108. the way they walked (2)

The shock of clashing swords against each other was something he had often felt, but this time the shock was so unfamiliar. Maxim pressed his upper body with strength to shake off Adeline’s blade clinging to his blade. The two sword blades swept each other down, scattering sparks in the cold air.

“Can’t you draw the sword?”

Maxim’s voice was desperate. There was no one who did not need salvation. Christine who was underground, and Adeline who was pointing a sword at herself right now. And even himself, who was facing swords with Adeline. So many people needed to get out of this damn situation.

“… It can’t be.”

At Maxim’s words, Adeline shook her head. At those words, Maxim’s face twisted. Adeline, unable to see the changed expression, straightened her sword. But Maxim could see her expression like that. The eyes were covered, but the mouth beneath them was trembling, unable to maintain an expressionless expression. With that alone, Maxim could tell that Adeline was suffering.

“Aren’t you suffering?”

At Maxim’s words, Adeline’s shoulders shook for a moment. However, she soon found composure in her voice and answered coldly.

“It’s none of your business.”

Maxim wanted to talk more. I wanted to put down my sword and find another way. Couldn’t. Contrary to her trembling voice, Adeline was clearly pointing her sword at Maxim again. Her arms didn’t tremble. There was energy in the legs that were on the ground. Adeline spoke out as if warning Maxim.

“Pick up your sword again, Arsene.”

Otherwise, I’m really going to die.

Adeline left those words and approached Maxim even faster. The sword’s trajectory accurately grasps the gap between Maxim’s breathing and movement and penetrates the loophole. Maxim blocked Adeline’s second slash with the movement of her sword. Then, like a habit, he read his gaze and lowered his head, frowning at the eyes hidden by the black cloth.

‘… this.’

The fight with the blind knight seemed very difficult. Adeline did not give Maxim the distance and continued to breathe and slashed. Maxim quickly increased his speed while circulating mana in his body.

Kang-!

Several slashes came and went in an instant. No matter how defense-oriented the sword was, Adeline’s sword was clearly overwhelming the current Maxim’s sword. Maxim tried to read the sword somehow, but Adeline’s sword was too high to read with a momentary collision.

“You’re blocking it well.”

Adeline’s inorganic voice. Even in the close exchange of sword strikes, Maxim could clearly hear her voice. For a moment, Maxim could feel the sensation of a poisonous snake climbing up his spine and aiming for his neck.

And as soon as she felt that sensation, the tip of Adeline’s sword headed toward her heart.

I couldn’t avoid it. Maxim raised his sword at an angle. The tip of the sword collided with the body, and Maxim felt the shock and flew backwards.

“Damn it… !”

Maxim let out a voice that trembled with anger. It wasn’t anger toward Adeline. It was anger directed at Count Leon Benning, who had created all this and was sitting behind him smiling mockingly at him. Maxim put his sword into the ground to relieve the shock and at the same time put the brakes on his flying body. The fishy smile that popped into Maxim’s head was as if he was mocking what you could do.

… See if you can’t

Maxim gritted his teeth. It was not the same now as when I was helpless, sitting and losing. The body that had been blown away by the sword came to a halt. Maxim was standing at the bottom of the alley, at the end of a long, straight wound. Mixim picked up the sword stuck in the floor and regained his momentum.

“Whoa… .”

Maxim took a deep breath and shook off the anticipation that had penetrated his body. Adeline’s skills far exceeded Maxim’s expectations. It’s a difficult opponent even now, but even Maxim couldn’t guarantee victory if he started using the Aura properly. If I went into battle with a half-hearted attitude like I am now, I would really be decapitated by that blade.

“Are you still not ready to fight properly?”

Adeline’s voice came from afar, as if provoking Maxim. Maxim sighed and shook his head. It seemed as if Maxim was considerate of the subject of casually overdoing a terrifying sword attack aimed at his own throat.

“Nope. You seem to be misunderstanding something, but I was fighting properly until now.”

“I’m clumsy at lying.”

