Chapter 62
Chapter 62: Both Men Standing Side by Side
A silver powder scraped off from the knives as they bounced in the darkness of the night .
The white blade almost fell on my shoulder . Still, my knives blades pierced through the air in order to prevent the impending attack .
I managed to counterattack and tried to strike him back . The blade of my knives made a sound through the wind as if I cut the air . Probably, for Helot Stanley, this counterattack wasn’t much of a threat .
However, if I wanted to knock him down, I had to force my knives to intercept the attacks of his white blade . Although there were clearly differences in weapons, there was definitely a great difference between him and me as well .
My knives’ handles began to shake as if they were about to crack .
*metal sound*
The sound of clash between iron with iron resonated quietly . There were no other sounds around us . No, maybe I just didn’t listen properly to my surroundings . At least, I didn’t seem to think nor listen to anything else besides the sounds of this duel .
I exhaled briefly while I narrowed my eyes .
I mustn’t follow the same mistakes as before . Helot’s swordsmanship had the advantage in this duel . This meant that my tactics with knives didn’t matter much in this duel . After all, it was my rusty knives against the robust white sword of my opponent .
Normally, fighting with small weapons such as knives would be unreasonable or unrealistic . Counterattacking with knives was always difficult, and proved to be disadvantageous for some of my offensive strikes . To be more precise, my retaliation did not have precision nor sharpness as opposed to Helot’s sword handling .
Engaging in a fight with knives would be extremely difficult even for the genius people like Caria .
Yet, there was one advantage . My knowledge of the past . A silvery line ran through the dark night, which had become thin as a star falling from the sky . I had to be focused and precise if I really wanted to win .
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*blowing wing*
I swung my arms wide while looking fixedly at Helot’s flank .
I moved one-step further . At that moment, the sound of cutting the wind resounded on my earlobes . It seemed as if our breaths were synchronized . Before I noticed it, Helot’s white blade roared through the air when he tried to charge against me .
The speed of his reaction couldn’t be underestimated . As soon as my knees began to move, and as soon as I knew what I would do in my initial movement, Helot managed to use his white blade immediately . All I saw was the sparkling light of his sword as he slashed one of my arms .
I felt as if ice touched my brain . It was just a single moment, but it was clear to my eyes . A twist . I didn’t care if it was impossible to get out of this duel unharmed . It was obvious that my body wouldn’t get out of here unhurt . That was my previous resolution . However . Now, everything felt different on the actual battle . This duel could be a true challenge for me .
The twister attack created a sudden slowdown in the battle . After the cut was inflicted on my arm, I forcibly used it afterwards as I felt excruciating pain . It felt as if my arm was screaming since the muscles were cut open . The acute pain I sensed resembled the feeling of thousand needles piercing through my skin .
It was impossible to completely avoid Helot’s white blade . At the base of my thumb overflowed fresh blood . It fell to the ground, and my blood mixed with sand, while being swallowed by the blowing wind . My hand was also injured from this attack . Indeed, this situation just got worse .
Yet, the fear and pain were just mere feelings that tried to trick me and nothing else . My brain had no time to be preoccupied by such things .
「Lugis, can you please drop your blades… 」
「…I don’t think that you have the right to say that . 」
I interrupted Helot’s words . There was a slight grin on my cheek . Looking at the place where Helot’s words stopped, I realized that this duel had no turning back .
Ah, nothing at all . He was a man who made people feel imaginary . The bottom of my gust was heated . My skin was tingling and my senses were strangely clear .
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A torrent of emotions tried to burn my brain . I kept feeling a large intensity of rage through my spine . These emotions didn’t stop, and I felt them so vigorously today . I accepted them gradually and quietly .
「That’s an unreasonable request . I told you . You’re on that side, and I’m on this side . Besides, I’m incompatible with you . It’s not that you’re bad or anything . But, some things cannot be changed . 」
After saying that, I moved my silvery knives during the darkness of the night .
That’s correct . He wasn’t that bad if I put it into a different perspective . Neither my heart-wrenching hatred nor the crazy envy I felt towards Helot meant that he done something bad . But, some things couldn’t be changed . And those things were me . I was the problem . That’s why I couldn’t tolerate this man . I felt hatred for trying to reach things that were out of my hands, while others had it simple and easy . How selfish of me . Just how far down could I go?
But, still . Yes, that’s right . Everything that happened before severely haunted me in the past and in the present .
I was no different from what I used to be because I succumbed to those feelings .
I gritted my teeth strongly . I felt the exhaled hot breath from the esophagus up to my mouth .
