1. The First Letter (72)

“Isn’t that the taijutsu that defeated Olmar, the secret jujutsu of the Holy Kingdom?”

“I do not know.”

“And that strange trajectory drawn by the ax thrown at Aishia… Have you ever been taught in a sword circle?”

“I don’t know.”

It may seem like an insincere answer, but I was only telling the truth.

I didn’t know either. Why the hell did I know these skills? It’s just that my body accepted these skills as a natural part of my fight.

The jumbled memories showed no sign of unraveling. A throbbing headache came. My eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Whether I said it or not, the look of suspicion in Delphine’s eyes deepened even more. she asked me in a serious voice.

“I’m not kidding, Hatchet Confucius. Those technologies are prohibited from leaking to outsiders. Even requires long training… But you don’t know?”

Senior Delphine’s words were conclusive. Seongguk’s secret jujutsu, as well as the gathering of swordsmen called ‘sword circles’, were famous for their closedness. In a place called Cheongeomsan (天劍山), they cut off ties with the world and practice only swords until they die of old age.

It was a place where prosecutors who were tired of the world for various reasons went. It is said that all kinds of talents are developed and passed on there, but no one taught the skills unless they entered the Sword Circle.

Of course, it was a place I had never been to. If I had entered the Sword Circle, I would have already cut ties with the world, and I would not have been standing here.

Thinking back, it was an absurd reasoning. I sighed and burst into laughter.

“Isn’t Delphine misunderstanding?”

“… … I don’t mean to say, okay.”

Delphine’s swordplay was aimed at me. An aura like brilliant gold bloomed. The intense heat distorted the surrounding landscape.

“In that case, we have no choice but to use a little more coercive means.”

She was the one who shattered Seria’s golden sword in one blow. can i deal with it?

It was impossible. At least that’s what I would have said not too long ago. But now I was in a strangely magical state. And a certain intuition, giving orders to my instincts at will.

I caught my breath and gazed at Delphine-senpai calmly. Senior Delphine also didn’t move at all.

It was the same time that caused a crack in the stalemate. My and Delphine’s feet kicked off the ground at the same time and ran.

There was the sound of compressed air exploding.

It was Delphine senior. She received terrifying acceleration just by kicking off the ground, and was standing in front of me the moment I noticed.

And a collision, sword against sword clash. With a bang, my sword bounced off like a bend. It was a terrifying shockwave.

Even with overflowing mana, there was only one arm capable of holding a sword. Because of that, the power of the sword was too weak. I gritted my teeth and hurriedly threw my upper body back. And the hot heat passing over it.

It was as if hot molten iron was overflowing. Even though it was only an instant, it was hot as if the flesh would ripen. Only then did I realize

In the first place, it was an opponent who should not collide sword and sword. At that level of heat, it would bend like my black candy toes, and I had to be prepared for burns. It was a tough enemy.

I raised my upper body as if bouncing up and threw the recovered sword. Delphine’s swordsmanship was also aimed at me before I knew it. It was a sword that was faithful to the main purpose of the blade.

A sharp trajectory to take someone’s life.

No matter how much it is a hunting festival, the act of taking the life of the other person is not forgiven. However, it was possible to inflict any number of injuries to the point where they could be treated.

It was because of the propensity of Aidalos, the conquering emperor who created the hunting system. The hunting festival was not only a beast, but also a festival to hunt other students.

That’s why Delphine-senpai and I already had in mind that we would meet even before we entered the forest. Conflicts rarely occur at hunting festivals, but there have always been.

However, the probability was low. Even though it was a festival with hundreds of people participating, the forest was wide, and it was more advantageous to hunt the beasts than to take risks and attack the opponent. It was because the time pressure was too great.

Unless, of course, he finds a prey that is certain to win, as he is now.

Clashes were forbidden near the entrance to the forest. So I thought that I could go there without being noticed if I just kept my eyes on the surroundings, but I ran into Delphine-senpai.

And that monstrous senior was showing his sincerity now. It was to the extent that killing seemed like the purpose, not suppression. Of course, Delphine couldn’t do that.

She was just full of confidence. The madness that does not even consider the possibility that the sword can be stopped at any time.

Isn’t that Delphine Yurdina? However, I tended to find a way to live even if I was somewhat cowardly.

Kang, my sword collided with Delphine. However, this conflict was a little different. It was because, unlike Delphine, who swung the sword with the blade raised, I received the blade with the sword side.

Then, as if pushing away, he distanced himself from Delphine. Only then did Delphine, who realized my intentions, take a step forward and close the distance with me.

