120 - - The Brave Sweat With His Brother

The morning of the second day of the tournament.

In a large room at the inn.

"Woo ...... hmm?　I don't see my brother."

Gaius, who was supposed to be sleeping next to me, is gone.

Did he go somewhere?

I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 6 o'clock.

"I wonder if he's doing morning practice?"

It reminds me of yesterday.

My brother seemed to be a little depressed after the third round.

"I wonder if he's okay. Hmmm... I'll go check ......."

"Munyay ...... anyay ......."

I peel off Michael, who was attached to my waist, and stand up.

Following Gaius' trail, I leave the inn and head for a nearby nature park.

"Oh, there you are!"

In the woods, Gaius is meditating.

He closes his eyes and [floats] in the air, breathing.

A tremendous amount of magic and fighting spirit is circulating through his brother's body.

They are compressed to the point of mass, creating a foothold.

"............"

I try to leave, feeling bad about interrupting the morning practice.

"Wait a minute, bro."

Gaius says, closing his eyes.

"Good morning."

"Yeah, good morning."

I approach my brother.

Gaius stops meditating and puts his feet on the ground.

"Why are you leaving?"

I didn't want to interrupt your morning practice.

"You read the air in a strange way. You don't usually read the air at all."

The wind blows with a za .......

The sky is overcast.

The season is October.

Summer is over and we are entering autumn.

The air is cool and slightly chilly.

"Brother. I'm sorry."

"Hmm?　What's the matter, out of the blue?"

He mumbles to .......

"I gave you trouble in the third round. ......"

The last event of the first day was a pole vault.

The opponent, Asmodeus, went out of control, and Gaius and his team were in trouble.

I came in and saved them, but since I wasn't an athlete, I was disqualified.

"Don't worry about it. It's not like I was disqualified from the tournament."

I was simply disqualified from that competition.

"But ...... I should have been the one to protect Elise and the others. ......"

Gaius clenches his fists.

"I always think about it. I always think that if you were my brother, you could have saved the day. ...... I'm always so far behind you."

It is heartbreaking to see my brother so depressed.

Introspection is necessary.

But if we lose our confidence too much, we will not be able to grow what we can grow.

I want Gaius to be strong.

It's not because I feel guilty ...... for taking away his true brother.

I genuinely like Gaius.

The hard-working, competitive, junior boy.

"Little brother. I'll give you a little practice."

I pick up the magic sword.

"At a time like this?"

"Just do it. Pick up your sword."

Gaius has two swords in each hand.

Saber.

His partner.

"I'll take the lead. Go ahead."

"Let's go, ...... brother!"

At that moment, the world froze.

It's not easy to stop time.

Time and space were literally frozen by magic.

The power of Musouken.

This is a magical sword that can handle fire and ice.

Gaius drew out its power and it grew to the point that it can freeze time and space like this.

"Sayaaaaaaaah!"

Gaius never cuts corners, even against his own flesh and blood.

He'll come for it.

In a frozen world, I make my move.

I see through my brother's twin swords and dodge in the air.

"How can you move when you've frozen space-time?

"Well, it's only because I've separated my body from the physical world, but I can ...... do this, can't I?"

I can't do it!

Gaius swings his flaming sword at the landing site.

The slash of flame turns me into a giant firebird.

I dodge it by twisting my body in the air.

The wind pressure stirs the firebird.

Gakiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!

Gaius swung his twin swords at me from my blind spot.

I catch it with my magic sword.

"...... d*mn!　I thought I had completely caught you by surprise!"

"You're still a little naive. You still haven't gotten rid of the killing intent."

d*mn it!

We cut each other in the air.

Clank!　Kinnnnn!　Gakikin!

Boom!　Zgagh!　Gaki kikikin!

Every time they clash swords, you can feel it.

Gaius's passion, his enthusiasm for the match.

"You're getting good with that sword, little brother."

I was happy.

Before, my brother's sword had no thing on it, it was ...... light.

With each cut, the weight of Gaius' sword increased.

It was Michael, or Elise and the others.

With each additional precious thing, Gaius' sword grows heavier and sharper.

"Come on!"

Gaius swings his twin swords in the air.

I meet him head-on with my magic sword.

But I am blown away by the recoil.

Then Gaius cuts into me.

A moment later, he fires a thousand slashes.

Kink, kink, kink!

I stand in the air and dodge them all.

As soon as Gaius finishes his slashes, he leaves, sword at the ready.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

A tremendous amount of fighting spirit and magical power rises from his body.

Musou Ken absorbs its master's power and exerts itself even more.

Fire that scorches the heavens and ice that covers the earth.

