We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Primal Sword Dance
“Eh!?”
I couldn’t help but let out a sound.
“Lady Faruna…?”
I know.
Surely everyone knows.
The name Faruna. It brings one person to mind.
Kensei Faruna.
A name known to anyone who wields a weapon. A woman who has mastered sword techniques. A legendary figure passed down through generations for hundreds of years. She has left behind numerous anecdotes and legends, and is the most popular character in Kyōgeki, with the most performances. Even that dancer, if you trace her origins, is imitating Kensei Faruna’s sword dance.
“…Are you, are you real?”
I ended up asking a foolish question. I was so wide-eyed, staring blankly at the woman before me.
Normally, I’d just brush it off by saying, “We have the same name,” but…
The overwhelmingly unusual presence I felt from the woman in front of me. The fact that she was with Micheila. And considering she was on par with the Yumemi no Miko, who is protected by Asher of the Ancient Dragon Species, the answer converged to one conclusion.
“I’ve never called myself Kensei, though.”
The woman smiled gently.
Without boasting or being overly serious. She replied as if it were just another common occurrence, which only strengthened my conviction that she was the real deal.
Everyone else also seemed to accept without question that this woman was Kensei Faruna, and they were all tense.
“Everyone… Is it okay if I fight her alone?”
It was pure selfishness.
Upon learning it was Lady Kensei Faruna, the blood within me, who had mastered the Dragon Sword Dance, began to boil.
Perhaps sensing my feelings, everyone nodded and stepped back.
“Well then, you first.”
Lady Faruna seemed to readily accept my challenge.
Micheila and the others nearby also retreated.
However, Lady Faruna wasn’t holding any weapons. She wasn’t carrying any at her waist, and I wondered what the woman known as the Sword Saint would do for a weapon as I observed her.
The space around Lady Faruna began to shimmer. Like a heat haze, the air around her rippled and wavered. Then, it finally ignited into golden and silver flames.
The golden and silver flames danced around Lady Faruna before gradually converging.
The golden flame in her right hand. The silver flame in her left.
The two dazzling colored flames transformed into the shapes of Lady Faruna’s hands.
Swords.
Straight swords, close to long swords.
The golden flame became a straight sword with a golden guard and hilt. However, the dazzling ornamentation, brighter than gold, was only around the hilt, while the blade was transparent.
The blade, through which the background could be seen, had golden flames flickering within, making the sword’s outline barely discernible.
A truly mysterious straight sword.
However, the straight sword created by the silver flame that converged in her left hand was even more peculiar.
An invisible sword.
Though unseen, I could certainly feel its sharp presence.
Lady Faruna was indeed holding a sword in her left hand. Yet, it was impossible to see it clearly.
By sharpening my consciousness, I could perceive it.
It was like Demon Lord Kusharilla.
It should be there, but invisible to those who cannot see it. If you let your guard down, you’d lose sight of it immediately, unaware of its existence.
Upon closer inspection, similar to the straight sword in her right hand, faint silver flames flickered within the sword. However, in this purely white world, it was very difficult to confirm.
Lady Faruna, in a combat stance.
I was captivated by the strange sight and hadn’t even prepared myself.
I hurriedly drew my white sword. And then, it dawned on me.
The Spirit Tree behind me had returned to its original form, its branches and leaves swaying.
This was a rare opportunity to spar with Kensei Faruna, and yet, I didn’t have a weapon in my left hand!?
“Buki-buki.”
“Buki-buki.”
Before I could even ask, Ares-chan merged with me, becoming particles of light. And, along with the Spirit Tree, it murmured thus.
The Spirit Tree behind me shone as if bathed in full sunlight. Its vibrant life force gathered into a single leaf, which floated gently into my left hand.
And then, the leaf transformed.
Into a beautiful green sword.
I don’t know if this was a phenomenon unique to the dream world, or a new ability of the Spirit Tree and Ares-chan.
But surely, in my left hand, I now held a sword that fit perfectly.
