Chapter 94: The Grateful Tiger (3)

The Weigan Family.

This family, located in the Salovetia administrative district, was a prestigious lineage known as the "Black Tiger."

The descendants of the Weigan family inherited, generation after generation, a towering physique and superhumanly elastic muscles.

Based on these physical conditions, the Weigan bloodline developed a bare-handed combat technique that was both agile and flexible.

This was the origin of the martial art that earned the Weigan family the name "Black Tiger."

And now, the ultimate technique of that prestigious martial art was manifesting before Yurie.

Swoosh—

The stomping foot dispersed the weight.

Both fists clenched tightly and adhered to the waist.

At the same time—

Bang!

The sound of the ground being struck echoed as her upper body bent forward.

Despite her chest almost touching the ground in a bizarre posture, she did not fall over, thanks to the superhuman strength inherited in the Weigan bloodline.

Greta's rush forward resembled that of a swift tiger.

Rumble—

Yurie, facing this, saw the illusion of a tiger charging at her, treating her as prey.

To avoid being hunted by this beast, Yurie activated the brain wings she had been saving.

Crackle—

The final brain wing.

Although she would likely be bedridden again after this, she had no time to worry about such things now.

She activated the mana flow to its maximum and, even then, gathered every last bit of mana to unleash a powerful sword technique.

Analyzing the information to the point of overheating her brain, she began to predict Greta's moves.

Despite doing her best, Yurie's expression was extremely serious.

'I can't see it...'

Until now, it had been difficult, but she could still read Greta's next move.

Thanks to this, she could prepare how to respond.

But not now.

Or rather, she could still read Greta's next move, but no matter how she responded, the image of Greta's move reaching her remained.

In other words, Greta's attack this time was something Yurie couldn't block no matter how she struggled.

'...Isn't this a bit too much?'

A person who has eaten enough cultivation to be considered a veteran is going all out against a rookie like me.

Where is his conscience?

On the other hand, she thought this situation might be inevitable.

'After all, this is the Black Sword Corps.'

Madmen obsessed with combat.

All the Black Sword Corps members she had faced so far were like this.

When their eyes turned wild, they always went all out.

It was as if they respected their opponents by treating them as equals.

Yurie also agreed with this ideology of the Black Sword Corps to some extent.

'If the opponent goes all out, I will too.'

And if she couldn't avoid or block the opponent's attack...

'I'll strike first.'

If I feel a hole will be punched through my heart, I'll pull back the attack.

In other words, the best defense is the best offense.

Now, this would be the only way to survive from that terrifying woman with wild eyes.

With this thought, Yurie's sword moved.

And that movement was eerily similar to Teresa's.

Swoosh—

Yurie, who had been given the assignment to perfect the mana flow technique, made copying Teresa's style her top priority.

After several sparring sessions with Teresa, Yurie examined her style but failed to copy it.

This was only natural.

It was impossible to copy a technique that a prestigious family had developed over hundreds of years through just a few sparring sessions.

The more Yurie delved into Teresa's style, the more she marveled at its complexity.

It was absolutely impossible to copy in a short period.

So, Yurie changed her goal.

Instead of copying Teresa's style 100%, she decided to grasp the general structure and recreate it in her own way.

Of course, this was no easy task.

But Yurie had the mana flow.

'Right now, I can't react to the opponent's strength in multiple ways like Teresa's style, but... what about the mana flow?'

If she centered her sword and used the mana flow?

Could she deflect the opponent's attack appropriately and then thrust her sword into the gap created?

It might produce a similar effect to Teresa's style.

The only problem was that she couldn't modify the attack trajectory as flexibly as Teresa's style.

'But I can fix that bit by bit later.'

With this thought, she completed the framework and used it in this critical moment.

If Johann saw Yurie now, he would definitely curse.

"Damn it, you crazy kid! Using an untested, incomplete technique in a real fight?! And at a moment when you might die?!"

'You complete a technique in a real fight, old man! Practice like it's real, and treat real fights like practice, got it?'

