“Kuah!”

Raden grabbed his head and stepped back. He looked like an insane person, his untied hair flapping into the wind.

“Ugh…”

The extreme pain made him groan.

He still couldn’t understand what had happened. How was his sword already at his neck, why did his face hurt? He couldn’t understand anything.

“Wh-what did you do to me?”

Raden grit his teeth and raised his head, looking towards Raon—who was standing still, just looking at him.

“It’s simple. I dodged your sword and punched you in the face.”

He answered, as casual as if discussing a meal.

“What I’m asking is how you did that…”

“This makes it once.”

Raon raised his index finger while saying something completely unrelated to the question.

“What?”

“I told you, you will die eight times today. That just now was the price for your lie about sending a letter that we never received.”

“Y-you bastard…”

Raden’s eyes grew so wide that they looked like they would tear. He wanted to rip Raon’s limbs apart right now.

“Eight times? Stop spouting bullshit! You are going to regret not having finished the Sword Duel just now for the rest of your life!”

Raden barked, swinging his flexible sword.

Crash!

The flexible aura-imbued sword started to devastate their surroundings. It was the of the .

Rumble!

The flexible sword thrashed like a Kraken’s tentacles, yet Raon dodged every single aura blade by using ‘River Footwork’.

Raden clenched his fist and turned his flexible sword. The aura blade in his flexible sword trembled like a tidal wave, blocking Raon’s path.

Since he still didn’t understand what happened back then, he needed to be careful. It was necessary to pressure him, like catching a bug in the room by cornering it.

He wasn’t just using his wrist, but also his elbow and shoulder to fully utilize the flexible sword’s long blade.

It must look like a wall of sword and aura blade in Raon’s eyes.

“I’ll make you into a filet.”

Raden used the tenth form of the , . The flexible sword stormed at Raon, twisted like rose bushes.

“Hmm…”

In the midst of deflecting the flexible sword by using , Raon turned around. He withdrew in order to avoid the .

“I got you!”

The grew faster if the opponent tries to run away. He was now just a rat in a trap.

Stomp!

After moving all the way to the back, Raon turned midair and kicked the ground.

The way he was running at the wall of aura blade could be only described as crazy.

Raden gasped. The moment the was pushed back to the extreme, his body disappeared like a candlelight.

“Damn it!”

He hurriedly looked around. Expecting him to appear from his right side like the last time, he pulled his flexible sword.

However, nothing could be seen from his right side.

“I’m on your left.”

Even before the word reached his ears, an excruciating pain could be felt from the left side of his face.

“Kuaah!”

Raden screamed from the impact to his left cheekbone, rolling on the ground.

“Uggh…”

The pain wasn’t subsiding. His cheekbone must’ve been crushed.

“Uaaaah!”

Raden roared. He imbued his sword with aura to stick the blade on the ground, using it as a support to stand up.

“…Wh-what did you do just now? You were definitely in front of me!”

“This is the price for spitting on my mother’s hand-grown flower.”

“You crazy bastard!”

Looking at Raon's unwavering eyes, his chin trembled. It looked like that crazy bastard was seriously going to return the eight debts.

“It’s not over yet!”

Raden stepped back and gathered his aura from his energy center. He wasn’t playing around anymore. Screw the Sword Duel, he decided he would kill him right there and then.

Rumble!

He brandished his flexible sword while spreading his aura to the mana circuits in his entire body. His clothes fluttered with his rambling aura, despite the windless atmosphere.

“I’m going to pluck your bones out before killing you!”

Raden thrust his straightened flexible sword. At lightning speed, it reached right in front of Raon’s eyes in a blink of an eye.

Whir.

The moment Raon was about to swing his sword to defend himself, Raden’s entire right arm started vibrating.

Baaaam!

The intense vibration passed up the flexible sword, and its straight trajectory became twisted, like a coiled snake.

It was the formidable technique of the , , which ripped apart the enemy like a Kraken crushing the ocean with its eight tentacles.

However, Raon didn’t step back despite facing the sharp blade severing the air. His eyes shone as he lowered his posture.

Raden grit his teeth. He had disappeared and reappeared from his right and left side the last time his eyes shone like that.

“Kuaaah!”

He thrust the , along with all the aura he had gathered, to the best of his abilities. The gathering of aura blades puffed up like a balloon, storming at Raon.

