The dazed eyes of Delphine reflected a shadow, devoid of any sense of sensation in her hands.
With a single step back, a man rushed forward, drawing his sword.
It was a ghostly sense of space. When one reaches a high level of aura, it leaves scars over an area longer than the length of the blade. Naturally, gauging the distance becomes even more difficult.
However, I-an barely managed to evade it by a hair’s breadth. Delphine briefly questioned whether it was theoretically possible, but there was no time to dwell on her thoughts.
The man’s movements were closing in. She had to block him before he could penetrate.
Delphine stepped forward and thrust her sword. The explosive golden light traced a straight line.
It was a tactic to confuse the sense of distance. It was a technique possible only due to overwhelming physical capability. Otherwise, she would have been too busy trying to pull back her sword.
But in that next moment.
With a whoosh, Delphine’s sword sliced through the void. Her eyes momentarily became dull. Instinctively, her gaze swept to the side.
There, the man was thrusting his sword. It was a thrust without hesitation, and there were no signs of a change in his incoming direction; somehow, he had settled there.
Delphine gritted her teeth and rotated her body while thrusting her sword. Blades collided in midair. In her unstable stance, Delphine couldn’t put her full strength into her strike.
Yet, that was enough. With a clang, sparks flew in the air as the man’s sword was deflected.
In that moment, Delphine stepped forward again and corrected her stance. Then she charged into the evening’s practice.
With clashing sounds and horrifying echoes, the clash of blades reverberated. However, despite her superior physical capabilities, Delphine couldn’t overpower the man.
It was strange.
Even as Delphine took a step forward, the distance between her and the man remained unchanged. Similarly, even if she stepped back, the distance didn’t change.
It felt as if there were a magnetic force at play. Whenever she tried to close in beyond a certain distance, repulsion seemed to arise, and she found herself within a delicate range.
The distance was such that the man could thrust, and she had no choice but to defend.
Her footwork wasn’t just decent; it was unlike anything she had faced before as the heir of the Yuridina Clan, having encountered all kinds of strong opponents.
If limited to footwork alone, Delphine was completely defeated.
As the stalemate continued, a faint heat dimly embraced Delphine’s eyes.
Then I’ll break through by force, Delphine thought, her teeth gritting. It wasn’t impossible to push herself.
In that fleeting moment, she might give him a chance, but she had the skill to turn the tides.
Yuridina Vision Swordsmanship, Golden Lionsword.
It was a technique where multiple sword paths were simultaneously drawn like the claws of a lion. A swordsmanship where one could not distinguish between actual and false techniques; sometimes, even multiple actual paths would manifest.
Her half-sister Ceria had not yet achieved the level to draw more than three paths, but Delphine could draw a remarkable five paths simultaneously.
With that level of skill, it was possible to mitigate even a brief loss of dominance.
Delphine’s actions, having made up her mind, were quick. She immediately kicked off the ground, forcibly pushing herself into proximity.
Naturally, I-an could take the time to plan his next response. Delphine was recklessly advancing, and I-an could leisurely step back and finish his preparations.
It was the decisive factor. Both Delphine and I-an seemed to sense this and their eyes deepened.
In the split moment of time, Delphine’s sword aimed to strike the lower-left.
It was just before she drew a golden line. In the frozen time within I-an’s eyes, he alone moved to confirm Delphine’s sword position.
He would surely know the preparatory stance of the Golden Lionsword. But knowing it didn’t mean that escaping it was possible.
In the first place, I-an should have widened the distance the moment Delphine forcefully tried to close in. He was well-versed in throwing techniques.
Perhaps creating a variable to restrain Delphine’s range of action might have provided a better chance.
It was already too late, but with a look filled with exhilaration, Delphine traced golden lines into the void. Remarkably, there were five. It was a strike infused with all her strength.
With a crack, as all the sword paths were about to shatter.
Delphine’s eyes went blank. She could hardly believe what she was witnessing.
In that final moment, I-an’s sword struck the lower-left.
And seven silvery lines began to be drawn.
