Free Web NovelChapter 173: Joyful Swordplay
And just like Sara seemingly finished off Mika, she dashed towards Belian and lashed out heavy and quick swings.
"..."
Belian was visibly pressured as he gritted his teeth. He was able to fend off her attacks but he was still pushed back until his back eventually hit the deck’s rail.
"Have fun with Mika underwater!" Sara remarked with a mocking smirk.
She thrust her sword at Belian, who slid to the side.
"?"
However, it was not her intention to end with that attack. Sara put enough force into it so that her sword was stuck there. Then, she immediately jumped up with her hands still on the sword and her side facing Belian.
She pressed her knees towards her chest and then stretched them out, kicking Belian off the ship.
With a loud splash, Belian sank into the water.
"..."
Aside from being absolutely flabbergasted by Sara, who single-handedly overwhelmed Loogam’s top students, the others did not know how to act.
"It was a good match, nonetheless. But I guess there’s really no one among my peers, who could match me!" Sara said, laughing cockily with her chest puffed out.
Only close to two minutes passed.
Ophelia was raising her hand as she shook her head in disappointment.
She knew that Sara was even rivaling the strength of a Grand Order member as long as she wielded a sword but despite that Ophelia was hoping for Belian and Mika to put up a stronger resistance.
"Too bad..." she murmured.
"Wait...!"
"I haven’t lost yet."
But at that moment, at each side of the main deck a hand was grabbing the rails.
Those hands belonged to Belian and Mika, who pulled themselves up.
"Yeah...! That’s what I want to see!" Sara commented with a bright smile.
The two were dripping on the wooden deck and squeezed their clothes, creating a small and shallow puddle beneath their feet.
"I was too focused on my sword but now I know how to handle you...!" Mika declared fiercely.
"I, too, will not be taken by surprise anymore." Belian said with narrowed eyes. freewebnøvel.coɱ
While Belian’s hair dried due to the heat he was emitting, Mika just quickly went through his hair and squeezed it gently.
"Oh~ What are you planning this time? Are you two going to attack me at the same time?"
"Nope."
Mika was the first to charge at her, making Sara raise her eyebrows a little.
Their swords clashed. But unlike usual, Mika immediately pulled back.
"Hm?"
Even she was confused as she remembered that Mika was the type of sword fighter, who would not let up during a sword clash.
Mika got into position again.
"Again...?" she muttered confused when Mika dashed towards her again and swung his sword at her.
Their swords clashed again and again Mika pulled away and put some distance between them.
Attacking and pulling back immediately. This play continued dozens of times.
However, Sara’s gaze turned grim shortly afterward.
"..."
When Mika and Sara crossed swords and Mika was about to go back once more, Sara followed suit and went after him. Her arm was retracted as she aimed to pierce him instantly.
"?!"
Her eyes widened.
The moment Mika was in reach, she was about to thrust her sword at him but instead of searching for a way to either block or dodge the attack, Mika already took some steps towards her.
And this time, he was faster than her as he quickly drew his sword, knocking her sword off her hand.
Confronted with that unexpected turn of events, Sara was looking at her spinning sword in the air, oblivious to her surroundings.
In that time, Mika held his sword above his head with two arms and was ready to strike her down with one swing.
"Ugh...!" she groaned as she evaded the slash barely.
Her composure was still in shambles. And that was the moment, Mika would not dare to waste.
His sword may have missed the target but he immediately adapted to the situation and stretched his hand to her.
"!"
In a matter of just a few seconds, an enormous lightning beam was shot out of Mika’s palm, surprising the others, who still thought that Mika was a D-rank lightning mage at best. But again, Sara managed to avoid a fatal wound. She pumped out water from her hands, focusing on its density, which allowed her to get away from the deck.
Still, being in the air was not a safe place anymore.
"Hngh!" Sara groaned in pain as Belian, who was also in the air, thrust his sword’s pommel into her side.
He lit up his legs with flames and kicked her back to Mika, who engulfed his sword in a great mass of lightning.
