Chapter 32: 5 vs 5 (3)
Going back in time, before the Executor selection ceremony.
On the night Anna first arrived at the Academy,
she met Jaina by chance and gave her advice.
Inspired by Anna’s words, Jaina sought to showcase a newly devised sword technique in this very moment.
‘That’s different from my style.’
Jaina’s ready stance, gripping her sword in reverse.
It was a stance Evan had neither taught nor shown her.
‘Did she master another method on her own? If so, that’s dangerous.’
Evan didn’t know how proficient Jaina was with this new sword technique.
But given her tenacity, she’d likely prepared it to at least be effective in this sparring match.
Evan was wary of this, but Elliott, a third party, had no way of knowing the context.
He simply judged that her stance wasn’t much different from her usual Ritual of Bloodstorm.
“Hah!”
Jaina lightly dodged the spear Elliott thrust and began to spin as usual.
“My reach is longer!”
Retreating, Elliott looked for another chance to strike.
But Jaina closed the distance a step faster.
“Ugh! This nonsense!”
Elliott tried to parry the incoming sword.
At that moment, the sword’s trajectory shifted again as it spun.
“Huh?”
Just before the sword reached Elliott, Jaina flipped her reverse grip back to normal.
—Slash!
She added a twist of the sword within her spinning motion.
It was the new Ritual of Bloodstorm, taught by Anna and mastered by Jaina.
‘Damn! What? When am I supposed to block?’
The double storm of attacks made timing nearly impossible to predict.
Trying to dodge, Jaina’s pursuit was faster, nullifying the spear’s range advantage.
“That hurts!”
After taking several hits, Elliott planted his spear upright to block the sword’s path entirely.
Whether she held the sword normally or in reverse, blocking its trajectory would suffice.
Seeing this, Evan stood up from his chair.
“That idiot!”
Seeing Elliott’s move, Jaina released her sword.
Her sword spun around the upright spear, and the hilt circled back to her left hand.
Grasping it again, she swung vertically, slicing Elliott’s arms and chest.
“Aagh!”
Though not deep, the pain made him drop his spear reflexively.
Seizing the moment, Jaina kicked the spear away and knocked him down.
Then, she aimed her sword at his throat.
“Stop!”
With the outcome clear, Brook stepped in.
It was an impeccably clean victory, and the fallen Elliott acknowledged his defeat.
“Due to combat incapacity, the sparring is halted. The winner is… Jaina Vaberin!”
As the victor was declared, the cadets erupted in cheers.
“Woooo!!!”
Jaina sheathed her sword and glared at Evan on the platform, ignoring the fallen Elliott.
“…”
Evan met her gaze without flinching and clapped in acknowledgment.
It meant she was impressive.
‘She compensates for limited footwork with her hands… Each move is risky, but it’s certainly a tricky sword technique. Quite clever. But no matter how I think about it, it’s beyond her level.’
Wondering who had taught her, Anna secretly glanced at Evan.
Her advice had led to this loss in the sparring match.
1:1
The score was now even.
It was Evan’s turn to send out the next fighter.
Jaina had cleanly defeated Elliott, who had previously dominated his opponent.
Her skill was formidable, but Evan’s side wasn’t without answers.
‘Fine. Jaina’s new swordsmanship is certainly a variable. But to dare show an unpolished technique in front of me?’
Evan scanned his remaining cadets.
Jaina’s evolved Ritual of Bloodstorm was even more unpredictable.
With a counter in mind, Evan slightly altered the original order.
“Jerito! You’re up.”
“Got it.”
The stoic Jerito rose, holding a cloth-wrapped weapon.
“Do it like we practiced. You’ll see a way to handle Jaina.”
“The opponent is Jaina. Even if she’s younger, she’s been…”
“So? Is this harder than facing me?”
“No.”
“Then go. Don’t doubt.”
A week of training was short.
Especially when it involved mastering a new weapon.
Thus, Evan had his trainees spar with him directly to hone their combat instincts.
Elliott had done so, and now Jerito was no different.
Fortunately, Jerito didn’t protest and descended the steps confidently.
As he unwrapped the cloth, his weapon was revealed.
He wielded a flail with a long chain.
For the sparring, the flail’s ball was smooth, not spiked.
“Jaina, I’ll stop you here.”
“…”
The tension between them began to crackle.
“Begin!”
Unlike the previous matches, neither Jaina nor Jerito rushed forward at Brook’s signal.
They merely glared at each other from opposite ends of the training ground.
Then, Jerito moved first.
“Hup!”
Charging, Jerito began spinning the flail with his body.
Jaina’s eyebrows twitched, and her expression darkened.
“You!”
Seeing this, Evan grinned.
‘That’s right, the Ritual of Bloodstorm executed with a flail. Let’s see you counter it.’
For a week, Jerito had trained the Ritual of Bloodstorm with an unfamiliar flail.
It wasn’t specifically to counter Jaina, but now he faced her.
Evan’s counter-strategy had completely caught Jaina off guard.
She lost her composure and charged.
“You dare use that in front of me?”
Jaina didn’t dodge and rushed in.
Their weapons clashed in the air, sparking.
—Clang! Clang! Clang!
Jaina’s sword moved dazzlingly, but finding an opening was difficult.
Whenever she aimed for a gap, Jerito retreated or pulled the flail’s chain to block.
‘The flail is the perfect weapon to fully execute your sword technique. Let’s see you break through.’
As Evan predicted, Jaina found Jerito harder to subdue than Elliott.
Because Jerito used the same technique as her.
This meant he knew the exact moments for attack and defense.
“Damn it!”
But Jaina, who entered the Academy with family pride, wasn’t about to be overwhelmed helplessly.
