Chapter 108: (Self Edited) Blade of Death

“What?” (Yuri)‘Is he trying to sway me by having a war of words?’

“I want to know about you a little.” (Canker)

“…?” (Yuri)

‘What are you going to talk about?’

“Even if you hide your tricks in some way… still the battle is about five minutes. I’m not sure I can win.” (Canker)

‘Five minutes.’

‘Well, that’s about it. If anything, I would be disadvantageous. I don’t have tricks.’

“You’re right.” (Yuri)

“I don’t feel fear from your attitude. I would understand if it’s the feeling of desperation, but it’s not.” (Canker)

‘It’s strange that I’m not scared. Rather than that, it seems strange that I can relax without cowering meaninglessly.’

‘It could be said that I’m that kind of person. There’s no point in thinking about death or the future of Carol if she dies.’

‘Instead of giving up, I’m even enjoying this situation where I can do my best. Now is the time to demonstrate the results of efforts and training that I’ve worked hard so far.’

‘Dying or living, losing limbs in battle and becoming disabled are only the results.’

“Do you think that I’m out of my mind?” (Yuri)

“Aren’t you a madman?” (Canker)

“Yeah. You can be convinced of that. Well…” (Yuri)

‘Unless you give up your task and go home, then, it would be different. I tried to say that, but it didn’t go out of the mouth.’

‘Come to think of it, he has no choice but to kill me. If I told him to go back, he may be crying and be thankful for the situation yesterday, but now, I need to kill him even if I have to chase after him. That’s because he knows Carol’s existence.’

If I let him go and he reports Carol’s existence, the next people that would come after us won’t be ten people or so, but 100 times that number, or 1000 times if I’m not that lucky.’

‘I don’t know the extent of the territory that the enemy has controlled and their supply network, so would it be possible to deploy that many people to a place this far? I’m considering that, but when I consider the lack of strength on our side especially in this war, it’s not strange that they are so dominant.’

‘In fact, these guys spend 1000 people chasing us two. If the fact that there is a blonde royalty is known, it’s possible that 10000 people will come next.’

“Well… it’s time to finish talking. There’s no need to come out with an impressive tale in the war.” (Yuri)

“That’s right.” (Canker)

Canker strengthened his grip.

‘Although I suggested resuming the fight, I couldn’t do anything from here. The crutch is quite sturdy, but it is only on the tip part of the crutch that can give an effective blow.’

‘Although the tip is heavy, it’s just a stick. No matter how much the armored shoulders and legs are struck, the damage is known. Literally, it won’t hurt or itch.’

‘When it comes to that, even if I go to hit his chin, I have to step in quite deeply.’

Canker straightened his sword, holding it in the way of flat blue eye grip.

5 Seigan

‘The flat blue eye grip is a way of tilting the sword slightly as to hide the arm under the sword brim. By doing so, it is easier to prevent attack at the protruding handle which aims at the middle of the body.’

‘It’s weird since the hands are also covered with armor, so it doesn’t make sense to tilt the sword. It may be that the teachings of the style learned by Canker is ingrained within his body.’

‘From now, he is going to forcefully hit my chin. Canker will only need to move his shoulders or head a little and be calmly hit. Then, he takes a step in, and if necessary extends his arm, and stabs his sword into my stomach.’

‘There’s no difficulty. My body will go to the rear with momentum, so I can’t avoid it.’

And that will be the end.’

‘As expected, I have no choice but to wait for his movement and adjust accordingly.’

“I’m starting.” (Canker)

Rather than saying it to me, he probably said it to himself. With those few words as a preface, Canker began to move.

He moved his whole body and tried to stab my solar plexus. I determined the timing and took a half step backward. I matched the time semi intuitively and repelled the thrust.

However, the momentum of the thrust stopped in the middle and I also stopped swinging. The sword was turned over and aimed at my arm.

I raised my left arm to avoid the slashing at the end, but Canker’s movement didn’t stop there.

While lifting the momentum intact, he turned his body half a turn and turned his sword to the rear.

“Hmmph!” (Canker)

While stepping in deeply, Canker swung his sword in a landslide-like trajectory.

I leaped to the rear greatly at that instant. The slashing that was extended out while stepping in was unexpectedly reaching far.

The slash that cut through the air ran from the top to bottom in front of me.

‘That’s dangerous. It’s a splendid technique that I can’t come up with. I don’t know if it’s a technique taught in school, but it’s probably one of the movements he has practiced a lot.’

I got a cold sweat.

