'Just one hit... just one hit...!'
I took a deep breath, drew upon the will from the depths of my heart, and charged forward with all my might.
'Whatever attack comes, I'll endure it!'
I resolved to attack while taking damage.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!"
As he rushed towards me, I raised the sword high above my head and brought it down with all my strength in a diagonal slash to the lower left.
*Whoosh!*
Only the sound of the biting wind whistling past my ears echoed emptily. Before the massive sword even touched the ground, a black shadow instantly slipped to the side, stopping at my right flank and sharply striking my ribs with a short, cutting blow.
*Thump!*
The greatsword veered off in the wrong direction and slammed into the ground. My entire body, centered on my right ribs, crumpled like a piece of paper, and I swayed heavily to the side.
"Kuh-eu...!!"
A coppery taste of blood filled my mouth, and a liquid I couldn't tell was saliva or blood trickled between my teeth. But I stubbornly clenched my jaw, immediately lifted the sword, and brought it down forcefully to my right.
However, he once again lightly dodged the attack, quickly moved to my left, and again accurately struck my side with a short, cutting blow.
"Keo-eok... Kraaaaaaaah!!"
My body bent sharply with a *wince*, but I barely held on with a shout, swinging the greatsword wide horizontally with all my might.
Then, due to the tremendous centrifugal force, I felt a heavy pull in both hands, and that force traveled up my shoulders, finally making my body rotate one more time, slashing forward twice.
*Whoosh~! Whoosh!!*
"Wh... Where... is he!?"
Turning my head, I desperately scanned my surroundings, but not even his shadow was visible.
Just as I half-lowered my head, wondering if he was there, an immense impact struck my chin, and my neck snapped upwards towards the sky as if on a spring.
The moment I swung the sword and looked around was but a fleeting instant, not even enough time to blink a few times, yet it was more than enough time for the outcome to be decided.
My vision spun dizzyingly, strength drained from my entire body, and my knees buckled weakly.
Like a limp piece of raw meat placed on a cutting board, I was about to collapse forward powerlessly. Just then, her father spun around in a large circle beside me and sent me flying with a spinning back kick that accurately struck my face.
*Thwump!!*
With an explosive sound, my body floated into the air, then fell to the ground in a lifeless parabola like a broken doll. As my body hit the ground with a dull thud, the sword I had dropped clattered sharply on the floor.
The more I fought, the deeper the despair grew. Even if I showed the slightest hint of intending to attack, he moved a beat faster to an evasion path, as if he already knew where I was going to strike, and stood leisurely behind or beside me.
If my physical abilities were inferior to my opponent's, then my technique should at least be superior. But the technical gap was so immense that it couldn't even be compared to the difference in physical abilities.
"For someone who claims to have conquered the Devil's Fangs, you're quite shabby. If you can't show me your unique strength that allowed you to break through that treacherous place, you'll die here."
The moment I heard those words, a flash of realization went through my mind.
'Strength! My unique strength that allowed me to break through the Devil's Fangs! Right, I can never win by attacking him head-on in a normal way. We've walked completely different paths. If so, I'll lower myself to my level and strike his openings with unpredictable, bizarre movements that others wouldn't even dare to imitate.'
I gathered myself while still prone. I didn't stand up on two feet. Instead, I lay flat, pressing both my hands and feet firmly against the ground.
As if this place were a dizzying cliff. Even if one arm moved slightly, a smooth, small, wave-like rhythm rippled naturally through my shoulder, waist, torso, and entire body in response to that movement. The principle of using the entire body organically in a single motion was right here.
"Your movements have become a little... more natural."
*Tadadak! Tadadak! Tadadak!*
I charged at a fierce speed, then suddenly leaped sideways, exerting a strong grip as if climbing a cliff, and clung to the corner of the building's outer wall. Then, I kicked off the wall and sprang out, aiming for his side.
Her father quickly turned and reached for my face, but I had already anticipated this move and wasn't flustered at all.
I put strong force into my waist, quickly turned my body, and crouched as much as possible. His hand brushed precariously between my face and shoulder, barely missing. I landed lightly on the ground and immediately bared my teeth towards his ankle.
*Clack!*
When my teeth snapped shut, no flesh was caught between them. Only the dull sound of teeth hitting teeth echoed emptily. Her father briefly bent his knee backward, then extended it forward again with ferocious force.
*Thwack!*
With an immense impact that felt like the inside of my mouth was tearing, I was thrown backward headfirst.
"The attempt was good, but eccentricities, when the skill gap is too overwhelming, only become poison."
"Kuh-uaaaah..."
"You've done enough now. If you end it here, it'll be less painful. Pathetic fool."
*Shring—*
With a cool metallic sound, her father slowly drew the sharp dagger from his waist, which he hadn't used even once until now.
I struggled to stand up, only to collapse again, repeating this until finally, I simply scooted backward while sitting.
Was there no way to resist? My fingertips, fumbling on the ground, faintly felt the handle of the greatsword lying behind me.
A dizzying fear that the sharp dagger her father held would pierce my brow at any moment overwhelmed me. I widened my eyes as much as possible, put on the most surprised expression I could muster, and shouted.
"Le... Lea!? What on earth are you doing here...!?"
"What?"
I seized that opportunity, gripped the black greatsword, and swung it forward with all my might.
