Chapter 748: Death Match II: Ryo vs Garwin

Editor: Tseirp

On the other side were Ryo and Garwin.

Their opening was quiet as well…

No, was ‘quiet’ really the right word?

Ryo held Murasame in the middle guard stance, his feet spread front and back, just as usual.

Garwin, too, was just as usual, fighting bare-handed with only the gauntlets and greaves he had magically materialised.

(What is this feeling?)

They were both behaving as they always did, yet Garwin felt something was off.

He knew the reason.

It was the Ryo standing before him with his sword drawn.

If he closed his eyes, he would lose all sense that Ryo was there.

That was how little presence he had.

Little presence?

No, that was impossible.

Garwin was a Djinn, a Spellno.

For someone to suppress their presence enough to slip past his senses was beyond what any human could do.

And yet, it was happening.

That was why it felt wrong.

A wrongness born from something impossible actually being possible.

Garwin looked at Ryo again.

(Is he asleep?)

He appeared to have his eyes closed… no, looking closely, his eyelids were slightly open.

Half-lidded eyes.

His gaze did not seem to be fixed on Garwin.

It seemed as though he was not looking at him, and yet…

(No. He is seeing everything about me… That’s how it feels.)

It was not something he could explain logically.

But Garwin recognized it with a certain kind of conviction.

His reason told him,

that he should seize the initiative.

He knew that.

He knew that, but the moment he tried to move his foot, his emotions stopped him.

Why?

He was superior in strength, superior in speed, and probably equal in technique.

As long as he did not let his guard down, there was no reason he could lose.

Of course.

He was a Djinn and Ryo was human.

The difference between them was obvious.

But… his feet would not move.

(Strength? Speed? This isn’t because of some superficial factor like that. Something at the very depths of me, at the very depths of my instincts, is screaming. It’s dangerous.)

An alarm was pounding loudly inside his head.

It was screaming red.

That blue, or perhaps transparent, water-attribute magician standing before him was astonishingly opposite to it.

He let out one sharp breath, but deep, long, and slow.

He steadied his mind.

Garwin, too, had fought many formidable opponents throughout his life.

Naturally, facing a powerful enemy caused his heart to waver.

He had a method for forcibly calming that shaken state of mind… Of course he did.

But…

(The alarm ringing inside my mind won’t disappear. Even so, I have to make a move!)

With Garwin’s lightning-fast charge.

A thrust launched with that speed behind it.

Slash!

His right side was cut deeply open.

Almost simultaneously, the wound began freezing over from the place where it had been cut.

“What!?”

“Secret Sword Art: Freezing Sword.”

Garwin was stunned, while Ryo struck a smug pose.

But…

“<Evaporation>.”

When Garwin chanted it, the frozen ice evaporated in an instant.

“The magic that vaporized <Squall> before…”

“It freezes every time you’re cut, huh? What a nuisance.”

Ryo grimaced after having his ‘Secret Sword Art’ countered, while Garwin also grimaced as he recognized just how troublesome it was.

Once again, Garwin launched himself forward at lightning speed.

An uppercut that rose as though surging up from the ground.

A backfist with his left hand, a hook from the right…

Ryo dodged, dodged, and dodged every one of Garwin’s attacks.

And then, one strike.

“Ugh… <Evaporation>.”

Garwin stopped the freezing and took a large backstep to create some distance.

Garwin’s attacks could not reach Ryo.

But Ryo was landing effective blows on Garwin.

It was clear why.

At that instant, Ryo disappeared from Garwin’s field of vision.

Garwin was being cut by attacks coming from his blind spots.

“What is going on?”

Garwin could not understand why such a thing was happening.

Ryo returned to his usual middle guard, then once again lowered his eyes to a half-lidded state.

Why had Ryo been able to disappear?

Ryo and Garwin had fought once before.

Because of that, Ryo knew Garwin’s habits.

What kind of habits?

He knew where Garwin looked at ‘that moment’ during combat.

By moving while avoiding those points… Ryo appeared to vanish from Garwin’s sight.

For example, the place Garwin looked when throwing a right straight after a left jab.

For example, the place Garwin looked at the instant he began the motion for a right roundhouse kick.

And so on.

Ryo had fought Garwin during the final stage of the Djinn War.

That was why he knew.

In any field, a strong capacity for learning helps oneself.

Something one had experienced once… or remembered seeing before… A situation one had anticipated, one had thought about how one would resolve it…

Whether one is capable of thinking things through with one’s own mind is incredibly important.

Now, a year had passed since then, and Ryo was able to fight from an advantageous position.

Not through strength, not through speed, perhaps not even through technique… Ryo was overturning every disadvantage through his ability to learn.

Perhaps this was showing how a person should fight an opponent who surpassed them in ability… perhaps it was showing what that person could become in the future.

That said, this was a battlefield.

It was a place overflowing with factors capable of changing the situation…

Meanwhile, Abel.

The one he was facing was Oranj.

Yes, only the two of them were fighting. That had not changed.

It had not changed, and yet…

A short distance away, two familiars were quietly watching the battle.

A female-form familiar and a male-form familiar.

Of course, they had no intention of interfering, and there was no sign that they would, but… it bothered Abel.

“Those two familiars are the Four Generals or whatever they’re called, right?”

Because it had been bothering him, Abel asked Oranj as their swords continued to clash.

“Yeah, that’s right. You don’t need to worry. They won’t interfere.”

“I know that. I think highly of your pride as a swordsman. Frankly speaking, I find it admirable.”

“Y-yeah.”

Oranj was surprised to be praised by Abel, his opponent.

When it came to the sword, Abel did not discriminate against anyone.

“Then that only makes it more puzzling. Why have they been watching our battle this whole time?”

“I don’t know. I suppose Garwin-sama ordered them to…”

“They weren’t watching when the battle started.”

“Yeah. At the time, they were watching Garwin-sama’s battle.”

Oranj did not seem to understand it either.

Of course, it had nothing to do with their battle.

It was not as though being watched by someone would make them so nervous that they could no longer bring out their full ability… It was not that kind of situation.

And yet, for some reason, Abel could not help wondering about it.

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