Chapter 94

EP.94 Black Darkness - 1

What went wrong?

The starting point of this story was clearly the framework of a "dating consultation."

And Leo himself clearly began the dating consultation with the story of his first love as an introduction.

"Are you ready?"

"...Uh... Yes?"

But why was he preparing for a duel with that dating consultant? Why was Chris so serious, checking his dagger and looking forward to a duel disguised as a dating consultation?

[...How would I know?]

Leo recalls the wise man's harsh words.

The conversation in the room that was somewhat like a dating consultation.

***

It was a terrible story.

That boy's life was nothing but tragedy.

No family, no happiness, and now, no love.

All swallowed up by senseless malice.

To be told to receive and share love now.

What greater torture could there be?

He must despise and loathe himself.

Finally, it made sense.

Why he pushed himself so hard.

Why he was so blindly focused on growing.

Why he so desperately yearned and obsessed.

"...He couldn't forgive himself."

His weakness.

His powerlessness.

He couldn't forgive himself for being the only one to survive.

That's why he couldn't express love to others.

He must have thought he didn't deserve it.

To be loved,

or to show love.

It was cold, even cruel.

Despite being more deserving of love than anyone.

Why doesn't the world love that boy?

"...Leonardo."

It's an unbearable story.

"Yes?"

It's not just a life of misery.

"The weather is good today."

Pain is the only birthday that boy has.

"...Is it?"

As Black Darkness, he couldn't tolerate that.

"Let's have a brief duel. Clearing your mind will help clear your head."

<Go... No, Sir Chris...? Sir Black Darkness?>

Perhaps Rios also sensed the awkwardness and strangeness in Chris's words, as he kept calling out Chris's name, title, and alias with a bewildered look.

But Chris had already made up his mind.

"...Yes? It doesn't matter, but..."

Leonardo scratched his head in confusion.

He couldn't understand why, in a (nominal) consultation, he was being treated as if he were the one offering a solution.

***

Back to the present.

"...Uh... But..."

Why, without even getting to the main topic, did it turn into a duel to clear his worries and concerns?

Especially since it was his own dating consultation.

"Thinking about it, we've never faced each other in a full-body duel with swords."

Before Leo could ask, Chris started talking about himself. If he could solve his own problems with this kind of fistfight, it wouldn't be a heavy issue for Leo, so he didn't point it out.

And thinking about it,

Chris had a point. Even if they had experience when they were young, the skill and weight differences made the duel meaningless, and as they grew older,

circumstances prevented them from having a proper duel.

[Even when I went to the Senate, I verbally beat people down to break their will.]

He acknowledges it, but he only spoke the facts about the White Tiger that were scientifically proven.

Of course, the same applied to lions and wolves.

"Moreover, even now, if I challenge you, it could be considered fair."

Those eyes, not just a show of bravado.

He genuinely takes this duel seriously, putting all his strength and spirit into the clash of swords.

"Thinking about it... The reason I came to Reinhardt was because of Sir Chris's invitation."

Not just in this life. Even before the regression, Chris reached out to him.

At that time, he couldn't even catch Vallok and was a nobody as a swordsman or knight.

He was of no benefit to her.

Yet, Chris took responsibility and taught Leonardo the vision of Reinhardt.

To meet her expectations, Leonardo trained in mana for a month without any shortcuts.

Thinking about it, showing the wise man and himself's mana training technique to her without hesitation or negotiation was also to repay this favor.

"Yes. Bringing you here was the wisest decision in my life."

When he left, Chris was the one who tried the hardest to stop him. She leaned against a tree at the main gate, holding a cigar.

'Are you leaving?'

'I have no reason or justification to stay.'

'...There is a justification.'

'Is there?'

'I've never regretted bringing you here, not once.'

Perhaps if he had heard those words and stayed, something might have changed. But his thoughts at the time were too childish and immature.

'Yes, it would have been great if you hadn't held the cigar upside down. Sir Black Darkness.'

The bewildered and awkward expression on Black Darkness's face at that moment is something he can't forget.

"I have never regretted following Sir Black Darkness, not once."

So,

"Please, teach me a lesson, Shadow of Reinhardt."

Leo also dedicates his full heart and strength to her.

"Please."

The breathless tension between them, an honorable acknowledgment.

There were no other people in the training ground, but perhaps due to the atmosphere, a crowd started to gather.

A leaf drifted in with the wind through the open door, floating in the air.

Clang!

The first sound was metal, the sound of swords clashing.

Clang! Clang! Clang!!

It didn't end there. The harmonious sound of continuous sword clashes, and when the ensemble ended, the leaf fell to the ground.

"...You're fast. You haven't neglected your martial arts."

