I know... Please... Forgive me... 

The sixth round or the quarter-finals of the Athena Festival battle-tournament were about to begin. The first five rounds ended without any major trouble breaking out. Out of the two-fifty-six initial combatants, only eight remained. The eight who"d go in the history books as the brave men and women who fought with their lives on the line for the t.i.tle of the [strongest].

Shirone, whose pearl white knee touched the ground while her head remained low, said in a voice that seemed rather calm and carefree considering the contents.

"Master, their preparations are progressing according to schedule. The scenario you predicted seems to be turning into reality… What are your orders?"

I thought for a bit and replied in a mischievous tone.

"There is no need for us to interfere any further. There wasn"t a need for us to get involved in the first place… It"s just that… It seemed interesting."

Shirone seemed unable to suppress her laughter and giggled heartedly.

"Master sure does find some strange things interesting. I didn"t know that the suffering of millions was one of them."

I retorted to the false accusations against me while smirking.

"What are you talking about? Aren"t I doing everything in my power to not let that certain scenario unfold?"

Shirone ascended from the ground and proceeded to park her rear on the couch in my hotel room. Her fingers continued to play with her silver locks as she looks at me with her enchanting silver-white and frosty eyes.

"Fufufu. Surely you jest, Master. In my opinion, Master is just trying to make this situation more enjoyable for himself."

"Let"s stop talking about it now and leave for the arena. The quarter-finals begin today, the top eight of the entire nation are going to duke it out on the battlefield. My opponent is quite the scary woman, I may have to use some real magic against her."

"I have confidence in the Master"s victory."

"Well… That makes one of us..."

I stood up and grabbed Shirone"s hand and pulled her into my embrace. She looked at my face with determination, using every bit of power that she had to not get fl.u.s.tered. Using instant teleportation, we arrived in the arena. The luxurious and grandiose preparation room was deserted, not a single was present in this previously-jovial room. The remaining warriors were some of the most high-cla.s.s and renowned people throughout the nation, and for them to be present in the preparation room would be unprecedented and unusual.

Leading Shirone to the stands, I returned to the preparation room to have some time to myself as I waited for the first match to begin.

The first match of the sixth round was between Vernyx and a n.o.bleman who seemed to be in his late forties. The match concluded rather late as Vernyx had a bit of trouble getting his sword through a man who was highly proficient with barrier-type spells. Each battle in the sixth-round seemed to consume a large quant.i.ty of time compared to the fights of the previous rounds, however, this was to be expected as currently the truly strong were pitted against each other in a contest of pure battle-prowess without any restrictions.

The second match was between Alissa and a n.o.ble who was widely known as the [Son of Lightning] for his expertise in controlling wind magic, however, Alissa was able to overpower him while using nothing but mana manipulation and her physical capabilities. Zoya was incapable of understanding how Alissa beat her opponent because of her ignorance of mana manipulation, however, I could tell that Alissa was highly skilled in mana manipulation.

The third match was between Bernard and an adventurer who was praised for being the vice-leader of the strongest adventurer party in Athena, [Brave Mound]. Bernard carried his usual prideful and humble gaze while his opponent, a man in his mid-thirties looked upon him as an envoy of G.o.d himself. The vice-leader of the strongest adventurer party was a die-hard fan of the man known as "veteran of hundred battles. The match ended rather quickly but no regret could be seen on the vice leader"s face.

The fourth and last match was about to begin. The time was about 3:00 P.M. I walked toward the middle of the stadium while dressed in casual t-shirt and pants. The shoes I was equipped with were something that I created myself with a bit of help from the local footwear shop.

The crowd was filled with excitement and energy, their gazes reflecting the deep respect and hope that they felt. Under such pleasing and uplifting eyes, I walked on the strangely nostalgic path that led me to the middle of the arena where patiently waited a certain woman who would be my opponent for today.

>

The crowd roared alongside Zoya. Excitement ready to break the protective barrier that guaranteed the audience"s safety.

However, the atmosphere on the field itself was as calm as it could be. 0I stood with both of my hand lunged inside the depth of my pockets while my opponent graced me with a beautiful smile filled with pa.s.sion and a thirst for battle. None of us said a word.

