Chapter 64

Martha Zieghart was thinking about Raon's instruction as she ran ahead.

"You aren't good at dealing with the defensive sword formation. It's best to change your opponent."

'I'll never do that!'

She swore immediately as he told her to run away from her opponents. Raon wasn't surprised, nodding as if he knew she would say that.

"Then I'll give you different instructions. Break the sword formation."

"The sword formation?"

"The opponent's sword formation isn't perfect. No, it can't be perfect since they are just trainees."

"In what way are they not perfect?"

"They stopped you by gathering nine people's auras together. Which means that the aura has moved within the sword formation."

"Which means…"

"That's right. If you aim for that moment, you can break the sword formation in your current state, even when you've already spent a lot of your aura."

Chills ran down her spine upon hearing that.

'What is that guy?'

Despite having just been sitting there, he noticed the enemy's weaknesses and told her how to defeat them. He really looked like a monster.

"Rather than weakness, I want to win against them head on."

Since she didn't want to get overwhelmed by Raon's words, she spoke without thinking.

"Yes. You can win against them after recovering your strength and aura, since you are outstanding. However, do you think you can do it right now?"

She obviously wasn't able to respond. She couldn't imagine herself winning against those high-stamina monsters in her current exhausted state.

"Like I said, this isn't a one-on-one spar, but a team competition. Make your choice right now. Are you to choose your pride, resulting in an uncertain victory, or are you going to choose the team's victory?"

Martha stood up in silence upon hearing that.

'I would've ignored something like that before.'

Her arrogant self from before she lost to Raon would've kept fighting no matter what he told her.

However, she'd already experienced defeat once, and she could experience it a second time now. It was better to win no matter what, rather than losing.

'His name was Dunn.'

She could see that Dunn guy that she'd fought before from afar. His rock-solid pressure was the same as before. She wanted to break through it with her fist, but she held herself back by gritting her teeth.

"Did you come back despite knowing that you can't win against us? How stupid."

"You'll get hurt if you just say whatever you want."

'Just like me, before.'

Martha kicked off from the ground and dashed towards Dunn.

"Fourth formation!"

The trainees from behind came up next to him and gathered their aura.

"Hmph!"

Instead of striking the sword that she raised upwards, she spread her perception.

She could feel the sixth training ground trainees' aura gathering around Dunn.

'It's really slow.'

It was just like Raon had said. Since they were dealing with a large amount of aura, the movement was as slow as a snail.

"Hmph!"

Martha inhaled heavily and turned to the right.

"Pointless!"

Dunn turned around and stood in front of her. It was the same development as before, but there was a difference.

Martha, who used to brainlessly swing her sword, pummeled her sword down at Dunn's right flank, where the aura wasn't gathered yet.

Wham!

The two swords clashed, creating a powerful wave.

Martha was pushed back by the impact, but Dunn and the trainees' sword formation that used to be as solid as a deep-rooted tree also wavered significantly.

"Kuh!"

"Kuu…"

Dunn and the trainees groaned, then fixed the wavering sword formation.

Martha's eyes shone like black pearls.

'He was right!'

It was just like Raon had said. The place that the aura hadn't gathered yet had a significantly weaker defense than the other places.

"This really was a breakthrough."

Martha smirked.

Was it because the breakthrough was too easy?

It wasn't. Raon Zieghart had noticed the sword formation's weakness, sitting at the foothold with the flag. It was because she was frightened by his monstrosity.

"Don't be arrogant just because you've come out ahead once!"

"Once? Stop making me laugh! It's every time from now on!"

Martha pounced with a battle cry.

She moved to the left while pretending to attack, then she swung her sword towards Dunn's lower body, where the aura didn't move in time.

Wham!

Dunn quickly swung his sword in response, but his upper body wavered significantly and the trainees in the sword formation bounced out of formation.

"It's over now!"

Emanating a beast-like pressure, Martha pounced at Dunn.

Burren spun the wrist holding his sword and raised his head.

Decal, who was one of the best collateral trainees, was glaring fiercely at him.

'I lost against him before.'

Decal and the seven trainees attacked him at once, and since they'd used the 'Intuition Sword' that countered his swordsmanship, he couldn't find any way of winning.

The other guys couldn't help him either because of the difference in numbers, so he kept getting pushed back.

They weren't lying when they said they had thoroughly planned in preparation to defeat the fifth training ground.

'I'm not going to lose like before.'

Retreating once was enough. He was going to beat them all up, even if he had to collapse as a result.

"For the famous Burren Zieghart to run away, I guess numbers really do decide the battle."

Decal grinned.

"Please, fight us until the end like a real swordsman this time!"

At his signal, the trainees behind him rushed at him like a plague of rats.

"Haa!"

Decal himself penetrated at the center, swinging his sword.

The eight people's swords weren't in harmony, but every single one of them were aimed at a weakness.

"Huff!"

Burren gathered his aura to use his footwork. Moving to the side like flowing water, he used the 'Phenomenal Sword'.

His sword was bent towards Decal on his right side.

"Do it now!"

"Attack him at once!"

The moment Burren started his attack, the trainees that learned the 'Intuition Sword' rushed at him.

However, that was a trap laid down by Burren.

Wham!

The training sword that was aimed at Decal curved like a crescent moon and hit the wrists and chests of the trainees that were coming at him.

"Kuh!"

"Argh!"

In the blink of an eye, two trainees were rolling on the ground, grabbing their wrists and chests. Their conditions were so bad, it was safe to consider them eliminated.

"Hmph!"

