A blade with enough power to shatter anything whizzed right past Vihera.
Close enough to graze her. Under normal circumstances, anyone would have described it that way. But compared to how she usually dodged enemy attacks in combat, her evasion was so wide it could practically be called exaggerated.
But she wasn't dodging so drastically without reason.
"Troublesome, isn't it!"
The claymore she had just dodged hadn't struck the ground, yet several gashes had somehow appeared in the earth beneath it. Seeing this, Vihera spat out in annoyance.
And yet, a faint smile lingered on her lips. Even as she called it troublesome, it was abundantly clear that she was enjoying every bit of it.
The magic sword named Wind Scale looked, from the outside, like nothing more than an ordinary claymore.
A claymore was generally a type of greatsword, nearly two meters in length from hilt to tip. Its sheer weight meant it was used less to slash enemies and more to crush or cleave through them.
But the characteristics of the magic sword Dias wielded went well beyond that.
The already enormous blade was wreathed in wind—razor-sharp wind would be the most accurate way to describe it.
As a result, even without the blade making direct contact, the wind enveloping it carved up everything in the surrounding area.
An already-large greatsword like a claymore, now cloaked in invisible wind, boasted an even wider effective attack range—making it an exceedingly frustrating opponent for Vihera.
Furthermore, Dias himself was no slouch. He was by no means relying entirely on the Wind Scale's abilities.
"Uoooooh!"
With a roar, he forcefully swung the Wind Scale in a wide horizontal arc.
It was a reckless strike fueled by brute strength, but the power and sharpness behind it were enough to convince anyone that an ordinary human could not possibly dodge it.
But if that was the case, then Vihera was equally impossible to categorize as an ordinary human.
She evaded the horizontal sweep of the Wind Scale by leaping backward.
Her light leap—helped in part by the flowing clothing she wore—made her look almost like a dancer performing on stage.
Her movements seemed to embody the old saying that martial prowess and dance share the same roots.
The Wind Scale passed through the space where Vihera's body had been a mere instant before, at a speed that seemed to shatter the air itself.
It was likely thanks to her early timing in leaping backward. Only because she read the attack so swiftly was Vihera able to evade the wind-wreathed claymore's strikes one after another, even with a degree of composure to spare.
No—from an outsider's perspective, it probably looked like she was dodging with ease.
That impression was strongly influenced by the smile on Vihera's lips.
Because she was someone who genuinely enjoyed combat, she fought with a smile on her face. In reality, however, she was not nearly as composed as she appeared.
In terms of pure physical ability, Vihera was clearly superior.
That much was obvious from watching her continuously dodge Dias's attacks.
But what overturned that advantage was the Wind Scale in Dias's hands.
Vihera's fighting style relied on reading enemy attacks with the utmost precision and landing counterattacks. Being unable to execute that extreme level of perception was a significant blow.
In short, she simply had a poor matchup.
Even so, her superior physical abilities and sharp combat instincts allowed her to emerge unscathed from the Wind Scale's onslaught.
Taking advantage of the distance between them, Dias leveled the tip of the Wind Scale at Vihera. She remained on guard, ready to respond to any attack without letting her focus slip.
"What's wrong? Just going to run? From what I heard about Vihera, she wouldn't hesitate to attack just to enjoy a fight."
Dias spoke with a smirk hidden beneath his beard.
It was an obvious provocation, but Vihera chose to rise to the bait.
"Is that so? Then maybe I should fight a little more seriously. If I'm going to fight anyway, I'd prefer an opponent who actually pushes back."
"...Ho. You're saying you were going easy on me?"
"It's a little different from going easy. If you're going to fight anyway, you'd want to face a strong opponent, wouldn't you? I just needed to confirm that."
Hearing Vihera state that she had deliberately let him fight freely in order to gauge his strength, Dias let out an exasperated breath while readying the Wind Scale.
"Living up to your reputation as a battle-crazed maniac. Are you really a princess of the Bestia Empire?"
"Former princess, that is. With this kind of personality, living quietly in a castle just never suited me."
"Hah, easy for you to say. If you'd stayed in the castle, you'd never have had to worry about your next meal. And you threw all that away to seek battle?"
"That's right. I don't expect anyone to understand, but this is my way of life. Besides... it's precisely because I've lived this way that I was able to meet Rei. If I had continued living as a princess, I probably never would have crossed paths with someone like him."
Just seconds ago they had been discussing combat, and now her words had somehow drifted into something resembling a romantic confession. Dias let out a small sigh.
He would have preferred she not do anything so spirit-draining in the middle of a battle.
Even so, as they exchanged those words, both were simultaneously probing for the other's opening. If either revealed a decisive gap, fierce combat would erupt the next moment.
Understanding that full well, Dias recognized the woman before him as someone not to be taken lightly.
"I see. That's something to envy. But... if you've already found your happiness as a woman, you wouldn't need to come all the way to a place like this to fight."
"Oh, that's absolutely out of the question. Like I said earlier, I finally get to fight a strong opponent, so I fully intend to enjoy it."
"...Enjoying battle, huh. That's a feeling I can't comprehend."
For Dias, combat was merely a means to earn the money he needed to survive.
As such, he had never found fighting itself enjoyable—at least not since he began living in these slums.
Even so, he never skipped his daily training, because he understood that strength was necessary for survival.
He could not understand Vihera's sentiment at all. If he could live comfortably, fighting was unnecessary—that was Dias's honest feeling.