He couldn’t let the same technique reach him three times in a row like an idiot. He sharpened his senses to their limits in preparation for Raon, who could pierce through the wall of his flexible sword at any moment.

Crash!

The powerful aura blade of the cut through the ground like paper. However, he couldn’t sense it cutting any flesh. He had disappeared once again.

“Where are you?”

Raden spread his aura perception and retrieved his flexible sword to block his surroundings. Left, right, or behind. He prepared himself so that he could block him no matter which direction he came from.

“I’m in front of you.”

However, Raon’s voice could be heard from the front, not from left, right, or behind. He hurriedly tried to defend, but Raon moved faster.

Smack!

Raon’s fist thrust like a ray of light, crushing Raden’s chin.

“Kuaah!”

Raden grabbed his chin and screamed. It hurt. It hurt more than when he was hit on his cheeks, more than when his cheekbone was crushed.

“Ugh…”

The blood flowed to the ground. It looked like his jawbone was shattered and his skin was torn.

“The third strike is for trampling on my mother’s hand-grown flowers.”

Raon shook out his sword while walking towards Raden.

“I’ve understood everything about your sword. I won’t even need to dodge anymore.”

“Bullshit…”

Raden quickly stood up and started steaming from his mouth. His head was filled with the desire to kill him, but he bit his cheek to calm himself down.

His fingers were trembling. He could end up fainting if he got beaten up any further. He was going to lose everything if he lost, which wasn’t an option.

“Haaaa!”

He vibrated his entire energy center to spread aura throughout his body. He wouldn’t last for a long time, but he could become stronger than ever for a moment.

Baaam!

Despite the exploding energy, he controlled his mind and calmly used the . A faster, sharper, flashier aura blade stormed into the air.

The aura blade directed at Raon was the most accurate one so far.

* * *

* * *

Raon used to enter into the wave of the aura blade.

The he was using now was on a different level from what Raon had experienced so far. He was going to pay for his arrogance.

The moment he was about to pierce through Raon’s heart with the extremity of the curved sword, Raon’s sword came up diagonally.

Clang!

His arm faltered from the powerful impact transferred through the flexible sword.

“Wh-what?”

He was definitely aiming for his heart after deflecting Raon’s sword, yet his technique was interrupted midway.

“Eek!”

Raden used the fourth form of the to pressure Raon.

However…

Clang!

Raon swung his sword, and the flexible sword bounced back and became limp.

“Haa!”

With a war cry, he launched another . However, his technique was cut to pieces each time Raon swung his sword, and he couldn’t connect his strikes.

“N-no way…”

His mind was breaking, despite having calmed it down with difficulty. He was nullifying his swordsmanship, as if he had really understood everything about his .

“I told you already, I know everything about your technique.”

Raon stormed at him after parrying his sword.

“G-get away from me!”

Raden thrust his left fist, but Raon easily dodged it then struck him with his sword.

Smack!

His forehead was struck with the flat of his sword, sending him flying back like a kicked ball.

“Kuaaah!”

Raden covered his forehead and writhed on the ground in extreme pain.

“Th-this can’t be true!”

He felt like fainting from the intense pain, but he bit his lip and stood back up. It wasn’t the time for him to be lying around.

“This doesn’t make any sense!”

It was impossible to understand the in that short of a time. No, it had to be impossible.

“The fourth is the cost for hitting Helen.”

Raon slowly walked towards Raden, ignoring his words.

Raden tightly grabbed on his sheath, taking up the flexible sword.

“Haaaa!”

He used the faster and sharper than ever.

Sheesh!

A powerful will was ingrained in the flexible sword, creating a flashy trajectory to storm at Raon. Speed, sharpness, power. Everything was on a different level from before.

“……”

However, Raon’s steps remained the same as before. He casually walked into the storm of the flexible sword, as if he were on a stroll.

Clang!

Raon swung his sword. It looked like he was just chasing away an insignificant fly, yet the flexible sword faltered significantly.

That was enough to make all the changes and flow he had created so far.

“Eek!”

Raden didn’t give up. He used another formidable technique by turning the wobbling flexible sword.

Baaam!

The aura blade in his sword rained down at him.

Raon’s connected his movement into a swing towards the rain of aura blade.

Clang!

It was a simple swing that had nothing special to it, yet the formidable technique of the was cut off and the flexible sword bounced back violently.

