I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword

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Chapter 189

As I recalled the past for a moment, I quickly shook myself back to reality. I needed to escape those memories that brought no good.

The arena was eerily quiet, a stark contrast to the chaos just moments before.

I hadn’t even told my family that I was going to reveal myself as Mir, so everyone—Caesar, Kal, and Aria—had frozen in place, eyes wide. Even Diego, Reiner, El, and Lewellin, who knew I was Mir, were equally shocked. It was the first time I had seen the vacant expression on Emperor Helios’s face.

If I had enjoyed such reactions and gazes, perhaps it would have made me feel a bit better. Unfortunately, I couldn’t shake off the terrible feeling, like I was sinking in thick mud.

“If you truly come at me, it would be wise not to bite the hook.”

Bang!

I spat that out like chewing dirt and released my aura in a frenzy. It exploded like a giant rock dropping into a puddle of black blood, ominous black mana splattering everywhere.

“I have to kill you.”

For me, the word ‘death’ bore the weight of my beliefs and my master’s life. Unable to bear the weight of blood, I had feared killing, and even after slaughtering the northern terrorist Glen, I had nightmares every night.

But now, I could no longer retreat. To protect those watching from the stands, I had to kill this old friend before me.

Zigmund Hyde was my enemy.

“…I’m relieved. If that kid hadn’t developed at all over the past six years, I would have been disappointed.”

Zigmund, staring at me with his lifeless purple eyes, cracked a smile at the corners of his mouth. Regardless of how messed up I felt, my mind was oddly clear.

My instincts recognized him as an enemy even before I processed it.

“Let me ask you one thing. What’s the purpose of starting a war?”

My voice was surprisingly calm, surprising even myself. My gaze at Zigmund no longer trembled; I focused entirely on him.

As we locked eyes for a while, the corners of Zigmund’s eyes twisted.

“For the old bloodstained duty and transient mission.”

Bang!

Zigmund released his mana like an explosion, radiating murderous intent. The mix of black and pale red smoke enveloped him, so mesmerizing and beautiful that it made me forget the facts of war. Yet, chaos screeched through my calm mind.

His aura was reminiscent of the colors drained from my hair and eyes, causing me to question everything.

“I thought there might be some justice in war. There’s no such thing as a good war.”

Zigmund, speaking resolutely, swung his sword at me.

Swoosh!

His aura writhed bizarrely, like something boiling over, seeming almost alive. I sprang up desperately to dodge his strike.

Bang!

The mixed colors of his ominous aura slammed into the wall, shaking the arena tremendously. What a scary force. I sharpened my focus as I stood firm with my sword.

Bang! Bang!

Our swords clashed rapidly. This was proof that all previous battles, where I hadn’t drawn out my aura, were only half-hearted. Zigmund’s strength was incomparable to before. The sounds of our swords colliding echoed like thunder rather than mere metal clashing.

With the collision of auras, the sky felt like it was ripping apart, creating a massive turbulence. My hair whipped wildly in the wind.

Even though I had been warned of the drawbacks of obscuring my vision, this hair was like my own pride. I watched his aura wrapped around his sword clearly, despite the black strands tickling my eyes.

“…What on earth is the answer you sought?”

I had never seen an aura with two colors. What to call this aura, neither dark nor bright, was a mystery. After a brief silence, Zigmund mechanically grinned.

“Something I can’t even understand myself.”

“What…”

“You don’t need to know the details. I have no intention of telling you.”

Bang!

Zigmund slammed my sword aside violently, conjuring a magic circle with a single clenched fist.

Kraak!

A black lightning bolt rained down from above.

I quickly stepped back to dodge the attack. I wouldn’t die from that, but his power seemed determined to roast me alive. I twisted my stiff, twitching lips.

“What an irritating bastard.”

I was used to Zigmund not sharing any information. Swallowing back my bitter feelings, I charged at him again.

Every time our swords faced off, an electric current seemed to flow through my entire body. It was hot, thrilling, and painful. My instincts as a swordsman thrilled at the challenge posed by an equal adversary, while my reason and emotions struggled in turmoil.

I gasped for breath, pushing my speed even higher. Zigmund kept pace with my increase in speed, making it seem like a waste of stamina, but it clearly had the effect of throwing him off balance.

If he’s off balance, he can’t cast spells.

Bang!

And without the ability to cast spells, Zigmund was clearly weaker than me. The Sword Expert could go toe-to-toe with me only thanks to his timely and precise spellcasting.

As I countered his strikes with my sword, Zigmund’s sword veered off-course.

That moment was a gap.

Rustle.

Without hesitation, I maneuvered my sword to slice Zigmund’s side. The sensation of human skin tearing under my blade was horrific. I bit my lip to stifle a gasp.

I had cut him quite deeply, yet Zigmund didn’t let out so much as a groan. He simply clamped a hand over the bleeding wound. The fact I had harmed him was terrifying, yet I concealed my feelings and readied my weapon again.

“You know you can’t defeat me with a sword.”

To my near warning, Zigmund chuckled slightly.

“Worried, are we?”

“…Just die.”

Even now, he had a trivial attitude. I felt that only I was experiencing the horror of this situation, and as I raged while releasing my aura, Zigmund suddenly unleashed a magic circle. I quickly fell into a defensive stance.

