Chapter 259
" . . . Do you intend to fight alone?"
Grevil asked me when he saw Alma not even taking her bow .
"Yeah . Me alone is enough . "
I readied my sword while replying to him .
. . . Well since this sword is made by Ruli, I'm not sure if 'alone' is correct here .
In fact, the reason why the girls aren't fighting is simply because they haven't been in enough battles yet .
Even Alma likely can't hit with her arrows, and Iris's strength is meaningless if she can't hit the enemy .
Although amateurs could potentially disturb the opponent's moves . . . against Grevil, he would probably make use of it and turn it into his favor instead .
In that case, fighting 1-on-1 without worries of the surroundings gives a better chance at winning instead .
I actually have a bit of plan, and I need this fight to be 1-on-1 in order to employ that plan .
" . . . I suppose whether that's enough or not shall be made clear once this fight begins . "
I swing my sword--and rush toward Grevil .
Grevil matched my movement and swung his sword just right to cross with mine .
--Then our swords clashed with each other .
Heavy .
In term of pure strength, high level demons are still stronger .
However, the techniques put into Grevil's sword are on a whole different level .
Even though it looks like he's simply pushing forward with brute force, in reality it's done with delicate controls .
Grevil's sword doesn't allow me when I try to parry his sword, heck, it feels like it's going to take control of my sword instead if I attempt to .
When I put magical enchants on my sword, he immediately constructs the magic to counter them .
Outwardly, it looks like I'm simply crossing swords with Grevil, but behind it, a high level magical clashes are happening .
Grevil's response speed is not actually that fast .
His foresight is still not quite there from my point of view . There's a considerable time lag between the time I put enchants on my sword and Grevil begins to construct the counter spell .
However, his strength, physical reinforcement and the difference in amount of mana put into our enchants bury the gap in techniques and foresights .
The spell Grevil cast after I had read him ahead and cast a spell to counter that spell still ended up losing in power .
--It has only been 12 years since I was reborn, however Grevil has been keeping up with his training for thousands of years .
His raw mana and strength cannot be compared at all to mine .
And Grevil is making maximum use of that advantage to gain the upper hand over me .
--However, there's still an opening I can utilize .
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka . com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel . >
"Mu!?"
Grevil looked taken aback when I made it looked like I relaxed the strength I put on my sword for an instant .
Of course, I haven't actually relaxed my strength . My sword would immediately have gotten pushed back if I did .
I relaxed my strength for truly an instant .
Most people except those who have greatly polished their battle prowess would have missed it .
However, Grevil's sense was sharp enough to notice it .
As such, he was bewildered by the odd move I made .
Even with all the training he undertook, this level of push-and-pull should still be new to him .
His bewilderment was shown on his sword .
That was enough for me to change the flow of battle .
Making use of that very small opening, I slightly altered my sword's angle and parried away Grevil's sword .
Then I take an attack pose and point my sword at Grevil who has broken out of his posture .
"Kuh . . . "
Grevil noticed his blunder and immediately took a defensive pose .
But I had anticipated that as well .
I pretended to take the attack pose to prevent Grevil from pushing forward to attack .
I leaped several steps back as Grevil took the defensive pose in front of me .
Continuing to attack here would have been pointless anyway .
" . . . Are you really a kid? The exchange just now felt like I was facing off against master . "
Grevil's tone changed .
Unlike the theatrical tone he had been using--it's his real tone .
"As you can see, I'm but a kid . "
I ready my sword after saying that .
--Grevil really has gotten quite strong in the thousand years I was absent .
Grevil was hopelessly talentless in magic .
His magic circuits were thin from birth, his mana quality was extremely low, and even his growth from gaining experience point was slow .
His crest is like the past me, the Glory Crest--the weakest crest for combat .
And yet Grevil's mana was only a bit better than other crests at augmentations, even though his crest was supposed to be the best at it .
Nevertheless, as a royalty, Grevil kept earnestly training to become stronger .
I have no idea why such a man is fighting me here now--but the fact that he's become this strong despite the situation he was in deserves a praise .
"Now then . . . How should I go about this . "