Ice Crystal

"You talk like my old man..." Olyno muttered.

Victor's eyebrows rose in surprise. "What?" 

"No, it doesn't matter anymore."

Without further ado, Olyno took a dash towards Victor, who wasn't surprised by the boy's proactivity. Olyno was a young and athletic man, so it was only natural that he wanted to take advantage of his speed and mobility.

At Olyno's first attack, his sword sliced through the air with a hissing sound and swirled through Victor's hair with a gust of wind as he dodged.

Victor maintained his defensive posture and retreated a few more steps, but Olyno didn't intend to give him any space, so he advanced and tried to attack once more.

Although it hadn't been Victor's idea to fight a nobleman, he was forced to defend himself because Olyno wasn't giving him a choice.

Blocking the second attack, Victor struck back with brute force. He pushed the boy back and had the idea of attacking him with multiple quick strikes, which should work to suffocate Olyno's defense. 

However, just as Victor was about to make his first advance, the duke lowered his sword and held out his right hand. This surprised Kaizen, who was already preparing to strike.

At first, Victor didn't understand why. The situation was different from when Victor had deliberately opened his guard to trick Ardann. 

In Olyno's case, the action of lowering his sword and extending his other hand seemed more like a purposeful gesture, as if he were conjuring something, because it certainly wasn't a plea.

It didn't take long for Victor to notice that it didn't just look like a conjuring gesture, it was.

Victor only had a second to react. 

An instant later, Olyno's palm opened wide and a series of sharp ice stakes formed out of thin air and flew towards Victor

With skill and proficiency, Victor wielded his sword with a precision that few could manage and fended off all the stakes, cutting them down.

The spectators were stunned by this. In combat training, no one had ever managed to cope so well with Olyno's freezing power in this way.

Olyno was also surprised by Victor's ability to react and, given the discovery that Olyno could use ice magic, he advanced to keep him at bay and gain the upper hand. 

Victor advanced nimbly, cutting the space between him and Olyno in no time. His sword sliced through the air to force Olyno to grab the sword with both hands and prevent him from using magic.

The duke dodged the blow with his feet and retaliated with a series of quick attacks. At that moment, their swords clashed at a frenetic pace several times, with sparks flying with each impact.

However, Victor was clearly stronger physically and didn't give his opponent any space, so Olyno backed off and in the small window of opportunity he had, he conjured up a small wall of ice so as not to let Victor gain too much of an advantage. 

Victor wasn't intimidated and with an agile leap he jumped over the ice barrier and launched a downward blow, which Olyno blocked with difficulty. The force of the impact knocked Olyno back several steps, but he recovered quickly, showing his determination to continue the fight.

Victor's fencing was clearly superior, because he hardly made any mistakes thanks to his experience, but even so, the way the two combatants moved around the hall was almost harmonious.

Victor had clear eyesight and used this advantage to anticipate Olyno's attacks, while the duke exploited his magical abilities to attack as well as defend himself.

At one point, Olyno tried to surprise Victor with a blast of ice stakes from three different angles, but the warrior was prepared. He spun his sword in a circular motion, like a wheel, and protected himself from all the attacks. 

"This man is managing to deal easily with the Blessing granted by the Goddess Khione to the young master. How is that possible?"

"Honestly, I don't know... He seems to have dealt with similar things before, because he didn't hesitate or stop to think."

"He must have fought ice mages before. That's the only explanation."

"Ice mage conjurations take time. At best, they take five seconds, but Olyno's attacks form instantly and don't have a magic circle or glow to warn you, because it's a Blessing... Even so, this old man is managing to fight back."

"Indeed, it's frightening. It wasn't luck that he made it to the throne room."

"Can he beat the duke?"

Even as he struggled, Olyno could hear the guards' comments and questions, and he wasn't happy about it. Since he wanted to be king, he couldn't leave any room for doubt in the minds of those who served him, because, as Steegar had taught him, loyalty takes shelter in the absence of questions. If even the guards began to doubt his ability to defeat an enemy, public opinion and the other nobles would be no different.

So Olyno had to give it his all. No, he needed to go even further.

Until this moment, everything seemed to be going in favor of a positive outcome for Victor and Wanda, but the air suddenly became colder, to the point where the hot air coming out of Victor's mouth became visible. 

Victor also felt the course of the battle beginning to change. He was managing to cope with Olyno's speed advantage, but Victor began to feel that he was slowing down, and it wasn't because of the ice. After such an exhausting day, Victor was already at his limit, both physically and psychologically, and he was no longer old enough to force his body to go 'beyond' as Olyno was doing. 

"What is it, Victor?! Don't tell me you're starting to get tired!" Olyno said as their swords met again and they came face to face. 

"Fighting you is not something I want. I didn't come here for that," said Victor, maintaining his mental balance.

"If you don't fight, you'll die!"

"I'm not here to help a boy relieve stress, I just want to save my daughter."

"How dramatic!" shouted Olyno and then they walked away. "Rank-S hasn't even been tried yet! She'll surely be acquitted, because the Hunters' Association would never allow one of their best to be convicted."

"That's not my concern! I just want to make sure that your counselor doesn't manage to kill her before the trial!"

"Don't listen to him, Your Grace! He's just trying to get into your mind to win the battle!" Steegar shouted.

At that moment, Olyno's frown deepened. "What are you talking about? Steegar is a man of integrity and the one I trust most!"

Victor seized the moment and raised his hands, showing that he didn't want to continue fighting, and said:

"Listen to me, kid. Steegar has been working under the radar all this time on things so terrible they would turn even your stomach."

"Your grace, you know it's not true what he says. He's just a mad, desperate man. Kill him and end this night's torment."

"Use wisdom and think for the first time in your life to make the right decision." Victor said.

"He doesn't need to make a decision, you filthy hunter. I was the one who looked after him when his father left, and I, more than anyone, know that he will become King one day, but only if he has me by his side, guiding him through the right steps." 

"Duke, he's wicked and he's been manipulating you ever since-"

"Enough!" ordered Olyno and, at that moment, a freezing cold wave swept through the room, shattering even the glass and turning the floor around Olyno to ice. 

He then raised his head, looked at Victor very angrily and pointed his sword.

"At first, I thought you were an honorable warrior, Victor, but you're trying to use my family against me. Steegar is right, he's the person who's been with me since all the rest of my family left! You could never plant even a shadow of doubt about him in my mind. Trespasser, you don't just deserve death, you deserve to suffer in freezing hell, and I hope your soul never leaves! Goodbye, Victor!"

"Wait!" Victor tried to argue, but it was too late.

Olyno held out his hand and a gale erupted from his fingertips, freezing everything in its path and forming a series of huge ice crystals. Victor had nowhere to run, no way of dealing with such magic with just his sword, but he shielded his face from the gale.

The spectators were frightened by the wind and had to step back and close their eyes because of it. Then, as they began to open their eyes, one by one they saw that half of the throne room had been frozen and in the center of it all was Victor, embalmed in a semi-transparent prism-shaped ice crystal.