Chapter 753: Death Match VII: Leonor vs Garwin

Editor: Tseirp

Akuma Leonor confronted the Djinn Garwin.

“Now then, Spellno, let us fight.”

Leonor drew her sword and stood before Garwin.

Incidentally, Spellno is what the Djinn were called.

The Djinn referred to themselves as Spellno.

The name ‘Djinn’ was apparently given to them by humans…

“You… an Akuma?”

“Indeed.”

Garwin asked with a scowl, and Leonor nodded.

“Why would an Akuma… side with Ryo?”

“Do not misunderstand. I am not on Ryo’s side. Ryo is someone I intend to kill.”

“Huh?”

“I am saying that Ryo is my prey. And you tried to snatch him away from me.”

Leonor paused there.

She glared at Garwin with eyes filled with anger and declared.

“Therefore, I will not forgive you.”

“Akuma or otherwise, if you stand in my way, I will strike you down.”

“Can you?”

“Huh?”

“You are a Spellno, and I am an Akuma. Does that not settle the outcome already?”

At Leonor’s words, Garwin simply glared at her in silence.

“Spellno… certainly, if one thinks about it normally, you are strong. Stronger than vampires, and for some reason, even stronger than the female Phantomkin on the Dark Continent. But you are weaker than us.”

“…”

“You know, do you not? The reason your numbers have dwindled so much.”

“…Because we were ‘eaten’ by dragons and you Akuma.”

“Exactly.”

For the first time, Leonor smiled.

But it was a smile that struck fear into anyone who saw it.

A terrible smile.

“Well, the dragons did it as a form of punishment because you went too far… but we were different.”

“…”

“Hunting you is fun. So we actively hunted you.”

“…”

“Apparently, another Akuma fought a red Spellno recently. It seems the Spellno was sleep-deprived, so they were unable to enjoy it very much. I wonder how you will fare?”

The instant Leonor said that.

Clang!

Closing the distance almost as if teleporting, Leonor unleashed a single horizontal slash.

Garwin caught Leonor’s slash on his gauntlet.

The next instant…

“<Howling>“

The moment Leonor chanted it, Garwin’s left shoulder burst apart.

“Ughuaa!”

Garwin leapt far backward to put some distance between them.

His shattered shoulder immediately began to regenerate.

But there was an expression plastered across Garwin’s face… anger and confusion.

“That was a dragon’s technique!”

“Oh? You know it well, Spellno. That is a technique they use often. As long as this exists, you Spellno can never defeat dragons.”

Garwin shouted, while Leonor laughed mockingly.

“A technique that makes use of the ‘vibrations inherently possessed by living creatures’. Apparently, dragons and Spellno are an absolutely terrible match. How pitiful.”

Leonor did not feel the slightest bit sorry for them.

One of the techniques that made dragons such a terrible match for Spellno like Garwin was the <Howling> Leonor just unleashed.

However, even Garwin, despite his long life, had never heard of anyone other than a dragon using <Howling>.

“Why can you, an Akuma, use that technique?”

“I saw it once before. I decided to try it myself, and it worked.”

“What is that supposed to mean…”

Garwin’s voice was almost a groan.

It was no exaggeration to call Dragons the pinnacle of all living species.

Even Garwin did not believe he could absolutely defeat one… and that was against an ordinary dragon.

Naturally, if he were to face the Dragon Kings, the apex of dragons… he would not last even ten seconds.

They were an unreasonable existence in every sense of the word.

An Akuma could use a dragon’s technique like that?

“If it’s just imitating them, I can manage quite a lot. Why don’t you give it a try as well?”

“Yeah right!”

“Rejecting it without even trying is an absolute waste.”

Having said that, Leonor opened her eyes wide and chanted.

“<Dragon Fang>“

Five claws that tore through space.

As a matter of course, Garwin’s body was torn apart along with the space itself.

He rapidly regenerated once again, but the expression plastered across his face was no longer anger and confusion, but fear and confusion.

As the name of the technique made clear, that was a dragon’s technique.

