Chapter 73: Sparring (2)
Swords clashed against each other.
The duelists shifted their stances, utilizing every ounce of their skills and strength to gain the upper hand.
A boy, barely of age, and a mother—two figures seemingly out of place in a battle—gazed at each other with lethal intent, aiming for the other’s throat.
It was all for the sake of the gods.
In service to divine will, strangers pointed their blades at one another, intent on killing.
Exchanging countless strikes, they grew more fatigued with each passing moment.
Both instinctively sensed that the end of the match was near.
The battle, which had dragged on due to their evenly matched skills, concluded when the boy sliced through the woman.
Like a marionette whose strings had been cut, the woman collapsed to the ground, blood pooling around her.
“Haa… haa… Behold, O Great God! I have triumphed!”
The boy, gasping for breath, raised his voice to the heavens, celebrating his victory in the name of his deity. There was no grief or guilt for his fallen opponent.
After all, such feelings were unnecessary.
The blood spilled from the woman began to flow backward, as if time itself were rewinding.
Her torn flesh and muscles knit themselves back together, and her once-stilled heart began to beat again.
The boy, unfazed by this miraculous scene, knelt on the ground, bowing his head in silence.
The woman, having just returned from the brink of death, steadied herself and followed suit, bowing her head as if nothing had happened.
Moments passed in silence, their heads still bowed, until the sound of approaching footsteps reached their keen animal-like ears—far beyond what any human could hear.
“Raise your heads.”
At the command of the approaching woman, they immediately lifted their heads, gazing at her with reverence.
Moved to tears, they awaited her words.
“You have endured much, training tirelessly in a faraway place for the past week. As a reward for your efforts, you may now apply to join the guard.”
“Ah… Thank you! Thank you, Byeolbi!”
At Byeolbi’s gesture, a rift in space opened behind them.
“Now, return to your families, children. They must be waiting for you as well.”
“Thank you for choosing us…! Truly, thank you!”
As the figures disappeared, still bowing in gratitude, Byeolbi thought to herself.
The baseline of the species had risen.
Even after choosing two individuals ill-suited for combat, the results they had achieved in a mere week were impressive. Byeolbi was satisfied.
Enhancing the upper limits of the species had been achieved a millennium ago, but subtly raising the baseline without alerting her true self was no easy feat.
As she pondered these thoughts, she turned her attention to the continent crafted by her runaway pupil, observing it with a mix of curiosity and approval.
The diluted magic, once a divine power, had been refined to a level usable by humans and adapted into their civilization.
Even the fragments of omnipotent observation devices had been shielded by barriers, preventing her from peering directly into their inner workings.
They had created something truly fascinating, she thought.
She glanced skyward, toward her true self observing this star from the asteroid belt at the edge of the solar system.
Humanity, as it stood, could not respond to her true self.
The futures where they bridged the sea of stars to meet her true self were far outnumbered by those where their free will led them to self-destruction.
Whether over resources, ideological conflicts, or simply giving up on space travel to live in virtual paradises until they ran out of power and perished, the outcomes were bleak.
Byeolbi contemplated these possibilities, reading the thoughts of her daughter and observing the world through her offspring’s eyes.
***
“I think the red-haired one will win.”
“Oh? Have your recent losses driven you mad? Anyone can see that the blue-haired one will emerge victorious.”
The blue-haired competitor clearly dominated in both skill and the mana surrounding him.
It was obvious the red-haired competitor was only still standing because the blue-haired one allowed it. But Dogeon seemed intent on rooting for the underdog.
“We’ll see. Carelessness might lead to a nasty surprise, don’t you think?”
“As you say, we shall see. Your strange predictions do hit the mark from time to time.”
Despite Dogeon’s contrarian bets occasionally paying off, the score between us remained close.
Moments ago, Dogeon had pulled ahead by two points, but my three consecutive correct predictions now put me in the lead by one.
“…Hyaah!”
“Gaaah!”
“…No way. Don’t tell me he got hit by such a sloppy strike?”
Even with his entire body wrapped in visible mana, how had that blow pierced through?
“I told you. Just wait and see. The red-haired one kept fluctuating his mana—it was obvious this would happen.”
