When Agera reached the edge of the barren land, he looked at [Jonne] and asked, "...Then if I understand correctly, my lady's command is for this old man to fight that fellow?"
[Jonne] had not given Agera any long explanation.
She had only told him that she had made a wager through a contract with Adelio, and that as a result, he himself had to step forward.
"...Understood."
Even so, Agera did not question or doubt [Jonne]'s order.
That was simply the kind of demon he was: if there was proper reason for it, he voiced no complaint and carried out his master's command at once.
"...I bear you no particular ill will, but I cannot refuse my lady's command. Please, do grant this old man a lesson or two."
Saying there was no point wasting time, Agera immediately drew the sword hanging at his waist and faced Adelio.
It should have been no more than a blade that barely reached Unique grade, yet the force pouring off him was on an entirely different level.
The wave born from spirit and will wrapped around the sword in an instant like a barrier.
"..."
Adelio, who had been watching him, also raised [Overlord Black Star] high and settled into stance.
There was no proper sparring ground here, only wasteland, but that did not matter.
This duel, disguised as a wager, had been born from a contract between demons. And if so, then it only felt natural that the duel itself should be carried out in a demon's way.
*
The rules of this duel were simple.
It was a contest using only pure level and skill. Magic power was allowed, but spells and skills were forbidden, and victory would go to whoever inflicted injury on the opponent's limbs.
And as for the degree of injury required, it went without saying: severance.
For demons, a limb being cut off was hardly considered a serious wound.
"Then I'll judge the match. No objections, right?"
[Jonne] sat with her legs crossed atop a massive rock some distance away from where Adelio and Agera stood.
She wore a bored expression, but her eyes alone gleamed sharply as she raised her right arm straight up.
"Yes." "No objections."
The two demons, still staring each other down, nodded. Right after that, [Jonne] slowly lowered her arm and spoke again.
"Then—begin!"
And so, with [Jonne]'s hand signaling the start of the duel—
Thud!!
The instant it began, Adelio shot forward like a bullet and swung [Overlord Black Star] in a horizontal slash.
He intended to end it quickly.
If it dragged into a long fight, he might have the advantage thanks to his [Sage]'s Body, but that also meant Agera would have time to work out a counter.
'He probably hasn't awakened the memories of his previous life yet, but his sense for swordsmanship should still remain in his soul, just like Elder Gran.'
Considering that his previous life, Araki Byakuya, had been a swordsman who surpassed even the [Sword Demon], there was a high chance that even without those memories, he still stood near the very peak as a swordsman.
Which meant dragging things out was a bad move. He had to overwhelm him from the opening exchange.
"Hmm..."
But Agera was not so weak that he could be subdued that easily from the very start.
The title of hell's finest swordsman was not something one earned lightly.
"You've become a completely different demon from when I saw you before. Did you gain a body and evolve?"
Taking a step back, Agera lightly avoided Adelio's slash and asked in a flat voice.
As if the fact that Adelio had evolved meant little to him.
"...!"
Seeing that, Adelio once again realized just how dangerous Agera was and unleashed a chain of strikes with his tyrannical sword.
Shiiing!!!
Three consecutive slashes that looked like a single blow.
They targeted the ankle, the heart, and the head.
"If we were fighting at full strength, this old man would surely have lost."
But even that Agera evaded with ease.
This match was a contest of pure level and skill.
No matter how many skills one possessed or how much magic one had learned, none of it mattered here.
In a fight restricted to level and technique, only the training one had built up with one's own hands could lead to victory.
"...So then, this old man shall face you in earnest as well."
Claaang!!!
Agera's thrust shot out like a flash of light.
"This is—?!"
Adelio barely managed to block the sword, but surprise spread across his face.
Because the swordsmanship Agera had just displayed almost perfectly matched the completed form he had once read about in a novel.
'[Oboro Style]? No, it's a little different... Is this the original?'
The original form of [Oboro Style].
The very foundation that would later become the basis for the swordsmanship of many powerful fighters was unfolding right before his eyes.
Shhk! Shiiing!!
Following the thrust came two more attacks in rapid succession: a downward slash and an upward slash from Agera.
'So this is the original form of Earth-Heaven Thunderclap.'
Clang!! Claaang!!!
Adelio used the knowledge and experience from his previous life to fend off Agera's swordsmanship.
The methods of breaking it down that he had learned while studying Dwargo's secret arts from Gran were finally proving their worth.
"Oh...? It seems you do have some refinement in the sword."
Agera did not care that his blade had been blocked, and he did not stop.
Before long, like a storm itself, he linked together strike after strike that would one day become the secret techniques of [Oboro Style], each one flowing into the next like running water.
'This one is Water Slash. Then the next is Thunder Flash—and after that...'
But it did not work on Adelio, who had already gone through something similar once before.
As he received Agera's swordsmanship, he gradually learned it, and through that, he was growing in real time.
A higher realm.
He was trying to rise to a rank that could draw the gaze of the world itself.
'...If I make good use of this chance, I might even be able to use it later when I create [Arts].'
Using the foundations of [Oboro Style] as a foothold to build up his own true stature.
It was the moment he found an unexpected gain.
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