The land had turned barren, scorched by countless fireballs as human blood and corpses piled up.
Except for the Elven forest, the borderlands between the two nations were always a wasteland.
On the vast, treeless, grassless expanse, three people stood.
“This is a real duel, but taking lives is forbidden. The match will be decided by incapacitation or surrender. Master, you must defeat both of us for it to count as a victory. Is that acceptable?”
“If I only take down one opponent and leave the other standing, that would be nothing more than a half victory. Unfortunately for you, I have always pursued perfect victories.”
“I’ll take that as your agreement.”
As soon as the duel was confirmed, all three drew their swords.
Calmly stepping into the center, they crossed their blades.
After a brief clash that produced a crisp, ringing sound, they turned away and returned to their original positions.
It was a customary ritual before a knight’s duel—a vow to fight honorably, as clear as the ringing of their blades.
“Do you need time to strategize?”
“No, Master. Strategies won’t work against you anyway.”
There’s a saying: Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never lose a hundred battles.
But Melinda was like the king of unpredictability—even her disciple, Siyoon, didn’t fully understand her.
The best way to fight her was to rely on instinct.
“I’ll grant you the first move. Come at me with all you’ve got.”
Melinda planted her sword firmly into the ground and beckoned with a flick of her fingers.
Her arrogant gesture made Letia’s eyebrow twitch.
But instead of hesitating, Siyoon kicked off the ground and charged at Melinda.
“Then, I’ll gratefully accept.”
“You cheeky brat.”
“Didn’t you teach me to never refuse a gift, Master? I’m just following your lesson.”
Clang!
Siyoon swung his sword diagonally, aiming for her shoulder, but his attack was deflected.
The sword Melinda had planted in the ground had somehow lifted itself and spun in the air.
A blade moving without human hands.
She had solidified her aura, turning it into a tangible force that controlled her sword.
“Didn’t you say you’d let me have the first move?”
“And didn’t I stay still?”
Even though she had used her aura to block the attack, Melinda shamelessly feigned innocence.
Letia, watching from the side, was in complete shock.
Many warriors could channel aura into objects or their own bodies,
but none had ever reached the level of manifesting aura itself into a physical form.
It was a realm beyond her own abilities—a realm that should be feared.
But Letia steeled herself.
For Siyoon, who had bravely taken the first step forward.
“I gave you the first move as promised, so now it’s my turn to go wild!”
With her aura-enhanced body, Melinda spun and delivered a powerful kick to Siyoon’s abdomen.
Even though he blocked it with his sword, the force of her kick was comparable to that of a giant, sending him sliding backward.
Seizing the moment when Siyoon’s stance was disturbed, Melinda swung her sword.
But just as the blade was about to strike, she tilted her head back to avoid a sudden thrust aimed at her eyes.
“Quite fierce. As expected, you’re strong—just like the future of the kingdom.”
“I’ll learn from this!”
Letia’s sword, which had struck through the air, suddenly slashed downward.
Melinda gracefully flipped backward in midair, evading the attack.
As she reached out and pulled her sword back to her, she blocked Letia’s pursuing strike.
“Oh?”
“I’m going all out…!”
Letia altered the nature of the aura surrounding her sword and detonated it.
The explosion sent shards of sword energy rushing toward Melinda.
She swiftly retreated, striking down every single shard with impeccable precision—it was nothing short of an art form.
To Letia, it felt as if she were witnessing an unparalleled, god-like force.
“You use some interesting techniques. I like it!”
“Sorry, but I haven’t shown you everything yet.”
Letia angled her sword and swung in a wide arc—so fast that the blade itself became nearly invisible.
But Melinda’s keen eyes still caught the trajectory.
She thrust her sword forward, intending to deflect it before it could explode.
“I’m not foolish enough to use the same trick twice!”
A portion of Letia’s sword energy separated, twisting like a serpent as it darted past Melinda’s blade, heading straight for her exposed abdomen.
Just before it could make contact, Melinda wrapped her body in aura and released it in a powerful burst.
“Hngh!”
“Ahhh!”
The dense aura erupted, blasting away both Letia’s attack and Letia herself.
Melinda wasted no time.
She swiftly raised her sword high and brought it down in a crushing blow.
But once again, she had to abandon her attack, forced to retreat by a sword flying in from her right.
“They say couples start to resemble each other, and I guess it’s true. You two have interrupted my decisive moments twice now.”
“It was you who agreed to fight two-on-one, Master. Didn’t you already anticipate this situation?”
“Hah… My disciples never let me win an argument.”
“This time, no matter what, we must win this duel!”
Siyoon twisted his blade around Melinda’s, locking it in place before forcefully knocking it aside.
With his mechanical arm clenched into a fist, he drove it straight toward Melinda’s chest.
