Chapter 49 [Illustration]
I remembered Ellen telling me that the practice swords were not made of a particularly sturdy material. The Revise function made it so that events that were supposed to happen did not happen, or those that were not supposed to, did. Additionally, the less likely an event was to occur, the more achievement points were required to make it happen.
That meant, conversely, that events with higher plausibility required relatively fewer achievement points.
It was not implausible for a worn-out practice sword to break. Therefore, I was able to manifest the incident with just a small number of points.
It was definitely more plausible than making someone who was trained in close combat suddenly fall over or surrender. In the end, I was essentially able to use what was available to me to the fullest, and succeeded in landing a blow on him.
Ard knew exactly what that pain felt like for himself, and he instinctively curled his legs up while Mayaton clutched at his nether regions with an expression of agony and backed away.
“Cough... Y-you damn... you damn bastard...!”
Unfortunately, it seemed like I hadn’t landed a direct hit, as he didn’t fall over but only broke out into a cold sweat.
I knew for a fact that as soon as he recovered from the shock, a more terrible outcome was waiting.
Since the practice sword had broken, Mr. Effenhauser took out a new practice sword and threw it toward Mayaton.
I couldn’t spare any time to let him pick it up.
If he recovered from his injury, I would be as good as dead.
While the guy was still trembling, fumbling about trying to pick up the practice sword after getting hit in the groin, I charged at him.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
Instead of swinging the sword at him, I slammed into him with my body. I saw Mayaton crumble without being able to regain his composure and reversed the grip on my practice sword.
Smack!
I then struck his head with the crossguard, just as Ellen had shown me before. Though the move was meant to combat an enemy in heavy armor, in this instance, I used it to deliver a blow to shock him.
Crack!
“Ahh! You, you damn son of a bitch!”
The move would have been dangerous enough that it might have split his head open if it had been delivered with full power, but since I had lost a lot of strength, all it did was make him feel pain. I had at least hoped that he would faint from the attack, but that did not happen.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
While he was still recovering from the pain, I kicked and stomped on him and smacked his face.
Unfortunately, my body was already at its limit, and I couldn’t inflict any meaningful injury to him. He merely hunkered down in a crouching position and endured my feeble attacks. He, too, would have to declare surrender for the fight to officially end, but I knew he would never do that, and was going to wait until he recovered.
Smack!
“Kek!”
The moment I dreaded came quite quickly. As he pushed me away, he staggered and stood up.
Any sense of leisure was gone. His face was flushed bright red, likely from the humiliation of being taken down by a first-year junior.
This had already gone far beyond a duel. It was now an all-out dogfight.
It was nothing more than the scuffle between two kids, with no pride, no honor, no respect—nothing. His eyes gleamed murderously.
The onlookers were watching with peculiar expressions. Had they begun to cheer as though they thought I could win because I, who had been helplessly attacked until now, had performed an unexpected counterattack?
“Yeah, you know what, I don’t want you to surrender either. Let’s fight until I kill you, please,” Mayaton said.
That was not going to happen. He was still waiting, recovering, watching me as he got himself ready to fend off my charge.
I would have felt okay to surrender, now that I’d landed a solid hit on him in return. It would have been fine to give up.
In fact, surrendering right after giving him a blow like that basically meant that I had won, at least by the looks of it.
That would have been the best course of action, but...
“Surrender? Yeah, I’m never going to. No way, you damn bastard.”
I wanted to win.
“What did you say?”
“I’m going to win.”
After striking that obnoxious brat once and seeing his face distort, I finally realized the true pleasure of revenge.
“You think you can win just because you pulled off a cowardly ambush?”
“Yep.”
I wanted to win. I really wanted that arrogant fool who thought he could easily teach a young junior a lesson to ultimately face defeat, and have to kneel before me and apologize.
That was why I wanted to win.
If I lost, I would have to kneel down in front of him and Ard and apologize. Getting beaten up was one thing, but it was another to apologize for something I didn’t even believe was wrong.
I didn’t want that. There was no need to justify my simple dislike for something using grand reasons, or to make it into a convincing plot point in the story.
I just hated losing. No one likes to lose.
There was no way I was going to get beaten up by that obnoxious little pest and then kneel in front of him after losing.
I wanted to see it. I wanted to see the look on his face after all the assurance he had of his own victory, after he mocked me, trampled on me and kicked me but then got defeated by me.
I was curious to see what miserable expression he was going to make when he refused to accept his defeat and showed an even uglier side of his character.
I wanted to inflict even more humiliation on the one who had humiliated me.
Therefore, I wanted to win. I desired victory.
He came toward me.
His attack, filled with rage, would not just leave a small cut—it was liable to break something for sure. If I allowed the next attack to land, there would be no “after that.”
There was a limit to how long one could hang on through sheer tenacity and determination, and I was reaching it.
Breaking another practice sword would be implausible for the story and would thus require more achievement points. In fact, it might even be impossible.
So I didn’t even know how to land another blow, let alone win this fight.
“How exactly do you plan to beat me? Come on, show me.”
I had no answer to that.
But still, I wanted to win. Just because I didn’t have a method didn’t mean I couldn’t desire to win.
