「Here I come!」
Raphael yelled and he immediately charged with all his might towards Rahal.
Since Raphael had the idea that his opponent was much stronger than what he was, he thought that the charge would help him gather more momentum for his attack.
Ah! That’s a bad move. What is he thinking?! Thought Inglis as she sighed.
This battle would probably face the same ending as all the previous ones.「Naive!」
Rahal’s wooden sword easily blocked his powerful strike.
If this battle had truly been fair and square, without Rahal’s cheating with his sorcery, that strike would have pushed Rahal off his feet. 1
「Guh…!」
「Kukuku! So the future hero is not that big a deal!」 2
Rahal 3 took the opening to counterattack Raphael and this would have been an easy block for him, if not for the sorcery dulling his movements.
This resulted in Raphael being one step too late in his block and in turn, he received a solid strike from his opponent, making him lose his sword.The trajectory of the disarmed sword flew in the direction of Rafinha.
「Kyaah!」
「Rani!?」
「It’s okay.」
Clasp! Inglis easily caught the wooden sword in midair with one hand.
「G-, Glizz. Dhank yuu…!」
Rafinha was all in tears.
「Oh my, you were awesome Inglis!」
「Good heavens! Thank you so much, Lil’ Glis!」
Words of praises rained down on Inglis from her mother and aunt.
「Rani! Glis! Sorry! You saved me there!」
「It’s nothing. Here, brother Rafa.」
Inglis returned the wooden sword back to Raphael who had come running towards them as soon as he could.
「Thanks, Glis.」
「Um, brother. A bit of advice.」
「What is it, Glis?」
「You should avoid seeing him as much as possible during the fight.」
「Huh? What do you mean?」
「Something doesn’t sit right with me. Everyone’s movement is so slow in contrast to Rahal’s movement and he’s always moving to match his opponent. There must be something to it.」
That was indeed how Rahal had used his sorcery but she doubted that Raphael would just trust in her words if she had told him outright.
Plus, he might start to question how she knew such things in the future. She figured that by using a suggestive tone, it would not raise too much suspicion.
「Fighting without seeing, huh. Indeed, my body feels heavy when I get close. …I got it, Glis. Thanks.」
After Raphael nodded, he went back to face Rahal.
「I’m sorry Rahal! Can I ask you to fight me again?」
「Of course. We weren’t finished yet after all. Either way, you won’t understand that you’ve lost unless I beat the crap out of you, right?」
Rahal taunted with his viper-like eyes staring down on his prey.
However, Raphael took the challenge unprovoked.
「…Here I come!」
This time when Raphael charged at his opponent, his eyes were firmly fixed to the ground.
He used his opponent’s shadow on the ground as his reference to Rahal’s position and swung his sword.
「 Mu…!?」 4
That blow broke Rahal’s stance since Raphael’s movement was no longer hindered by his sorcery.
This proved that Rahal would have difficulty receiving his opponent’s attacks if Raphael could exert his usual strength.
「It’s true…! Inglis was right!」
「Ugh… damn!」
Raphael kept pushing Rahal back until he was driven into the wall.
However, that turned out to be his undoing.
「Uooooh!」
Just as Raphael went in for the finishing strike, his opponent barely managed to deflect his attack. The momentum of his attack caused him to strike the wall instead.
「Uwah!」
Since he had been keeping his eyes on the ground, he hadn’t noticed the wall in front of him.
The hard impact of his sword striking the wall resulted in his stance breaking, allowing Rahal to get a hit in.
「Haahahaha! An opening!」
「Gaah!」
「Match over! Rahal won!」
Ryuk announced.
「Aah! Ueeeeh… big brother looosst~~」
Rafinha broke down in tears, so Inglis patted her head softly to pacify her.
「It’s okay. I shall take revenge for your brother.」
It was unpleasant for her to see the knights losing due to the unrighteousness.
In addition to that, she couldn’t bear watching Rafinha cry anymore.
Protecting her was a role Inglis had taken upon herself.
Inglis picked up Raphael’s sword that had fallen then strode towards Rahal briskly.
「Superb. Now, would you mind giving a lesson to this lil ‘ol me?」 5
With a grin on her face, she called out to him.
