Sayangnya, bilahku tidak sampai ke Armel. Armel mencondongkan badannya ke belakang untuk menghindari bilahku. Dia mundur begitu terburu-buru sampai kehilangan keseimbangan. Dia setengah jatuh, berguling ke samping. Setelah berdiri kembali, Armel menatapku dengan mata terbelalak. "Kau... kau bukan Frondier, kan?" Dia tampak lebih kaget karena kekuatannya tidak mempan padaku daripada karena bilah yang hampir mengenainya. Aku berdiri diam, tapi keringat dingin tetap mengucur di pelipisku. 'Itu tadi berbahaya.' Seperti kata Armel, aku memang salah mengira. Kupikir selama aku menjaga jarak, kekuatan ilahi Lethe tidak akan menjangkaiku. Dan seperti yang Armel katakan, aku setengah percaya bahwa meski kekuatan ilahi itu sampai padaku, dia tidak akan berefek padaku. Dua jenis pertahanan itu sudah tertanam di kepalaku. 'Aku sempat kehilangan kesadaran sesaat.' Fakta bahwa kekuatan ilahi Lethe 'sedikit banyak' berhasil memengaruhiku membuat bulu kudukku merinding. Apa mungkin selama ini aku mulai menganggap diriku sebagai Frondier? Aku tersenyum seolah semua terjadi seperti yang sudah kuduga. Entah itu berhasil atau tidak. "Ya, benar! Dari tadi aku curiga! Si 'pemalas' itu tidak mungkin tumbuh sehebat ini! Aku dengar dia itu bodoh, malas, dan tidak kompeten, tidak pernah mau berusaha!" Aku tertawa dan melangkah maju sambil memegang pedang pendekku. "Tuan Armel, siapa yang mau percaya hal seperti itu?" Armel mengeraskan wajahnya lalu menyelipkan tangannya ke dadanya. Yang keluar dari dadanya adalah beberapa bilah belati. Atau karena tidak ada gagangnya, apa itu sebaiknya disebut bilah saja? Aku ingat bilah-bilah itu. 'Bilah-bilah itu persis seperti yang ditembakkan dari kipas Senior Quinie.' Quinie menyimpannya di dalam kipasnya, tapi apakah ayahnya bertarung dengan membawa bilah itu di tangan? Meski tanpa gagang, bagian yang digenggam lebih ramping dari bilahnya, dirancang supaya mudah dipegang tanpa melukai tangan. "Tidak masalah kalau kekuatan ilahi tidak mempan padamu. Membunuhmu di sini saja sudah cukup." Lalu, Armel menggerakkan lehernya. Tapi itu bukan sekadar melonggarkan otot. Setiap kali terdengar bunyi retakan, tubuhnya terlihat membesar mulai dari leher, bahu, lengan, pinggang, kaki, sampai mata kaki. Tubuhnya mengembang seiring bunyi tulang yang berderak. Bukan memperpanjang kerangka, bukan. "Jadi selama ini kamu menekan kerangkamu. Ini ukuran tubuh aslimu?" "Ya. Lebih mudah menyamar dengan postur yang lebih kecil. Tidak ada cara yang lebih baik untuk berbohong soal umur." Itu bukan sihir, melainkan teknik uniknya. Atau mungkin teknik yang dipelajari dari Indus. Setelah sepenuhnya mengendur, Armel sudah lebih tinggi dariku. Setidaknya soal postur, dia mirip Enfer. Bilah-bilah yang dipegang Armel menyatu menjadi satu dengan