Whatever happened, I needed to see him fall at my feet.
‘Ah....’
It was then that I realized...
I shouldn’t have gone into this thinking that I was going to lose in the first place.
Instead, I should’ve thought that although I would lose the fight, I desired to win it.
No, not just desire. That was not nearly enough.
Although there seemed to be no way to win, and in a situation where defeat seemed inevitable, I still should have desired victory and moreover, been certain of my victory.
What I needed to do now became clear.
I steadied my breath and looked at my approaching opponent.
He approached with a sneering smile. “So, how exactly do you plan to win?”
‘How?’
“Somehow.”
“What?”
The answer was decided.
I looked at him as I gripped my sword.
“Somehow, I will win.”
In this situation, I was being obstinate. I didn’t know how to win, but somehow, I would win.
This was sheer obstinacy.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
Mayaton seemed to think that I had gone mad after being pushed to my limits, and the expressions of the others around us suggested that they thought the same.
But no. That was not it.
I wasn’t being driven to the edge of mental breakdown. Rather, I had come to a logical realization. I had realized how my own power operated.
The name of my power was called Self-Deception, which meant that I had to believe in myself and believe that it was going to happen.
It was not about hoping for victory.
And it was not about predicting my victory either.
Even in a situation where there was absolutely no possibility of winning, I had to think that I would win. I had to believe it. That was what was necessary for this power to work. That was the power I possessed.
It was not about wanting, wishing, or hoping for anything. It didn’t need reason, cause, or foundation; I just had to blindly believe that it would happen.
Like a child throwing a tantrum, like a fool being obstinate. Only when I believed with such conviction would my power awaken.
Believe like that, and regardless of cause and reason, it would happen. It was a power that could enhance my being and grant me power in that way.
“Watch, and see for yourself.”
In the end, it evolved into the ultimate paranormal ability, a verbal dexterity (言靈).
“Somehow, I will defeat you.”
[Awakening - Self-Deception (自己暗示)]
That was my power.
Thud!
My opponent seemed to lose patience. He closed the distance a little more, then dropped into a crouch and charged toward me.
Bang!
“Kuh...ugh!”
It was a move that I clearly shouldn’t have been able to react to, yet I did. I flowed to the side and struck his face with the flat of the blade.
Thud!
Mayaton fell on his face without finishing his move as I slammed him to the floor and left him sprawling on the ground.
I suddenly stopped feeling any of the pain that had wracked me, or the wounds that were covering my body.
In a state of extreme exhilaration, I grabbed the hair of the staggered opponent before me.
“Kuh...huk...”
He didn’t seem to understand what was happening to him, and the onlookers were equally dumbfounded. It was hard for them to believe that someone who could barely keep himself upright just moments ago could suddenly exhibit such strength.
Holding onto his hair, I slammed his head down into the floor.
Thud!
“Gack!”
Thud!
“Grk!”
Thud!
“Guah!”
Mayaton’s body shivered violently from having his head struck against the training ground floor three times in quick succession.
Mr. Effenhauser, who had not intervened while I was being beaten up earlier, did not step in either as I drove Mayaton’s head into the floor. He simply observed us with a terrifying level of composure.
Everyone must have been confused about what was happening.
“Surrender.”
“Huh. Huk... Ho-how... how did you...”
“You know that if you pass out, you lose automatically, right? Do you want your head to be slammed into the ground until you pass out? I’m fine with that.”
Thud!
“Guh!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
In this situation that had been reversed without any clear reason or warning, I grabbed the mess that was Mayaton’s hair once again, forcing him to look me straight in the eyes.
“I told you, didn’t I?”
“Hu...huhk...”
“That I will, somehow, defeat you.”
It was as if pure obstinance had become reality.
That was exactly what Self-Deception was. The more implausible the belief I held, the stronger my power became.
The moment I understood how to use my ability, I started to fully believe in it, and it seemed that my vague belief in victory would be strong enough to secure victory over Mayaton.
I was genuinely convinced that I could win, somehow.
The look in his eyes no longer held the madness, cruelty, brutality, or pleasure that it had before.
His eyes were filled with incomprehension, as well as fear of the current situation and of me.
Yes. Becoming an object of fear was a good thing. Moreover, it was even better if the fear was coming from the same guy who had once beat me up and looked down on me.
I couldn’t help but sneer. “So, say it, senior. You’ve attended the Temple two years longer than me, you have superior physical abilities, and your swordsmanship is better than mine. Admit to everyone but even then, you got your ass kicked by a first-year!” I shouted.
I let out a maddened roar, and I could sense the gasps from the crowd.
“Don’t like that? Then you can just keep face-planting on the ground.”
I lifted his head high, ready to slam it down onto the floor once more.
“I-I... I’ve lost.”
I’d finally managed to trample on his pride and extract a declaration of defeat. Mr. Effenhauser acknowledged the outcome calmly.
“I declare Reinhart the winner.”
[Event Complete - Duel with Ard de Gritis]
[You have received 600 achievement points as a reward for your victory.]
And then, as soon as my victory was secured, my vision went pitch black.
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