Pressure.
A terrifying pressure beyond words descended on Alice.
This was no longer a question. It was an interrogation of her soul.
If she wavered even the slightest bit, her resolve as a warrior would be utterly shattered at that moment.
"I can. Of course I can. I can do it even if it kills me."
Alice answered as though it were only natural.
There was no bravado, no hesitation, and not a trace of uncertainty in her eyes.
She stated it as an established fact, as though she were saying, "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west."
Seeing her like this, the corners of Sword God Gal Farion's mouth lifted slightly.
"Very good."
He gave a satisfied reply and leaned back in his chair. The pressure vanished without a trace.
"Let me see your sword."
"Gino, you be her opponent." The Sword God lazily raised a hand and pointed at his nephew in the crowd.
"Huh? Y-yes!" Suddenly called upon by the Sword God, who was both his uncle and his master, a short-haired boy in the crowd jolted and rose to his feet.
The boy's name was Gino Breeze. Cui Ciyou knew him: he was jokingly called the "Pure Love Sword God," while later history would refer to him as the "Weakest Sword God."
Gino Breeze glanced at Alice, a girl around his own age.
A red-haired girl who looked thoroughly savage.
And an irritating girl who had made his uncle laugh just by running her mouth!
Even the utterly unmotivated Gino felt a surge of competitiveness, stirring a little enthusiasm within him.
He was the youngest genius of the Sword God Style. He would give this woman who didn't know her place a shock and show her just what a Sword Saint of