The Path of Ruin-Chapter 97: A Duel with the General

Matthew collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, the moment the duel ended. General Loukan, however, only slightly widened his smile, then slowly turned his gaze away from him and toward Kael, who was watching them.

He wasn’t surprised to see him, as if he had known he was there all along.

"How was it?"

And his question was directed at him, too.

Kael answered honestly, not surprised that the general seemed to know he was there.

"Strange. It’s the first time I’ve seen defensiveness serve an offensive purpose."

General Loukan nodded in agreement.

"It’s natural, since you don’t see it unless the difference in skill or strength between individuals is extreme."

It made sense. If the defensive person’s strength were equal to their opponent’s, they would tire at least as much. They would never have the strength or agility to redirect the attacks either.

"That aside... congratulations. It seems you’ve succeeded in the mission you gave yourself."

"Ah."

Kael turned his eyes to the point the general was looking at, to the two new daggers at his waist. Then he smiled too.

"Yes, I did."

General Loukan was Hakon’s superior, after all. There was no way he wouldn’t be aware of the mission and, therefore, the reward he would receive if he succeeded.

Even if they didn’t think he would succeed.

"Good. You’ve proven yourself once again."

’Despite being someone who hasn’t been able to trust me properly up to this point, and who has probably even thought at times that it might be better if I were dead, and doesn’t see me as more than an opportunity or a tool, he seems quite happy...’

The general’s dark green eyes shifted from the daggers to Kael’s gaze. Kael was looking at him as if he were examining an enemy.

He was truly an interesting individual.

"Would you like to try?"

Kael hesitated for a moment, realizing how the general was scrutinizing him, and thought he might have been disrespectful at first. But then he saw the smile on the general’s face. He seemed to be receptive to the idea that had crossed his mind.

Had he misread the look in his eyes, thinking that he wanted to duel with him too?

Actually... it wasn’t a bad idea.

"Yes... I do."

Until now, the only enemy he had ever felt truly hopeless against was that woman in Halve. He was so certain he could do nothing against her that he had been forced to leave her entirely to Amar, and when even he lost, he had accepted defeat without even attempting to fight back.

And that woman was weaker than General Loukan.

So... what would happen if he dueled him?

The answer was simple: he would suffer another crushing defeat.

Still, he wanted to try. And so, with quick steps, he descended from above, where he had been watching until now, down to the arena.

Meanwhile, Matthew, who had been silently watching the events unfold, stood up. After glancing at Kael and then at his master, the general, he stepped back to make room for them. He seemed curious about what would happen too.

When Kael took his place opposite the general, he reached for the daggers at his waist. As he assumed his stance, his eyes involuntarily drifted to the general’s sword.

Due to their weapon choices, Kael was at a disadvantage from the start. Under normal circumstances, using a short-range weapon like a dagger against someone wielding a long weapon like a sword would be suicidal. The only reason he could do this normally was because he was usually faster than his opponents, could use eon, and had his unique Follower ability.

But now, due to the rules of the duel, he couldn’t use eon, so his Follower ability was also out of commission. It wasn’t really possible for him to be faster than his opponent either. The general was much, much faster than he was.

So, practically speaking, there was no way he could win this duel. It was a duel whose outcome was predetermined from the start.

Therefore, his goal was not to defeat his opponent, but to see the ’maximum’ he could achieve in a fight where defeat was certain, no matter what.

"The General... will do the same thing he did against Matthew. I’m sure of it."

He would remain defensive, in short. He would use this in an offensive way, taking advantage of the power difference between them. He could sense it from his stance, his ease. He would direct his attacks just as he had in his duel with Matthew.

Truly, no matter what he did, this was a duel he would lose.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t try anything.

So, he finally made his move.

For someone not using Eon, he used quite explosive speed. The target of the dagger in his left hand was the general’s stomach, a point that would be quite easy for him to defend.

Then he struggled to even comprehend what happened next.

When the distance between the tip of Kael’s dagger and the general’s stomach was about fifty centimeters, he encountered a recoil as if he had swung the dagger at a steel-hard wall.

The general’s sword was right in front of him, deflecting his attack. But experiencing this situation firsthand was so different from what he had seen...

’He’s... so fucking stronger than I thought!’

