Chapter 167 - The Way to Move Forward

Cecil was a little exhausted since he had exerted his mana a little too much. Lucia who saw the pained countenance of Cecil's immediately grew worried.

She turned her eyes towards the bracelet on her wrist and checked the gem. It was yellow in color, meaning it was 3 levels away from falling into the danger zone, so Cecil was still safe.

Lucia was just about to rush up onto the stage, but Cecil immediately straightened himself and looked towards her. He turned red a little and smiled before mouthing something to her and then suddenly disappearing.

Lucia was surprised before she began to smile brightly. Her previous fury was all but gone, like it was some sort of illusion. She skipped happily back towards the waiting room alongside a puzzled Yuna.

Yuna released a tired sigh, she lectured Cecil for a bit and thought that the boy would have manned up by now, but he still went and disappeared. She couldn't be mad at him though, since whatever he said to her master had apparently appeased her anger.

"Something good happen, Lucia?"

"Hmhm~ that's a secret~"

Yuna chuckled in response. As long as her master was happy then everything's all good. It was much better than her glowering in rage earlier.

The next match soon began after the protective barrier was quickly fixed, the two friends and rivals, Elizabeth Arks vs. Serilla Lunarts.

Many in the stadium anticipated this match up. Two Sword Maidens who had high potential in becoming the next Sword Saintess were about to duke it out in the arena.

Cecil's previous fight caused the atmosphere within the stadium to dampen immensely, but the next match immediately raised it sky-high once again.

The two girls faced each other on top of the stage, Serilla had her sword in hand and Elizabeth had her rapier at the ready.

"FIGHT!!!"

At the referee's starting shout, Serilla and Eli released their Sword Intents. The two Intents clashed in the air and the sound of metal scraping against metal sounded in the air.

It was a magical phenomenon which caused everyone in the stadium to wonder what was happening. Were the two girls moving at a fast speed just like in the earlier speed match between the Ghost Queen and the Apocalyptic Queen?

But that wasn't it. The two Sword Intents were clashing and trying to wear the other down. It all depended on whose willpower was stronger and apparently, both girls had equally strong willpower.

The fight continued even as the two girls were only standing in place. Neither of them wanted to lose, so they were now in a stalemate.

"Let's get this started?"

"Let's~"

The two stopped their invisible clash and focused their intents onto their weapons. Eli activated her Aura Manifestation and a crimson aura rose from her body. She then fused her Intent with her aura and this caused a drastic change to the pressure that Serilla was feeling.

This caused Serilla to smile and say, "Going all out from the start~?"

"Yes....there's no need to probe...I'm pretty sure we're already very much familiar with each other."

"Of course~ since you're my friend Eli~"

"Shall we compete with our swords only?"

"That's exactly what I intended from the start y'know~"

"Alright then...HERE I COME!"

Eli was the first to make a move. She kicked off of the ground and flickered straight towards her opponent.

She quickly arrived in front of Serilla and stabbed her rapier straight towards her opponent's neck.

CLANG

Serilla parried the stab and slid her sword along the blade of Eli's rapier. She then moved in and sent a punch straight at Eli's face.

This wasn't her normal style of fighting. She had been observing the Little Kings' fights and had picked up their unusual combat methods and techniques. The fact was that Serilla was learning all this in-real time and it caused Eli to be mildly surprised.

She blocked Serilla's sword with her rapier's guard and deflected her fist. She then sent bent her arm and sent her elbow straight at Serilla's cheek.

Her opponent flung her head back, narrowly dodging the elbow strike. She dislodged her sword from Elizabeth's rapier and jumped back while sending a Vorpal Strike.

Eli simply raised her Intent-fused rapier and slashed out, immediately slicing it apart. She dashed forwards in pursuit. The two girls clashed weapons once again, but instead of applying Cecil's unique way of fighting, the two girls seemed to have come to a silent agreement and relied only on their swords and combat skills.

The two were raised and trained by the same master, Celia Lunarts, so they had the same fighting style and almost the same set of combat skills. Before, Eli had advanced a level higher than Serilla since she awakened her Intent, but not too long after, Serilla showed that she too had awakened her Sword Intent and this caused them to be placed on the same level once again.

Now it only depended on which one of the two was the better swordswoman and that soon came to light. Serilla was pushing Elizabeth back. Even with her Intent-fused Aura enhancing her physical capabilities, Serilla overwhelmed Eli in terms of technique and skill.

Serilla's skills and sword arts were a notch higher than Eli's and this caused the dragonkin girl to be put at a disadvantage.

'N-no! I trained so hard! How come I'm still inferior?!'

"Y'know Eli, you shouldn't try and chase after me~"

Her words broke Eli's thoughts.

"What?"

"The sword is not your path, well at least the Sword Saintess isn't."

