Chapter 52: Von (3)

Chapter 52: Von (3)

It was natural that Von would be amused.

He was one of the best in the empire, while Henry was only in the Learner class, nothing more than a mere rookie. His request for a duel was nothing more than the recklessness of the ignorant, but Von could not see even the slightest sign of naivete in Henry’s eyes.

‘Maybe he has a trump card he’s hiding.’

Otherwise, no idiot would challenge a Sword Master to a duel.

“Alright. However, seeing how confident you are, I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

“Of course.”

Henry had already expected that Von would accept his challenge; Von’s curiosity had been stirred by all the things he’d said.

‘Although Von is a Sword Master, his foundation is the?Imperial Swordsmanship. Therefore, I have a good chance, since I have mastered Hector's?swordsmanship.’?

Henry was confident because their duel would rely on skill rather than pure strength.

“Let us move to a different location.”

***

Below the city hall was a massive training hall. Von had secretly prepared it to use for his training.

Before their duel, Henry said, “Sir Von.”

“What is it?”

“I did say that I would prove my skills to you, but my swordsmanship is nothing compared to yours.”

“So? Are you trying to back away now?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s impossible for me to defeat you; therefore, I would like you to set a reasonable goal that will satisfy your expectations.”

Although Henry had already mastered Von’s sword techniques, his opponent was a top-tier Imperial Sword Master. Henry decided to create an advantage for himself, even if it meant swallowing his pride.

Von willingly agreed.

“Alright. If you can hit me three times, then I will acknowledge your skills.”

“Thank you.”

Although he had never dueled with Von, Henry believed that he could produce three effective blows.

Themen grabbed two wooden swords from the training hall and stood at a distance from each other.

They took the basic sword fighting stance. When Von saw Henry’s stance, he thought to himself, ‘As expected of an Imperial Swordsman.’

The swordsmen of the empire used the stance that the former emperor had created. Von used it as well because the sword art that Emperor Golden Jackson had created was much more effective than the one from Enkelmann.

“You can go ahead.”

“Thank you.”

The weaker party was supposed to attack first, which was why Von let Henry take the first shot.

Henry started moving in a circle, following the Circle Step pattern.

The distance between them slowly shrank, and when the edges of the two circles delineating their attack range met, Henry quickly changed his stride to the Hector Step.

Bang!

“...?”

Henry had already planned his attack from the start and swiftly hit Von’s waist.

Von had never seen anything like this at the start of a duel. He had no choice but to surrender one point to his opponent.

“That is one point,” Henry said, withdrawing his sword.

“This... I underestimated you.”

The blow was simply a gentle touch, which meant that Henry had been so certain his strike would reach Von that he’d held himself back.

“Haha, you know such tactics, I see.” Von nodded, admitting that he had let his guard down. “However, I won’t let it happen twice.”

The first time was his mistake, if there was a second time, it would be his opponent’s skill.

“Then...I wish you the best of luck this time too.”

Henry noticed that Von’s aura had changed.

‘Is it for real this time?’

His tactic could only work once, and the real duel was starting.

Von laughed, admitting to his mistake with the easygoing expression of a friendly neighbor. However, his wooden sword seemed to transform into a real one as soon as he grabbed it.

Shiver.

Henry's palms were sweating around the hilt of his wooden sword.

‘I didn’t know he was this powerful...’

Von had seemed like a typical Imperial Swordsman, but now, it was as if a hawk with sharp claws were looking at its prey from the sky. Henry felt as though he were dueling with a totally different person. His feet felt heavy, as if they were frozen to the ground.

But...

‘You have become stronger.’

Henry didn’t even notice that he was smiling.

He realized that Von had changed significantly since they last saw each other the previous year. This meant that even after Henry’s death, he had not fallen into a slump but continued to train. Had something changed within him after Henry died? Von seemed to have learned something important.

Henry felt proud of Von because it meant that Von had not forgotten about him. At the same time, he wondered how difficult it had been for him.

Henry had requested a duel because he had only known Von’s level from the year before.

He felt confident that with the magic he’d memorized, Hector’s swordsmanship, and the swordsmanship that he had practiced the past year, he could put up a good fight even if he couldn’t win.

Now that the gap was greater than he had expected, it was clear that things would not go as planned. But Henry was not afraid; on the contrary, it only made things more exciting.

First, he was happy that Von had become stronger, and second, he was glad that he could test his own skills by having Von as his opponent. Curiosity rose in his heart.

.

‘Since I feel so competitive, it looks like I’ve become a true swordsman without even realizing it. When I was an Archmage, I couldn't understand why swordsmen were so invested in their fights.’

Could Von hear Henry’s thoughts?

“You’re smiling?”

