Volume 5 Chapter 44 The Frog Struggling Towards the Bottom of the Well
Livia, interested by Luke, who introduced himself as a passing knight, grabbed the iron bars of the gate and leaned in closer.
"Hey, step away from the gate──"
The guard tried to pull Livia away, but she didn't budge an inch.
She just stared at Luke, her eyes sparkling.
"You're strong... really strong. But I think I'm stronger."
Livia's radiant smile made Luke shrug. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm the type to lose to a lady."
"Hmm. Running away, huh?"
Livia smirked as Luke, still facing away, joked, "Yep. Running away, running away."
"I see. But it's a fact that you're such a great guy, even I'd want to chase after you."
Luke glanced back with a smirk before turning away again.
"Sorry, but I've already got someone important. If some mysterious lady starts chasing me, it'd be a problem."
Livia licked her lips as she watched Luke's back, laughing carelessly.
"You can run, but... you seem fun, so I'll chase you anyway."
Her smile turned fierce, almost predatory, as she continued.
"Maybe I'll even hurt that 'important person' of yours, just to make you look at me."
It was a cheap provocation, but Luke stopped in his tracks and turned around.
The gentle look in his eyes was gone, replaced by a piercing, icy glare.
Livia's smile widened as she met his gaze.
"I don't mind a tomboy, but if you go too far, I'll have to teach you a lesson..."
Livia shivered slightly at the genuine killing intent Luke radiated.
"Heh. You really are strong, huh? Really strong... I've decided. I'll fight you, dude."
In an instant, Livia vanished and reappeared right in front of Luke.
The guards, realizing she had leaped over the gate, shouted from outside, "Hey, don't just barge in!" But their voices didn't reach her.
Instead, without further ado, she drew the sword from her belt and pointed it at Luke.
"Livia Forsteria"
Livia introduced herself, and Luke scratched his head, opening his mouth as if there was no helping it.
He hadn't expected her to eagerly face him, even after he intentionally released an overwhelming killing intent to demonstrate their difference in strength.
"Lucas Highland."
Upon hearing his name, Livia frowned slightly and puffed out her cheeks.
"I'm from a rural area. I just recently ventured out into this vast world."
Luke shrugged, and Livia, with a slight "Hmph," rested her sword on her shoulder.
"Well then... I guess it's like being a frog in a well. You can't lose in the countryside, right?"
"I wonder... I went out to sea, but I was surprised at the strangeness of the 'well'..."
Luke laughs, without drawing his sword, just resting his left hand on the pommel.
"Can you tell me the vastness of the ocean..."
Seeing Luke's relaxed attitude, Livia smiled ferociously and said, "That's nice. I don't dislike it." Without even waiting for the starting signal, she attacked him.
A blow was aimed directly at Luke's head.
Reacting swiftly, Luke shifted his body to the right, pulling back his left foot just in time as the blade came closer. The sword passed him by, fluttering as it missed.
But before he could fully recover, the sword came back, striking his neck with a brutal force. The impact bent Luke's body slightly, but in a split second, he spun to the right, using the momentum to propel himself.
His left foot, still dragging on the ground, reached out and connected with Livia's feet.
Livia leapt to avoid the leg sweep, but before she could fully react, Luke’s right foot was already in motion. With a swift and precise kick, he aimed at her midsection.
Livia instinctively pulled her left arm closer to her body, bracing for the irregular angle of the attack. Their legs and arms collided in the air.
The force of Luke's kick, combined with the weight and momentum, sent Livia soaring backward. She spun through the air and landed hard on the ground.
She quickly rose, bending and straightening her arm that had blocked the kick, assessing the damage with a focused expression.
"Hahaha! That's amazing!"
Livia, smiling, had once again revised Luke's strength upwards in the current battle.
"It doesn't feel bad when a lady compliments me."
With his left hand on the hilt of his sword, Luke beckons Livia with his right hand, and she sits down.
"Aren't you going to draw your sword?"
"Let me take it, Fraulein (my lady)"
As Luke smiled, Livia appeared before his eyes.
A breathless, high-speed thrust.
Luke dodges Livia's attack by simply turning his face away, but Livia's onslaught continues.
A series of rapid thrusts aimed at Luke's face and body came one after another.
Luke narrowly dodged each one, not missing the slight flaw in Livia's thrust.
With his left hand, Luke grabbed Livia's sword-wielding hand and pulled.
Livia stumbled forward, caught off guard by the force of the thrust and the pull on her arm.
Luke's right hand swept under Livia's right foot, which was bearing her weight.
Livia was thrown into the air, spinning around before landing gracefully.
She turned back to Luke, pouting.
"Dude... you're not even trying!"
Livia rested her sword on her shoulder, puffing out her cheeks.
"Of course not. I can't go all out against a lady who's not even serious."
Livia smirked at Luke, who shrugged. "Oh?"
"You can even tell that much?"
As a faint black aura began to envelop Livia's body, a single dark side finally appeared.
"What are you two doing here?"
The dark side crouched low, but Livia acted as if they didn't exist, her gaze fixed on Luke.
"You two──"
"Sorry, but just focus on guarding the prince... that's your job, right?"
As Luke stepped forward, it was clear they had been protecting Edgar, sensing Livia's presence and moving him to safety.
But now that the fight between Luke and Livia had started, one of them had come to check.
"However..."
Without waiting for the dark side to finish, Livia appeared in front of Luke in an instant.
Her speed was incomparable to before.
A horizontal slash aimed at Luke's eyes.
Luke barely dodged with a sway.
A few strands of his bangs fluttered in front of his nose.
Livia didn't let up on Luke, who was off balance.
She stepped in further, delivering a diagonal slash.
Luke took a large step back.
The tip of her sword grazed the ground, then swung upward with force.
A cloud of dust rose, obscuring Luke's vision.
"Tch!"
"Ahahahaha!"
Contrasting exclamations echoed.
A shadow extended toward Luke from within the dust.
He tilted his head to dodge... but frowned at the shadow's true form.
It wasn't the tip of the sword that was reaching out, but an arm... Luke jumped back at this fact.
A sword spins and swings from directly above where Luke was standing.
It was stuck in the ground, and Livia emerged from the dust and grabbed it.
"Avoid that one too, huh?"
"I was surprised"
"Then next time, I'll give you an even bigger surprise!"
Livia smiles happily and disappears again.
But this time, she brakes suddenly, one step outside Luke's range.
But then she starts hanging around Luke.
Every time Livia goes around Luke, the mist gradually envelops him.
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