Chapter 399: Interlude: Gold and Silver (4)

0% With each consecutive tear in the air, metal screamed.

Sparks exploded like the final gasp of a dying beast, disorienting their vision. Gold and blue trajectories collided, unleashing violent winds.

The number of sword strikes raining down in that instant defied human imagination.

Straight lines, curves, diagonals–uncanny strokes that transcended conventional forms.

Each one carried explosive killing intent.

Dozens of exchanges passed in the blink of an eye, and the tide of battle quickly became clear.

After a sharp CLANG rang out, someone staggered back a few steps.

It was Seria, the girl with gray hair.

Her once-clear blue eyes were now bloodshot. She could no longer control her overflowing emotions.

With gritted teeth, her expression dripped with thick killing intent.

In contrast, the blonde woman facing Seria remained utterly composed.

Delphine Yurdina–the Golden Lion protecting the North.

If Seria’s sword was desperate, hers was elegant. It wouldn’t be out of place even if this was a ball rather than a battlefield.

The gap in their skills was that clear.

From the start, Seria had never beaten Delphine except once.

And even that single victory was mostly thanks to Ian.

There was an uncrossable river between Delphine, who had received full support as an heir since childhood, and Seria, who had been mistreated as a concubine’s daughter.

Seria wasn’t ignorant of this fact.

In her mere twenty years of life, hadn’t she felt it down to her bones?

Delphine was strong.

Even Seria’s brilliant talent seemed to pale in this woman’s presence.

And so, she had been jealous her entire life.

Her feelings of inferiority were like a swamp–no matter how hard she fought, she always ended up drowning in them.

She’d tried everything to crawl out of that filthy mire.

But Seria only grew more exhausted as struggling alone changed nothing.

Then, there was one person who reached out a hand.

Senior Ian.

As his face flashed through her mind, a jolt of energy surged through her off-balance form.

Her teeth sank into her tender lip as the sweet scent of blood began to fill her mouth.

With a THUD, the girl’s back foot slammed hard into the floor as her body launched forward like a bullet.

From defense to offense in an instant.

It was a thrust that split time itself.

Even perfectly replicating a sword manual couldn’t produce a sharper nor faster thrust than this.

It was a speed most swordsmen couldn’t even react to.

Yes, ‘most swordsmen’.

Unfortunately, Seria’s opponent wasn’t someone who could be lumped into such a category.

WHOOSH–golden aura blazed.

Blade slid against blade producing an eerie sound. Delphine’s body, having easily deflected Seria’s thrust, closed to point-blank range.

What happened next was a blur.

Seria gasped as she came to her senses. Her hand was burning and her muscles refused to obey due to lack of air.

She had lost consciousness for a very brief moment.

She couldn’t even tell how she’d been hit at the end.

From the lingering pain, she could only guess she’d been struck in the solar plexus by an elbow or foot.

Her body had already been shoved into a corner and buried beneath the clutter of tools from the display stand.

Watching this scene, Delphine smiled seductively.

“You’ve improved, but you’re still too honest. Your intentions are completely bare just from your eyes alone.”

“…..Shut your mouth.”

Seria tried to get up as she gritted her teeth.

But she couldn’t properly grip her sword. She felt heat from the back of her now-reddened hand.

A burn.

While deflecting her blade, Delphine had chosen to close the distance. In that process, she’d been caught in Delphine’s golden aura.

She hadn’t been directly hit by the aura.

However, the heat was still enough to burn skin wrapped in mana. Her scorched muscles couldn’t properly respond to her brain’s commands.

It was quite a predicament.

She was already at a disadvantage in strength, and now she suffered burns as well.

Seria chewed her lips.

Blue killing intent still radiated from her eyes. The jealousy of a girl who’d lost her first love was awfully terrifying.

But that anger couldn’t reach Delphine.

She loathed that brutal truth with every fiber of her being

“Did you do this to Senior Ian too? Did you corner him with your body, toying with his gentle heart–like some leftover scrap of affection? Heh… So then, what you received must be the dregs of lust, wouldn’t you say?”

“Perhaps.”

It was a line spoken flatly, without any interest.

Delphine then gazed at the gleaming edge of her sword, its reflection revealing a scene of utter devastation.

It had been only a few minutes since the start of their exchange.

But that was enough to leave the office in complete chaos.

Swords once proudly displayed on the walls now lay scattered on the floor, while various documents and books were either burned or torn apart.

Her lips curled into an amused smile as she surveyed the carnage.

“But Seria, what matters is the result. Didn’t I always say that what matters most is winning in the end? And here, the outcome is before me: the defeated groveling on their knees, and the victor standing proudly.”

“Standing proudly?”

*Kik kik–*Seria let out a fierce laugh.

Those eyes raised once again were filled with cold killing intent.

They were a reddish color caused by burst blood vessels as her anger exceeded her limits

“If you’re so proud, why not call a vassals’ meeting and announce it? That you’re a goddamn whore who spread her legs to seduce a man! Everyone trusted and followed you, and now we, who have to serve you as the family head, are pitiful. It’s disgusting, it makes me want to puke… You’re not even human. You’re nothing more than a bitch in heat.”

“Say whatever you want.”

*Tch–*Delphine looked down at Seria with a sneer.

Of course, Seria despised being looked at so condescendingly.

Very much so.

“After all, nothing will change… Hehe, as your elder sister, I can listen to your whining as much as you like.”

“Shut the hell up.”

For the second time that day, Seria spat out harsh, desperate words.

It was rudeness she couldn’t have imagined voicing before.

How could she use vulgar language toward her respected sister?

But now, she no longer felt any respect for her.

In fact, she couldn’t even accept that Delphine was her sister anymore.

