Trial

"You have ten seconds to rest."

Sonia let out a long breath and raced against time to recall every detail of the battle just now. Though she believed she had not lost any memories through her repeated deaths, if she truly had forgotten something, she would have no way of realizing it. All she could do was avoid that worst-case scenario as much as possible.

She had lost count of how many times she had died, and she had not deliberately kept track. There was nothing extraneous in her mind now. Her mother, classmates, exams, and ambitions in the real world had all been swept into the most remote corners. All her thoughts were focused on the enemy before her, the one called the Doomsday Watcher. She racked her brains to break down every detail of his movements, using her body to memorize every cruel beating he gave her!

She discovered that the Doomsday Watcher possessed no supernatural abilities at all. He did not even have a physical advantage over her.

Compared to her, the Watcher was merely an enemy who knew how to use a sword—at most, one who was very good with a sword.

Sonia had once seen Swordsmen who had cultivated their Sword Art to the pinnacle. Even an ordinary swing of their swords could make onlookers feel a needle-pricking pressure at their backs; merely gripping a sword hilt was enough to make weaklings tremble and submit.

Compared to those true towering mountains, the Watcher was nothing more than an ordinary stepping stone.

Yes, just a stepping stone.

Though she had died once more, Sonia had managed to strike back against the Watcher in that desperate final blow.

But just as the sword he threw would return to his hand, the Watcher, whose chest had just been pierced, had already recovered completely, as if he had healed in an instant.

If there had been a recovery period, Sonia would surely have traded her life for his wounds, piling up damage until she killed him. Unfortunately, this Duel was fair and left her no such loophole.

A fair Duel. Sonia found it somewhat ironic.

Yet she also admitted that all of this was very fair.

The various unreasonable restrictions made her understand that she had only one choice: defeat the Doomsday Watcher in the Duel with absolute strength.

The ten seconds were up. At that moment, time seemed to become a tangible entity. The instant it ran out, Sonia's whole body tensed as she charged at the Watcher with her sword!

In the first second of every battle, the Watcher always maintained the Sheathed Sword Stance, then lunged forward and drew his sword in a spinning slash. The farther Sonia was from him, the fiercer the attack she suffered. He could even send the weapon from her hand flying!

This move was very similar to the legendary Iai Draw Slash, and the way to deal with it was simple: never dodge. She had to step forward and interrupt his spin!

Clang!

Sonia's arm was nearly numbed by the shock, but she ultimately halted the Watcher's spin and successfully dragged him into close-quarters combat, where fighting to the death was easiest!

After dying so many times, Sonia no longer cared if a few more holes appeared on her body. As long as she killed the Watcher before she died, it would be her Victory!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

After several successive, airtight exchanges, Sonia counted silently. When she reached five, her slash happened to cut through empty air.

The Watcher abruptly and bizarrely evaded in the complete opposite direction, then stepped forward with the motion and slashed at Sonia's head!

There was no warning. It was incredibly dangerous!

Sonia had once thought this was some supernatural ability. Only after gaining experience at the cost of several deaths did she discover that it was a combat footwork technique.

But even after seeing through it, Sonia had no solution—she simply could not tell which direction the Watcher would evade!

Because the Watcher often suddenly evaded only after seeing Sonia attack, then immediately cut back at her, Sonia named this move "Iai Slash Evasion."

Iai was easy to block; Iai Slash Evasion was hard to guard against.

So Sonia simply did not defend. She raised her arm and used the bone in it to jam the Watcher's blade, then stepped into his reach, trying to behead him with a single stroke!

Iai Slash Evasion's greatest weakness was its lack of power. It simply could not cut through her arm!

However, the instant the Watcher struck her arm, his legs abruptly slid across the sand. He evaded in another direction again, narrowly dodging Sonia's sword, then stepped forward and slashed at her neck!

Double Iai Slash Evasion!

"You have ten seconds to rest."

Sonia patted her face, gripped her sword hilt tightly, and looked at the Watcher. "Come on!"

The Watcher had no objection. He entered the Sheathed Sword Stance and launched an Iai Draw Slash—

There was no metallic clash of blades. The Watcher remained in the posture of his spinning slash, but he had struck nothing.

At the moment the Watcher was about to hit Sonia, her feet suddenly slid across the sand, and she evaded in another direction in an extremely bizarre posture!

