261. Engagement – Imprisonment

There are times when a slow movement can be terrifying. Count Hermann Forte’s indifferent gaze. He stared straight at Leo as if time was flowing slowly, taking his stance.

In that eerie atmosphere, Leo straightened his posture as well. However, just as Leo wanted to kill the Count as much as the Count was scheming how to kill him.

I can’t forget the moment my neck flew off at his hands. My head floated into the air, spinning around, my vision whirling as I locked eyes with Lena.

In that fleeting moment, Lena’s devastated expression. Utterly shocked, she cried out, “Le…o…!” And in the slow flow of time, I felt the Oblivion Blade descending, grazing my earlobe.

Lena, run away.

And I was dead. I couldn’t even shout for my lover, left behind before the Swordmaster, to flee.

Hermann Forte, how can I ever forgive you? You say it’s all in the past? So what? Remembering that powerlessness still shakes my hands.

I’ve come to realize it more vividly as I shared my life with others. It was as easy for the Count to kill us as it is to crush a snail.

Hahaha! So let’s dance.

Today is the day you die, and it’s my last chance to avenge myself. Leo leaped skyward, shouting, “Aaaaah!!”

*

‘What’s gotten into Leo?’

Though he was the enemy, his verbal assault was directed at someone who should be respected.

Leo isn’t the type to act this way.

Always polite and valuing chivalry, Lena couldn’t understand why he was acting like this. Perhaps she would never know, but Lena charged at Count Forte all the same.

– Thud!

Leo struck down with all his strength. Just as the Count and Leo glared at each other, poised to kill, Lena felt something strange.

This isn’t the place.

She had felt it moments ago, but to sync with Leo, she shouldn’t be here. It seemed like a good chance to stab the Count, but following her intuition, Lena moved to a different location and soon understood why.

– Whoosh!

The Count slid past Leo’s sword.

The Oblivion Blade grazed Lena dangerously close. She realized the Count prepared to slice her down. Yet just as if he had foreseen that, Leo shifted his weight and pressed down on the Count’s sword, and Lena was greatly moved.

Leo was helping me avoid the sword. It wasn’t about jumping in between the Swordmaster and Leo. She could read the intent behind their actions.

{Combination Technique} was also guiding her on which direction to go.

Ecstatic with realization, Lena took a step forward. Pretending to circle behind the Swordmaster, she twirled! With a twist of her waist, she slashed at the Count.

The Swordmaster dodged.

I knew it would happen.

Lena prepared to retrieve her sword to check the Count’s escape, immediately taking a thrusting stance. But wow! The Count intended to use Leo as a shield, and Leo had already shifted to the right, bringing his sword down. He was creating space for her to thrust while simultaneously disrupting the Count’s movement.

Lena stabbed at the Count. Hermann Forte swallowed hard! and thrusted his sword.

A diagonal slash.

The wind from the sword pressure lifted her hair. Thud! Bang! Count Forte repelled both Leo and Lena’s swords in succession, carrying on with that momentum.

Whooooom— just hearing it sent chills down her spine. Something immense was coming. Lena froze in surprise. However, Leo threw himself before the Count finished his spin, and Lena realized her task.

Leo would block it for her. She believed that.

If things went poorly, they could both be cut down by that powerful strike, but Lena chose to attack, not defend. The Count swung his sword backward, aiming at the Swordmaster’s waist.

– Thud-!!

Even in the middle of the spin, they clashed, yet Leo stumbled back five steps. Lena’s sword merely grazed the Count’s side. As the Count flung Leo away, he struck the ground.

The Count stepped back, touching his side. Blood seeped from his palm. Staring at it in shock, he gulped, loosening his neck before resuming his stance.

He changed targets.

That pestering girl would die first. With glimmering eyes, the Count saw her gaining strength with every passing moment.

The sword was becoming more refined.

It had been a little dangerous just then.

