30 Blood Spor (2/2)

”Then you know this is all my fault... And there's no way I'm going to put others in danger at my expense,”he insisted. ”Let me make things right...”

”You want me to let you continue this deathmatch?” I asked, incredulous.

”It won't be a deathmatch if I win... the drow leader agreed to let me go safely if I beat him in single combat,” Luca explained.

I looked over at his opponent. The drow's hood was down and I could see his face clearly now.

He had a pointed face and a long, pointed nose with pale eyes that were almost white but had a shade of red in their irises. His skin was ebony but a lighter shade than the deep black of his shoulder-length brushed back hair. His lips, pale in color, were set in an amused smile.

”Do you think you can win?” It was Ashley who asked the question. ”I've fought drow before. They fight with deception and stealth... kind of like ninjas...”

”I can... no... I will,” Luca insisted.

He turned his gaze on me and I could feel the intense determination flowing out of him.

”Fine... but I have a condition,” My eyebrows knitted together. ”I won't let him kill you... if it looks like you're about to lose, I'll stop the fight and unleash hell on this place to protect you...”

Luca's own brow creased. ”Don't you believe in me?”

I smacked his chest lightly with my fist. ”Of course, I believe you... you're the one guy I can't defeat.”

Edo reacted to this comment with a fake coughing sound. Technically, I hadn't beaten him in a one-on-one fight either but that's because I was smart enough to never spar with him.

”Besides, dad didn't train us to be weaklings,” My face turned serious. ”But I'm your big brother and it's my job to protect you. Alright?”

Luca nodded. ”Alright.”

He struck my chest with his own fist. ”See you later.”

”Go kick some drow butt, Luca,” I agreed.

While Luca returned to the center of the arena to face his opponent, I turned my head back to my other two companions and warned them to be ready. We would rescue Luca the moment things looked like they were going to go badly for him.

Luca, being the white knight he was, apologized to his opponent with a slight bow of his head. After he explained to the drow leader that we wouldn't interfere in their fight, Luca insisted that they continue. In response to Luca's words, the drow glanced over at his warriors and signaled for them to guard us.

Out of nowhere, five light-footed drow came down from their holes and surrounded me, Ashley, and Edo. Among them was the knife-wielder I encountered outside broken Sellsword's Canyon. However, neither of my teammates drew their weapons because we'd agreed we would act calmly unless the tide changed. This way, the enemies might be caught off guard.

With everyone satisfied that things were not going to devolve into a huge melee, Luca and the drow leader continued their fight.

Their initial exchange was a series of sword blows that weren't aimed at killing each other. It seemed they were both still feeling each other out and probing for weaknesses in the other's guard.

While this was happening, I'd reactivated Fool's Insight so I could better understand their movements. This allowed me to scrutinize every twitch of their limbs and every turn of their gaze, helping me to predict how the next clash would go.

The drow was much faster than Luca but he was able to barely ward off his enemy's blows through a combination of experience brought about by constant battle and the intense training we'd endured throughout our lives at the insistence of our dad. And it was in times like these that I appreciated dad's foresight.

Although no words were exchanged, you could feel the emotions pouring out of them with each slash of their blades. Their shared regret at the death of a drow who was only trying to save his people was apparent in the heavy swings of shadowblades.

Eventually, Luca drew the first blood. He'd dodge the drow's katana that was meant to slice at his neck by going under him and cutting him near the abdomen with a sideswipe of his new broadsword. However, the drow was quick enough to turn his torso away so that the cut wouldn't bite deep into him.

Instead of anger, it was amusement showing on his face while he inspected the wound Luca cut into him. Clearly, he was a battle freak like everyone else we've met in this damnable realm of fairies.

The drow raised his katana with both hands and positioned his right leg before him. It was a high guard stance I was familiar with because I'd practiced it enough in Kendo.

Luca, who'd trained the same way as me, copied the drow's stance.

A second passed. They both remained in place. Another second. Then another, and another. Still, neither fighter took the initiative. Then, as if his shadow rose up in an instant to swallow him, the drow disappeared.

”Luca, watch out!” I yelled.

Luca's form never wavered. His breathing was calm and leveled. It was the complete opposite of how he was whenever he activated his Foolish Strength. It was only then that I realized my brother had been hiding the fact that he too had gained new powers from bathing in the mana well.

A fraction of a second since he disappeared, the drow leader's form rose up from Luca's shadow with his blade rising up in an arc to slash Luca from the back.

Even if I moved now, I wouldn't have made it in time, and all I could think about was how much of a fool I was for letting my little brother risk his life this way.

But then something miraculous happened. Luca proved me wrong.

As the drow jumped out from his shadow, Luca exhaled a long breath. And although I didn't hear his voice, Fool's Insight read his lips when he whispered, ”Second Wind.”

In a speed that would rival Azuma's reflexes, Luca jumped and then rotated his whole body downward like a wheel which moved in tandem with the drow's rising blade, forcing it to miss. If that wasn't acrobatic enough, my brother's momentum continued his rotation past the point where his head was at the bottom while his feet were at the top, and with the force of his powerful arms, sent his shadowblade in a reverse rising slash at the now exposed body of his opponent.

Luca's wheel-attack bit deep into the drow from the right side of his stomach up to his right shoulder, and blood gushed out in a spray of red.

Almost in unison, the spectating drow gasped out loud.

The five guarding me and my friends screamed bloody murder at Luca who had slowly risen from the kneeling position he was in after he'd finish his wheel-attack.

Edo was the first to move. He raised his glaive in such a threatening manner that the drow closest to him backed away instinctively.

Ashley pulled out her sword and shield in front of her.

My own shadowblade came to life in my hand.

It seemed a battle was going to happen anyway. However, before the rumble began, a loud arrogant voice screamed for everyone to stop moving.

I looked back to Luca who had his broadsword's shadowblade tip point mere inches away from the fallen drow leader's heaving chest. He was still alive, after all.

”I gave... my word...” His yell was ragged. He was obviously in pain, but he did manage to say one more thing. ”Enough fighting... I lost...”