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

I faced off against the protagonist Aiden in a corner of the training ground.

Aiden wanted to beat me.

He probably wanted to prove his strength by defeating me. A commoner beating a noble became a kind of status. He had made the effort to enroll as a scholarship student at the Royal Academy where many nobles attended, so there must be extraordinary determination there.

But strangely, I felt like that wasn’t all there was to it.

Within Aiden, there seemed to be reasons other than simply wanting to surpass nobles… I felt that kind of discomfort. However, that was irrelevant now.

I wanted to fight Aiden for my own reasons.

My opponent was the protagonist of the MMORPG ‘Monochrome Sword.’

He had the same appearance as the original.

He enrolled as a scholarship student just like in the original.

He stood before the future enemy of the Salvatore ducal family just like in the original.

Then there was no choice but to fight, right?

I aim to become the incomparable strongest in this world.

I have to become the strongest.

To survive.

Simply because I seek it.

As if it’s natural.

Everything invited me to battle.

At the very least, if I couldn’t surpass the protagonist Aiden, I could never become the strongest.

Ah… thank you, Aiden.

For appearing as a wall I must overcome.

I can mercilessly—crush you.

“Are you prepared and ready, Luka-sama, son of the Duke Salvatore?”

“Yeah. Are you prepared to get hurt on your end?”

“Hehe. There’s no need to be so hasty about the results.”

“Which one of us is being hasty?”

While saying that, we both readied our swords.

I held mine one-handed. The sword’s tip lowered to just above the ground. Aiden held his at middle level. Perfectly aligned to the center line—a textbook stance.

We stared at each other briefly.

After three seconds, five seconds, ten seconds passed—Aiden moved. He kicked off the ground and closed in on me.

I sensed an aura reaction from his body. He seemed to have the skill to fight while wrapping his entire body in aura.

He was a scholarship student after all. While calmly turning my thoughts, I also wrapped myself in aura.

First, I started by measuring my opponent’s capabilities. I moved my sword to the side, and Aiden swept at maximum speed. I also defended with my wooden sword.

CLANG! A high-pitched sound rang out and impact was generated. I was surprised.

—This is all?

The impact transmitted through the wooden sword was directly connected to Aiden’s physical strength and aura output.

However, it was… disappointing beyond my expectations. He couldn’t move me even one step while I was also wrapped in aura.

“! As expected, taking you down in one hit is impossible. Then!”

Aiden put strength into his legs. He pulled back his sword, changed his stance, and unleashed a series of attacks.

There was momentum. Sharp attacks. The fact that he properly aimed for vital points was also worth points.

But in the end, that was all it was. The most important element was missing from Aiden’s sword.

No.

The most important gap had opened between Aiden and me.

That was—simply a difference in ability.

Aiden’s aura output and control were far inferior to mine at fifteen years old. He was gripping his wooden sword firmly with both hands to attack, but I could handle everything with one hand.

It was unexpected in a different sense. I thought I’d struggle a bit more. I didn’t think Aiden was giving his all yet, but even so…

The shock to my heart was great.

While suppressing my frustrated feelings, I deflected Aiden’s sword along with him. Aiden, inferior in physical strength, was easily repelled backward. He backed up about five meters and regained his stance.

“Haha. What terrifying brute strength. Your aura output is a bit higher, I suppose?”

“…Disappointing.”

“Excuse me?”

“Is that your full power? If you’re holding back, hurry up and get serious. Otherwise I won’t be able to enjoy this.”

“What… guh! You’re quite condescending. Just because you’re slightly ahead in aura doesn’t mean you should be confident of victory so early! I have other powers I can use!”

Saying that, Aiden ran. Immediately after, a silver radiance dwelled in the sword he held.

“That is…”

It looked like Divine Prayer. It was natural for the protagonist to be able to use it. Because in the game, the protagonist had aptitude for all abilities.

Aiden’s blade imbued with purification through divine prayer was swung.

Perhaps he had considerable trust in this magic, as the trajectory of his slash was simple enough to see through.

I still defended against it while wrapped in aura. This was also more disappointing than I imagined…

“Y-you stopped this attack too?!”

“Hey now… your aura dissolved when you used divine prayer magic.”

“Ah.”

Perhaps he had forgotten it himself, as clear shock appeared on his face.

Unlike me, this guy couldn’t activate multiple abilities simultaneously. Or perhaps he couldn’t do it without considerable concentration.

Either way, divine prayer magic excelling in healing couldn’t possibly overcome aura’s physical strength.

That’s why I was going “oh no.”

“I’m getting tired of playing with you.”

Continuing to play with this guy wouldn’t yield anything.

I had hoped for at least one thing that would benefit me… but he was clearly inferior. Though it couldn’t be helped since the scenario had only just begun.

“! Not yet! I even have magic!”

Aiden jumped backward. He thrust forward the hand not holding his sword and shot fire-attribute magic from there.

Having fought Lucia Morgan, the genius of the magical house Morgan, I understood. Aiden’s magic was inferior even to Lucia when she was twelve years old.

Of course it was.

He had probably devoted most of his efforts to aura training. Or perhaps he had dabbled in various other abilities.

Judging from his aura ability, the latter possibility was extremely high. Therefore, each individual skill struggled to develop.

If only he had trained as intensively as I had.

Did he not have time?

Did he think it was sufficient?

Was he satisfied with that?

Naive. Too naive.

Effort is natural. Everyone does it. If you really want to win, do it to the extent that you think no one else can beat you.

I’m desperately working hard too?

The form of effort varies by person?

A difference in talent?

Ridiculous.

If you really want to win, you can’t say such things.

Because you can’t win without working harder than anyone else. You can win precisely because you worked harder than anyone else.

A consciousness that settles for compromise won’t do. Become desperate. I did. I nearly died many times in seven years. Norn-nee-san even cut off my arm once.

Even so, I didn’t run away. I couldn’t run away. Because I wanted to become strong.

Yet you, the protagonist—such a blessed existence—neglect your efforts!

I strengthened my aura.

I no longer needed to deflect the approaching magic.

I dodged to the side and approached Aiden.

Aiden hastily entered a guard stance with his wooden sword, but I unleashed an attack without question.

My wooden sword—blew away Aiden along with his defense.

I slammed the protagonist into the training ground wall while he bounced off the ground multiple times.

The wall crumbled despite supposedly being reinforced.

The match was over.

Unable to move his arms and legs even a twitch, Aiden collapsed on the ground. Silence filled the training ground.

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