“It seems true that you have an injured leg. It looks like you’re trying to cover it.” (Canker)

When he repositioned his sword, and rearranged his rough breathing, Canker began to say what he had noticed. Today, he talked a lot.

“You also seem to have broken armor.” (Yuri)

‘Shall I match the flow?’

“Did you notice it?” (Canker)

“To tell the truth, I was the one who damaged it.” (Yuri)

I tried to destroy the armor that he had left.

It was impossible to deform the waistline part, but I held the tip of the fingers part and hit the arm part against a tree several times. At first, I couldn’t see any part that became out of shape, but it seemed to be bending after that.

Apparently, Canker wore it as it was, but there seemed to be problems with the bending and stretching obviously, probably because the elbow area was deformed. Although it wasn’t to the point where it could produce a squeaky sound, the movement was dull only the arm was bent and extended. In this way, I could notice it easily when he confronted me seriously.

‘Without that, I might have been cut by the previous attack. Or was it a big move because he thought that the sword was sharp and could be extended long enough?’

“Did you not throw it away because you will lose the money to buy an armor again later?” (Yuri)

I said a provocative thing.

‘In reality, it depends on the opponent’s weapon whether it is better to wear armor or take it off. However, if I were him, I would have thrown it away if it gives me disadvantages.’

“It’s the household armor. That’s because I’m poor.” (Canker)

“Is that so?” (Yuri)

‘Well, I can tell that he is poor by looking at the craftsmanship of the armor. It’s shabby armor. It’s not the kind of armor that can be stored in the museum and passed to future generations, but somewhere in history, the armor that is thrown away will be melted and turned into a knife or fork when it’s no longer needed. ’

‘Of course, he is likely richer than usual since the armor is maintained at least. That may be the reason why he worked hard to train his swordsmanship. I can imagine it.’

“We both know that we’re not in the best condition. Well, I supposed it’s not a bad thing.” (Yuri)

I said.

‘Considering the strength and situation, I am still overwhelmingly on the disadvantageous side. Assuming the skill and handicap of the wound are about the same, I can be considered almost naked and only have one cane.’

‘The only thing that is effective against him is the chin, and if I hit the head with all my might, it may work a little bit. What should I do? I was optimistic that I won last time because of what I had, but I’m hopeless if there isn’t a bomb.’

“Yeah, shall we begin? It doesn’t look like you can move from there.” (Canker)

‘Are you going to make a move?’

The moment I thought that, the sword shook.

*Swish*

I slipped back slightly with my feet, and avoided it on the last second. The flashing steel passed in front of me. The first slash was good.

Canker took a bigger step, and the direction of the sword was different this time. He rotated his body once, and the longsword displayed a trajectory that seemed to cut my feet.

The movement was aiming for my injured foot.

I immediately pulled the right foot that was in front and dodged the sword. However, Canker went in one step further and swung his sword.

When I pulled my left foot and evaded it, I stepped on the ground with my toes. When the skin on the sole of my foot stretched, I felt a running pain. The sewing thread was stuck together, and the skin was torn apart.

I involuntarily frowned.

‘Aah, no good.’

That thought ran through my mind.

Even if I retreated as it was, it wouldn’t continue as it was. Because of the injury, the speed at which Canker chased me was faster than the speed at which I stepped back.

In that case, Canker’s sword would reach my body soon, no matter how much I stepped back.

Then, Canker swung his sword at my leg.

It was going to hit me. Instead of retreating, I took a step forward. The stick was pushed out before the sword arrived, and the crossbar of the stick was used to push Canker’s chest.

His weight was probably almost 100kg including the armor. So, it felt as heavy as pushing a rock. The stick made of a strong spear handle pierced with such momentum, but when the momentum stopped, I, who was lightweight, had been blown away.

Somehow, I succeeded in keeping a distance.

Canker just repositioned himself.

It was a splendid risky attempt for me, but it didn’t demoralize Canker. Of course, there was also no damage. I repositioned myself.

On the other hand, I felt a dull pain in the sole of my foot. There was even a sign that the thread was twitching, and I was bleeding a bit.

It was me who was being pushed on.

As I knew from the beginning, it was impossible to approach with a dagger if the sole of my foot was in this state. And because of this unreasonableness, there was aching pain. It was inconvenient as if a red-black blood bag had formed from around the ankle to the bottom.

It would be a dream come true to sneak a sword with a quick movement like yesterday.

“Phew.” (Yuri)

‘No good. I’m stuck. I can’t do it like the usual.’

“…Nothing ventured, nothing gained, huh?” (Yuri)

I spoke Japanese involuntarily.

“…? What did you just say?” (Canker)

Canker asked suspiciously.

