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By no means a big distance, Kei thought. Alexei could probably cover it in seconds if he was serious about it. While thinking about the tactic he was going to use, Kei lightly pulled the string of Dragon Stinger.

His ear lobes trembled from the pleasant whoosh it made.

He had originally planned to first destroy his shield to break his fighting spirit, before beating him up while making sure to not cause any lasting injuries. But after seeing that buckler, Kei reassessed since he was convinced that it would be hard to pierce through it.

Generally, small shields like bucklers were considered weak against projectile weapons due to their coverage area being limited. But seeing how worn-out from use it was, Alexei should be fairly skilled in using the buckler. Kei imagined that his first few arrows would be either dodged or repelled — in short, neutralized.

Now, how should I “defeat” him…

While using his right hand to toy around with an arrow inside his quiver, he carefully elaborated his tactic. Even if Kei planned to kill him, Alexei did not seem like someone who would easily go down, and for that very reason, Kei could kill him if he wasn’t careful. After all, Kei could not afford to hold back, so he came to the conclusion that Alexei should be prepared to pay the price, even if it meant suffering lasting injuries.

Ahead of him, Alexei turned around after taking exactly fifty steps.

As his greatsword rested on his right shoulder, he put his left hand on its long hilt. He held it with both hands, and the buckler that was on his left arm was positioned so that it would cover his body. He lowered his posture and leaned his upper half slightly forward, teeming with an aura that clearly depicted his eager willingness.

…It feels like Jigen-ryuu.

One swing was enough. He would deliver a single, fast blow. There was such simple yet strong will coming from him. Kei could keenly sense it, even across this distance, his fighting spirit that was on the verge of erupting, and his bulging muscles that were grinding and creaking.

“Both parties… seem to be ready.”

Holland stood between the two. He took their silence as consent and nodded.

“Well then, like I said earlier, fight without any regrets. Use your full strength so that there won’t be any reasons for grudges in the future, but make sure to not overdo it. If I judge the duel impossible to continue because of injury, I—”

“No long-winded speeches.” Alexei’s cold voice silenced Holland. “This is between the two of us. Stay out of it.”

Suddenly, Alexei’s previous words crossed Kei’s mind. Kei did not say anything back then, but now, for the first time, he felt like he could understand where Alexei was coming from.

Alexei’s lips, the only visible part of his face, twisted into a smile, “Now, let’s begin.”

“…Yeah.” Kei nodded.

He then pulled an arrow out of his quiver.

Nocked it.

And pulled the string.

“——”

No more words were needed.

They both moved at the same time.

Alexei kicked off the ground, accelerating explosively fast.

With just a few steps, he reached his maximum speed.

While kicking up some dust, he made a beeline for Kei.

Kei started with a test.

He immediately released his arrow to intercept.

It tore through the wind with a howl.

The white-feathered arrow flew straight at Alexei, aiming for the center of his body.

However, Alexei composedly evaded it by twisting his body.

As expected, he saw through the first attack, Kei calmly analyzed.

Next, he shot a second arrow.

This time, Alexei could not avoid it, or perhaps did not want to waste his time on evasion. He easily repelled it with his buckler. With a dull thud and sparks, the arrow got flung elsewhere. Just as Kei had thought, normal attacks would not be able to pierce that shield.

Next, he pulled out three arrows at once.

He nocked, pulled, and released. At that moment, Kei transformed into a precision machine.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, a series of satisfying sounds and silver flashes left his strongbow. His lightning speed stirred the crowd. At the same time, it was a skilled chain attack that adjusted the degree of bloodlust. By intentionally putting partial bloodlust into them, he led the enemy’s sense of distance astray. The mercenary escorts shuddered at this exquisite display of skill that made evasion difficult.

That said, his opponent was no ordinary man either.

He predicted the trajectories of all arrows, and adopted the best countermeasure for each. He stopped one with his shield, one with his sword, and one with his shin guard. Accompanied by flashy sparks, shrill metallic sounds reverberated. Still, none of the arrows managed to wound him.

He had already closed the distance by roughly thirty steps. Alexei’s smile deepened even further. He was convinced that Kei would have no chance to win if he failed to wrap it up within the next twenty steps.

