

“You try to kill someone and a single ‘sorry’ is all it takes…………Wait, an apology?”

…Harold, apologizing?

My mind, realizing instantly that something was going wrong, immediately began to cool down, and Harold, still holding both my wrists, provided additional explanations about the training that had just occurred.

“For your training, I intentionally tried a sparring method without speaking, but it seems it wasn’t a very good approach, separate from its growth efficiency.”

“……Training?”

“Yes, practical training.”

…This was training?

This wasn’t him trying to kill me, but just training? Even though I genuinely felt killing intent?

I thought Harold was trying to take out his anger because he didn’t like me sleeping with Ethan, but it was just simple swordsmanship training?

“So, has your head cooled down a bit?”

“……Master, what I just said wasn’t my true feelings, it’s just that…”

“You have a very coy personality. I hadn’t realized it until now.”

“…….”

The more I heard Harold’s relaxed voice, the more the blood drained from my body.

And as my cooled mind began to function again, only one thought came to mind next.

…Ah, I think I’m fucked.