“Have you forgotten why I’m here?”

But the attack wasn’t aimed at me.

Seeing Zigmund’s face seemed to have put me off guard. Realizing the situation a moment too late, I urgently turned my back.

Helios was exposed to the magic circle, completely unprotected behind me.

“That bastard really…!”

Zigmund, the one who had taught me to spare no means in battle, had no qualms about pulling a fast one on me.

Helios’s blue eyes widened as he spotted the lightning crashing down from above. Just as I was racing to save him.

“Oh, this is perfect.”

A familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of Helios.

“Why are you here?”

I halted mid-step, mouth agape. I hadn’t imagined this person would show up here.

With brown hair previously disguised now glowing purely white, his eyes were calmly shining a light green showed a chilling glint.

King Alexander Atara of the Atara Kingdom and my friend, Leo.

Appearing as if he had teleported, he swung the sword he was holding fiercely in front of Helios. A green aura that looked dangerously toxic shot toward the black lightning above.

Boom! Boom!

The black lightning and green aura collided in midair, exploding into a spectacle.

“Clean! With this, the Solatine Kingdom now owes the Atara Kingdom a favor.”

“What the hell…?”

Rubbing the bridge of his nose while watching the explosive scene, Leo’s smile caused Helios to wear a vacant expression. As I stood there, unable to process the situation, my face twisted in confusion.

“…How did you get in here?”

It seemed Zigmund shared the same question as I directed it toward him.

This place had become a separated state due to the barrier created by the north, allowing sound communication but preventing entry or exit. Even Sword Masters were struggling outside, waiting for the mages to dismantle the barrier.

Yet, Leo had appeared as if by teleportation.

“I checked already that teleportation was impossible!”

Aria’s sharp voice pierced my ears. I looked at Leo with eyes begging for an explanation. Leo looked overly relaxed, like someone on a leisurely stroll in front of his house.

“It’s not teleportation. After the Hunting Tournament, I was missing for a while, right? I visited Atara. While I was gone, Atara wasn’t idle. They researched techniques to counter the north. Right now, I came through the small cutter of a black magic barrier we developed. I didn’t know if it would actually work since it’s still in the research phase.”

He shook an odd contraption he was holding. Indeed, unlike Solatine, which had only developed a purely swordsmanship-focused military organization, Atara had flourished through magical engineering.

“Then, when this situation erupted, seeing you trapped, I rushed back after grabbing this from Atara. I only came for you…”

Leo’s words trailed off as he cast a fierce glare at Zigmund.

“That bastard. He’s the one who took Leisha’s heirloom back then.”

It seemed he held a deep grudge against the heirloom thief we encountered previously, considering he recognized him despite his mask and hood.

“Leo, our priority is to escape safely.”

I preemptively tried to stop Leo, fearing he might go berserk like last time after losing this castle. Leo glared at Zigmund but didn’t charge in recklessly as before.

‘With Leo here, Zigmund wouldn’t dare make a move.’

We just had to hold out until the outside forces lowered their guard.

I scanned Zigmund from a distance with my tensed eyes. He already had a mark against him for our joint attack earlier. The sudden appearance of Leo seemed to be grating on him as he soon returned a cold smile.

“Lightning strike.”

Almost simultaneously as he murmured, a magic circle appeared. The speed of his spell deployment was astonishing as always.

And then the black lightning, like a calamity, began to pour down like rain onto our gathered location.

Zigmund’s lightning, like always, boasted formidable power. His strongest offensive magic was summoning lightning.

“Damn, get down!”

I shoved Helios out of the way to avoid being struck by the suddenly formed lightning.

As I was grazed on the shoulder by the lightning, I held my breath against the sharp pain. As I gasped for breath, Helios, who had been thrown to the ground by my shove, grimaced in pain.

Leo’s expression darkened.

Crash!

Without even a moment to gather my wits about the pain, yet another lightning bolt struck down. With Leo and me working together, there was no way we would stand a chance in a 2-to-1 close combat scenario. Zigmund seemed intent on targeting Helios, pressing his long-range magic bombardment.

While Zigmund bombarded Helios, I struggled to protect him. I wanted to face Zigmund, but I couldn’t leave Helios behind again.

Leo defended against the incoming lightning aimed at me while I protected Helios.

“The protective barrier is almost broken!”

The sharp clinking of swords echoed behind me. It felt like we were nearly there.

Zigmund, who had been cursing, withdrew his magic circle. Now that we had focused our marks on each other, assassination appeared impossible.

Before Leo realized this, he quickly moved his hands, summoning a new magic circle. This time, it was a teleportation magic circle.

“Remember this.”

His violet eyes met mine once more. I committed those eyes to memory.

“It’ll be a blizzard soon.”

Zigmund’s last words overlapped with Glen’s ominous message.

“Successfully breached the barrier!”

“You don’t let go of your ideals…”

A sense of foreboding grew within the barrier, slowly thinning out. I silently stared as Zigmund vanished in the light of teleportation.

“We will meet again on the battlefield.”

With those final words, he disappeared completely.

“Shu Shu!”

“Auntie Shu Shu!”

As the barrier dissolved, everyone I knew rushed toward me. I gritted my teeth.

His words rang true.

We were destined to be each other’s damned antithesis.