I guess it’s impossible to pierce it with normal arrows after all.

Kei silently analyzed. He did not hold back at all. Every arrow he released was fatal. Enough to easily pierce through metal plating. Even so, Alexei’s armor managed to withstand it. He did not know what kind of alloy that whitish metal used, but it was clearly of fine quality.

So an ordinary arrow won’t be enough…

—Then, it’s time to switch to a suitable one.

Kei reached into his quiver.

And pulled out — a blue-feathered arrow.

“…!”

Aileen who watched from the side gasped in shock.

The arrow that put an end to even “Grande Urs” with one shot.

Is he planning to use it against a human in a duel? She wondered.

—Indeed.

Kei nocked that arrow.

Less than ten steps of distance remained between the two.

Alexei was right in front of Kei’s eyes. With a ferocious smile — a mad dog raging in an eerie silence, ready to bite his prey to death. His light blue eyes gleaming through the gaps of his visor were seething with bloodthirst.

In contrast, Kei slightly narrowed his eyes, drew the bowstring, and muttered, “Don’t die on me now.”

—Then came a roar.

The silver flash that was let loose with tremendous force flew straight at Alexei without any tricks. It was too fast to see properly, but since it was heading directly at him, it was easy enough to see through it.

Alexei’s smile turned even belligerent, and just as he had already prepared beforehand, he confidently met it with his shield.

But alas.

Crack! A bizarre sound was audible.

And the arrow…

…pierced through the center of his shield.

Its round surface caved-in miserably, and the arrow tore through the arm behind it. But, it did not stop at that. It plunged onwards, drilling through his armor plate and leather, and finally stopped once it pierced his chest.

“Gahh!”

Taking such a strong hit, the air driven out of his lungs turned into an inevitable groan, and his body, devoid of strength, started to stagger.

However—

Before Kei could nock another arrow.

“—Haha!!”

Alexei burst into a smile.

He clearly laughed while vomiting blood.

His arms, his back, gained strength once again.

His mouth twisted up — into a gruesome smile.

A beast? Nay.

A lunatic? Nay.

He was a demon. A true demon. With the face of a murderer who had gone into a delirium of bloodlust.

Alexei readied his sword again.

Putting strength in both his arms.

Then followed an optical illusion of his body swelling up, like a heat haze…

“—HAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

And he howled.

A tempest of bloodthirst covered the entire area.

Kei broke into cold sweat all over his body.

Alexei lowered his posture even further — and in the next moment, the atmosphere distorted.

The ground under his feet got blown away as if it had exploded.

The distance between them became nonexistent in but an instant.

“HAAAGGHHHHHHH!!!”

His shining greatsword was swung down.

It approached Kei with an ominous buzzing.

It was an attack that bet everything. An attack far too heavy.

Kei’s very soul shivered by the bloodthirst poured into that one strike, making him feel as if the world had turned upside down.

He had no time to feel astonished or scared.

Almost reflexively, Kei drew his sword, holding it above his head after the steel blade slipped out of its scabbard.

And parried it. No, attempted to parry it.

However — within this moment when the time flowed strangely slow — Kei saw it.

Alexei’s greatsword slamming into the sword in his right hand.

The blade trembled all over.

And the greatsword—sunk into it.

Before Kei’s astonished eyes, his longsword got smashed with a flashy sound.

Let alone blocking it, it could not even ward it off…

Albeit it managed to change its trajectory by a little, the greatsword still rushed at Kei as it roared.

The white blade instantly sliced the stop part of Kei’s helmet.

Then cut through the leather shoulder reinforcement.

And landed on his chain mail over his left shoulder.

With this blow, Kei would lose his left arm—

Within his accelerated thoughts, Alexei was convinced of his victory.

Clang!

Until his blade stopped alongside the sound of an impact.

“Wh——!”

It was a bizarre feedback. His sword had been stopped. When he saw the cause, Alexei opened his eyes wide in shock.

—There was a vermillion bow releasing a bizarre oppressive aura.

Dragon Stinger held in Kei’s hand had stopped his greatsword with its handle. Neither breaking, nor getting cut, but merely denting a little…

Impossible! Alexei halted as if thunderstruck.

