That sword strike of Great Swordmaster Shanti's was the full measure of her strength. Since her promotion to third-rank Great Swordmaster two years prior, she had never unleashed a blow so nearly perfect — one she considered the absolute pinnacle of her art. It drifted like a startled swan and blazed like a cascade of stars. As the sky full of sword-light seemed on the verge of swallowing
Did you think I'm still the second-rank Great Swordmaster you crossed swords with a few years ago? How dare you be so careless right in front of me. This isn't that heavily garrisoned Grand Duke's mansion — I won't be holding back anymore… Today I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't forget, boy Locke. We'll see if you still dare to lay a finger on my precious Silvia, filling that sweet, innocent girl's head with honeyed words and temptation… And once I've captured you, I'll drag you back and make you kneel before my Grand Duke, signing a mountain of surrender agreements before you're allowed to live…
Wonderful thoughts, but Great Swordmaster Shanti's confidence was shattered in an instant by three consecutive strikes from the longsword in Lorist's hand.
Clang-clang-clang! Three thunderous clashes of steel rang out, and the sky full of starlight vanished without a trace. Lorist's casually wielded longsword had not only intercepted with pinpoint precision the three lethal glints of light hidden amid that dazzling flurry, but the force of his counterattacks had also rendered Great Swordmaster Shanti unable to follow through with her next move — her entire body was sent hurtling sideways through the air.
"Left shoulder, right chest or right ribs? And a feint at the outer thigh…" Lorist had easily discerned which parts of his body Great Swordmaster Shanti intended to target. He gave a light, dismissive chuckle: "It's been a few years, and I never expected you'd actually be promoted to third-rank Great Swordmaster. The pity is, while your aura is impressive enough, your swordsmanship hasn't improved much at all — still the same old set of moves. It looks like your promotion was nothing more than good luck. There's nothing of that feeling of a complete transformation…"
Great Swordmaster Shanti's face was a mask of shock and unwillingness: "You — how could you possibly have blocked that strike?"
"Blocked that strike?" Lorist looked genuinely baffled. "Is that so difficult? Not at all. Once I'm familiar with your swordwork, I could block it with my eyes closed. You just saw that for yourself, didn't you? What's so strange about something so simple? You're making a fuss over nothing…"
Lorist spoke with casual ease, but Great Swordmaster Shanti's face shifted between green and white. Through gritted teeth she said, "You're humiliating me, aren't you…"
Lorist shrugged. "If that's what you want to think, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm only telling the truth."
"I'll fight you to the death…" Great Swordmaster Shanti charged forward once more.
Unfortunately, this frantic offensive accomplished nothing. Lorist reined in his mount and leisurely swept his longsword, deflecting every single one of Great Swordmaster Shanti's attacks while muttering nonstop, "Now that's a vicious strike — aiming right there, were you? Trying to make me lose my future heirs? What a shame, you fell short. Haha, didn't succeed, did you? You can't do it… Oh? Another trick up your sleeve? No chance — blocked! Didn't I already give you advice? Speed alone isn't enough; you need accuracy too. Out of ten thrusts, you land three — the other seven are wasted energy. At your level, how can you still not understand something so simple?"
Great Swordmaster Shanti was so furious she nearly spat blood. How could this man be so insufferable, still running his mouth and getting the better of her in every exchange? In a moment of distraction, Lorist counterattacked, sweeping her blade aside and delivering a massive kick that sent her flying seven or eight feet. She crashed to the ground and coughed up three mouthfuls of blood on the spot.
Having gained the upper hand, Lorist still wouldn't let up. "Once you've reached the Great Swordmaster realm, you shouldn't fixate only on the sword in your hand. You need to imagine your entire body as the sword — that's the true secret to advancing further in Great Swordmaster realm. Understand? Fancy tricks with just the blade in your hand won't take you far no matter how many you pull. For
"Pfft!" Shanti spat out another mouthful of blood and sprang to her feet, hair disheveled. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and raised her sword once more. "Don't you dare use Silivia's name as an excuse! I will never allow her to be with you. I deliberately disrupted your dates before, and I won't let Silivia fall into the hands of a faithless, talentless, spineless man like you. If you've got the guts, then kill me!"
Lorist smiled bitterly. "Come on, old woman — Silivia was the one who made the first move. By the time I accepted her feelings and was ready to give her a bright future, it was your Grand Duke Fisablen who rejected our
"In your dreams!" Great Swordmaster Shanti screamed like a shrew, completely devoid of the dignity befitting a Great Swordmaster. She retreated a few steps toward the battle formation, leveled her longsword at Lorist, and shouted, "Charge him! Chop him to pieces!"