"What're you talking about?!"

Eli shouted, she swung her rapier hard and sent an Aura Blade, a skill usable only when Aura Manifestation was active, straight at Serilla.

"...I saw your change during your match with the President. You don't want to be the Sword Saintess anymore, right?"

"Urk..."

"I knew it. I'm not saying that your sword is weak or anything, but you should really let go of that shackle called 'Sword Saintess', it'll only hinder your development."

Serilla responded to Eli's attack by sending a blade wave using her intent. The two sword waves smashed into each other which resulted in a shockwave.

"I stopped constraining myself to the limit of obtaining that title. Honestly, it's meaningless to be so focused on that. Just let go and devote yourself to the sword. That's the better—actually, that's the only way to progress."

"..."

"Don't you understand? You yourself have already chosen the path to abandon the title, but you're still indecisive. I've already awoken a Sword Intent, the same as you. If you don't acknowledge your own change, then I'll only get more and more stronger than you~"

Eli was silent as she digested her friend's words. After a moment she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Tsk...I hate how you know me so well..."

"Well, I'm your friend~ shouldn't I be able to do this much?"

"Hehe...well, I lost this time...but I won't lose next time."

"Oh? You're giving up?"

"Mhm. There's no point continuing, I'm agitated now and you're just going to toy around with me until I'm exhausted and finish me just like how you did with Fina..."

It was just like Fina's match against Serilla. The rabbit girl's words had stabbed her and Eli was no longer in the right state of mind. If this continued then it'll only be a repeat of Fina's battle. Of course, she could try and regain her composure and then restart the match, but Serilla might keep on saying more which will only further agitate her mind.

"Oh my~ I'm sorry...should I have kept my mouth shut?"

"No...And thanks Seri, I'm really glad to have a friend like you."

"Hihihi~ it's my pleasure, Princess~"

"Tsk, don't call me that!"

Elizabeth smiled and announced her surrender. The two girls sheathed their weapons and walked off the stage. Despite the lacking finish, the audience was still cheering and roaring in excitement.

The fight alone showcased the Kingdom's two strongest Sword Maidens. Their high-end sword fight sated the appetite of the audience who was craving for action.

With the final 4—no, 3, contestants finally advancing, the Semi-finals had arrived. Lucia had received a bye and automatically advanced into the finals since Zephyr and Robert had tied against each other and neither of them advanced.

There were no tie-breakers in the tournament's format, so Lucia received a free ticket to advance to the finals, so now the fight would be between Combat King Cecil and Sword Maiden Serilla.

The two met up in the arena, Cecil had a strained expression on his face, while Serilla was smiling bashfully at him.

"Hi Cel~"

"H-hi..."

"Hmhm~ I hope you enjoyed our kiss earlier~"

"Y-yeah...it wasn't...unpleasant."

"I'm sure it wasn't~ I for one enjoyed it~"

"..." Cecil only smiled back awkwardly with a faint blush on his face.

"I won't be holding back even though I'm in love with you however~"

"O-okay..."

Once more, Serilla extracted her sword from her spatial ring. Cecil was about to raise his fist and get into stance, but then he shook his head.

"Against a swordswoman of your caliber...I should show some respect," Cecil said seriously. He grabbed the hilt of his sword and unsheathed it. The beautiful blade glimmered as Cecil slowly pulled it out.

"WOAH!"

"No way?!"

"He's finally getting serious!!"

Exclamations of surprise rang through the stadium. Cecil, who had never once used a weapon throughout the entire tournament, had finally drawn his sword. The students of the academy roared in excitement while the normal audience was puzzled.

"So the kid uses a sword?"

"Earlier I saw him pull out a spear."

"...hmmm."

On stage, Serilla widened her eyes a bit. She then smiled happily and said, "Hihi~ I love you~"

"Gah!"

Cecil nearly tripped when he heard this.

"P-please be serious!"

"I am! I love you~"

"...urghh..." Cecil was in agony. Finally equipped with some form of common sense, he found it even harder for himself to receive the love and affection of another person who wasn't his family.

"I-I don't have sword intent, so don't think I'm looking down on you later when I don't release one, okay?"

"Oh? So you don't have one?"

"Y-yeah...I'm still trying to awaken mine...I only have Spear Intent, but I won't use my spear."

"Okay~"

Cecil got into his family's Sword Stance. He turned his eyes towards Fina who was inside the waiting room. The girl felt his gaze and she grew more focused.

Cecil smiled and he turned his attention back towards the girl in front of him. Although he didn't have any Sword Intent, the pressure he was releasing just from his presence while holding the sword caused Serilla to turn cautious.

"Semi-finals match! Cecil Silvaria vs. Serilla Lunarts!"

The audience roared and everyone focused their attention to the two on stage.

"FIGHT!"