“Eight Dragon Kings, Elnea Eris. Now, please accept my challenge!”
I unleashed the Dragon Jewel.
Surrendering myself to the raging Dragon Energy, I charged at Lady Faruna without holding back.
I swung my white sword from left to right, and from there, transitioned into the Dragon Sword Dance.
The Spirit Tree’s sword followed the trajectory of my white sword, and with momentum, I rotated and delivered a spinning back kick with my right leg. Then, twisting my body, I unleashed a flurry of consecutive blows, leaving Lady Faruna no opening for a counterattack.
Offense only!
“…Huh?”
Contrary to my spirited resolve, I was flying through the air.
I had been thrown!?
For a moment, I couldn’t understand what had happened.
With a sudden realization, I landed gracefully, having taken a perfect tumble.
Lady Faruna looked down at me with an elegant air.
“Without overexerting yourself, just as you normally would.”
“Y-yes!”
It seemed I had become overly keyed up, simply because my opponent was Kensei Faruna.
I relaxed my shoulders and took a deep breath. Then, I attacked anew.
Maximizing my Dragon Energy, I closed the distance in an instant with an enhanced jump. Or so it seemed, then I used Spatial Jump!
In the blink of an eye, I was behind her and unleashed a sharp stab.
However, she dodged it with a graceful flick.
And then came the straight sword from her right hand.
While elegant, her movements were not particularly fast. I could follow them with my eyes and my body reacted.
I blocked with my white sword and counterattacked.
As I spun, I unleashed the Spirit Tree’s sword, and Lady Faruna parried it with the straight sword in her left hand.
If you’re not careful, you’ll misjudge the sword’s reach. The invisible sword was terrifyingly formidable.
While being mindful of the tip of the sword Lady Faruna wielded, I launched a series of sword slashes. I flickered the point of my sword, my gaze trying to deceive her. Between slashes, I threw kicks, moving gracefully left and right as if dancing, toying with her.
“Ah!”
However, the White Sword I launched from below was skillfully caught and knocked from my hand.
“N-No way…!”
The White Sword, which danced up into the air, fell to a distant spot.
I wasn’t a match for her at all.
That can’t be right!
I’m giving it my all. I’m not holding anything back.
But…
Lady Faruna, standing gracefully, didn’t pursue. She silently urged me to pick up my White Sword.
“Hmm. You, who are supposed to be performing the Dragon Sword Dance, look like you’re being danced by the Sword Saint from the side.”
That’s right, just as Old Man Sleigsta said.
I should have been dancing an own dance, but I realized I was moving in time with Lady Faruna’s sword dance.
Next, a horizontal slash, then a kick. From below, twisting my body into a consecutive attack.
I was reading Lady Faruna’s movements and rearranging my forms, dancing the Dragon Sword Dance with infinite variations. I was smoothly connecting to the next attack.
Was I being made to fight like this?
Lady Faruna wasn’t performing any particular techniques.
She was just elegantly parrying my attacks and precisely counterattacking.
Her movements weren’t even that fast, and I didn’t feel like I was being deceived.
However, her every movement was refined and beautiful, without any waste, and for some reason, my gaze was fixed on her.
Was this the sword technique of Sword Saint Lady Faruna, the sword dance that captivated everyone?
“…Everyone, can I ask for your cooperation?”
“Is that alright with you?”
Mistral asked me, who had given up on a one-on-one match so easily.
“Yeah. I really want to keep fighting more and more… but this is enough for now. More importantly, I think we need to show Lady Faruna the strength of all of us.”
Lady Faruna wasn’t trying to finish the match.
Surely, if I asked, she would indulge my selfishness indefinitely. But this wasn’t the time for that.
Lady Faruna was assessing our skills, our unity, our cooperation, our bonds, and so on. If I alone acted selfishly, driven by my desires, she would definitely abandon us.
“Then, we will be your opponents.”
“We will go all out.”
“We will fight with all our might.”
“We will fight with the intent to kill.”
