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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 185: The Person I Want to Catch Up To

The atmosphere around Sharueina shifted as she closed her eyes for a moment, taking a slow breath. As she opened them, she instantly moved right in front of Sonia.

“Wait, what?!”

Sonia gasped in surprise at Sudden Sharueina’s appearance but quickly forced herself away with her black magic, escaping out of Sharueina’s reach.

Sonia regained her balance and glanced back at the spot where she had just stood, only to find a bizarre ice slash floating eerily in the air, as if the very atmosphere had frozen.

“You surprised me, avoiding that single attack. Impressive, Lady Sonia.”

“Seriously. What kind of coldness can freeze even the air?”

“Well, I’ve never actually measured it, so I can’t say for sure. But it must be quite cold.”

(It doesn’t feel like ‘quite’ cold, though.)

Sharueina replied nonchalantly, but the ability to freeze air with ice magic isn’t something just anyone can manage.

Basically, ice magic requires one to produce ice using magic power, and then manipulate it into forms like swords, spears, or arrows to attack. It’s not something anyone can do, especially not leaving slashes in the air.

The reason Sharueina could pull off such a feat was her exceptional skills in ice magic combined with her sword-drawing techniques.

During battle, she channels her magic power into her sword, transforming it into ice magic to employ her spell.

Of course, by using magic release, she could decrease the temperature or create ice spikes and chunks without needing her sword. But since Sharueina struggled with precise adjustments, she wasn’t very adept at creating swords or spears from ice.

So, by using her sword as a medium to cast her spells, she compensated for her lack of control and ensured that her ice magic activated with each swing of her blade.

As a result, all her magic power concentrated on her weapon, and with the lightning-fast speed of her drawing technique, each slash could cut through the air while generating a chilling force far stronger than typical ice magic, allowing her to freeze even the air around her.

“Louis and the others are already absurdly strong, but you’re pretty troublesome too.”

“Haha. Sadly, I doubt I could win against Is even with my strength.”

“Oh really? That’s surprisingly humble. I thought you’d say you couldn’t easily be defeated, being a princess and all.”

“Well, that’s true. By status, I am above him, and it’s not good for royalty to easily concede defeat, but he’s an exception.”

“Why’s that?”

“When I saw Is for the first time in a while, I couldn’t read anything from him. His strength, his thoughts, his experiences—none of it was visible at all. His power exists on a different dimension from mine. I can’t just recklessly engage someone like him and deny the difference in our abilities like a child.”

As a martial artist herself, Sharueina fully understood the gap between her abilities and Lewis.

No matter how hard she tried or what tricks she pulled, Lewis would easily nullify all her efforts, leaving her utterly defeated.

Acknowledging that was why she accepted she was below him and recognized the likelihood of losing.

“Hmm. I’m a bit disappointed, honestly.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Sonia formed two black short swords with dark magic, gripping one in each hand and lightly jumping to test her body’s readiness.

“Simply put, I thought you were going to be a strong fighter with real guts, but I’m feeling like you’re not all that impressive after all. Oh, don’t get me wrong! It’s not like I’m looking down on you. I just had my expectations too high and ended up disappointed.”

“Is that so? Sounds like you’re trying to provoke me. Too bad, though. I’m not foolish enough to lose my composure over such words.”

“Oh? That’s how you took it? Let me clarify, then. Sharueina, you’re a lot duller than I expected and not all that special. That’s genuinely how I feel.”

Sonia made her statement clear and turned her serious gaze towards Sharueina.

Feeling the weight of Sonia’s words, Sharueina tightened her grip on her sword just a tad.

“Being called dull… I have to admit, that hits differently when it’s right in front of me.”

“If you’re hurt, I’m sorry? But I really dislike lying. Of course, I can fake it if necessary, but this is my honest feeling. Yet that doesn’t mean you’re to blame, Sharueina. I get that everyone has different perspectives on things. You understand me, right?”

“True, true. As you say, everyone has their own way of seeing things, so I won’t say anything about it. By the way, can I ask what exactly disappointed you?”

“Well, if I had to sum it up simply, it’s that you seemed to give up without even trying to challenge.”

“Give up? What makes you think I’m giving up?”

“Let’s circle back to our earlier chat. You’ve acknowledged the skill gap with Lewis and recognized your defeat even before the fight started, right?”

“Yes, exactly. I can usually read people’s strength to an extent, but with Is, I couldn’t sense anything at all. So it’s indisputable that he’s stronger than me. Then, isn’t there no point in forcing a fight? I just have to accept that as reality.”

Like Sonia, this was Sharueina’s true feeling, but it also stemmed from not wanting to battle her childhood friend Lewis.

“I see. That’s where the boredom creeps in. You already know you’ll lose before you even start? That’s why you don’t want to fight? But you can’t know for sure unless you try.”

“Hmm. Maybe it’s because you lack practical experience that you can say that. Normally, if there’s a chance of losing, you’d think of ways to survive or alternatives to avoid fighting.”

“Oh, I get what you mean. Now I can grasp it correctly.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It means that you and I are looking at different worlds and aiming for different goals.”

“Aiming for different goals? What exactly do you mean…?”

“By your reasoning, I, being inferior to you, should surrender right here, but unfortunately, I gave up on giving up a long time ago. So… I’ll be the one to win.”

“What exactly are you…?!”

