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“Hah, hah….”

Breathlessly, I looked down at the dusty floor.

The earth was soaked with a mixture of blood and sweat. A metallic scent pierced my nostrils.

Why am I in this situation?

What am I fighting for?

As if to snap my dazed mind back to reality, a mocking voice drifted down from above.

“Is it over already?”

With those words, my hazy consciousness became clearer.

“Cough!”

I clenched my teeth and forced my wobbly body to stand. My entire body was battered, but I ignored the pain and steadied my knees.

Blinking multiple times, my blurred vision slowly sharpened. The face of my opponent became vividly clear.

White hair. Blood-red eyes. He smiled with an arrogant demeanor, looking down on me.

There were countless names to refer to that man.

First Prince of the Galatea Empire.

Descendant of the White Dragon.

Master of the Holy Sword.

The hero who would defeat the Demon King.

In contrast, what stood before him was nothing more than an ordinary soldier on the battlefield. I was in a position that couldn’t even begin to compare to his grand titles, yet I simply gripped my spear tightly once more.

The man before me, Wilhelm von Galatea, frowned as if he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

“I really can’t understand.”

I gathered my strength into both arms and thrust my spear straight at him. It was a motion I had repeated thousands of times. The spear, aimed steadily, shot forward precisely where I wanted it to go.

Yet, Wilhelm easily deflected my spear with his sword.

“Your technique is sloppy.”

Wilhelm flicked my spear aside and delivered a kick to my abdomen.

“Gah!”

Even that light kick sent my body flying like a toy, crashing to the ground. The pain took my breath away, making it hard to even gather myself.

“Your body is weak.”

The sword in Wilhelm’s hand was a standard iron sword supplied to regular soldiers. The Holy Sword, proof of a hero, merely adorned his waist.

Yet even so, I couldn’t parry that ordinary iron sword. I desperately struggled to hold onto my spear as I rolled on the ground.

My pitiful state seemed to amuse Wilhelm, who spoke with a chuckle in his voice.

“Why do I have to duel with a low-level fool like you? Hmm? Why don’t you give me an answer?”

That question wasn’t directed at me, but rather at a nun watching the duel.

She had black hair, black eyes, and skin so pale it was almost translucent.

And she wasn’t next to me, but beside the hero, observing this duel.

“……”

“Sha… lot…”

Why?

Why are you there?

I couldn’t understand at all.

Just a few days ago, we had spent time together, laughing.

We promised to stay together until we achieved our dreams, drawing a picture of our futures.

What she wanted was what I wanted too. So, I was determined to achieve it, even if my body shattered. But my resolve seemed pathetically futile.

Because Charlotte had said she would leave me.

“Why… why…?”

Was I not enough?

Was that why she chose to follow the hero?

I couldn’t accept it. So, I thought I would knock that man down, prove that I was stronger, and bring Charlotte back.

But the result was this.

I was nowhere near the hero’s level.

Charlotte didn’t respond. Neither to my questions nor to the hero’s. She simply waited for the outcome of this duel with a cold expression, like a doll.

The smile that always graced her lips had vanished, replaced with tight-lipped silence.

When Wilhelm saw that Charlotte wasn’t responding, he scoffed dismissively.

“Tch, whatever…. Just watch well from over there. This fool breaking like a fool.”

I planted my spear on the ground and struggled to rise.

Just then, Wilhelm’s sword slashed swiftly. An attack so fast it was hard to even track with my eyes. I barely managed to lift my spear to block it.

Clang! The moment I deflected the sword, a shock reverberated through my arms and spine, spreading throughout my body.

Wilhelm mocked me.

“Is that what you call blocking?”

A kick struck my already stiff abdomen once more.

My body rolled across the dirt floor, and I tasted blood and bile in my mouth.

“Ugh…!”

Yet, as if instinctively, my body struggled to get back up again.

I scraped the ground as if my fingers were about to break, squeezing out my remaining strength. I refocused my blurry vision and looked straight ahead. Wilhelm’s red eyes seemed to glare down at something uncomfortable and alien.

“Seriously, I can’t understand.”

As soon as I finally managed to lift my body, Wilhelm promptly kicked my spear away and landed a blow to my abdomen.

“Did you really think you could win against me?”

Thud!

“Kugh!”

Wilhelm had been relentlessly targeting my abdomen from the start. As if mocking a defeated dog.

Thud! Pop!

The sound of my flesh tearing rang clearly in my ears. I struggled to control my breathing, desperately holding on, but it only prolonged my suffering.

This duel wasn’t only watched by Charlotte. All of the hero’s other companions and everyone in the unit were observing my miserable state.

