Noel and Anna stood in front of each other. Now that the mansion had been built, they could use the backyard to have a little spar.
"Let's see whether your skill has gotten rusty or not." Noel smiled while raising his stance.
"I should be the one saying that. You have been buried by all those works after all." Anna harrumphed.
"The only way to prove that is by fighting. Are you ready?" Noel pointed his sword at Anna.
"Of course. I'm just waiting for you."
"What a provocation!"
Both of them smiled as Noel began to count.
"3…"
"2…"
"1…"
They said the last count together as their bodies began to move. "0!"
The moment they reached each other, Noel opened the fight with a slash from the bottom left going all the way to her shoulder in the opposite direction. Anna maintained her posture and struck Noel's sword in the middle.
Cling!
The clicking sound was the mark of the start of their battle.
Seeing Anna parry his sword, Noel was about to slide his sword on her before making a second swing.
However, Anna actually rotated her sword slightly toward her so that Noel ended up moving a step forward.
When adjusting to that balance, Noel couldn't retract his blade or take advantage of Anna's sword.
As a result, Anna took a step forward and tried to knock his sword off his hand.
Before she could do it, Noel used his usual strategy, which was to use the momentum to grab Anna's leg. Since he was going to lean to the ground due to the moment, he should take advantage of that opportunity to seal her mobility.
"!!!" Anna clicked her tongue. Because she took a step forward earlier, she had no way of avoiding this. So, she just let Noel grab her lower thigh while making another swing.
Noel smiled as though he had expected her action. He slid his hand to reach the back of her thigh before pulling her. With the strong forward step earlier, Anna's balance and momentum leaned forward, so if he pulled her thigh, she would trip and fall on her back.
Still, Anna had grown accustomed to his trick. She actually allowed Noel to spin her body. By closing her leg, she could sneak the leg toward Noel and her other leg approached him from the other side. Both legs suddenly wrapped around his head as his neck was pinched by Anna's thighs.
"Kh." Noel gritted his teeth and tried to spin her body a bit more until she couldn't see him.
But Anna skillfully placed her hands on the ground and made a backflip, pulling Noel's entire body with only her thighs. She was about to throw Noel into the air.
However, Noel actually used the momentum to do a front flip. After that, he grabbed both her ankles and tossed her by using the centrifugal force from the flip.
"What?!" Anna looked surprised that she was the one losing in that exchange. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to think about it as Noel had closed in with his blade.
Anna regained her balance the moment she landed on the ground and struck Noel's blade.
Because of the exchange earlier, Anna became a bit more careful and just kept fending off all his attacks.
In just three seconds, there were already twenty clicking sounds. They were using the body of a Grandmaster to the highest degree in this spar.
"Don't you think you've grown a bit too used to how a woman's body works? You're not cheating on me while I'm gone, right?" Anna asked while clashing with Noel.
"I should be the one asking you! Do you think that movement is a little bit vulgar for you? I'll be jealous if you use it on another man." Noel smirked while trying to find the gap in her defense.
"Don't worry. It's the secret technique that your mother taught me. It seems to be a powerful weapon to fight you." Anna harrumphed.
"Kh." Noel gritted his teeth. "What did she actually say?"
"It's nothing much. Like how she suspected you to like thighs because you often used the maid's laps when you wanted to read outside."
"Don't you think you have been lied to?" Noel clicked his tongue. He clenched his sword tightly as he made a big swing, using all the strength he had to launch Anna away.
"You should say that with your usual poker face." Anna grinned while maintaining her balance mid-air. She couldn't help but see that annoyed face on him as though his secret had been exposed. "…That face is not going to convince anyone."
"We need a family meeting after this." Noel rushed forth, trying to reach Anna before she landed on the ground.
Anna harrumphed. She calculated Noel's movement and struck him first.
Noel took a step back, spun his body, and struck Anna from another side.
Anna seemed to have predicted it as she actually stretched her leg in that direction, kicking his blade with her shoe. After that, she lowered her foot as if she wanted to hit his face with the back of her thigh.
Noel pushed her back and launched her into the air. Anna took advantage of it to lower her leg even further so that she ended up spinning forward instead of upward. She finally landed on the ground safely.
"If I win, you're going to tell me everything my mother told you. I have to correct everything she said so that you don't get the wrong idea."
"In that case, if I win, you're going to confirm everything your mother has told me."
Both of them looked like they were determined to win, but for their own absurd reasons.
Anna was the first to charge forward this time. She struck Noel from above while saying, "Shouldn't you use that opportunity to ask about my secret?"
"Oh, don't worry. Even without you telling me, I'm going to send a letter to my future father-in-law about all your secrets." Noel harrumphed with veins bulging on his forehead. He was definitely pissed off.
Cling!
Cling!
Cling!
A series of clicking sounds kept echoing in the backyard as Noel and Anna traded more than a thousand blows in just twenty minutes.
But it seemed that no one had gotten any advantage in the last twenty minutes. It might be because of the bet but they were extremely careful in this fight.
Although it was faint, Noel felt a subtle change in the way Anna wielded her sword. While it was true that this could happen after a month, Noel couldn't help but remember what the Sword Arbiter said to her. She told Duke Lorelei that her mind was in such a mess that it affected her sword, so he thought this must be the case.
Unfortunately, this was only his theory. He had to confirm whether it was true or not.
On the other hand, Anna felt something weird in Noel's movement. Her sword style was aggressive, but in this spar, Noel looked more aggressive than usual. He was leading the fight the entire time, which made her a bit nervous.
She suspected Noel to be plotting something in this match. Since he had been inventing a lot of things in the past month, she thought Noel must have gotten a weird, but unexpected idea to defeat her.
To her surprise, she finally found a gap in Noel's attack.
Noel actually made a big swing. While it contained power, he might have the weakest control of his sword with this swing.
'A mistake?'
'It doesn't seem that he is tired.'
'A trap?'
'But if I don't take this chance, I might not get a second chance.'
All these thoughts appeared in Anna's mind in an instant. She ended up closing her stance and hit Noel's sword from below, taking the opportunity to end this match.
Cling!hitting
This clicking sound was the mark of the end of the battle as Anna's blade knocked Ardagan into the air.
After that, Anna waved that blade at Noel's neck to end this fight.
Noel didn't know why but he could feel a sliver of killing intent leaking in that swing. As though he had expected this moment, Noel simply closed his eyes, waiting for that blade to reach him.
Ultimately, the blade stopped right in front of his neck as Anna stated, "This is the end, I guess."
Noel gave a wry smile. "Indeed. It seems that you've gotten more powerful than I expected you to."
"Of course. It's me you're talking about." Anna smirked while sheathing her blade. She was ready to help Noel get his blade back, but right after the 'Tak' sound produced when her blade reached the end of the scabbard, Noel's hand moved at its fastest speed, reaching her face in just a split second.
"!!!" Anna couldn't even get surprised before Noel's hand grabbed her entire face. His other hand tossed her blade away.
Then Noel slammed her into the ground so hard that it created a small crater.
*Boom!*
Anna wasn't hurt because she protected her body instinctively, but she couldn't understand the reason why Noel actually did something like this.
"No-el?!" Anna looked at Noel. This might be the first time she sees this expression on his face.
It was cold, dark, and full of anger. It might be because he was her fiance that this distorted face somehow hurt her heart. The thought that he was looking at her as his nemesis instead of his fiancee made her body tremble.
Noel opened his mouth, his voice was filled with murderous intent as though he would kill her the moment she told a lie. The question was, "Who are you?"
*Thump!*