"..."
Mika took a deep breath with his eyes closed.
And when he slowly opened them, they appeared partly blue.
When he took up his stance, looking calmly, Sara focused her magic power on boosting her magic resistance and defense.
"..."
Mika’s pupils took the shape of a white cross and any traces of his eyes having been yellow disappeared, getting replaced with blue.
He swung his sword diagonally at Sara even though she was still out of reach.
"Agh!"
Despite focusing on defense, Sara did not escape unscathed as she was shocked by the lightning, even leaving behind a trace of a burned line across her body.
She landed harshly on the floor.
"Tch...!"
After that, Mika got on one knee and grabbed his head tightly, donning the expression of someone, who was suffering from a bad headache.
His eyes turned back to normal.
"This is getting even more fun now...! You two are the best!" Sara admitted while laughing happily.
Belian was behind her while Mika was in front of her, although he was on one knee. And yet, she ignored them and headed over to pick up her sword.
"We won’t stop just because I got hit once, do we?"
4 minutes passed since the sparring session started.
"Yeah... I can go at it for at least another minute..." Mika proclaimed overconfidently, sounding out of breath.
"..."
Belian just remained silent.
However, their fighting spirit was detectable even by the crowd. And for the next 30 seconds, they would only perceive the sound of blunt swords clashing as the three returned to the traditional sword fight.
"Heh, would you look at them..." Ophelia muttered taken aback with a drop of sweat rolling down her cheek.
Sara’s face depicted honest joy.
Belian remained calm but fierce like always.
Meanwhile, it seemed like Mika was fighting more against his own fatigue. And the other two noticed it, too.
However, Mika was close to his goal as only roughly 30 seconds were left.
His pace gradually worsened as well as his strength but he gritted his teeth intensely and let out a roar.
For just the last 30 seconds, he wanted to give it his all.
"Hahaha!"
"..."
Sara and Belian came to a silent agreement and also decided to go all out in order to honor Mika’s fighting spirit.
Thus, the fight on the main deck got even more intense, leading to the crowd feeling uneasy and worried about their own safety. Ophelia was also on standby, ready to step in if things were to escalate even more.
Everyone witnessed their different sword styles. Belian, who made use of quick attacks and who focused more on the offensive end. Mika, who was a master of none but still excelled in every aspect of the sword.
And Sara, the sword prodigy. Someone, who became one with the sword and danced on the battlefield, defeating one after another opponent effortlessly and aesthetically.
"Hm...?"
Ophelia squinted her eyes.
The three infused their weapons with their magic element and clashed their swords against each other at the same time, causing a loud bang.
Each one of them crashed with their backs against the rails.
"Let’s finish this up, shall we...?" Sara stated after standing up first.
The two others remained quiet but that silence was equivalent to a yes in that situation.
They let out a battle cry as they charged at each other again.
"Stop!"
But Ophelia meddled between them.
Fortunately, they ceased their attacks and looked at Ophelia baffled.
"What’s the matter?" Sara asked confused.
"..."
Belian’s gaze shifted towards Mika’s, Sara’s and his sword.
"Your sparring is officially over. And I won’t allow you to spar against each other for the time being. Or else you will really kill each other." Ophelia explained, shaking her head in disbelief.
Sara tilted her head but then she, too, looked at their weapons.
"Ah! When did the cloth disappear?!" she shouted, seeing that her relic was unwrapped.
"It seems like I also was about to attack with the lethal edge without realizing it."
If one of them actually got hit by their swords then the damage would be unimaginable.
"By the way, where is Mika?" Sara wondered, looking out for Mika.
"..." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Ophelia stared in the cabin, Mika just entered without a few noticing.
"Haa... Haa... System..." Mika panted.
[Yes?]
"What’s happening to me...?" Mika asked exhaustedly.
[What do you mean?]
Mika looked in the mirror.
And there he saw his reflection, however, his right eye turned into its other appearance again.