“Not just <Howling>, but <Dragon Fang>, too…”

“I told you, did I not? If all I do is imitate them, I can manage quite a lot. Of course, compared to the real Dragon Kings, the output is far too weak, but against Spellno, it is more than enough.”

Leonor laughed again.

Her laughter now carried a feral quality.

“Unlike Jean-Jacques, I will not hold back. Spellno, I am going to crush you with everything I have.”

“…Then do it, if you can!”

Garwin’s bravado… yes, bravado that Garwin himself was consciously putting on.

He was being driven so far into a corner mentally that he had no choice but to do so.

To Spellno… dragons were said to be the absolute worst possible match for Djinns.

And somehow, an Akuma could use the techniques of such dragons.

First of all, that alone made no sense.

The target he must defeat was an Akuma… an opponent that the Spellno had been fighting for tens of thousands of years.

Garwin himself had never fought an Akuma before.

However, he did recognize that they were an opponent difficult to defeat.

Exactly. Akumas were astonishingly strong even without using dragon techniques.

“<Dragon Fang>, which tears through space. Is not space magic one of the techniques you Spellno excel at? You may retaliate without holding back, you know?”

“You vermin…”

Leonor taunted him, and the fear and confusion were blown away from Garwin, replaced by anger.

“Then take this! <Excitation>“

The instant Garwin chanted it, Leonor’s head… did not get crushed.

“Impossible!”

“Hm? Did you do something, Spellno?”

Garwin opened his eyes wide in shock, while Leonor laughed with a devilish chuckle.

“So you still have not understood the phenomenon known as dimensional interference. The Spellno’s slow learning ability is fatal. At this rate, Ryo may be the one to master dimensional magic first.”

“What the hell are you talking about? None of that makes any sense!”

“That, exactly. Refusing something simply because you do not understand it is a mistake. Ryo will try to understand things he does not understand.”

“…”

“That is what makes Ryo so remarkable. The fact that I have lost to him twice was not a coincidence.”

“You… an Akuma, lost twice?”

Garwin asked incredulously, still in shock.

“It is not just me. Many Akumas have lost to Ryo.”

“Sure, that guy is a monster in a sense, but… he is still human, isn’t he?”

“As long as you recognize ‘that thing’ as human, you will never defeat him.”

“Then what the hell is ‘that thing’?!”

“‘That thing’ is Ryo.”

“…Huh?”

“‘Ryo’ is simply some kind of existence that I cannot understand.”

“I see.”

Garwin somehow found himself convinced by Leonor’s absurd argument.

Poor Ryo, being subjected to such awful discussions.

But since he couldn’t hear them, he had no way to object.

“I will win next time. That defeat was for that purpose. It was nothing significant.”

Leonor said it decisively with a clear smile.

She was aware that she had been growing stronger little by little.

Seeing Leonor like that, a certain Djinn made a decision.

“I will defeat Ryo. So I will not lose to you either… even if you are an Akuma.”

Until now, Garwin had been overwhelmed by Leonor and lacked confidence subtly, but now he said it with such force that it was as though he was dispelling it all away.

“I like that spirit. Come at me.”

Leonor gave a sharp grin.

“I’ll crush that condescending attitude of yours!”

With that, Garwin dove straight in, wearing gauntlets on his hands and foot guards on his feet.

“Oh? Fists and kicks.”

Leonor blocked Garwin’s attacks with her sword.

The shorter the weapon, the faster the attack.

For the Djinn, the shortest weapon of all would be his own body.

Punches, kicks.

A weapon shorter than even a sword, shorter than a knife.

The speed of successive strikes left every other weapon behind.

Thus, the battle took the form of Garwin attacking and Leonor defending.

Of course, it wasn’t as though Leonor was unable to attack at all.

It had been a long time since she fought the race called Spellno.

She wanted to check various things for herself.

After a while…

“Yeah, I understand more or less.”

“What?”

“Can I counterattack now?”

“Don’t screw with me! Go ahead and try, if you can!”

The instant Garwin said that.

Garwin’s right fist struck Leonor’s sword… and vanished.

“Ughuoo!”

With a cry of pain, Garwin took several large steps back and regenerated his lost right arm.