*Whoosh— Thwack!*
Her father, without even looking, pressed my greatsword down with his foot, immobilizing it. After confirming there was no one behind him, he slowly turned his head and shot me a chilling gaze.
"There was no presence at all; she couldn't possibly be here."
A cold, heavy chill enveloped me as if pressing down on my entire body.
"Let's end this."
"N... No!"
I desperately pulled at the handle of the greatsword, pinned beneath her father's foot, trying to free it. But no matter how much force I applied, it only twitched slightly under his foot and wouldn't come out at all. Nevertheless, I didn't give up and continued to pull at the sword handle.
*Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!*
"Die."
*Thunk! Click! Fwoooooooosh!*
In that very instant, a small 'click!' sound came from the handle, and an immense amount of cold air erupted from the sword.
But, surprisingly, I didn't feel any cold sensation at all. Nevertheless, the reason I felt it was cold was because the surrounding ground had instantly frozen solid, covered in white ice.
Had this greatsword absorbed all the surrounding warmth? Strangely, the deep black color of the greatsword had changed to a reddish hue, as if it had absorbed energy.
"Uh... uh...!!"
'If so...! Could it be that Father...!'
Her father's foot, which had been on the greatsword, had vanished without a trace. The thick, cold ice vapor obscured my vision, making it difficult to see ahead, but I desperately focused my mind to find her father's figure.
Just then, as a gentle breeze blew and the smoke momentarily cleared, her father was not standing on the frozen ground. At least, he was nowhere to be seen by my eyes. Instead, I felt a chilling, creepy coldness from behind me.
"Ugh!!"
Startled, I instinctively swung the greatsword backward with all my might.
*Tang!*
Surprisingly, her father deflected my greatsword lightly with his bare hands. As a result, the greatsword flew dozens of meters and landed far away, embedding itself in the ground. Her father raised his foot high with ferocious momentum, as if to crush my head.
'Now... I'm going to die. Aah...'
"I lost."
"Huh?"
For a moment, I couldn't understand what he meant at all, but her father's shoes, as he spoke, were covered in a white frost, as if frozen.
"Uh... uh... uh... Woo... Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!!"
It was an attack so insignificant it was embarrassing to even call it a strike, but thanks to her father's generous acknowledgment, I was able to grasp an unbelievable victory.
"Then, I can see Lea now, right!?"
"...Phew."
After a long sigh, her father opened his mouth.
"Don't bother telling Lea in detail how much I beat you up. And if you make my daughter cry again, you'd better be really prepared next time. Because next time, it definitely won't end with this kind of child's play."
"Ch... Child's play... Yes, I'll keep that in mind."
***
I have a precious friend. A friend with a pure soul, as clear and fragile as glass, so delicate that I'm careful, fearing they might shatter if I grip them too tightly.
When I'm with them, I become restless, wanting to take care of them even more. And when I see them silently shouldering even their share of pain for others, a hot rage boils up inside me as if a fireball is churning.
At times like that, they always smile brightly and whisper softly.
"It's okay if you call it hypocrisy. It's an undeniable fact. It's not just for others, but really because I want to do it. So you don't have to worry too much about me. Thank you for your concern."
That person, that person, one day, suddenly and calmly told me they were leaving for the Devil's Fangs.
The moment I heard those words, a sharp pain pierced my chest as if a fang had run through it, and I couldn't even breathe properly. I knew better than anyone his passion for that rugged mountain, to the point where you could say he was fanatically fond of climbing.
The fact that he hadn't gone near the mountain entrance for so long, even though the mountain rose majestically right next to his house, must have been because of the people who worried about him.
How long must he have suffered alone, suppressing his feelings, before making that difficult decision? Along with resentment for why he hadn't shown me even a single piece of that aching heart, regret washed over me that I should have noticed his deep inner thoughts even a little when he had quietly told me several times that climbing mountains all felt the same now and he was somehow getting tired of it.
But no matter how desperately he wanted it, I couldn't bring myself to let him go. A desperate cry that I shouldn't let him go echoed from deep within my heart, but a vague anxiety that I somehow wouldn't be able to stop him crept over me.
His two eyes were shining with more vitality than at any moment I had seen in recent years. That's why it was even sadder. If this friend were to stubbornly conquer that treacherous Devil's Fangs, his future could never be happy.
To conquer the Devil's Fangs.
That meant there would no longer be any mountain, at least within this small village, that could satisfy his craving for stimulation.
Right then, he would be left alone before a path of unfathomable despair and a ruthless choice.
Would he leave this village and set out to find a new life? Or would he collapse here and live in a time that had stopped forever?
He would suffer alone again, suppressing his pain. And in the end, he wouldn't be able to leave. That soft-hearted him wouldn't be able to callously abandon the people with whom he had shared warm affection, not once, but twice.
Even if, by some chance, he gathered the courage to leave this village, a deep regret would coil in a corner of his heart and torment him forever.
If so, then at least so that he wouldn't have even the slightest lingering attachment to his choice, I turned away coldly and declared to him as if driving a nail. The moment he set foot on the Devil's Fangs, our bond would be completely over.
The Devil's Fangs, or his precious bond with me. He finally stood at the crossroads of that cruel choice.
If he chose me without hesitation, it would be sad, but I would simply be grateful. And I firmly resolved to live the rest of my life by his side, for his happiness.
But... he ultimately chose the Devil's Fangs and left my side. And time passed.