I Became A Third-Rate Villain In The Hero Academy

Blood flowed from a cut on Fyat's thigh.

She touched it with her finger, getting blood on it.

Quickly,

Fyat licked the blood off her finger.

"It's been a while since I've been hit by such an attack..."

Her expression noticeably brightened as she murmured.

"What a cute trick, Theo Lyn Waldeurk."

Fyat stood still, intently watching Theo without moving.

Though she was full of openings, Theo did not launch any further attacks.

'It's a trap.'

Rushing in recklessly is dangerous.

Fyat is on high alert right now.

'Fyat's physical abilities far surpass mine.'

Without being enhanced by all sorts of buffs, one mistake could mean the end.

But using buffs right now would be a gamble.

As Theo was thinking about his next strategy,

"Playing it safe, huh? Not going to come at me?"

Fyat sheathed the sword she was holding back into its scabbard on her back and crossed her arms. It was an obvious provocation.

Theo said,

"I'll do as you wish."

Contrary to his words, Theo didn't rush at Fyat.

'Instead of close combat, I'll deal with her from a distance.'

Theo took [Elemental Sword] out of his [Subspace Bag].

He swung the sword towards Fyat from a distance, creating a blade of cold magic in the air.

Swoosh─

The magic blade flew towards Fyat's upper body.

Fyat bent her knees and dodged the magic blade.

Theo swung his sword repeatedly.

The same number of magic blades flew at Fyat again, blocking all possible escape routes.

Fyat grabbed her sword again and swung it broadly at the incoming magic blades.

Whoosh──!

The sound of the wind being split filled the air.

The magic blades hit by the wind pressure didn't reach Fyat and shattered in mid-air.

Fyat smiled, as if pleased.

"Interesting. This isn't the end, right?"

There was no reply.

Instead, rumble rumble──

A giant stone wall erupted from the ground beneath her feet, a magic spell cast by Theo using [Elemental Sword].

The stone wall didn't hit Fyat. She lightly sidestepped, avoiding being trapped by the wall.

Rumble rumble── rumble rumble──

Stone walls sprouted one after another around her, as if trying to encase her within.

"This is a bit disappointing."

Fyat, continuously sidestepping to avoid being trapped by the walls, seemed to anticipate Theo's intent.

'Mana isn't infinite. Summoning stone walls of this size and thickness must consume a significant amount of mana.'

Fyat dodged the endlessly rising stone walls, waiting for Theo's mana to run out.

However, the magic Theo was casting used the mana stones inserted in the [Elemental Sword] as its source.

Recently, Theo had received an enormous amount of mana stones from Taylor, enough to last through nights of casting magic.

Rumble──!

The stone walls continued to rise without pause.

After some time, a barrier had formed between Theo and Fyat.

Fyat let out a snort of laughter.

'This magic isn't powered by his own mana. Even a 7th or 8th circle mage couldn't spam magic to this extent.'

The stone walls were over 5 meters high and too thick to be cut through with a sword.

Fyat could have climbed over the wall with her physical abilities, but she chose not to.

'Jumping over would definitely expose a weakness. That cute guy wouldn't miss such an opening.'

He was a skilled individual with remarkable abilities, likely still having some tricks up his sleeve.

'I'm not sure what he's planning by building these walls, but I'll play along.'

Fyat's intuition, honed from over a thousand real battles, was exceptionally sharp.

Her instincts advised her that the first to make a move in this duel would lose.

So, she remained still.

Then,

Swoosh.

A thrust came piercing through the stone wall, glowing silver.

"!"

Fyat's eyes widened.

'An attack is coming through that thick wall...?'

For a moment, she doubted if she was seeing an illusion.

However, her body was honest.

Years of training didn't lie.

Her body, which had lived on the edge of life and death for so long, reacted to the completely unexpected attack.

Fyat twisted her body to dodge the thrust.

She couldn't avoid it completely.

Thud.

The silver pierced through Fyat's right shoulder.

It was so fast that she only felt pain after the silver had passed through her body.

