The arena stood empty.
Unlike the previous occasion, when it had been packed with countless spectators, the stands were so deserted that not even a single damn ant could be seen.
Tap.
Patter.
SHHHHH.
A sudden downpour began, making the atmosphere even more desolate.
But that was the only difference.
The people, the weapons, the place.
Everything was exactly the same as last time.
Even the way we glared at each other as though we intended to kill one another was unchanged.
“Raise your swords.”
Vlad and I stood at opposite ends of the arena and lifted our swords.
The wolves engraved upon the two blades bared their fangs at each other.
The owners of those swords were no different.
Killing intent collided with killing intent.
“Ready.”
SCRAPE.
I drew my left foot back and prepared to charge.
CRACKLE.
Blue mana spread throughout my body.
“Begin the duel!”
CRASH—!
At Father’s declaration, I kicked off the ground and shot forward.
I hurtled toward Vlad like a loosed arrow.
SWISH—!
Within the slowed flow of time perceived by my expanded senses, I alone moved freely.
My sword flashed toward an opening in Vlad’s defenses.
“Sorry, but this is my victory again.”
It was a picture-perfect strike that anyone would have considered flawless.
“What a joke.”
A blade filled the opening in an instant.
“What?!”
CLANG—!
Vlad knocked my sword aside as though the opening from moments ago had been nothing but a mirage.
SWISH.
I hurriedly moved my feet and retreated.
WHOOSH—!
His sword grazed my bangs.
Vlad shouted after me as I widened the distance.
“You fly-like bastard. Darting around is the one thing you excel at!”
“Good grief. You lost once, yet you’re already acting proud again.”
TWITCH.
A vein bulged on his forehead.
“Last time, I let my guard down. I underestimated you and charged without thinking.”
“And you think you can win this time?”
“I do!”
WHUMM.
Vlad drew up his mana.
“I shall never suffer defeat again.”
Blue mana rose from his body.
Mana Armor enveloped him.
THUD—!
Vlad already possessed an enormous build.
Wrapped in armor formed from mana, he looked like a fortress given human form.
I unconsciously swallowed.
“So you decided to stop charging like a wild boar?”
“Yes.”
He pointed his sword toward me.
“After our last duel, I spent every waking moment asking myself why I lost and what caused my defeat.”
His eyes were calm as he stared at me.
It was as though the pouring rain had cooled even the rage boiling inside him.
“And what conclusion did you reach?”
“Your speed is undoubtedly threatening. It is impressive enough to make me wonder where you learned it.”
He gripped his sword with both hands once more.
House Fenrir’s swordsmanship was a defensive sword art.
It had been created solely to hold one’s ground without falling.
He planted both feet firmly upon the earth.
Middle Guard.
The fundamental stance of all swordsmanship.
“Come.”
But the pressure he emitted was nothing to underestimate.
“I shall show you the true swordsmanship of House Fenrir.”
“Go ahead.”
CRASH—!
I kicked off the ground.
I rapidly circled Vlad and observed his movements.
Unlike during my Coming-of-Age Ceremony, when he had recklessly charged first, Vlad did not move a single step from his position.
Only his eyes followed me.
‘He has Mana Field active.’
I could sense the thin, wide circle of mana spread around him.
The moment I entered its range, Vlad would know.
“This is interesting.”
[Why not use Sword Control? You may also use my power.]
I could not do that.
[Why? Is it because you do not wish to reveal those abilities yet?]
That was part of it.
But the rules of a duel were absolute.
We had agreed that our only weapons would be one sword each, and I was already holding mine.
“Even without that rule, I wouldn’t use Sword Control or the Demonic Sword.”
[Oh? Why not?]
“Because my opponent is putting everything into his sword.”
Even if he was my bitter enemy.
Even if he had raised his sword for the wrong person.
At this moment, he was completely sincere before his sword.
“Against a swordsman like that, I should wield only a single sword.”
[Swordsmen.]
Fafnir clicked her tongue quietly.
[They have always been an incomprehensible breed.]
“Honestly, I don’t understand us either!”
SCRAPE.
I slid to a stop after circling in search of an opening.
WHUMM.
I spread my mana widely.
Mana Field.
Vlad and I now stood within our respective circles.
“But it looks impressive, doesn’t it?!”
THUD—!
Vlad stamped his foot.
“Come!”
Dust rose from the arena floor.
CRASH—!
I charged directly at him without the slightest trick.
When I broke through the swirling dust, Vlad appeared before me.
Our circles of mana overlapped.
We sensed each other’s movements and reactions.
CLANG—!
“You’ve improved quite a bit, Brother. Looks like you haven’t spent all your time playing around.”
“I honed my sword every day so I could defeat you! This will not end like last time!”
CLANG—!
“Oh, you blocked that?”
“Now it is my turn!”
We exchanged swords head-on.
The slowest sword and the fastest sword.
The heaviest sword and the lightest sword sought each other’s lives.
I stabbed at his openings with movements too fast for the eye to follow.
Vlad drew beautiful paths with his blade, each one capable of blocking my attacks in a single motion.
He swung with all the heavy, tyrannical power he possessed.
I twisted my body swiftly and evaded each strike.
We aimed for each other’s lives.
For a moment, our eyes seemed to meet.
Vlad swung his sword in a vast arc with overwhelming strength.
I raised my sword and blocked his attack, but I could not completely disperse the impact.
CRASH—!
[Child, are you unharmed?!]
Fafnir’s startled voice thundered inside my head.