Repeating these absurd words, Yurie ignored Johann's nagging in her ear.

He pulled his sword back and thrust it forward.

Whoosh—

Meanwhile, Greta, who was charging at Yurie.

She looked puzzled at Yurie's thrust.

'A thrust?'

Of course, thrusting is a part of swordsmanship.

But Yurie had been using only slashes until now.

Moreover, his sword was more suited for slashing than thrusting.

Why a thrust all of a sudden?

Greta wondered if Yurie had given up.

But she quickly shook her head.

'He's not that kind of person.'

If he were the type to give up at this level, he wouldn't have made it this far.

So, Greta did her best.

'Let's see if you can block it.'

Determined, she turned her body to the side.

Sliding at an incredible speed, she twisted her waist.

Whoosh—

The acceleration from her charge.

The rotational force and muscle power from twisting her waist.

The three forces combined and exploded, and her right arm, filled with this explosive power, moved toward Yurie.

The Weigan family's secret martial art.

Explosive Chain Punch.

Rattle—

Greta's right fist, creating dozens of afterimages, flew toward Yurie.

In contrast, Yurie's thrust, flying to counter it, was truly pitiful and precarious.

It wasn't just a punch; it was a punch from a gauntlet containing a power strike.

Yurie's sword, at the level of a powerful strike, looked like it would break at any moment.

This was the perspective of Arin and Poppi, who were watching Yurie's fight.

And this was the common sense of ordinary people.

But the common sense was overturned.

Rattle—

Yurie's thrust, flying toward the rain of punches...

Flap— Flap—

It smoothly flew through the rain of punches.

Like the fluttering of a butterfly.

Poppi and Arin's eyes widened at this unbelievable scene.

But the one most surprised was Greta.

'...What?'

To others, it might have looked like Yurie's thrust was slipping through the punches.

But Greta knew.

'My punches... are being deflected?'

It wasn't that Yurie's sword was slipping through the punches, but that her punches were being deflected by Yurie's sword.

When Greta's punches reached near Yurie's sword, they kept changing direction in strange trajectories.

Greta, who had grown up learning about rival families in a prestigious family, knew about such techniques.

'Teresa's style?'

The Winchester family's Teresa's style was said to have the characteristic of ignoring the opponent's defense and attack.

But the technique in front of her was slightly different.

'I heard the Winchester family's Teresa's style was very elegant and refined?'

The Teresa's style that lightly evaded the opponent's attack and approached like a snake.

But Yurie's thrust was different.

It was more like...

'A soldier charging with a shield?'

There was no evasion.

Relying solely on the shield, barely deflecting the deadly attacks, and charging recklessly.

Yurie's thrust gave that impression.

The fluttering movement of Yurie's sword.

To Greta, it wasn't "fluttering" but "staggering."

The precarious and laborious sword approaching her.

Although surprised, Greta didn't feel threatened.

The reason was simple.

'Slow.'

Yurie's thrust was too slow.

Actually, it wasn't that slow, but compared to the Explosive Chain Punch, it was relatively too slow.

If this continued, her punch would definitely reach Yurie first.

When Greta was sure of this, her gaze met Yurie's golden eyes through her black bangs.

At that moment, Greta's heart sank.

And then.

Crack—!

Lightning flashed in the golden eyes.

The moment Yurie activated the brain wings she had been saving, the power quickly spread throughout her body.

Crackle—!

The sword that had been fluttering like a butterfly suddenly turned into a bee and shot toward Greta's heart.

From Greta's perspective, it was as if the shield soldier had fallen, revealing a seasoned spearman hiding behind.

Swoosh—!

The incredible speed of the thrust approached her heart.

Greta's face turned pale.

'Slow.'

Initially, it was Yurie's thrust that was slow.

But now, her punch was slower.

If this continued, her heart would be pierced by the sword before her punch reached Yurie.

'Die? Me?'

In this life-threatening moment, Greta showed a movement close to instinct.

Boom—!

Puff!

A tremendous explosion and a burst of earth erupted between Yurie and Greta.