In a life-and-death struggle, it was beautiful to see a knight shining brightly and growing. A very young man, with a pretty lady by his side, if it were his usual self, he would have burst into laughter and rejoiced, even if she were the enemy.

But not now.

With cold fury, the Count charged. Thud. Bang. The ground thrummed as he approached like lightning, a method he used when intending to cut down his opponent’s life immediately.

No one knows this method. They’ve all been killed. That girl would meet the same fate…

“Charge!!”

Leo supported his sword with his right palm and lunged long and hard. Unconsciously, he was closing in the distance with the Count, thrusting his sword in, and Hermann Forte had no choice but to stop.

After being hit twice, he wouldn’t let it happen a third time.

When I first met Count Forte, he had appeared unexpectedly before us while we were on guard. I sensed darkness stirring, but an immense pressure had approached, and with Lena’s help, I miraculously blocked it. I did end up nicking my nose and lips on my own sword though.

Back then, I hadn’t realized the Count had a powerful charging technique. I thought the skill gap was just too wide. Eventually, in the 15th iteration, it was Lean de Yeriel who confirmed the existence of that charging technique when facing Count Forte.

Thanks to that, I was able to block it.

Leo thanked Lean while calmly facing the flustered Count alongside Lena. The preparations to take revenge on that scoundrel had been in motion for a long time.

Yet despite all this, Leo didn’t rush to corner Count Hermann Forte.

Even though Lena had gained confidence and likely wouldn’t abandon her sword like last time, he wanted to conceal his abilities as much as possible. Thus, he had been gradually building up to this moment.

[ Leo, you engaged in a fierce battle with the Swordmaster. With that achievement, you are granted {Swordsmanship.4v : Jacob’s Style}. ]

– Bang!

In the midst of their fierce battle, Count Hermann Forte’s complexion darkened. His sword… though it could not compare to that rude young man’s sword, cracks began to form on the blade made by the finest blacksmith in Oberg.

Weapon Destruction Technique.

The Swordmaster of the Aster Kingdom, Count Jacob Modred’s swordsmanship. Leo’s sword wasn’t a Sword Breaker designed specifically for destroying weapons, so it took time, but Leo had been continuously delivering blows to Count Forte’s sword.

And the fruits of his labor began to show. The Count’s sword finally shattered with a clang! and the Oblivion Blade perched on it flew away with a toss.

“Ah?!”

Lena faltered as the Count was disarmed. What to do? For a moment she pondered, thinking, ‘This is an accident.’ and spoke respectfully. As a swordsman handling swords, this was something worth lamenting.

“Count Hermann Forte, the heavens do not favor you. Surrender.”

The Count turned to examine the remnants of his sword. Wow, life is indeed strange; it’s worth noting that the symbol of the Forte family is a ‘broken sword’.

Long ago, his ancestor fought valiantly to protect the King. After saving the King and fighting alone, that knight struggled on even with a broken sword, and because the King couldn’t forget him, he bestowed the family name ‘Forte’ (meaning bottom of a sword) upon his son.

The symbol of the Forte family, the broken sword, was not a mark of shame but a symbol of unwavering loyalty and valor. Hermann Forte burst into laughter.

“Your Majesty! Please take good care of my son. Though he is but a lacking child…”

The Count held up his broken sword. The soldiers and knights around him gasped!

On that dark night, the chaotic military camp was brilliantly illuminated by the Oblivion Blade. The aura burst forth from Count Forte’s sword as it soared upward.

It wasn’t the shape of a sword.

Though it was far shorter and messier than the Oblivion Blade expelled by Reb, once an Apostle of Barbatos, that fan-shaped aura blazed courageously.

The Count looked around, realizing the second knight squad had been surrounded and obliterated by soldiers while he was preoccupied with these scoundrels, and the first knight squad was nowhere to be seen.

“Indeed. If I’ve invaded enemy territory, I should have prepared for the worst. I’ve been too complacent without Baron Albasete here.”