Adeline stood up again. Maxim changed the momentum. Don’t be halfway. Christine and Adeline. In order to save everyone, he had to change his attitude towards Adeline.

‘Because I hate halfway things the most.’

A story that one day, the teacher held his head and told. Maxim closed his eyes and began to concentrate. The wind rose. It wasn’t the wind from Maxim’s mana, nor was it the gust caused by Adeline’s momentum. Maxim feels the wind and goes back to the past.

‘The elf’s swordsmanship is flow.’

Maxim remembered the story of his master. In the middle of that verdant forest, the master said while holding a wooden sword. Just like a tree spreading out its branches, the teacher’s rider ceremony was so natural and huge. Even then, like now, an unknown wind blew.

‘Because I won’t show you twice, you bastard. Take a good look and put it in your head.’

Whoa.

Maxim changed his breathing. The refined momentum wrapped around Maxim and turned around. In the blowing wind, Maxim became nothing and nothing. Maxim kicked the ground. It was the moment when Adeline’s senses missed Maxim for the first time. Feeling a chill run down her spine, Adeline slashed her sword in the direction her instinct pointed.

bang-!

Again, Maxim’s presence appeared with a gust of wind. Adeline noticed that the sword they had collided with just now was of a completely different type. Adeline relaxed her body and flew backwards, letting the shock flow.

In Maxim’s sword, there was still no life.

Adeline’s senses accept the world even more keenly. It was to capture Maxim’s presence more quickly as it blended into the world like fog. Maksim appears again. This time, I was able to respond in time. As the branches of a willow tree reached out, Adeline hit her sword.

Even while accepting the sword strike as if all of Maxim’s sword repulsive power was shed, he continued his attack. Looking at that workshop alone, it seemed as if Maxim was carrying out the sword ceremony alone, unhindered. Judging that it would be difficult to cut off the sword in the middle, Adeline raised the mana from her body even more. heart beats Together in the uplifted spirit the world slows down.

Keying.

Like a beast bound in shackles being freed, the mana released by Adeline turned into a gust of force that would slash Maxim’s willow tree by circling around her body. The shield of mana taking shape and revealing itself followed Adeline’s arm and resonated with the sword.

“Come on… !”

Maxim clicked his tongue low as he watched the gust of wind taking shape. fresh blue. An aura like the color of the deep blue sea, not sky blue, wrapped around Adeline’s blade. Adeline’s body slowly fell from the air. The magical wind was on her side now.

“You’d better take it out.”

Adeline’s low warning. Maxim complained inwardly to her words, saying, “You have to be able to write.” The fight between the knights who took out their auras was like a natural disaster. Maxim jumped up first. Adeline felt Maxim’s presence rising upward and leaped after him. The tip of the sword left a trail of blue mist.

Fighting while exchanging blades is the worst choice.

As Maxim landed on the roof of the building, a sword attack that could be called a tidal wave followed. Maxim hurriedly lowered his head, and a cool breeze passed over his head. A few strands of Maxim’s black hair were cut off and flung into the air.

It wasn’t just a threat, it was clearly a move to take Maxim’s life. Death was clearly approaching, grabbing Maxim by the back of his neck and trying to drag him away.

‘The word flow shares the same context as the saying that it does not go against it.’

Just as Naira said, Maxim gripped his sword. To feel the weight of the sword, Maxim began to relax his body. The more he escaped from the power, the more clearly he felt the weight of the sword in his hand.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean you should match your flow with the other person’s flow.’

Then, with a wooden sword, the Master taught him how to keep the world under his flow.

‘It means to change it so that it flows in your flow.’

can i do it

The green mana was howling ferociously and sadly. that was death It was a wave of destruction that had nothing to do with it, and it was also a wave of helpless gestures from a knight driven to a dead end. Adeline’s aura was shaking like that. The sword that howled like the owner’s emotions cut through the air again and flew towards Maxim.

Maxim took a step. threw himself towards death. Okay. Because this wasn’t the first time I’d stepped into death. And, this time, beyond that death, I was determined not to face only despair, but to rescue something else.