Several sword attacks come and go. Whenever that happened, my sword bounced off due to lack of strength, and I hesitated and took a backward step. Delphine-senpai gave a ridiculous smile.

But I just held my breath and looked at Delphine.

It was felt. A certain refraction, an ambiguous sensation that seems impossible to catch.

Memories are tangled. Unfamiliar threads of memories were unraveled at random.

In the blurry landscape, the woman spoke in an emotionless voice.

“Jungjungdong.”

“… … What?”

As if it was absurd, a questioning voice. Even so, the woman did not even look proud or ridicule. I was just giving advice as if telling the plain truth.

“Simply put, it is a state in which the moving and the immobile are one. It is the most important part of the teachings of the Sword Circle.”

“How is that possible?”

“Why not? All movement begins with positivity.”

The woman had a gloomy look. That tired face was especially pitiful. Silently, a man with a sword.

“Look carefully around you. What you thought was not moving, and what you thought were moving.”

Following the man’s sword path, the landscape is torn apart once more.

“Only when you can’t tell them apart can you enter the first stage of ‘Jeongjungdong’.”

It was only when the reverberation of that voice did not go away that I suddenly came to my senses. Delphine’s onslaught was getting fiercer and fiercer.

Kang, and the knife bounces off again. The arm muscles that had been overworked to the limit were sore. I bit my lip and forced my arms to hold.

While I had no choice but to step back, Delphine’s sword pierced the gap. She was smiling like a beast about to prey.

“Still, you seem to have room to open your arms, Hatchet Gongja?”

Then, along with Delphine-senpai’s muttering, her body surged forward.

It was a sudden acceleration. She still had power. And her sword fell to the bottom.

It was a familiar attitude. It was a posture of readiness that I had seen before.

The image of Seria flashed in my mind. The secret swordsmanship of the Yurdina family, which she had shown twice today alone.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I immediately threw myself back. It was not a situation to be proud of or anything. The evidence that my judgment was correct soon surfaced.

Five solid golden lines drawn in the air at the same time.

It was as if the lion’s claws had been scratched. For a moment, it felt like the world was dripping golden blood from a wound. I couldn’t tell the difference between real weeds and weeds.

I gasped for breath as I rolled on the ground.

It was the ‘Golden Sword’. I, who couldn’t even get through each of Delphine’s sword attacks, didn’t have the skills to get those skills.

Then what should I do?

If you can’t approach it, you can’t end it. If you keep pushing forward like this, you will only be defeated by senior Delphine, who rushes in after an opportunity. It was me who was at the bottom of the stamina.

However, if he approached blindly, he would be hit by that terrifying swordsmanship. It was five sword strikes that could not tell the difference between real and false, and my hamstrings were already numb.

I don’t have any means to respond, but I ruminated on my memories with all my might while panting.

Come to think of it, how did the Witchbeast respond to Seria’s Golden Death Sword?

yes, it was dodged

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Just as I threw myself into it, no matter how wonderful a swordsmanship was, it was fine as long as it didn’t fall within that range. A counterattack was possible if it was avoided by a narrow margin.

However, as many as five of those sword strikes were drawn at the same time. The trajectory that could never be avoided, that was the true fear of the secret golden sword that Yurdina, the leader of the north, was proud of.

The moment when the weak conclusion of giving up is about to be made.

Like intuition, certain memories passed through my head. The story Tian said, the words Leto said.

‘space’ and ‘refraction’. and ‘topology’.

All kinds of shapes and coordinates came to my mind. Distorted, bent, and nonetheless one.

There was no time to think long. I grit my teeth and roll on the ground once more. And the golden aura that pierces that vacancy.

The sound of the earth burning like mad was heard. I stumbled and got up.

“I’m disappointed, Hatchet Confucius? Are you thinking of wasting time?”

Delphine, who was smiling brightly, seemed to have completely regained her composure. On the other hand, I can’t use one arm, and I’m exhausted.

I had no choice but to walk. Instead of answering, I threw the dagger I had kept in my chest.

It was the dagger that Delphine gave me. Undaunted by the sudden attack, she swung the dagger away. A dagger that flies through the air.

I rush through the gap. Even though there was a gap, Delphine’s overwhelming physical ability forcibly filled that gap.

And as if it were natural, the lower position of the sword continued.

The Witchbeast avoided this by bending my body. However, I was only a human, not a witch. There was no such thing as a knack for bending the body.

Then there was only one answer.

All you have to do is make something else warp.

I recalled a story in an unfamiliar memory. What doesn’t move, what moves.

