Chapter 236 (2/2)

“I’ll help you, Head to all this ti,” I cut him off as I walked towards the door “Now if you’ll excuse me My match is about to start”

The referee—a sliray beard—was dressed in a formal black suit He kept his hands behind his back as he spoke sternly “Will the two finalists step up onto the stage?”

My footsteps echoed as I walked up theplatform, and I could hear her footsteps from the other side as well The limited audience allowed to be ‘witness’ to this event had been quieted and were anxiously waiting for the next representative of Etharia

Using the very breathing technique that Lady Vera had taught me, I calmed myself as I stepped up onto the reinforced platfor one look as my opponent and old friend came up as well, I couldn’t help but shudder

The very air around her seeled uncomfortably An aura of pure ki was visible and condensed so densely that I feared not even the sharpest blade could penetrate it

All it took was one glance to realize how outclassed I was One glance and I knew that no one in this entire tourna Cecilia seeaze exuded confidence She was paler than usual—s under her eyes showed how tired she was, but her deance

“In honor of the competition, the two finalists will pay their respects to the reigning king of Etharia, King Ivan Craft,” the referee announced, gesturing towards the highest podium

I bowed deeply in the traditionalback to my opponent Cecilia, on the other hand, barely dipped her head before locking gazes with ed glances Nico’s words echoed ininning that Cecilia had been captured by our own government, but I couldn’t believe him Just from her attitude, Cecilia looked as if she’d chosen to leave hi… kind of like what I had done

The referee stepped between the two of us “Finalists Show your respects to one another”

He walked back and I bowed in respect—respect I was never shown back as she kept her chin high and looked down at nalled for us to ready our weapons

You are reading on ReadReadNovelFullonlineco the sword deftly through the air before pointing its glea tip directly at Cecilia I couldn’t afford to lose focus—she was another opponent I had to defeat

Cecilia’s expression reantly raised an empty hand In that hand formed a ki weapon in the shape of a rapier Unlike other ki weapons that I had seen however, its manifestation was near-instant and flawless in detail

I could hear stifled gasps and murmurs from the audience from just this display The referee e in attitude before signalling the technicians to raise the ki barrier

As soon as the translucent do down his hand “Let the duel cothened h While I still staggered just below the average practitioner, with my powerful instincts and sharp reflexes, I was able to utilize every drop of ki I had in my arsenal

Those same reflexes made me stop et any closer to Cecilia as she re

I felt a bead of sweat roll down the side ofinstead to carefully circle around her

Two things happened near-instantaneously First, a grimace crossed Cecilia’s pale face Second, she released a flurry of piercing ki strikes with one stroke

My eyes widened in shock at the sheer ridiculousness of it all This wasn’t so e energy strikes My legs carriedstrikes launched froe to strike as well

I feinted a doard strike before pivoting and spinning behind her, catching Cecilia behind her knees

The attack that was supposed to buckle her and send her to the ground, however, sent a sharp wave of pain down my body instead

“Weak,” Cecilia et toattacks faster than the eye could follow

But none of the her tiny body

Cecilia responded, stabbing her translucent rapier down at h to avoid, but what folloas the reinforced ground shattering from the impact of Cecilia’s strike

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Seriously? How is this even fair! I cursed, trying to escape the cloud of debris forrabbed th that seemed nearly impossible for such a small body

“Is this all that you’ve a you received?” Cecilia taunted, practically sighing in disappoint rasp Nico’s state forced to compete sounded more and more like bullshi+t as the duel continued

Her attitude was just like those candidates froant

Icloud of debris with rapid steps, just in time to duck under a blast of pure ki

The barrier surrounding the dueling arena tre the eyes of the referee that remained close by

Mo her ki weapon that was poised to strike I dodged her first piercing blow, but the aura surrounding her ki weapon was sharp enough to draw blood onblade turning into an indistinguishable blur of light as she recklessly attackedher ki weapon resulted in chips for my weapon with ki

I ducked, spun, weaved and pivoted at a speed that only I could pull off with such accuracy and ti and fast, but her swordplay wasn’t on the same level as ht as she positioned her now-eain, er, and I reacted by grabbing her outstretched ar it to positionenergy was released froht where I once stood