Chris, who thought her dual-sword technique would be advantageous in rapid strikes, had to reconsider after that clash.

"That unique magic requires a solid foundation in martial arts."

Holding the longsword made of black stone, Leonardo said. He already knew, but Chris possessed skills surpassing even the head of the Blue Tower, let alone her daughter.

A dual-sword user with skills surpassing Gladio, the head of the house, and the second strongest knight in Reinhardt after Aria.

That was Chris Reinhardt.

"Indeed. Impressive. Can you show me that proud magic sword?"

Of course. His unique magic was not meant for such trivialities but for such knights.

As he connected the mana circuit to the black stone, a red current flowed through the blade. It was much faster than the ordinary dagger he used before.

"...!"

Crackle!

The auras clearly clashed. But the sound was drowned out by the thunder, creating a threatening atmosphere.

"Lightning Vortex."

A 3rd Circle lightning magic with maximum voltage.

Under the current of the magic sword, a lightning spell formed and exploded. But despite being struck by lightning, Chris's expression didn't waver.

Crackle!!

"Where are you looking? That's just an afterimage."

It was just the afterimage of her trajectory.

A dual-sword strike came from behind. Focusing on defense, Leonardo completed another lightning sword strike.

"Lightning."

With the continuous lightning, Chris also retreated. Again, the afterimages and clones that remained were identical to Chris.

"Excellent. Your strategic and versatile skills make this the perfect technique for you."

"It's not as good as a tangible afterimage, though."

Chris's afterimages were not just visual illusions created by speed. Despite her romantic and stylish nature, she knew how meaningless and futile it was to create afterimages with speed.

So, she left clones of herself along her running trajectory. Like shedding the aura around her body, she left them to deceive as if she were there.

Of course, these clones made of aura could explode like a counterattack if touched, a special finishing move unique to her.

"Hmm, thank you for recognizing it."

She quickly moved.

What remained were afterimages like mirrors beyond a mirror.

These afterimages gradually surrounded Leonardo.

Though not the real body and not moving, they would explode on contact, effectively trapping him.

"But, you've been too lenient."

Leonardo drew a giant magic circle on the ground. Following it, circular pillars of fire burned the entire training ground.

"...Did he get rid of them?"

Someone watching the duel said that. It was really inconsiderate of them.

"Your magic hasn't been neglected either. You've really grown."

Like the protagonist receiving a setup, Chris leaped into the air and glided back to the ground.

For Chris, a master of aura who could create afterimages like clones, compressing the air with aura to propel herself with her feet was no big deal.

Boom! Sizzle...

A crack appeared in the black stone. Through training at the magic tower, the black stone had become harder than the weapons in the Marken armory.

But under the dual swords of Chris's charge, Leonardo's longsword broke.

"...What a fine weapon, it's a shame."

Looking at the broken black longsword, Chris regretfully looked at the black stone.

She knew it could be repaired, but she had a slight desire to make it her own. The black, variable weapon suited the name Black Darkness.

"I have something better."

Holding the broken blade with his other hand, Leonardo changed its form. The broken blade in his hand turned into a dual sword.

"...Hmm, I really want that weapon."

"Unfortunately, I can't give it to you."

With a genuinely disappointed Chris behind him, Leonardo began to rotate the dual swords in his hands.

In his right hand, a trail of flame mana circled, and in his left, cold mana formed a circular array and rotated.

"...That's..."

[Unique magic double cast, you've gotten used to it.]

The dual swords, each with opposing magic, twisted the prediction of the next attack as they rotated.

'...Something's off. Showing such flashy moves... '

Instinctively sensing a trap, she quickly looked down.

Drawn on the ground was a magic circle created from a distance.

"By the way, unique magic and general magic are separate."

So, using a triple cast, it was possible to form a separate explosion magic circle on the ground.

Boom!

Like this.

[...Did you...]

<No, I didn't. So stop saying that.>

Clearly, he had blown away a real entity with the explosion, not just an afterimage. But Leonardo knew.

Chris's true power was not just afterimages.

Clang! Clang!

"You have good instincts."

"Did you already know?"

An attack from the front and back, but the duel was only with Chris.

It wasn't contradictory.

"You don't seem surprised."

Both were Chris.

"Did you expect it?"

It was more like she had rehearsed it.

"Multiplication sword, Alter Blade, my beloved sword."

A multiplication sword, originally a single sword, but one that replicated itself into a dual sword.

It was usually the end there, but perhaps the hero's blood couldn't be deceived, and the sword resonated with Chris's potential, opening a new ability.

"This sword creates my alter doppelganger."

[...What does that mean?]

In other words, it was possible to create a self-aware clone.

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