A dull thud rang out as his fist connected, but it barely fazed her.
Melinda easily blocked his punch with her right elbow and immediately swung her sword with her left.
Siyoon twisted his body to evade the slash and countered, intercepting her continuous attacks.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
As their swords clashed in rapid succession, sparks scattered in all directions.
Siyoon was gradually being pushed back, but before Melinda could press her advantage, Letia jumped in to assist.
“I’m joining in!”
“Thanks! I was struggling, to be honest.”
The three warriors clashed—thrusting, slashing, deflecting—sometimes striking nothing but empty air.
Their swords wove a chaotic web of steel, cutting through sweat and even drawing blood.
The duel was so intense, so perfectly synchronized, that it resembled a grand spectacle rather than a real battle.
But in this relentless exchange, wounds began to accumulate.
Surprisingly, despite being at a numerical disadvantage, Melinda had fewer injuries than Siyoon and Letia.
“Hahaha! How I’ve missed a blood-soaked battle like this! Come on, let’s enjoy ourselves!”
“!?”
“Huff… Huff…!”
Even in the middle of this brutal fight—where every breath was a struggle—Melinda laughed as she effortlessly kept both of them at bay.
Realizing that a prolonged melee was hopeless, Siyoon used his mechanical arm to forcibly block Melinda’s sword, creating an opening.
Letia seized the moment.
She infused her sword with aura that splintered upon impact, splitting into multiple unpredictable attacks.
This time, Melinda couldn’t counter the attack as easily.
However, such fragmented aura was more vulnerable to overwhelming force.
So, as before, she released a surge of her own aura to consume Letia’s attack.
“Letia!”
“Yes!”
Instead of resisting, Siyoon and Letia let their bodies be carried by the shockwave created by the aura’s release…
As they distanced themselves from Melinda, Siyoon and Letia steadied their stances.
“You caught on to my plan quite well.”
“I was thinking the same thing as you, Siyoon.”
Even with their perfect coordination, Melinda effortlessly handled their attacks, countering with lethal strikes in between.
Pure swordsmanship alone wouldn’t be enough.
As frustrating as it was, they had to accept reality and find another way to win.
“Then you know what comes next, right?”
“Of course!”
Siyoon’s prosthetic arm was battered and barely holding together from the strain of blocking attacks.
They couldn’t afford a war of attrition any longer.
So, Siyoon and Letia crossed their swords and poured every last ounce of their aura into their blades.
This next strike would decide everything.
Their unwavering resolve was clear.
“A full-power strike… Now this is truly satisfying.”
Understanding their intent, Melinda also raised her sword and assumed a stance.
She had no intention of dodging—she would face them head-on.
Channeling her own aura into her blade, she prepared her strongest strike.
A brilliant light radiated from their weapons, illuminating the battlefield as the energy of all things converged into a swirling vortex.
In terms of sheer aura capacity, Melinda was overwhelming.
But with their combined power, Siyoon and Letia surpassed her in scale.
Though they lacked experience, their combined strength was one of the greatest on the continent.
“This is our full strength!”
“Brace yourself…!”
“Good! Come at me whenever you’re ready!”
With every ounce of their potential unleashed, the two warriors charged forward, roaring in unison.
Melinda shifted her stance.
Not only did she infuse her blade with aura, but she also incorporated the deepest mysteries of swordsmanship.
A mere contest of brute strength would be unwinnable—so she opted for a more intricate approach.
What followed was a clash of raw power against refined technique, the force of their combined bond against her calculated precision.
BOOOOOOM!
The heavens trembled.
The earth split apart.
The sheer force of their collision obliterated the surrounding wasteland in a storm of radiant destruction.
And when the light finally faded, a massive crater lay where the battlefield once stood.
Ariel, who had been watching from afar, threw aside her telescope and rushed toward the deep chasm.
She didn’t care that dust and debris soiled her clothes—her eyes frantically searched the area.
There should have been three people here.
But only one remained.
With a hollow smile, she let out a shaky breath.
“…I’m sorry. It seems I’ve lost.”
“Where’s Siyoon? Where are the other two?!”
“I don’t know. When I regained consciousness, they were already gone.
It seems they had planned to escape from the very beginning, regardless of the duel’s outcome.
Even their aide vanished without a trace, didn’t he?”
“Now that you mention it…”
“I’m sorry to say this, but I think you should give up on my disciple.”
“…Haah.”
“We were completely and utterly defeated.”
Ariel said nothing, only nodding silently.
Watching Letia and Siyoon fight together during the duel, she had already realized the truth.
Clinging to Siyoon any longer would only be pathetic.
And so, Ariel’s first love came to an end.
If she had to blame someone, it would be herself—
for realizing her feelings too late.
“Thank you, Siyoon. Please, live happily… for both of us.”
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