A Former Child Soldier Who Uses a Magic Sword Wants to Live with an Older Sister of a Former Enemy Executive - Chapter 90

• Chapter 90 : The bloody fireworks and the sword of sincerity

Satis looked sullen when she heard that Hydra was here, but her eyes widened when she witnessed her fighting style.

Before she knew it, she was clenching her fists and secretly praising her for a good fight.

She was moving more efficiently than back when Seto was still in the party, and her techniques were more dexterous and powerful than when she fought Satis.

Hydra made it to the finals unscathed, and her fight was about to begin.

[Just how many battles has that girl survived to become this strong…? How is it possible to win in a single punch?] (Satis)

[I hear you. And in that last match, she kicked her opponent four times at high speed, and she did that as soon as it began. …Without even making a single noise.] (Seto)

[I don’t like this… It makes me want to tease her about how reflecting on her own actions made her stronger than before.] (Satis)

[S-Satis…] (Seto)

[I’m only half-joking. But I still can’t forgive her for what she did to you, Seto. And I have yet to hear her apology for it. …So I’m thinking of setting up a meeting so I can chat with her.] (Satis)

[R-Really?] (Seto)

[Please don’t get me wrong. I’m only going to set up a place. …Look, it’s starting.] (Satis)

Hydra made her entrance.

Then, the champion of the arena emerged from the other side, accompanied with majestic music.

It was a large man, probably twice the size of Hydra, who effortlessly swung his great axe before thrusting it into the ground.

He snorted at his challenger, and cracked his neck and fists.

[Pretty impressive of you to come this far unscathed, young lady. Sounds great. I just love tormenting strong chicks.] (Champion)

[……] (Hydra)

[Huh, not much of a talker, then. Looks like you specialize in the continent’s art of kickboxing. Just saying, but I’ve killed a bunch of martial artists who pretended to be masters! But don’t you worry, lil’ miss. I’ll hold back just enough to leave you bedridden.] (Champion)

The champion glared at Hydra with the eyes of a ferocious lion.

His heavy breathing was leaking out from the corners of his upturned mouth, like miasma.

He truly was a man born to fight.

The crowd cheered loudly, in tune with the champion’s words.

In the midst of all this, Hydra seemed to remain calm all along.

No matter how many insults he hurled at her, she never talked back, something she would have been too eager to do in the past.

And the gong of battle finally rang.

Hydra, who had been silent the entire time, steadied her breathing, but did not even take a fighting stance or draw her sword.

She did not strain herself, and simply adopted a natural posture.

Her train of thought was focused on improving coordination between her shoulders, hips, elbows, knees, hands, and feet.

Her spine spontaneously tensed up, and her vision became clearer.

Hydra’s sensitivity was sharper than before she set out on her journey to subjugate the Demon King, and this put her in a certain kind of mental state.

Just like this…

[W-What…!?] (Champion)

The champion had swung his great ax diagonally at her, but she stopped the blade.

And only with two fingers.

She was holding that heavy, thick blade between the first joints of her left index and middle finger, so she did not feel the slightest shake.

Moreover, she was looking in another direction.

[……] (Hydra)

She was gazing at a pretty butterfly that was perched on her right index finger.

It wasn’t clear where the butterfly flew in from, but Hydra was watching it with a calm expression on her face.

The champion felt a chill down his spine.

It was insane that someone so much smaller than him was admiring butterflies on a bloody battlefield.

Moreover, she was able to stop his large weapon with just two fingers.

It did not budge when he pulled or pushed it.

As if all their excitement from earlier was gone, the crowd fell silent and was in a state of nervous shock.

Ignoring the silence, Hydra let the butterfly fly from her finger, and finally turned her gaze toward the champion.

Then she removed her fingers from his ax.

At that moment, the champion had a gut feeling.

I-I have to kill this woman here and now…! (Champion)

He roared and swung his great ax.

Its slashing power was so great that it could easily crush rocks, and anyone who got hit by it would not last long.

He was like a raging storm, releasing a flurry of attacks with it.

Gouging the ground, the turbulent gusts stirred the heated airspace.

Hydra handled these onslaughts without changing her expression.

