Amy ran up the mountain path with all her might. She was still in no condition to cast magic, but eventually, the end of the path came into view.
Amy: "Just a little more!"
Finally reaching the top of the hill, Amy’s face turned pale at the unexpected sight before her.
Rian was holding Falcoa from behind, and Tess, charging at full speed, mercilessly thrust her rapier into both of them.
As the blade pierced him, Falcoa let out a ragged breath. At the same time, Rian’s eyes shook in shock.
20 minutes before Amy arrived.
Falcoa was aggressively pushing Rian and Tess back. Though it was likely a skilled technique, from the perspective of those on the receiving end, it felt like a wild beast rampaging.
Rolling on the ground, Tess gritted her teeth.
’What kind of guy is this?’
His combativeness was more terrifying than his swordsmanship.
Falcoa’s fighting style, as if he had an extra life, had become a technique in itself, overwhelming the two.
By the time 10 minutes had passed, small cuts had begun to appear on Rian’s body.
Falcoa: "Heh heh, is it already over?"
Tess, glaring at Falcoa who was taunting them with his sword lowered, asked Rian:
Tess: "Are you okay?"
Rian: "Yeah. I can hold on."
His calm tone made Tess’s heart ache.
While she had been circling around to strike Falcoa’s weak points, Rian had been taking the brunt of the attacks.
Seeing Rian’s forehead bleeding profusely, Tess’s heart burned with anger.
Gripping the hilt of her rapier, she charged at a terrifying speed.
Her thrust was as fast as lightning, but Falcoa twisted his body with animal-like reflexes. He then struck her ribs with his knee, causing her breath to catch.
As her body stiffened uncontrollably, Falcoa swung his longsword toward the back of her neck.
In the slowed perception of time, Tess could clearly feel the trajectory of the blade.
But no matter how sharp her senses were, her body’s reaction was infinitely slower.
’I’m sorry, Rian. I wanted to pay him back for at least one hit.’
Just as the blade was about to touch the back of her neck, Falcoa’s body was suddenly shoved to the side.
His rough voice seemed to turn back time, and Rian appeared, running while holding Falcoa by the waist.
Even with both legs off the ground, Falcoa managed to maintain his posture and pressed down on Rian.
Using the incredible balance of his Schema, he planted his feet back on the ground and pulled Rian’s neck down while driving his knee upward.
A shockwave pierced through Rian’s solar plexus and burst out his back.
The impact felt like being hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. The strength in his hands, which were holding Falcoa’s waist, loosened, and his consciousness began to fade.
Falcoa continued to drive his knee upward.
Each time, Rian’s large frame shuddered.
Falcoa: "Heh heh! Do you understand your place now? Don’t worry. Your friend will be joining you soon."
Rian’s fading consciousness returned.
Though they often bickered, she was a friend he respected and acknowledged as a fellow swordsman.
Rian: "To a guy like you...."
His half-loosened hands tightened again, squeezing Falcoa’s waist with force.
Rian: "My friend won’t be hurt, you bastard!"
With a reckless tackle, Falcoa’s legs lifted off the ground again.
Falcoa: "Ugh! You bastard!"
Falcoa’s expression twisted.
While his endurance was impressive, it was clearly abnormal for a Schema user to be overpowered by sheer strength.
’Damn it! What’s going on?’
Rian moved behind Falcoa.
Grabbing Falcoa’s waist with both hands, he interlocked his fingers, leaving Falcoa’s arms pinned and unable to swing his sword.
Falcoa flexed his back muscles to the limit, trying to pull his arms down, but the restraint didn’t loosen.
Falcoa: "Damn it! Let go, you bastard!"
Every time Falcoa resisted, Rian felt as if his muscles were tearing, but his body remained as still as a rock.
The only thought in his mind was to hold on.
Rian: "You’re not getting away."
At his cold voice, Falcoa momentarily stopped struggling before thrashing even more violently.
Falcoa: "Aaaah! I’ll kill you!"
The corner of Rian’s mouth lifted.
Rian: "This is what an Imaginary Schema is."
The term "Imaginary Schema" was often used to mock swordsmen, but in reality, it was a term with enough academic value to be recorded on student transcripts by Quan.
While it was easy to think that mages trained their minds and swordsmen trained their bodies, at the deepest level, the two professions pursued the same thing.
Some swordsmen dedicated their entire lives to restoring the brain’s diagram, the most unknown area in the Schema’s human body diagram.
Although most swordsmen denied it, research continued because such phenomena were actually reported worldwide.
’Hold on. Don’t move at all.’
Rian imagined his body as steel. He fixed a specific thought in his mind and locked it in place.
Falcoa: "Aaaah! Let go! Let go, I said!"
It didn’t feel like he was being held by a living being. Instead, it felt like he was trapped in a mold, the unyielding hardness tightening around his mind.