〈 Episode 299 〉 Crossing Paths (3）

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With the Warriors of the North watching, Rania walked straight towards Kyle. The practicing warriors stopped and turned to look at Rania; the rumors about her were well known among them.

“A mage who takes down warriors with her bare hands.”

As the warriors’ attention was drawn in one direction, Kyle, who had been swinging his sword, eventually turned around.

“Back again?”

“Yeah.”

“You really never tire of this. Didn’t I tell you I have nothing to discuss with you?”

His voice was flat.

It was a tone that suggested genuine disinterest, not simply pretending to be indifferent. Rania continued to walk and stopped right in front of Kyle.

Once, their heights had been similar, but not anymore.

Now, Kyle had to look slightly down at her, which was unpleasant for Rania. Furrowing her brow at that discomfort, Rania raised her hand.

“Who said anything about talking?”

She threw her gloves at Kyle’s feet.

Thud, the gloves landed on the ground.

“Let’s have a go, punk.”

Her slender, fair fingers were exposed after taking off the gloves.

Wiggling her index finger, Rania smirked mischievously.

“If you won’t listen to what I say, I’ll make you hear it by beating you up. Isn’t that right?”

Flick, Kyle raised an eyebrow.

He wasn’t falling for inexpensive taunts. He had heard such words before.

“Are you going to listen to me? No, right, punk?”

“Then what should I do? I’ll make you listen by beating you up.”

Had that incident been something Rania relayed to him?

She sure was sharing everything it seemed. Kyle thought as he scowled. It was becoming increasingly tiresome to deal with her anyway.

“Is this a duel request?”

“If that’s the case?”

“I accept.”

Kyle placed his sword down.

“I won’t use my sword.”

“Bull, trying to act cool. I won’t use magic either!”

Rania scoffed.

With a poker face, Kyle laid down the conditions for their duel.

“Once the duel is over, don’t show up in front of me again. It’s bothersome to deal with you individually.”

“Shouldn’t that be part of the victory conditions?”

“Then I’ll make it part of the victory conditions.”

He showed no doubt about his own victory. Rania found that infuriating and clicked her tongue.

“If I win…”

“Do as you please. I won’t lose.”

Well, isn’t this punk something?

Rania grit her teeth with a crunch. He assumed he would win, but in her eyes, it was Kyle’s delusion.

“A punk who got beaten once talking big.”

Rania wiggled her finger.

“Bring it, punk.”

Amid the cheers of the Warriors of the North, who were crazy for duels, Rania stepped forward.

“If you don’t come, I’ll come to you.”

2.

Rania can’t defeat Kyle wielding a sword.

To be more precise, Rania can’t defeat Kyle, who wields the Holy Sword and ignites Starlight charging towards her on a flat terrain.

That’s only natural.

No matter how skilled Rania is in close combat, she can’t overcome a knight with superior physical abilities. Unless she has an obstacle to block Kyle’s sword, or can flee, Rania cannot win against him.

Therefore, fighting in the open, she would lose every time. That was the conclusion Rania reached after sparring with Kyle once.

What if it weren’t flat ground?

For instance, in the midst of a forest where there are various elements that impede Kyle’s line of sight?

Even then, her chances of winning aren’t that great.

If they fought ten times, she might be lucky enough to win two or three. That can’t be helped. No matter how much Rania burns her Mana, she can’t gain physical capabilities superior to Kyle’s.

But all of this was under the condition that Kyle held a sword.

If she were to disarm the knight, all that would be left is his two hands. So would he use bare fists? The Sword Masters of Galatrix did just that, just in case their swords broke.

That martial art was effective enough that the Sword Masters often overpowered various experts with their bare hands.

However, Kyle hadn’t learned that.

There was no need to learn it at all. What Kyle wields is the Holy Sword, an artifact of the stars that can neither break nor be lost. He has no need to think about situations without a sword, so he never paid attention to martial arts.