‘So, what do you want to do?’

After Naira’s teaching, she asked Maxim one last time.

‘To be cursed like that, to be betrayed, to lose someone you loved. Now that you have nothing left, what do you want?’

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Naira’s training was hard as always. Maxim gasped for breath as if his lungs were being scraped with a razor blade, and answered half-conscious.

‘I want to save you. I want to be saved.’

‘You still have foolish hopes. You are terribly selfish, yet altruistic. Are you aware of such a contradiction?’

‘The important thing is not to correct self-contradiction. After all, that is only part of it.’

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Naira raised an eyebrow. As if the disciple had finally begun to speak humanly words, the corner of his mouth could not hide the rising.

‘Well?’

‘It’s okay if I hate myself. It’s okay if I get caught up in contradiction. After all, what I’m trying to do is terribly selfish and altruistic.’

At that time, Maxim was looking up at the sky. There were no clouds in the sky so blue that it hurt my eyes.

‘I will be saved by saving everyone. That is my wish.’

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Naira seemed to be laughing at that time. The master straightened Maxim’s sword, looked him straight in the eyes and said.

‘Then, prove it.’

It wasn’t a willow tree.

Maxim’s sword lost its shape. flow. While Adeline didn’t notice, the battlefield was about to face a huge transformation. Maxim’s sword intervened between Adeline’s auras, which ran while only looking at death. The blade rises. If it touches the aura, it will be cut off.

“what-!”

Asking what she was doing, Adeline’s mouth, which was about to bruise, fell shut for a moment. What Adeline expected did not happen. As if the sword and the sword had been one from the beginning, they engaged without making a sound. Adeline’s aura did not destroy Maxim’s sword.

oh

Maxim’s sword clung to it with a calm and serene expression, as if trying to read Adeline’s sword. Adeline’s face was visible through the shimmering blue light. Still, she had a restless expression on her face.

Adeline quickly pushed the sword away. The sword was pushed back, but Maxim was not pushed back. Adeline started swinging her sword again in order not to miss the flow. Maxim’s sword was clearly present in the sword path, which was sure to be cut off if it got involved.

In Adeline’s astonishment, Maxim’s sword began to unfold in earnest.

—

It’s attacking, but it doesn’t seem to be attacking. It seemed that he was swinging his sword to shake off something that was pursuing it. do not reach No, it was Arsene’s sword that touched. When Adeline came to her senses while swinging her sword, it was Arsene who attacked, and herself who defended.

how. I don’t even use aurors.

Adeline couldn’t hide her embarrassment. Arsene’s sword attacked in the gap of the sword power that was disturbed for a very short time. Adeline couldn’t feel the shape in the movement of the sword. Every time Maxim’s sword collided with his own, the light of the aura was scattered in the air as if it were being torn apart.

no.

Adeline continued to swing her sword. He may have been hoping for this to happen from the beginning. Each time Maxim’s sword collided with his own, the count’s words seemed to be erased one by one. But the body obeys its commands. He was still analyzing Maxim’s sword, finding the gap and trying to cut his throat.

no.

Adeline denied it again. The more he tried to read Arsene’s sword, the more confused he was.

For the first time, things were frustrating. He was resentful of himself for having no choice but to obey the Count’s orders, and he was resentful of himself for thinking deep in his heart that he still had to take Arsene’s head.

rather.

yes, rather

this time for the last time.

Adeline delayed the sword attack. It was to capture the mana in his body. Unleash all the strongest sword strikes that can be unleashed.

Adeline’s aura burned brighter and fiercer than ever. The space creaked. What her sword sliced through was always the world, and nothing could be safe from the cracks. from top to bottom. The clear sky parted, and a line was carved that split Adeline’s world in half.

oh

However, I couldn’t reach it. Adeline’s sword, which should have nothing left at the end, was still facing Maxim’s sword. Like an idiot, that knight named Arsene came face-to-face with the strongest swordsman he could.

As a result, he won with his own sword, so wasn’t it a foolish act?

