"That's because a lowly commoner trash like you doesn't know any magic spells at all!" Shawn Franklin scoffed. I raised an eyebrow at that. This so-called pure-blooded upper class noble was clearly deluded.
I closed the distance between us and swung my sword at him in the same manner that Dad taught me. He deflected it easily and answered with a riposte, almost grazing my cheek, but I spun around and countered with a thrust that forced him further back.
"Hah! To think you had the cheek to boast about learning swordsmanship in your father's dojo with such a terrible level of skills! What exactly did your father teach you? Are you sure you're learning correctly? Just randomly swinging a sword is not swordsmanship! It's stupid violence!"
He was careful not to directly insult my dad, especially after earning the ire from Lionel Stuart earlier, but his dig was clear.
Sighing, I deflected his sword and stepped back. However, Franklin continued to press in, delivering several swift thrusts that would have pierced through me if I hadn't parried all of them.
"Why even bother fighting with such pathetic swordsmanship? You're just embarrassing yourself with such a poor display."
I sighed. "Honestly, I couldn't be bothered participating in this match. I really am not interested in getting any request granted. If you want to be CEO of the Stuart Corporation and gain the majority of its shares that badly, you can have them. Originally, I thought of just putting up a show for Lord Stuart and letting you win."
"What…?" Franklin blinked and faltered for a few steps, shocked by my revelation. I seized the opportunity to attack, but he brought his sword up and deflected my attack in time. Surprise turned into rage as he glared at me. "Then why the hell are you still putting up a fight for? Just surrender already, you pathetic commoner trash!"
"You only have yourself to blame," I replied bitterly. "What did you think was going to happen, insulting and verbally abusing me like that? Do you really think I was just going to lie down and take them without fighting back? No." I narrowed my eyes defiantly. "Now that you have looked down on me, I cannot back down from this duel. My pride is on the line."
"A useless commoner like you doesn't need any pride!" Franklin screamed furiously. Hopping back, to put some distance between the two of us, he swung his sword in a wide arc. "Franklin Style: Royal Flush!"
An extremely powerful wave of energy surged from his blade and lashed out at me.
"What the…?" Stunned, I tried to dive out of the way. "That attack is on a completely different level from earlier!"
The wave was too huge to dodge completely. I quickly rolled back to my feet and faced the oncoming onslaught. Gritting my teeth, I stood my ground and weathered the attack. Raising my sword, I sliced the incoming wave of energy with all my might.
Kaboom!
This time, I didn't escape unscathed from the explosion. Blood dripped from multiple cuts all over my body and face. My blazer and shirt was ripped and tattered from the attack too. Damn, this suit was pretty expensive. Unfortunately, trying to afford a replacement was currently the least of my worries.
"Royal Impenetrable Fence!" Franklin hollered from above me. Several dozen pillars of light descended heavily around me, surrounding me completely. Initially, I wondered what he was doing, or where he was aiming at.
Wouldn't it make more sense if he pulverized me with those pillars of light?
Then, after a split second, I suddenly realized his intention.
He was trying to trap me!
"Divine Judgement!" Franklin bellowed from above as he thrust his sword forward to point the tip of his blade toward me.
An enormous flash of light lanced toward me, unleashed from the ornamental sword. All around me, the brilliantly glowing Royal Impenetrable Fence began to shine brighter in tandem, reacting to the incoming attack.
I began looking around and analyzing the situation quickly.
It seemed that the Royal Impenetrable Fence was no ordinary fence composed from light magic. In addition to trapping an opponent, it most probably served to collect and amplify the offensive power of Franklin's spells. By trapping the victim in a confined space, any attack within the Fence would result in a devastating explosion several times more powerful than Franklin's usual attacks.
I didn't want to imagine the consequences of being hit by that attack. While it couldn't possibly be worse than the magnitude of destruction wreaked by my Scorpio's Antares spell, I wasn't enthusiastic about spending another few days in the hospital.
"Guess I have no choice," I muttered under my breath. "It's a bit earlier than I expected, but I'll have to summon you. Green Dragon."
This was the spell I had been casting this entire time, which was why I hadn't simply unleashed any magic techniques on Franklin, other than the usual physical enforcement spells universal to all combat mages. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to summon the true Green Dragon, but I had been working on a truncated version that would summon a smaller version.
A tiny Green Dragon materialized over my shoulder, looking more like a stuffed animal than a legendary, ferocious beast. What? You saw those chibi-looking Celestial Guardians in the cover of my web novel, didn't you? Did you think they were all for show? Sooner or later I would be summoning them in their chibi forms.
Green Dragon just happened to be the first one.
Assuming a familiar stance, I nodded toward Green Dragon, who was drifting above my shoulder. "Please lend me your power."
The tiny Green Dragon nodded and began transforming into a long wisp of green mana that swirled around my sword. A gigantic illusion of an intangible green dragon's head materialized behind me as I raised my sword with both hands.
In this chibi form, Green Dragon didn't possess his usual potent spells and firepower. Instead, they were meant more to bestow upon me a portion of their powers and abilities. Tapping into Green Dragon's arsenal of wood-element spells, I found one that suited my current situation.
"Dance, my Sakura blossoms."
