CH 114

Episode 114 – Difficulty of Attack and Defense

After that, Nina and Byrne continued to exchange a violent flurry of blows, and it ended with Byrne only managing to land 2 blows on her. Since Nina had landed 3 blows, she ended up winning the match.

Towards the end, they were neck-and-neck since they had each landed 2 hits on the other, but, when Byrne wanted to end the match with a series of attacks, Nina managed to land a counterattack on him. It was truly a match that could have gone either way. In the latter half of the match, I think Byrne definitely had the upper hand, so this must have been a pretty frustrating defeat for him.

“Okay, Nina’s victory! Man, that was a great match!” (Lyra)

“Damn it… Just one more step and I would have…” (Byrne)

“….It really was a great fight. Byrne, thanks for the match.” (Nina)

After the two firmly shook hands, we immediately moved onto the next match. After seeing that match just now, I got the feeling that I wouldn’t be able to win against Nina, but I still had to do what I could.

“Then for the second round, let’s have Nina and Lewin play rock paper scissors, and whoever loses has to fight me. After that, it’ll be the finals match. How does that sound?” (Lyra)

“Yeah, that sounds good.” (Lewin)

“….Okay. Then let’s play rock paper scissors, Lewin.” (Nina)

The result of our rock paper scissors ended in my defeat, so that meant that I would be fighting Lyra, and Nina’s next fight would be in the finals. Because of how the first match went, I thought that it was good that I ended up still having a lot of energy left.

“Alright! Then the second round is me versus Lewin! Porta, I’ll leave the refereeing to you!” (Lyra)

“Got it. Lyra, make sure you don’t lose too easily.” (Porta)

“I don’t wanna hear that from you, Porta… But it’s true that it might look bad for us to lose twice in a row. Sorry Lewin, but I’m going to come at you with everything I’ve got!” (Lyra)

“Of course, that’s what I would hope for. There’s no point if you hold back after all.” (Lewin)

We both gripped our wooden swords as we faced each other. Just like before, I assumed a jōdan sword stance, while Nina took a hassō stance1, which had the advantage of being versatile and easy to react from.

(TL: Lyra’s kendo stance is called hassō, which is known for being flexible in responding to different situations.)

“Well then, the second round starts now.” (Porta)

In an uninterested tone, Porta announced the start of the second match. It was Lyra we were talking about here, so I totally expected her to come charging in without warning, but… she just stood there and stared at me without moving an inch. It looked like she was planning to see what would happen so she could react accordingly, so I decided that it’d be good for me to start with an overhead slash like I did against Porta.

Having decided on the same course of action just like before, I slowly approached the stationary Lyra, looking for the right moment to open with the overhead slash. I just had to be alert in case Lyra started to move. At a moment’s notice, she was capable of unleashing explosive power and attacking at top speed from any position, so I had to be extremely careful. Even if there was no sign of movement right now, if I let my guard down for even a second, a strong blow could come flying at any time.

Since it takes time to transition to a guard with the jōdan stance and I would be swinging down while moving forward, I would need to be really careful for a preemptive counterattack coming from Lyra when I closed the gap.

Even when I was only two steps away from her, which was a distance that could be considered in range for my overhead slash, Lyra was just smiling fearlessly and showed no signs of moving. Sweat was beginning to drip down my back from being constantly on high alert, but I was totally concentrated on Lyra as I started internally gauging the distance for my attack.

I had already come this far, so just like I did with Porta, I decided to carry through with a perfect overhead slash to try to catch her off guard. I stepped in and immediately unleashed an overhead slash with my full power. The sensation of my wooden sword smashing into the crown of Porta’s head suddenly resurfaced in my mind for a second, but I believed in Nina’s [Heal].

In the face of my full-blown strike, Lyra immediately moved her wooden sword into a blocking position above her head in an attempt to guard against it.

The moment the two wooden swords collided… just like in yesterday’s mock battle against Kirty, a metallic-like sound echoed through the skies of Mount Cornello. Lyra was able to guard against the attack, but she was unable to completely kill the force and was blown backwards a little.

“―Ouchie… Hey, hold up! That power is insane!” (Lyra)

“That’s what I was saying! That blow is even faster than an Anchor Bear’s!” (Porta)

I was about to go after Lyra who had stumbled backwards, but since Porta and Lyra started talking, I hesitated. In that time, Lyra managed to regain her footing, and the opening that I had made was lost.

“Lewin, sorry for stopping the match! I didn’t mean to, but I was just so surprised that I couldn’t help but say something.” (Lyra)

“It’s totally fine. Anyway, let’s get back to it.” (Lewin)

Crouching down into my stance… a slash was coming from my right— No, it’s a feint!

The real deal was a diagonal slash from the upper right― Wait, that’s also a feint!

Confused for a moment by Lyra’s back-to-back feint attack, I took a step back. Lyra immediately flicked her sword to attack from the left side and scored a direct hit on my forearm.

….No! Not good!

Without a single pause, Lyra’s barrage of attacks didn’t let up one bit as she continued to press the attack. I was trying my best to respond, but the difference in experience began to show. In no time at all, I had already received three direct hits.

Damn it… Even though my first overhead slash was perfect…

I did succeed in catching Lyra off guard as planned, and a chance was born as her stance was thrown off momentarily. It was just a matter of ‘what if’, but if I had grasped that opportunity, I might have had somewhat of a better chance of winning.

…In any case, was it just that the difference in skill was too much after all…?

Not only was I not able to react well to her feints, but I was also unaccustomed to the fast pace of her sword exchanges. Attacking was one thing, but having to think about defending at the same time just tacked on a whole new level of difficulty.

As I was reflecting on the match just now, feeling frustrated, Lyra approached me with her wooden sword lowered.

“Lewin, that was a good match! That first attack really surprised me!” (Lyra)

“No, looking at it from another perspective, aside from that first attack, it was really nothing worth mentioning…. But it was a great experience for me! Thank you for taking the fight seriously!” (Lewin)

“No no, you don’t have to thank me for that! At any rate, it seems that you’re still growing, Lewin! So… why don’t we keep doing these mock battles in the future?” (Lyra)

“Hm… I’d be grateful if we could keep doing this from now on! As long as it isn’t too much trouble for everyone.” (Lewin)

“Not at all! Then it’s decided!” (Lyra)

When I said that, only Porta had a reluctant expression, but the other three readily agreed.

Alright! With that, there was yet another merit for me to go on gathering quest commissions. This match with Lyra revealed a definite shortcoming that I had, but, when I returned to Grezesta, I would work with Kirty to overcome it. And then one month later, I would be able to try again in another mock battle. If I continued to repeat this process, I would be able to grow at an even faster rate… I was confident about that.