With Al collapsed in the ground, the result of the battle had been decided.
The headmistress checked on him before shooting me a surprised look. She could see that Al was not injured in the slightest and his mana was still enough to continue fighting.
However, his body had lost all its strength and he could only lay on the floor shivering.
As a matter of fact, his injuries were not physical. No, I had used my sword intent to crush his spirit and plant a seed of fear in his mind. From today onwards, Al will have nightmares every time he thinks about me.
The more he hates me, the greater his fear will be until his fear consumes him completely.
Hmm, nothing better to improve one's mood that crushing someone's spirit. I even feel that the sun is brighter and the day is warmer. How wonderful.
When the headmistress took Al out of the arena, Louise hurriedly checked on him. She quickly realized he was uninjured besides some bruises and looked at me gratefully.
From her perspective, I had avoided injuring her brother even although I could have finished the fight faster otherwise. Plus, she had seen how her brother insulted me, but I always replied politely.
Besides gratefulness, Louise's heart was sweet. The fact that I, as her lover, overlooked the behavior of her brother and acted mercifully made her even more certain that I was the right one.
I smiled towards her and mouthed the words 'don't worry'. Unfortunately, I started to feel an ice-cold look in my back.
Looking back, I saw Dina smiling sweetly and mouthing some words.
'You need to give me an explanation.'
Sigh, it looks like having a harem is not so easy after all.
After Al's defeat, the crown prince's team only had two contestants left. One was the crown prince, Alan, himself; and the other was a sixth-layer practitioner named Kyle.
The headmistress gestured at my brother to send the next person. Alan nodded and Kyle stood up.
But before he could step on the arena, Alan stopped him.
"Be careful of Claus. He… He is not simple."
"Your highness?" Kyle was surprised.
"Don't be fooled by his cultivation. You felt his sword intent just now, it was the sharpest and purest sword intent I have felt in my life. Worthy of his nickname of sword fanatic. Moreover, it's widely known that Claus has a powerful secret teacher. We don't know what techniques that teacher taught him."
Kyle furrowed his brows and nodded. "Don't worry, I'll be careful"
"Kyle, you need to win this fight." Alan's expression was incredibly serious. "Even if you can't win, make sure of bringing Claus down with you. I'm confident in defeating Dina, but if I have to fight Claus too, things will be different. We can't afford to lose here. No, I can't afford to lose here!"
Kyle wrinkled his brows. He thought that Alan was exaggerating, but he nodded anyway. Being a bit careful could not hurt him.
I heard their conversation from the arena and I could not help but be amused. It looks like this brother of mine is rather wary of me.
Well, I had thwarted some of his plans recently, so I'm sure he had started to feel threatened.
Alan was not a fool. He had already realized that I was probably the greatest threat to his rule. Due to it, he was very careful every time it was related to me.
Even when he had planned for my death in the school expedition, he still kept his wariness. He did not want to be dealt an unexpected blow when he was sure of his victory.
After my brother's words, Kyle walked slowly toward the arena. He was not hurried or tense in the slightest. In fact, he seemed more like someone coming for a stroll than someone who was going to fight a duel.
When he stepped on the stage, he unsheathed his weapon, a rapier, and bowed towards me.
"Prince Claus, it's an honor to fight you."
I nodded. "I have heard of you. Kyle Rein, the [Dancing Blade]. It's said that your fencing techniques have reached the pinnacle that every swordsman desires to see."
Kyle shook his head indifferently. "Prince Claus is overpraising me. My fencing is nothing compared to Prince Claus, The [Sword Fanatic]. You are publicly recognized like the best when it comes to swordsmanship in the younger generation."
Suddenly, Kyle's eyes narrowed and he smiled. "I'm truly curious about such swordsmanship."
"Same here."
With our talk finished, both of us looked at the headmistress.
Evelyn smiled. She raised her hand and...
"Start!"
... Signaled the start of the fight.
Kyle made the first move. His rapier shook briefly before piercing towards me.
With just one step, he covered the distance between us. Just a moment ago, he was standing on the other side of the stage, and now, he was already in front of me.
I praised his movement technique sincerely. How expected of a fifth-year student chosen by the crown prince, his means are not something normal students can imitate.
Before his sword could reach me, I responded with my own move.
[Quickdraw]!
Faster than Kyle's rapier, my sword let the sheath and slashed towards him. Kyle only noticed my attack when my sword was about to touch his neck.
His response was immediate. He did not hesitate to forsake his attack and crouch down. He then retracted his rapier and executed a basic fencing move, lunge.
His attack was nothing short of perfect. The fact that he was acclaimed as having reached the pinnacle of fencing was demonstrated with this move.
But his apparently perfect move was full of flaws in my eyes. I simply raised my sword, slightly touched his rapier and changed my move into a thrust.
Then, Kyle's rapier passed helplessly beside my head but my sword appeared on his neck.
"!!!"
Kyle opened his eyes wide. He leaned his head aside and jumped back. Instantly, he was a few meters away.
I chuckled. "As expected of the [Dancing Blade]. I was planning to end the fight with this attack."
Kyle frowned. He brought his hand to his neck and felt something hot on it.
Blood.
Although he managed to evade my attack, I had left a small cut on his neck.
...
Well, we are back to one chapter daily. This is the eighth chapter of the week, so one chapter tomorrow and one chapter sunday makes ten chapters. Pretty nice, right?
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