As Sharueina was baffled by Sonia’s words, Sonia’s form suddenly vanished, and before Sharueina realized it, Sonia was right behind her, ready to strike down with her dagger.

Sharueina barely evaded the attack, but when she lost sight of Sonia for just a moment, another flurry of strikes came from her left side.

(What is happening?!)

Sonia’s movements were as natural as the wind, blending seamlessly into the atmosphere, making her presence negligible. When Sharueina’s focus wavered for a split second, Sonia vanished from sight.

It was as if the previously pushing Sharueina was now being cornered by someone who couldn’t even wield a sword.

“Ugh!!”

As Sonia repeatedly struck, Sharueina panted, desperately trying to create some distance.

“Hehe. How’s that? I’m using daggers for the first time, so I’m not sure what I’m doing. Care to share your thoughts?”

“F-first time? Is this a joke or what?!”

The moves Sonia executed were so incomprehensible they didn’t even feel like the first time, embodying the techniques of someone who had survived countless deadly encounters—her stance gave off zero hint of vulnerability, prompting memories of Lewis from that day in the hallway.

“It feels like I’m facing Is right now…”

“Oh? Your intuition is sharp as expected. You’re right. I’m currently mimicking nothing less than the Lewis I met a year ago.”

“…Huh? Mimicking?”

“Exactly. With a dark magic spell called ‘Dark Pursuer,’ I can imitate the moves and fighting style of someone stored in my memory.”

The spell Sonia was using, ‘Dark Pursuer,’ is quite complex within dark magic, and it allows the user to recreate moves and combat methods from their memory, provided they know those methods thoroughly.

However, ‘Dark Pursuer’ has several restrictions. Firstly, it can only imitate magic and fighting styles that are already in the user’s memory.

This limitation is due to the spell’s properties: its goal is to trace movements and magic, so users can only replicate what they know.

The second restriction is memory; to use this magic effectively, one must have a deeply ingrained memory of actions, requiring an understanding and detail enough to reproduce the movements.

The third is accuracy; this magic can’t perfectly mimic the opponent’s movements, capable of replicating up to a maximum of 80%.

The fourth restriction is the time limit; while the spell allows the imitation of others’ movements, the user’s body remains unchanged, limiting the time it can be used. Misusing it too much can lead to brain damage or muscle tears.

And so, Sonia mimicking Lewis was during the time they fought at the magic academy, an event so etched in her memory that she could easily replicate his techniques now.

“I refuse to give up simply because I can’t win or someone is stronger than me. No matter how far apart we are, I will keep chasing the back of the Lewis I admire. So, I won’t lose to a princess who concedes defeat before even trying.”

Sonia declared, disappearing again and attacking Sharueina with movements beyond her grasp.

This wasn’t because of Sonia’s speed; rather, it was about Sharueina’s inability to recognize Sonia, who was mimicking Lewis’s techniques.

Lewis’s style blended him into his surroundings, eliminating both his aura and killing intent, preventing any acknowledgement from the opponent.

It had nothing to do with speed; they became untraceable, just like how no one notices the clouds drifting in the sky or the sunlight shining on them—it’s simply natural.

And that is how that naturalness flows into Lewis’s technique, and Sonia presently embodied it.

“Ah!!”

Using magic to sense movements, Sharueina fought desperately against Sonia’s attacks, but even with her sensing magic, she couldn’t grasp the nature of the situation and was pushed back.

“There!”

“There you are. Second Style of the Sword-Drawing Technique, ‘Ice Dweller’s Divine Blade!'”

As Sonia’s attacks continued, Sharueina sensed Sonia’s aura and voice from the right and aimed a lightning-speed strike.

That single strike absorbed into Sonia’s thorough attempted cut and flawlessly slipped through her, reducing Sonia to a dark mist that dissipated entirely.

“Is it possible?!”

“Too late. ‘Absorb!'”

“Ahhh!!”

As Sharueina finished her strike, Sonia reappeared behind her, touching her back and using her absorption magic to drain Sharueina’s magic power.

Due to the rapid depletion of her magic, Sharueina collapsed to the ground, meeting the gaze of an unscathed Sonia looking down at her.

“Haha. I can’t believe… you created a clone…”

“Hehe. It was impressive, wasn’t it?”

“Truly impressive. Really… it was impressive…”

The spell Sonia cast was one Lewis had used previously, creating a clone through dark magic, and Sonia cleverly used her clone as a decoy to draw Sharueina into making her attack.

Sharueina, feeling cornered, had reacted immediately to the aura of Sonia she sensed, resulting in Sonia seizing the opportunity to use her absorption magic and draining her power.

“With the right fighting style and an unyielding spirit, even those below can defeat those above. You can’t know until you try. Do you understand now?”

“Ahh… I understand. I’ve… lost completely…”

“Good to hear. Well then, let’s talk again later.”

Sonia gently touched Sharueina’s back, absorbing the last of her magic power, rendering her consciousness null.

Once Sharueina passed out, the referee declared Sonia the victor, leading to an unexpected silence in the arena as the expected champion’s defeat registered. When someone began to clap, the applause erupted into an overwhelming round of cheers echoing throughout the venue.

After enjoying the victory applause directed at her, Sonia smiled contentedly, bowed, and then departed the stage.

Thus, the first-ever finals between first-year students since the tournament began was determined.

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If you’re interested, please check out my concurrently serialized work, Former Hero, Becoming a Demon Lord to Devote the World!

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330663836544021

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