Chapter 26: The same types are found (3)
A dagger flew towards Giselle’s eyes. He simply moved his head slightly to dodge it, and then stabbed the dagger into Kaor’s side.
“Ugh, you, this brat…!”
Kaor frowned and stared at Giselle.
‘It must be a coincidence!’
He immediately reached out to try and stab Giselle in the temple with the dagger. However, Giselle tilted her head slightly to dodge the attack, and in an instant she turned her hand to grab the dagger with her opposite hand.
“You’ll have to try harder.”
At the same time as she said those words, Giselle cut off Kaor’s arm.
“¡Ugh!”
Realizing that the first attack had not been a coincidence, Kaor gritted his teeth.
With his eyes wide open, he tried to attack relentlessly, but every attack was blocked by Giselle, and he only accumulated more injuries.
“This brat!”
Kaor screamed in fury and suddenly pulled the hand that was tied to his.
It was an attempt to destabilize Giselle and then cut her throat.
At that moment, Giselle’s body moved strangely, dodging the attack with ease.
He used his opponent’s strength to move and maintain balance.
A technique that reached perfection.
While dodging, Giselle did not miss the opportunity to attack the gap that Kaor had left, and stabbed him with her dagger.
¡Swoosh!
“¡Ugh!”
A new red crack opened in Kaor’s chest.
The mercenaries who were watching the duel were left gaping, unable to hide their astonishment.
They had noticed that Giselle’s movements were not normal.
Unlike Kaor, who was in the middle of the fight, they could see it more clearly from a distance.
“He’s not using mana and he’s moving like that.”
“He’s so young? What kind of techniques are those?”
“Even knights couldn’t do that?”
The mercenaries were amazed and talked among themselves, but Gillian paid no attention to them.
The hand that had gripped the sword to attack Kaor had already separated from the hilt.
He was so focused on Giselle’s movements that he had lost strength without realizing it.
‘What an incredible technique! How can he move like that at that age?’
Gillian was in shock seeing Giselle fight for the first time.
A genius?
No no.
He had also experienced countless battlefields, so he knew.
If the flash of understanding was the domain of a genius, the calm and experience that Giselle displayed was the result of thousands of hours of training and experience, the mastery of effort and wisdom.
That’s why Gillian was even more confused.
Where did the solidity and grandeur that emanated from every movement of Giselle come from?
As Gillian pondered, the duel continued.
The sound of fabric tearing and moans of pain intertwined.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
“¡Ugh!”
Kaor’s attacks kept missing, and Giselle’s dagger kept stabbing into his body mercilessly.
“How? You, at this level!”
Kaor had not managed to hurt Giselle even once.
The arm holding the dagger was riddled with wounds, and the pain prevented him from straightening his back.
I couldn’t believe that this noble, who looked like a brat, had that kind of skills.
He was confident in his own abilities.
He was one of the strongest among the mercenaries, with great bravery and a ruthless nature, even the knights bowed before him.
But those skills didn’t work at all against the noble brat in front of him.
“¡Ugh!”
Kaor raised his arm again, already covered in wounds, to attack Giselle’s weak point.
Attacking his opponent’s weak point to kill him in one blow was his specialty.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach Giselle’s weak spot.
¡Clang!
Giselle easily blocked the dagger that Kaor had been brandishing.
“It’s not enough to just attack the weak point. Even an animal can do that.”
Giselle said, as if she was teaching Kaor, and stabbed the dagger in all directions again.
Side, shoulder, chest, abdomen, attacks that dodged the weak point with precision.
“Ugh…”
Kaor finally dropped his arm, covered in blood.
But he continued to stare at Giselle with a gaze full of venom, his teeth still clenched.
Giselle nodded at his determination, despite being on the brink of death.
“You have great determination. I congratulate you for not having used mana up to this point.”
“Don’t make me laugh. This isn’t over yet. I’ll kill you.”
“With that body? If I stab you any further, you’ll die.”
Giselle sneered and threw the dagger back.