Ruiseine held her naginata and began chanting a prayer. Lyra poured all her Dragon Energy into the Spirit-Tree Two-handed Staff. Yufilia and Nina, right from the start, held hands and began to spin.
Priscilla-chan and Nimia were retreated to Asher’s side.
It’s dangerous for the little ones.
Especially the twins’ techniques…
Facing everyone who entered a state of readiness, Lady Faruna smiled without losing her composure.
“Please, all of you.”
“I won’t be responsible if you get hurt!”
“Fufufu, don’t hold back. Even if we die, we will reincarnate. Although, we’ve never died before.”
Lady Faruna smiled kindly, but our faces were contorted.
Never having died before meant she had never lost.
Mistral, then, transformed into Human-Dragon Form without hesitation.
Wings grew from his back, and scales of silver-close gold appeared on the back of his hands.
The jet-black One-handed Club he drew out was infused with an extraordinary amount of Dragon Energy from the start.
“Yufi and”
“Nina’s”
“Dragon Lance Frenzy!!”
The battle smoke signal was raised by the twins’ special move.
Countless Dragon Lances appeared around the two of them. The green-glowing Dragon Lances, each one, took the shape of a wyvern. Their faces and mouths became sharp blades, their wings the guards. Their bodies and tails became long handles.
And then, all the Dragon Lances that appeared were unleashed towards Lady Faruna.
With directed energy, the Dragon Lances no longer scattered indiscriminately.
The Dragon Lances became a green rain, approaching Lady Faruna with terrifying speed.
“Crescent Moon Formation!”
Ruiseine’s sorcery was complete.
A ring was born at Lady Faruna’s feet. The ring became the light and shadow of a crescent moon, binding Lady Faruna’s movements.
With this, Lady Faruna couldn’t dodge the rain of Dragon Lances! I thought, but it didn’t go that far.
Lady Faruna, who should have been bound by the curse of sorcery. However, both her hands moved.
With a “pari n” sound, like cracking glass, the ring at her feet shattered.
Then, she deflected all the Dragon Lances approaching from all directions with her twin straight swords.
With the tips of her swords, she diverted the trajectory of the Dragon Lances. With the blades, she received them. She ducked to evade, and with smooth footwork, she dodged.
Could she really be intending to parry and dodge the entire Dragon Lance Frenzy!?
The Dragon Lances that missed flew off in random directions, or hit the ground and exploded.
Lady Faruna’s figure disappeared for a moment amidst the green explosions.
“Haaaaaah!!”
Lyra charged in immediately after the rain of Dragon Lances stopped and the consecutive explosions subsided!
Her Spirit-Tree Two-handed Staff was shining golden.
She swept away the green explosions and closed in at full speed. And then, she swung down with all her might!
At the epicenter of the explosion, Lady Faruna was standing as before, without a single scratch or tear in her clothes, and waited for Lyra.
She blocked Lyra’s attack with her left straight sword. However, the moment the golden-glowing Two-handed Staff touched the invisible sword, the glow expanded.
There’s no way she can dodge this!
The golden glow exploded, engulfing only Lady Faruna.
However, Lady Faruna dodged even that.
The explosion slid sideways as if blocked by something, blowing away irrelevant locations instead.
Lyra, whose full-power blow was parried, lost her footing and froze. At that moment, Lady Faruna’s sword swung mercilessly.
“I’ve got you!”
But that was our trap!
Lady Faruna moved to finish Lyra. From behind her, Mistral approached at high speed.
The tip of his pale blue, glowing one-handed club trailed like a meteor. Mistral, having gained a positional advantage, unleashed his finishing seven-strike attack without mercy.
And then, I moved too!
Using Spatial Jump, I instantly cut between Lyra and Lady Faruna, unleashing my Dragon Sword Dance. It was a simultaneous attack from both the front and back. Moreover, both Mistral and I pressed Lady Faruna with our maximum number of moves.
Lyra, who had seemed to lose her balance, had quickly retreated.
