Even though the class was over, it wasn't enough that Harold called me to the swordsmanship training ground during personal time—he even started swinging his sword before I was ready.

Anger slowly boiled within me at his shameless behavior, and my thoughts began to focus solely on how I was going to beat this professor standing in front of me.

‘I mustn't block that bastard's sword with my body. Somehow, I need to dodge continuously and move even half a beat faster….’

In a duel between swordsmen, not being able to block a sword with your own was a critical weakness. It was generally much faster and less tiring to move your sword than to move your body.

Luckily, Lilith wasn't a particularly slow character in Luminor Academy. With the proper use of buffs, shockwaves, and support from the spirits, there was a chance I could land a strike on Harold.

"Magic, envelop my body!"

—Whoosh!

"Vision, sharpen that blade!"

—Zing!

First, I enhanced my basic stats with Reinforcement, then strengthened my weapon using Sharp Blade.

Neither of these buffs lasted long, but it didn’t matter. Against an opponent like him, I had to end this quickly or there wouldn’t be any chance at all.

If this bastard intended to send me straight to the church, I'd have to turn the tables and send him there first. Second boss, Sword Master, Emperor's Three Swords—whatever his impressive background was, I wasn't going to cower in fear.

‘Sally, whenever I use a shockwave, enhance its power with a flame explosion. Sei, help me with movement using a tailwind.’

‘Leave it to me!’

‘…Understood.’

There was no point in using mediocre attack magic against Harold. He’d just counter everything. The only way to win was to take him down with my sword. Everything else—magic and support—was focused solely on delivering one decisive strike.

—Whoosh!

"……!!!"

Startled, I stepped back as Harold’s sword came flying straight at my ankle.

I could’ve used Sei’s help to jump into the air, but I didn’t. That monster would just follow me into the air and slice me down.

When fighting against a superhuman, you should never leave yourself vulnerable. One of the worst things you can do is recklessly take to the air. If an attack is aimed at your lower body, the best and most reliable evasive maneuver is to step back.

"……Hmm."

What's with the damn ‘hmm’? This bastard…

That sword demon kept swinging his longsword with an intensity that made it seem like he was ready to slice me to pieces. I was barely keeping up, dodging his attacks and using shockwaves to regain my balance, desperately dealing with the imminent threat.

‘My spellcasting is slightly faster than Harold’s sword swings, but….’

The problem was that I couldn’t predict-cast while dodging his sword.

Trying to preemptively cast magic while checking if the opponent's feet had lifted off the ground was like telling him exactly where I planned to move next.

If only I could predict exactly how Harold would swing his sword, I might be able to dodge continuously and create an opening to stab him in the side. But if I could do that, I’d be the Sword Master, not him.

The next best option was waiting for Harold to make a mistake. But, unlike in the game where Harold was out of his mind because of Ethan's death, the Harold in this world wasn’t such an easy opponent.

‘In the game, Harold was out of control because of Ethan’s death.’

But in this world, Harold was a sword demon with no weaknesses to exploit.

I was getting more and more exhausted trying to find an opening in his flawless defense.

‘Damn it… Just once, please, just once….’

Let me land a hit on this bastard’s side. I don’t care if it leaves me bedridden for days; just give me one chance to hit this damn bastard.

Fueled by that desire, I kept dodging Harold’s attacks with the help of all my support spells.

‘…Wait?’

Suddenly, as if time had stopped, I noticed a few golden traces in front of me, giving me a sense of déjà vu from my fight with Natalie a few hours ago.

‘No way….’

I remembered that when I slashed in sync with those traces during the fight with Natalie, her sword was deflected, even though I couldn’t see it.

If these traces were, like before, showing Harold’s sword path…

‘I need to cast a triple shockwave to explode along the predicted trajectory, but I mustn’t give Harold any reason to suspect. Sally and Sei will cover any small errors or lack of power.’

I couldn’t be sure if these traces really predicted Harold’s sword path. It could’ve been a hallucination, just like with Natalie. But since there was no victory without risk, I decided to gamble on the option that gave me the best chance of winning.

—Whoosh!

‘First one.’

One of Harold’s slashes followed one of the three traces.

Normally, I’d be scrambling to cast a shockwave and move my body at this point, but I had already pre-set the shockwave in Harold’s sword path.

I dodged his sword effortlessly and moved half a step closer to him.

"…Hmm!"

—Whoosh!

With that unnerving hum, Harold swung his sword along the second trace.

Once again, Harold moved his sword along one of the remaining two traces, and my pre-set shockwave did its job, giving me much more room to dodge and even allowing me time to swing my own sword.

—Smirk.

‘…Is he smiling?’

Harold’s unsettling grin appeared as he swung his sword along the final trace.

One trace left, one sword path left. There was no need to even check with my eyes. I knew I could dodge it, so I didn’t hesitate. From now on, my only focus was landing a hit.

"Your movement is impressive. This should be suffici—"

"Die, you bastard!!!"

"……Hmm?"

Harold suddenly started to say something as he withdrew his sword, but my head was already burning with rage, and my dagger had no intention of stopping.

It was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime chance to wound Harold, and my left-hand dagger was aiming directly for his side.

—Clang!

“Argh…!! Damn it!!”

"…Calm down, Lilith. I swung my sword without warning to help you grow…"

“Die, you insane son of a bitch!!”

"…Wait a moment…."

I heard Harold’s confused voice, but my dagger in my right hand was already plunging toward his side.

Even Harold, who had blocked my first attack, couldn’t defend against the second.

—Thud!

"Urgh…?!"

My dagger pierced his side with a sharp, satisfying sensation.

The symbol of the Blackwood family was engraved on the dagger, and it struck the body of the head of the Blackwood family squarely. The moment my attack finally hit him filled my head with an overwhelming sense of triumph.

—Grip!

"Ugh, grrk…. Heh, heh…."

But even after being wounded once, a Sword Master is still a Sword Master.

The strength of someone at that level far surpasses that of a regular human, and both my wrists were effortlessly subdued by Harold’s grip.

“Huff, huff….”

“...You got too worked up. Maybe you should cool off for a moment…”

“Harold, you bastard!!”

“……”

“If you hated me that much for getting close to Ethan, you could’ve just said so, you son of a bitch! Were you trying to kill me?!”

“...I wasn’t trying to kill you. This was all for your training….”

"Training?! Are you kidding me?! You didn’t even give me a training barrier! You really couldn’t stand that I was close to your son, could you?! ANSWER ME, YOU BASTARD!!"

"…Sorry. I apologize for that."

"You're sorry… wait, what? Apologize?"

…Did Harold just apologize?

At that moment, I felt something had gone horribly wrong, and my head, which had been burning with rage, began to cool instantly. Harold, still holding my wrists, began explaining the training session.

“I thought sparring without warning would be a more efficient way to help you grow, but clearly, it wasn’t the best method.”

"…Training, you say?"

"Yes, it was all part of your training."

…This was… training?

You mean he wasn’t actually trying to kill me? Even though I could feel his intent to kill?

I thought Harold was pissed because I got close to Ethan, but it turns out this was just… regular swordsmanship training?

"So, have you cooled down a bit?"

"…Master, about what I said earlier, it wasn’t from the heart, it’s just…."

“You’re quite the actress. I hadn’t noticed before.”

"……."

The more I listened to Harold’s relaxed voice, the more I felt the blood drain from my body.

As my head cleared, only one thought filled my mind:

...Oh, I think this is fucked.