“I said I’m going to finish this next time.” (Yuri) Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NøvᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

‘All I need is preparedness.’

I brought the stick with both hands, and while lowered down my body a bit, I shook it several times to confirm the distance.

Finally, I held the base of the handle with one hand, and extended my arm from the shoulder and swung it.

*Swish*

The stick cut the wind.

‘If I do the same thing a few more times, Canker will make a move and cut the stick in two. He was overlooking it just now. However, I know that if he swings with one hand, he could reach further than I expected.’

“Next, I’ll hit you on the head and finish this.” (Canker)

“…Is that so?” (Yuri)

‘What did Canker think about my remarks and actions earlier? Does he think that I’m after him? Or does he think that I can look into the future?’

‘In any case, I’m not a master of martial arts, so I can’t use such advanced techniques, such as perceiving the signs of movement and taking control of the future.’

‘I can’t do something like watching his movement and pierce his jaw before moving. One thing I know is that if I move, Canker will want to cut my stick first and disarm me.  If a person with an injured leg has a dagger, he couldn’t do anything against Canker.’

‘First off, he needs to shorten my crutch. If he does so, he won’t be struck on the chest from the edge of the blade reach like before.’

‘This long stick isn’t too reliable, but without it, I have no way of fighting him without having an injured foot. The previous flow would have ended without the stick.’

‘First, he needs to shorten the stick , then chase after me, and finally slice me.’

‘That’s the safest tactic for Canker. There is no difficulty. Although the checkmate is already visible, there’s no need for a risky attempt.’

“Phew…” (Yuri)

I held the stick with both hands, I set it up and pointed it to the sky. Canker’s eyes turn into suspicious eyes for a moment.

‘That’s a normal reaction.’

‘Of course, the posture of holding the stick above the head is derived from the action of swinging down. A blow to the head from that altitude could be the quickest and the most powerful blow of any stance, but the upper part of Canker’s head is protected by a helmet.’

‘If he receives the most striking blow of a direct hit from that altitude to the head, he should feel a big impact and disturb his field of vision. The shoulders are protected as well, so it’s unlikely that the collarbone will be broken.’

‘It’s not impossible to hit the chin from diagonally above in an arc, but if I change the direction of the force, the power will decrease, so it’s difficult to sun with a single blow. If I want to stun him with a single blow, the correct answer is to bring down the stick to his shoulder and punch his chin like batting in baseball.’

‘No matter what I do, if I don’t stun him with a single blow, he will survive after the clashing.’

“I’m starting.” (Canker)

*Phew*

I exhaled briefly and took a step forward. At the same time, I swung down the stick with the force of smashing Canker’s skull with his helmet.

The moment I put down the foot to the ground, I suddenly stop. The short stiffness looked like the whole body became a stone.

Canker was reacting to my whole faint. He swung up his sword, and the cane was about to be cut. However, there was no cane there.

The momentary judgment was too much for him. Fear ran through.

The scary thing was that Canker ignored the blow and came to slam my body. He would ignore being hit in the head and in the chin, and coming straight to get my life. However, that didn’t happen. Canker was obsessed with cutting my stick.

His longsword passed in front of me from bottom to top and stopped in the air.

And he turned around, flipped his sword, took another step, and extended it to catch me.

‘I knew that he would move that way.’

‘Canker’s swordsmanship isn’t quiet swordsmanship. It is a wild boar-like swordsmanship that connects one move after another and finally cuts down the enemy. Such swordsmanship was always aggressive.’

‘I have been attacked several times and observed with my eyes, so I remember. Instead of chasing away by moving legs forward with feet never leaving the ground like dojo practice, it’s also possible to step on the foot alternately.’

I kicked the ground with both feet and leaped to the rear. While leaping, I let go of the stick like letting go of a twig on a fire without putting any force in it.

The stick released with the protruding hand creating a short parabola in the air. Canker’s steep step kicked the handle part. The sword that was drawn out at the same time as stepping on it cut through the space where my body would have been if I hadn’t leaped backward.

I had no stick anymore. If he continued to deliver slashes after slashes as before, it would be my end.

However, the stick was at Canker’s feet.

If this had been just a long stick, it would have been kicked off by Canker. However, the stick that was used as a crutch didn’t have the center of gravity in the center. The mass was biased toward the side because of the extra parts attached on it.

The handle was kicked off with a tremendous force and drew a big arc. On the other hand, the armpit pad drew a sharp, short arc, and slipped into the gap between both Canker’s feet.

His eyes were convinced of victory. He put out his deadly sword to cut the empty-handed me, who was clearly within the reach.