“…”
Kaor frowned, confused. Why had he thrown away the dagger after winning the fight?
Did he think he had already won and wanted to end the fight?
“This brat…!”
I couldn’t accept it. This bet only ended when one of them surrendered or died.
Kaor screamed in fury.
“Is this brat mocking me?! Who decides when the bet ends?! Take the dagger again! This isn’t over yet! I’ll kill you!”
Giselle covered her ear as she watched Kaor go crazy and said:
“Who said it was over?”
“¿Qué?”
“I’m not finished either.”
“So why did you throw the dagger…?”
Before Kaor finished speaking, Giselle smiled and raised her fist.
¡Bang!
With a sound like the air breaking, Giselle’s fist shot forward.
“¡Ugh!”
Kaor, caught by surprise, staggered. But even in that state, he brandished the dagger to attack Giselle.
His reaction speed was astonishing.
Giselle nodded in satisfaction, admiring his speed.
But admiration and politeness were two different things. He grabbed Kaor’s wrist, which held the dagger, and twisted it the other way.
¡Crack!
“¡Ugh!”
The sound of bones clashing was heard, and Kaor dropped the dagger. Giselle kicked it with her foot, sending it flying into the air.
He took the dagger and immediately cut the rope that tied them.
¡Snap!
Kaor, who had been pulling hard on the hand that was tied to Giselle’s, staggered back when the rope suddenly came loose.
It was only a few steps, but enough to get out of the circle.
‘¡Oh, no!’
There was one more rule that made one lose, even without dying or surrendering. Stepping outside the circle.
Kaor, who had realized too late, put on a serious expression.
He had never been afraid of death in his life, but this time… it was an unavoidable situation.
“Ptoo.”
Kaor spat a mixture of blood and saliva onto the ground, stared at Giselle and said:
“It seems I’ve stepped out of the circle without realizing it. You’re in luck, brat. It’s a shame, but we’ll have to end the bet here. I’ll give you the win. I never thought this day would come.”
He had not died nor had he given up.
That brat had suddenly cut the rope, and he had accidentally stepped out of the circle.
He hadn’t lost due to lack of skill, but because of the rules, so he could end the bet with a clear face.
It was the best possible ending for Kaor.
The mercenaries watching from the surroundings put on a sad expression, but he didn’t care.
‘…To be honest, that kid is too strong.’
Kaor ran his hand through his hair and said arrogantly:
“Then, as you wish, I will tell you the details of the mission…”
“This is not over yet.”
Giselle interrupted Kaor and pulled her fist back.
¡Bang!
With a sound like the air breaking, Giselle’s fist shot forward.
Kaor, surprised, crossed his arms to block the blow, but it was in vain.
¡CUANG!
“¡Krrrk!”
Kaor could not withstand a single blow and was sent flying backwards.
It hurt. Much more than when he had been stabbed or cut with a dagger. His arm tingled as if a bone had been broken.
Kaor, rolling on the ground, quickly regained his composure and stood up.
But before he could get into position, Giselle’s fist flew out again.
¡PUFF!
“Wait! According to the rules, if you leave the circle…”
“What rules? Do you also fight by rules on a battlefield?”
“No, you said we would fight this!”
“Don’t try to chain me with rules. If I want to do it, I do it, and if I want to hit, I hit.”
Giselle, after those words, brandished her fist again.
¡PUFF!
‘Ah, this guy is completely crazy.’
The neighborhood’s crazy dog had fallen into the hands of a real madman.
“Okay, let’s go all the way! I’ll kill you!”
Kaor gritted his teeth and counterattacked.
Sruuk.
But his attack did not reach its target. Every time Giselle’s body blurred, Kaor’s fist crashed into the void.
It was like I was fighting a ghost.
“I can’t accept it!”
Kaor looked at Giselle with eyes full of venom.
Thanks to the luck of having found a good mana manipulation technique and his exceptional talent, he had never been afraid of anything.
But he never thought that such a young nobleman would leave him so badly injured without being able to do anything.
