Defying the Fate of Beheading

Feeling the subtle aura Louis exuded as he cast an inviting gaze at her, Alice licked her somewhat dry lips.

"Today, Louis is even more alluring than usual!"

She felt a joy akin to waiting for fruit to ripen from its immature state.

The battlefield where Louis and the others fought was in front of the rune wall at the training field.

This made it so that the spectators could only watch from one side of the battle, rather than having people viewing from all around like in an arena.

Casually walking towards Louis, Alice's serene smile faded as she moved out of everyone's view.

When she looked up again, a look of infatuated drunkenness had replaced it.

A hint of abnormal blush appeared on her fair-skinned face, her eyes foggy.

Louis: ???

Upon seeing Louis's expression, she finally reached him and gently patted his shoulder.

From her articulate lips came a line audible only to them but surely susceptible to misinterpretation by others:

"Louis, thanks for the treat~"

Louis felt his thoughts somewhat paused.

The next moment, a sharp cold wind swept through.

Clang~

The short blade in Louis's hand blocked her attack.

"Hey, hey, hey? Alice, is this how you play dirty?"

"How can you call it playing dirty? Didn't I just interrupt your streak?"

Alice chuckled:

"If we are to be fair, using your winning streak to fight me was already unfair!"

Before the words had even finished, their blades clashed over ten times.

Louis could only curse: "Are you kidding? We're separated by 4 levels!"

"That's why I'm using the speed I had at level 6 to fight you."

As expected, Alice kept her thoughts hidden:

"Indeed, a delicious apple should be enjoyed on the same level!"

"I've wanted to fight you before, but damn William was always watching closely, and back then you were too green to make a move."

"Now, hehe, I'm sorry, I couldn't hold back."

"That 'thanks for the treat' wasn't a lie."

In the next moment, the emotions in both Louis and Alice's eyes vanished.

If someone could clearly see their eyes as they moved at high speed, they would find their states amazingly consistent—

Both had turned cold and devoid of emotion.

It's not that they were cold-blooded.

Rather, the battle had consumed all their energy, leaving no room to think of anything else.

With the clash of blades, Louis felt the blood energy on the edge of his sword nearly scattered.

It wasn't that Alice was strong, but at that moment, it felt like his blade struck a high-frequency vibrating edge.

Such intense and rapid vibrations akin to rain battering banana leaves completely shattered the blood energy on the blade, nearly breaking him out of the super-focused state of [Steel Soul Stream: Perfect Spirit].

A strong gust erupted at the center of their fight, and the students present suddenly realized a revelation.

If Louis had fought them like this from the start... It seemed no one would have wanted to fight him.

Louis remained composed, his body slightly lowered, executing a scorpion tail movement, resting a foot on Alice's Curved Saber.

Before he could take advantage of it to kick away the weapon, Alice swiftly retreated, disappearing from Louis's line of sight.

In the next moment, Louis felt as if everything was spinning around him.

His expression subtly changed.

Then he raised his sword to block Alice's attack, pulling her leg, supporting the ground with one hand, repositioning himself.

It was [Twilight Flow: Position Swap Attack]!

Before, he had cleverly used this technique on Bam from the Sage Sword Class, producing a Tai Chi-like leverage effect.

Who would've thought after just a few minutes, Alice would use the same technique to throw him off.

"So strong!"

Louis murmured in awe.

Next moment, he felt a ghostly side kick sweeping over him.

As soon as his balance was disrupted by the force.

The Curved Saber blade follow closely behind, and the Kulin Sword Saint watching quietly prepared to end the duel.

Unexpectedly, Louis's form suddenly changed.

His body, on the brink of falling, abruptly flipped mid-air.

Alice's grasped Curved Saber met directly with a fierce and forceful New Year Swordsmanship.

—Louis had adjusted his body position using his tail!

A heavy clank echoed.

This strike made Alice's wrist numb.

But her response speed was absurdly quick.

Almost instantly, she added another slash to the unbalanced Louis.

Fate mischievously intervened, as Louis, initially suspended in the air, suddenly landed as if defying gravity, directly thrusting his sword.

The sparks from the clash of blades extinguished before they had a chance to bloom.

Somehow, the Kulin Sword Saint had already appeared beside both of them.

His left fingertip pressed against Louis's sword, while his right fingertip pinched Alice's blade.

The white gloves he wore weren't even scratched.

"How about calling it a draw for today?"

Alice reluctantly replied:

"Fine… Whatever! At least it was fun, looks like I won!"

Louis was furious: "Huh? You won? Are you kidding? Look at your foot…"

Alice quickly replied:

"I know my foot is beautiful, no need to emphasize it."

Louis cursed:

"Ha, if the Kulin Sword Saint had been a second late, my trifling poison would've infiltrated your body, would you still resist then?"

"Before that, my blade would slit your throat first."

"Ridiculous! With the strength of my tail, I could easily upset your footing, catching you off guard, and strike you down!"

"Ha? Are you kidding? If you're not satisfied, let's go again!"

"Bring it on, who's afraid!"

"Besides." Alice muttered under her breath, "Louis, you cheeky brat activated Dragon Armament, didn't you?"

"If I did, is that cheating?" Louis gritted his teeth, "Could you dare to claim that those last couple of moves were at the speed you had at level 6?"

"…"

"…"

Kulin Sword Saint looked at the scene, amused and exasperated:

"Alright, I'll settle this, the match ends in a draw, no more complaints!"

"Hmph!" ×2

And so, an exceptionally intense battle came to a close.

Leaving behind the students of the Nine Sword Class bewildered by the impressive displays and intricate swordplay they couldn't comprehend.

Now, Bam returned after treating his bruises, glanced at his dorm-mate Yudo:

"Yudo, didn't you say you wanted to go up and fight His Highness Louis?"

Yudo's body trembled slightly, then, after a moment, raised his head as if he hadn't heard, joining others in shouting:

"Damn, amazing!"

Bam: ???

And then Bam mocked him again.

Yudo is annoyed: "Regarding sword skills, I'm not really afraid of Louis; the only reason I'd lose is simply because I can't beat him."

Reggie/Pepper: o(*≧▽≦)ツ

A burst of laughter erupted among them.

Yudo felt his expression stiffening and snapped at his friends:

"Losing to His Highness isn't shameful, if any of you thinks you can beat him, feel free to step forward!"

Suddenly, the faces of the three showed a trace of bitterness.

"Is it truly only geniuses who qualify for an audience?"