My Disciples Think I’m Strong

Clang! Clang!
Strike. Deflect.

Sparks flew in every direction whenever the Aura and flames collided.

Fwoosh!
Evasion.

Urkha’s sword sliced through the air. As the rhythm of the Incomplete Mirage Waltz fell out of sync, the sword’s trajectory became disorderly.

Seizing her blindspot, Pasma swung his sword towards her neck.

Fwoosh!

She barely evaded by ducking her head. She faced Pasma once again.

As if aiming for a counter, she lunged deep into Pasma’s space. But her strike didn’t reach my body this time either.

Clang!

However, the attacks Pasma unleashed were all aimed to inflict fatal wounds if Urkha didn’t block them.

Fwoosh!

Urkha’s sword sliced through the air, failing to match the sword’s trajectory. In contrast, Pasma’s blade accurately pierced her side.

Clang!

But she had the edge in speed, nimbly protecting her body.

“What kind of sword technique is this…?!”

Seemingly vexed, Urkha grumbled as she swung her sword.

Her teeth gritted as the relentless barrage of the Mirage Waltz found openings while she spun and pivoted her footwork.

“In contrast, your sword technique is too easy to read.”

Pasma aimed his sword at Urkha’s legs.

Clang!
Urkha defended again.

Regardless of Pasma’s words, I was in awe of Urkha’s movements.

Despite continuously misjudging Pasma’s attack trajectories, she was blocking all of his strikes.

I already knew her agility and dynamic vision were exceptional, but experiencing it firsthand made her S-rank status feel well-deserved.

Clang! Fwoosh! Clang! Clang!

Their swords clashed in an endless barrage, but neither could land a proper blow on the other.

If this had been Pasma’s original body, the situation might have unfolded more easily than now.

“Kuhk! Wall of Fire!”

Fierce flames erupted from the ground.

“High-Speed Movement.”

I took her blind spot completely, aiming for her lower back.

Clang!

“…!”

At that moment, her hair transformed into flames, blocking my thrust. Urkha glared at me sideways.

“…Impressive. A speed that I can barely keep up with visually. It’s no wonder you became an S-rank right away. But you still lack power, it seems?”

I jumped back, creating distance between us.

She had a point there.

I was gradually running out of breath.
My forearms, shoulders – every part of me ached. My muscles felt like they were about to tear. My hands trembled slightly.

As expected, the longer this dragged out, the more unfavorable it became for us.

No matter how skilled Pasma was, he could only operate at maximum efficiency within the limits of my untrained body. The longer it went on, the more disadvantaged we became.

“Don’t you see that wall over there, shattered?”
“You were aiming there?”
“If it had hit, you would have been 100% dead.”
“…I can’t deny that.”

She readily admitted it, though her nonchalant shrug was rather unsatisfying.

“I’ll acknowledge that your level exceeds mine. But in terms of victory, that’s a different story. No matter what, you didn’t hit me. Surely you’re not going to make excuses about losing because of that?”
“Of course not. I don’t act in such an unsavory manner.”

Those were my words, but to be honest, if the Mirage Tempest had hit and ended it, that would have been ideal.
Then I wouldn’t have had to accumulate this fatigue in my body.

“You seem to be enjoying this too much, Pasma.”
“That woman is responding well.”

It wasn’t a lie.

I was certainly getting a proper sense of what an S-rank was capable of this time around.
With Incurou, it had felt like I had just scraped by.

“This will be the last round. My arms can’t hold out any longer.”
“I see. Then I’ll just have to slice through that woman’s flames.”

Mana began being drawn into the Unwavering Vengeance he was holding. The Aura’s density increased.

“…A final decisive strike, it seems?”

Watching the deepening color of the Aura, Urkha took a stance.
In turn, flames engulfed Urkha from her shoulders to her arms – a partial manifestation of Ignis.

The scorching heat rising like a spear to the sky elicited groans from the audience seats. Despite the considerable distance, the heat seemed to reach even there.

Of course, being close by, I was in a dire state.

Not knowing how to control mana, if I didn’t have Frost’s Hobby, my skin would have melted from the heat.

“This can’t be blocked.”
“Here I come.”

Pasma and Urkha charged at each other.
They met in the center in less than a second, swinging their swords without hesitation.

The moment their swords clashed, flames erupted into a tornado reaching towards the sky.
The tornado lasted for a few seconds before gradually weakening over time.

“Who won?!”

Dex’s voice rang out from the audience seats.
No one could predict the outcome until they directly confirmed it.

A few seconds of silence.

In the spot where the smoldering flames in the dueling grounds had completely dissipated, Praus stood tall and unwavering.

He silently sheathed his sword and looked down at the fallen Urkha, bleeding on the dueling floor.

From her shoulders to her sides, a perfect sword strike was engraved on her body.

“Praus won!”

Tina cheered, while

“As expected of Lord Praus!”

Iris clenched her fist, and

“Incredible…”

Maria quietly applauded.

“He defeated an S-rank, for real. This is valuable information!”

Dex eagerly scribbled on a paper he had taken out.

Delma didn’t say anything, and Aerial observed with keen interest.

‘Even with Pasma’s power, S-rank adventurers are on par with heroes. It should have been impossible for an ordinary person’s body to defeat her. Perhaps it was the seemingly limitless mana, including that of my weapon, that enabled this victory.’

Aerial analyzed as she watched Praus slowly approach the fallen Urkha.

“He really never fails to surprise me. That’s what makes Praus so interesting.”