“¡Aaaaargh!”
Giselle mercilessly hit Kaor, who lunged at him screaming.
“Mad dogs must be taught a lesson.”
¡PUFF!
“¡Krrk!”
¡PUFF!
“¡Agh!”
With each blow, Kaor felt more and more dazed.
The bet and the demonstration had already disappeared from his mind.
‘Why? Why am I getting hit here?’
¡PUFF!
‘What was I doing before?’
Even for such a strong mercenary, it was difficult to withstand so many blows after having lost so much blood.
The mercenaries gulped as they watched Kaor stagger, his eyes blurry as if he were drunk.
“I can’t believe I’m hitting him like that…”
“He’s really going to die. Shouldn’t we do something? The bet is over, isn’t it?”
“I should have killed him earlier… Anyway, you shouldn’t mess with nobles. I always knew this was going to happen.”
And that reaction was precisely what Giselle was looking for.
Because if he did not impose his authority in a forceful manner, those guys would always be ready to devour their master.
¡PUFF! ¡PUFF! ¡PUFF!
Giselle’s blows did not stop.
In Kaor’s blurred vision, the face of his grandmother, who had died when he was a child, appeared.
‘Ah, Grandma, when did you get here? I’m looking forward to eating the omelette you made me!’
Giselle stopped her blows when she saw Kaor’s gaze, lost in his memories.
The timing was perfect.
“Hmm, this is as far as it goes?”
Kuang!
Giselle nodded and took a step back. At that moment, Kaor collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
“Captain!”
The mercenaries approached Kaor, examined him, and shook their heads.
“It’s over. He’s very weak. He looks like he’s going to die.”
“I can’t believe the captain died so suddenly.”
The mercenaries looked down, watching Giselle.
No one could resist such brutal violence that had brought even Kaor, that hot-tempered noble, to his knees.
Giselle, watching the fallen Kaor, spoke.
“Gillian, bring the person I asked for.”
“Ah, yes, sir.”
Gillian, with no time to be amazed by Giselle’s ability, immediately disappeared.
Not even five minutes passed when he returned with a priest in tow.
Giselle had already made him wait at a nearby inn, paying him a good sum of money before coming.
‘My lord has everything planned.’
At first, Gillian didn’t understand why she had called a priest.
But it seems that Giselle had foreseen this situation. Or rather, she had planned it.
The more he saw it, the more it seemed that his lord had foreseen and prepared everything.
“Start treatment immediately.”
As soon as Giselle finished speaking, the priest approached Kaor and infused him with his divine power.
The wounds healed surprisingly quickly. He had many wounds and had lost a lot of blood, but fortunately no vital points or organs had been affected.
The mercenaries marveled as Kaor’s wounds healed.
Since they were very experienced in combat, they quickly realized Giselle’s intention and how she had attacked.
“How is it possible that he didn’t hit any vital points with those stab wounds?”
“What kind of swordsman is he?”
The mercenaries couldn’t help but admire as they watched Kaor’s recovery.
After a while, after the treatment was over, Kaor slowly opened his eyes and muttered.
“… Grandmother?”
“What, grandma? Are you not feeling well?”
Kaor’s head snapped up at the sound of Giselle’s voice and he jerked back as if he were crawling on the ground.
“Am I… alive? I swear I saw my grandmother, who is already dead!”
“Many say they see their loved ones after I hit them. Anyway, I’d like to sign the contract today. I’m quite busy, you know.”
Kaor, looking at Giselle, who was smiling happily, unlike when she was fighting, staggered to his feet.
He scratched his head several times, spat on the ground and said:
“Sign… let’s sign it right now.”
He no longer felt like arguing or rebelling. Seeing the way he used his hands, he looked more like a demon than a noble.
He had lost the bet, so he had to accept the consequences.
Giselle smiled with satisfaction at seeing Kaor’s submission.
“Well, I won’t let you down.”
That was the moment when Giselle took the reins of the Kerberos Mercenary Brigade, known as the Mad Dogs.