Episode 97
Chapter 32. The Battleground of Cosmos (8)

One step forward.

Jin closed the distance in sync with Dante’s movement. Dante took a step, Jin followed with one of his own. The two cautiously probed each other’s range, each testing the other’s attack.

‘This is more nerve-wracking than I thought. If he steps in about five more paces, Dante’s attack will start…’

Suddenly, Jin froze.

An intense premonition told him Dante’s strike would come sooner than expected.

‘Left? Right?’

His eyes darted reflexively—left, right—and then back to center.

But Dante was gone.

Whoosh!

A familiar rush of air brushed past his ear.

“Kuh!”

The sound of a sword slicing through empty space. Jin startled and raised Bradamante just in time to see Dante lunging forward with a sly grin.

Clang!

The shock transmitted through the blade was immense—like an explosion near the edge of the sword. Yet beneath that heavy blow was a sharpness as piercing as shattered obsidian.

If his core and lower body hadn’t been strong enough, his stance would have collapsed immediately. Jin exhaled a silent sigh of relief and calmly stepped aside to Dante’s right.

“I threw that just in case. As expected, it doesn’t work on you.”

Dante clicked his tongue with a hint of regret. Jin responded with an awkward smile.

‘He’s faster than I thought…’

The match nearly ended on the first exchange. Jin’s spine tingled with unease, but Dante wore a relaxed expression.

‘This speed is almost on par with Lady Alisa’s top pace. Without over a hundred sparring sessions with her, I wouldn’t have been able to block that. What kind of probing fight is this? The guy’s crazy—he tried to finish it in one go.’

Though a bit shaken, Jin could feel his own dazzling growth.

And—

‘If this is Dante’s top speed, there’s still plenty of room for me.’

He felt certain of that. But if Dante could attack any faster, victory would be impossible.

Just as Jin was about to strike—

Vrrrr!

Dante’s blade was suddenly enveloped in a thicker aura.

“If I can’t beat you with speed, I’ll have to use strength.”

Exactly what Jin had hoped for!

There was no time to respond. Dante launched his attack again, and Jin was still a beat behind in gathering his own power.

Bang! Crash! Bang!

Each clash of their swords echoed like thunder. It wasn’t just swordplay—it sounded like two massive blunt weapons colliding.

“Ooooh…!”

“Is this really a kids’ fight?”

Gasps and cheers erupted from the stands. Everyone had expected a great match, but no one anticipated it would be this thrilling from the very start.

Especially Veradin, who clenched his fists so tightly his hands were soaked with sweat.

At first, Jin seemed completely overwhelmed.

But with every passing second, he matched Dante’s tempo. By the twentieth exchange, the two appeared evenly matched.

‘That was his top speed earlier!’

After mixing blades properly, Jin was sure.

No matter how talented Dante was, it was impossible for a nineteen-year-old former Biment Special Unit member to surpass him in both strength and speed.

So what was Jin’s plan?

To endure.

‘Dante only increases his speed when necessary, conserving his stamina. I just need to keep up with his rhythm.’

Until Dante tires.

Jin’s strategy to defeat Dante was simple and clear: leverage the one advantage he had over him.

Stamina.

‘From the moment he first came to my room, I sensed it. Dante’s skills are impressive, but his endurance is lacking.’

If Dante’s stamina matched his skill, he wouldn’t have needed to ask Jin for help during the long nights in the arena.

Though nineteen, Dante looked barely thirteen or fourteen—his small frame betrayed his age.

That was his weakness. While he could boost his strength with aura, endurance was another matter entirely.

If the body can’t keep up, it’s no use.

What about Jin?

He had the blessed, robust physique of Runcandel. Not just strength, but stamina, immunity, and resilience far beyond what most would call ‘iron bones.’

Even without Dante, Jin could have endured the entire night before the final match.

But Dante couldn’t.

‘The key is how quickly Dante realizes I have better stamina than him.’

Of course, Dante’s stamina wasn’t bad by ordinary standards. He trained relentlessly to overcome his natural weaknesses—training so intense it was unimaginable to most.

So it was hard for him to accept.

That he was clearly inferior to a sixteen-year-old boy in one crucial way.

“You’re holding up well! If you have any tricks left, better show them now. From here on, I’ll press even harder.”

“If I show you everything I’ve got, you’ll just get depressed, man.”

“Your jokes are top-notch. I like that about you.”

Swish!

Dante’s blade grazed Jin’s thigh. The cut wasn’t deep, but it was the first time blood splattered. Jin gritted his teeth.