“Ghh. Be quiet for a moment. I’m not dead.”
Using my sword as a cane, I staggered to my feet.
The force had sent me flying hard enough to shatter the wall I struck.
It was strength worthy of House Fenrir.
[Can you continue fighting in that condition?]
“Don’t worry. I’ll win even if every bone in my body breaks.”
[You ignorant fool! This is no time for bravado.]
“It isn’t bravado. Besides…….”
I looked toward Vlad.
As the dust settled, his figure emerged.
[That is……?!]
“COUGH!”
My sword was buried in his side as he vomited blood.
“You madman! You threw your sword while you were flying?”
Vlad gripped the blade embedded in his side with trembling hands.
“You should leave it in.”
“Silence!”
SQUELCH.
Vlad tore the sword free.
Blood sprayed from his side like a fountain.
CLANG—!
He threw my sword behind him, held his own sword in one hand, and pressed the other against his bleeding side.
“I-I can still fight! C-come……at me……!”
THUD.
He struggled desperately to continue the duel, then collapsed.
“……I declare Pietro Fenrir the victor of this duel!”
Father’s declaration brought the duel to an end.
It was my victory.
“Victor, state what you desire!”
Father shouted toward me.
“As I stated before, I demand that everyone who stained the name of House Fenrir receive punishment befitting their crimes!”
“Very well! You have demanded it as the victor’s right, and your wish shall be fulfilled!”
“No!”
A scream came from the stands.
Lilian de Kareid had been watching the duel anxiously while biting her thumbnail.
“Seize the criminal and imprison her immediately!”
“Yes!”
At Father’s order, soldiers appeared like the wind and seized the Grand Duchess.
“Insolent wretches! Release me at once!”
“Criminal, receive the command!”
She struggled, but the soldiers dragged her away like machines.
“Y-Your Grace! Grand Duke! I have been wronged! Everything I did was for the prosperity of House Fenrir!”
“Silence! How could assassination, narcotics production, and human experimentation possibly serve the family or the territory?!”
“The n-narcotics were intended to expand the territory’s influence, and the human experiments were meant to mass-produce p-powerful soldiers!”
“You deranged woman! Take her away immediately!”
Even Father, who had experienced countless battles and hardships, scowled at her excuses.
“Wait.”
I stopped them briefly as they dragged her away.
“Wh-what is it?!”
“If everything you did was for the territory, then why did you try to kill my mother?”
Mother had lived so quietly that she might as well have been invisible.
A lawful wife might find a concubine unpleasant, but ordinarily, she would not attempt to murder her.
Why?
Because she needed at least one illegitimate child if she wanted to keep her own sons out of the army.
Then why had she tried to kill Mother?
What if I had run away after Mother’s death?
Would she have sent her own son into the army?
Into the Illegitimate Unit, known to have the worst conditions of any unit?
“It was all that bitch’s fault!”
“What exactly was her fault?”
“She had nothing but that pretty face! If it weren’t for her, His Grace’s heart would have belonged entirely to me!”
So behind all these crimes and schemes……
was nothing more than……
jealousy?
“Haah. Enough. Take her away.”
The Grand Duchess was dragged away in the iron grip of the soldiers.
At the same time, another group placed the fallen Vlad onto a stretcher.
I had deliberately avoided his vital points when throwing the sword, but a blade had still pierced him.
He would be bedridden again for some time.
“That was unexpected.”
Damn, he startled me.
I looked up at Father, who had appeared beside me without warning.
“What was?”
“The result of the duel. I thought one of you would certainly die this time.”
Seriously, this man.
He spoke far too casually about his children dying.
I concealed my disbelief as best I could and spoke.
“Vlad probably truly didn’t know.”
“Is that so? How can you be certain?”
I recalled the height of the duel.
The moment our Mana Fields overlapped and we read one another.
The moment our gazes met.
“For a brief moment, I think Vlad’s feelings flowed into me.”
“……Is that so?”
“Yes. At that moment, the only thing in his heart was the desire to win the duel and protect his mother.”
“……I see.”
“Yes. And now Vlad probably understands that I wasn’t lying either.”
“You experienced something rare.”
“Yes. It probably won’t happen again.”
Father remained deeply silent.
Somehow, within that silence, I sensed his relief that at least his son had not been part of the conspiracy.
It was a long while before Father spoke again.
“What will you do now?”
I looked at him.
“I’ll join the army.”
I had removed the forces corrupting the Fenrir territory—my home.
Now it was time to move forward.
“So you still intend to go.”
“You know how stubborn I am by now.”
“Fine, go! Once you suffer there for a while, the day will come when you regret it!”
This man had been acting strangely for a while now.
“What do you intend to do about the aftermath?”
“Lilian will be confined. She committed crimes, so she will likely remain there for a very long time.”
“What about Vlad?”
“Vlad, your brother…….”
Father hesitated briefly before continuing.
“I intend to make him serve in the Demonic Beast Subjugation Unit. It will be a form of penal labor.”
“Sounds good.”
“……That is unexpected. After all the torment you suffered at his hands, I assumed you would demand a harsher punishment.”
“All the schemes were devised by his mother. After defeating Vlad in two duels, I’ve already released all the resentment I held toward him. Besides…….”
“Besides?”
“You’d have a hard time finding a harsher or more dangerous labor camp anywhere in the Empire than the Demonic Beast Subjugation Unit. It serves him right.”
“That is true.”
For the first time in a very long while, Father and I laughed freely together.
The rain was stopping.
It was time to move toward the stars.