“Can all you do is dodge and run away?” she said, her voice apathetic

Cecilia’s ki-clad elbow struck directly at round and knocking the wind out of et back up totowards me with her newly-formed ki weapon ready

I desperately tried to reach for gled, trying to claw at the ground to dragout of this alive

It was too late as Cecilia’s shadoept over li more I could do except close my eyes and wait as I was defeated—or in the worst case, killed

However, the pain never caround, inches away froain destroyed the reinforced ground beneath me

My opponent smiled, her face close to h!” I yelled Grabbing hold of my sword that had fallen into reach, I struck Cecilia at her waist using every ounce of ki I could h the protective shroud of ki wrapped around her body, but the force did e to push her away fro nier the friend I had grown up with Nico really was delusional, thinking that everything was forced onto her by the governht hand, withdrawing the ki that had been protecting my body If I wanted to defeat her, I wouldn’t be able to do so by wastingthis, Cecilia withdrew her weapon, letting the glowing rapier fizzle out of existence

She got into an offensive stance and gestured for , but didn’t need to She didn’t even see er with newfound deter out a roar, I i it to my stride I reached her in three steps at a speed that even caught her by surprise I swungto at least throw her off balance, but Cecilia stood still and let her ki barrier soak up the brunt of my attack

Her hand, coated in a thick layer of ki, actually es of my reinforced blade

She pulled on the sword, pullingwith it, and slapped me across the face with the back of her hand

I had ed to protecton the ground andback up on e of attacks fro ht You tere dead weights holding ed to get rid of you both”

The ht forth another explosive wave of anger Despite how crazy his conclusions had been, he had done everything because he cared about Cecilia—loved her For her to spit on those emotions made me mad, despite all of the accusations he had spouted towards Lady Vera

“Shut up!” I roared Enveloping my hand in ki, I sidestepped her next doard slash—the end of her attack pattern—and parried the blade so it would get buried in the ground

Even withenough attack to split the reinforced ground and get stuck

I i a powerful punch across her jaw and another just below her ribs

My knuckles felt like they had hit a concrete wall, but I er for just a split h for me to pry my sword out

At that exactthe entire dueling platform in clouds of dust and debris I noticed the translucent barrier surrounding the dueling arena quiver before disappearing as screams and shouts of surprise filled the area

I stood still for a moment, confused at the turn of events until a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eyes

“This duel is over!” she cried out as she dashed towards s with her newly-fory The attacks bo even more dust and debris in the already-chaotic situation unfolding However, I re to end this duel just aski I had left into its blade and prayed for it to endure oneed to spot the faint shadow of Cecilia mid-air

Her plan to use those flashy attacks to obstruct ht’ve worked on uess her nextht into Cecilia’s shadowed figure with all ofmy jaw for the impact to co with her protective shroud never came

Instead I watched as my sword slid itself deep into Cecilia’s chest and coht falling intodown my hands and down my arms

“They… wouldn’t let me… kill myself I’m sorry… this was… the only way,” Cecilia o offiercely “W-Wha—why? How?”

“As long as… I live, Nico will be… iainst… me”

I stumbled back, and Cecilia fell on top of me To my horror, the blade sunk deeper into her and she let out a pained gasp

“N-N-No… this can’t be…” I sputtered, unable to even for in my throat

The dust from Cecilia’s last attack and the explosion around the arena had dissipated as I continued clutching Cecilia Despite all of the actiondramatically, Cecilia’s death was nowhere near the sa and fell limp That was it

“ No! How? What have you done!?” Lady Vera’s voice screamed out from the side

I turned my head towards the sound of the voice, more out of instinct than as an actual response To ures, one male and one female Both were in military armor, faces covered behind clothhis eyes, revealing two different colored eyes

Perhaps if it had been under any other situation, I would’ve reacted differently I had found one of the men responsible for Headmaster Wilbeck’s death I had also just heard Lady Vera’s unmistakable voice behind the mask of the feht, but that didn’t ht now I had killed a friend—no, I had killed the woman my best friend loved

The world turned silent as I stared blankly as the assassin with a scarred brown eye and a green eye pulled Lady Vera away and escape

I watched as the referee and the judges franticallyto control the mayhem

And from the corner of my eyes, near the very entrance I had come from, I witnessed Nico as his expression crumpled into that of horror and despair