The Strongest Villain Sets Out: Reincarnated into a Merit-Based Clan, I Become the World's Strongest Swordsman - Chapter 15: Making Her Understand

I was challenged to a duel by Lucia Morgan, the youngest daughter of the prestigious magical house of Morgan.

For me, this was the perfect development.

However…

“Head of house. May I accept this duel?”

I properly confirmed with the current Salvatore head, Lucius. The answer had been decided from the start.

“Of course. Members of the Salvatore ducal family must always be victorious. We cannot be looked down upon.”

Even if it was against the equally ranked Morgan house. He really was my father through and through. I grinned and returned my gaze to Lucia.

“That’s how it is. Entertain me, Lucia.”

“That’s my line. You damn brat.”

What a foul mouth.

“Hehe. It’s decided then? Come this way please. I’ll guide you.”

Seeing the situation between Lucia and me, Princess Cornelia took the lead. As I followed her back, I thought about how to draw out her power.

☆

We arrived at an area called the training ground in a corner of the inner palace. Besides Lucia and me, all the heads of the three great ducal houses had gathered. Ignus was with them too.

Cornelia prepared wooden swords for both of us, and we each took a sword in hand. Lucia’s true forte was long-range attacks with magic, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t fight in close combat.

Besides, battle was something where all distances mixed together. There was no loss in having a wooden sword.

We faced each other while holding our wooden swords ready.

Princess Cornelia positioned herself slightly away in the center.

“Alright! I’m the referee. Do your best to show me something interesting.”

Saying that, Princess Cornelia immediately gave the signal. The raised arm fell, and at the same time I kicked off the ground.

Strike first to win.

To make Lucia give her all as much as possible, I wrapped my entire body in aura and closed in on her.

Come on, shoot magic at me!

“How foolish.”

Swish, Lucia lightly swept the hand not holding the wooden sword. Immediately after, a magical reaction. Something was—flying toward me. I hastily wrapped my wooden sword in aura and guarded.

This was…!

“A wind slash.”

An orthodox attack. Being wind, it was invisible to the eye. The power was moderate too. It was satisfactory.

“Heh. As expected, you can defend against this level of magic. I thought it would end in one hit—whoa!”

This time Lucia stomped on the ground. The ground beneath my feet cracked, and earthen walls rose up. They launched me into the air.

“Wind followed by earth.”

“Earth followed by fire.”

While I was thrown into the air, Lucia’s left hand glowed red. She created a huge fireball about the size of a basketball and casually hurled it at me. My entire field of vision was engulfed in flames.

A roar.

Scattering smoke, I was blown away. I twisted my body in midair, added rotation, and skillfully landed on the ground.

There was no damage. But,

“My clothes are a bit singed…”

The bottom of my right arm that I used to guard was burned. I patted it down to extinguish the fire.

“Tch. To not even get injured from that—you’re too sturdy. How troublesome.”

“Is that so? I’m starting to enjoy this a bit.”

Your ability isn’t just this level, right? Show me a bigger attack.

I kicked off the ground again. In response, Lucia also built up magical power. This was the biggest so far.

“Regret this. You should have finished it while I was holding back.”

Crack. Crackle crackle!

Starting from Lucia’s left hand, blue electricity raced through the surroundings. At twelve years old, she could transform magical power into lightning! I couldn’t help but smile. This was advanced magic that even adults had difficulty with.

What kind of power would it produce? How much could I endure even taking a direct hit? How long would the numbness last? What was the attack range?

Everything piqued my interest, and I had even lost the will to defend.

“Goodbye, young Salvatore. If you’re lucky, you won’t die.”

A roar was released from Lucia’s body. It became lightning and approached me while destroying the ground. I—still chose not to defend against it.

My vision was dyed white.

Unbelievable pain shot through my entire body. My flesh and bones burned. But it wasn’t powerful enough to make me collapse. Precisely because I had strengthened my body with aura, I could endure it.

“Ku, kuku…!”

I looked at my own body smoking.

My skin had turned black in places. The cells were probably dead. Taking that sight in, I laughed aloud.

“Hahaha!”

“Wh-what? Have you gone mad?”

Lucia’s shoulders trembled at my reaction. From a distance, Duke Morgan was saying things like:

“To be able to laugh after taking that attack?!”

It wasn’t something to be that shocked about. Lucia’s magic was just weak. She couldn’t kill me despite being four years older.

I temporarily released the aura circulating through my body and circulated a new power. Its name was—divine power.

While it relied on artifacts, she was also boosting her magical power with artifacts. We were even.

I healed the bodily damage in the blink of an eye. I couldn’t use enough divine power to completely heal, but as long as my body could move properly, that was fine.

“That power… you can actually use divine power?!”

“Yeah. You’re just magic anyway, right? Are you jealous?”

“! Don’t get cocky. With that body, you can’t beat me anymore.”

“No no. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your power… so let’s end this soon.”

The moment healing was complete, I circulated aura. By obtaining the magic sword Muramasa, my aura output had dramatically increased. The amount of aura I could control too.

I kicked off the ground with that at full power. I appeared in front of her at a speed Lucia couldn’t react to.

“!”

Lucia’s gaze barely fell on me. However, her body couldn’t move.

No.

Before she could prepare a counterattack, my fist—gouged into her abdomen.

“Gahah?!”

I held back, but it was too weak. With just a light poke, Lucia was blown away. She bounced off the ground and crashed into the wall behind her.

Since the inner palace had its strength enhanced by artifact effects, it didn’t break easily. I walked up to Lucia, who was bleeding from her mouth and seemed to be suffering.

It still wasn’t over.

“Now, let’s break an arm or—”

“That’s enough.”

Twitch.

My movement as I raised the wooden sword stopped. I heard Duke Morgan’s voice from the side.

When I glanced in that direction, she was furious. Was she frustrated that her precious daughter had been damaged? You’re in this situation because of your poor education.

That said, doing any more wouldn’t benefit me. If I made an enemy of Duke Morgan, I’d lose after all.

“Yes, yes. I won’t kill her, so please withdraw your bloodlust.”

“…Hmph.”

Duke Morgan obediently withdrew her bloodlust. That was almost a war between Morgan and Salvatore. In that case, Salvatore would definitely win though.

“Luka—!”

“Whoa there.”

Suddenly Princess Cornelia called out loudly from behind and hugged me. I smell burnt right now, you know?

Thinking that, I turned my gaze behind me.

She showed an extremely happy expression and said:

“I finally found him… my destined person♡”

…Excuse me?