At that moment, the Watcher was still stiff from his spinning slash, while Sonia could attack him with the momentum of her evasion!

Yet Sonia instead made the motion of sheathing her sword!

"After dying so many times, even if I were a pig, I should have learned your moves by now!"

With Sonia's sharp cry, she stepped forward, spun, lunged, drew her sword, and slashed!

Iai Slash Evasion · Iai · Draw Slash!

She used Iai as the follow-up to Iai Slash Evasion, making up for Iai Slash Evasion's lower attack power!

In truth, Sonia had long since learned the Iai Draw Slash, but she had held it back. Only after she was confident she had mastered Iai Slash Evasion did she unleash them together, determined to kill the Watcher with one sword strike!

Carried by the violent rotational momentum, Sonia felt almost no resistance. Her blade sliced smoothly through the Watcher's chest like a scorching knife through butter!

It was not that she did not want to slash the Watcher's neck, but she was not tall enough. Every extra inch she raised her arm during the spin was an immense burden, so she could only settle for his chest.

That was so easy? Sonia found it hard to believe. She hurriedly adjusted her balance from the lingering momentum of the spinning slash and watched the Watcher warily. "Does this count as me defeating you?"

"Yes," said the Watcher. "Congratulations."

"You successfully defeated me when I only had one sword."

One sword... While Sonia was still slightly stunned, the Watcher drove his toe into the sand, then hooked lightly upward and pulled a Longsword from beneath the sand.

"The first half is over. The second half begins." The Watcher raised his two swords in a cross stance. "Oh, and there will be no ten-second rest periods from now on."

"Sonia, there's an early class today. Aren't you going?"

Sonia sat up clutching her head and discovered that only Ingrid remained in the Dormitory. Ingrid was already fully dressed and preparing to leave.

"What time is it?"

"Seven thirty," Ingrid said. "There's a Public Elective this morning. I remember you usually get up an hour early to do skincare and put on makeup before Public Electives... The others have already left... You don't look too well."

"Is that so?" Sonia subconsciously touched her neck, then came to her senses and shook her head. "Maybe I had a nightmare..."

"A nightmare? You'll forget it soon enough." Ingrid spoke flatly. "Remember to come to class. Don't skip, or Dormitory Points will be deducted."

With that, Ingrid closed the door and left. Sonia was the only one remaining in the Dormitory.

On any other morning when she had overslept, Sonia would have hurriedly gotten out of bed to wash up and put on makeup. But today, she had no such mood and merely sat on the bed in a daze.

It was strange. It had clearly been a Dream Realm, yet it had felt so real. Stranger still, she showed no signs of forgetting anything. She remembered everything clearly, from her first death all the way to her ninety-ninth death.

She even vividly remembered every injury and every pain.

When the Doomsday Watcher entered Dual-Wielding Mode, the intensity of their battle increased severalfold in an instant—Sonia had almost no chance to catch her breath. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw the Watcher pouncing on her. Her arms grew so tired they nearly went numb, and by the end, she was almost relying on bodily instinct alone to endure the Watcher's gale-like onslaught.

Iai Slash Evasion, Iai, Iai Slash Evasion followed by Iai, Iai followed by Iai Slash Evasion, Triple Iai Slash Evasion, Triple Iai Draw Slash... Sonia had circled around the Watcher with just these two moves, nearly exhausting every possible variation and derivative.

When she defeated the Watcher, she barely felt anything special. She had simply kept using Iai Slash Evasion and Iai, dodging every one of the Watcher's attacks and attacking every opening he revealed, until the Watcher fell.

But after defeating the Watcher, Sonia felt no joy at all.

Because the Watcher had said something.

"This Trial is over, but your life has only just begun."

Though she could not see his face or hear his tone, Sonia was absolutely certain—this was definitely not a blessing.

"Doomsday Watcher..." Sonia slowly savored the name, as though grinding it between her teeth before swallowing it into her stomach to digest.

At the same time, in a luxurious suite on the Bottom Layer of Broken Lake Prison in Kaimeng City.

Ash sat up with a yawn. For some reason, he felt especially exhausted after this sleep, as though someone had beaten him up.

Opening the Light Screen and then opening Aurora's Sorcerer Manual, Ash saw a brand-new message:

"After the Trial, the Bond between you and the Death Maniac Sword Princess has deepened."

Ash scratched his head. "...Setting up a Trial can increase Bonds? Is there really such a good thing?"