章節 21: Chapter 21 - Luke vs Margaret.
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(POV Elizabeth)
Today, when I arrived at the empress's office in the morning, I found her wearing a different outfit than usual. Usually, she likes to wear a lighter dress, so she can work more freely. Today, she is wearing an outfit that she usually wears to events. An outfit worn by generals, which while being elegant, commands respect. This outfit that the empress is wearing enhances her beauty, exposing the curves of the empress's body. I don't like women, not my type. However, I cannot help but admire the beauty of the empress.
"Margaret, what made you change your style like that?"
I've been at the Empress's side for a long time. She recruited me while still at the imperial academy, when the two of us first met. Like anyone else in the empire, I agreed to be her right-hand man. Who wouldn't want to be the right-hand man of the future empress? After becoming her vassal, I always acted in a formal manner, showing respect. However, over time things changed.
When it's just the two of us, I'm allowed to refer to her by name and act in a more relaxed, informal way. It was the empress herself who suggested this idea. According to the empress, she would like to have a person who treats her without preference or who talks to her without fear. A person she could act more relaxed with, that is, she wanted a friend. In the end, I, the person who spent the most time with the empress, became her friend.
However, I always kept in mind the times I should act as her friend and the times I should act her vassal. I know the empress, and she knows me, I know when she has something in mind by her expressions and attitudes. However, today I have no idea what she's planning.
"Today I intend to train Luke."
"What? Why?"
"I don't remember when was the last time someone made my blood boil. Yesterday, after I heard the information about that girl's village... The saint, what's her name again?"
"Angelica."
"That's right. After learning that he fought a demon, which was considered of high rank by the analysts, and after feeling the progress of his magical power, I felt my blood boil."
"Do you intend to see how strong he has become?"
"Exactly."
I feel the same way. The last time I had a duel with Luke was on the first day of training. Compared to his magic power now, back then it was much weaker. If I'm not mistaken, he was Rank-B or Rank-A. When compared to S rank, the previous magic powers are considered weak. After taking the demon's body to the analysts, they stated that it was a high-ranking demon.
Like Margaret, I could feel the advance of Luke's magical power. I knew that he had gotten stronger, but I never imagined that he would have the strength to defeat a high-ranking demon. When I learned that, the curiosity to know what Luke's current strength is taking over me. I intended to do that in today's training, proposing a fight. However, the empress has aroused the same curiosity as me and intends to do what I wanted.
The morning passed and his training time finally arrived. The empress and I went to the training arena. The arena of the imperial palace is open, letting in the hot sun. I suddenly felt an urge to go to the bathroom. The time I spent was enough for Luke to arrive. The Empress, got right to the point by challenging Luke. Well, she wasn't kind with words.
"Hahaha, I wouldn't say a duel. I can't see you even hurting me, it would be more of a test of survival."
I looked at Luke, who had his head down for a moment. It was for a moment that he had his head down. When he raised his head, his eyes glowed purple and a terrifying aura emerged from his body. I believe he was very pissed off at the empress's speech, disrespecting him. I never imagined him to be this proud. But what caught my attention was his eyes.
Luke's eyes were fierce and had a different glow. It was as if he was excited to fight against the empress, as if he accepted the challenge, and this challenge made his fighting spirit ignite. Seeing Luke's appearance, the empress took a step back and made a more serious expression. I would act like that too. After all, Luke appears to be a threat. But from my experience, I know that I can't judge my opponent by appearance, the empress knows that too.
In this way, she preferred to stay serious. But even though Luke looks menacing, I know the empress won't lose. In reality, Luke has no chance of even scratching her. I looked at Luke again and saw him taking the sword from the storage ring. Then he wasted no time and dashed towards the empress, initiating an attack.
Seeing Luke go towards her, the empress jumped back and used the [fire arrow] spell, making Luke dodge to the side. Around the empress, several magic circles appeared and a series of fireballs shot towards Luke. Realizing that he was cornered, Luke began to spin his body, slashing at the fireballs that came towards him.
