A gap I forced open.
I poured in every ounce of strength I could muster at that very moment, striking in perfect sync with that opening.
The timing was flawless.
The attack was at its peak.
And yet…
“Whoa!?”
Lena managed to swing her sword back with an impossible speed, blocking my strike.
She barely held the blade at bay.
It seemed she couldn’t fully absorb the shock, as she was blown backward.
But… that was all.
Not a fatal blow.
Not a decisive strike.
I had let a once-in-a-lifetime chance slip through my fingers.
“To think you’d use your own body as a shield…”
Lena quickly regained her stance.
Still, she didn’t launch an attack right away.
The sharp, drawn-blade aura from earlier had vanished.
In its place, that same bright, cheerful smile she always wore.
“Mmm…! You really are amazing, Fate. Seriously, you’re incredible!”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Of course!”
“Even though that strike didn’t land?”
“No, no, no—that was seriously impressive! If it weren’t me, most people would’ve been done for. Even Riken might have gone down.”
Riken?
Who’s that?
“Normally, you fight to avoid getting hurt… but to throw that out the window and deliberately wound yourself just to create an opening…”
“In the end, it didn’t reach you, though.”
“Still, that’s not something anyone can do. Even I… even I’d hesitate to use my own body as a shield. You pulled off something nobody else could. Honestly, Fate, I think that’s amazing.”
“…Thanks.”
She showered me with praise.
But I couldn’t help feeling there was something behind it.
That hunch was dead on.
“Hey, Fate. You really won’t become mine?”
“We already talked about this…”
“You don’t want to, huh? But now, I just can’t let you go. I don’t want to kill someone as capable as you… and besides, I think I’ve fallen for you all over again.”
Lena said it with a smile.
If this were said under normal circumstances, I’d probably be thrilled…
But right now, we’re in the middle of a fight to the death.
I can’t let my guard down for a second.
“Come on, be mine, okay? If you do, I’ll train you. I’ll make you even stronger than you are now. You’re a swordsman—you want to get stronger, don’t you?”
“I do, but…”
“And, and—I’ll satisfy all those desires you have for girls, too♪ I’m the devoted type, you know. I’ll cook you delicious meals, wash your back in the bath, and take anything naughty you throw at me.”
I really wish she wouldn’t say things like “naughty stuff” so casually.
I mean…
Even at a time like this, it makes me a little embarrassed.
“Huh? Didn’t I just say the same thing earlier? Oh well. So, what do you think?”
It’s a deadly serious situation, and yet…
This is probably Lena’s confession.
Her own way of giving a sincere confession.
That’s why I have to face it honestly too.
“…I’m sorry.”
I lowered my head.
“No matter how many times you confess, my feelings aren’t going to change. The one I love is… Sofia.”
“…”
For just a moment, I thought I saw Lena look like she was about to cry.
“Why?”
A chill ran down my spine.
“Why why why why why…!!!”
Why…
Lena repeated the word like a curse spilling from her lips.
Again and again and again…
She looked like a child throwing a tantrum.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever wanted something! I’ve done everything they told me, killed my own heart all this time… and now, for the first time, I finally want something…! And even then, I have to hold back? I have to give up again? Pretend it can’t be helped and look away? That’s… that’s just…!!!”
“Lena…?”
“No… no no no no… I’m done having things stolen from me!!!”
Maybe I just stomped all over Lena’s deepest trauma.
She was clearly no longer in her right mind…
The light vanished from her eyes.
In its place burned a murderous gleam.
Lena raised her sword…
And then, in a single burst, she lunged at me.
“So fast…!?”
No… I can’t react in time!?
I could do nothing but watch the blade rush toward me
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