“Tao-tan is hereeeee!!!!”
Jiriel suddenly shrieked, so I reached over and clamped my hand over his mouth.
“Mph... mph... S-sorry. I got a little carried away...”
“Seriously, what are you getting all worked up for, you damn angel?”
While those two were making a racket, Mars and Tao were silently staring each other down.
“Tao Yuifa... I see. Based on your name and attire, you are from a foreign land. I apologize, but I won’t hold back just because you are a woman or a child. If you value your life, step aside.”
“You’re joking. If you go easy on me, I won’t be able to show off the results of my training. Don’t hold back—come at me with everything, aru.”
Mars sighed at her beckoning gesture and drew the sword at his hip.
“—Very well. I don’t have time to keep trading words. I’ll finish this quickly.”
As Mars spoke, his blade began to emit a brilliant radiance. That was a Magic Sword. And not just a common one.
“The ‘Protector Scale Magic Sword,’ huh?”
Among Magic Swords, it was one specialized for defense. The segments of the blade could separate and transform into scales that shielded the wielder. Its primary feature was defensive durability—it simply would not break. Those scales were incredibly hard on their own, and when they joined together to form armor, their density and hardness increased exponentially.
“Oh, you’re quite knowledgeable. As expected of the Seventh Prince, Master Lloyd.”
“You know who I am?”
“Yes, you are quite famous. While your public reputation is unremarkable, the kingdom’s influential figures all hold you in high regard. I personally suspected you were the next in line for the throne... Or did you truly lack any self-awareness?”
Self-awareness? As far as I was concerned, I was passing myself off as a perfectly ordinary, unremarkable Seventh Prince.
As I stood there blinking in confusion, Grimo and Jiriel stared at me in silence. It was a pitying, lukewarm gaze. What was with those eyes? What were they trying to say?
“Well, no matter. Regardless, this battle ends once I capture you. To do that, I’ll start by defeating you.”
Mars faced Tao. The Protector Scale Magic Sword in his hand glowed even brighter until a flash of light engulfed the surroundings. When the light faded, Mars was clad in full-body armor that covered everything except his eyes.
Hm, for a sword to have enough mass to form a complete suit of armor, that’s a high-quality Magic Sword indeed. And that specific series...
“Heh, it seems you’ve noticed. Yes, this is the Magic-Mirror Protector Scale. It reflects magic, and I am wearing it as my armor. I am the natural enemy of a mage like you. Tao, was it? If you were hoping for support, you’ve wasted your breath.”
The armored sections on the sword blade vanished, leaving behind a slender sword which he pointed toward Tao.
Still, the Magic-Mirror Protector Scale... I’d always wanted to get my hands on one. I wondered how the mechanism for reflecting magic actually worked. It was fascinating.
“Lloyd, leave this to me, okay?”
Tao spoke sharply, as if sensing my restlessness. Her back was toward me, so she shouldn’t have been able to see me, yet she called it perfectly.
Man, I was definitely curious about that Magic-Mirror Protector Scale, but I also wanted to see the results of Tao’s training. I guess I’d have to step back for now. I could always just pick up the sword and examine it after she won.
“Hmph, such confidence. Do you actually intend to fight me barehanded? Unfortunately for you, now that I’m armored, I no longer have any openings.”
“Is that so, aru? ...Then let’s test that theory!”
Tao kicked off the ground and closed in on Mars in a blur. She was incredibly fast. It looked like she was wrapping Ki around her legs and then releasing it in explosive bursts. So that was the secret behind that jump earlier.
“Hyaaaah!”
She unleashed a spinning roundhouse kick that exploded against the side of Mars’s head. Maintaining her momentum, she shifted direction in mid-air and drove her heel downward. From there, she launched into a flurry of strikes, palm thrusts, and front kicks.
Mars was blown backward, skidding through the dirt and kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Whoa! What a combo! That girl is way faster than she used to be!”
“And her Ki manipulation is far more refined... As expected of my Tao-tan! Pant, pant.”
I could see sparks scattering behind Tao whenever she struck. By using instantaneous Ki explosions for propulsion, she was enabling attacks at that incredible velocity. So Ki could be used that way too. That was a great learning experience.
However, Tao didn’t drop her guard. Mars wasn’t down yet.
“...Hmph. Impressive speed. I couldn’t react at all.”
Mars slowly stood up, rolling his shoulders with a series of cracks. His voice sounded composed, suggesting he hadn’t taken any real damage.
“But your strikes aren’t enough to pierce this armor. I could let you hit me until you collapse from exhaustion, but I’m afraid I’m short on time. Allow me to cut you down!”
With a roar, Mars lunged. Tao evaded his slashes by a hair’s breadth. Even watching from the side was enough to make my skin crawl. Strands of Tao’s hair fluttered through the air every time a blade passed. Sweat began to bead on her forehead.
“Ah, ahhh! Tao-tan’s perfect skin is going to get cut! Oh, I can’t look...!”
“That guy is seriously strong. Why the hell is someone like him working as a bandit?”
I was wondering the same thing. With that level of skill and tactical mind, the kingdom wouldn’t normally ignore someone like him. While we talked, Mars’s relentless assault continued.
“This is bad. She’s cutting it closer and closer. There’s barely a few millimeters between the blade and her skin.”
“Aaaah! It’s no use! It’s all over!”
However, it wasn’t over. In fact, Mars was the one looking increasingly desperate as his sword continued to slice through nothing but air. Why can’t I hit her? was written all over his face.
“...I see. She’s dodging because she’s cutting it so close.”
Sylpha once told me that if you make big movements to dodge, your next action will be delayed. That’s why in a fight between masters, dodging by the smallest possible margin can determine the outcome. It requires focusing every sense—not just sight, but hearing, touch, experience, and everything else—on the movement.
“She really hasn’t taken a single hit. That guy is starting to panic.”
“...Now that you mention it, you’re right. But if that’s the case, why isn't she counterattacking?”
“She’s gathering Ki. Enough Ki to shatter that armor.”
It was already proven that ordinary attacks couldn’t damage Mars while he was armored. That was why Tao was focusing purely on evasion, biding her time to build up her Ki.
“But still, no matter how much Ki she builds up, is it really possible to break through the Protector Scale Magic Sword?”
“Yeah... armor made from that sword is just as hard as the blade itself. It’s not something you can just punch through. My heart can’t take this, Tao-tan...”
Grimo and Jiriel were right. Magic Swords were incredibly durable and couldn’t be broken by bare hands, especially one specialized for defense like the Protector Scale.
However, if Tao was aiming for the Magic Sword’s nucleus, that was a different story. Every Magic Sword has a nucleus that controls its power. If it’s destroyed, the weapon instantly reverts to a regular sword. Usually, it’s hidden so well that even the owner might not know where it is. But the current Tao might just be able to pull it off—
“Here I go, aru!”
Tao spun half a turn to evade a heavy downward slash, her voice ringing out with a sharp cry as her fist roared forward. Straight and true, as if she had targeted that exact spot from the start. A massive, spiraling mass of refined Ki slammed into Mars’s chest.
“Hundred Flowers Fist Secret Art—Blazing Ki Dragon Palm!”
The air shook with a heavy, thudding impact. The brief silence that followed was broken by a sharp, dry crack.
A small fracture appeared on the breastplate and rapidly spider-webbed across the entire suit. Then, one deep, massive crack split the armor right down the center.
“Im... possible...”
Stripped of his protection, Mars swayed unsteadily before collapsing face-first onto the ground.