Yeah, the Djinn could regenerate.

But even so, losing an arm hurts… the pain was no different from that of humans.

Leonor grinned at the sight.

“Oops, when I put <Howling> on the sword, it ate your arm. Looks like I can put it anywhere on my body.”

“That’s ridiculous…”

“Ridiculous or not, I just did it, did I not? Oh, that’s right, my apologies. There, now I have properly apologized.”

Leonor gave not the slightest impression that she actually felt sorry.

Naturally, Garwin understood that as well.

He gritted his back teeth.

“Why don’t you give up on your fists and take up a sword? I have been practicing with a sword lately. I want to see how much progress I have made, so indulge me for a bit.”

“Quit fuckin’ with me.”

Leonor invited him to fight, but Garwin continued to scowl.

Certainly, Garwin was at an impasse.

If his attack lands, the part of his body that made contact disappears because of <Howling>.

If he does not land a hit, he cannot win, and if he does land one, he loses something.

What the hell was he supposed to do?

“UOOOOOOOH!”

Garwin charged in without thinking and punched Leonor in the face.

His fist vanished.

Everything from his wrist to his shoulder burst apart.

“Ughhaah”

Excruciating pain shot through his entire right arm.

“I see, I see. So that is what happens when you layer <Howling> with <Dragon Fang>.”

“Sunnavadevil…”

“The fist that makes contact disappears with <Howling>, while the arm behind it is torn apart by <Dragon Fang> and blasted away. Quite a vicious defense.”

“Neither of those is a defensive technique.”

Leonor nodded as she analyzed the result, while Garwin glared at her with hatred.

Both <Howling> and <Dragon Fang> were offensive techniques used by dragons.

But Garwin had never heard of anyone wrapping them around their body and using them as defensive techniques.

“Ryo is good at defense. Thinking about that, I wondered what I would do in his place, and this came to me. I wondered what would happen if I wrapped myself in those two.”

“So again… you thought of something and tried it, is that what you’re saying?”

“Indeed. Imagining things is very interesting.”

“Dammit…”

Perhaps it was precisely because Leonor was the kind of individual even other Akuma call ‘incomprehensible,’ ‘nonsensical,’ and ‘a genuine monster’.

“Fine, I’ll fight you with a sword.”

At this point, even Garwin had no choice but to accept it.

That ‘I cannot touch the Akuma standing before me’.

A sword was suddenly in Garwin’s hand, though there was no telling where it came from.

“I refuse to end this while being looked down upon.”

Those words were not spoken with any particular vigor.

Rather, it would be more accurate to say that they were squeezed out of Garwin’s mouth.

“Is that sword and stance sufficient?”

“Yeah. Come!”

Leonor asked with a smile, and Garwin responded.

Leonor stepped in all at once and swept her sword horizontally.

Garwin took the sword head-on and was blown backward along with his entire body.

He was sent flying a good five meters.

Of course, he caught Leonor’s sword with his own, and being blown backward like that did not injure him.

But apparently, he had a complaint.

“Weren’t you practicing swordsmanship? There’s no technique or anything to it!”

“That was to check my strength. Don’t worry about it.”

Leonor answered the complaining Garwin with a cool expression.

“Next is speed.”

The instant she said that… Garwin’s arms were both slashed off.

“What the hell was that?”

Garwin hurriedly backstepped to create some distance and regenerated both arms.

Of course, the instant his arms were cut off, excruciating pain raced through them, but the surprise was greater than the pain.

“I couldn’t even see the sword flash, let alone see you land in front of me…”

“Of course. Close combat is a contest over distance. Since the key is how to fight within your own range, invading the opponent’s distance when attacking is important, is it not?”

Leonor looked pleased with herself.

“I know that…”

“Want the specifics? I slipped right in and slashed. Pretty impressive, wasn’t it?”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

Had Ryo been listening, he would undoubtedly have said:

“This is why geniuses are not suited to teaching”.

“If even a Spellno cannot react, I would say it is fairly decent.”

Leonor looked quite satisfied with herself.

Spellno… in other words, Djinn, unquestionably have faster reaction speeds than humans.

