Chapter 13: The Worst Possible Timing
The clash between Kai and the spear user shook the forest.
BOOM!
Kai's sword carved through the air with terrifying precision.
The spear user twisted his weapon, deflecting the strike before counterattacking with a spinning thrust.
CLANG!
The two exchanged dozens of blows in seconds.
Trees collapsed around them.
The earth cracked beneath their feet.
Neither gained the upper hand.
The spear user laughed.
"This is fun!"
Kai remained expressionless.
"...You're decent."
"Oh?"
"I was aiming for 'terrifying.'"
"You'll have to try harder."
The spear user grinned wider.
"So you can talk."
Their weapons collided again.
A violent shockwave exploded outward.
---
Meanwhile...
Several hundred meters away...
Vee sprinted through the forest.
"If I keep this pace..."
"I'll reach the summit before the time limit."
He leaped over a fallen tree.
Then—
BOOM!
A powerful shockwave blasted through the forest.
"...What was that?"
Curiosity got the better of him.
He changed direction.
A few moments later...
He pushed through a wall of bushes.
"...Huh?"
The clearing before him looked like a battlefield.
Half the trees had been cut down.
The ground was covered in deep craters.
At the center...
Kai and an unfamiliar spear user stood facing one another.
Both turned their heads.
Their eyes landed on Vee.
Silence.
Kai stared.
The spear user stared.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Vee looked left.
Then right.
Then back at them.
He forced an awkward smile.
"...So..."
"...am I interrupting something?"
Neither answered.
Vee scratched the back of his head.
"...I'll just..."
He slowly pointed behind himself.
"...come back later?"
Still...
Nothing.
The spear user suddenly laughed.
"Hahaha!"
"This guy's hilarious!"
Kai didn't.
Vee cleared his throat.
"Well..."
"...you two look busy."
"So..."
"I'll leave before someone accidentally stabs me."
He turned.
Took one step.
Kai disappeared.
WHOOSH!
Vee's instincts screamed.
He spun around.
CLANG!
His sword barely intercepted Kai's strike.
The impact forced him backward several meters.
"DID YOU SERIOUSLY ATTACK ME?!"
Kai answered with another slash.
Vee ducked underneath it.
"Kai!"
"I don't want to fight!"
"Go away!"
He deflected another strike.
CLANG!
Kai didn't respond.
His attacks became even faster.
Vee retreated between the trees, blocking and dodging with everything he had learned.
"My exam!"
CLANG!
"My perfectly peaceful exam!"
CLANG!
"I was literally just walking!"
Kai's blade narrowly missed Vee's shoulder.
The spear user stood nearby with folded arms, watching with great interest.
"...He's running away."
He sounded genuinely impressed.
"And somehow..."
"...he's still blocking Kai."
Vee narrowly avoided another thrust.
He looked at Kai with an expression somewhere between panic and disbelief.
"What did I even do this time?!"
Kai finally spoke.
"You've changed."
"Thank you?"
"I want to see how much."
"...Could you see another day?"
Kai ignored him.
Their swords collided again.
BOOM!
Vee groaned dramatically.
"I swear..."
"...one day I'm going to start charging people every time they challenge me."
For the first time...
The corner of the spear user's mouth twitched upward.
This white-haired idiot...
Was strangely entertaining.
And despite claiming he didn't want to fight...
He hadn't been hit once since Kai attacked.
"Interesting," the spear user thought.
"Very interesting."
Chapter 13: Peace Was Never an Option
Vee barely had time to catch his breath.
Kai stood before him, sword lowered but ready.
The spear user twirled his spear with a grin.
For a moment...
No one moved.
Then the spear user pointed his spear at Vee.
"You know..."
"I think I'll help him."
Vee blinked.
"...Help him?"
Kai said nothing.
The spear user laughed.
"Fighting you looks fun."
Vee looked from Kai...
To the spear user...
Then back to Kai.
"...You're teaming up?"
The spear user shrugged.
"Temporarily."
Kai neither agreed nor disagreed.
He simply raised his sword.
Vee slowly looked up at the sky.
"...Dear heavens."
"What did I do to deserve this?"
No answer came.
He sighed.
Then smiled awkwardly.
"You know..."
"I actually came here hoping for peace."
He pointed at himself.
"I'm just a student trying to pass an entrance exam."
He pointed at Kai.
"He's trying to test me."
Then at the spear user.
"And you're joining because... you're bored."
He spread his arms dramatically.
"Can we not do the whole 'fight to the death' thing?"
Silence.
"...Maybe..."
"We could discuss our feelings?"
The spear user stared.
Kai stared.
Vee smiled hopefully.
"...No?"
The spear user burst out laughing.
"Hahaha!"
"You're serious?"
Vee nodded.
"Very."
"I vote for talking."
"We could even become friends."
Kai disappeared.
"Oh, come on!"
CLANG!
Vee blocked Kai's slash.
At that exact moment—
The spear user lunged from behind.
Vee twisted sideways.
The spear missed his shoulder by a hair.
"I JUST WANTED PEACE!"
BOOM!
Kai attacked again.
Vee ducked.
The spear user's sweep came low.
Vee jumped.
He landed on a branch.
"...Talk over fighting?"
"...No?"
Kai leaped into the air.
The spear user thrust upward.
Vee's eyes widened.
"Seriously?!"
He threw himself backward just before both attacks met where he had been standing.
The tree exploded into splinters.
Vee rolled across the ground and scrambled back to his feet.
He looked at the shattered remains of the tree.
Then at the two boys.
Then back at the tree.
"...That tree had a family."
Neither Kai nor the spear user reacted.
Vee sighed dramatically.
"I can see negotiations have failed."
The spear user pointed his spear at him with a grin.
"You joke a lot."
"It helps me cope."
Kai rushed forward again.
Vee groaned.
"I miss this morning."
The two attacked together.
Sword from the front.
Spear from the side.
Their timing was almost perfect.
Vee inhaled slowly.
His father's training.
His mother's lessons.
Kai's previous fight.
Everything he'd learned flowed together.
His smile disappeared.
His eyes sharpened.
If they insisted on fighting...
Then he would survive.
Even if peace had never been an option.