Chapter 60

――The duel was over.

I stared at my right hand, now completely empty, and took a deep breath.

(…That was close.)

In the game era, Nilvah, who fought in the arena's final battle, had a very high probability of using <Instant Blade> as the first move.

This was the weakest technique among Nilvah's unique skills, but when combined with Nilvah's incredible stats and the ability to appear instantly in front of the enemy, it could turn into a one-hit kill.

At first, I would lose within two seconds of the match starting and complain that it was a terrible game, but the more I fought, the more I understood that this opening <Instant Blade> was the best chance to win.

Nilvah not only had incredibly fast attack speed but also wielded two swords.

Many of the remaining unique skills were impossible to parry or guard due to the game's system, making it impossible to win by simply trading blows.

So, as a desperate measure, a high-risk strategy was born: "Parry Nilvah's opening <Instant Blade> and strike with the petrified weapons in both hands."

Incidentally, this strategy had a certain success rate even with weak characters, but if the first move wasn't <Instant Blade> or the parry failed to petrify, it was a guaranteed death.

(In the game, Nilvah almost always used <Instant Blade> as the first move when my character had low defense as a magic user.)

That was the difference between a program that only reacts mechanically and a living human.

I thought I had shown the optimal build for <Instant Blade> to be the best solution, but I didn't expect Nilvah to choose to withstand my attack.

At first, I was nervous when the opponent stood still, but in the end, Nilvah used <Instant Blade>, so it turned out well.

As I reflected on the duel, someone approached me.

"...Nilvah."

The "strongest in the world," who had returned to his original strength after the duel, walked over to me. I naturally straightened my posture.

This time, I managed to defeat Nilvah, but it was only because this world's strongest warrior was weakened by the <Soul Duel>.

The decisive move, <Final Break>, was a ranged attack whose power depended solely on the equipment, not the character's abilities. The lower the level of the user, the more powerful the attack became relatively.

It worked on Nilvah, who was significantly weakened at level 25, but whether it could defeat Nilvah at level 70 in perfect condition... no, whether it could even deal significant damage, was questionable. This was a strategy effective only under the special conditions of the <Soul Duel>.

(The purpose of this duel was to "prove my future potential.")

Would Nilvah recognize me after such a fight...?

As I waited nervously, Nilvah suddenly relaxed his expression.

"What a face. No matter how you did it, you defeated the strongest in the world. Hold your head high."

Then, he smiled and said,

"I have indeed seen your 'strength.' I acknowledge that you are a powerful one."

"Ah..."

The words he spoke were an acknowledgment of my potential, and a line I had heard Nilvah say in the game.

"Perhaps... you might have the qualifications to reach the 'peak of the sword' after endless training."

His dramatic tone and grandiose words were exactly the same as what I had heard in the game.

...But, why?

I felt several times, even dozens of times, happier than when I heard it in the game.

(Ah, damn it!)

Driven by the rising emotion, I clenched my fist tightly. The pain from my nails digging into my palm felt good at that moment.

I felt as if all my efforts, which had been somewhat misguided until now, had been rewarded. I could honestly think that breaking the valuable boss drop was not a mistake, now that I had heard these words.

Nilvah looked at me with a slightly calm expression and then shifted his gaze to behind me, where Prana and the others were.

"Well. I will keep my promise. I will leave this place, but..."

Was there still some lingering attachment?

When I instinctively became wary, Nilvah lowered his voice and said,

"Earlier, I sensed a faint trace of evil aura from that woman. Keep an eye on her."

"Eh...?"

I opened my mouth in surprise at the unexpected warning. Nilvah, having said that, turned his back on us as if his business was done and was about to leave the arena.

(But, wait...)

In the game, Nilvah's appearances were very rare.

Apart from the arena tournament and the final battle at the last ruin, the only time Nilvah appeared was when the "protagonist" first visited the arena and overheard people talking about "that is the Sword Saint Nilvah."

Even after playing the game quite a bit, I didn't know much about Nilvah's personality or background.

This time, I had been wary of Nilvah because of Prana's attitude, but perhaps... just perhaps...

--Could he just be a good guy with a bad attitude and a harsh mouth?

This possibility suddenly came to mind.

That's why, perhaps...

"Wait!"

Without thinking, I called out to Nilvah, who was about to leave.

"What is it? I thought we were done..."

I silently thrust my sword towards the puzzled Nilvah.

...I had some doubts.

I was aware that I was about to do something outrageous.

Still, I couldn't bring myself to stop.

I slowly infused magic power into the sword I had thrust forward,

--<V Slash>!