“Wh-what! What’s happening?”

Raden stepped backwards with a trembling chin. He couldn’t believe that he had cut off the formidable technique with a single swing even though he had just experienced it himself.

“Something’s wrong with this. There’s no way!”

He grabbed his left hand with his trembling right hand and swung the flexible sword. He used the second formidable technique of the , .

Kieee!

A sharp and fierce strike like a beast’s fang was aimed at Raon’s heart and neck.

Raon halted his movements. There was no sign of panic. He just lowered his sword.

Whir!

There was no hesitation in his movements, similar to a great painter drawing a picture. And the was dissolved, just like that.

The aura blade dissipated and his technique was crushed, all from a single swing of his sword.

“Ah…”

Raden sighed. His heart tightened, looking at Raon walking up to him after erasing the .

and .

Those were techniques that any swordsman in the continent would know, yet he was unable to pierce through them.

Despite being well acquainted with the moves he was using, he couldn’t find any way to defend against them.

“Huff, huff!”

He was out of breath. Each time Raon moved his sword, he felt like his head was entering a savage beast’s mouth.

“Don’t come closer! I’m telling you to stay away!”

He tried swinging his flexible sword again, but it was just bounced away by Raon’s sword, ending up stuck in the ground.

Smack!

Upon reaching him after erasing all his aura blades, Raon took up his sword and slapped his cheek.

“Kuh!”

He couldn’t even speak because of the pain growing even worse, to the point that his limbs were convulsing.

“Keauh!”

Instead of a scream, Raden let out a strange groan and grabbed his busted cheek.

“Stand up.”

The flame of anger burning in Raon’s eyes wasn’t extinguished yet.

“It’s still only the fifth one.”

***

The Sword Duel went just like Raon had intended, from the beginning to the end.

Raden yielded to his provocation and used the that he hadn’t perfectly acquired yet, and Raon used the that he was so used to that he could use it with his eyes closed.

Who is going to win if a swordsman that wasn’t completely used to excellent swordsmanship fights was pitted against a swordsman who completed an average technique to perfection?

Most people would believe it would be the former.

That was not the case.

An advanced yet incomplete technique created powerful and flashy strikes, but it couldn’t adjust to every situation.

On the other hand, a swordsman that perfected a basic swordsmanship could adjust to each situation in the most suitable way.

At first, the swordsman with a powerful swordsmanship might look like he had the upper hand, but the difference would grow over time and the one with basic technique would end up with the advantage.

Moreover, the most important part wasn’t the technique, but the one using it.

Since the person using the basic swordsmanship was Raon, who had learned the and had Judiel’s information, the one-sided beating on Raden was a natural course of action.

Raon looked at Raden, who was trying to stand up as he bled.

“N-not yet. It’s not over yet. I-I will never lose…”

The severe murderous intent from his eyes was his malice, his desire to kill him at any cost.

“Kuaaah!”

Raden’s aura burst up. His surroundings were dyed green and the ground trembled.

“Haa.”

Feeling the frightening murderous intent and aura blade trying to rip his skin apart, Raon grew calmer and brandished his sword.

Middle posture. It was one of the basic postures, consisting of holding the sword in front of the abdomen. Despite facing intense pressure, Raon’s sword didn’t waver in the slightest.

“Die!”

Raden swung his sword with explosive energy. The single blade was split into dozens of blades in the spur of the moment, thrusting at Raon’s vital points all around his body.

It was the final technique of the , , that Raden had been saving for last.

Facing the bundle of aura blades, where a single one could cost his life, Raon brandished his sword.

Compared to the flexible sword moving like a light, Raon’s movement was so slow that it could be called boring. However, neither his sword nor his eyes were faltering.

Whoosh!

The moment the aura blade reached right under Raon’s nose after tearing apart everything, Raon swung his sword.

It wasn’t slow, or fast, or flashy.

Yet, the true meaning of swordsmanship was incorporated in it.

. Just as its name suggested, the techniques connected with each other naturally, without a single mistake.

The that was about to swallow Raon was split apart by the great flow of the .

“Ah…”

Raden’s bloodshot eyes could be seen in the midst of the aura blade tearing apart. It was an expression of bewilderment, rather than panic.

“Is that all?”

“I-I…”

“It will be annoying if you give up now.”

Raon shook out his sword and approached Raden.

“Because you need to die three more times.”