All his momentum, his stance, was broken with that simple deflection.

Still, he didn’t let his thoughts slow him down. Even if he used the dagger in his right hand while the one in his left was thrown back by the recoil, the momentum would be even more lost, so he tried to kick the general from the ground by bending down.

But the general knew that was all he could do, and simply stepped back. Kael, unwilling to let the distance between them grow, leaped forward. It might be difficult to maneuver in midair, yes, but at least he wouldn’t be out of range of the general, who was taking a completely defensive stance.

So he prepared to attack again. This time, his target was the general’s eyes.

He was able to get a little closer to the general than before, but this time he encountered a completely different block. The general chose to defend himself not by pushing the dagger back completely, but by letting it pass by him. The dagger slid along the sharp metal of the sword like oil. Instead of the general’s eye, it moved backward, just beside his left shoulder.

But Kael, who had been watching Matthew’s duel, was prepared for this.

He had been expecting exactly this.

He used the redirected momentum to his own advantage. Since he was advancing toward the general’s left side, the dagger in his right hand was in the perfect position to attack him. Only... he would have to move in a slightly strange way.

In a way the general wouldn’t expect.

In a way that would be difficult to predict.

Not toward the front, which the general had deliberately left open, but toward what seemed like a foolish position.

He spun around as fast as he could. As he spun, he flipped the dagger in his right hand and prepared to stab the general in the shoulder from behind with all his strength.

It was a foolish move because the general was faster than him. Moreover, spinning around meant giving his faster enemy enough time to figure out what was happening.

But that was exactly what he wanted.

He wanted the general to think he was doing something stupid.

The general would easily defend against the dagger aimed at his shoulder.

But if he threw the dagger in his left hand, which was out of the general’s line of sight, even clumsily from such close range, he could at least manage to wound him.

It happened just as he thought.

The general simply dodged the dagger aimed at his shoulder by shifting slightly to the side. Then, he moved, thinking to disrupt Kael’s momentum again with his sword, and put his dagger in a position where he couldn’t attack him.

But at that very moment, he saw out of the corner of his eye that the dagger in Kael’s other hand was not there. And in that instant, he understood what was happening.

He quickly simulated in his mind where the dagger was based on the position of Kael’s hand. After that, as he had initially planned, he took a step back while redirecting Kael’s attack with his sword and blocking the dagger in midair with his right knee.

Kael, having put everything into this attack, failed to maintain his momentum and fell face-first to the ground. The dagger he threw shared the same fate, echoing across the arena immediately after him.

"Nice, that was actually a good try."

The General was checking his knee as he said this. He had moved based on where he thought the dagger was, since it was out of his line of sight. But where the sharp edge of the dagger was actually a gamble. Since he blocked it with his knee, the sharp edge of the dagger could have cut his clothes and part of his skin.

But it didn’t.

It wasn’t the sharp edge of the dagger, but the other side that hit his knee.

If Kael had been a little luckier, even if it was just a tiny scratch, he could have managed to cut him.

Well, luck hadn’t smiled on him this time.

"Haaah..."

Kael’s sigh echoed across the arena.

The duel had ended very quickly. This was because Kael had gambled, but even if he hadn’t gambled, he knew it would have lasted two or three more moves at most, so it didn’t change much.

Matthew had lasted much longer than he did.

’Normal... he uses a sword, I use a dagger.’

He slowly stood up, turned toward the general, and bowed slightly.

"Thank you for the duel, General. It was instructive. Both of them, actually."

An outsider might think this duel was of little importance, considering the astonishing difference between them. But for Kael, it was different. Even this brief interaction allowed him to think of ways he could improve himself.

The best way to gain fighting experience was through defeat, after all. That’s why he didn’t care about winning or losing in this friendly duel. The stronger his opponent was, the better he could see his own shortcomings.

The general, who could more or less understand how he thought, nodded his head slightly. Then he looked at Matthew. He saw him pick up Kael’s fallen dagger, then throw it to him, and Kael catch the dagger in midair and sheathe it.

But he didn’t just see that. He also noticed Matthew thoughtfully studying Kael.

It was as if he were replaying the duel in his mind, trying to figure something out.

The general turned back to Kael. The smile on his face was much more sincere this time.

"Would you like to join us like this from time to time?"