Burren didn't stop swinging his sword. Using the River Footwork, he kept moving and swung the 'Phenomenal Sword'.

Because his large motion used his entire shoulder, the three trainees instinctively counterattacked, aiming for that opening.

'Get baited.'

Burren's blue eyes sparkled. Bending his elbow naturally, he stuck the incoming trainees' chest without reservation.

Whack!

Three trainees were sent away flying in a single strike.

"Kuh!"

"Ugh…"

The one that was hit at the end managed to stand back up, but the other two had already fainted.

"D-damn it!"

Decal chased him, but it was too late since Burren had already stepped aside.

"Wh-what happened?! Why are you suddenly mixing in feints?!"

"That's what I'm saying."

Burren frowned.

'How can it change this much from just mixing in feints?'

'Intuition Sword' was a swordsmanship that relied on instinct instead of being systematic. The trainees that were still immature had no choice but to splash around, baited by the feints.

'But how did he even realize that?'

He was certain Raon didn't move from that place. The perception and knowledge of the guy that observed the entire situation from his seat gave him goosebumps.

'Martha must be feeling the same way right now.'

He was sure that Martha, who was fighting further down, must've been thinking the same thing.

'He's like an onion.'

Raon showed him another side of himself just when he thought he finally understood him. Just like an onion, new layers kept coming out upon peeling him open.

"It's not over yet!"

"Haaa!"

Decan dashed at him, gritting his teeth. The three other trainees did the same.

Whoosh!

Burren thrust his sword forward. It was a powerful strike, multiple openings could be seen in his big motion.

"It's a feint. Don't pay attention to it! Huh?"

Decal's eyes were wide. He was planning to ignore it, but the trajectory of Burren's sword didn't change.

"It's a real one this time!"

"N-no way!"

He tried to defend against it, but it was already too late.

Wham!

Taking the powerful strike, Decal's training sword broke and his body was sent back flying.

"The fight is already over."

Looking at the remaining trainees, Burren's eyes glowed.

"It's our victory."

As long as that monster existed, there was no way the fifth training ground could lose.

***

"Wh-what is this?!"

Metun's eyes were about to pop out of his head as he watched the sixth training ground trainees lose at the same time.

"What is happening?"

He could understand one side starting to lose. However, top, center, and bottom were all being pushed back at the same time against the opponents they'd won against.

"I told you already, the battle isn't over yet."

Rimmer, who was lying down next to him, murmured provokingly while yawning

"You must've done something!"

"I didn't do anything, but Raon did."

"What?"

"Before you came to watch, Raon gave them advice. And that worked."

"Are you saying a mere trainee's advice changed the situation this much?"

"It's because he's not a mere trainee. He's Raon."

Rimmer smirked and pointed at Raon, who was protecting the flag on his own.

"Some trainees don't follow him, and some dislike him. However, they all trust his power and decision making. I think they'll start following his words like a god's voice."

"Hmm…"

Metun groaned. That meant he was trusted by the others.

However, rather than the fact that he was trusted, the way his advice significantly changed the tide of the battle was more surprising.

"What was the advice?"

"Are you curious? If you are, then give me the gold… Ah, alright."

Rimmer waved his hand, noticing Metun's stiffened expression.

"Firstly, about the top…"

He told Metun about the advice Raon gave the trainees.

"That's crazy…"

Metun's fingers trembled.

'How can a trainee give such advice?'

It was a perfect walkthrough, without a single flaw.

However, what was more surprising was the fact that he'd noticed all those weaknesses by only using his perception.

Rimmer was correct. The arrogant one wasn't Raon, but himself.

He deserved the praise of having a better perception than Kein.

'However.'

Watching Kein, who had started his move, Metun smiled confidently.

'The match isn't over yet.'

***

Raon, who was sitting under the flag, opened his eyes.

'They are all doing pretty well.'

While hiding his presence, he released his fully opened perception in order to observe the status of the battle. He smiled.

Burren, who managed to defeat Decal, stormed through the trainees that had learned the 'Intuition Sword', and Martha was beating up the remaining trainees after breaking through the sword formation.

And Runaan…

She was having an icy competition against the sixth training ground's better trainee, who came out to be her opponent.

'Well, it doesn't matter.'

Since it looked like she wasn't going to lose, it was going to be fine.

'Well, then…'

Raon stood up. As he warmed himself up, the bushes swayed and a blond, blue-eyed swordsman appeared.

'Kein Zieghart.'

The sixth training ground's top trainee, and the member of the direct line that was two years older than him, had appeared.

'I knew it.'

Since they were losing in every direction, and Raon himself was hiding his presence, there was only one thing he could do.

Seize the opponent's flag.

"So you were here, Raon Zieghart."

Kein bit his lip. He didn't look surprised, as he must've been expecting it.

"I didn't expect you to cast magic on the trainees. I heard you weren't acknowledged by them, but it must've been a false rumor."

He slowly drew his sword from around his waist.

"However, this is the end."

"The end?"

"I heard your aura has a fire attribute."

As he said that, a crimson flame flared up on his blade.

"Unfortunately, my aura is the highest tier fire attribute aura, and I have more aura than a regular swordsman. In this match up, you can't win against me."

"Match up, huh?"

Raon smirked and unsheathed his sword. The energy from the 'Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation' created a red flower as it heated up the blade.

Whir!

It was a lot smaller than the fire on Kein's sword, but the color was incomparably denser.

"People from this house really talk a lot before fighting."

Raon declared, eyes the same color as the flame.

"Come at me. I'll show you how a single flower of flame can engulf your fire."