As it goes through acceleration and acceleration in succession, time gets slower and slower. And the moment when Delphine’s sword was about to put a golden dot on it.

Time finally stops The sensation that seemed impossible to capture is reproduced. It is visible now.

The vision was diagramming the space. The time that splits the moment and the moment.

The woman was right. What I thought was immovable was moving.

The space connects like a line. And it is a dot, and again, it is nothing.

I pulled the wire as if tore it off. Just like tearing up an abstruse coordinate diagram in a topology problem book.

It was a strange sensation. Five solid golden lines twist and collapse. As if passing through that gap, I dug in.

Delphine’s bloody eyes, filled with astonishment, caught my attention first. It was then that my sword was swung.

However, Delphine was not an easy opponent. In that brief moment, she strengthened her strength as if she were exploding her magic power, and withdrew her sword. And soar up and cut.

My sword flew through the sky with a bang. It was because his already exhausted muscles could not withstand the sudden shock.

My stance collapsed, just before the match.

I called the name of a comrade I believed in until the end, who could return to battle in a short period of time.

“Seria!”

Delphine’s eyes hurriedly turned back. There, from the moment I threw my dagger and distracted Delphine-senpai, Seria, who had been running toward me, was already at close range.

And three blue scratches drawn in the air.

The slowed down time begins to flow again. All the sword blades that Seria had drawn were smashed again with a loud sound. Because of just one side cut.

Like the previous battle, Seria bounced off again with a scream.

But if there was a difference from that time, it was that Delphine had to pay the price as well.

My hand went to my waist. The moment I was about to pull out the hatchet and raise it, Delphine and I met eyes.

I felt it then.

It’s late. Distracting her gaze with a dagger, refracting the space to create a gap, and even though Seria aimed at the rear, it was too late to pull out the hatchet.

This was the skill of a person who ranked first among the top students in the academy. It was a skill that was not lacking even compared to the professor, and it was a level worthy of that honorable modifier.

There was only one answer, unless he pulled out the hatchet.

It is to use the armament that has already been selected. The dagger that was spinning in the air was suddenly plunged vertically.

Delphine-senpai took a step backwards as if she had forgotten the dagger’s existence due to the series of surprise attacks. That’s how I got ahead. His hands were already fumbling around his waist. There is only one way not to be late.

My mouth bit the falling dagger. Then, as if digging into Delphine with her last strength, she jumped into Senior Delphine’s arms.

That was it.

The blade of the dagger was piercing the nape of Delphine-senpai’s neck. If you give it a little force, it will dig into your flesh. A distance where the sounds of each other’s breath mix, and the body scent stings the nose.

Delphine’s body stiffened. In a daze, the face of the man gasping for blood-red eyes filled up.

It was my victory. I was already too deep for Delphine’s sword to swing. And if you put a little strength on your chin, Delphine’s life will be gone.

I asked.

“Dig marks? (Judgment?)”

Because of the muffled voice, a funny scene was created. With the dagger in his mouth, it was inevitable. Nonetheless, I had a faint smile on my face.

Drip, the sweat running down my forehead dripped from the tip of my chin.

Delphine-senpai didn’t say anything for a while. Several emotions flashed through her eyes.

Disbelief, humiliation, anger, denial, and finally resignation after a long time.

A sweet sigh escaped her lips. And a word like chewing and spitting out.

“… … It’s my defeat.”

Then Delphine threw the sword in his hand to the ground. It was a sign of surrender. She let out a laugh as if it were absurd.

“I can’t believe my first loss was to an unknown man… I can’t believe it.”

And then, she shook her head. As if saying more would only make it ugly, she crossed her arms and told me.

As always, he was bold and confident.

“I swear on the honor of the Yurdina family. I’ll leave quietly Hehe, congratulations on winning… Kyaagh?!

However, before the words could be finished, a silver flash penetrated Delphine’s shoulder.

My hand pulled out the hatchet.

Then, the sound of cartilage shattering resounded. The ax blade lodged in Delphine’s shoulder.

Blood gushed out. Delphine had a face that I couldn’t have imagined. A shrill scream escaped from her mouth.

In the sudden pain, Delphine-senpai sat down clutching her shoulders. And he looked up at me with eyes mixed with doubt and fear.

I said, and then I spat out the dagger. And he said it with an expressionless face.

“Why do you end it on your own? This is just the beginning.”

At the same time, I decided to borrow Delphine-senpai’s habit of speaking just once.

“In the old days… Did you say it’s a weak meat diet?”

In Delphine-senpai’s blood-red eyes, the feeling of seeing it for the first time formed.

Shaking pupils, it was clear fear.

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