Indisputable Victory

There was no referee or starting signal. The battle had already begun.

Krena charged forward like how she always did when playing with Allen.

She lifted the heavy metal sword as if it was nothing and brought it down in a flash. There was no hesitation whatsoever in her movements, despite this being her first time wielding a sword with a real edge.

The knight parried her attack with his own weapon, causing a loud metallic clash.

'Considering how my Sword Mastery is Lvl. 3, Krena's is probably Lvl. 5, right?'

If Allen really was the only person in this world who was in Hell Mode, then the math could be done to figure out Krena's skill level.

Almost all her training had been with Allen, so he could assume the amount of Skill XP she gained was similar to his own.

And because he had to earn a hundred times more Skill XP to level up, and because the amount of Skill XP required to level up a skill would go up by a factor of ten for each successive level, it meant Krena's Sword Mastery should have been higher than his by two.

Even as Allen continued his analysis, Krena and the knight continued slashing at each other furiously, every attack powerful enough to be lethal.

The air of the square was filled with the cacophonous clangs of metal on metal.

Most of the villagers had expected Krena to be killed as soon as the fight began. However, she had grown so much from the three years of "playing knight" that she apparently had the ability to stand her ground against a fully trained knight.

The knight captain watched silently with his arms crossed, his face unreadable. Several minutes and dozens of clashes later, the fight that had seemed equal up until now saw a sudden development.

"Kuh!" The air left Krena's lungs as Leibrand's armored foot landed squarely on her abdomen. There was no rule that they could only use their swords.

The perfectly timed attack sent the girl flying through the air and crashing against a building. She crumpled to the ground, her head bowed.

The wall had been made of solid wood, and yet the force of the impact had still left very conspicuous cracks on its surface.

"KRENA!!!" Allen yelled.

He and Gerda tried to dash forward to help, but the knights closest to them wrestled them to the ground.

'It really is too much for her! She is still only Lvl. 1 while that knight must have way more skills and experience from years of service. There was no hope of winning from the very start. What should I do?!'

"What is—?! Stay still, kid!"

Unfortunately, the man holding Allen down was far stronger than he was.

The boy strained to get up, but could not budge an inch. There was no way for him to get free.

Leibrand stood still, choosing not to pursue Krena and deliver a finishing blow.

The entire crowd's eyes were on the limp figure of the girl. Seeing as how the knight had kicked with his full strength using an armored boot, many villagers even suspected that Krena was dead.

The knight captain closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "She couldn't do th — Hm?"

Just when everyone thought it was all over, Krena slowly rose to her feet, still looking downward.

The sword in her hand—which she had not let go of despite being sent flying—came back up as she adopted a fighting stance.

Allen watched her with trepidation from his position on the ground.

Leibrand also raised his sword once more. However, he showed no intention of charging forward. Just as before, he was clearly waiting for Krena to attack him.

Krena's head shot up. She and Leibrand stared straight into each other's eyes for a while.

As the villagers watched nervously, wondering if she was going to continue fighting, Krena suddenly shouted, "RAAHH!"

That moment, the cracked wall behind her exploded into smithereens as an aura exploded from her body, enveloping her in a shimmering contour that looked like a heat haze.

'Wait, what?!'

In the same breath, Krena charged forward once again. She leaped high up into the air and rotated furiously to add centrifugal force to her swing before bringing her sword down.

The powerful attack descended upon the vice captain's head like a flash of lightning.

"Ugh!"

The knight needed to use both hands to block the slash, but the shock of the impact still ran through his body.

The attack was so powerful that his feet sank slightly into the hardened dirt ground of the square.

"HAAAAHHH!"

Leibrand also let out a battle cry as the exchange of swords resumed.

Sparks exploded in bursts again and again, vivid even under the blazing sun.

However, things were clearly different from before.

With every blow, the knight lost ground. He stepped back once, twice, thrice, unable to withstand the shock of the blows being meted out. No longer was the fight evenly matched.

Even the villagers, most of whom knew nothing about sword fighting, could tell that he was being backed onto the ropes.

Krena was swinging her weapon with unbelievable strength and speed, as if the hunk of metal as long as she was tall was but a mere twig.

'What? What's going on?! Wait, could this be...an Extra Skill?'

Allen found a possible answer to what he was witnessing within his memories.

Back when he had been selecting the settings for the "game" that was this world, he had read in the description for Normal Mode that it included "the opportunity to roll for one Extra Skill."

He now suspected this condition was the same for the residents of this world.

'Sword Mastery is just a Normal Skill that even I was able to acquire.'

Krena must have been born with an Extra Skill that complements her class as a Sword Lord.

The difference in strength between Krena and Leibrand was so significant that Allen had regained the calmness to resume analyzing the situation. Krena losing no longer seemed even possible now.

The grip of the knights holding Allen and Gerda down loosened as they, too, looked on with slack-jawed astonishment, forgetting themselves.

"HYAAAHHH!!!" Krena swung her sword horizontally.

CLANG!

A disbelieving "N-No way!" escaped Leibrand's lips as he stared at what was now the remaining half of his sword. The broken-off blade flew through the air then pierced the ground.

However, the knight quickly regained himself and lifted his broken sword to prepare for the next incoming attack.

"STOP! Both sides, lower your weapons!" the captain of the knights shouted.

"Whaaat?" Krena asked in an unsatisfied tone, as if she had not had enough. "No more?"

"That's right. The fight is over."

The girl's shoulders slumped a little, but then she picked herself back up.

She trotted over to Leibrand and bobbed her head. "Thank you very much! You're very strong, old Mr. Knight!"

Leibrand replied with a stiff face, "I-I'm not that ol—" He never got to finish his sentence, however, as his hips suddenly gave way and his knees hit the ground.

"What?! You there, take care of the vice-captain!" the captain barked with urgency.

After all, it was unbecoming for a knight to be kneeling in front of so many commoners and serfs—after having lost to a five-year-old girl, no less.

Two other knights lent Leibrand their shoulders and helped him up, carrying him off somewhere. The way they were supporting him indicated that he could no longer even stand by himself.

When he passed by, the captain gave him a few pats on the shoulder as if to say, "Well done."

Krena approached the captain, still holding her sword. The man stiffened slightly as if in wariness.

"Thank you very much! It was fun!"

"Hm— Huh?!"

When the knight captain accepted the sword that Krena was returning, his brows shot up incredulously. The steel blade was squashed flat and its edge was badly chipped in more places than could be counted.

Even more surprising was the handle. Although this was also made of steel, there were now ripples on its surface as if it was a stick of modeling clay with the imprint of a child's hand. The knight could not even imagine just how powerful Krena's grip had been.

A chill went down his back as he handed the weapon that could no longer be sheathed to a subordinate.

"Sh-She really is a Sword Lord..."

"The rumors were true! She defeated a knight!"

"Her swings were so fast I couldn't even see the blade!"

The villagers were in a complete uproar after having beheld such an unforgettable spectacle.

That day, more than two hundred people bore witness to a fight that started seemingly for no reason and ended with Krena's indisputable victory.

***

When he was freed, Gerda immediately rushed over to Krena to check if she was hurt anywhere.

She had just clashed swords what looked like over a hundred times with a full-grown adult. It would not have been strange at all for her to have taken at least a few slashes.

What's more, she had taken the full brunt of Vice-Captain Leibrand's kick and had been sent flying dozens of meters into a wall.

As it turned out, however, she was entirely unhurt—she did not have even a single bruise on her body. She giggled ticklishly under Gerda's worried fussing.

Final damage tally: slightly dirtier clothes. That was it.

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