A horizontal slash of the White Sword, followed by an attack from the Spirit Tree Sword. Continually interlocking the White Sword, the Spirit Tree Sword drew its next trajectory. Mistral’s one-handed club rained down with explosive destructive power. One blow, two blows, three blows – a mass of meteors, attacking sequentially in an instant, cornered Lady Faruna.
However, the meteor shower, which possessed enough destructive power to injure even an Ancient Dragon Species, was brushed aside to the left and right. My Dragon Sword Dance was also parried at the same time, and before I knew it, an unseen sword tip extended towards my face. I hurriedly dodged, but continued to perform my Dragon Sword Dance.
“Kts… No way!”
Mistral let out an uncharacteristic click of his tongue.
Everything we did was futile. No matter how many moves, no matter how much destructive power we wielded, it was useless against Lady Faruna. No matter how fast we moved, she reacted.
No, that wasn’t it.
Unconsciously, we were being made to attack where Lady Faruna intended. That’s why she could parry our attacks! She could receive our attacks. Where would she aim next? How could we deceive her into attacking? We appeared to be thinking for ourselves, but in reality, we were being guided.
A place that seemed easy to attack. Space that could lead to the next move. If we were in a consecutive sequence of movements, she would unleash a flurry of blows here. That’s how I and everyone else attacked. Not just us, but everyone fights by reading their opponent’s movements or making themselves unreadable. But that was precisely why we fell into Lady Faruna’s trap.
A slight opening, a shift in gaze, a movement of the body. She constructed her attacks by observing the speed of a sword swing or footwork. The stronger one becomes, the more they observe their opponent’s movements and predict their next move. We didn’t acquire our experience through many battles for nothing. We observed Lady Faruna’s movements and launched our attacks. And then, precisely where she could easily receive them, we unleashed our swords, only to have them parried.
It’s often said that when you involve your opponent, it’s like performing a dance. We were willingly dancing to Lady Faruna’s tune. Mistral was bewildered by the situation where all his attacks were being parried at Lady Faruna’s whim. Ruiseine launched magic arrows. Yufilia and Nina attacked with their Ryūhōken, but all were parried. Without realizing it, everyone was dancing along with Lady Faruna.
Lady Faruna’s movements were by no means fast. She moved gracefully, elegantly, and smoothly like a dance. The moment our swords clashed, the interval when her one-handed club was parried, the gesture of evading a spell – every movement was perfectly calculated, devoid of waste, and beautiful. And our attacks, unknowingly, were being guided.
Apparently, I alone had noticed. Perhaps it was because I, who dance the Dragon Sword Dance, was able to realize it. Lady Faruna’s fighting style was precisely a sword dance. Including myself, we were all co-performers in Lady Faruna’s sword dance. We attacked due to Lady Faruna’s guidance, were evaded, and counterattacked. But everyone, believing that this was the next best place to strike, continued to launch attacks, never imagining that it was all according to Lady Faruna’s intentions.
It was something I, a practitioner of the Dragon Sword Dance who sees the opponent as a co-performer, much like Lady Faruna, could notice.
Therefore!
Surely, thrusting out the Spirit Tree Sword next would be the best move, a single action that could lead to a consecutive attack. But I suppressed that urge, twisting my left wrist. And then, swinging the sword tip, I lunged at Lady Faruna.
Lady Faruna’s eyes narrowed slightly. She looked at me, as if to say, “So, you’ve come to this.”
The Spirit Tree Sword was repelled with a *kiin* sound. As expected, a mere superficial change wouldn’t work. But this was just the beginning!
Realizing Lady Faruna’s guidance, I regained my composure. I was not a mere partner in Lady Faruna’s sword dance. Lady Faruna was the opponent of my Dragon Sword Dance! I switched my focus from adapting to my opponent’s movements to my own.
“That’s a wonderful technique,” Lady Faruna said, smiling with delight. And then, she shifted her stance, which she had been alternating between facing Mistral and everyone else, to focus solely on me.