My superior, fellow soldiers, those who had bullied me before, and even those who still disliked me. Even the commander of our unit, Count Kalstein, was watching this duel.

Their gazes all seemed to say the same thing.

Why go this far?

Just give up already.

Haven’t you realized you can’t win?

The woman I loved, and who loved me, merely looked at me coldly. Those who disliked me and were indifferent to me were urging me desperately to give up.

“Hah, hah….”

With great effort, I placed my palms on the ground, trying to raise my body. But my legs wouldn’t cooperate. Sweat dripped from my forehead, and deep, labored breaths echoed in my chest.

My whole body ached. My heart felt like it would burst.

Yet, I stood up again.

“Hah.”

Wilhelm let out a hollow laugh, whether out of admiration or sarcasm, and swung his sword.

I couldn’t even track the first strike with my eyes. But now, I could see it a bit better than at first. I thought that maybe I could dodge it if I tried… but…

Clang!

“Ugh!”

It was pointless. My body had long since reached its limits. Even if I could see the attack, my body couldn’t react, and all I could do was try to block.

“Yeah, well. Your stamina’s impressive. Quite impressive.”

Wilhelm swung his leg. Naturally, he aimed for my abdomen. I forced my trembling arm to twist and block the kick.

“That’s all you’ve got.”

Even if I managed to block once, the attacks kept coming. Each shock pulsed through my bones, stacking one after another throughout my body. I knew that if this continued, I would eventually be unable to block at all.

At that point, I wouldn’t be able to rise anymore.

Thud!

“Gah!”

Finally, Wilhelm’s kick landed squarely in my abdomen.

“Ughhhh!”

The continuous pain forced me to violently retch.

Bile mixed with saliva dripped puddles onto the ground.

“See? You can’t even use your body reinforcement technique. Didn’t we all know the outcome from the start?”

“Cough, cough! Ugh, cough…!”

I knew it. I had done enough. Falling, then getting up, dozens of times in a fight with zero prospects. If I collapsed again and didn’t get back up, no one would say a thing about it.

The dust-filled dirt floor looked almost cozy, like a bed. Just lying down felt like it would lull me into a deep sleep.

My whole body desperately craved rest.

But if I fell asleep like that…

Charlotte wouldn’t be by my side anymore.

“Gah, urgh…!”

I hated it.

I didn’t even want to imagine it.

Losing Charlotte. Experiencing once more the helplessness and loss I felt when I lost Ella long ago was something I couldn’t bear.

Why am I so powerless?

Why do I keep losing precious people?

I knew the reason far too well.

Because I’m weak.

When you’re weak, you only lose everything.

I was tired of it. I had already experienced my own helplessness to the point of it being unbearable.

I needed real power. But what is true power?

I glared straight ahead with resolute eyes.

Blue magical energy was swirling around Wilhelm’s body like a mirage. Unaccessible to ordinary people, proof of power.

Body reinforcement.

Until now, I had no idea what body reinforcement really was. I didn’t understand what magical energy was, how to channel it into my body, or what it truly meant to strengthen one’s physical form.

But if I didn’t try something, I would just keep repeating the same outcome.

I pummeled my immobile thighs with my fists, gritting my teeth. Then, gripping my spear like a sword, I mimicked Wilhelm’s stance.

I mirrored his perfect posture right before my eyes, replicating every detail.

Wilhelm’s face contorted, his expression shifting from mockery and irritation to outright disgust.

“What the heck are you doing?”

My stance was perfectly identical to Wilhelm’s. The only difference was the weapon in my hands.

Wilhelm seemed to think he had been insulted. His face twisted in anger as he growled.

“You can’t just copy my stance. The most important part is missing. You know that, right?”

I did know. High-level swordsmanship inherently assumed the use of magical energy.

If you can’t manage magical energy, it’s merely a shiny shell with nothing inside.

But I had learned how to use it through experience.

“Haah—”

I inhaled deeply.

“Haah—”

And exhaled.

With my last-ditch effort before me, Wilhelm settled into his stance.

“…Hah, fine. I’m getting bored too. Let’s end this useless game.”

I mirrored his stance exactly, like a reflection in a mirror.

The moment Wilhelm sprang forward, I stepped forward simultaneously, and in that instant, blue magical energy erupted explosively from my body.

“What—!?”

In an instant, the spearhead deflected Wilhelm’s sword. The weapon flew from his grip, soaring high into the air, revealing the look of shock on his face. It was the first genuine expression I had seen from him.

“Cough!”

I pierced that face with the tip of my spear.

 

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