satu gerakan tangannya. Senjata yang menarik, sungguh. Armel mengayunkan tangan kanannya, melempar bilah ke arahku. Tidak terlalu cepat, jadi aku menangkisnya dengan belatiku. Selang waktu itu, Armel sudah mendekat, dan di tangan kanannya yang barusan melempar bilah, masih ada bilah lain. "Jadi dia bisa dengan bebas menggabungkan bilah atau menembakkannya satu per satu." Seperti melempar kartu remi yang dipegang di tangan. Dia melakukan lemparan dan pedang sekaligus. Armel dan aku mengadu bilah beberapa kali. Sungguh seorang maestro. Aura sudah berputar di sekitar bilah Armel, begitu juga di sekitar bilahku. "Kau! Kau ini sebenarnya apa? Sudah berapa lama kau berpura-pura jadi Frondier!" "Diam! Aku Frondier!" Aku tidak mengatakan hal yang salah. Aku Frondier. Seluruh dunia akan mengakuinya. Namun, memang benar juga bahwa aku sudah berpura-pura menjadi Frondier. Dua pernyataan yang tampak saling bertentangan itu bisa hidup berdampingan. Dengan kedua pedang di tanganku, aku menangkis serangan tusukan Armel dalam satu gerakan. Menilai itu berbahaya, Armel dengan cepat mundur. Karena pernah menangani pedang ganda, aku tahu bahwa menggunakan keduanya dengan kikuk bisa lebih berbahaya daripada memegang satu pedang. Tangan kiri bisa mengganggu tangan kanan. "Kau memang lebih lemah dari Senior Quinie." Armel tidak berbakat dalam pertarungan. Gagasan melempar dan mengayunkan bilah secara bersamaan memang inovatif, tapi dia gagal menerapkannya seefektif yang seharusnya. Yang paling penting, aku paham betul karena aku lemah. Menggunakan cara tidak lazim seperti itu menandakan kelemahan. Sama seperti aku yang selama ini mengumpulkan segala cara untuk melawan orang lain. "Kau tidak akan mati dengan tenang." Dari sudut pandangnya, wajar jika dia marah. 'Jadi, apa yang harus kulakukan?' Aku bisa membunuhnya sejak dulu kalau mau. Tidak perlu bertemu. Masih diragukan apakah Armel bisa memblokir kembang api. Tapi ini Constel. Lagipula, kesalahan Armel belum terbukti. Meski pun dia bersalah, membunuhnya dengan tanganku sendiri akan meninggalkan rasa pahit. Setidaknya kalau aku bisa mengikat kakinya untuk mencegah tindakan yang tidak perlu, mungkin itu sudah cukup. Seperti Armel yang bertarung dengan cara unik. Mungkin aku harus mengeluarkan teknik unik milikku sendiri. Armel menyerbu lagi. Bilah kami beradu dan mengeluarkan bunyi logam yang nyaring. Sebenarnya, selisih kemampuan pedang antara Armel dan aku tidak terlalu besar. Bahkan, Armel bisa lebih kuat dariku dalam hal tenaga, karena fisiknya yang lebih besar. Namun, aku sudah sering menghadapi lawan yang jauh lebih kuat dari Armel. Bukan cuma musuh, tapi aku sudah berguling-guling di tanah tak terhitung kali saat latihan dengan Azier. Dan yang paling penting, ilmu pedang Armel sudah berkarat.