Gaius crosses his swords and strikes.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The enormous flames burned the cloudy sky that covered it.

The tremendous cold air freezes all the land of the empire.

Blades of fire and ice fly toward me.

I take a thrusting stance and fire forward.

Ultima Sword.

The jet-black light blots out the blades of fire and ice that collide with it into emptiness.

Boom! ......!　Gaius steps in.

After unleashing a great move, Gaius takes advantage of the momentary gap to deliver a super high-speed slash.

I try to avoid it.

"Oh!"

But before I knew it, my legs had frozen.

Perhaps my earlier great move was a blindfold.

"Seyaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Gaius' sword tries to take my neck.

But I duck and duck.

I quickly get up and slam the sword into Gaius' back.

Boom!

Gaius is blown away at super-speed.

It smashes through the imperial arena and hits the ground.

I transfer to my brother.

"Ha......!　Huh ......!　Haa ......!　Huh ......!"

Sweating all over, Gaius is on the ground.

He is in the center of a huge crater, as if a meteorite had hit him.

"Nice fight!"

I use time magic to restore Gaius' strength to what it was before the fight.

I don't want him to be exhausted before the fight.

"Thank you, brother."

I look down at Gaius.

But his expression doesn't clear.

"After all ......, we lost again. As usual. ......

I pat Gaius on the head.

"That's not true. You're awesome."

"What, ......?"

"Remember me. You couldn't move me one step from where I was before?"

But not now.

I have to dodge my brother's attack.

"Do you know what it means that you have to dodge?　If you take it head-on, you're in trouble."

"Oh, ......"

I met Gaius in April.

It's been six months.

In just six months, this new brave has grown so powerful that he's close to me.

Don't worry. You're getting stronger. More than anyone else in this world.

I smile at him.

Gaius looks up at me, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm ...... following behind you and your brother, aren't I?"

"Of course. So don't cry. Okay?"

Gaius wipes away a tear.

I reach out to him.

Gaius takes my hand and stands up.

"It's human nature to blunder," Gaius says. I used to do it all the time. I used to do it all the time. ......"

I teach my juniors a lesson.

"There is no shame in stumbling. The most shameful thing is when you can't get back on your feet and you're left cowering and rotting."

"Brother ......"

He pulls Gaius into a hug and pats him on the head.

"You're amazing. No matter how many times your heart has been broken, you always get up in the end and come after me. You're not the chosen hero, just a human being."

He looks his brother in the eye at close range and says

"Be proud, Gaius von Carlisle. You're the closest thing I have to a hero."

"Thank you, brother ......."

Gaius returns the hug.

He patted Gaius' head, who was crying for a while.

After a while.

"I'll ...... do my best."

"Oh, yeah. Good luck, Captain."

I'm glad Gaius is feeling better.

Let's go back. I'm starving."

We fix everything that's broken and head for the inn.

I saw a familiar face in the doorway of the arena.

"♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡"

"Hello, Dantalion. Good morning."

"Good morning ...... sir. ......"

Dantalion bows his head.

"What are you doing?"

"I ...... smelled ...... a side dish and came ...... to see you."

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle Dantalion's body.

"Gaius-sama ......"

What the hell?

"Don't worry ....... You are ...... strong. Asmodeus is the ...... strongest demon. I faced it and ...... survived. The first human ever to do so ......."

Dantalion says in a serious tone.

"I am ...... not ashamed ...... to say that I have lost."

"I see. I see. ....... Well, thanks."

I look at her.

"Are you going to encourage me?"

"Yes,...... the mismanagement of his subordinates has made him lose ...... too much ...... confidence in himself. It was ......, so..."

"I see. Thanks for the follow up."

"No, no, no. ...... Mr. Gaius."

Dantalion reaches out his hand.

"Let's keep up the good work at ...... on the second day."

"Yeah, I'll do my best."

The captains hold each other's hands.

I was happy to see that we were making more and more friends in this way.

"By the way, ...... Mr. Gaius..."

"What?"

"We've had an ...... intense ...... collision since this morning. Thank you for the delicious ...... meal and the handsome ......."

"What is ......?"

Dantalion shakes his body.

"Colliding ...... brothers ...... spewing ...... sweat ...... breathing hard. ......"

"Wait a minute!　I was just doing my morning exercises!"

"And ...... embracing each other ...... with the morning sun in the background ...... ♡ phew ......"

"You were watching!　You saw that, didn't you!"

"Yes,...... the whole thing,...... and the recording is ...... perfect."

"Turn it off!　I don't know what you were recording it on, but turn it off!

Yeah, yeah, I'm glad Gaius is feeling better.

Well, day two. Let's go for it."