Chapter 84

It's been a while since the battle part. It was difficult...

A sound rings out. It's the sound of two metals clashing.

Justi blocks Raidor's sword with the handle of his spear.

The downward strike is strong, heavy, and sharp. However, Justi's thick muscles bulge as he powerfully withstands the all-out attack.

"Ugh!"

"Oh!?"

Not only that, Justi pushes Raidor back with one hand, sending him flying.

Raidor flies backward, kicking the ground twice, thrice to stop his momentum, and finally comes to a halt at his original position.

Then, he raises his lips in admiration at the man displaying extraordinary strength.

"Truly a remarkable brute force! You're quite a show!"

"There's still more to come! Your Highness Raidor!"

This time, Justi kicks off the ground and closes in on Raidor.

He swings his spear in a wide arc, unleashing a horizontal strike with centrifugal force.

Raidor, crouching low to dodge the spear that seems to be cutting through the air like a scythe, slides into Justi's guard.

"Huff!"

Raidor strikes from below with his sword.

Like a swallow ascending from just above the ground into the sky, the upward slash is aimed at Justi's neck.

"Indeed...!"

The sword, which seemed about to decapitate him, is blocked by Justi's metal gauntlet.

Justi tries to grab the sword, but Raidor kicks his armored torso and flies backward.

"Ugh..."

"Close, close... No room for mistakes or openings."

Justi steps back a few paces from the impact of the kick.

If the sword had been grabbed, he might have been immobilized and pierced by the spear this time.

Raidor, narrowly escaping, does not press his advantage against Justi, who is slightly off-balance, but carefully observes his movements.

Justi, without taking his eyes off Raidor, regains his stance cautiously.

Raidor and Justi take their distance again, staring straight at each other.

The duel has been going on for just about a minute. They face each other again, ready to start anew.

Each of the strikes they have exchanged so far has been lethal. If hit directly, they would have lost a head or a limb.

Neither Raidor nor Justi seems to be holding back.

There is no hatred.

No grudge.

Still, the two warriors clash head-on, testing each other's strength with their weapons.

At any moment, either could die.

The onlookers, watching the duel, hold their breath in tense silence.

"It's been a while since I felt this exhilarated, Your Highness Raidor. You truly deserve to be chosen by the Holy Sword, even over your brother!"

"I wasn't chosen willingly... But now, it doesn't matter."

Shrugging in response to Justi's praise, Raidor tightens his grip on his right hand.

"I'm starting to enjoy this too. So... I'm going to get serious!"

"Mu...?"

Black miasma spills from Raidor's hand.

The miasma envelops the sword like water seeping in, turning it pitch black.

"Cursed Sword Technique 'Scorpion Thrust'!"

Raidor swings his right hand and thrusts.

Although the distance was too great for the thrust to hit, the black miasma extends like a whip and attacks Justi.

The released cursed blade is a technique Raidor developed on his own to fight the monsters in the borderlands.

"Magic sword...!"

Justi, pushing up his askew glasses with his left hand, slams the butt of his spear into the ground with his right.

"Stone Wall!"

Instantly, a stone wall emerges from the ground in front of Justi.

Raidor's magic sword hits the stone wall, scraping it and eventually disintegrating into countless black particles.

The stone wall crumbles, and an unharmed Justi appears from behind it.

"By the way, Sven mentioned that you can use magic too."

"I rarely get the chance to use it in actual combat. Or rather, I don't often encounter strong enough enemies to use it against."

"Hah, then you should come to the border forest once. You'll fight monsters so strong you won't have time to hold back your trump cards."

"Hmm, that sounds intriguing... However..."

Justi grips the spear with both hands and raises it high.

This time, he slams the tip of the spear into the ground.

"I'll defeat you first—'Earth Run'!"

"Oh!?"

The ground where the spear struck cracks, and countless stone fragments rain down on Raidor.

It seems Justi also has a ranged attack magic sword.