Von’s eyebrow twitched as if he were dissatisfied with Henry’s attitude. It seemed as if there was a misunderstanding, but Henry did not say anything to clear it up. After all, it seemed that Von would only fight at his full strength in a situation like this.

It turned out that Henry was right. Von finally took his first step.

Thud!

Although it seemed like Von had only taken a firm stance, he appeared right in front of Henry. With a stern expression, Von swung his sword diagonally. His sword was filled with his determination to defeat Henry with just a single blow. Henry felt as though a massive wave was approaching him, and he instinctively thrust his sword forward.

Clack!

The two swords violently clashed with each other.

Henry crossed swords with Von, barely managing to block his subordinate’s strike. Von’s sword was only five centimeters away from Henry’s forehead. He was trembling, trying to hold his stance.

Once again, Von’s expression changed, this time to surprise.

‘He blocked me?’

A look of bewilderment appeared in Von’s eyes, even if just for a moment. He never expected that Henry could block a strike that had Von’s entire might behind it.

The corner of Von’s mouth slightly curled up, as if a ferocious beast were revealing its sharp fangs.

“You have the right to be arrogant, I’ll give you that. Now, try to block this as well.”

Von took another step, and this time, he raised his sword and swung toward his right.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The wooden sword produced a fierce wind as it cut through the air at a speed that the naked eye simply could not follow.

Even though it wasn’t imbued with Aura, Von’s wooden sword was incredibly powerful.

Clack!

Henry stepped back as he continued to block Von’s sword. His eyes focused on Von’s wooden sword, but he could not follow its movement, so he decided to use magic.

‘Even with Targeting, I can barely catch it! As expected, he’s incredible!’

Targeting was a spell that allowed the user to see the opponent’s planned attacks in advance in order to block them.

The spell’s purpose was to prevent opponents from casting spells, but Henry was using it to predict and block his opponent’s sword.

‘So this is the real Von, huh?’

Henry clenched his jaw as he continued to defend himself against Von’s sword and stumbled back. He needed to find a way out of this massive power storm, but he backed into the wall with a bump.

Bang!

Von’s wooden sword missed Henry’s head by a very slight margin and broke through the wall even though Henry’s sword had partly blocked the hit.

“What is this? Did you not say that you would prove your skills to me? Is running away your method of proving yourself?”

Henry smiled at Von’s annoyed voice.

“Let’s change things a little, then.”

“What?”

Von smirked and moved his sword in the opposite direction, but Henry’s counterattack had begun.

‘Haste, Haste, Haste.’

As the three acceleration spells stacked on top of each other, Henry reached superhuman speed in the blink of an eye. He leaned forward and dodged Von’s strike with a diagonal step, then struck Von with his wooden sword.

“Argh!”

Von was taken back by the sudden change in Henry’s speed. He quickly tried to pull back his sword to block, but Henry had already attacked through an opening, and his sword struck Von’s shoulder hard.

As Von retreated from the shock, Henry instantly used his next spell.

‘Blink.’

Henry suddenly disappeared.

Von’s counterattack passed through the place where Henry had been standing. His expression twisted as he remembered that Henry was a magic swordsman. It was not that he had forgotten this fact, but Von had never imagined that Henry would use both magic and swordsmanship in a real duel.

While Von was still recovering from the shock, Henry’s Blink had already put him behind Von. Just as he had learned from Hector, he turned around and placed his wooden sword against Von’s neck.

“It's over now.”

If it had been a real sword and not a wooden one, Von’s head would have been rolling on the floor.

“...Did you use magic?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I see. No wonder your movements were abnormal.”

“I didn’t mean to trick you. I apologize.”

“No. Magic is also one of your skills. I don’t think of it as cowardly.”

Von was a generous man. It didn’t matter that Henry had won by using magic, he willingly admitted his defeat.Thanks to the duel, Von reconsidered his negative assumptions about Henry.

‘A Magic Swordsman, huh... He is truly like you, my lord. Where did you find a monster like him?’

The fact that his opponent was Henry’s disciple made Von biased toward him.

The murderous tension in the training hall disappeared, and thanks to their new understanding of each other, the atmosphere grew friendly.

“Does this mean you will help me get revenge?”

“Yes, of course! A man cannot break his word. You have proven your courage.”

It was strange to be acknowledged by someone who had been his subordinate in his past life, but Henry was not offended. No—in fact, he was proud, because it wasn’t easy to earn the acknowledgement of someone like Von.

“Thank you, Sir Von.”

“No need to call me ‘sir.’ Since we will be seeing each other often, just call me Brother Von from now on.”

“Haha, alright, Brother Von.”

“Alright, let's go check on Harz. He must be reflecting on his mistakes.”

There was no need for more proof, and finally, the man that he had once called his sword had returned to Henry’s side.