How could it stop a blow that shattered even a steel longsword—!!?

How could a normal bow stop it?

But, Dragon Stinger was no normal bow.

The wing tendon and membrane of a Wyvern, and the crossarm of an Elder Treant.

It was a masterpiece among masterpieces, created by processing materials, which were very precious by themselves, through a special method.

In particular, the handle had several layers of the membrane coiled around it, so it was by far the toughest part of the entire bow. It was no exaggeration to say that its durability exceeded anything Kei possessed at present.

“You said there was a difference in quality between specialized weapons, didn’t you?”

Kei growled. He clutched his right hand into a fist along with the hilt he held in it.

He glared right into Alexei’s eyes and yelled.

“—It’s just as you say!”

He roared, driving his right uppercut into Alexei’s defenseless lower jaw.

“Gagh!?”

With a blow that reverberated all the way to his abdomen, Alexei’s body was flung into the air.

Kei tried to follow up with an elbow strike, but despite staggering, Alexei swung his left arm.

The arrow stuck in the buckler on top of it clawed Kei’s face. He momentarily winced at the stabbing pain, but this instant was enough time for Alexei to fix his posture.

“—HAAAAAAHHHHHH!!”

With another fighting yell, he thrust his greatsword forward.

Blood flowed from his cut mouth, but his thrust was still sharp and held more than enough power.

However — his decision to go with a thrust was wrong. Perhaps it would have been more effective against Kei to go with a power-driven slash.

Guided by the swordsmanship skills he had learned, Kei slammed the remainder of his broken blade sideways into Alexei’s sword, and charged as his blade scattered sparks while it slid across Alexei’s greatsword.

…He’s coming!?

Alexei remembered having seen those moves before. On the day when he witnessed Kei training on his own at the riverside.

The broken sword — he’s using it in place of a short sword — so he’s aiming for my neck!

Using what he saw on that day as a reference, Alexei anticipated Kei’s next move. He was convinced that Kei would be going into hand-to-hand combat while using his blade as a short sword, now that he had sealed off the greatsword’s attacks.

However, Alexei was unaware of one fact.

That Kei’s all-purpose swordsmanship also contained a section about unarmed hand-to-hand combat for times when the sword could not be used any longer.

Alexei did not know.

That he had missed his chance to see it because he chose to interrupt Kei on that day…

Kei’s right hand that held the sword hilt suddenly bent lightly.

And with a swing of his wrist, he threw the broken sword at Alexei’s face.

“What!?”

Alexei was momentarily taken by surprise by the spinning blade rushing at him, but he instantly head-butted it and succeeded in flicking it away with his helmet.

But for an instant, his attention had been distracted.

Using that moment, Kei seized Alexei’s right arm with his now-empty right hand.

And then — pulled it with all his might.

Alexei had already been leaning forward due to his thrust, resulting in his balance now falling apart altogether. He immediately tried to brace his legs, but Kei, who had bent down, swiped his feet.

“Agh!?”

Fatally — indeed, Alexei’s body slanted to a fatal degree. Then, Kei put strength into his abdomen…

“—Go fly!!!”

And with all his strength, tossed Alexei away.

It was far too tremendous to call it a shoulder throw.

Alexei felt the world spinning.

Just what was happening with him? As he listened to the whistling sound of the wind, his mind tried to grasp his current situation. But ignoring that, Alexei remembered something that happened during days long past. A memory of taking the brunt of a pig’s charge and getting flung away.

Back then, the world spinned around in the same way as now, didn’t it?

Such silly thought passed through his mind…

But with the dreadful impact that hit his back, that fleeting memory crumbled apart.

Slam! something impacted on his face. His mouth was already bloodstained, the impact caused his lips to crack, causing a new surge of blood.

He was kissing the ground — he noticed a moment later. After his flight that lasted strangely long, he seemed to have slammed on the ground without taking any defensive measures.

No, that was fine. It told him where the ground was.

He commanded his trembling legs and loins to stand up.

Just as he put hands on the ground and tried to get up—

He heard successive dry sounds.

And in the next moment, an impact akin to a hammer strike assaulted his head, robbing him of his consciousness.