Her rather impressively feminine body clad in a full set of light-purple armor stood in front of me. Her slender fingers gently caressing the hilt of her sword which radiated a pressure exceeding anything I"ve ever felt from a weapon. Strands of her silky brown hair could be seen swaying with the wind, uncontrollable even with a perfect bun behind her head. Her sharp eyes gave the impression of a certain beast waiting patiently for her prey to make the first move so that she could pounce on it and devour the poor creature who managed to incur her wrath.

"[The Strongest Commoner], is that what they call you Boy?"

Jynimia seemed to be in her mid-twenties, so her calling me, a seventeen-year-old, in such a fashion didn"t give me the best of impressions of her. But then again, unlike almost every n.o.ble I"ve encountered, her eyes were free of ridicule and mockery for his ident.i.ty as a commoner. They were the eyes of a warrior, a person whose sole desire was to experience battles that made heart pound and blood boil.

"[Sharpest Blade]. It is truly an honor."

I said so and gave her a courteous bow. Her body was slender. She had her fair share of ample femininity, but even so, her waist, limbs, neck, and even her beautiful face, all were thin. If one considered the appearance alone, then she would be cla.s.sified as a frail beauty, but her use of this slender figure in battle was truly worth commending.

Jynimia"s nickname [Sharpest Blade], was derived from her super accurate and impossible to see maneuvers. Her technique in the blade was top-cla.s.s, her command over mana was commendable and her fluidity was unmatched. She wasn"t a magician, but even so, her mana manipulation capabilities were impressive, so much so that my heart started pounding in my chest in antic.i.p.ation of what is to come.

"Are you sure you want to fight me with nothing but your body?"

She said so and brought her other hand and placed it on the hilt of the second sword that she carried. This particular piece was inferior to her sword which made me gulp nervously, however, it was still better than ninety-five percent of the swords out there.

"I am sure that I would survive. However, testing my sword skills against the woman said to possess Great General Bernard Lenach"s level of sword skill would be a pleasurable and exhilarating experience. If you would…"

*GRIP*

Time slowed down… My body leaned to the side and my right hand suddenly flew out and grabbed a certain thing which was coming straight for my head at an inconceivably fast speed. As soon as the time began moving, I took a glance at the hilt of the sword which radiated a red blood-like glow in my hands. Runes which exhibited a woman slaying a dragon were engraved on the hilt, the spotless blade reflected my excited face upon it.

"Ara, Bilaffender-sama. Were you planning to kill me before our battle even began?"

I asked in a slightly suggestive tone. As for her, she looked at me with a certain amount of surprise on her face and said while giggling.

"I threw that sword with a lot of strength, and you scooped it mid-flight like it was nothing. That sword is my baby, please take care of her."

"Of course."

Zoya"s voice resounded from the speakers.

Even before Zoya"s voice stopped reverberating, Jynimia lashed at me with her beautiful blade in hand. Her sword was a cut above the rest as its mere presence was enough to make an average presence surrender while tearing up.

Time slowed down, in this intricate s.p.a.ce where only the two of us moved with our swords in hand somehow gave it a romantic ring. Her top speed matched mine and as such, our swords clashed and metallic sounds originated from the point where our blades met. I wasn"t a veteran in swordplay, or rather, I had only practiced a bit with my father, and being faced with an expert swordswoman like herself, I was being pushed back. Amid our intense and physically demanding clashes, she a certain heavy-powered slash, and when blocked, she withdrew.

While panting, her chest heaved up and down. She looked at me with a bead of sweat latching onto her slim eyebrow. She exclaimed with an excited voice.

"d.a.m.n! I can tell that you"re not a veteran swordsman but your speed and raw strength are beyond amazing! Looks like I have to put in more effort, huh?"

Her initial cold and prideful visage had shattered and what remained was a woman crazy for battle. I wasn"t out of breath, but I could feel the sweat rolling down my back and my forehead, this would be a first since I arrived in this world.

"Come at me with everything you"ve got! [Sharpest Blade]!"

"Here I come!"

