Sword Saint Ios Vs. Hero Filardo (Part 1)

I ended up having a mock battle with Filardo from Twilight Lightblade.

At my words, Filardo whistled.

“That’s what I wanted to hear!”

When he said that, he held out his Flying Dragon Bastard Sword.

“Then, shall we trade swords?”

“Huh?”

“It wouldn’t be fair if I, an A-class adventurer, used the better weapon, would it?”

Certainly, the Flying Dragon Bastard Sword’s performance greatly surpassed the Magic Wolf Broadsword.

However—

“Uh, no, but because of the blood seal, you can’t use anything other than your own weapon, right?”

Weapons and armor derived from monsters could not be used without a blood contract. Even if you used someone else’s sword, its attack power was zero.

Filardo grinned.

“That’s what makes it good!”

“What do you mean?”

“Both our weapons’ attack power will become zero. Both of ours. In other words, the performance difference between the weapons disappears.”

At last, I understood.

I see, so we would compete more with our “own stats.”

“Understood.”

I received the Flying Dragon Bastard Sword.

Filardo laughed.

“Don’t run off with it, all right?”

“It’s too heavy for me, so I couldn’t.”

I laughed too as I held out the Magic Wolf Broadsword in exchange.

……It really was heavy.

In my right hand was the Flying Dragon Bastard Sword—an A-class weapon. A rank only the super-first-rate, beyond first-rate, could possess. On top of that, it was something held by the warrior I admired.

All sorts of emotions came and went in my chest.

Filardo pointed his sword at me.

“Now then, shall we begin?”

Converting the correction to attack power, my attack power, factoring in the Sword Saint skill, was 577. Filardo’s attack power, factoring in the Swordsmanship skill, was—

963!

“Here I come!”

Filardo’s slash attacked me.

I blocked it with my sword, but—the sword was knocked away by the enormous force that was transmitted through it.

……So this was the level difference……!

An overwhelming difference in class weighed down on my sword.

My class was Sword Saint, above Filardo’s Swordsman. The skill’s positive correction should have far surpassed his, and yet—!

Far away!

Too far away!

Was this the difference in the power he had built up!?

Every time Filardo swung his sword, I was driven back without any way to resist. Before long—

“Urgh!?”

Filardo’s sword struck my stomach once.

I grimaced at the intense pain.

The weapon’s attack power should have been zero, and yet that force certainly pierced through my defense power and dealt damage.

……He really is strong, after all…….

Filardo called out to me.

“That’s the match, right?”

The rule was that the battle would be decided when either side landed a clean hit.

“……Yes, that’s right.”

I was frustrated.

Not because I had lost. Because it had ended here.

Meanwhile, Filardo—

“……Hmm, his attack power is level 40 and a bit? But his body handling is poor. It’s like he’s not even level 30…… He feels unbalanced…… What is going on……?”

He was muttering to himself.

I was being analyzed like crazy!?

Heh heh heh heh, Filardo laughed as he looked at me.

“You look like you haven’t had enough…… If you still want to get hurt, shall I keep you company a little longer?”

……It was not over.

I readied my sword again. There was no reason to back down. This was a chance to receive the sword of a man far stronger than me! There was no way I could turn my back on that.

And—at the very least, I wanted to strip away Filardo’s composure at least once!

“Please!”

I challenged Filardo once again.

I was struck down again and again. Filardo sometimes handled my attacks with force, and sometimes with flowing movements.

The techniques built up by a veteran swordsman did not let me get close at all.

The moment I thought, Ah, Filardo’s sword hit me.

I had thought I had gotten a little stronger, but not at all. How lofty were the things the man before me had built up? Was this the sword of the man who would eventually reach the strongest? Could I really reach this place someday? Could I really arrive here someday? Fatigue and pain whispered by my ear. Something like that was impossible. Know the limits of your vessel.

Ah, yes. There was no way I could do something like that. Those who could reach that place were decided by fate. There was no way I could be such a person—

There was no way I could think that!

“What’s wrong? Is it over already?”

Every time Filardo smiled lightly, my fighting spirit burned.

“Not yet!”

No fatigue or pain could stop me yet. I wanted to savor each and every second. Even in a battle with no chance of winning, I wanted to challenge it. Even if not now, so that I could reach it someday!

I had not abandoned that thought, those feelings!

I could not abandon them!

“Ooooooooooooooooooooooh!”

The sword I unleashed together with those feelings—

Was still easily knocked away by Filardo’s single blow.

“Not bad.”

Filardo summed it up with an expression of composure that had not broken until the end.

“I look forward to your future. Do your best.”

A slash like thunder cut me down.