That was close. Just a little deeper, and it would have been fatal.

‘I can’t avoid taking minor wounds.’

The problem was avoiding fatal injuries every time. The faster Dante’s tempo rose, the sooner his stamina would drop—but Jin’s wounds would also accumulate, wearing him down.

Bleeding meant stamina was draining.

‘On the other hand, it’s hard for me to injure Dante before he tires.’

Still, Jin clenched his teeth, determined to endure. At this pace, he judged Dante couldn’t keep fighting for more than an hour.

‘But he’ll have to make a decisive move eventually.’

Dante wasn’t a fool.

Though he seemed relaxed now, thinking he had the upper hand, there was no way he didn’t understand Jin’s plan by now.

Eventually, Dante would have to pull out a move to break Jin’s defense. Surviving that moment was crucial.

Another wound appeared on Jin’s shoulder blade.

He cut the back of his hand blocking a vertical strike, nearly dropping his sword in the process.

Jin tore his coat sleeve with his teeth and wrapped his hand, causing Dante to tilt his head in confusion.

“All done. Let’s finish this!”

“Push a little harder, Paul Mick!”

By then, the spectators who had bet on Dante were on their feet, shouting wildly. To them, Jin looked helplessly on the defensive—it seemed the end was near.

But Dante knew better.

‘He’s been stalling because he thinks he has better stamina. And now I realize—you’re an alias…!’

Jin Runcandel.

If not for Runcandel’s body, Dante couldn’t explain the durability Jin possessed.

Cuts on the thigh, shoulder, and hand aside, if Jin were an ordinary person, the shockwaves from their clashing swords would have left him battered and broken.

When Dante silently mouthed Jin’s real name, Jin grinned.

‘You just figured that out?’

Huff, huff…

Jin noticed Dante’s breathing growing ragged. His own breath wasn’t as steady as at the start, but he still had more control.

“Looks like it’s my turn to strike.”

The crowd’s energy and cheers filled the arena.

This time, Jin charged at Dante. Naturally, the spectators who bet on Jin jumped to their feet, shouting.

“Go! Gooo!”

After a match spent mostly on defense, Jin suddenly launched his counterattack. Dante began replaying the fight in his mind.

Where did it all go wrong?

‘Damn it, I should have gone all out from the start and ended this!’

It didn’t take long to reach that conclusion. The uneasy feeling he’d sensed facing Jin had made him cautious—but if he hadn’t, he would have already won.

‘Then what was that uneasy feeling? My whole body was screaming danger if I rushed in recklessly.’

Dante was entering a realm he would never understand.

That intense unease was because of the two sealed powers Jin wielded: spirit energy and magic. Using both, Jin was an opponent Dante simply couldn’t handle.

It was an instinctive fear of a true ‘strong opponent.’

Bang! Bang!

Jin swung Bradamante with all his might, pressing the attack. Dante faltered and stepped back.

Jin’s move was simple.

Every day.

Ten thousand times practiced—the willful vertical strike. Now, he could swing it three thousand times just like the first.

‘Jin Runcandel is a monster. He still has this much strength left…! And how can such a simple sword feel this heavy?’

Though only using vertical strikes, Dante couldn’t easily break free.

Each time Bradamante fell, it felt like being crushed against a wall—he couldn’t move his feet properly.

At this rate, after a few minutes of parrying vertical strikes, he would suffer a humiliating defeat.

So he had to make a choice.

“The secret techniques of Hailan…”

Should he unleash them?

Compared to Jin, who hadn’t yet inherited a single family secret technique, Dante had already mastered several of Hailan’s hidden arts.

Each of these techniques held the power to turn the tide of battle in an instant. And with the stamina he had left, Dante could wield them without much difficulty.

Yet, the reason for his hesitation was clear.

“I don’t want to kill you.”

He was certain that if he unleashed these techniques, he would end up killing Jin.

That certainty was what made Dante falter. Though they’d only known each other for a few days, Jin had already come to mean a great deal to him.

A savior who had saved his life. A worthy rival he hadn’t faced in a long time. The youngest son of Runcandel—the towering mountain that Hailan would one day have to overcome.

Or perhaps… a friend.

As Dante’s expression twisted with conflicting emotions, Jin saw right through him.

“You’re hesitating because you don’t want to kill me. If that weren’t the case, you would’ve made your move already.”

With a swift motion, Jin sheathed his sword and met Dante’s gaze.

“I am Jin Runcandel. So don’t hold back, Dante Hailan.”