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It may sound arrogant, but of course—if I fought for real, no rules, no restraint—I’m confident I could take down someone like her in an instant. But if I did that, all that would remain would be the hatred and resentment of the children whose mother I had killed.

Even if my victory managed to bring a superficial end to this conflict, the bitterness and grief of the Güllens children would not vanish. That must not happen. Hatred breeds hatred. Blood calls for blood. I cannot allow that kind of endless spiral of revenge to begin.

“I came here to save Eliza… and, if possible, to talk things out with Maria Lou. Not to kill anyone.” I reminded myself of my original intent, so I wouldn’t lose sight of it.

And that meant I had no choice but to settle this the way she wanted—through a duel. A clean, undeniable victory, one that even the spectators couldn’t argue with.

“…Which is easier said than done.”

What’s more, I couldn’t kill Mother Güllens—I had to stop her just short of that. But she, on the other hand, was clearly fighting to kill and had no issue trading blows to the death.

Trying to hold back while the other person isn’t—it’s hard to get the balance right. A single misstep and I might accidentally cut her down in one stroke—or worse, get countered and killed myself.

“But overcoming things like this… that’s exactly where a maiden shows her worth.”

No flower-faced maiden should lose to a mother with battle experience, after all. Rebuking myself and fanning the flames of my fighting spirit, I readied myself—and, as if answering that call, Mother Güllens launched at me head-on.

“GgyaaAAAHH!!”

With the explosive strength of coiled springs, she hurled her whole body into a crushing overhead swing with her stone sword.

I responded by using every joint and muscle I had to shift the direction of the blow—turning its downward force into a sideways rotational moment.

With a sweeping motion of my right-hand sword, *Sakuramori*, I knocked the stone blade aside. The force spun Mother Güllens around almost completely in place, exposing her unguarded back.

“—Gyass!!”

Ordinarily, that would have been a fatal opening, but she used that momentum to launch a backwards kick. No technique, no finesse, just a raw, horse-like back kick.

I crossed my blades, *Sakuramori* and *Ouka*, to catch it in a cross-guard block.
I braced with my whole body to barely deflect the impact—and in that moment, launched a counter-kick straight into her solar plexus.

If her anatomy followed human structure, that should’ve been a crippling blow to a vital point no amount of training could harden. But all she did was wince ever so slightly, then coolly recovered her stance, as if nothing had happened.

“—Normally, that’d leave someone writhing on the ground, but you’ve reinforced even your internal organs with mana, haven’t you? Honestly, you’re a walking violation of biology.”

Next came a storm—no, an avalanche—of reckless slashes, hurled at me like a tantrum in weapon form.

Unable to cleanly deflect or evade the unique slashes powered by Güllens’ joints and spring-like movements, I had no choice but to rely on pure reflexes to parry the relentless thrusts and swings from every direction.

I received the blows of her obsidian sword—harder and heavier than steel—with my right-hand weapon, *Sakuramori*, forged from layered steels for resilience. Occasionally, I countered with *Ouka* in my left hand.

For a while, the cave echoed with low-pitched shockwaves. Sparks flared around us, illuminating the darkness. Even when we didn’t land clean hits, our blades grazed skin, sending up occasional bursts of blood into the air. The exchange reached a level of speed that few could follow.

That said, from both technique and exposure, Mother Güllens was clearly taking more—and deeper—wounds.

In contrast, I was continuously maintaining Vital Guard, a technique that instantly regenerated minor injuries. So no matter how many chores I did, my hands stayed silky smooth; no matter how harsh the summer sun, I never tanned. I always looked pristine, without a single scratch.

And yet, even with her body dyed entirely crimson, Mother Güllens showed no signs of slowing down. If anything, her momentum only grew. Her expression was radiant, like a fish returned to water.

A glance at my hand showed *Sakuramori* in terrible shape—chipped all over, thin cracks running along the entire blade.

Though forged like a katana, *Sakuramori* was actually a reinforced shield, a “sandwich” of different metals built for superior durability and flexibility.

But even this composite steel was reaching its limit. How many more of Güllens’ furious strikes could it withstand? Would the blade break first, or would my spirit?

In that moment of doubt, a wave of warm, familiar faces washed over me, those I’d left behind in my original time. Regina, Lady Christy, Vier, Eren, Lana, Monika, Bruno, Lieselotte, Viola, and so many more…

And then—Luke.

*“It’ll be fine; we’re just going there and back.”*

The words I left with Luke before the final battle against Igoronak echoed in my mind.

“――!? That’s right. I made a promise. I won’t lose in a place like this!!”

Something hot surged up from within. With a shout, I flooded my body with renewed willpower and magic.

Pouring every ounce of that strength into my arms, I knocked away Mother Güllens’ obsidian blade with *Sakuramori*, and in the gap it left, I slipped *Ouka* straight toward her—fast and sharp.

“Ggah!!”

With astonishing reflexes and explosive speed, Mother Güllens pulled her stone sword back to her chest and braced it with both hands, using the spine of the blade as a makeshift shield.

Obsidian has a Mohs hardness of five, hard enough to surpass even iron in some cases. But my *Ouka* was a blade forged with the opposite philosophy: sacrificing durability for unparalleled sharpness.

Ignoring the sensation as if I’d slammed into a stone wall, I drove *Ouka* forward with full force, piercing straight through the obsidian sword.

**Ka-shaan!**

A sound like shattering glass rang out as *Ouka*, held in my left hand, splintered into fragments.

But in that same instant, I had already sliced through Mother Güllens’ obsidian blade at the midpoint, and carried through with such force that the remaining sliver of *Ouka*’s edge near the hilt continued forward, severing her right arm clean off.

***

#Author’s Note:#

**(Behind-the-Scenes Setting / Lore Explanation)**

Fundamentally speaking, qi (気) and mana (魔力) are similar, yet intrinsically different. Mana can interfere with and affect the external world, whereas qi is something that is generated and consumed internally. Using qi to enhance the physical body is known as Qi-Based Combat (気闘法).

On the other hand, as seen in the case of Regulus, monsters and humans with strong mana can circulate mana within their bodies and use it in a similar way to qi—coating their muscles, bones, and skin to increase power and durability. This is called Mana-Based Combat (魔闘術).

Qi and mana are in an antagonistic relationship (with qi generally ≥ mana), but since qi is originally present only in trace amounts, in practice, mages have a huge advantage. Except for certain exceptional cases (like Holy Knights, Heroes, or Saints), one cannot use both qi and mana at the same time. Jill, however, can use both.

Also, adventurers ranked E and above are usually able to use either Qi-Based Combat or Mana-Based Combat, consciously or not. In fact, if you can’t, survival is near impossible. This is a world where there’s no leveling-up system from slaying monsters—you have to become stronger purely through skill and effort.

Among combat-oriented professions, the percentage of those capable of using Qi or Mana for combat is quite high, so the general perception is that they’re “people who are slightly stronger than normal,” and such abilities are treated as special skills.

As for the Auto-Healing ability aka Vital Guard: Jill can use it on herself continuously for twelve hours, but the average shrine maiden would run out of mana after just thirty minutes. Cestlavie can’t even activate it at all.