The green glow suddenly turned into a pink aura, permeating the atmosphere around me. An unnatural wind began to whip across the arena, throwing up my messy hair. Out of nowhere, several thousand Sakura petals began to materialize and float around me, whirling into a pink tornado. Sucking in Franklin's Divine Judgement, the pink maelstrom of Sakura petals spat the energy back at its owner before exploding into a shower of falling cherry blossoms reminiscent of a scene of spring in Japan.
"ARGH!"
Franklin was thrown back. Hit by his own attack (too bad it wasn't amplified by his Royal Impenetrable Fence), he had no doubt taken substantial damage. He crashed into the wall behind him before plummeting to the ground in an undignified heap.
I staggered out of the demolished Fence, panting. My sword had cracked from the exponential release of energy, but I still gripped it resolutely to ready myself for the next inevitable round.
"Damn," I gasped as I breathed heavily. "If I wasn't careful back then, I would have died."
"Even if you are careful, I will still be able to kill you," Franklin spat vengefully as he rose to his feet unsteadily, spitting out some blood before wiping his mouth.
"Says the dude who got hit by his own attack," I shot back, triggering several sniggers from the spectators. "And didn't you claim that I don't know any magic spells at all? Hmm? Then what was it that I just used?"
"Shut up!"
"Also, if you are able to kill me, how come I'm still alive? Are you going easy on me or something?"
"I told you to shut up!" Franklin shrieked. "Hiding your magic like that…how despicable!"
"Hiding my magic?" this guy was getting more and more delusional. "You seem to be mistaken. You just didn't give me any reason to use my spells until that last attack of yours, that's all."
Franklin snorted as he slowly assumed a sword stance, holding his weapon in both hands as he glared hatefully at me. "You should never have held back. You should have used whatever spells you possess when you had the chance, because that was your only chance. Now you'll regret not casting them because I'm not as merciful as you."
"Neither are you as skillful," I muttered under my breath. If the guy thought I was holding back and didn't realize I had spent the entire time casting this single spell, then he must really be some kind of idiot.
"Shut up, you fucking commoner!" Even as he hurled abuse at me, I could see massive amounts of white mana swirling around him as he geared up for what seemed to be his final, ultimate attack.
"Do upper class people curse and swear as much as you?" I asked sarcastically. "Or is are you an exception, Mr. Self-proclaimed Noble?"
"Shut your fucking mouth, you filthy commoner! You…scum!"
"You have a very limited vocabulary, it seems," I remarked as I stepped back to assume my own sword stance. Green Dragon's verdant mana continued to envelop me. "And you do realize that a mere commoner is kicking your ass right now, don't you?"
Franklin flushed with fury, but he wisely didn't take the bait. The first smart thing I had seen him do so far. Instead, he swung his sword and yelled, "Royal Flush: The King's Ultimate Strike! Four Divine Aces!"
The enormous amount of white energy congregated and coalesced into a single devastating beam of destruction before directing itself at me.
"I thought you said there were four Divine Aces?" I commented dryly as I watched the single colossal beam hurtle toward me. Sighing, I stood my ground against my impending destruction. The green mana around me darkened and transformed into a ferocious black aura that whipped around me like a storm, blowing across my surroundings with a determination that was as fierce as mine. Raising my sword, I responded with a spell of my own. "The Hellebore Blooms in Spring."
A whooshing sound filled the entire room as enormous amounts of black mana solidified into material flowers.
Thousands of black petals scattered across the room, obscuring everyone's view. The petals clashed with the white energy and soaked up the massive amount of raw power.
Boom!
The black petals exploded into yet more petals. Despite being reduced in size, the growing numbers of tiny, razor-sharp petals scattered everywhere like small, deadly knives, slicing into anything living or non-living.
Of course, I took pains to ensure that none of the petals reached Stuart's throne or the boxes where the spectators were seated.
Unfortunately for Franklin (and fortunately for me), he wasn't among the boxes or near the throne.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" He wailed in pain as he tried to defend himself from the inescapable onslaught of sharp petals, which mercilessly sliced into his skin and drew huge amounts of blood. If I had been able to use Green Dragon's technique at full strength, Franklin would have been completely torn apart into unrecognizable ribbons of flesh and blood, but in order to preserve my sword, I had kept my technique in check and limited its output. Furthermore, I was not a murderer. I had no intention of killing the bastard, no matter how arrogant he was.
No, seriously. I didn't understand the readers. Do you seriously go around murdering your classmates or colleagues or bosses who insult you or just because they acted arrogantly? What the fuck was wrong with you? I only had one word to describe such homicidal people. Psychopaths. That's what they were.
I wasn't going to risk getting arrested and locked up in prison for the rest of my life just to kill an arrogant idiot for insulting and looking down on me. I had a bright future ahead of me and I wanted to be a mercenary like Dad. Why would I jeopardize all that by indulging in some stupid impulse that readers were demanding for? Just what is wrong with you people? Your edge is making me bleed, like literally.
Franklin thrashed around desperately, struggling to free himself of the deadly black petals. Falling to the ground on all fours, he gasped in agony and raised his head to glare at me.
"You…you…what was that skill?"
"I wasn't sure the first time, but now I no longer have any doubts." A surprised voice boomed out from the opposite end of the room. "Isn't that the Stuart Clan's wood-element based swordsmanship? Where did you learn it from?"
"…huh?"
My jaw dropping, I turned to stare at Lionel Stuart in absolute bewilderment.