Delphine’s five paths were shot down one by one, and the remaining two paths were thrust into her body. Though she hurriedly summoned her power to defend herself, it was already a critical blow.
Gasping as if she might vomit blood, Delphine let out a breathless sound. That was the end.
Explosions erupted.
In the compressed time, twelve sword paths were drawn.
The surrounding atmosphere was torn to shreds, and the wounds on Delphine’s body were incredibly deep from absorbing the full brunt of the shockwave.
Based on her overwhelming physical abilities, she managed to retrieve her sword, but there was too little time to overlay the broken aura. The shockwave was stirring up her insides.
Her body was immediately flung back and rolled on the ground.
The experience of her vision flipping was rare for Delphine. She didn’t regain her senses until she crashed into a tree at the edge of the cleared space with a thud.
She felt dizzy, and beyond that, it was shocking.
She questioned whether what she saw was reality. The falling sword and the multiple lines drawn simultaneously right after.
It was the Golden Lionsword. Yuridina Clan’s vision technique, something an outsider could never master.
Moreover, the man had drawn a total of seven lines. In other words, it meant his skill and understanding of the Golden Lionsword itself were higher than hers.
How could that be? Delphine was the legitimate heir of the Yuridina Clan, the rightful successor, and a genius in swordsmanship.
Even she could only manage to draw five paths at best.
She had heard that her father in his prime had drawn seven. The former Marquis of Yuridina was an extraordinary master, poised on the brink of the Master level.
However, before her vision could fully return.
With a dull thump, a sound resonated near her shoulder. It was a strangely familiar sensation.
A pain akin to having her nerves seared by hot iron; an axe head drove into her shoulder.
“Ugh… Gah!”
Delphine could no longer hold back and let out a moan. The sudden pain caused her to lose her grip on the sword she had been holding.
Yet, stumbling, she tried to grasp the sword again. Desperation ignited her eyes. She could not allow herself to be defeated like this.
Still, reality was cruel.
A blade that came flying stabbed into her other shoulder.
It was an unexpected pain. As Delphine scrambled on the ground, her vision still not completely returned, she could bear it no longer and collapsed right there.
“Ugh, ugh… AAHHH!”
It was a scream she had held back for too long. The sound that escaped Delphine’s mouth was long and high. The muscles in her jaw, having been clenched too tightly from enduring the pain, were trembling with exhaustion.
Delphine’s vision became blurry. She inhaled roughly, gasping for air while staring straight ahead.
In the distance, a grim reaper was approaching.
Set against the flaming crimson sunset, the man stumbled forward. His shuffling footsteps heightened the sense of fear in Delphine’s hearing.
His emotionless golden eyes looked down at her coldly. He showed no signs of even being winded.
As if facing Delphine was no big deal at all.
His soft voice broke the silence.
“Delphine Yuridina, it seems there was a misunderstanding…”
The man stepped closer, grasping the axe’s handle lodged in her shoulder, and without a hint of consideration, brutally wrenched it out.
“Ugh, AAHHH…!”
Delphine bit her lip, trying to stifle her scream, but she couldn’t help the groan that escaped. Without hesitation, the man struck down with the axe onto her calf.
With a thud, blood splattered.
The woman’s hand reflexively grasped her calf. Curling her body, she writhed pitifully, as if voicing her pain.
“Ugh, ugh… AUGH…!”
“I didn’t come here because of your pathetic threats.”
Despite witnessing her condition, the man’s voice remained devoid of any highs or lows. He merely bent down and grabbed Delphine’s hair, forcibly making her meet his gaze.
Her eyes, smeared with pain and tears, were colored with uncontainable fear. The man stared at her trembling eyes and said,
“Why would I be afraid of someone like Yuridina?”
His voice carried not a hint of fear.
Even in her dazed state from pain and terror, Delphine had no choice but to realize.
This man truly was not afraid of the Yuridina Clan.
Not even a little.
Delphine’s complexion turned pale.
At that signal, the axe came down again, severing her calf muscle.
The woman’s scream adorned the void with blood and tears.
Regrettably for Delphine, this was just the beginning.
