The room was filled with the echoing sounds of clashing swords.
In the center of that room was a space that looked as if a circle had been cut
out of it, and at the center, two people were inside.
They were Lacy and Lucy.
In this makeshift 'ring', Lacy attacked first.
"Here I go!"
With a straight sword in her hand, which was easier to wield in the narrow
room compared to her usual greatsword, she slashed at Lucy.
Lucy, on the other hand, just waited and watched.
"Haaah!"
A vertical slash from the top.
It was a blow delivered with a terrifying wind-splitting sound.
The attack speed was much faster than the Count's attacks on the previous
battle, perhaps because the weapon was lighter than his.
"I won't be beaten that easily!"
However, Lucy moved as if she had seen it coming.
She avoided Lacy's attack with distance to spare and immediately launched
a thrusting counterattack.
"Damn, that's fast… No, you can see its trajectory?" asked Lacy, amazed as
she backed away from the thrust and avoided it.
She was right. Lucy used her keen eye to detect the opponent's aim before
being attacked.
This led to a one-step quicker evasion, allowing her to escape from the
high-speed slash.
"Huff, hah!"
This time, Lucy attacked.
She threw a series of sharp thrusts and chased down Lacy.
The thrusts have fewer preliminary movements than slashes, which makess
them harder to read their targets.
In fencing, you can prioritize certain places to score more points, but in a
serious match, even a scratch on a limb can put you at a great disadvantage.
And if the attacker is attacked up, down, left, right, and left, it will be
difficult for them to intercept. I f y ou ar e a b le to r ea d this me ssag e, yo
u are rea di ng from an unaut hor ized agg re gate si te. Re ad at my Wo rdPr
ess at st abbi ng wi th a sy ri nge. ho me. b log to su pp ort me and my tr
ansl atio ns.
"Damn, I can't stay behind forever…!!"
Lacy stomped on the floor backward to avoid Lucy's attack, then leaped
forward at once.
It was a sudden counterattack, but Lucy responded calmly.
She repelled the thrust aimed at her head. But Lacy stepped even forward
from there.
"Wha… so close!"
"Ha! You can no longer use a thrust at this distance, can you?!"
Because Lacy was now in close proximity, it caused Lucy to stop her
moves.
Seeing this, she retracted her left hand, the one not holding the sword,
aiming to punch Lucy in the stomach.
Lucy quickly moved her right hand with the sword, but she was not in time.
She was hit in the stomach by a blow from close range, making her take a
few steps backward.
"Ow ow ow… this is going to resonate for a while."
But for a direct hit, the damage was minimal.
This was because in front of such a body of hers was a small arm that had
been struck and broken.
It seems that when Lucy realized that she could not defend herself with the
sword in time, she blocked it with one of the arms holding it.
Thanks to this, she avoided injury to her torso and only suffered damage to
her arm.
But the impact of the punch was too much for the small arm to absorb
alone, causing it to become in that state.
"Tch. It didn't work, huh."
Lacy said in dissatisfaction while waving her left hand, which had turned a
little red due to the punch's impact.
She was that confident with the first blow.
"Can't help it, I guess. But this will disable your right hand for a while."
Lacy said as if to regain her composure. Then she resumed her attack.
This time, it was a nasty, underhanded move that took advantage of the
wounded right side of the enemy.
Lucy tried to respond, but as expected, she couldn't move with the same
speed now that she was injured at that side.
"Hyaaa, hyaa, hayaaaa! What's wrong!? You're not moving as fast as
before!"
Unleashing a series of fast attacks, Lacy tried to taunt her injured opponent.
Several unavoidable attacks grazed Lucy, causing a few strands of her
golden hair to flutter about.
"This is bad. The tide is turning in Lacy's favor!"
Lucy is now in a situation where she can barely defend herself against the
onslaught.
The allies are with their hands full with enemy soldiers who are fighting
like mad to the death, and even if I go towards them, I will only be cut
down at one end of the line.
At that moment, a sword was thrust between the two from the side.
It was from Milena.
"What? Sis, you're in my way. I almost took her out!"
Milena intervened between them and lifted her sword.
Then she pointed the tip of the blade at her sister, Lacy.
"What are you… sis?"
Milena then apologized apologetically to Lacy, who sounded surprised.
"I'm sorry, Lacy. I've been serving as their spy for a while now."
"Oi, Milena! The plan is to capture Lacy first before you reveal–"
"I'm sorry, but I don't see the situation changing any other way."
She continued to point her sword at her sister as she softly said this.
"Ms. Milena…"
"Please go. And finish this as soon as possible. I won't be able to last long."
Milena said without averting her gaze from Lacy.
It was a serious stance because he knew the difference between her and her
sister's abilities.
"…I'm sorry. I'll leave her to you, Ms. Milena!"
"Yeah…"
We left Lacy to Milena and headed for the Marquis.
◆ ◆
"Sis, I knew you had betrayed us."
Although Lacy was a little upset by her sister's declaration of betrayal, she
quickly regained her composure. Th is cha p ter tran sla t ion is ma de poss i
ble by stab bi ng with a s yri nge tr ansl atio ns. che ck on ly up- to -d ate tra
n slat ions on m y Word pr ess si te.
Then, she pointed her sword at her sister as if she was done with her.
Milena answered slowly in response.
"Before you say anything, I'll let you know that I only betrayed you after
uncle decided that I was innocent. Before that, I really wanted you to
believe me. But you never did."
Milena said in a voice that was tinged with sadness.
"That's because you were having a secret meeting with that man, sis!"
"It was my mistake. But that time, I really wanted you, my sister and my
only hope, to believe me that I wasn't lying."
Lacy was apparently bewildered by her sister's revelation of her true
feelings.
Milena, seeing this perturbance, followed up her words even more.
"Lacy, you know as well as I do that our father is ill. Not only that, he is ill
with a deadly disease that other noblemen have suffered from, as it has no
cure. Actually, it has, but uncle has the monopoly of it, which he used to his
advantage to manipulate nobles like us and do dirty work against our will.
Added to the other atrocities he has committed, it is now time for him to
pay for his sins."
While Milena spoke calmly, Lacy was beginning to get emotional.
"I-I don't know anymore! But if it comes to this, I'll just beat you up and
end it!"
"Yes, you certainly don't know. After all, I've been trying to keep that dark
business away from you."
"Shut up, shut up! I'll protect father the Count by myself! You stay back,
sis!"
Lacy readied her sword as if to shake off her sister's words.
"If you stay quiet, I'll spare you with at least one of your arms broken!"
The moment she said this, she stepped in as hard as she could.
"Damn, fast as ever!"
Milena narrowly avoided a slash coming at her from the right and launched
a counterattack.
That attack, aimed at the flank, was repelled by Lacy's sword.
"Your aim is so weak! Sis's attacks are textbook and single-patterned, so
they're easy to read!"
Lacy went on the offensive again.
The sisters have a definite difference in fighting sense to begin with.
No matter how high her physical abilities are, she can't win in a one-on-one
battle if she can't read her opponents' attacks.
(I can't hold her off forever, hurry up and settle it!!)
Knowing this, Milena could only wish for Yuushin and Lucy's side to finish
quickly as she desperately fended her sister's sword with her own.