233 Katana
“Who the hell are you really?” Vinigo asked Luke, startled by the amount of information he seemed to know.
Even though the half-wolf was the Champion of the Tournament of Legends, it was somewhat hard to believe that he knew about the Demons being real, something that people usually only thought were tales and ignored. Therefore, when Luke proved to know the truth about this and more, Vinigo was afraid that he couldn’t tell who this half-beast really was, nor where he had come from.
Upon hearing the questioning, Luke looked into the depth of the old man’s eyes and declared:
“I am the one who will kill the First Servant.”
Vinigo seemed even more surprised by that statement. Only a few people knew about the Servants in the Broteforge Empire, and those who did were either on the Cardinal Church side or the Smakusa Noble Family side.
At this point, the old Alchemy professor opened his mouth to say something to the half-wolf, but suddenly a loud bang hit the Library’s roof.
Luke looked back over his shoulder and saw a man with black hair, green eyes, and a red tunic, who had a Katana sheath on the left side of his waist. There were some scars from cuts on the left side of this man’s face, and at the corner of his lips a piece of wheat.
The half-wolf didn’t recognize him, so he moved his right hand and again covered Vinigo’s mouth with the bark.
“You are surrounded, Mr. Lange. Don’t you dare move one more muscle.” The man stated, while walking at a quick pace toward the half-wolf and drawing his sword.
This man’s clothes were simple, but Luke soon noted that this simplicity carried the same reason he usually wears simple clothes: to increase movement speed. Ligh and simple clothes give the wearer more freedom, while complex and heavy ones are practically a hindrance, although they generally compensate in defense.
“Don’t move another muscle, or you want to die.” Luke turned to the black-haired man and spoke.
The man realized that the half-wolf was serious and didn’t doubt that he really could kill him, so he stopped walking and removed his hand from the handle of the Katana, letting it slide fluidly into the sheath.
Luke was on high guard too, because when he discovered that Vinigo had slaves, he began to wonder if the older man might have friends at the Academy, in other words, more allies of the demons. Otherwise, he preferred not to fight because he was very tired from using his Gene Skills too much.
“What are you doing? Why were you two fighting?” asked the man.
“First, tell me who you are. Then, I will analyze whether I can trust you.”
“I am Kira, Fencing Professor. I would normally say that it is a pleasure to meet the famous ‘Half-Wolf’ finally, but the situation doesn’t allow me to do this.” The man replied, as he placed his right hand on his chest and bowed modestly. “Now, tell me why you were fighting.”
“I just did my duty. This man kidnapped a 1st-year student and took her to a secret floor in his office.” Luke was shrewd enough to not have to create a morose lie, but rather tell one of the truths of what occurred, because he didn’t trust Kira.
“Secret floor? Student? That doesn’t make sense. Vinigo is one of the most exemplary and respected Professors in the entire Empire. Besides, what you claim is impossible, I’ve known him for over three years, and I’m sure he’s not that kind of person.”
The half-wolf sighed, fatigued. “If you are suspecting me, go to his office, and you will find the evidence that what I am saying is the truth.”
Kira looked at that with good eyes.
“Sure, we can do that. Still, you will need to let Vinigo go until he is proven guilty. This Academy has its own laws, and everyone here is innocent until proven otherwise.” He stated.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to uphold that law.” Luke stated.
“Then you are giving me no choice… Now!” Kira roared, raising his left arm upwards as a nod.
At that moment, sixteen guards surrounding the Library raised their spears in the air. The points of these spears opened, and yellow crystals were revealed on each of them.
Then, in a single tone, all sixteen guards exclaimed:
“<Pacifier of Paths>!”
At that moment, dozens of spheres of light appeared over the sky of that building and began to fall on the roof of the Library, like a shower of stars.
Normally, Luke would leave the place that was being targeted by the ability, but he couldn’t do that, because Kira charged at him, at the same time drawing his sword.
This was the worst-case scenario for Luke. He was surrounded, tired, fighting someone obviously strong, and had his hands tied because he couldn’t use other Genes’ Abilities, as he still had to keep the <Yggdrasil> active to contain Vinigo. Not to mention that he was without the Behemoth Axe and also without Bastet.
Still, Luke wasn’t the kind of man who would give up in front of the finish line. What was a challenge to someone who had been challenged his whole life? Nothing.
At that moment, Luke took a deep breath and remained focused on keeping the Epic Skill active.
Afterward, he looked at Kira and started to run against him as well. When the two were about to collide, a sphere of light hit the part of the roof in front of them, which created a sparkling smoke. The man with the Katana cut through that smoke with a dash without a second thought, but he didn’t see Luke anymore when he went through it.
‘Huh!? Where did he go!?’ He wondered, after all, the half-wolf had been there for exactly one second.
Then, Kira felt the atmosphere grow heavier, and a shadow hovered over his face. He instantly looked up and saw the golden eyes of the half-wolf, which had a clear expression of anger combined with effort.
Kira’s right arm, which was holding his Katana, braked at that moment like he wasn’t fast enough to counterattack.
‘All right, so you don’t give me a choice… I wanted to surrender you without having to hurt you too much.’ Kira thought and then focused on one of the sensations that were wedged deep in his heart, a feeling that was flaming and, at the same time, agonizing.
When the Fencing Professor managed to channel the sensation he was aiming for, he shouted:
“<Hanafuda>!”