8. ck-and-White Princess and Soul Dress [2] – part 1


    As I enviously admired her soul dress,


    「Hey! What are you standing around for? Quickly bring out your soul dress too.」


    She said that ridiculous thing as though it was a given.


    「Ha, haha… Sorry to disappoint you but, I can’t perform such an amazing feat.」


    As I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, she stared at me in wonder.


    「…Eh? Are you… being serious?」


    「Yeah.」


    Unfortunately, I can’t summon a soul dress.


    On the contrary, this is the first time I have ever seen a real soul dress.


    As I said so,


    「Puh… Ahahahahaha! Hi,hi-hi-… My, my stomach… my stomach hurts…」


    She held her stomach andughed really happily.


    「HaaHaa…Haaaa… To think that a novice who can’t even summon a soul dress, gets to fight me, who is revered as the『ck-and-White Princess』…is unpleasant.」


    As I thought that she would continueughing just like before, she sharply red at me.


    (A princess with a wide range of emotional expression…)


    I’m sure everyday will be fun with her.


    And one more thing – I didn’t even want this duel. She coerced me into epting it.


    However, I predicted that it would be even more cumbersome if I argued here, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.


    「Well it doesn’t matter. I will at least acknowledge your courage and guts. ーfufu, don’t think it will end in a moment, alright? I will fry you slowly with low heat, ok… I will simmer, and simmer, and simmer you!」


    Unlike her elegant appearance, she seems to have a simple personality.


    The gentle and dignified figure that I saw at the entrance ceremony was probably an act.


    (…Certainly, I can’t summon a soul dress.)


    But that doesn’t lead to an instant loss.


    There are many other fighting methods other than a soul dress.


    「ーHere Ie, Ria-san?」


    I asked, without the slightest carelessness, while still holding on to – Seigan no kamae.


    「Eh, by all means.」


    On the other hand, she was being cocky.


    She released one hand from the sword and beckoned me with with her finger.


    …Even I have my pride as a swordsman.


    I can’t just stay silent after being underestimated to this extent.


    「First Sword – Flying Shadow!」


    Much faster than usual.


    Much stronger than usual.


    I shot a feint.


    「Wh! A flying sh…!?」


    She was surprised for a moment, but immediately entered into a defensive posture.


    「-White Scale!」


    The white me formed a coil-like big shield and burned out the flying shadow.


    「Hee… Seems like this will be a little enjoyable…!」


    I used the blind spot created by her shield – to close in instantly.


    Then, I immediately unleashed the next strike when I entered the inner side of the shield.


    「Eighth Sword – Yatagarasu!」


    「Eight simultaneously…!?」


    Ria-san stiffened for an instant at the eight imminent shes, but


    「Kuhー ck Breath!」


    She immediately burned the eight shes with ck me.


    (…As expected, really powerful)


    Her soul dress ‘s ability to deal with every situation far exceeded my expectations.


    When I confirmed by sight that all the shes were knocked down, I tried drawing closer to perform a follow-up attack.


    「Don’te closer! – Draconic Roar!」


    She spread ck and white mes over a wide range.


    In the face of an irregr ranged attack, I can’t help but put distance between us temporarily.


    There was a big distance between us, and we fell into a stalemate for a little while.


    「You… what was that skill just now…?」


    「I don’t know which one you’re talking about, but both are techniques I have devised.」


    「…Right. At the very least, you have the aplishment of being acknowledged by Leia…」


    She muttered while looking over at Leia-sensei.


    「Anyway – now I know clearly that you’ve faced swordsmanship in earnest and devoted substantial time into training, through the attacks we exchanged just now.」


    Well that… I have spent over a billion years in training.


    「Alright, I will acknowledge you as a 『Fairly Good Swordsman』」


    「…Why thank you.」


    For the time being, I took it as apliment.


    People will be happier if they took things positively.


    「But, there’s no point in refining your sword skills when you can’t use soul dress. I will demonstrate it to you from here on out. No amount of effort will be enough to ovee – the insurmountable wall known as talent!」


    Having said that, she charged straight towards me.


    (In a contest of simple muscle strength, I should be better… So, what are you thinking…?)


    I want to avoid being caught in the mes due to evading poorly.


    Responding to the taunts of my opponent is annoying but… it can’t be helped.


    Let’s take her on from the front.


    Our swords shed – the moment we were locked sword to sword, Ria-sanughed.


    「High King Style – Strong Strike!」


    At that moment, a tremendous impact that didn’t feel like an elegant woman’s strength assailed my arms.


    「Wha…t!?」


    This woman, how does she possess such brutish strength…!


    「HAAAAAAAAA…!」


    「Kuh, OOOOOOOOO…!」


    Legs, Hips, Abdomen, Arms – I met her assault by mobilizing all my muscles.


    However,


    (Shit…, I can’t stop her…)


    I was outmuscled by her explosive power – my sword was sent flying, exposing my abdomen full of gaps.


    「You’re full of openings!」


    Her powerful kicknded there.


    「Guh!?」


    I deliberately jumped back to reduce the shock and narrowly escaped heavy damage.


    At the same time, I retrieved the sword that fell behind and prepared for the next attack.


    (Shit… that strength is troublesome…)


    The secret of her ridiculous strength is the zing me behind her.


    At the moment the swords collided, the mes behind her red up, and she obtained that explosive power.


    Ria-san, who gave me an effective blow, looked at me with a sidelong nce.


    「If we simplypare our swordsmanship, then you are certainly above me …which irritates me. However, my swordsmanship, which is strengthened with soul dress, can’t be beaten by your makeshift swordsmanship. Did you finally understand a little? The absolute power of soul dress.」


    Abination of swordsmanship and soul dress… honestly, it is nothing less than admirable.


    (But… how naive)


    I clearly understood something from her previous strike.


    She relies too much on her overwhelming soul dress, that her swordsmanship has be rough.


    In addition to that, her carelessness and self-pride – there’s plenty of chances to win.


    (…Shall I use that?)


    The technique that I devised within one of the several loops in the Prison of Time – I never imagined the technique created just for the fun of it, would get a chance to debut in actualbat.


    (Well… now that I’ve decided to use it, first… I have to precisely predict Ria-san’s movements)


    I reyed the offence and defense we exchanged in my mind.


    First, she saw the flying shadow and developed a white me shield that protected a fairly wide area.


    Second, in front of the approaching Yatagarasu, she calmed down and controlled the ck me and shot everything down urately.


    Third, when I drew closer with a follow-up attack, she deployed a wide-range attack calmly without panicking.


    (…Ria-san has consistently made rational and conservative choices)


    And currently, she has gotten an effective telling blow against me – I have a pretty good idea of her next action.


    After finishing the analysis, I calcted the optimum point from Ria-san’s position.


    I passed the sword tip through that point, gently in a way she wouldn’t be suspicious.


    (…Yoshi, the preparations areplete now)


    After that, if she moves as I thought – it will burst.