Volume 8, Chapter 24 – A Different Way of Fighting

Soon, Yisi and Cynthia entered the fighting arena.

Cynthia was very famous in the Warriors’ Association. When the man Cynthia had called out to loudly announced that she was going to fight Yisi, all the warriors in the training ground ended their training at once and gave the space to them, gathering on the sidelines to watch.

I’ve become the center of attention without even realizing it.

Feeling a little unnatural, Yisi’s palms grew slightly sweaty.

It’s fine when I’m being watched in my Viel persona, but I get embarrassed when it’s my real self…

It was probably because Viel was a persona she had created, so even if she made a small mistake or said something wrong, she didn’t have to worry about losing face. In her eyes, Viel was Viel, and Yisi was Yisi.

And it looks like I can’t use the tactic I had originally planned.

Yisi held Gungnir diagonally in her hand.

The reason she had made the agreement with Cynthia that ‘after this spar, Cynthia is not allowed to challenge me again’ was because she had planned to concede at the very beginning of the fight. But to concede directly now would be too embarrassing.

I’ll pretend to fight fiercely at first, then deliberately reveal an opening and lose.

“You are free to use chanting magic and magic items in the fight. There are only three ways to lose: conceding, being unable to continue fighting, or leaving the competition area,” Cynthia took a small step back with her right leg, her waist sinking with it, assuming an exceptionally stable stance. She held her longsword in front of her with both hands, her usually gentle face now filled with fighting spirit. “Are you ready?”

“Mm.”

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“Then—let the fight begin!”

As soon as the man acting as the referee finished speaking, Yisi caught the sound of wind whistling past her ear.

To the right.

She sidestepped to the right.

The very next second after Yisi moved, a longsword silently slashed through the spot where she had just been standing.

She’s a warrior, but she strikes like an assassin?

Watching Cynthia, who had passed by her side due to the failed surprise attack, Yisi complained internally. If it were the her from before she had been trained by Laxy, she would now choose to create distance from Cynthia, either by using ‘Spatial Lock’ to bind her opponent or by counterattacking with Gungnir—most players in ‘Ragnarøk’ did this. But the her of today was very different from the past; her fighting skills were now comparable to Camilla’s.

In a situation where they were almost pressed together, and with Cynthia’s back to her, there was only one fastest way to strike.

With a fist.

Giving up on using Gungnir in her right hand, Yisi swung her left fist at Cynthia’s back. But to her surprise, Cynthia offered no resistance, as if she were just waiting for Yisi to attack her.

A trap?

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In Laxy’s teachings, there was a strategy of seemingly revealing an opening to lure the opponent into a trap. Although it sounded simple, it was quite difficult to use in practice. Even Laxy rarely used it.

[Eye of God].

Just as I thought.

Forcibly stopping her left hand that was swinging towards Cynthia’s back and switching to a kick, Yisi aimed for Cynthia’s hip. However, because it took too long to change her movement, Cynthia had already adjusted her posture and kicked back at Yisi. After a brief clash, they immediately separated.

“You’re just as I thought. You’re full of openings, but when you’re actually attacked, you’re impregnable,” creating distance from Yisi, Cynthia praised her with a pout. “Why did you suddenly change your move just now?”

“A trap.”

“Tsk.”

The reason Cynthia had deliberately exposed her back was to wait for her to take the bait. Under Cynthia’s simple white dress, there was an item that could absorb the opponent’s magic power and freeze the attacker. Although any magic or item that absorbed magic power couldn’t absorb her own, she was worried that a woman with keen intuition like Cynthia would notice her true strength. It would be bad if she deduced that her level was very high from the inability to absorb her magic.

“Aren’t you going to use magic? Your Eminence.”

“By the time I do, you’ll have already lost.”

“Tch.”

Once again, Cynthia launched an attack on Yisi.

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Gungnir and the longsword Cynthia used clashed repeatedly. To most of the ordinary spectators, they couldn’t even catch the collision of their weapons. Often, by the time they heard the sound of metal clashing in the air, the two had already separated. Only those with some strength and skill in martial arts could fully take in their fight. But even so, all the onlookers were engrossed in the rare spar, afraid to make a sound that would disturb the two, even breathing cautiously.

“You’re much stronger than I imagined!”

“Same here.”

Blocking Cynthia’s downward slash with Gungnir, the thrill of the fight made Yisi’s eyes light up. Cynthia’s fighting style was completely different from Laxy’s, and the feeling it gave her was even fresher.

The sword skills Laxy used focused more on gradually overwhelming the opponent in continuous combat, relying on the accumulated absolute advantage to defeat the opponent steadily from the front. Cynthia, on the other hand, focused on defeating the enemy in a single blow with strength and speed, even if it meant exposing her openings. In fact, most of the time, it was a chain of traps. Seemingly gaining an advantage was actually a trap deliberately left by Cynthia. And by the time she discovered it was a trap, because she had already made a move, she would become very passive whether she continued to attack or changed her method of attack. So, before each subsequent attack, she had to seriously consider whether Cynthia had a follow-up move. Even for her, who had a built-in slow-motion playback, there was a sense of urgency, of walking on a razor’s edge.

This sense of urgency was exactly what the players of ‘Ragnarøk’ dreamed of.

After fighting for a while longer, Yisi gave up on counterattacking and entered a passive defensive stance, retreating to the edge of the arena under Cynthia’s continuous attacks.

“Still not using magic?!”

Heavy panting revealed Cynthia’s intense exhaustion, but even so, her sword swings had only slowed down a little.

“You haven’t used much magic either, have you, Cynthia?”

“You’ll regret it!”

Flicking Gungnir away with her longsword, Cynthia took advantage of the opening on Yisi’s chest and lunged into her embrace, striking her chest with her elbow.

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Finally, she took the bait.

Letting out a sigh of relief, just as Cynthia’s elbow touched her chest, Yisi took a step back with her right foot, stepping out of the arena’s boundary.

“The winner! The Flower of the Kingdom, Miss Cynthia Wozwahl!”

“Wait! This isn’t my victory at all.”

As soon as the man acting as the referee announced the result, Cynthia shouted to stop him. Compared to her elegance when she entered, the current Cynthia was not only breathing erratically, but her hair and clothes were also a mess.

The referee looked troubled.

“But Big Sis… this young lady did indeed leave the arena.”

“She didn’t even use magic. How could it be my victory?”

“You didn’t use magic either, did you? Everyone saw that you and she fought with all your might. To be honest, my eyes were getting blurry from watching. It was the first time I’ve seen such a wonderful spar. This is a true battle between warriors!”

“My magic and the Cardinal’s magic are on completely different levels. You—”

“Cynthia, I did indeed lose. Your sword skills are brilliant,” Yisi quickly interrupted the conversation and coughed lightly twice. “And according to our agreement, you should give me the item now.”