The maiden’s body rolled on the ground.
This had already happened several times. It was not a particularly surprising outcome, yet Ceria found herself blinking blankly each time.
Those blue eyes were tainted with incomprehensible emotions.
How on earth did this happen?
Ceria’s questions were justified.
She had handled countless challenges on her own since birth.
As the third daughter of the Yuridina Clan, Ceria had not received much love from her family. Even the Yuridina Marquis, who should have been her only ally, often displayed a somewhat indifferent attitude.
The only person who cared about Ceria at all was her half-sister, Delphine.
Even that connection did not lead to any substantial help for Ceria. At that time, Delphine was still young, and in the long run, Ceria was also seen as a rival to Delphine.
In other words, Ceria had been alone since childhood.
She had proven her talent through her own strength and earned the title of Yuridina.
Because of that, Ceria had become somewhat arrogant.
She had grown accustomed to trials and hardships. No matter what challenge came her way, if she pondered long enough, the answer would surely become clear.
As it had always been.
That was Ceria’s talent.
The only weapon of a girl who had devoted herself to the sword and forged her being into that single blade.
It would not take long for that feeble arrogance to be shattered mercilessly.
She could find no answer at all.
The trigger was simple.
The man who appeared out of nowhere informed Ceria and Celin that they were ineffective as a team.
The prideful Ceria would never accept this calmly.
As she struggled to voice her objections, the man simply threw out one line.
“Shall we test it?”
His tone was extremely weary.
In his indifferent eyes, there was even a hint of annoyance. It was as if he were dealing with a bothersome child, which only made Ceria even more agitated.
The heated voice that escaped the woman’s lips was a result of that.
“Yes, I will do it.”
The outcome was as expected.
After moving to a clearing in the forest for the duel, Ceria couldn’t even graze the man’s clothing.
In fact, it was the result she had anticipated.
She had witnessed the man’s prowess when she battled Miltram previously. She still clearly remembered the cold face of the man who snatched the life of the Dark Priest alone.
He was never someone she would foreseeably defeat.
However, she never imagined she would be unable to even guess the cause.
Gasping, Ceria lifted her body.
From her unsteady posture, it was clear that her body had accumulated damage.
Yet her deep blue eyes still burned fiercely.
Even though she was attempting to ascertain the man’s movements, he remained expressionless.
Regardless, the result was already set.
This thought showed clearly on her face. The certainty in her expression showed no hint of cracks.
For a moment, Ceria thought about punching that face.
The only obstacle was that the man was in the body of her beloved senior. But even without that, Ceria would have likely thrown herself into the desire to enact her wish.
The way the man treated Ceria was that unfamiliar.
Disregard and coldness.
It was a gaze that stirred up nightmares from her childhood.
“…Do you wish to try again? The result will be the same anyway.”
“Well, that’s hard to say.”
It was a statement spat out while chewing her lips.
In response to that resolute reply, the man nodded silently.
He merely left a low warning for Ceria, who had taken her stance once more.
“This is your last chance.”
So was it an implied suggestion to give her all?
Ceria had already planned to pour every remaining ounce of strength she had. Even so, he was an opponent who barely allowed her to graze his clothing.
Yet if that’s what he wanted, she would not hold back in their duel.
It was then that the girl’s footsteps, which had been silent for a while, took a light step.
In the next moment, she compressed.
Her body shot forth like a cannonball, shattering the visual line. The distance closed instantly, and soon Ceria stood before the man.
Until that moment, the man showed no response at all.
He hadn’t missed her. The man’s golden eyes continued to shine in silence.
Like a hawk aiming for its prey from the sky.
Ceria’s strike was abrupt.
Cautiousness was poison.
It was a fact Ceria realized after failing several times. Even if she racked her brain, her opponent was always more skilled.
In this case, it was better to yield to instinct like a beast.
As her tactics simplified, her sword moved more nimbly.
With gritted teeth, the sideways slash from Ceria’s sword conveyed the ferocity of her desperation.
A faint intrigue arose in the man’s gaze as he watched her.
It seemed he found interest in the best possible move Ceria could devise.
However, the man’s hand remained utterly merciless.
A sharp sound punctured the air.
The man’s sword was drawing a slanting trajectory.
It was just a single stroke.
Yet the result did not stop at just one line.
The air was torn apart.