"······Ugh."

A groan escaped her lips. Even so, she did not let go of the sword in her hand.

Tap, tap-tap-tap──

The sound of someone climbing the wall resonated.

The source of the sound was Theo. He climbed the stone wall with just his legs, not using his hands.

Standing atop the wall, Theo did not hesitate and jumped down towards Fyat.

Whoosh──

At the same time, he swung his sword down at her, his sword blazing with silver light.

Fyat, wounded, couldn't fully dodge in time.

She had an intuition.

'······I shouldn't block this. I need to dodge.'

Fyat followed her instinct. She squeezed every bit of strength from her body and threw herself backward.

Crash!

The spot where Fyat had been standing moments earlier was shattered.

The ground was literally shattered. It looked as though it had been bombarded with high-circle flame magic, leaving a crater behind.

Fyat had not escaped unscathed from the blast.

"······Ha."

Fyat looked down at her lower half. Her left leg was missing below the calf.

'······It's over.'

There might be one-armed swordsmen, but no one-legged swordsmen.

The duel had ended. She had lost.

Yet, for some reason, she felt relieved.

Thinking back, she couldn't have imagined that a sword could pierce through a stone wall.

There was no way to block such a terrifyingly powerful strike. If she had tried to block it, she would have been blown to pieces.

Step, step.

Fyat looked up at Theo as he walked towards her.

'I was too caught up in the fact that I was physically superior. I never expected him to have such a trick up his sleeve.'

Her physical abilities were far superior to Theo's. She had realized that from their first clash.

That realization had unknowingly led her to become arrogant.

'In a life-or-death duel, one can never predict what might happen.'

Of course, if they fought again and she was in perfect condition, she was confident she would win all 100 times.

But that was just wishful thinking.

Her leg had evaporated, caught in the blast created by Theo's sword. No potion could regenerate a leg.

Theo stood silently in front of Fyat.

Fyat let out a short sigh.

"It's regrettable, but it's time to die."

Thud.

Fyat placed the sword she was still holding on the ground.

Then, she closed her eyes and offered her neck to Theo.

"The loser has no say. Kill me, Theo Lyn Waldeurk."

Theo said,

"Don't you want to live?"

"Dueling was my life itself. With my leg like this, I can no longer walk the path of martial arts."

"······."

Fyat spoke again. Her voice was calm, uncharacteristic of someone facing death.

"So kill me, Theo Lyn Waldeurk. A life lived just because I'm breathing is utterly meaningless to me. If you don't kill me, I'll take my own life."

Theo did not respond.

Click.

He simply sheathed the sword he was holding back into its scabbard.

Crunch.

Fyat bit her lower lip.

"······Are you mocking me? Telling me to take my own life?"

Blood dripped down Fyat's red lips.

She picked up the sword she had placed on the ground.

"······Right, the victor takes all. My life is now yours."

Fyat gripped the sword with both hands.

"Just a body that has lived swinging a sword all its life."

The tip of the sword pointed towards her heart.

"I'll die by the sword even in death."

Just as Fyat closed her eyes and was about to stab her own heart,

Theo said,

"I will give you the chance to wield a sword again, Fyat."

"······?"

Fyat raised her head to look up at Theo.

"What the hell are you talking about, Theo Lyn Waldeurk? My leg has completely vanished. Not even the Pope could fix this. It's impossible even with a panacea."

Theo replied calmly,

"Of course, it would be impossible in those ways. But I know of a method."

Fyat's eyes were wildly turbulent as she looked at Theo.

'He doesn’t seem to be lying...'

Theo spoke again,

"So, I ask you, Fyat. If I make it possible for you to walk the path of the warrior again, will you stand by my side and fight against [Turning White]? After we've dealt with [Turning White], you can go back to living your life."

Fyat was silent for a while, just staring blankly at Theo.

'...Perhaps greatness is born, not made. He’s on a different level from any man I've seen before.'

After a moment, she said,

"Understood. I'll slice them all up."

She continued with a determined expression,

"······For you."