And then… night. Sylvie led the way through the Town, heading to the suburbs. Sofia and Kuuza said they would accompany us, so we all went together.

Honestly, a guarantee of victory is… very difficult since I’m not sure how strong Gelga is in reality, but I understand that it won’t be easy.

Eventually, we arrived at Warrior’s Hill. Using Light Magic, we could see the entire landscape. At the top of the hill was a single large tree. At its base was a tombstone.

This is where the person who drove away the Monsters threatening Burak in the past rests. There was nothing else there, and in the game, it was completely silent.

We stood in such a place and waited… Eventually, footsteps were heard.

Four of them, huh?

A man’s voice. It was definitely Gelga. He entered the illuminated area from the Darkness of the night—the sword he held was already drawn from its sheath and grasped in his right hand.

The blade of the sword was red. I think it was its original color, but it looked like the crimson blood of Humans it had continuously absorbed until now, glowing eerily in the Darkness of the night.

In addition, his expression was relaxed with a smile. His eyes, fixed on us, were murky yet somehow held a strange glimmer.

However, his gaze was fixed on us… He probably saw us as prey.

Just so you know, your enemy is me.

Sylvie stepped forward. Then Gelga shrugged his shoulders,

Fighting women isn’t my hobby.

…What?

You can’t fool me even if you’re dressed as a man. Because you look like a Warrior… well, I guess you worked hard training in Ganaize?

Gelga spoke without even looking… just like the conversation that signaled the start of the event.

However, Sylvie remained calm… that’s because I had told her beforehand, expecting her to be flustered. She wouldn’t fall behind mentally.

If so, what will you do?

Sylvie provocatively stated and drew her sword. Then Gelga let out a theatrical sigh.

Did you also receive my sword somewhere, or were your parents killed? Or perhaps you’re a survivor from a village I burned down?

I can tell you it’s one of those.

I had already informed them of this, so they showed little reaction. Gelga watched her actions and muttered, somewhat displeased.

No reaction… Well, that’s fine. I’ll find out if she’s desperately restraining herself once we fight.

He gripped his sword tightly. Immediately, his magic power surged. He had entered combat mode.

Sylvie.

Don’t worry.

The moment I called her name, Sylvie spoke.

Don’t interfere.

I didn’t answer—immediately after, Gelga charged.

The battle is finally beginning. Now, what will the first strike be like?

Gelga isn’t using ‘Tiger Barrage’; he seems to intend to swing his sword. From his movements, it’s not ‘Blood-Soaked Sin’ either. It’s probably a probing attack.

Gelga must be thinking that if she dies from this attack, it would be extremely anticlimactic.

Here!

Sylvie met his sword strike head-on. A metallic clang echoed, and both swords… stopped.

I see, you’re quite strong in a test of strength.

As soon as Gelga muttered, he tried to retreat. Sylvie should have considered a follow-up attack, but she decided to observe for now.

And she’s calm too… Have I hit the jackpot for the first time in a while?

Gelga said, lightly swinging his sword.

However, I have customers waiting, so I want to finish this quickly.

Are the customers you’re referring to my comrades behind me?

Yes, that’s right. Now that you’ve come here, I have no intention of letting you live. All for the sake of this sword.

He readied his sword. Sylvie must be confident that Sofia and Kuuza will be fine as long as I’m here, even if they are targeted… but she probably felt irritated by Gelga’s methods. She spoke.

Unfortunately, that won’t happen.

Because you’ll defeat me?

Exactly!

Sylvie ran. Closing the distance, she delivered a clean horizontal slash.

Gelga lightly parried it, but she must have increased her magic power, as she sent his sword flying.

Not bad. But you see—

Gelga showed a hideous, twisted smile.

That’s not enough—to kill me!

He screamed. At the same time, he thrust out his left hand.

‘Tiger Barrage’ is coming—Sylvie immediately took a defensive stance. Immediately after, a shockwave assailed her. An attack accompanied by light briefly enveloped her,

Hahaha! It’s over!

Gelga followed up with another attack. It wasn’t ‘Blood-Soaked Sin,’ but a simple slash. This continuous attack would have certainly dealt damage if she hadn’t countered his strategy.

But the next moment, Gelga’s sword was deflected with a high-pitched clang. Furthermore, Sylvie successfully parried the shockwave and re-positioned her sword without a scratch.

…Oh, really?

He tilted his head—which looked somewhat insane to me. In any case, it certainly seemed to be a surprising turn of events for him.

You blocked that… You must be quite fixated on me. I don’t know how you found out, though.

I have all your information, I muttered to myself.

In any case, the training paid off. Sylvie is unharmed for now. But next time, he will surely use ‘Bloodstained Guilt’.

Whether she can prevent it is key… Gelga moves.

“Then, how about this!?”

Magic Power emanates from the blade. The blade turns even deeper crimson, as if demanding to drink blood—I was certain that “Bloodstained Guilt” was coming. I was about to tell Sylvie to be careful.

However, she moved before that. Of course, we trained for “Bloodstained Guilt,” but we couldn’t block all the Shockwaves. Since it was impossible during training, it’s very difficult to completely grasp the Book-type.

The martial arts technique “Tiger Barrage” has the characteristic of being easier to predict because the direction of the Shockwave flow is constant. However, it’s still difficult without training… On the other hand, “Bloodstained Guilt” scatters Shockwaves. Even Gelga probably doesn’t know where they will disperse, making it difficult to completely predict.

Sylvie, who probably reached that conclusion during training, instead stepped forward here.

Gelga shows surprise. He probably thought she would defend or retreat—showing a passive movement.

The amount of Shockwaves is large, and there’s a limit to how much a Barrier can block. In addition, even if she tries to avoid them, it’s difficult to avoid all the dispersing Shockwaves. Against such a troublesome technique, Sylvie’s decision was to advance.

It seemed like a reckless action at first glance, but I understood that the Magic Barrier Sylvie constructed became momentarily stronger.

Her body is swallowed by the Shockwave—but only for an instant. She cut Gelga’s body as they passed each other, ignoring the Shockwave. This was undoubtedly “Clear Stream Flash”—

“Agh!”

Gelga screams. That definitely hit him.

“You’re… pretty good!”

Gelga turns his body towards Sylvie with a fearless smile. She, who had passed by, was also slightly injured by the Shockwave… but not as much as expected.

As I wondered if she could continue like this, Sylvie opened her mouth to Gelga.