Chapter 8.1 - Black-and-White Princess and Soul Dress [2] – part 1 (2/2)

「You… what was that skill just now…?」

「I don’t know which one you’re talking about, but both are techniques I have devised.」

「…Right. At the very least, you have the accomplishment of being acknowledged by Leia…」

She muttered while looking over at Leia-sensei.

「Anyway – now I know clearly that you’ve faced swordsmanship in earnest and devoted substantial time into training, through the attacks we exchanged just now.」

Well that… I have spent over a billion years in training.

「Alright, I will acknowledge you as a 『Fairly Good Swordsman』」

「…Why thank you.」

For the time being, I took it as a compliment.

People will be happier if they took things positively.

「But, there’s no point in refining your sword skills when you can’t use soul dress. I will demonstrate it to you from here on out. No amount of effort will be enough to overcome – the insurmountable wall known as talent!」

Having said that, she charged straight towards me.

(In a contest of simple muscle strength, I should be better… So, what are you thinking…?)

I want to avoid being caught in the flames due to evading poorly.

Responding to the taunts of my opponent is annoying but… it can’t be helped.

Let’s take her on from the front.

Our swords clashed – the moment we were locked sword to sword, Ria-san laughed.

「High King Style – Strong Strike!」

At that moment, a tremendous impact that didn’t feel like an elegant woman’s strength assailed my arms.

「Wha…t!?」

This woman, how does she possess such brutish strength…!

「HAAAAAAAAA…!」

「Kuh, OOOOOOOOO…!」

Legs, Hips, Abdomen, Arms – I met her assault by mobilizing all my muscles.

However,

(Shit…, I can’t stop her…)

I was outmuscled by her explosive power – my sword was sent flying, exposing my abdomen full of gaps.

「You’re full of openings!」

Her powerful kick landed there.

「Guh!?」

I deliberately jumped back to reduce the shock and narrowly escaped heavy damage.

At the same time, I retrieved the sword that fell behind and prepared for the next attack.

(Shit… that strength is troublesome…)

The secret of her ridiculous strength is the blazing flame behind her.

At the moment the swords collided, the flames behind her flared up, and she obtained that explosive power.

Ria-san, who gave me an effective blow, looked at me with a sidelong glance.

「If we simply compare our swordsmanship, then you are certainly above me …which irritates me. However, my swordsmanship, which is strengthened with soul dress, can’t be beaten by your makeshift swordsmanship. Did you finally understand a little? The absolute power of soul dress.」

A combination of swordsmanship and soul dress… honestly, it is nothing less than admirable.

(But… how naive)

I clearly understood something from her previous strike.

She relies too much on her overwhelming soul dress, that her swordsmanship has become rough.

In addition to that, her carelessness and self-pride – there’s plenty of chances to win.

(…Shall I use that?)

The technique that I devised within one of the several loops in the Prison of Time – I never imagined the technique created just for the fun of it, would get a chance to debut in actual combat.

(Well… now that I’ve decided to use it, first… I have to precisely predict Ria-san’s movements)

I replayed the offence and defense we exchanged in my mind.

First, she saw the flying shadow and developed a white flame shield that protected a fairly wide area.

Second, in front of the approaching Yatagarasu, she calmed down and controlled the black flame and shot everything down accurately.

Third, when I drew closer with a follow-up attack, she deployed a wide-range attack calmly without panicking.

(…Ria-san has consistently made rational and conservative choices)

And currently, she has gotten an effective telling blow against me – I have a pretty good idea of her next action.

After finishing the analysis, I calculated the optimum point from Ria-san’s position.

I passed the sword tip through that point, gently in a way she wouldn’t be suspicious.

(…Yoshi, the preparations are complete now)

After that, if she moves as I thought – it will burst.