“Ignoring me is rude!” Lyra, completely disregarded, angrily charged in. Lady Faruna parried her attack without even looking in her direction. Apparently, if she wanted to, she could react to him just with his presence. Mistral’s and Lyra’s attacks, which consisted of combining single strikes to create consecutive attacks, unlike the Dragon Sword Dance, were simply easy for Lady Faruna to parry. Lady Faruna’s attention, however, was now focused on me, who had begun to show movements deviating from her intentions, rather than those attacks.
I made sure to not fall into Lady Faruna’s trap. I would perform my own dance! The Dragon Sword Dance has many forms. By combining various forms, an almost infinite number of attacks can be woven. The places Lady Faruna could easily receive attacks were, conversely, the most suitable attack points. But then, my movements would be read. I performed with unprecedented movements, with new combinations, a Dragon Sword Dance different from usual. However, the basics remained the same. I aimed for elegance in every situation, focusing on consecutive attacks. Furthermore, I incorporated elements of a captivating dance to deceive my opponent, and I offered this Dragon Sword Dance to the Goddess and my opponent.
Everyone began to launch attacks in response to my movements, like an improvised accompaniment.
Lady Faruna is a collaborator in the Dragon Sword Dance. And everyone else is a collaborator in the same way.
I’m not dancing the Dragon Sword Dance alone. I’m fighting together with everyone.
Therefore, I’ll aim for a Dragon Sword Dance that everyone can dance together.
Taking advantage of the opportunity I created, Mistral unleashes his technique. I create an interval that makes it easier for Laira to attack. I give Ruiseine the freedom to chant magic, and guide Yufilia and Nina to cooperate.
Furthermore, we must not forget this.
While dancing the Dragon Sword Dance, I draw Dragon Veins from the ground. Then, I diffuse them.
Mistral and the others unleash one powerful move after another.
Mistral is one thing, but Laira and Yufilia’s Dragon Energy is visibly depleting.
At that point, I replenish their Dragon Energy using the Chicken Dragon’s technique.
I also send some towards Lady Faruna.
My intention was to target Lady Faruna’s weakness, but she read it and dodged.
The Dragon Energy that began to swirl in time with the Dragon Sword Dance summoned a storm in the pure white sky.
Thunder roared, and strong winds began to blow.
The jewel embedded in the hilt of the White Sword shone blue. As I swung the sword down, the sky flashed violently.
Everyone, who knows my techniques well, maintained their distance.
I continued to dance the Dragon Sword Dance, unconcerned by the anomaly overhead. It was to prevent Lady Faruna from escaping.
Lightning strikes!
From all over the swirling mass of Dragon Energy in the sky, which now resembled a storm, bolts of lightning rained down on Lady Faruna.
Now, how will you defend against this attack!
There is no way to defend.
Swinging my sword won’t change the trajectory of the lightning. Even if I try to evade it gracefully, a rain of lightning will fall over a wide area, and electric currents will surge.
More importantly, I won’t let her escape. It’s lightning I released myself. It won’t affect me. I’ll use that to keep Lady Faruna pinned down here!
Lady Faruna parried my sword strikes and raised the straight sword in her left hand.
The countless bolts of lightning struck Lady Faruna, using her straight sword as a lightning rod.
“Nnnh!!”
It was I who was speechless.
Everyone else was also astonished.
The lightning that should have struck the straight sword Lady Faruna held in her left hand did not reach Lady Faruna’s body.
The straight sword, which absorbed all the lightning strikes, glowed brilliantly. Lady Faruna then swung the straight sword in her left hand.
Sparks and electric currents erupted.
My right foot, which touched the tip of the lightning, sent a sharp, intense pain.
“Ngh!”
Lady Faruna continued to swing the charged straight sword in her left hand. With each swing, lightning strikes were unleashed.
“Uwah!”
I never expected my own attack to be absorbed and turn on me!
But I can’t retreat.
