CH 126

Episode 126 – Battle of the Weakest

Porta was approaching with his defensive gedan stance. Compared to Lyra or Nina, his sword stance looked like it had a lot more openings, but I knew that if I attacked carelessly, I could end up getting dealt with like how Byrne did. I had to come up with a way to respond to Porta’s super fast attacks.

[Auto-Bravery] had two weaknesses: first, it accumulated a lot of damage to Porta’s body over time, and second, it was considered ‘magic’. Thus, the best strategy to defeat Porta was to continually guard until the damage to Porta’s body accumulated to its limits or wait for the magic to wear off. But… that way of winning was boring.

If my opponent was a monster or a bad guy, I would be inclined to use that strategy, but in the end this was just a mock battle. I felt that it was much more interesting to fight Porta head-on while he was in a buffed state.

With that in mind, I decided to turn my wooden sword towards Porta and prepare to trade blows with him when he closed the gap. As I was constantly gauging the distance between me and Porta, waiting intently for him to come into range, I saw the corners of his mouth raise slightly out of the corner of my vision. It was just a feeling I got, but… after those close matches against Nina and Lyra, my perception was unprecedentedly clear right now.

At that very moment, I sensed that Porta was definitely about to move.

As if he was dashing through space and time, Porta charged in at an extreme speed. With flowing movements, he swept from his defensive sword stance into a horizontal slash. Responding quickly to his attack, I somehow managed to guard against it in the nick of time by slipping my sword in between his incoming slash and my body. His strike was incredibly fast and powerful, forcing me backwards several steps.

That was way too dangerous.

If my perception wasn’t functioning as well as it was right now, that single attack could have spelled the end of this match.

“I wanted to catch you off guard right off the bat, but you somehow managed to guard against that in time.” (Porta)

“Lewin. Let’s stop probing each other and fight toe-to-toe, what do you say?” (Porta)

“….I don’t really wanna take you up on that offer,” I muttered to Porta, who was smiling at me. Porta himself must have said this knowing that if the match turned into one where we were trying to sound each other out like with the match against Nina, his chances of winning would be zero. But as I resolved earlier, if I wanted to achieve a victory that wasn’t boring, I would have to agree to his terms regardless…

To be honest, before the start of the battle I had been eager to fight him head on, but after that strike just now, I totally wanted to back out. But… since Porta had already said this much, I couldn’t run away anymore. Shaking my head to dispel any weak thoughts, I set my heart on attacking first in this next exchange.

With feet quickly tapping against the floor, I dashed in and swung at him with a diagonal slash. Parrying it with a defensive reverse slash of his own, the sounds of our wooden swords colliding echoed through the air. The jarring impact of our swords clashing heavily caused both of our expressions to warp in discomfort. Each collision jolted me to my bones, making me feel numb to the core, but I gritted my teeth and continued pushing forward for my next attack.

Brandishing my sword once more, I unleashed an overhead slash aimed towards the crown of Porta’s head. Porta was also clearly shaken by the impact just now, but he quickly recouped and once again let loose a reverse slash to match my attack. The clashing of swords reverberated through the environs of Mount Cornello once more, signaling the start of our stubborn battle of wills.

Thrust, horizontal slash, sweeping arc, diagonal cut, reverse slash, overhead slash.

While we exchanged attack after attack, our faces, which were initially grimacing from the jarring collisions of our impacts, began gradually transforming into smiles. With [Auto-Bravery], Porta had higher physical capabilities than me, but I had the upper hand when it came to skill and technique.

From an onlooker’s point of view, this fight couldn’t be seen as anything more than a mudslinging contest, without a shred of tactics or strategy… It was truly befitting the name of ‘the match of the weakest’. But for the people in question, it was a head-on clash of muscle against muscle, will against will. With every blow we exchanged, the enthrallment only increased.

It would be nice to keep fighting like this forever, with both of our prides on the line…

I thought so, and I knew Porta did as well— but the end came abruptly.

The score was still at zero hits on either side. I was performing a diagonal slash, long having lost track of the number of times I had already done so, and, just like always, Porta moved to match it with a reverse slash. I swung down, already vividly anticipating the soul-jarring impact of the wooden swords smashing against each other. But the moment my sword clashed with his, his sword went sailing through the air.

For a moment, I felt a jolt course through my body, but I knew it was just my imagination when I realized that his wooden sword was lying on the ground. Porta was totally unarmed at this point, which my mind recognized as a great opportunity, but my body was too startled to pursue the attack. All I could do was stare at him wide-eyed as he tried to pick up his wooden sword.

Porta reached his hand out, fumbling in the dirt as he tried to grab onto his fallen wooden sword, but his outstretched hand failed to grasp anything before he lost balance and collapsed. He writhed and struggled on the ground, but he wasn’t able to stand up again. Seeing Porta in that state, Lyra quietly declared the result of the match.