Even if a bare-knuckle situation arose, he would just rely on his physical abilities to throw punches. That alone would be sufficient to be threatening and could likely win against ordinary warriors…

Smack!

If someone with similar physical abilities faced him, the narrative changed a bit.

“Whoa. That must hurt.”

Rania sneered mockingly.

Kyle rubbed his chin, furrowing his brow. He thought he had seen the punch coming and turned his head, but at some moment, his jaw got smacked.

It only made his head ring a bit; it wasn’t particularly painful.

With a frown, Kyle stepped forward. Although it wouldn’t look honorable to punch a younger girl while being watched by the warriors… oh well.

Whoosh.

Kyle threw a punch.

It wasn’t with all his strength, but he put enough force into it that if it hit the girl, she would likely roll on the ground. His fist cut through the air.

Watching the approaching punch, Rania merely grinned. Just when Kyle’s fist was about to reach her…

Smack!

Rania tilted her head to the side and slapped Kyle’s elbow with her palm. Thus, Kyle’s punch gushed through the air, leaving an empty space behind.

Wham!

She then kicked his abdomen with a straight leg.

Even with that push kick, Kyle didn’t step back. Quite the contrary. Rania took a step forward and swung her tightly clenched fist.

Unlike before, this time she put some real strength behind it.

Bam!

With a coarse sound, Kyle took a step back. Rania remained standing in her spot, still laughing.

“What are you doing?”

To deliver her main spell up close, Rania had learned the art of closing distance and hitting in a combat style.

Who taught her all that?

Sword Master Kuntel.

Kuntel had passed down every technique that the Sword Masters had developed in Galatrix to Rania, and she managed to grasp them reasonably well.

To her, Kyle, who was unarmed, didn’t seem particularly threatening.

Whoosh.

Kyle’s fist sliced through the air.

Rania reached for him whenever she spotted an opening, bending and straightening her legs, relentlessly pounding on his body. She wasn’t inflicting great damage, but to the observing warriors, it looked as if Rania was toying with Kyle.

In reality, she was indeed doing just that.

Rania casually pummeled him, then clenched her fist again. Her body moved swiftly in an instant. Then, Bam!, she slammed her fist into Kyle’s jaw.

“…!”

Kyle stumbled for a moment.

The punch hit his jaw directly. While his head shook, Kyle’s eyes widened. By this point, even those who didn’t want to notice would have to.

It was just like back then, when he fought with Rania before. This was the direction their fight was flowing. It had been just this way. Rania was toying with him, and then she smashed her fist into his chin.

…Did she even hear that much?

Did she learn that she could trick him this way from Rania? What a childish move. Kyle was now feeling quite annoyed.

“Enough.”

Kyle gritted his teeth grind.

“Take it easy.”

Kyle grabbed Rania’s wrist as her fist came for him. Crack, he squeezed tightly, producing a loud noise. As Rania’s expression furrowed, Kyle yanked her forward.

As expected, she was as light as she looked.

Kyle grabbed Rania by her collar, pulling her close. He gnawed at his teeth as he spoke.

“Just what have you heard, exactly? Seems you’ve told me everything. What’s the goal of tricking me like this? Do you want to mess with me?”

“Who said I was going to tell you?”

Rania shot back while grabbing Kyle’s wrist that held her collar.

“You’re still as clueless as ever, aren’t you, you bastard.”

She tilted her head back. Her ashen hair fluttered in Kyle’s vision, and at that moment, a sharp pain made Kyle groan.

Gah…

A headbutt.

Aiming for his nose, no less. The stinging pain from his nose made him jerk his head back, and the shock didn’t end there.

“Hey.”

Rania repeatedly tilted her head back to deliver more headbutts.

“This.”

Thwack!

“Damn bastard.”

Amidst the consecutive headbutts, Rania wasn’t unscathed either. Kyle’s strong bones were quite resilient. Even though skin was scraped off her forehead, bleeding, Rania continued to shake her head.