Although I was surprised by the sheer absurdity of it, it wasn’t as if I had no recourse.
I also released the jewels of the White Sword, enveloping the blade in lightning. Then, I headed directly towards Lady Faruna’s straight sword.
Lightning against lightning to cancel each other out!
Recognizing the futility of the lightning rain, everyone else began their attacks again.
If lightning won’t work, I’ll sharpen my focus.
The storm that had been spreading began to converge.
The Dragon Energy storm in the sky grew denser, becoming small and concentrated far above me.
Furthermore, the Dragon Energy that had been diffusing around began to gather, swirling.
Mistral attacked from below with his one-handed club.
The dense Dragon Energy, shaped like a dragon’s head, assailed Lady Faruna.
Lady Faruna swung the straight sword in her right hand to intercept.
The moment I saw her attention shift downwards, I struck from above with all my might!
The great scythe of the atmosphere, cleaving through the sky, approached Lady Faruna.
But Lady Faruna had anticipated even that.
Damn, I got carried away thinking it was the perfect opportunity and struck!
Lady Faruna raised the straight sword in her left hand and met the great scythe.
Lady Faruna reacted with elegant movements to the pincer attack from above and below. It was all according to her plan.
Or so she thought.
Mistral’s attack was full-powered, and I unleashed a blow with all my might. That is undeniable. But perhaps that’s precisely why she assumed, I’ve put everything into this attack.
Lady Faruna’s straight sword in her right hand crossed with the jet-black one-handed club, and the straight sword in her left hand caught the great scythe of the atmosphere.
At that moment, the Dragon Energy that had been converging around was released as further blades, aimed at Lady Faruna.
“Ngh!”
Suddenly, Lady Faruna accelerated.
Faster than ever before. Yet, not a shred of her elegance and beauty was lost. Nevertheless, she reacted with a movement she had never shown before.
The dragon’s head formed by the Dragon Energy released by Mistral was instantly ensnared by the straight sword in her right hand. My great scythe was also absorbed by the straight sword in her left hand.
Lady Faruna, clad in the two powers she had reeled in, spread her arms and spun gracefully. The straight sword in her right hand moved from bottom to top. The straight sword in her left hand moved from top to bottom. My stolen Dragon Energy became a silver flame, and Mistral’s Dragon Energy became a golden flame, engulfing Lady Faruna.
The blades released from her surroundings were engulfed in the golden and silver flames and scattered.
Lady Faruna, having defended against my and Mistral’s attacks, leaped high into the air, sensing something.
The golden and silver flames trailed from both straight swords, drawing arcs in the sky.
“Water Dragon Twin Fangs!”
Immediately after, two giant water dragons appeared from beneath Lady Faruna’s feet and attacked.
It was a Dragon Art unleashed by Yufilia and Nina!
“Haaah!”
Laira leaped high and swung her two-handed staff.
She flew higher than Lady Faruna, who had also leaped, and pressed down from above. From below, the two water dragons were closing in.
“We’re not done yet!”
Ruiseine fired arrows of magic.
“Elnea, don’t give up!”
“Of course!”
Mistral unleashed his dragon arts. Not to be outdone, I poured all my dragon energy into the Ryū no Yari, creating and launching multiple lances.
Attacking from all directions!
“How about this?” we roared.
Lady Faruna smiled joyfully in mid-air.
It was a long, long battle.
No matter how many times our swords were deflected or our techniques were blocked, we continued to challenge her.
Lady Faruna made no attempt to win. She absorbed all our attacks. Sometimes she counterattacked, and if we were careless, we were thrown or kicked. But she never delivered the finishing blow.
Even when we fell to our knees countless times, she waited for us to stand up.
And she faced our full strength head-on.
In this white world, there may be no concept of time.
The battle where we gave it our all felt both short and long.
In hindsight, it felt anticlimactic, yet conversely, it also felt like an incredibly dense period of time.
Panting heavily, my breaths ragged, we collapsed.
