Chapter 34

Carlo had no intention of defending himself or debate with Leah’s side . As her teacher of the sword and of life, he knew that he could no longer sway her whatever he would say now .

The only way was to fight .

He brandished his longsword, before shooting forward at Leah like a bolt of dark lightning .

With the 10% boost on strength, speed, and stamina, his attacks were far faster . In his mind, even if Leah would analyze him through her experiences with him in training, there was no stopping his blow!

And yet, he was blocked by the guard beside Leah .

“Carlo, you are never reaching Her Highness!” He roared .

“Boris… And here I was thinking the vice-captain would have better brains . But it looks like you’re no different . ”

Carlo sneered belittlingly . He was the one who personally trained every imperial guard, and knew at hard every man’s skill .

Moreover, although Boris was given the rank of vice-captain amongst the surviving member of the guardsman, that was because he was good at handling various duties and could better aid Princess Leah . In terms of actual ability, he was a bottom-feeder!

In fact, Carlo thought he could just use Boris to threaten and dismantle Leah’s morale .

With that decided, Carlo repelled Boris with an elegant flurry of slashes, before knocking him off balance and cutting off Boris’s right wrist—his sword hand!

“It’s over!”

Boris would be no more than a toothless hound with his right hand and weapon lost, and could not be at a threat at all! Carlo knew that his wretched state would definitely break the princess’s will .

Nonetheless…

“No, it’s not!”

Boris was still holding his sword . He continued trading slashes with Carlo in his clumsy sword style .

Steel clanged as they fought, and Carlo was confused .

‘No, I did cut his hand off,’ he thought . ‘At best it would be still attached to a thin piece skin… so why does it looked like nothing happened?’

“Air Launch!” Boris cried .

“Are you trying to make me, the best swordsman in the Empire laugh with that funny sword skill? Boris, not only did you not improve, you’re becoming… worse?!”

Before Carlo could finish, he was knocked up into the air by Boris despite the latter’s clearly lacking the wrist power .

Carlo was utterly bewildered . That skill made no sense at all!

Nonetheless, being Tierra’s finest, he quickly shifted his weight, turned and swung out at Boris as the latter closed in to land steadily on the ground .

It was just two little surprises, but Carlo was not going to keep underestimating Boris .

As he started to fight at his best, Carlo immediately left Boris on his back foot, even if he was still perplexed .

Boris had clearly been stabbed a few times now—Carlo could feel his blows land on him and there were spurts of blood . Even so, the wound would disappear with the turn of an eye, and his attempts to sever Boris’s tendons to disable him was utterly impossible .

Moreover, even if his 10% stamina buff, the vicious sword fighting left him a little tired and gasping for air . On the other hand, Boris was just like before and not at all tired!

Everything was so weird! What did he actually go through in the last three days?!

More worryingly, Leah had yet to make a move .

Her talent for the sword was considerable and she was one of the best even amongst the imperial guard . Though she had learned sword skills for appearances before Tierra’s fall, she trained diligently and never once relaxed when she finally shouldered the duty to avenge her fallen nation .

In fact, she was just next to Carlo himself in skill .

Nonetheless, Carlo was ninety percent sure that he would easily defeat her just three days ago, and it was also why he kept trying to provoke her just now .

But now, Boris’s abnormal change lost him that confidence .

While he did not know the reason, if Boris was already so powerful, would the princess’s ability not reach new heights?

“Boris, stand down . ”

The girl suddenly spoke .

“Your Highness…” Boris pulled away from Carlo albeit reluctantly . Not quite understand her thoughts, Carlo did not try to sneak a strike, and instead stared at the impassive girl .

Unlike Carlo who was fighting blind, Leah’s could see Boris’s stamina bar from their group stats .

Once his stamina was exhausted, he would earn a ‘fatigue’ debuff and his stats would all fall rapidly . With his blood lacking, Carlo would probably kill him with a single swing .

Even if he could be revived, she did not want to watch as a loyal retainer died .

Understanding Leah’s resolve, Boris followed orders even if he did not want to .

“Now, it’s my turn . ”

The girl flicked the hilt of a sword . Then, with a forceful swing, the silver blade turned into a bladed whip as if it was a snake .

Carlo sighed . “I never taught you to use such a vulgar weapon to entertain the masses…”

“You’ll see if it’s vulgar soon enough!” She swung her weapon’s hilt, and the whip blade shot at Carlo, hissing as it cut through the air!

Carlo quickly parried but was sent flying, only able to hold himself steady after stumbling a few steps backward .

He was utterly astonished . He clearly had that 10% buff in strength—why couldn’t he block a single blow? When did the princess become so strong?

Leah pressed her advantage, but Carlo was prepared and evaded her blow .

“I just have to get used to it and dodge it just like a whip! It’s so repetitive compared to your sword skills, Your Highness . ” Carlo mocked when he saw that she had no other technique other than her whip sword, attempting to throw her off her rhythm with words for a chance to counter attack .

“Then have a taste of my sword skill, Carlo!” Leah calmly retorted . “Bloody Cross!”

A gentle flick of her whip reverted the whip sword to its blade form . As she slashed the air diagonally twice, a blood-colored cross appeared and shot towards Carlo at her soft cry!

Unable to avoid, Carlo could only dig in to try parrying again . However, the radiant blade slash dispersed and cut him .

How was that a sword skill? It was clearly magic!

“Damn…” Wounded and leaving an opening, Carlo reacted at once .

But he was just a move too slow—Leah’s rushed to a foot away from him, and used a skill he taught her to pierce his heart!

“That power… where… did you get it…” He gasped inaudibly .

As Leah pulled her sword out from him, Carlo fell to the ground on his back .

“It’s a blessing from the God of Games,” the girl replied, “the god you betrayed . ”

“Really… so… I was a step behind…” Carlo said unhappily, his eye fading in color even as he looked at the skies . “I’m sorry, Leah… I just wanted my revenge… I hate it so much…”

Leah hesitated for a moment, but finally lowered herself and gently closed Carlo’s eyes .

“I’ll avenge you,” she said gently . “May your soul find peace . ”