The invisible speed of the strike made it impossible to see. Following that, the empty air erupted.
The flapping of his clothing indicated the sheer force of the impact.
Nonetheless, the reason Ceria’s eyes widened was for another cause.
The sword had been flung away.
Though she was holding it with both hands, without even the sense of a clash, it soared into the sky. A sudden, intense pain shot through her arm and shoulder as they lifted late to join the sky.
Yet Ceria had no chance to scream.
A sudden kick lodged itself in her solar plexus.
It felt like her breath was being choked.
It was an attack delivered without regard for mercy. Ceria could not endure it and rolled on the ground several times.
Her trembling hands felt pitiful.
Ceria quickly recalled their previous exchange.
However, nothing came to mind.
She couldn’t see anything.
She had no idea how that trajectory had been drawn or why her sword had slipped from her hand.
All she could do was surmise with her torn hands.
She had been outmatched in strength and speed.
It was a painfully obvious disparity.
It was hard to believe she had lost so simply.
With her lips biting into flesh, Ceria attempted to rise again.
Until she heard a hair-raising sound come from her shoulder.
“…Ah, ugh?!”
Ceria let out a foolish sound.
The girl, lying flat, stared blankly upward.
There stood the man with an indifferent expression.
As he stepped on her shoulder.
What was he doing?
Just as Ceria was about to question, the man applied even more pressure with the foot on her shoulder.
Crunch, the sound of cartilage shattering echoed.
With that pain, Ceria could only let out a gradually increasing shriek.
“Ah, uhh… Aaaah!”
With her shoulder completely shattered, Ceria moaned as she rolled on the ground. However, the man continued to stomp mechanically.
Kicking Ceria and crushing her knee.
Only after several more violent blows could Ceria escape that torturous pain.
It was a sudden exhibition of sadism.
The eyes of the victimized girl turned clouded with fear.
Meeting Ceria’s eyes, which were drenched in questioning and dread, the man spoke plainly.
“…I told you, this is your last chance.”
A crazy bastard.
Ceria couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
The man had made sure to shatter her limbs to keep her from resisting further.
Though the girl trembled violently from the unbearable pain, she couldn’t help but feel both fear and anger at his cruel intentions and actions.
So she thought.
This would not be the last exchange, as he intended.
Ceria resolved to challenge the man again once she recovered in the temple, and the conclusion was obvious.
In the end, she sustained injuries that rendered her unable to recover.
The strike that brought her down was always the same.
A sword strike at a speed she couldn’t even comprehend.
Ceria never managed to surpass that simple, brute force.
Looking down at Ceria, who was battered from head to toe, the man said:
“…You could never catch up anyway.”
It was unclear whether it was just a simple soliloquy or mockery.
Ceria wanted to rise, fists clenched.
But even her finger joints were shattered.
What she could do now was only tremble in the position she lay and groan.
It was a pathetic sight.
Yet the light in Ceria’s eyes did not fade.
Ceria was fiercely competitive.
And her obsession with Ian was even stronger.
Was the man telling her not to follow Senior Ian?
That was nonsense. Ceria did not want to be away from Ian for even a single day. That was why she had followed him all the way to her hometown.
Especially, being driven away for lacking ability was something she refused.
If that was the case, then it was saying she should give up on accompanying Ian from now on.
Seeing the still-burning blue flame, the man turned away with a faint sigh.
“You should at least be able to reproduce the skills I showed you.”
It was a remark thrown without even looking back.
In that indifferent tone, no emotion could still be felt.
“Every motion starts from stillness… Remember that.”
That was the last conversation Ceria had with the man.
Afterward, when the fainted Ceria opened her eyes, she found herself in the intensive care room.
The Lady Virgin Saint, rarely showing a grim expression, delivered the thunderous news to Ceria.
“You need to be hospitalized for at least two weeks. During that time, no external activities are permitted.”
It was then that Ceria finally caught on to the man’s purpose.
If she were injured and hospitalized, there would be no way for her to follow him.
With consecutive losses and falling for the provocation to the point of doing something foolish.
Ceria felt utterly deflated.
It was a return to the timid girl she once was, a confirmation that the man’s words were correct.
Ceria was nothing but a burden.
That phrase lodged itself in her heart like a shard of glass, and Ceria bit her lips silently.
Until they bled.
It was maddening, painfully maddening.
