The Branded Female Fencer

"Alberto's here in the first place, that's crazy. There are other strange things about it. You mean first the Impulse, the Devil's Sword, was easily pierced? You mean Larna was hit without using a single piece of witchcraft? And Ultina's trump cards don't attack like that. I can think of them all together..."

"What the fuck?

"This is a dream!

Brandio answers as he kicks Alberto. That look stands guarded, but it still makes me feel spared.

Rafferty, against whom, was finally willing to analyse the situation.

"A dream, you say?

"Seya. That's your dream, too. This situation is also satisfactory when I think about it. Impulse was hit, but the Devil's Sword can't die like that. When the Devil's Sword truly dies, it is divided into parts of the Sword and Spirit before it dies. Lana's magic is detailed, and Ultina's abilities are your own imagination. Wye could have been attacked by Alberto because you couldn't measure the abilities of a human named Wye."

"Stupid, then I don't fit the story. As this is my dream, I speak to rap in my dream What are you? And how long have I been dreaming?

"I don't know that. Just answer the previous question. I don't know, I just told you, didn't I? The ability of Wye..."

"Memory manipulation, or"

Rafferty was remembering an earlier secret story with Brandio. Brandio's ability to sneak up on Rafferty was Brandio's ability to remember. Brandio is free to read their memories.

"Yeah. Not exactly, but it's a lot of explaining, so yeah. Now let me interrupt a part of you and interrupt your dreams. I knew my enemies' abilities were dreams and things, so I kept taking precautions. I use a lot of power, but I'm glad I did."

"You mean you can manipulate my memory?

"Such a convenient thing or ahem. How hard is it to manipulate your memory? If I wanted to manipulate the consciousness of each person, I wondered if I could do something with Wye's full energy.

More than that, Wye stole the memory of the surviving boy before he got in here. Don't you know the truth about why the boy was brought to life?

"I want to know. But if you knew, why didn't you tell me sooner?

"I didn't want you to understand Wye's abilities. Besides, I wanted to keep my hand to myself. But don't say that anymore. This dream is troublesome. I'm not waking up to anything from now on. Perhaps each one will take his own dream, but what happened in the dream can be reflected in reality. In other words."

"When you die in a dream, does that mean that the flesh dies, too?

"It is possible. I'm sure you've heard of such cases. The magic of dreaming is almost forbidden even in the Magic Church. The relationship between spirit and body is closer than I thought."

"I see. There's one more thing I don't know. Why is the enemy Alberto?

Rafferty talks as he slashes Alberto. And as familiar as it has been for a long time, Brandio shows a brilliant collaboration with Rafferty and magically pushes Alberto back.

"I can't imagine. If this is the kind of nightmare, will there be enemies who don't want to fight the least?

"I mean, you think the worst enemy for me is Alberto?

"And don't be a little beautified by imagination. I've never heard of a Knights Temple leader so strong."

"No, even this..."

"Even this, what?"

Rafferty didn't dare say anything beyond that. But Rafferty thinks Alberto really shouldn't be like this. Rafferty wonders if Alberto is human enough to wield his sword in the first place. Alberto in front of us now is the full force of Alberto that Rafferty used to see. When I defeated Moldard, my father, in the match before you. That's when Alberto was only 13. Ten years after that. How much is Alberto doing now?

Alberto never uttered a word, but Rafferty admitted that he should not have even been his sword counterpart for a long time. Something tells me Alberto is different than a normal person. Even compared to the people of the Lazar family in history.

In other words, Alberto should not have been able to fight with all his might. Even in the previous game with his father, Moldard, he should have never given all his strength in the true sense. Moldard also snapped after losing another match in front of you. He said he was out of his hands. That's what everyone thought Alberto's full power meant when it meant his opponent's complete death.

But right in front of you, there is no forgiveness for the virtual Alberto. There is no tenderness or reluctance that Alberto should have with him. At the same time, Rafferty should have only the power to know. Or, Rafferty imagined, only the strength of Alberto. Rafferty thinks that losing here will only be a foothold in the battle ahead. The corpse of his companions piled around him is a manifestation of Rafferty's own anxiety.

"I'll do it"

"Yeah? Oh, and don't let anyone take you down. The ideal and the worst of you."

"Still have to do it. I can't even beat my own fears, knights for what"

"A knight is really hard to accommodate. But there are times when that kind of thing is so strong... yeah, totally. I'll give you a hand if you have to."

"Let's just get you cared for"

Rafferty lays down his sword. It has been a long time for him to confront Alberto. At an early age, we had encouraged training together, but since we became Temple Knights to each other, that opportunity has also disappeared. We didn't get along badly. Simply because it was easy to imagine that we would no longer be able to work together if we did.

"Brother. I've never won a lot since I was a kid, but I'm only going to let you win today. You can't even beat your brother by the time I know you won't be able to beat anyone else."

Alberto does not answer. Rafferty confronted Alberto, thinking that he looked just like his brother in his own memory when he set up his sword without changing his complexion. At that time, I think. When did Alberto laugh? Not that I don't have Alberto's smile in my memory, but I can't remember when the hell I was laughing.

"It's been a long time since I've faced my brother properly. I think I'll ask you out for a drink when I get home."

Rafferty and Alberto kicked the floor at the same time, throwing themselves into a death fight that would never be seen in real life.

Continued