She mumbled with a slight smile.

On the other side, the knights couldn’t close their mouths after witnessing the fight between the two.

“So this is what happens when S-ranks clash…?”

One knight spoke in awe. Then the knights who had been dumbstruck slowly started talking too.

“Putting Urkha aside, who exactly is that person? I’ve never seen him before.”
“I’m curious about that too. To keep up with Urkha’s extraordinary movements for so many rounds and not be outmatched in mana either.”
“But how did he shatter the dueling grounds’ wall? I heard those walls have special protection magic, so even Sword Masters struggle to cut through them.”

One knight pointed to the wall destroyed by the Mirage Tempest.

“Well, it couldn’t have been that special then.”
“I suppose so?”
“Even so… Is there really someone who can destroy something like that?”
“…There hasn’t been, until now at least.”
“Ah, so does anyone know who that person is?”
“Apparently someone whose name hasn’t been revealed yet? Not an adventurer or a knight.”
“What? His name isn’t known despite having that much power? Does that make sense?”
“But at this level… Isn’t he stronger than any S-rank?”
“Then what rank would he be? SS-rank?”
“Who knows…”
“Is this going to reshuffle the rankings of S-rank adventurers? Hah. I really want to see more, honestly.”

As if still feeling the lingering tension from the battle, the knights fell silent for a moment.

And the knights’ conversations and admiration on this day would become the catalyst for Praus’s eventual fame.

“Are you alright?”

Cough!
Urkha spat out blood. Taking ragged breaths, she rolled her hazy eyes to look at me.

“Am, Am I alright…?”
“Urkha!!”

Duke Tori hurriedly climbed onto the dueling grounds. In his hands was a top-grade potion.

He cradled the bleeding Urkha and immediately made her drink the potion.

“Drink it, quickly. You’ll die otherwise.”

She gulped it down obediently. When about a third remained, he set the potion down and began tearing her clothes.

It was to apply the potion directly to her wounds.
Seeing the huge gash on her body, he bit his lower lip as he looked at me.

“Did you have to go this far—”
“She was a formidable enough opponent to necessitate going this far.”

I cut off his words with a firm statement.

Originally, the request to defeat an S-rank should have gone to the heroes, not me.

An amateur human like myself wasn’t in a class of existence that could handle such opponents. But due to the rushed timing, I had no choice but to step up.

In the game, this request didn’t start until the year 996 of the Empire, right before Urkha unilaterally cut ties with Aus and left to kill the Emperor.

But I had resolved that request six years earlier.

The likely cause was that I had been called a Sword Master by the adventurers.
After hearing the title of the ‘Sixth Sword Master’, Duke Tori couldn’t have just sat idly by.

In the game, no matter how strong, rumors didn’t spread and events progressed as predetermined. But in reality, every cause was a variable.

That’s why I had tried not to make my name known.
But having defeated the S-rank Urkha, that wish would no longer be fulfilled.

“Just hand me a potion.”
“Here.”

Duke Tori dug into his pocket and handed me a potion, the same grade as the one he had used on her.

He carefully applied the potion to her wounds.
Being a top-grade potion, no scars would remain.

I also gulped down a potion, relieving the body-wide pain from the burns. The muscle aches seemed to improve too.

“Phew…”
Having already regained her strength, Urkha sat up.
Leaving Tori’s embrace, she sat on the dueling floor and looked up at me.

“Urkha, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

She didn’t even spare Tori a glance as she spoke, simply staring intently at me instead. Uncomfortably so.

“Do you have something to say?”
“You still have mana remaining, don’t you?”

I tilted my head at her words.
Was that so? Well, she should be able to sense mana.

“I suppose. So you… were being toyed with from the start?”

…Huh? Why that interpretation?
I… no, Pasma had given it his all, hadn’t he?

“If you had infused more mana into your sword, my blade wouldn’t have been able to withstand it. I wouldn’t have been able to respond to that sword technique that looked like an illusion.”

Was that so? I had barely used any mana, right?

“It was my complete defeat. Haha, like this… I won’t be able to achieve my lifelong goal.”

She sat down dejectedly in front of me, analyzing and passing judgment on the duel herself.
The duel was one thing, but shattering her will was another matter entirely.

“Isn’t that only natural? Did you think you could just do as you pleased because you’re an S-rank adventurer?”
“…What? What did you just say?”
“I mean, don’t waste your life harboring useless thoughts.”

My words startled Duke Tori.

He hadn’t explained to me the reason for subduing Urkha. Yet I seemed to understand that reason, hence his surprise.

“If it was something you could shoulder alone, no one would have to suffer. The goal you have in mind is worthless. Discard it.”

So you can respond when the four Demon Lords invade.

“W-What do you know to say such things?!”
“I mean for you to live and see the day when all races are liberated from slavery and can live equally with humans.”
“!”
“…You’ve suffered enough.”

I stood up. She hurriedly followed, grabbing my arm.

“W-Wait a moment! Praus… just who are you…?”
“What is it?”
“…No.”

She shook her head vigorously.

“More importantly, Praus, you’ve gained the right to do as you please with me. From now on, I’ll follow whatever orders you give, no matter what.”
“Then remain in the Aus domain and protect this city. So the place you live doesn’t get destroyed by the demon race.”
“That’s something I’m already doing.”
“Then that’s settled.”

She said she’s already doing it. What more could I ask for?
I brushed off Urkha’s hand gripping my arm and turned away.

Time for a little rest now.