Chapter 302: Three Magics (Patreon)

With a crisp snap, the blonde girl clicked her fingers.

A translucent white dome spread outward from beneath her feet and swallowed the entire back garden in the blink of an eye.

Alice didn't hesitate. She had charged the moment the barrier unfurled, and the sword she'd been cradling in both arms was already out of its scabbard.

The blade, a full two and a half feet long, gleamed with a cold light and trailed a sharp hum as she rushed forward.

A golden blur swept through the five-colored flower beds, kicking up layer upon layer of petals.

"Barrier magic?"

By the time Alice spoke, her blade had already reached the impostor. It was a plain, unadorned downward slash, wrapped in keen wind.

"Pretty fast, huh?"

Just as the strike was about to land, a smile curled the impostor's lips, and a green tornado of Mana unfurled around her whole body.

The powerful repulsion hammered against the slashing blade. Alice's sword shook violently in her hands. Not only could she not cut an inch deeper, the swelling tornado pushed her blade aside.

With a scraping skid, her delicate black maid boots sank into the mud and were stained brownish gray.

It was like facing a true natural disaster. Her golden hair whipped out around her, and Alice was shoved back helplessly, leaving two deep furrows in the ground.

She couldn't get close. The turbulent air had turned into razor-sharp blades, tearing at her puffy maid uniform from the edges inward. A tiny cut opened on her cheek, beading red and stinging faintly.

"Ngh..."

This impostor was no ordinary opponent.

She had no choice but to leap backward, escaping the tornado's reach for the moment.

Petals of every color whirled high overhead, like a rain of flowers.

Watching the tornado fade, Alice tucked her scabbard at her waist, gripped the sword in both hands, and drew a deep breath.

The clash hadn't stirred Aura inside the lord's manor. That meant the barrier the impostor had cast sealed off the outside world effectively and was highly concealed.

A barrier of isolation, and now this tornado on top of it. Judging by that vast pillar of Mana, almost too huge to gauge, Alice had never faced a mage this powerful.

She had felt Mana that strong only from her own lord, Aura, and from a very few others.

"That was really dangerous, you know. My head nearly rolled! So let me ask you: if you chopped off the head of someone who looked exactly like you, how would you feel?"

Beyond the teasing words, even the voice and intonation were identical.

Standing before her was a "wicked" version of herself, no matter how she looked at it.

"Don't use my face to say such obnoxious things. I'll cut you down."

Alice's voice was cold. She was certain now that the other's appearance was no simple disguise. Body shape could never match perfectly, and subtle differences in the voice would always remain. Apart from the soul within, there was no difference between the impostor and herself.

"Big talk."

Inside the tornado, the impostor waved a hand, and the raging storm died at once. When she raised it again, black Mana had formed a sword identical to the one in Alice's hands. She twirled it a couple of times and flashed a dazzling smile. "Actually, I know a little swordsmanship too."

Cute, but still an impostor.

Alice wasted no more words. The other wouldn't be kind enough to reveal her true identity in idle chatter mid-fight. She would have to subdue her first and deal with the rest afterward.

With that thought, Alice took the initiative, sword in hand.

To her surprise, the opponent surged forward at the very same moment, and even the way she held her sword was almost identical to Alice's.

How was that possible?

Steel rang against steel with a light chime.

Alice's azure eyes widened slightly. In the instant their blades met, she realized the other was using her swordsmanship.

Nimble, yet powerful. The same leaping footwork, two swords sweeping out along identical arcs at once, grazing, parting. Neither side gave ground.

Petals drifting through the air swayed in the currents from their strokes. A blade brushed a crimson petal, and the tender thing split in two in an instant.

Was this magic too?

Alice knew she would have to bring out her trump card.

She leapt lightly backward, and the impostor's slash met only air. "Oh?" Seemingly surprised by the change, she hesitated for a moment.

"That's my swordsmanship. Naturally, I know its weaknesses too."

As she spoke, Alice raised her sword and ran a finger lightly along the spine. Mana coiled around the blade, plating its already keen edge with a faint, almost invisible sharpness.

Her slash turned into a thrust.

The impostor nimbly sidestepped before she could swing her own sword.

The thrust turned into a horizontal cut, leaving her nowhere to dodge.

Just as Alice was about to land the blow,

the sword in the impostor's hand twisted and, in an instant, swelled a full size larger.

"Have you ever heard of the Hero's swordsmanship?"

The enlarged blade was exactly like the "Sword of the Hero" the Hero had once wielded.

The impostor flipped the blade with one hand, pressed her other hand against the flat, and shoved upward.

Alice's slash was blocked, and even the Mana-enhanced sharpness couldn't break through. The other's strength seemed to have grown enormously as well, and she forced Alice back.

Bang, bang, bang! A backhanded triple strike, with no gap at all.

Alice was forced to change tactics and defend. The immense force was like a dragon swinging its claws, and it drove her back several steps. Had she not reinforced her sword with Mana beforehand, it might have been knocked clean out of her grasp.

"!"

Alice had meant to keep taking the blows and look for an opening. Suddenly her heart began to pound out of control, and her instincts blared the alarm.

Danger.

Her black maid shoe, sunk in the mud, pivoted with the twist of her joints. Alice turned her body sideways, pushed off, and flashed more than a yard away.

At that moment, the "Sword of the Hero" came down. The instant its tip touched the ground, the earth fell apart, and a trench a full person wide opened before Alice's eyes.

The Hero Himmel's all-out swing could split a forest. That exaggerated feat was no empty boast.

"What annoyingly sharp instincts you have."

The impostor pulled out her sword and rested it on her shoulder, a smug smile she couldn't suppress spread across her lips.

She was enjoying a game of cat and mouse.

"I see. So you can use three different kinds of magic at once. The magic that gives you my face, the barrier that isolates this place, the tornado from before, and what you're using now, which is probably imitating martial skill. Why aren't you using that tornado anymore?"

The fake Alice paused briefly, but her smile didn't fade.

"Maybe I just think this is fun?"