“Good. Good. Very good.”

Patraxion sprang to his feet, gripping his broken spear. He must have rolled across the ground several times; he was covered in dust.

Yet his face held nothing but a smile as innocent as a child’s. A pure smile of irrepressible delight.

“It’s been a long time since I felt like this. Your instincts lag behind the power of your weapons, but that’s something you can develop in time. I like it... I like it very much. Instincts can be honed, but power like that isn’t easily acquired.”

Patraxion looked down at the spear shaft broken in two, then joined the halves. His energy seeped into the break, binding them more tightly together.

Those whose energy arts were stronger than steel could turn even a piece of straw into a weapon. Breaking a weapon that was not even a relic did nothing to diminish the Peerless Spear’s fighting strength.

No, if anything...

“You’ve shown me a technique, so I’ll return the favor with a special move of my own.”

Patraxion spun the spear shaft.

The spear whirled like a windmill, the broken section in its middle serving as a joint. It resembled a massive iron flail more than a spear.

A broken spear. A joint born of that break. A spear swaying precariously around that pivot.

Broken in two, it looked more dangerous than ever.

“A spear is straight and rigid. It draws a simple line to take an enemy’s life. But a person must be supple and flexible. Strength comes from suppleness.”

Long ago, a hundred duels had left Patraxion battered and broken.

Hovering between life and death, he had walked to the royal castle with his bloodstained spear. Before its gates, the Guardian Knight, the kingdom’s last bastion, barred his path like a towering mountain.

The Guardian Knight, acclaimed as the strongest of the age, was mightier than anyone. A single sweep of his spear could split a great mountain and scour the earth. Caught in that storm, Patraxion tumbled across the ground several times. His spear broke in two, his armor was smashed beyond recognition, and the enormous halberd seemed ready to claim his life at any moment.

With his vision growing dim, Patraxion swung his broken, dangling spear. Then, suddenly, he saw its tip moving faster than ever before.

“A straight line is shorter. But it isn’t always faster. Because we have these bodies, and we stand upon this earth. The fastest path traces a curve close to a circle.”

For one brief moment, Patraxion had touched an underlying principle. He had not grasped it; only his fingertips had brushed it.

But that alone had been enough to take the Guardian Knight’s life.

“Try taking this.”

“... Tch!”

Shei drew up Earth’s Ripple and overturned the ground with earth arts.

Spikes of rock sprouted in rapid succession. The earth became a colossal barrier blocking Patraxion. Above the ground, broken every which way as if someone had been playing in the dirt, the elongated Sky Cherry Blossom descended.

But Patraxion evaded it all with strange footwork.

He rode smoothly over the waves coursing through the ground and dodged the slash falling from the sky by a paper-thin margin.

Detecting attacks with energy perception.

Naturally pushing and pulling against the ground.

A man who had attained complete command of his body performed a feat as precarious as balancing on a blade.

Having overcome every obstacle and closed to spear range, the Peerless Spear gripped his broken weapon with both hands. Its tip swayed gently like a leaf in the wind.

Amid the surging earth and collapsing sky, Patraxion unleashed the supreme technique upon which his life had hinged.

Ultimate Technique: Peerless Spear.

The spear, broken in two, traced its path.

It was a curve exceedingly close to a straight line.

From legs, waist, shoulders, arms, and hands to the joint in the broken spear shaft, tremendous trained force filled every joint, releasing power from each one.

This was the principle the Peerless Spear had grasped.

He drew a straight line, yet it was the sum of countless curves within his spear and body.

It could not be dodged. It could not be blocked. That trajectory, touching an underlying principle, passed over Earth’s Ripple and aimed for Shei’s face. The straight line he drew was one of the few true answers a tool called a spear could attain in this world.

The secret technique that had earned the Peerless Spear his name.

The only way to deflect it was...

“Sky Cherry Blossom!”

To distort space itself.

Shei unleashed Sky Cherry Blossom’s power to the fullest. Mystery peered through the opening as space swelled.

The Peerless Spear’s supreme technique, which had never been blocked or missed its mark, barely brushed past the hair beneath Shei’s ear. Severed black strands scattered into the darkness.

“Hmm. I was hoping to leave a scratch.”

A curious gleam entered Patraxion’s eyes. He had set the trajectory to skim her cheek in the first place, but it had veered far wider than he expected.

The invisible sword in Shei’s hand was at the heart of it, but that was not the whole story.

“Sharp senses. Fine weapons, and fine skill. Especially when it comes to defense.”

The two drew apart as if by agreement. Looking deeply displeased, Shei muttered.

“... You held back.”

“Just the usual restraint in a duel. Weren’t we both doing that?”

Neither had gone all out. In a sense, they had merely exchanged one technique apiece.

Even so, Shei was dissatisfied with the outcome. Winning was not impossible, but she felt as though she had been overwhelmed in the fight itself.

“I see why you seem weak. The energy arts you’ve learned are extremely defensive.”

Patraxion, who had just crossed weapons with her, felt much the same. Resting his broken spear on his shoulder, he continued.

