Chapter 285 : 285 A glimpse.
After Teacher Lee shouted his instruction, the two students in the Arena did not move. They stood on each side, observing one another. Leon tried to act cautiously because his opponent seemed to hold many hidden cards in her sleeves.
On the other hand, Akane decides to stay still and observe how Leon will react in the battle. "He has a head and knows the difference in our strength. Good!" Akane muttered.
Akane began to drop her stance and sprint forward, which made Leon's body flinch in full alert. Leon prepared his wooden sword as Akane's body disappeared from his sight, and a tinge of chill crept out from his nape.
With the sudden danger, he felt his body reflexively react, ducking his head, shifting his footwork, and swinging his wooden sword horizontally.
However, the sword just hit empty air, as Akane had already distanced herself from him. Leon regulated his breath and prepared his stance again. Once he turned to Akane, he frowned.
Akane's lips parted, which gave Leon a sense of chill that he had never felt before.
"You are pretty good for a first-year."
"Thank yo…?!".
Before Leon could finish his words, a dagger was already right in front of his neck, and Leon, with a godly reflex, tilted her neck to the side. But Akane began her move; she twisted her elbow, circled her hand on Leon's neck, and tucked it below her right armpit.
Her right leg began to coil around Leon's right leg, destroying his stance and bringing him into submission.
"Kuh!".
Despite the sudden twist and suffocated feeling, Leon felt his heart racing. The scent of Akane that entered his nose because of the close contact made his brain short-circuit for a moment.
This is one of Leon's weaknesses: He is rather weak in dealing with the opposite sex. It was not in the sense of hate, but rather he would get nervous when facing a Female in close proximity. That is why he will have trouble dealing with one of the seven Demon Lord lackeys, Luxuria, in the future.
"Oops, sorry. You seemed suffered".
Leon felt the tightness around his neck and legs gone, and Akane, with her lax tone, distanced herself from Leon. He traced along the feeling of his neck and the subtle warmth that still remained.
He stood up and turned to look at the source. With a sly smile plastered on her face, Akane was standing three meters away from him. Leon, who saw that while touching his neck, sighs in wonder.
"Why are you doing that?".
Akane tilted her head to the side and parted her lips seductively.
"Nothing, just feeling uncomfortable because you are sniffing around my body, that's all".
"What?!".
Blood started to surge to his face, Leon with a flustered face, shook his head intensely in front of many spectators. The whole Arena turned into silence after hearing Akane's words.
"I didn't do it!".
"Is that so?".
"?!".
Without giving Leon any chance to regain his composure, Akane disappears from her place and reappears in front of Leon with a dagger clenched in his hand. Akane began to hurl Leon with her attack, brandishing her own advantage in close combat and made Leon get pushed back toward the side arena.
Leon desperately dodged and deflected her attack, but it was useless as he was overwhelmed by the difference in speed between them. He saw Akane make a big swing, which he used to counter, thrusting his sword ahead.
However, it was just a feint. Akane, who saw the sword trajectory, smiled. She tilted her body to the side, dodging the thrust. Strangely, Akane didn't have any plan to counter and finish the fight. Instead, she looked toward Leon's eyes directly, which made his heart tremble.
"Is that it?".
Those words that escaped Akane's lips pierced Leon's consciousness, which indicated that she was disappointed in him. He knew well what sort of anticipation she put in him. Probably not just him but the other students and teachers, too. Leon clenched his teeth and twisted his wrist to change its sword trajectory, starting to regain his momentum.
"Haaa!".
With her nimble and swift movement, Akane dodged and deflected his sword angel. She observed his movement closely, and once Leon created a wide opening, that was where she would act.
Leon caught a glimpse of Akane, who easily dodged his sword and gritted his teeth in frustration. "She had no intention to be serious in the first place". He kept bombarding Akane with his sword techniques, and as time passed, his consciousness started to become blurred, "Why? Are my movements predictable, or is it because she is faster than me?". Leon muttered.
Within his blurry consciousness, he felt that the world around him turned into slow motion as he also became one. He became immersed in his own thoughts as to why he couldn't win.
He had already promised his father and his precious family members that he would attend the competition tomorrow.
Leon made a mistake as he was lost in thought; from over his head, he swung his sword wide enough to give Akane a chance to counter. Looking at the approaching dagger his mind stopped. "No, I don't want to lose; I already made a promise, so…". As the tip of the dagger that approached almost touched his neck, "...Believe toward the power that chooses you!".
Then, his vision began to brighten. He saw an intense myriad of colors mixed into one, and the whole world turned to normal. However, within that millisecond, Akane's movement stopped. Seeing the strange thing that happened before his eyes, Leon moved reflexively.
Leon released the sword hilt in his hands, taking possession of the dagger in Akane's hand. He grabbed her wrist, lifted her body then slammed it to the ground while placing the dagger in her throat.
The world began to move normally as Leon gasped for breath while riding Akane, who absent-mindedly felt the pain in her back while looking at Leon's golden eyes.
"What?!".
The event was happening too fast for her eyes to follow, and then a surge of intense curiosity began to fill her mind. She parted her lips into a smile, looking at the disappearance of Leon's golden eyes.
Not just Akane but the whole stadium was also surrounded by a silent mood, as they couldn't comprehend what was happening in the end.
"That's it, I am giving up!".
"Eh?!".
"Stop! The winner is Leon Pendragon".
Teacher Lee's voice reverberated inside the stadium, and it brought a huge cheer from the first-year generation.
"Hooray!".
For the first time since the competition started, a first-year student had succeeded in snatching a victory in the match.
"Um, can you move, please? I personally like riding, but I'm not the one being ridden."
"Ah, I apologize".
Leon, who understood her meaning, blushed furiously as he distanced himself from Akane.
Akane stood up and patted her uniform to dust away the filth. Then she turned to Leon with a sly smile. She closed her distance and took the dagger in his hand.
"I'll be taking this too".
"Y-yeah, sure!".
"Fufu, don't be too nervous. From now on, I hope you can show me more of that hidden power of yours".
"?!".
Leon knit his brows in wonder as he saw Akane's back slowly leaving the Arena. Once he saw her gone, he looked toward his palm and still wondered how he could do that, "Hidden power, huh?". He clenched his palm, then turned around, taking his own wooden sword before leaving the Arena with cheers accompanying him.