Chapter 272: Seasoned Combat
Last time, Silva fought using a wooden sword, but now he’s wielding dual blades.
It’s exciting to see how he’ll fight, and equally interesting to watch how Isabella responds to Silva’s new style.
As the match began, the two sized each other up. The first to move was Isabella.
Her movement, however, was just a cautious magic attack to test the waters. Silva blocked it with one hand, patiently observing for an opening.
If Isabella wanted to inflict real damage with magic, she’d need to use high-level spells. But high-level spells have long casting times, and even at a distance, Silva could close the gap before the spell completed.
Isabella clearly understood this, which is why she relied on beginner-level magic for harassment.
At first, the match seemed deadlocked, but Isabella moved again, advancing while continuously casting beginner spells to gradually close the distance.
Silva, on the other hand, stayed at the starting point, carefully studying Isabella.
HIS gaze was unnervingly calm, which must have unnerved Isabella even further. Perhaps for that reason, Isabella, expecting to control the pace and land her attack, paused as she reached a certain distance.
At that precise moment, Silva struck.
From stillness to sudden motion, he lowered his upper body almost to the ground, using height differences for a surprise attack.
He launched a flurry of strikes like a dancing attack, and Isabella, unable to withstand the sudden onslaught, took a clean hit to her arm.
Trying to recover, Isabella began casting intermediate magic while countering with her sword—but Silva stood firm, taking both the spell and the strike, and flowed into a second clean hit.
In an instant, Isabella was cornered with no time to regain composure. As she threw herself into an attack, Silva countered in a flash.
What had seemed like a slow, cautious match turned into a lightning-fast conclusion.
“Stop! 3-0, the winner is Silva!”
“…Incredible. Who is he?”
“Hoho, just an old, washed-up swordsman. Your skill was impressive too. If we get the chance, let’s spar again.”
Silva returned, shaking hands, and I greeted him with applause.
“Silva, your strength is as impressive as ever. Amazing.”
“I’m glad you think so. The participants in this tournament are all tough, so it’s fun.”
“I’m looking forward to the third round as well.”
Silva’s attacks are all high-quality and versatile. There’s no doubt he’s one of the top champion candidates.
With that, the Best 12 has been decided.
From here, they’ll redraw into four blocks of three competitors each.
- Only the first-place winner in each block advances.
- A competitor needs two victories to advance.
- If wins are tied, the number of valid hits determines the ranking; if still tied, the number of received hits is compared.
- If that’s still tied, the result of their direct match decides.
Draws are rare, so ties will mostly be 1-1 records. Ideally, matches would continue until a clear result, but that’s not feasible.
The block assignments are:
- A Block: Sheila, Thread, Marjis
- B Block: Shannon, Leonore, Mika
- C Block: Ren, Rose, Silva
- D Block: Frees, Lime, Ashros
No block is overwhelmingly “deadly”—the distribution is well balanced. Every block is extremely high-level, making outcomes unpredictable.
The first matches in each block began simultaneously.
- A Block: Sheila vs Thread
The match was evenly matched, but Sheila broke the balance with a sharp upward slash, securing a clean hit and winning. - B Block: Shannon vs Mika
Shannon tried to control the match with magic, but Mika ignored the spells and charged in. She landed consecutive clean hits and won 3-0. - C Block: Ren vs Silva
A battle between two top contenders. Both attacked aggressively, but no clean hits were scored.
Near the end, Ren’s diagonal slash hit Silva, but Silva countered with a thrust. The match ended in a draw—the first in the tournament.
Now, how much Rose can dominate her match will be key. - D Block: Lime vs Frees
Despite cheering for Frees, Lime, seemingly unconcerned, launched attacks early.
He used splitting and invisibility, followed by rapid strikes. Frees resisted well, but the damage from Brittany’s earlier hit slowed his response on the right, and Lime was overwhelmed, losing 3-0.
Even without injuries, the result likely wouldn’t have changed, but Frees might want a rematch for satisfaction.