Chapter 48: Demon and Shuura
From there, the battle became one-sided.
Urza swung her kanabou and attacked hard, but Nagisa ducked and counterattacked with a slash.
Urza's wounds only increased, and she was unable to land a single blow.
Each wound is not deep because she is able to avoid a fatal blow by a hair's breadth. Even so, the blood loss is quite significant when the number of wounds is multiplied by ten or twenty.
Due to the loss of blood, Urza's movements gradually become slower and slower.
“...It's almost over. Urza has reached her limit.”
I muttered to myself.
It's as I expected. It's not a surprise.
When a power fighter and a speed fighter fight, the former must land the killing blow within the very first few moves of the fight in order to win. After all, the longer the fight goes on, the less chance the power fighter could detect their opponent's moves and hit the target.
It can be seen from Nagisa's face that she has already read Urza's movements perfectly, and her steps to avoid the kanabou are easy and her face shows a relaxed expression.
That Urza has not been seriously injured yet may be because Nagisa is taking it easy on her, not because the oni girl is just barely avoiding her.
“Urza-san...”
Aeris, who is beside me, holding her hands tightly while murmuring worriedly.
Her ladylike face is pale, but she still keeps her eyes on the battle.
Perhaps knowing that in less than a minute Urza would be kneeling on the ground, she watches intently.
“Ugh...”
“Why don't you give up now? Have you realized by now that you can't beat me?”
Nagisa advises Urza, who is gasping and groaning, in a calm voice.
Nagisa must also be convinced of her own victory. Her soft face looks more like that of a teacher or a fellow apprentice than that of a warrior who is trying to defeat their opponent.
“Urza, you are strong. I have no doubt you will be a first-rate warrior, even a genius.”
“......”
“But... you still can't beat me. You and I carry different weights. I cannot be defeated again. The moment I am defeated, the name of 'Seikai Itto-ryu' will fall. I cannot allow that, even if it costs me my life. I cannot lose because I must protect the sword school that my late master left behind.”
“Huff...”
I narrowed my eyes as I recalled my memories.
Nagisa Seikai is the heir to a swords school in the eastern lands.
Her family's dojo, the Seikai Itto-ryu Dojo, had been given the prestigious role of instructor of swordsmanship in that country, and was a family as famous as a marquis's.
But, one day, a dojo-stormer stormed into Nagisa's birthplace and killed all the swordsmen of the school. Among those killed was Nagisa's father and Master.
Nagisa was also seriously wounded, but luckily... or unluckily... she was overlooked and survived.
The only survivor, Nagisa, swore to avenge her father and her school, and came to this country to study, chasing after the dojo-stormer.
“It's heavy... it sure is heavy. What she is carrying on her back.”
In the game, this would have been a matter of “Oh, I see...”, but when hearing this heavy and grim description from her own mouth once again, I began to feel a gloomy feeling.
After all, her father, whom she believed to be the strongest, was killed, and her family's school was destroyed. Left with only herself as a student.
On her slender shoulders, she must carry the school of 'Seikai Itto-ryu' and the regrets of many of her friends in her pursuit of her revenge.
I wonder how much it will takes, how much regret it take, to go on without being broken. Her determination must be unimaginable.
“...I'm sorry Urza, but maybe it was an unwinnable match from the beginning...”
I muttered with a somber mood and took a step forward to stop the reckless slave.
But then something unexpected happens.
“Uggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Huh?”
Urza, who had been wounded to the bone, suddenly screamed.
Her monkey-shriek-like rage is released into the deep green forest, and the trees shook as startled birds flew into the sky.
Instantly, an aura-like light effect of bright red gushes out from Urza's small body. Urza emits a poisonous aura like boiling steam, and Nagisa jumps back in surprise.
“Don't just say whatever you want, desu~no! Do you mock me, desu~no!?”
“What...!”
“My reason for fighting is important, desu~no!? What do you know about Urza, desu~no!?”
Her white hair sways like a creature's, like Medusa's. The whites of her eyes are bright red.
Then, her pupils shone golden. From my knowledge of my previous life, I remembered that it was called 'Fiery Eyes'.
“Urza is fighting to protect Goshujin-sama!? Where is the lightness in that!? That is not a trivial reason, desu~no! Don't you dare say it's not a good reason to fight, desu~no!”
“Wha...!”
Urza swung her kanabou down again.
The ground cracked wide open when she hit her with it, and a big tree behind her split in half and collapsed.
Although Urza had always been a strong figter, her physical strength was clearly out of the ordinary.
It was as if her limiter had been released, and her strength exploded.
“Goshujin-sama is definitely going to do something extraordinary someday, desu~no!? So, Urza is his sword and shield, desu~no. A demon who kills everything that stands in the way of Goshujin-sama! I won't let you say that Urza's reason for fighting is light, desu~no!”
“I see... yes, yes!”
Nagisa's lips lift up in a smile as she bares her pointed canine teeth.
The smile of the past is gone and replaced by a fierce warrior's expression. It is the face who enjoys fighting for his life.
“I beg your pardon. It seems that I underestimated you and Baskerville. From now on, I will fight you with all Seikai Itto-ryu sword art!”
Nagisa holds up her sword and shouts loudly.
It seemed that she had been slacking off a little earlier, and her white blade was filled with a firm intent to kill.
“Nagisa Seikai, the 8th generation master of the Seikai Itto-ryu, now, let's fight!”
“Shut up, desu~no! I'll skin you and eat you!”
Nagisa kicked the ground and jumped straight toward Urza.
Urza raises her kanabou to the top step and tries to slam it down on Nagisa, who is right in front of her.
The fight between the two had already gone beyond the realm of training or mock battle.
Either Urza or Nagisa. One of them will die. Perhaps they will even go head to head.
A fight to the death. A life-destroying struggle. A fight to the death between a demon and a shura.
Kill or be killed. That moment was about to arrive.
“You fools!”
The battle was never going to be decided. And I can't let them settle it.
So, between the two people who were about to clash, I jumped into the intersection where the white blade and the kanabou collided without hesitation.