With her right fist alone, she warded off his great ax with perfect timing, and immediately closed the gap between them, then she hammered her left fist into him, as if to gouge out his bones and flesh.

Hydra could see everything.

Not just with her eyes, but also intuitively, as if she could glance at the future, allowing her to anticipate her opponent’s techniques.

It’s strange. I never would have been able to move like this before. —This feeling of surrendering to the flow is as if I had become a sage or something… (Hydra)

Her body remembered.

All the techniques that had been drilled into her trained body since childhood.

And then there was Benjamin Village, where she sought the villagers’ teachings and was exposed to the philosophies of various masters.

Everything became Hydra’s flesh, blood, and techniques, allowing her to move and hit as she wanted.

[GUAAAAAHHH! Y-You little…!] (Champion)

Even though he was screaming in a hoarse voice, he did not stop swinging his huge ax.

Hydra’s attacks landed on his fingertips and the joints of his arms.

She also performed a technique that shocked the body by striking his meridians and acupuncture points.

Hydra’s fiery onslaught from way back had subsided, and had been replaced by a series of quiet blows.

Needless to say, however, that her blows were now incomparable to her old ones.

Although they were seemingly simple moves, they inflicted severe damage to her opponent.

Both Seto and Satis were amazed at the sight of Hydra, who had become so strong that she seemed like a different person.

[You… fucking devil!!] (Champion)

The champion’s desperate counterattack hit Hydra.

A groan escaped from her as she was flung through the air like a feather and slammed into the wall.

The champion dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.

Hydra’s attacks certainly seemed to be working, but he apparently managed to hang in there with his fighting spirit.

Meanwhile, Hydra stood up after crawling out of the wall she had crashed into.

Although she had sustained damage, she seemed to still be able to move.

She brushed the dust off her clothes and faced the champion with a sharper expression than before.

To him, that was an abnormal sight.

[Y-You monsteeeeer…!!] (Champion)

The champion stood up and yelled out in fear.

He swung his great ax and slashed at Hydra.

It was then that the latter finally drew her sword.

A lustrous light shined on the blade of the treasure sword Tecumseh as she pulled it out of its scabbard.

She held it in a backhand grip, and positioned it like she was carrying it on her back.

She crouched down with her right leg spread wide, as if she was cowering.

The champion was about to strike Hydra with an overhead slash from his deadly blade.

A moment later, Hydra spun herself around at high speed while maintaining her ultra-low posture.

She passed through the champion like a drill and landed behind him.

The champion watched in shock as his blade ran through the spot where Hydra was just a moment ago.

And the next moment…

[GYAAAAAAAAAHHH!!] (Champion)

The champion started screaming as he grabbed his own head.

He had a brief hallucination.

He had a vision of himself being slashed to bits and bleeding to death in an instant.

When he suddenly returned to reality, there was not even a single sword wound on him.

Instead, his prized great ax was broken into pieces and lying on the ground.

The champion stood there stunned, all the motivation he had before the fight completely gone.

Just like that vision he had been shown, his will to fight was in shreds.

[Do you mind if we call it my win?] (Hydra)

[Ah… Ah…] (Champion)

[Any more than this, and I’ll really show you some bloody fireworks. Unless that’s what you want, that is.] (Hydra)

[Ugh… Shit!] (Champion)

This was the birth of a new champion.

At this, everyone cheered all at once.

Seto gave a generous round of applause, and Satis, although still a little reluctant to be honest, gave a small round of applause.

Despite being surrounded by cheers, Hydra didn’t show any expression of joy, but she displayed a slight sense of accomplishment.

Not only had she been able to improve her own abilities, but she also felt a sense of security in knowing that she could now face Seto and Satis with dignity.

The one who once made a mistake has awakened from it and begun to walk toward enlightenment.

Hydra herself felt that this was just the beginning.

[Now then, it’s time for the awards ceremony. …U-Ugh, I’m feeling a little shy.] (Hydra)

She looked over at the audience and saw Seto waving at her.

Next to him, Satis slightly folded her arms and was making an indiscernible expression, but quietly gave her a thumb up in praise.

Thus, after a tumultuous turn of events, the tournament came to an end.