Bonus
Unfortunately, my blade did not reach Armel. Armel leaned back to dodge the blade. He leaned back so hastily that he lost his balance. He half-fell, rolling to the side. Armel, having gotten back up, looked at me with wide eyes. "You, you're not a Frondier, are you?" He seemed more shocked by the fact that his powers did not work on me than by the blade that almost hit him. I stood silently, but I was sweating cold sweat just the same. 'That was dangerous.' As Armel said, I was under a misconception. I thought that if I just kept my distance, Lethe's divine power wouldn't reach me. And as Armel had said, I half-believed that even if the divine power did reach me, it wouldn't affect me. Both types of defenses were already in my mind. 'I lost consciousness for a moment.' The fact that Lethe's divine power 'somewhat' worked on me sends shivers down my spine. Had I, at some point, started to identify myself with Frondier? I smiled as if everything was as I had anticipated. I'm not sure if it's working well. "Yeah, right! I thought it was strange! That 'human sloth' couldn't possibly have grown this much! I heard he was a talentless, lazy incompetent who never puts in any effort!" I laughed and took a step forward, holding my short sword. "Mr. Armel, who would believe such a thing?" Armel stiffened his expression and put his hand into his chest. What came out of his chest were a couple of daggers. Or, since they had no handles, should they just be called blades? I remembered those blades. 'They look just like the blades that shoot out of Senior Quinie's fan.' Quinie sheathed them in her fan, but does her father fight with them in his hands? Even without a handle, the part you grip is narrower than the blade, processed so it can be easily held without injury. "It doesn't matter if divine power doesn't work on you. Killing you here is enough." And then, Armel cracked his neck. But it wasn't just loosening his muscles. Every time a cracking sound was made, his body visibly grew larger from his neck down to his shoulders, arms, waist, legs, and ankles. His body expanded as much as the bones made noise. Not lengthening the skeleton, no. "So, you've been compressing your skeleton until now. Is this your original body size?" "Yes. It's easier to disguise myself with a smaller stature. Nothing beats it for lying about my age." It wasn't magic, but his unique technique. Or perhaps a technique learned from Indus. Having fully loosened up, Armel was already taller than me. At least in stature, he resembled Enfer. The blades Armel held combined into one with a single gesture of his hand. Interesting weapon, indeed. Armel swung his right hand, throwing a blade at me. It wasn't very fast, so I deflected it with my dagger. In that time, Armel had closed in on me, and in his right hand, which surely just threw a blade, still held another blade. "So, he can freely combine the blades or shoot them separately." It's like shooting playing cards held in hand. He's doing both throwing and sword fighting at the same time. Armel and I clashed our blades several times. Truly a master. Aura was already swirling around Armel's blade, as it was around mine too. "You! What are you really? How long have you been pretending to be a Frondier!" "Shut up! I am Frondier!" I hadn't said anything wrong. I am Frondier. The whole world would say so. Yet, it was also true that I had been pretending to be a Frondier. Two statements that seemed mutually exclusive somehow coexisted. With both swords in my hands, I parried Armel's thrusting attack in one motion. Judging it dangerous, Armel quickly retreated. Having handled dual swords to some extent, I know that using them clumsily can be more dangerous than wielding a single sword. The left can interfere with the right. "You're indeed weaker than Senior Quinie." Armel lacked talent in combat. The idea of throwing and swinging a blade simultaneously was innovative, but he failed to apply it as effectively as the idea deserved. Above all, I understand well because I am weaker. Using unconventional methods like that indicates weakness. Just as I have scraped together every means to oppose others until now. "You won't die a peaceful death." From his perspective, it was natural to be angry. 'So, what should I do?' I could have killed him long ago if I wanted to. There was no need to meet . It's questionable whether Armel could even block fireworks. But this is Constel. Moreover, Armel's guilt has not yet been proven. Even if he were guilty, killing him with my own hands would leave a bitter taste. At least if I could bind his legs to prevent any unnecessary actions, that might suffice. Just as Armel fights in a unique way. Maybe I should draw on a unique technique of my own. Armel charged at me again. Our clashing blades emitted a loud metallic sound. In truth, the difference in swordsmanship between Armel and me isn’t that great. Rather, Armel would be stronger than me in terms of strength, due to his larger physique. However, I’ve faced opponents much stronger than Armel quite often. Not just enemies, but I’ve rolled around on the ground countless times while training with Azier. And most importantly, Armel’s swordsmanship is rusty. It was obvious that he hadn’t been in combat for a long time. Armel’s blades flew towards me from the left and right. I waited for this moment: the moment when Armel would simultaneously attack with both hands. I thrust my sword out. At the point where Armel’s blades intersected, around there. As I thought, Armel has never experienced this technique. He must have received reports of it, though. My short sword and Armel’s two blades met without a sound. A dry sound like burning firewood rang out the next moment, and the weapons Armel was holding flew through the air. The overlapping blades scattered in the air.
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