Adeline could easily have predicted what the next scene would be like. Deliberately pouring out all her strength, Adeline let go of the sword. If he didn’t do this, it was clear that he would pick up that sword again and recklessly attack Arsene.

Arsene’s sword was close. Adeline was able to remain calm despite the approaching sword. They bump into each other with all their might and, following the Count’s order, cut Arsene’s head. Or, they fell short of their prowess and had their throats cut by him. Although she didn’t like either outcome, Adeline suddenly thought that it was fortunate that the outcome of this fight ended in a form close to the latter.

yes. If this were to happen anyway.

Arsene, it would be best for me to die to you.

Huung.

A belated wind covered his face. Adeline let out a small breath, foreboding the pain that would come.

Took.

“… uh?”

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No pain, no sense of release. I didn’t feel anything. Adeline froze in embarrassment. The sound he heard was like the tip of a sword gently touching the hem of his clothes. and chin. The sound of throwing a knife away was also heard. Arsene must have thrown his sword away.

“What are you frozen?”

Arsene’s calm voice. Adeline, just as Arsene had said, was frozen and her fingers twitched.

“Did you think I would stab you to death like that?”

As if playing a joke, the sound of the words trembled very slightly at the end. Adeline, who had been frozen, poured out her words as if she were about to explode.

“no… you! What are you going to do by leaving me alive like this? Are you just going to do what you’re doing? If I pick up the sword I dropped on the ground and chase after you again, will you deal with it as calmly as you do now?”

Arsene’s voice, as if answering her own words, was muttering with a hint of annoyance.

“Christine, I don’t know why the people I’m meeting today are so anxious to die in front of me, like him.”

I don’t know if it’s something she’s telling herself, but Adeline was taken aback by the changed tone.

“… Arsene?”

“Listen, Adeline. I won’t let anyone die in front of me. I won’t let such a dark story continue, and I won’t let the count do what he wants. You’re not going to tell me to be careful with your words this time, are you?”

Adeline grimaced as if she couldn’t understand what Maxim was talking about.

“Anyway, I’m not going to let you die like this or be used by the Count as he pleases.”

“It can be whatever you want… .”

“I will make it so. Because I made it that way.”

Adeline kept her mouth shut at Maxim’s reckless words, then opened her mouth again.

“… If you leave me like this, I will either pick up that sword and attack you again, or stab myself in the throat and kill myself.”

“You took all your strength out, and now you’re even threatening me.”

At Arsene’s words, Adeline’s expression twisted.

“Then, what are you going to do? No matter what you’re trying to do now, the Count won’t let it go.”

Silence that came quietly. Before Adeline felt uneasy at the silence, Arsene’s mouth opened again.

“Trust me.”

“I am your enemy.”

“You may think so, but I don’t think so.”

why.

If you just cut yourself, it will all be over. Adeline couldn’t bear to say that. At Arsene’s words, the self who wanted to cling to it was there. Arsene’s voice seemed to read Adeline’s hesitation.

“I will save you. I’m going to save you, and I’m going to save my comrades trapped under that damn dungeon.”

Adeline’s mouth fell shut. The words Arsène uttered were too harsh, but the voice was not. Adeline pursed her lips, barely uttering one word.

“… I can’t believe it.”

“Then, pretend to be deceived and trust me just this once.”

A long, long sigh escaped from Adeline’s mouth. I had never thought of wishing I could see the front, but I wanted to see Arsene’s face as she spoke those irresponsible words. Answer, Faith, and Command. Adeline opened her mouth to answer before the compulsion to follow the Count’s orders came again.

Just this one time.

“Do whatever you want, then.”

Feeding, I heard a lot of laughs.

“Then, I think you should get some sleep. Are you okay?”

Adeline nodded. Arsene’s hand was barely felt. Adeline could catch a glimpse of Arsene’s voice as she drifted off to sleep.

“Lastly, please wait a little longer.”

Same voice as back then. Instead of replying that she would wait, Adeline surrendered herself to the approaching darkness.