Published: July 4, 2025
The sound of clashing swords echoed through the air.
Ryo lunged forward.
Taking another step, he drew a “shi” shape with his sword, forcefully slicing upward after having lowered it.
He severed Garwin's right wrist.
However, that was a trap.
Abandoning his right hand, a kick struck Ryo's right leg at a speed that even Ryo couldn't perceive.
"Ugh!"
Instinctively, Ryo stepped back on his left foot to create distance.
The outside of his right thigh was deeply slashed.
Garwin had struck with something akin to a blade embedded in his toes.
Ryo likely concluded that Garwin would not come charging in due to the distance and the injury to his leg.
Garwin leisurely picked up his severed right hand from the ground and reattached it to his wrist.
Perhaps due to Arwin Ortiz's body, it didn’t seem to regenerate, but it seemed he could easily reattach it after severing it.
"That's unfair!" Ryo pointed out.
"Well, even if you say that, this is part of me as well," Garwin retorted.
“[Complete Recovery]”
He heard the voice of the demon king Nadia from afar, and magic surged.
The healing aimed at Ryo from the "long-distance dispersion divine mercy" spell.
In an instant, his slashed right leg was restored.
"No, you're being unfair too!" Garwin countered.
“Well, even if you say that, this is all part of the royal army,” Ryo shot back.
On the battlefield, only Ryo and Garwin remained fighting.
The phantom soldiers created by Garwin had already vanished, and his kin, Orenju and Izolda, lay defeated.
The only four general still alive, Juk, was controlling Arwin’s body… Garwin had possessed him and was fighting with Arwin's body.
Juk seemed to still be inside Arwin's body.
Given the developments so far, Garwin found it strange.
(Slipping was due to the ice spread on the ground. That's fine. The problem is that I can’t move anymore, the [Gravity Rod] has completely vanished, and even the phantom soldiers that were fighting the royal army have disappeared. One could say my "power" has been taken… but how? Even Richard couldn't do something like that?)
He didn't know the answer.
But realistically, things couldn’t just end like that.
He had to do something. No one else would help him.
(Well, it’s fine. There is a solution.)
Taking a breath, he murmured.
"Just kill that mage."
In truth, that answer was not logical at all.
If this phenomenon was caused by alchemy, killing Ryo wouldn’t solve anything.
Yet, if he killed Ryo and then “asked” each of the remaining humans… it might work.
In other words, it was a sort of correct answer, despite being completely illogical.
The answer isn't always singular.
For now…
"It seems I can only assert my dominance through strength."
"If you have something to say, then say it with your sword," Garwin said with a sinister smile, as Ryo grinned in response.
Garwin closed the distance in an instant.
He invaded Ryo's range, launching an upward slash as his first move.
This was unexpected for Ryo.
Normally, most initial moves would come from a downward strike or a thrust.
Starting with an upward strike was rare.
Thus, his reaction was delayed.
He ended up having to receive the fully powered upward slash with Murakumo.
Though not delicate, Ryo was slimmer compared to shield-user Warren… he received the upward slash without sustaining damage but was blown away entirely.
If the force applied exceeded Ryo’s overall mass, he had no choice but to be blown away.
Had this been an anticipated attack, there were methods to either take it before the force fully manifested or parry the upward-swinging sword… but…
Ryo was sent flying.
Naturally, Garwin followed up with an attack.
He dashed across the ground, running under the airborne Ryo and thrusting his sword upward.
Swish.
Ryo was gone.
In that moment, Garwin leaped forward, instinctively rolling to his feet; this was not a calculated move.
His body acted on its own.
Accumulated experience had propelled him into action instinctively.
A sword of ice swept across where he had been standing.
Garwin’s intuition was not wrong.