If even a Djinn couldn’t react, then perhaps she might be able to reach Ryo.

“No, I must not think of Ryo as human.”

She remembered the words she herself spoke only moments earlier.

“Now, I’ll move on to technique.”

With that, Leonor began swinging her sword at Garwin.

Clang, clang, clang…

Downward strikes, rising cuts, diagonal slashes, reverse diagonals, right sweeps, left sweeps…

She swung her sword as though checking every sword movement physically possible.

It wasn’t especially fast… no, of course, compared to a sword wielded by a human, the difference was immeasurable, but compared to the ‘speed’ with which Garwin could not even discern her physical movement earlier, it was fair to call it slow.

But there was no roughness or wavering in it whatsoever.

It was not swordsmanship that relied on her innate strength or abilities.

Even Garwin could tell that it was a sword forged through relentless effort… no, a sword that continued to be forged through effort even now.

“Spellno, you may counterattack.”

“I know that!”

Leonor said with a laugh, and Garwin shouted back angrily.

Garwin had also been watching for an opportunity to counterattack.

Her speed wasn’t as great as it was when both of his arms were cut off earlier.

So…

And yet, he couldn’t find an opening for a counterattack.

(The sword combinations are unbelievably smooth… There’s no opening.)

It wasn’t merely about strength, nor speed.

It was technique steadily built up through continual effort.

It made no difference whether one was an Akuma, a Djinn, or a human.

It meant sincerely wielding the sword.

For some reason, feeling something akin to frustration, Garwin continued taking Leonor’s sword strikes.

“Good, I’ll increase my strength and speed a little.”

Leonor declared.

“Wait…”

Garwin said hurriedly, and the next instant.

The sword he had been blocking just as before was knocked upward.

He hurriedly tried to recover his stance, but it was too late.

His right arm was cut off.

With the returning stroke, his left arm was cut off.

Then his right leg, his left leg… and finally, his head was cut off.

A Djinn wouldn’t die even if its head was cut off.

Even if reduced to pieces so small they were barely visible, it would regenerate.

Even so, being cut still hurts.

“I said wait!”

“You have to say it louder. I cannot hear you while we are fighting.”

Garwin regenerated and shouted, while Leonor shrugged.

“What? You already cannot adapt to that level of strength and speed?”

“You arrogant bastard.”

“I think Ryo would be able to adapt to something like that. Do you not agree?”

“…It’s possible.”

Garwin reluctantly had no choice but to agree with Leonor.

Both of them had fought Ryo before.

With magic and with a sword.

He was someone who must not be viewed within the framework of ‘human’… a creature called ‘Ryo’ who is not human.

When he thought of him that way, it did seem possible that he would adapt.

“That guy… Ryo is good at incorporating magic into his swordsmanship.”

“Yes, he certainly is.”

Leonor nodded emphatically in agreement with Garwin’s recollection.

“That technique where he sprayed water from his back and moved all at once was troublesome.”

“He also had a sword that froze us every time it touched us.”

“A combat style that fused swordsmanship and magic to that degree is not something you see very often.”

“Richard also once used close combat that fused swordsmanship and magic, but its level of completion was comparable.”

Leonor and Garwin’s hands have stopped.

Before they knew it, they had begun discussing how to fight Ryo.

“I prefer close combat where I can look into the opponent’s eyes and fight at a distance where I can feel their breath, rather than long-range magic battles.”

“Yeah, that kind gives me more of a thrill.”

“Good. Spellno, I have decided to end my battle with you and fight Ryo instead.”

“What does that mean?”

“I am going to cut you to pieces and make you disappear.”

“Don’t screw with me!”

Garwin leapt far backward.

But it was too late.

Before he could land, a single horizontal slash cut off both of Garwin’s legs.

From there, a flurry of strikes too fast for the eye to follow.

When Leonor sheathed her sword… just as she declared, Garwin had disappeared.

“Then regenerate somewhere else.”

Did Garwin hear Leonor say that?

For now, Garwin did not regenerate at that spot… and Oranj, the Phantom troops, and every one of his retainers had all disappeared as well.

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