"Kill!" The duchy soldiers roared in unison. Nearly two thousand duchy soldiers surged forward, brandishing all manner of weapons — a tide of steel so overwhelming that even a third-rank Great Swordmaster would have to give way before its fury.
A massive brawl erupted.
But what Great Swordmaster Shanti hadn't expected was that, far from growing tense at the sight of the charging formation, Lorist's face lit up with excitement — like a starving leopard catching the scent of fresh meat. He bellowed, "Right on time!" and charged forward to meet them head-on.
"Swish swish swish swish swish..." The arrows arrived before the troops did. Four to five hundred longbowmen arrayed behind the battle formation loosed a volley of arrows at Lorist. Unfortunately, no one had anticipated that Lorist would charge forward. Every arrow had been aimed at the spot where Lorist had originally stood and at the flanks and rear where he might dodge — so when Lorist surged ahead, the entire volley proved utterly useless.
"Kill!" Lorist had already appeared within the battle formation, his sword sweeping level with his shoulders, blood gushing like fountains, heads rolling across the ground. His blade traced a full circle, and around the spot where Lorist stood within the formation, a concentric clearing opened up. Lorist's figure flickered through the ranks like a phantom, darting at breathtaking speed, his sword light blotting out sky and earth. Not a single duchy soldier could discern where Lorist truly was — all they saw was their comrades toppling like felled trees, one after another without end...
Lorist suddenly materialized at the rear ranks of the formation and, like a raging gale, unleashed a slaughter upon the duchy soldiers armed with longbows and crossbows. By the time he had cut down everyone before him, he glanced back to find a blood-soaked avenue paved with corpses stretching out behind him.
Someone — no one knew who — dropped their weapon to the ground with a resounding clang. As if that were a signal, every duchy soldier still standing collapsed into despair. "D-Demon!" they shrieked, discarding their weapons and fleeing headlong, some stumbling around in circles like lost ants, their minds gripped by a single thought — the farther they got from Lorist, the better...
"Charge!" A cheer erupted from the hilltop as the
Lorist's body flickered twice in rapid succession, and he appeared before the Great Swordmaster Shanti, who stood frozen like a statue at the turn of events. "Heh, any more tricks up your sleeve? My dear Great Swordmaster Shanti..."
Great Swordmaster Shanti thrust out a numbed strike, but didn't even graze the hem of Lorist's cloak.
"Surrender. For Silivia's sake, I'll grant you the treatment befitting a captive Great Swordmaster. Beyond dropping your sword, you have no path left to escape," Lorist urged.
At the mention of Princess Silivia, Great Swordmaster Shanti snapped back to her senses. Hearing Lorist's offer of surrender, she was overcome with humiliated fury. "I will never let you humiliate me! There is still one path — I can die here in battle, and let Silivia know that her foster mother was killed by your hand!"
Great Swordmaster Shanti charged forward in a frenzy, discarding all technique and form, driving her sword straight at Lorist's body without the slightest regard for her own safety, yearning for nothing more than to die beneath his blade.
The woman was truly beyond saving when she became this obstinate. Lorist was genuinely getting a headache over it. Just as he had feared, it really wasn't easy to simply cleave this mad old woman in two — how would he ever explain it to Silivia later? "Darling, I chopped your foster mother into eight pieces..."
The problem now was that killing Great Swordmaster Shanti with a single sword stroke would be easy enough for Lorist, but capturing her alive and unscathed was a different matter entirely — especially with the old woman flying into a frenzy like this. There was even a chance she might take a bite out of him on the way down. No matter how much Lorist disparaged her, she remained a bona fide third-rank Great Swordmaster.
After deflecting blow after blow, Lorist finally lost patience. "Are you done yet or not?"
Great Swordmaster Shanti said nothing, clenching her teeth as she thrust her sword at Lorist with wild ferocity...
"You're asking for it..." Lorist snapped. His wrist turned, his blade deflecting the incoming thrust as the flat of his sword whipped around and slapped hard across Great Swordmaster Shanti's left cheek. She spat out two teeth with a muffled crunch.
"I'll fight you to the—!" Before she could finish, Lorist's longsword swept upward, blocking Shanti's downward slash. His figure blurred as he closed in right in front of her. Shanti's eyes went wide with alarm and she retreated rapidly to create distance, but she was a beat too late. Lorist's left fist had already slammed hard into her stomach.
"Ugh!" Great Swordmaster Shanti let out a pained shriek, her back curling like a shrimp. She dropped her sword entirely, clutching her stomach with both hands, mouth open as if she might vomit.
Lorist was startled — at this range, getting thrown up on was the last thing he wanted. He lifted his foot and kicked her flying.
Shanti soared high into the air but didn't travel far. She threw up mid-flight, forcing Lorist to dodge to the side to avoid the filth raining down from above...