Smug, Dogeon gloated. I gave him a light smack out of irritation, but it didn’t change the fact that my chosen competitor had lost.
Why couldn’t the blue-haired one just finish it quickly instead of toying with his opponent?
“Redmond wins. Bluetark, your arrogance was your undoing. You had dozens of chances to finish it.”
“I… got carried away…”
What an idiot. I watched Dogeon feign indifference, masking his smug satisfaction as best as he could.
“Next up: Cecilia and Han Dogeon. Step forward.”
Before I knew it, it was Dogeon’s turn.
Seeing him paired with the new girl, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had some magnetic charm as a harem protagonist, constantly drawing women toward him.
“…Naturally, I’ll bet on you.”
It could be called a loyalty bet, but I genuinely believed Dogeon would win.
Besides, if Dogeon lost, I could always accuse him of match-fixing to save face.
There was no reason not to bet on him.
“I think… Cecilia will win.”
What a clueless guy. In moments like this, he should confidently bet on himself, following my lead.
“Hmph. Go on, then.”
If I lost by a single point, I’d cry foul and claim match-fixing.
That’d leave him with no choice, even if he took matches seriously.
I settled into my seat, planning to watch Dogeon and see how he fought.
I didn’t know the first thing about magic. Sure, I could try to mimic it by asking the gods, but the one I relied on wasn’t in great shape, so I couldn’t summon their help recklessly.
Honestly, without Dogeon, I’d have no business being on this continent.
With such thoughts running through my mind, I turned to the arena.
The competitors had entered.
Dogeon held a single sword, while Cecilia had a multitude of floating objects hovering behind her.
Among them was one particularly large mass that exuded a powerful divine presence.
If that spirit had carved up a god to make such an object…
Could it be… a head?
The grotesque thought sent chills down my spine, and I shivered briefly.
As if it sensed my discomfort, the massive object locked its hollow, empty eyes—if they could be called eyes—onto me.
Though they were mere voids, I could feel it watching me.
“What’s wrong, Anima? Is something bothering you?”
Cecilia spoke to the mass, seemingly concerned.
…It could talk? Yet I couldn’t hear a word.
“I’m Han Dogeon. I’m sure you already know, but… let’s both do our best.”
“…Ah, I’m Cecilia. I apologize; something distracted me for a moment…”
“That’s understandable.”
Seeing Dogeon subtly charm her in my absence irritated me even more. Lose already, will you?
…No, wait. If he loses, I lose points. But rooting for him to win feels awkward too…
Ugh. This is complicated.
Regardless of my dilemma, the match began.
Dogeon charged at Cecilia immediately, but the ground rose to block his advance.
His mana-infused sword easily sliced through the earthen barrier, yet he had to retreat to avoid the incoming ice spears.
“Freeze…!”
As the spears rained down, Dogeon countered with fireballs, neutralizing them one by one.
But he was clearly outmatched in numbers—every time he nullified one, three more appeared.
Realizing he couldn’t keep up, Dogeon created a smokescreen with magic to obscure her vision.
“A shallow trick!”
Unfazed, Cecilia conjured wind to dispel the smoke, but there was no one there.
From the audience’s perspective, the scene was amusing.
In that brief moment, Dogeon had concentrated mana into his legs, leaped high into the air, and now prepared to strike.
Rather than splitting her in half with his sword as I half-expected, he landed lightly behind her and pressed his blade against her neck.
“It seems I’ve won.”
“…I surrender.”
Though her flashy use of magic had made the match exciting, the anticlimactic conclusion didn’t matter.
Dogeon had won, and that was all I cared about.
I gained a point, and it felt good.
“Han Dogeon wins. Predictable, but a sound strategy nonetheless, Dogeon. Cecilia, you also put up a commendable effort. Both of you, well done. Return to your seats.”
I couldn’t resist teasing Dogeon as he trudged back to his seat.
“This time, I was right. I knew you’d win.”
“I was lucky. If she’d been more cautious, I would’ve turned into a pincushion mid-air.”
“But you didn’t, did you?”
A win’s a win, after all.
What concerned me more was the eerie presence emanating from her spirit.
It was unmistakably divine power.
Divine power was supposed to repel my god, yet somehow, even as hostile forces, the two had been forcibly combined.
The mysteries of this continent only deepened.