“Considering you ramble on about nonsense, it seems you really are the bastard. Hey, let me ask you one thing.”

She kept on doing that until Kyle let go of her collar.

“What exactly do you have a problem with?”

Drip, Kyle’s nose began to bleed.

“I do think I made a mistake. I feel like I wronged you, but no matter how I think about it…”

While delivering another headbutt, Rania accidentally made Kyle bleed as well. Even in that disgusting situation, Rania tripped Kyle up.

“I feel like I didn’t do wrong compared to you.”

“Seriously, from a bit earlier…”

“Sorry, but you should feel more sorry to me, jerk.”

“What…”

“You not feeling sorry? To me?”

While tripping Kyle, Rania lifted him by his collar. Only then did Kyle look straight at the girl in front of him.

“You did wrong to me too. You should feel sorry. Damn, is it even a human thing to be making love next to a childhood friend in a tent?”

“…You.”

“Acting like it’s all just work, damn it. Ugh, my blood pressure is rising. I’ve got a ton of grievances piled up against you. Ugh, there’s so much that I’m getting all tangled up. Damn it, really…”

“Right now.”

“I’ll acknowledge that I did wrong. I’m willing to apologize. But, punk, there’s a order to this. There’s a sequence.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“What do you think I’m talking about?”

Bloodshot eyes.

Blood flowing from his nose.

And ashen hair in a mess.

“If you still can’t get this, you’re truly a damn fool. Got it?”

Please don’t make me say it myself.

Please, damn it.

Rania mumbled that, but Kyle continued to pry, making her say it.

“What are you, exactly?”

“Damn, you bastard.”

Rania lifted Kyle by his collar again and repeatedly delivered headbutts.

3.

“Ugh, look at that temper.”

Sara crossed her arms and clicked her tongue.

As Rania began to headbutt and opened her mouth, Sara swiftly moved to set up a barrier. At the very least, she wanted to keep that conversation from leaking outside.

Anyway, that temper really needed to be acknowledged.

Sara also understood that when Rania’s emotions got heated, she said whatever came to mind, her fiery temper being quite well known. Knowing that, she somewhat expected it to flow into this situation.

‘…She only does that with Kyle.’

Usually calm and composed, Rania was a paragon of a mage, capable of finding answers at any moment and analyzing situations coldly…

Except when it came to Kyle.

In matters concerning Kyle, Rania reacted far too emotionally. She had expected so much from him and hoped he would meet those expectations. Sara was aware of how that expectation warped.

“Please.”

“Please, come on. Please.”

At one point, Rania couldn’t hold it in and threw a punch at Kyle. It had been almost the same situation as now.

“Please, you punk.”

After the situation settled down, Sara remembered Rania making a distressed face while recovering from the treatment. The expression on Rania’s face now was just like back then.

She couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Staring at Rania, who was yelling while holding Kyle by his collar, Sara just clicked her tongue. She could see a change in Kyle’s expression.

Kyle’s pupils quivered slightly.

In the face of the Demon Lord, Kyle had turned into an emotionless puppet, unable to draw any reaction from him. That was why Sara became jealous of Rania, who was able to elicit such responses. She envied her. Moreover, she felt sorry for her.

“Ugh.”

Sara sighed and shook her head.

Then, she approached Kyle and Rania. To separate the two. As she moved toward them, the warriors standing nearby blocked her path.

“…What’s up?”

“During a sacred duel, outsiders are not allowed to interfere.”

The warriors spoke in heavy voices.

“The duel is not over yet.”

“Is the argument of those kids really a sacred duel?”

“Blood flows from fighting, and thus it is all a duel. The pride and honor of a warrior!”

“That’s a rather… intriguing perspective…”

It was precisely as the warriors said.

The duel wasn’t finished, and Rania was relentless in delivering more headbutts. Every time blood burst forth, the warriors cheered loudly, while Sara cringed at the sight.

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