I traced the familiar path of the sword technique with the tip of my blade.

It was the most basic of sword skills.

A beginner's art that any swordsman could use.

But...

"...Haha! Hahahaha!!"

Nilvah's reaction was incredible.

His usually expressionless face was suddenly filled with shock and joy, and his tightly pursed lips curled into a mad grin.

After a moment of laughter, the strongest swordsman I had ever seen looked happier than ever and said,

"I am grateful, Rex. I will repay this debt someday."

With his eyes shining brightly, he turned his back and left the arena.

※ ※ ※

"Rex!"

"Rex-san!"

As Nilvah's figure disappeared from my sight, Prana and the others, who had been watching our battle from the audience, rushed over.

Not only that,

"Oh, wow!"

Moved by the moment, Mana and even Prana jumped onto me as they rushed over.

"That was amazing, Rex-san! To defeat the Sword Saint... well, anyway, it was incredible!!"

"Ah, thank you."

I could accept Mana's sparkling eyes sincerely, at least for now. Thinking that I had protected their smiles, even if it was a misunderstanding, made me feel proud.

However, Mana seemed to have some concerns,

"But... are you okay?"

She asked hesitantly. I knew what she was referring to.

"Yeah, about the staff. But..."

Indeed, as a cost of victory, I had lost the only one of its kind, the precious weapon worth a billion wens, the <Crimson Inferno Rod>. But I had already come to terms with that.

"No, that's not the only thing..."

But Mana shook her head,

"The last technique you used. Wasn't that a 'Manual Art'? Is that okay?"

She asked, having accurately understood what I had done.

...Right.

I showed Nilvah <V Slash> at the end to teach the Sword Saint about the existence of "Manual Arts" and the fact that arts could be activated manually.

"Who knows?"

It was easy to imagine that a swordsman of Nilvah's caliber would have read a lot of information from that one strike. It was natural that he would realize the possibility of manual art activation, but how far he would push it and how much he would evolve was another matter.

Nilvah's <Sword Saint> class was already strong with its base abilities, but it was designed to achieve maximum synergy by using Manual Arts. Especially the <Twin Arts> skill, which allows the effects of techniques used with one hand to be applied to the other, can only be fully utilized with Manual Arts.

I couldn't imagine how much Nilvah would have evolved by the time we met again.

"But it's fine."

I no longer worried about how I compared to others. I wanted to make everyone, no, the whole world stronger and grow together.

(I could think this way because I defeated Nilvah.)

I thought I was being greedy, but I finally felt relaxed and confident after being recognized by Nilvah.

Besides, to put it bluntly,

"Rad will probably use it in the tournament, and Nilvah will see it, right?"

"Well, that's true."

What I was more curious about was...

"...Rex?"

I looked at Prana, who was staring at me with a puzzled expression.

Nilvah had said he felt a "trace of evil aura" from Prana.

Normally, this would be a flag for an event...

(The problem is that there shouldn't be any special events for these characters.)

Prana, Mana, Rad, and Nue were all random characters with only slight adjustments.

In my second playthrough of the game, I formed a party with members who, while having different names, corresponded to these characters. I progressed through the game without changing the party much and saw the normal ending. During that time, no special events occurred with the random characters.

Thinking back, I couldn't recall any events where a party member felt an "evil aura."

(The only suspicious recent action was defeating the boss in the ruins...)

The bosses in the <Twelve Dark Ruins> were all dark-attribute. If the dark power from the ruins had remained in Prana, it might make sense...

(But why only Prana?)

Well, if I couldn't figure it out, there was nothing I could do. I decided to keep an eye on Prana and stopped thinking about it.

"Rex-san, are we going back?"

Mana, who was sensitive to my expression, asked with her usual sparkling eyes. I felt bad disappointing her, but I shook my head.

"Sorry, both of you, go back first. I'll change my class and then return."

"Oh, right, you're still <Lunatic Leo>! Got it!"

Mana nodded understandingly,

"Don't worry. I'll tell Rad and the others about today's heroic tale."

"...Just keep it moderate."

Prana, with a mischievous smile, also agreed. I watched them go with a wry smile...

"...Well, then."

I took my time, savoring the moment.

I carefully stepped out of the arena ring.

(Sorry, both of you.)

I felt bad leaving Prana and Mana behind, but I wanted to enjoy this victory run alone.

I took my time leaving the arena building and looked back. I met the gaze of a large stone statue standing guard at the entrance.

(The first champion, huh.)

Nilvah's ancestor, the strongest swordsman who reigned as the absolute king of the