"Is that so? Then... let me teach you even a little of that enjoyment!"
With a sharp cry, Vihera kicked off the ground and closed the distance to Dias.
Through her explosive speed and flexible muscles, she approached him as if to bewilder him, repeatedly and subtly slowing down and speeding up.
That free-flowing rhythm of acceleration and deceleration, combined with complex footwork, made Dias perceive Vihera's movements as wavering for just an instant.
Since she was in motion, it wasn't strange for her figure to waver.
Even so, Dias's eyes were certain they felt her movement falter.
Anyone below a certain level of skill would have only seen Vihera moving normally.
But those who possessed a certain caliber of ability could fully grasp the meaning behind her current movement.
That bewitching motion caused a slight—but undeniable—delay in reaction.
Precisely because it was visible, there was an unavoidable instant where one instinctively responded to it.
And in a battle between the strong, that single instant could decisively determine the outcome.
"Tch!"
Caught off guard by Vihera's unexpected movement, Dias's swing of the Wind Scale went astray.
His saving grace was that the magic sword Wind Scale possessed an attack range far wider than its physical blade.
Thanks to that, even though his distance perception had been disrupted by Vihera's bewildering footwork, he didn't miss entirely.
"Hehe."
Catching the wind-infused strike with the gauntlet on her left hand, Vihera smiled while softly extending her right hand toward Dias's torso.
"!?"
The moment that unremarkable hand—pale and slender enough to be described as delicate—was about to touch him, a chill ran down Dias's spine. He forcefully threw himself backward.
Since he had leaped while mid-swing, his posture broke in the air. And Vihera had no intention of letting such an opening slip by. She stomped the ground to close the distance once more, flowing mana into the greave on her right foot to produce a blade as she delivered a kick.
With no time to admire Vihera's shapely thighs—arguably worthy of being called art—the greave blade and the wind blade collided with a shrill metallic screech, and the resulting shockwave sent Dias flying.
Even so, the fact that he had managed to catch the greave blade with the Wind Scale and avoid a fatal blow was a testament to his exceptional combat ability.
His body—standing over two meters tall and packed with steel-like muscle—was blown back nearly five meters.
And yet, he immediately righted himself by planting his right hand on the ground and raised the Wind Scale toward Vihera, who was undoubtedly closing in.
But the Wind Scale, being a claymore, naturally carried considerable weight, making it difficult to maneuver at close range.
Before he knew it, by the time he readied the sword, Vihera was already right beside him.
"Kuh!"
This distance—nearly point-blank—was squarely within Vihera's range. She was a fighter who specialized in close combat.
Seeing a hand gently reaching toward his body, Dias nearly reflexively slammed the hilt of the Wind Scale against it.
Vihera's gauntlet clashed with the Wind Scale's hilt, sending a sharp metallic ring through the air.
But ultimately, Dias's hilt strike was merely a reflexive blow. All it could do was deflect the spot Vihera's hand had been aiming for.
Her hand, originally targeting his abdomen, was knocked off course by the hilt strike and touched Dias's side instead.
"Gah...!"
The blow that landed on his side, while not a decisive fatal wound, carried enough power to wrench a scream of pain from Dias.
It was a Magic Impact Palm—a technique that sent shockwaves directly into the opponent's body via mana. But because it had struck the Wind Scale's hilt just before impact and landed on a different spot than intended, its power was significantly reduced.
Even so, the experience of having a shockwave driven directly into his body through his leather armor was likely a first for Dias.
The impact that spread through his body from where the Magic Impact Palm had struck his side was enough to make him hold his breath for several seconds.
And in a battle between fighters of Vihera's and Dias's caliber, those few seconds held immeasurable significance.
Vihera stepped forward toward Dias, who had retreated a few steps from the force of the blow, to press her attack.
Despite having a shockwave driven directly into his body through his armor, Dias refused to let go of the Wind Scale. He forcefully swung the magic sword at the approaching Vihera.
Given that it was a strike launched while unable to breathe, it could hardly be called sharp.
"! You've got spirit!"
Not expecting Dias to immediately counterattack even after taking a Magic Impact Palm—reduced as it was—Vihera let out a cry of admiration even as she quickly ducked with a smile on her lips.
The blade of the Wind Scale passed through the space where her body had been a mere instant before.
It could hardly be called a strike that sliced through the air; it was an attack that could only be described as sluggish.
Even so, the wind-wreathed blade sheared off a lock of Vihera's hair as she crouched to evade.
But that was all Dias could manage.
His final horizontal sweep—delivered as a last-ditch effort—was also evaded, and the internal damage from the Magic Impact Palm continued to ravage his body without recovery.
If anything, he would have been better off losing consciousness from the first strike. That would have spared him the prolonged suffering.
Then, still crouched on the ground, Vihera kept her right hand pressed to the earth and swiftly spun into a sweeping kick, scything the legs right in front of her out from under him.
"Guh!"
Dias crashed onto his back and at last released his grip on the Wind Scale.
Being a greatsword, the claymore tumbled across the ground with a loud clatter. But no one reached for it now.
And then...
"It's been a while since I had such an enjoyable time. ...Now, go to sleep."
With words that sounded almost tender, Vihera's right hand touched Dias's abdomen. In the next moment, the strike of the Magic Impact Palm sent Dias's consciousness sinking into darkness.