I extended my hand to reach my nemesis’ neck . However, the silvery blades were drawn in a semicircle, and the sound reverberated through the air . This was a crucial moment . A moment where my eyes met with the enemy’s eyes . Our gaze was fixed into each other, yet none of us reached each other yet . I just kept moving my knives to his neck in a strategic trajectory, so that I could inflict a surprise attack…
…Nonetheless, on this moment, I heard the sound of “the Grim Reaper’s fingers touching my skull” . A premonition, or should I say, a gut feeling .
The sound of death . In a short moment, I foreseen that Helot’s white blade would crack through my skull and my brain fluids would flow out of my skull . That meant a clear death for me . This attack would be the undoubtedly attack that will make me die .
The impeding attack with my knives, which were approaching his neck, had a different outcome . I chose to retreat before Helot could inflict me that fatal injury . Once I retreated, I didn’t let my feet stop . I recharged my body quickly and tried one more time . Helot didn’t want to lose the momentum of this occasion as well .
This instinct could twist my will, and the underlying fear of death could devour my rationality .
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My lungs were so active that my breath was rough and painful . Sweat overflowed from my skin and fell from my forehead .
Helot’s golden eyes shined in the darkness of the night . Like our previous confrontation, his kind-hearted face didn’t suit the ferocity of his eyes and movements . I stared fixedly at both of his eyes .
「It’s a pity, Lugis . Honestly, you don’t understand me at all . In fact, I’m more interested in you than just pure hate . I thought that we could be very good comrades if we met under different circumstances . 」
Helot no longer looked at me with ferocious eyes . Helot put his doubled-edged sword on his waist . My brain told me that no matter what ploy I schemed, I wouldn’t be able to succeed . No matter what action I took now . This reality made me shudder . Even my lips quivered .
However, comrades he said… More like a comrade of Helot Stanley to be precise . He told me that if we met at a different time, we could’ve been comrades . The look on his eyes was sincere . I understood clearly that his words weren’t a joke . That’s why those words stick to my brain .
I felt that I had a smile on my face . A spontaneous smile . Not of joy nor contentment . But, of irony . Whether I felt a comrade for Helot, or Helot as my comrade, the irony of this thought quickly spread on my brain .
「Actually, I disagree . Helot Stanley . That’s absolutely impossible . I do understand it . 」
I dared to speak words in a light tone amidst the strong sound of the wind .
This useless and absurd talk wasn’t that meaningless . It brought me some time to recharge my energy .
「If I were going to side with you, I would have to give up on many things such as my goals and motivations . I had no choice but to become your enemy . Otherwise, I’d just look at your back without having my own resolve . In other words, it would be one hell of a wretched path for me and not for you . 」
The journey of the past was clearly depicted in my eyes .
I could only look up to him . I was so overwhelmed by the skill of his swordsmanship that I didn’t even have a chance to improve . I remembered those events vividly . How could I forget my ridiculous self during that time? Not only skill and wisdom . Even the women were attracted to him . I was always lurking in the shadows . No one payed attention to me whenever I was with him . It couldn’t be helped though . He was a genius after all .
Ah, but now I knew what to do . Finally . I wasn’t ridiculous nor an idiot .
I was so angry with myself that I couldn’t even grit my teeth properly . I always wanted to feel like a genius myself . I wanted to be on par with Helot Stanley . I wanted recognition and affection . I didn’t want to become a vessel of the hero . I wanted to become the hero .
Helot slightly moved his cheeks without lowering his stance .
「Sometimes, it feels as if we met before . Yes, as if you were my old acquaintance…Regardless of that, you have to stop this now . 」
「Yeah . So, it’s me who has to let go of “this reins” . My road lasts until you’ve crossed it . 」
Each other’s smiles overlapped fearlessly .
I clearly saw it now . It was unlikely that we wouldn’t collide one day . It just happened to be today of all days . I didn’t know if this clash was the action of god or the devil or something else .
Yet, it felt that I stood here by my own volition .
「Okay, I understand . You gave me no other choice but to follow one path . I will defeat you here and now, in accordance to the law of justice and truth that I believe in…」
「…Absolutely wonderful . That’s the only way to get your mind focused on the battlefield . Well then, Helot Stanley . I will defeat you here and now, in accordance to my great ambition and salvation of my soul’s dignity . 」
Everything seemed like a signal of some sort .
Amidst the dark shade of this long night, the silvery knives and the white blade’s lights glowed brightly as if fire burnt each other’s lives .