“Your counters are flawless. You kept up with every attack I made. You even managed a response to a supreme technique you’d never seen before today. Excellent. But as you know, defense alone won’t win a fight.”

“... I know that!”

“Reworking your energy arts is extraordinarily difficult. You’ll have to find some solution within that framework.”

Heaven-Reversing Realm was the ultimate defensive energy art.

Which meant its offensive capabilities fell far short.

By recalling her experiences across regressions and engraving each one into her body, Shei had improved her survivability and adaptability with every run. It had allowed her to see more and do more.

But never once had she overwhelmed an opponent on a similar level.

“It seems you can’t manage it alone. You haven’t changed much even after your time in the bottomless pit.”

Most of Shei’s skill came from Heaven-Reversing Realm. In each new run, she engraved into her body the attacks she had witnessed as she died, overcoming them one by one.

But while her mastery of Heaven-Reversing Realm continued to grow, her attacks still relied on sheer power.

“Become a general. As my disciple—no. As an equal, I’ll broaden your horizons. You can gain experience, and I can introduce you to other powerful fighters. It should help.”

Despite the Peerless Spear’s offer, Shei felt no joy at having earned his recognition.

Because she had already been through this in a previous run.

Back when she had roamed the Military State in search of information about the bottomless pit, she had once studied under him.

Shei had not disguised herself as a boy then. She had learned that the Peerless Spear doted on his daughter and was generous toward children her age.

But he had been too generous with Shei that time. He had vehemently opposed her going to Tantalus, which had cost her a great deal of time.

During that time, Shei had received his instruction.

But whatever it had done for her defense, her offense had not improved at all.

“... I’ll pass.”

Having already tried and failed, she did not need to think it over. Patraxion clicked his tongue.

“I see. What a shame.”

“I don’t find it much of a shame.”

“What? Hey. Opportunities like this don’t come often. Just a few days ago, someone was asking me to teach him.”

The two had reached a brief lull and were adjusting their grips on their weapons when it happened.

“That will be enough.”

A soft voice came from the darkness. Blackness like ink scattered through the air parted, and a silver-haired vampire strode proudly out of it.

Someone was dangling from Tyrkanzyaka’s hand.

Patraxion’s eyes widened.

“Huh? Hey, Gand. What are you doing over there?”

Colonel Gand, Patraxion’s disciple and adjutant, who had been guarding the perimeter, was caught in Tyrkanzyaka’s grip by the collar. Unable to shake off her slender arm, he struggled and shouted.

“... I’m ashamed of myself! But Master, fall back! The Progenitor...! We can’t beat her!”

“What?”

Patraxion looked at the vampire’s hand. He quickly realized what had happened.

A spear ran through Tyrkanzyaka’s right arm, from palm to elbow. Surely Gand’s handiwork.

But to Tyrkanzyaka, a puncture wound was as trivial as a pinprick. With her arm still impaled, she had simply walked up to Gand and seized his collar.

“You are rather skilled. Few beings have damaged my body to this extent.”

Patraxion asked incredulously.

“Wait, you don’t even bleed when you’re stabbed?”

“D-damn it...! Get away! It’s a bad matchup...!”

Even the Peerless Spear’s art was, at its core, a matter of tracing a path that pierced anything.

But piercing the Progenitor of vampires would not kill her. In other words...

“You cannot kill me. You never could, and you never shall.”

Tyrkanzyaka murmured languidly.

She was not called the Knight Slayer for nothing. Unable to die or be worn down, Tyrkanzyaka was the natural enemy of knights who wielded swords and spears.

Tyrkanzyaka pulled out the spear. Not a single drop of the blood that composed her spilled in the process. Pulling a stick out of a clay doll would have made a more tragic sight.

Having grasped the situation, Patraxion muttered.

“Wow. Hold on. She’s that tough? No wonder the orders said to ‘actively avoid engagement.’”

“I, too, would prefer that you did so. If you insist on resisting, I shall have to turn this fellow in my hand into my shadow.”

“Okay!”

Patraxion promptly tossed away his broken spear. At the same moment, Tyrkanzyaka released Colonel Gand. Gand staggered back.

As soon as Gand returned to his side, Patraxion gave him a playful smack on the head.

“Hey, why were you getting cocky for no reason? If someone looks out of your league, you should know when to let them pass.”

“... I have no excuse.”

“Look at this bastard, all his confidence gone. Do you get it now? How much weird stuff there is in the world?”

Meanwhile, Tyrkanzyaka approached Shei and reproached her with a somewhat cool look.

“Do not get too carried away enjoying yourself. Have we not set out to find Hugh? If you were to make a mistake and die here, where would that leave me?”

“... All right. Sorry.”

“Hmm? How unusually obedient of you. Never mind. I have seen plenty of men deepen their friendships this way.”

“... Men...”

“But you must call for me if this happens again. You made me miss a fine spectacle...”

And so they went their separate ways in opposite directions, as if nothing had happened.

The duel of the century had ended, but there had been no audience. The night in Palkaris drew to a close, consigning the day’s events to oblivion.