At the same time, his right foot that stepped in kicked the handle of the stick which rotated half a turn again. The difference when he kicked it before was the crossbar on the other side of the handle was tightly attached to the heel of his left foot.

His feet were tangled.

With both feet tangled, Canker lost his balance in an instant. He couldn’t correct the posture by stumbling one or two steps forward, and the impact was so strong that he would kneel.

I naturally drooled. My body was reacting to the gap which made me want to drool.

A light step on my uninjured right foot raised his left knee without stopping the forward momentum. It was only that much movement.

The scenery flowed slowly in the extreme concentration. With an affordable posture, I approached the defenseless face of Canker, who looked desperate.

The healthy right foot kicked the ground splendidly, enlarging the forward momentum of the body, and moving further the knee accelerated by the thigh muscles.

The knee pushed as if it was sucked into Canker’s face.

The feeling of crushing the meat and bones arrived all at once.

When the clashing was over, Canker collapsed on the spot.

—

“Haa… haa…” (Yuri)

A feeling of collapse rushed in, as if the thread of tension had torn. Although I wasn’t moving to the point where I couldn’t breath, for some reason, I was out of breath and I was breathing using my mouth.

“I won.” (Yuri)

The fact was hard to believe.

“I really won.” (Yuri)

When I said it, an indescribable emptiness remained on the spine.

It was a mistake to think that I won. Canker wasn’t dead yet.

I looked at Canker. He was lying on his back and fainted, didn’t move at all and he had let go of his longsword.

Yes, he wasn’t dead yet. He shouldn’t be. He was just fainting with a concussion or something, but I thought that he was still breathing.

I immediately kicked the longsword and it went far beyond my reach. Canker didn’t resist at all.

‘I have to kill him now. Keeping him alive here may kill me and Carol later.’

I took off his helmet. As expected, there was no resistance.

Resistance to murder rushed to the edge of my heart like ripples.

‘I’ve already murdered many. However, this is my first time trying to kill him who had exchanged words with me.’

‘However, I don’t have the option of tying him up and waiting for him to gain consciousness until we reach the safe zone. If someone releases Canker, the life-and-death battle like now may start under worse conditions, and the enemy will know the existence of Carol.’

‘If there is God in the world who controls all things and he absolutely fulfills his verbal promise, it may be no problem to release him on the condition that Carol’s existence is kept secret.’

‘However, in reality, there is no such God. It seems easy and cruelly difficult to establish a relationship of trust between people and avoid having to fight for life.’

‘No, isn’t it such a problem? I am a person who can cross the line without feeling too much hurdle for such a murder. It’s just that.’

I put my arm around the naked Canker’s neck and tightened the carotid artery tightly.

—

After about five minutes of doing that, I confirmed the breathing and cardiac arrest, and I laid Canker on his back. When I saw Canker’s face for the first time, it was a tragedy that made me want to cover his eyes when I saw the wound done by my dagger.

I put a cloth on his face.

‘Then… I should at least give him a funeral. I should have learned how to do it from Eisa-Sensei, but I wonder how to do it?’

‘First, I have to put a cross on his chest. On the battlefield, a sword with a brim should be fine.’

‘I put his longsword on the chest.’

[Almighty Lord, this person, who has just died in the present world, takes a step and lights him on the journey to the underworld. This person has fulfilled his holy roles and has ended it here. Therefore, he should walk the path to the holy land without hesitation. Give him a sign. Hallelujah.]

‘It doesn’t make sense for me, who is neither a priest nor baptized, to do this, but it will be a relief. The sacrament is one of the four sacramental lines, so I had a significant meaning for them. The four are baptism, confession, marriage, and sacrament, and do not include miscellaneous sacraments such as the sacrament of the oath and the sacrament of the ordination. The origin is the sacrament that exists in the scriptures written by Isus himself. ’

‘If they don’t do this, they will be lost forever in the other world, but in terms of nuances, there is a high possibility that they will be lost because there is no proper guidepost. In other words, it is a funeral, and it is said that it must be done immediately after death.’

‘It seems that the dead who don’t do this will not have a good social standpoint.’

I wrote sentences on Canker’s armor using the tip of the knife.

‘By the guidance of the holy sign, this person walks on the journey to the other world without problems. His name is Canker Willence.’

‘In this way, even after the corpse is recovered, someone did the sacrament. It isn’t a loss. It is said that the bereaved family could feel at ease. That is if the body is recovered.’

‘However, would it be convincing if I didn’t write the name of the person who did this?’

— Haguenau —

And the name was written small at the end of it.

—

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