All Seria’s retinas registered now was a fucking bitch who’d snatched away her precious Senior.

“Don’t speak the human language… For a whore like you, barking like a dog would suit you better.”

“Don’t be like that, Seria.”

As the girl staggered to her feet, Delphine pointed her sword at Seria again and said.

With a soft chuckle, a gentle smile rose on the woman’s face.

“My little sister kneeling and begging to a bitch? As your sister, it breaks my heart.”

Seria clutched her sword hilt with trembling hands.

She had only one chance.

After all, if things continued as they were, defeat was inevitable.

Even if she somehow avoided a fatal wound, that golden aura was a problem.

That alone raised the indoor temperature by several degrees.

Even the slightest contact would accumulate damage; soon, she wouldn’t even be able to lift her sword.

If she wanted to settle this, it had to be now.

Suddenly, Seria’s momentum faltered.

Her blazing killing intent turned ice cold. Like heated iron becoming harder through tempering.

Then came the sword stance.

Both her arms dropped. Her completely relaxed arm muscles showed no sign of counterattack.

Only her sword dangled, pointing at Delphine.

At first glance, it looked like the stance of someone who’d given up.

Nevertheless, Delphine didn’t let her guard down.

Rather, she took a matching posture and sent a wary gaze towards her.

Those blue eyes were burning with an ominous light.

One, two.

As they gathered their breath, the sound of breathing gradually grew fainter.

As time seemed to slow more and more, even the sound of their heartbeats seemed to stop for a moment.

Suddenly, sword light erupted.

There was no warning.

As if it should have always been there, a dark blue flash ripped across the world.

A slash without a clear beginning or end.

Rather, it was truly the fastest strike that could only be described as suddenly ‘appearing’.

It couldn’t be blocked.

It couldn’t be countered.

Most wouldn’t even imagine such swordplay could exist.

Without prior knowledge, none could withstand this secret sword technique.

Though Seria couldn’t control its power either, it didn’t matter.

After all, it was a sword swung with the intention to kill.

Her rationality had long since burned away with jealousy and rage.

At this point, Seria was certain of victory.

Though Delphine’s body twitched and reacted first, it was too late.

This wasn’t a technique that could be blocked with just a sword.

Even the sturdiest tree would break before a typhoon.

Yet what Seria hadn’t noticed was that Delphine’s sword stance had dropped to her lower left.

The lion’s claws carved golden trails of heat through the air.

Seven slashes appeared, their trajectories drawn in unison.

Golden claws struck down vertically across the blue horizontal line.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Seria’s sword, swung with all her might, shattered four claw marks in an instant.

By now, Seria’s jaw was clenched tightly.

She couldn’t properly put strength into her hand.

It was because of the previous burn.

Sensing that arm strength alone wasn’t enough, She twisted her waist.

It was a desperate move, leaving her wide open to a fatal blow if she failed.

But for Seria, who had already thrown her trump card, it was an unavoidable choice.

Clang, clang!

Her desperate gamble paid off as two more claw marks crumbled before her blade.

And that was the end.

Seria wanted to scream.

This should have been her victory.

At least, the last time she’d seen it, Delphine’s Illusory Sword of Golden Lion had a maximum of five streaks.

So why.

Why now of all times.

She was just about to take that woman’s head!

But Seria’s resentment couldn’t be voiced.

Before she could, Delphine’s kick had directly struck Seria’s side.

It was a precise blow that added rotational force with a planted foot as an axis.

Seria, who had already exposed herself, had no way to receive this.

Her internal organs were crushed, and blood surged up her throat from the increased internal pressure.

Seria had to roll on the ground without even being able to scream.

Up until she stopped by hitting a wall.

Whether she’d crashed into a bookshelf or not, thump-thump–books tumbled down, burying her limp form.

“……I’m impressed, Seria.”

Was it admiration, or mockery?

Delphine let out such an exclamation while taking graceful steps towards her.

“I almost got caught off guard. I could have lost face as the family head, you know?”

*Cough–*while spitting out blood.

Seria struggled to get up.

As she propped herself up with trembling arms, the books that had covered her body fell off one by one.

This was the end.

What awaited Seria as she escaped from the paper tomb was Delphine’s sword.

“But in the end, it’s my victory, Seria.”

Seria blanked, then her body trembled.

Soon she clenched her fists tight as her shoulders shook.

Defeat was familiar for her.

Hadn’t she lived her whole life this way?

So why, today of all days, did that fact feel so frustratingly, bitterly unfair?

Swallowing tears that welled up, Seria spat.

“…….Kill me.”

Yes, this was better.

Rather than imagining the scene of her beloved senior and respected sister entwining bodies every night.

Rather than having her heart burn and become desolate while wanting to hang herself.

It was better to lose her life at the hands of her rival.

Seria meant it sincerely.

Even at that empty confession, Delphine’s eyes did not waver in the slightest.

She just remained silent.

Then let out a voice mixed with a sigh.

“Seria……”

And at that moment.

“My lady!”

Bang–the office door burst open and a group rushed in.

They were Yurdina’s vassals.

The commotion in the office had finally leaked outside.

*Ah–*both Delphine and Seria’s eyes quickly turned toward them.

They’d failed to notice while focused on their duel.

Seria had long since lost her reason, and Delphine hadn’t expected Seria to put up such a good fight.

So the Yurdina family vassals couldn’t help but have bewildered expressions.

The completely messed up office, and Seria in tatters.

As well as Delphine’s sword pointed at her throat.

The two sisters remained silent, then soon regained their senses and lowered their gazes.

They wanted to make excuses, but well…

It was the epitome of a family in shambles.