Count Forte rotated the sword grip with one hand. Despite its huge size, it felt light in his grip, and the fan-shaped Oblivion Blade dragged across the ground.

The Count declared.

“I will continue to fight here. I’ll kill you all, and if I’m still alive after that, then I’ll go back. You there, young man, does that make me a coward?”

“……You have a long tongue.”

“Haha! Now you’re finally using honorifics. Well then… let’s play some more.”

Count Hermann Forte slammed the ground. The giant knight, shining like an ancient hero, swung the glowing fan-shaped sword down from the sky toward the ground, while Leo Dexter, enveloped in shadow, countered with the indestructible sword that shot to the sky, even after the Oblivion Blade was extinguished.

Wow—! Amazed, Lena Ainar danced around, lapping up their swordplay. As if… she truly had a responsibility to grow rapidly.

*

In the end, Count Hermann Forte was slain. The Oblivion Blade he showcased was magnificent, but it was the last flicker that a Swordmaster could emit.

The mana amassed in his body was not infinite.

The fan-shaped Oblivion Blade gradually flickered out over time, and even if it hadn’t, his fate was sealed, caught in enemy territory.

The soldiers who had retreated across the river, startled by the movements of the Belita Kingdom Army, returned across the ferry. As the knights returned to repel the attack from behind, Count Forte reached a point where he couldn’t run even if he wanted to.

Of course, he did not flee.

The Third Knight Commander, Jensen Bailei, joined, and even though dozens of knights clung to him, he fought on with a sword that had only half its blade remaining. Eventually, though, he met his glorious end as he was slashed by Jensen’s blunt sword.

He would be recorded in history as a foolish commander who chose death while leading two knight squads into peril.

However, no matter how strict historians may be, they would still have to add a note saying, ‘Yet he fought valiantly.’

“Where is the prince?”

Jensen asked. Lena and Leo didn’t know what had become of the prince, but a soldier behind them answered.

“He’s safe. I saw him cross the ferry.”

“Thank heavens. Phew. Hermann Forte… truly a monstrous man. Hahaha! But you, Leo Dexter! You’ve achieved something incredible. Should I say you’re Noel’s son? Ah, Lena Ainar, you did really well too. The prince’s safe escape and capturing the Count was all thanks to you.”

“…We were lucky. If the Count’s sword hadn’t broken, we wouldn’t have been able to hold on.”

“Is that so? Hahaha. A great general must surely have luck on their side. Otherwise, they would die before they could grow strong, running into a formidable foe. I too almost died during the Nine-Day War… Ah, there’s the prince coming. Let’s report that we managed to capture him thanks to you all tying down the Swordmaster.”

Jensen Bailei patted Leo’s back, looking proud. However, Leo’s expression was not very bright.

If I were to beg for my life and die… even after achieving my revenge, I felt uneasy.

Phew. But with this, it’s done. Lena is safe, and I’ve accomplished enough to be knighted alongside her. Plus, with the Swordmaster dead, the war should end in victory for the Austin Kingdom.

Now all that’s left is to be knighted by the prince and marry Lena at the same time.

Surely it would be a true ending. A conclusion so moving that Lena even broke into tears couldn’t be anything but a true ending; nothing else in this world could be.

‘With this, my story has also ended.’

Following my childhood friend.

The Beggar Siblings scenario is ‘Clear,’ so what’s left is not my concern. Whether Minseo runs through the Beggar Siblings scenario a few more times, it won’t change what happened in this turn.

At last… it’s over.

An indescribable emotion swirled within me. My heart throbbed, and I could hardly breathe. Finally, finally, finally being able to declare it’s over, and that the ending is happy fills me with profound joy. Lena and I will return to Abrival Castle as knights, living our lives happily ever after, that’s all I could think.

Or… it should have been,

Prince Anolf de Klaus was gazing at the butchered corpse of Hermann Forte. He pointed a finger at Leo and said.

“Capture that man.”