With a heavy thud, Great Swordmaster Shanti landed on a patch of filthy, slush-covered snow, rolled twice, and came to a stop right at the hooves of the Second Prince's mount. The prince took one look at her and jumped, instantly placing the tip of his lance against her throat, afraid she might spring up and attack.
To everyone's surprise, Great Swordmaster Shanti opened her eyes, saw it was the Second Prince, and blurted out a single sentence: "Spare me… I surrender…"
Then she promptly passed out.
The Second Prince on horseback and the arriving Lorist just stared at each other—one up high, one down low—exchanging blank looks in an atmosphere so awkward it was suffocating…
The nobles of the Galentea Continent had an unspoken tradition on the battlefield: whoever an enemy surrendered to became that person's captive. Snatching another's captives or victories was considered the most shameful behavior possible.
The problem now was that Lorist had defeated Great Swordmaster Shanti, but she had turned around and surrendered to the Second Prince instead, which made her the Second Prince's captive—and Lorist had no right to do anything about it.
He had come to welcome Lorist and strengthen their bond, but he'd ended up being played by Great Swordmaster Shanti. As a noble and a king, he had an obligation to provide shelter to those who surrendered to him. But he had come here to congratulate Lorist on defeating Great Swordmaster Shanti and taking her captive—he had never imagined becoming her captor himself. Wasn't this tantamount to stealing someone else's merit?
The Second Prince's face flushed crimson. He wanted to say something but couldn't form the words. Just then, Great Swordmaster Manster, Lippired, Reddy, and the others arrived behind him. Lorist quickly called out in a loud voice: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! This old hag Shanti had been pestering me relentlessly, and I never expected that the moment Your Majesty appeared, she'd be terrified into surrendering. How wonderful—Your Majesty's reputation truly precedes you…"
Well, Lorist was showing his characteristic generosity here, giving everyone a way to save face. After all, he had a headache thinking about what to do with this Great Swordmaster Shanti—he couldn't beat her, couldn't scold her, and she was Sylvia's adoptive mother no matter what. If he brought her back, he'd have to feed her well and treat her with respect, and he wouldn't even be able to collect a ransom. All Sylvia had to do was stand in front of him, let the tears fall, and he'd have to return this old hag Shanti with utmost courtesy…
Anyway, the old hag couldn't stand the sight of him, so he might as well let the Second Prince deal with her. Let her suffer a bit more and learn her lesson—see if she'd dare think herself clever again, trying to use such a simplistic trick to drive a wedge between them. Like hell he'd fall for that, Lorist thought smugly. He then added a reminder: "Your Majesty, this Great Swordmaster Shanti is already a third-rank Great Swordmaster. Her fainting now is merely from extreme rage—her body hasn't suffered any serious injuries. She'll recover easily once she wakes up. To guard against any surprises, it would be best to administer the Qi-Dispersing Elixir and the Bone-Laxing Powder to her as soon as possible…"
The Second Prince hesitated and said, "Surely not. She's a third-rank Great Swordmaster, after all—she ought to keep her word…"
"Your Majesty, she's a woman—and all women are stubborn. Besides, she's a Great Swordmaster, so it's easy for her to find an excuse to push the blame onto others, and then walk away with a clear conscience. For safety's sake, you must be careful…" Lorist said.
The Second Prince thought of that stormy night before, when everyone had assumed the enemy wouldn't attack, yet Great Swordmaster Shanti had led a charge through the side slope into their camp, inflicting heavy losses. He nodded, promptly taking the advice: "You're right. Lipired, go fetch the elixirs."
"At once, Your Majesty." Lipired turned his horse and galloped toward the camp on the snowy ridge.
"Teacher…" Reddy finally seized the chance to speak to Lorist.
Lorist gave him a light smack on the back of the head: "You brat, getting cocky—thinking you're something special because you won the tournament sword championship? Now you see there are plenty stronger than you, don't you? Consider yourself lucky this time, protected by His Majesty until I could come save you. If I hadn't heard the news, or if you weren't in this spot, you'd be done for. Got that?"
Deep affection brings strict correction—Reddy understood this well: "I got it, but… Teacher, did you come alone?"
Lorist smiled and pointed to the snowy slope on the left, the one he had slid down: "Not alone. I was just a step faster than the rest and got here first."
Everyone turned to look. Only then did they see a line of figures appear on the left slope, all equipped like Lorist—on skis, poles in hand—but with large bundles strapped to their backs, making them seem somewhat clumsy. They didn't slide down the slope with Lorist's ease and grace.
"Your Highness, that's not fair! You started without waiting for us to arrive, making us rush over here for nothing…" El, who had just arrived, huffed large plumes of white breath, protesting indignantly.
… (To be continued.)