Both of us had omitted any form of polite speech and courtesy. I could feel my heartbeat growing rapid and my body hot. Jynimia"s mana burst out and covered her body in crimson light, it was a beautiful color and exuded an immense amount of power. I knew that even if I were to throw out my strongest spells at her right now, she"d be able to come out unscathed, and as such, I decided to meet her eye-to-eye.

I channeled my light-blue colored mana and created a layer of it around my body. I decided to bring out precisely the same amount of mana that she had, all so that I could battle her on a level playing field. I could just exploit my mana resources and destroy her, but I"d much rather not that as I was truly enjoying this battle. I felt from the bottom of my heart that I wanted this fight to last forever.

Jynimia shuddered, panic etched on her beautiful face. I could see her shoulders shiver.

"Ma… na?"

Her lips trembled, her eyebrows twitched.

"B-But how…? Y-You"re… a… commoner."

I don"t know why, but her words felt strange to me. There wasn"t a single ounce of malice or ridicule, rather, it was as if she found it world-shakingly shocking, but at the same time, extremely impressive.

I smirked and lunged at her while gripping the sword she lent me as tightly as I could. As expected of a veteran, she recovered quickly and went toe-to-toe with my speed and attack power. I had raw power, but she had skills.

Due to our explosive maneuvers and attacks, the field started deteriorating each second. From a third person"s point of view who was trained in mana manipulation, we would look like two tsunamis of red and blue energy colliding against each other at inconceivable speeds, but at the same time, a normal person would just see occasional clashes of metal in thin air and nothing else. However, even a normal person would probably feel the immense amounts of power rushing against each other like mad dogs ready to dominate the other.

The battle stretched on for a while, twenty minutes pa.s.sed, thirty minutes pa.s.sed, both our breathings turned rough and our movements turned haggard. I had a lot of resources to draw mana out from, but after observing the glint of exhilaration, respect, affection, and enjoyment in Jinimiya"s eyes as we exchanged blows, I just couldn"t find it in myself to end this fun just like that.

After about an hour of constant slashing, lunging, punching, kicking and whatnot, the field was a mess. There wasn"t a single area on the battlefield which stretched for three-hundred meters where the signs of a life-threatening battle wasn"t present. Finally, Jinimiya gave in and received a single, deep cut on her chest plate which seemed to have consumed the last bit of her seemingly limitless stamina.

Her frail body, smeared with sweat, cuts, bruises, and blood lay on the ground with her proud sword still tightly gripped within her hand. I raised my sword and placed its end on the tip of her nose, signifying my victory, Looking at my arm, it was full of sweat, cuts, and bruises as well. Or rather, both my pants and shirt were clinging onto my body, soaked with sweat, displaying a certain extent of my well-built body to the entire Royal Capital.

"*pant*...*pant*... It"s… my… loss…"

She said so while desperately gasping for air to breathe.

"It seems so."

I said so while withdrawing my sword and extending my other hand for her to grab onto. She smiled and pulled herself up while firmly grabbing my hand. She stumbled, it seems she isn"t in a condition to stand up by herself, but even before I could say anything, she circled her right hand around my neck and proceeded to entrust all of her body weight to me. I was surprised, this was most certainly not an att.i.tude to adopt in the presence of someone you just barely know. This was something that people do when they have a deep friendship with someone. Also, I am a commoner, and she is a n.o.ble and highly decorated adventurer. Looking at my startled expression, she chuckled and said in a low and friendly voice.

"You should address the audience, Mr. Winner. Look, they"re all frozen in their tracks."

Looking around me, what she said was true. It seemed as though our battle has rendered the audience speechless. I firmly gripped the sword she gave me raised it high in the air. Moments after my action, the audience roared and began screaming out their hearts. Even Zoya couldn"t hold back and got a bit sentimental.

>

Under the thunderous applause from the audience, Jinimiya leans on my shoulder, placing her lips just beside my ear. Then she proceeds to whisper giddily into my ear. With this, my place in the top-four is set, and my thirst for battle is at its peak.

Bio: I am an editor currently affiliated with confused translations and Gakusei translations, on top of that, I am a big anime, light novel, manga, and web novel enthusiast.

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