However, Luke's situation did not ease. The empress, who was away from Luke and with her hand in her pockets, cast another series of spells in his direction. A mixture of fireball and fire arrows approached Luke. Without many alternatives, Luke jumped back and rolled on the ground, getting dirty. The empress's spells hit where Luke was. This is one of the reasons why the empress is considered one of the strongest people in the empire, she has a lot of magic power and is very easy to produce magic.
She fights using her best abilities. She can form magic circles with ease and cast very powerful spells on top of the opponent, overwhelming the opponent. That's what is happening now. Luke is unable to attack because the empress suffocates him by casting one spell after another, making her have an advantage over Luke.
Again, the empress cast spells in Luke's direction. The spells were closing in, but Luke didn't move. Suddenly, Luke disappeared. Using my heightened reflexes, I saw Luke moving towards the arena wall and like a bolt of lightning heading towards the empress. He used the skill [Footsteps of the Hydra God] to dodge the spells, running towards the arena wall. Afterwards, he jumped onto the wall and using momentum, he headed towards the empress.
Margaret, took a step back and used [fire curtain], a defensive spell. A barrier of fire was formed in front of the empress, preventing Luke from seeing Margaret. Luke, cut the spell. However, it missed the empress, who moved behind Luke. She uses this spell precisely for that, to block the opponent's vision and moves behind his back.
[fireball]
This time, Luke couldn't dodge, and the fireball hit him in the back. Luke, who received the spell, looked at the empress with a confused look. He doesn't know it, but the empress has a kind of sensor that captures all the magical powers around her. When Luke moved at high speed, she knew exactly where he was due to his magical power. She is aware of everything around her, she is never caught off guard.
Once again, Luke used the ability to increase his speed. This time, he started moving all over the place, trying to catch the empress off guard. But just like the last time, the empress moved behind Luke and hit him with a spell. Luke is a great warrior, however, the empress's fighting style nullified all his attack alternatives. The only way to attack he found was failure.
The empress looked at Luke with a relaxed look, as if to say: what are you going to do now? Seeing the challenge approaching, Luke focused a lot of magic power into the sword, so he slammed the sword into the ground, cracking the ground beneath him. Afterwards, he injected magic power into the ground and used it to lift several boulders. Baffled by Luke's actions, the empress tilted her head in confusion. Luke, after lifting several medium-sized stones, threw the stones in the direction of the empress.
I was impressed. I never imagined that Luke would have such great control of his magical power. He kind of injected magic power into the stones and used it to lift the rocks, then throw them towards the empress. The empress, seeing the stones approaching, sighed and used a spell to destroy them all. Afterwards, she pointed magic circles in Luke's direction. However, he wasn't in front of her. For the first time, the empress's expression changed.
Luke must have used the previous move to find out how the empress was able to keep up with him. Afterwards, he completely hid his magical power, making it impossible for the empress to sense his presence.
"I got you."
Behind the empress, was Luke. For the first time in the battle, he was close to the empress. Luke, having hidden his magic power, couldn't use his abilities. Due to this, he had to attack only by swinging his sword. Margaret, sensing the imminent danger, made a movement of her feet and jumped back, just as Luke swung his sword. Next, she used one of her strongest spells, [Inferno]. A ground of fire appeared at Luke's feet and a pillar of fire originated.
At the end of the spell, Luke fell to the ground, unconscious and burned. The empress sighed, but suddenly, blood flowed from her cheek. A small cut was made in Luke's last attack. The empress ran her thumb, wiping away the blood, and smiled.
"That fight wasn't even funny. You didn't let him use his skill at any point. I wanted to see how strong those sword skills of his got, but you didn't give him space to do that."
"Still, it exceeded my expectations. I can't remember the last time someone hurt me... Coof... Coof."
Suddenly, the empress began to cough. Despite going to the doctor, no problems were found, and this has me worried. I hope everything will be okay. After finishing a series of coughs, the empress used her magical power to lift Luke into the air.
"I'll take you to the infirmary. Call the restorers to fix the arena."
"Yes ma'am."
Margaret left with Luke.
....
(POV Margaret.)
Walking with Luke through the palace halls, I cough again. The palace doctors said I had nothing, but lately I've been feeling more tired than usual.
"Everything will be fine."
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票