Raidor kicks off the ground and flies sideways to avoid the stone projectiles.

"Ouch...! You're really something...!"

Raidor rolls on the ground, gritting his teeth in pain.

A projectile that he didn't completely dodge pierces his shoulder, causing a slight trickle of blood.

"A magic warrior who can both attack and defend. You're really troublesome."

It seems Justi is a magic warrior skilled in earth attributes.

Earth attributes are the most balanced for both attack and defense. Among earth, water, fire, and wind, earth has the greatest mass, making it solid in defense and heavy in attack.

While both are magic warriors, Raidor, who specializes in cursed attacks, has a very different battle style.

"It's an honor to be praised by the Holy Sword wielder, Your Highness. But I doubt you'll surrender!"

"Of course not!"

Raidor readies his sword, infusing it with magic power.

Justi readies his spear, infusing it with magic power.

"Cursed Sword Technique 'End of the World Serpent'!"

"Earth Run: Ultimate!"

Both attacks are released simultaneously.

A pitch-black storm, like a giant serpent, is unleashed from Raidor's sword. It's the same cursed strike that once swallowed hundreds of imperial soldiers at Brain Fortress.

Without the Darkinslave, it's smaller than the one he used at Brain Fortress, but it's still large enough to consume Justi easily.

Justi slams his spear into the ground again, sending out stone projectiles.

This time, the projectiles are larger, each about the size of a fist.

Dozens to hundreds of these bone-crushing projectiles pierce the approaching black serpent.

"Ugh...!"

"Whaaaaa!?"

The moment the stone projectiles hit, the black serpent bursts.

A black wind rises into the sky, creating an updraft that causes the onlookers to scream in terror.

"Stone Wall...!"

Justi creates a stone wall to cling to, hiding from the black storm.

Raidor, hidden behind the wall, can't see him through the black storm.

He plants his spear in the ground and focuses on withstanding the impact.

"Ugh... To have this much power without the Holy Sword, you truly are formidable...!"

Gritting his teeth for several seconds, the storm finally subsides.

Justi steps out from behind the stone wall and sighs deeply.

"Oh dear, you really went all out despite the people around us. Acting as if this is your own estate... Hmm?"

Justi looks around, tilting his head.

The courtyard of the Oigist Viscount's mansion seems to have suffered minimal damage.

Some plants are knocked over, but the buildings are intact.

As for human casualties, the spectators are sitting on the ground or crouching in fear, but there don't seem to be any serious injuries.

Raidor's curse-infused strike was a wind of curses, but no one seems to have suffered severe damage from the curse.

(...Did he deliberately weaken the curse and focus on creating a massive wind? No, wait...!)

The issue isn't the extent of the damage.

There's a more pressing problem.

"Where is... Your Highness!?"

He scans the area sharply, but there's no sign of Raidor.

He carefully examines the fallen plants, but there's no indication that Raidor is hiding anywhere.

"He's disappeared... Where could he be...?"

"Cursed Sword Technique..."

"Wha...!?"

An ominous melody vibrates his eardrums. A chill runs down his spine, and Justi looks up to the sky.

Above him, high in the air, stands Raidor, his black miasma spreading like wings.

The concentrated magic power in his right hand dyes the sword pitch black.

"Even if you could, you can't create a stone wall above your head, can you?"

The previous magic clash. The cursed storm Raidor unleashed wasn't to defeat Justi.

Its true purpose was to create an updraft, and Raidor rode the rising wind to soar into the sky.

Justi hastily readies his spear to defend against the aerial attack, but Raidor swings his sword downward, aiming at Justi.

"Scorpion Thrust!"

"Ugh..."

A pitch-black thrust falls like lightning, piercing Justi's shoulder.

Unlike the previous storm, this strike is filled with curses, causing his armored body to slowly tilt.

His glasses fall off, and Justi collapses to the ground, losing consciousness from intense numbness and chills.

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