The Strongest Villain Sets Out: Reincarnated into a Merit-Based Clan, I Become the World's Strongest Swordsman - Chapter 76: The Next Event

The tournament’s final match.

The fight between Cornelia and me had become one-sided.

I endlessly swung my sword while Cornelia defended against it.

Where the ring used to be, Cornelia’s pained cries leaked out, and every spectator looked at me with disapproving eyes.

This was because of Cornelia’s condition.

She quickly healed her damage with prayer magic, but then I severed even her weapon-holding right hand and delivered deep slashes to her abdomen.

My completely merciless behavior toward a woman was probably beyond their comprehension.

I didn’t need them to understand, but the colosseum’s atmosphere had grown completely cold.

In the midst of this, only Cornelia bared her fangs.

“Haaaah!”

The small lioness hadn’t given up yet.

Blood flowed heavily from her mouth, not given even a moment to activate prayer magic, swinging her sword with her left hand in place of her lost right arm.

She barely managed to stop the bleeding, but had already lost a lot of blood. Her stamina should have been at its limit.

Yet she still wouldn’t give up, purely for my sake.

Cornelia was trying to become my worthy rival.

“I haven’t lost yet!”

Some might laugh at her for being stubborn. But several people, including me, could understand. Could comprehend.

That Cornelia’s desperate pressure was her full feelings toward me.

She was risking her life so I wouldn’t be alone.

Would you laugh at risking your life for something as trivial as a colosseum tournament?

Would many spectators pray for her to just lose already?

It didn’t matter. This was an exchange between her and me.

That’s exactly why I showed Cornelia maximum respect.

“No, it’s over now.”

I avoided Cornelia’s attack. Just stepping back one pace made her sword cut through empty air.

Then I immediately stepped forward and punched her face. Cornelia wouldn’t fall easily.

But I followed up with another attack. I kicked her exposed abdomen.

Even Cornelia was blown backward. She bounced off the ground and crashed into the wall below the spectators.

Finally, I put strength into throwing my wooden sword.

The wooden sword flew straight toward her face, barely veering sideways to embed in the wall.

A thunderous sound echoed. Cornelia stopped moving and looked at me.

“Let’s leave it at this for now. If you push yourself too hard, your body won’t move.”

“…Okay.”

Beaten to tatters, having spat blood multiple times, still dripping blood, Cornelia obediently nodded at my words.

She separated from the wall while dropping debris to the ground.

Despite taking that much damage, her expression showed satisfaction. She didn’t look to be suffering.

I approached Cornelia and healed her remaining wounds in place of the exhausted her.

“Good work, Cornelia. You’re even stronger than before.”

“But Luka is still so far away… I’ve fallen even further behind…”

She was unusually dejected.

Her face was downcast, thinking about something.

Cornelia basically always wore a smile. Even she, who seemed to enjoy life more than anyone, had things she absolutely couldn’t forgive.

That was being separated from me in ability.

While I was happy she wanted to stay by my side, there were fundamental differences in our specs. Plus, the princess was fairly busy.

If she could perform this well in the gaps between, Cornelia was sufficiently excellent. Excessively so.

But I understood Cornelia’s feelings well. So I made her a proposal.

“Then Cornelia, want to train together?”

“? Training? I’m already doing that though?”

Cornelia looked up at my words. Puzzled eyes were fixed directly on me.

“Not just any training. A bit of a distant journey.”

“A distant journey? Are we going somewhere?”

“Yeah. There’s an event that someone else should originally experience. To the west.”

“West… was there something there?”

“The demi-human country.”

The Zora Federation, born from multiple settlements in the west combining.

Not a human city as we knew them, but a nation created by beings called demi-humans.

There, a certain scenario would unfold in the game.

Originally an event the protagonist should face… but the item obtainable there was quite powerful and not to be missed.

Therefore, I planned to participate in that event after the tournament ended. That’s where I’d bring Cornelia along.

“What are we going to do there?”

“Of course… we’re going to stop a war.”

“A war…”

Cornelia couldn’t understand what I meant.

But knowing the future, I was certain war would occur.

Because demi-humans… had a history of persecution by humans due to their appearance.

And what the driven-out demi-humans created by joining forces was the Zora Federation.

The hatred accumulated day by day would explode in that event.

In a twisted direction, involving great evil…

I wouldn’t prevent it—well, not exactly, but I absolutely wanted to recover that item.

Not from goodwill, but purely from selfish motives.

Knowing none of this, Cornelia nonetheless nodded without questioning anything.

“Understood, I’ll go.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. If that’s what’s needed to become stronger.”

Unwavering strong will dwelt in her eyes.