Mistral could no longer maintain his human-dragon transformation and had returned to his normal form. Beside me, he lay gasping for air, just like me.
Ruiseine, Laira, Yufilia, and Nina were all lying down, catching their breath.
Priscilla-chan, who had been quietly watching our fight, lay down next to us as if imitating us.
But we were too exhausted to pay her any mind.
If we closed our eyes now, we’d undoubtedly drift into dreams without resistance.
…Ah, here we are, in the dream.
Ultimately, we were completely outmatched.
Or rather, there was no way we could win!
Our close combat, including the Dragon Sword Dance, was completely anticipated, and our special techniques were ensnared.
Frankly, the straight swords in both her hands were unfair.
Whether it was dragon arts, magic, sorcery, spirit arts, or even techniques from the Spirit Tree, every spell unleashed was decomposed by her sword tip and rendered powerless. That alone would have been enough, but to then imbue those decomposed spells into her sword and fight with them – I’d never seen or heard of such a fighting style before.
It’s unfair, it’s cheap!
“Those with ability acquire arms and armor befitting them. You too, I presume, possess a sword made from my fangs and a Spirit Tree sword. To those of lesser standing, they are undoubtedly formidable weapons. Yet, you would not equip yourself with a bronze or iron sword to match your opponent, would you?”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true. It’s only natural that Kensei Faruna, the world’s foremost swordsman, would possess a sword that matches her skill.”
For instance, from the perspective of an opponent whose equipment would be cleanly bisected by a White Sword, I am surely also a wielder of unfair weapons.
But this is my weapon, and if I held back in a fight, I’d be the one to die, so I can’t afford to go easy.
“Still, you could have gone easy on us,” Yufilia and Nina grumbled.
“But I wanted some limitations on weapon abilities,” Nina added.
Lady Faruna offered a bitter smile at their complaints.
“Hmm, I understand what you’re both saying. But still, don’t you think it’s different? I believe Lady Faruna wanted to see our full strength. That’s why she faced us without holding back. It’s precisely because Lady Faruna was serious that we could fight until we were utterly exhausted like this, isn’t it?”
“That’s true. If we had known we were being held back, our spirits would have withered immediately.”
“If she had gone easy on us, I might have lost the will to fight due to sheer humiliation.”
“But it’s still frustrating,” Laira said.
As Laira said, it is indeed frustrating.
We were completely outmatched.
We could offer the excuse that our opponent was Lady Faruna. But, let’s see.
This time, our opponent was the one hailed as the Sword Saint. Lady Faruna had never lost before. It was impossible for us to defeat such a great person.
Let’s try to change our perspective.
If this hadn’t been a sparring match, but a serious battle?
Would we give up just because our opponent was Lady Faruna?
Would we resign ourselves to the fact that we couldn’t win because they possessed more powerful arms and armor than us?
Doing so would only lead to defeat, and at worst, death.
What must the people we’ve fought until now have thought?
Did they concede defeat gracefully, thinking it was unavoidable because the sharpness of the White Sword was too great? Did they honestly accept their loss, believing there was no way to win against a Spirit Tree Wooden Sword or our techniques?
No, there certainly wouldn’t have been anyone like that.
No one fears losing or dying.
When faced with death, everyone would have desperately fought to survive, no matter how clumsily.
Therefore, lamenting that Lady Faruna’s arms and armor are too powerful is, after all, a mistake.
The world surely has countless individuals possessing powerful or wondrously strange weapons. But we shouldn’t lose because of them.
“…Perhaps the mistake was trying so hard to win. Maybe the important thing is not to lose, and to possess the means to survive.”
Through Lady Faruna’s battle, I vaguely realized something.
There are many people stronger than us. But we must not lose to strong opponents, no matter what. It’s okay if we can’t win, as long as we survive.
To truly evolve from here on, we might need to acquire such skills.
I lay down and, while catching my breath, voiced my thoughts.
Lady Faruna listened to my thoughts with her usual gentle smile.
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