Even if it meant breaking a limb, she’d bring down Jerito and Evan.
—Dash!
‘Oh?’
Despite being pushed back, Jaina risked injury to her arm and closed in.
She thrust her sword, tangling it with Jerito’s chain.
—Clank!
The chain entwined with the sword, and the flail’s ball lost momentum.
‘Now!’
Jaina stabbed Jerito’s shoulder with her entangled sword.
—Thud!
‘Got…’
Simultaneously, Jerito grabbed the flail’s ball with his bare hand and struck Jaina’s face.
—Bam!
Jaina collapsed without even screaming.
Instinctively, she swung her sword to keep Jerito, who was about to follow up, at bay.
‘Ah…’
Dazed by a concussion, Jaina struggled to stay upright on her knees.
“Urgh…”
Clenching her eyes shut and opening them, Jaina gritted her teeth, trying to unleash the Ritual of Bloodstorm again.
But dizziness forced her to stop midway.
‘Even an ironclad warrior can’t spin again with a rattled brain.’
Jerito, though unable to use one arm, could still move.
“It’s over, Jaina!”
The flail’s ball hurtled toward Jaina’s torso.
He aimed to knock her out of the ring and end it.
But both Jerito and Evan overlooked one thing:
How seriously Jaina took this sparring match.
‘I won’t lose!’
She’d rather collapse from exhaustion than lose like this.
With that resolve, she charged at Jerito.
—Clang!
Abandoning her now-useless sword due to impaired distance perception, she spun with her bare body.
“What!”
Jerito, using only one arm, struggled to control the flail’s trajectory and allowed Jaina to close in.
He hastily pulled the flail back, but Jaina’s elbow struck his jaw.
Simultaneously, the flail hit her back.
“Ugh!”
“Aagh!”
Both collapsed.
Neither rose.
Brook checked their conditions and declared,
“Both are incapacitated. It’s a draw!”
Jaina’s tenacity had forced a draw instead of a loss.
The cadets clapped instinctively at this astonishing outcome.
—Clap! Clap! Clap!
Even Evan had to acknowledge Jaina.
‘Fine, you win. I’ll give you credit for your persistence.’
The score was 2:2.
But the instructors’ key fighter, Jaina, had fallen.
“Leman, go finish it.”
“Alright! Let’s do this!”
Evan sent Leman out immediately.
As if he’d swapped weapons with Jerito, Leman wielded a sword instead of a flail.
Leman’s opponent was Amod Pokan, the second-ranked cadet called after Jaina.
“Begin!”
Rankings aside, Amod was overwhelmed by Leman’s sword and fell.
“Argh!”
Ferdin, who stepped up next, fared no better.
“Leman’s victory!”
The score was 4:2.
Only one fighter remained on the instructors’ side.
Evan’s victory was now within reach, a shocking turn of events.
The head instructor sighed through his nose and looked at the last fighter, Jack.
‘Can that boy handle the rest? Given how close he is to Evan, there’s likely plenty of room to counter him.’
Amid concerns, the dean stood and patted Jack’s shoulder.
“Go.”
“…”
Jack rose silently, clad in plate gauntlets, and descended the steps slowly.
—Step. Step.
His steps seemed unusually heavy, burdened by immense responsibility.
Reaching the training ground, Jack looked at Leman without speaking.
“Nice to meet you. For the record, I won’t go easy just because you’re Evan’s friend.”
“…”
Jack closed his eyes in response and walked to the end of the training ground.
They exchanged greetings as before and awaited Brook’s signal.
“…Begin!”
—Crack!
The ground beneath Jack’s feet split.
—Boom!
With a cannon-like sound, Jack shot forward.
In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Leman.
“Ugh!”
Stunned by the unimaginable speed, Leman swung his sword reflexively.
But Jack ducked effortlessly and drove a fist upward into Leman’s solar plexus.
“Head-on, huh!”
Leman raised his sword to block.
But.
—Crash!
With a deafening sound, the sword shattered, and Leman was sent flying.
He flew past the training ground, crashing into the platform, where Evan caught him.
“Ugh…”
Seeing Leman unconscious, Evan shook his head at Brook.
It meant he couldn’t continue.
“Uh… The winner is Jack Reed!”
A shocking result.
It was the fastest victory since the sparring began.
“…”
There were no cheers or applause.
The crowd was too stunned to close their mouths.
It was so shocking that it overshadowed all previous matches.
“What? What just happened?”
“No idea…”
Evan, too, looked at Jack gravely.
‘Bursting that much qi in an instant? Duke trained him well.’
Meanwhile, Meris spoke with a trembling voice.
“That’s insane… Wouldn’t you die if that hit you?”
Still, she stood to fight.
She was the only one left besides the princess.
“Wait.”
But Evan stopped her.
“Don’t go. It’s pointless. That guy’s heavily trained. You can’t win.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Hm…”
Having decided, Evan looked at Anna.
“It seems it’s time for the princess to step up.”
“Alright!”
Despite witnessing Jack’s prowess up close, Anna showed no fear.
Instead, she seemed excited to take the stage.
“Finally!”
As Anna stood, the instructors’ side murmured.
“What? The princess is actually fighting?”
“Meris is still there. Why is she going first?”
The head instructor locked eyes with Anton, who was observing from afar.
‘Didn’t you say the princess wouldn’t fight?’
His gaze conveyed the question.
Anton avoided his eyes, feigning ignorance.
‘Ignoring me? No, he’s judged it’s not dangerous. Even against Jack?’
What would the princess show to warrant such confidence?
The head instructor, and even the dean watching quietly, grew curious.