The Villain's Retirement-Chapter 22: Fight the Sword Hero (3)

Seeing him tank the hit, the Hero’s eyes widened slightly before grinning widely.

"...How disappointing." The Hero said, totally provoking him.

They clashed again. And again. The three clashes ended with the same results.

The Hero was just too strong. Even without his holy sword, Ard felt like he was going against a real beast in human form.

’Unbelievable... I am a demon and should have had physical advantage over humans...’ Ard murmured to himself.

He couldn’t believe that the Hero was actually really only using his physical power right now. No magic. Yet it feels like he was going against a real adult bear!

’He truly is a genius!’

But then, Sileuss started sighing and spoke again.

"That’s enough for the warm-up." He crossed his arms, "Use your attributes now. Otherwise, neither of you is going anywhere."

"Don’t hate me." The Hero then grinned.

His sword flared and a violent surge of mana rippled as light suddenly exploded outward like an extension from his blade as he dashed and swung his sword at Ard.

And while Ard could have dodged it under ordinary circumstances. A beam grazed Ard’s cheek, grazing a part of his face around his cheeks.

Almost immediately, Ard gritted his teeth as he parried and brought a respectable slash of himself, but it didn’t have the same effect.

When the hero has backed away, blood then dripped from his injury streamed onto his chin and fell onto the stone.

Touching his face and seeing the blood on his finger, Ard was speechless. It was his first time going against a Light Attribute. It would have been terrible if he hadn’t reacted instantly. After all, it was like being attacked by a sunray empowered by a mirror.

"Your shadow attribute, just use it," the Hero then grinned.

Ard was expressionless.

He still felt the blood dripping from his chin and the sting as it kept dripping onto the floor.

Then, without warning, Ard disappeared, and in the next breath, reappeared behind the Hero.

For a heartbeat, time itself seemed to freeze as the Hero lay sprawled on the ground in disbelief.

Ard blinked, surprised even at himself. Was it because neither of them was using Physical Reinforcement Magic? Still, to think he could slip in an attack so cleanly on a ferocious monster like this—a man whose mere presence, saturated with mana, sent demons fleeing on sight.

As Ard’s thoughts raced, the Sword Hero twisted and sprang back up.

"You piece of shit!"

He struck—an ordinary swing.

Or so Ard believed.

The air suddenly rippled.

Shing! Shing! Shing!

In the next instant, Ard evaded and blocked multiple slashes made out of light displaying his footwork and skill with the sword.

It was all thanks to the Shadows created by the branches of the tree when although he should have been at an advantage as they were fighting under the sun.

Seeing him unsuccessful, the Sword Hero whipped his sword then took a step, and then his boots heavily sounded against the stone pavement.

"Ahhh!!!"

The Sword Hero skidded across the ground, boots scraping as he twisted himself upright, veins bulging at his temples. His teeth were clenched so hard they almost ground together.

"The hell was that supposed to be!?" he snarled, whipping his head around, eyes blazing. "You think you can just vanish behind me and kick me like some damn joke!?"

He spat to the side, wiping blood from his lip with the back of his hand, fury boiling over.

"Don’t get cocky just because you landed one cheap shot!"

Light flared violently around his blade as he pointed it straight at Ard, arm trembling—not from fear, but rage.

"I don’t care what you are," he barked. "Hero, demon, monster—if you’re standing in front of me, I’ll cut you down!"

He lunged again, slashes screaming through the air.

"Stop dodging and fight me head-on!" he roared as their swords clashed but the next breath, Ard disappeared and reappeared behind him like smoke, and then when the hero thought he had caught him off guard, he only hit air.

"Or what—are you scared you can’t win unless you hide in the shadows!?" The Hero was pissed.

His shout echoed through the clearing, raw and explosive, like a challenge hurled at the world itself.

’What the hell is wrong with him?’ Ard said, his face twisting in disbelief and curiosity.

He hadn’t even hurt him at all nor was there any blood dripping, and he had injured his face. Yet, the Hero was acting like he had taken the whole world and all his dreams from him. He was acting like a child.

The more they do this, the more the Hero started to resemble a child.

Ard then while standing and ready to use his shadows to go from one place to another again, and striking from a blind spot could not help. While he was shocked at first, he was able to do a sneak attack on the hero, this was his usual fighting style.

He was usually always lurking in the battlefield hardly ever going on a one-on-one fight or a frontal battle. Very rarely does he engage in frontal battles. He probably only does so when he is pushed against the wall or when he has to or when he is clearly stronger than his opponent.

Ard’s shadow stretched unnaturally along the stone, pooling beneath the Hero’s feet.

The Sword Hero’s eyes snapped down.

"Tch—there!"

He swung without hesitation, blade blazing as it cleaved through the shadow. Light tore across the ground, scattering darkness like smoke.

But the resistance he expected never came.

"Huh—?"

In that same instant, a presence bloomed behind him.

Ard emerged silently from another shadow, arm already moving for a decisive strike aimed at the Hero’s spine.

Got him.

Or so Ard thought.

The Hero’s lips curled.

"Too slow."

He twisted midair, abandoning balance entirely, letting momentum carry him as his body spun unnaturally fast. The blade reversed grip in a blur of light—

—and slammed into Ard’s side.

"Gah—!"

The impact sent Ard flying. His body crashed against the stone and rolled violently across the ground before finally stopping near the tree roots, breath knocked clean out of him.

The Hero landed hard but steady, boots digging into the earth as he straightened, chest heaving.

"There you are," he growled, eyes burning with feral excitement. "You think tricks like that are enough to fool me twice?"

Light crackled faintly around his sword as he pointed it once more at Ard.

’I take it back. This man adapts too fast.’ Ard let out a slow, exhausted breath. The pressure of facing him was crushing, each exchange draining more than just strength.

His gaze drifted onto the dead tree, its twisted branches standing silent and unchanged yet he had been covered in injuries.

When Ard looked back, the Sword Hero was gasping for breath as well, shoulders rising and falling heavily. They had been fighting for several minutes now—long enough for most battles to have already ended. Yet the difference between them was painfully clear.

Ard was bleeding.

The Sword Hero wasn’t injured at all.

’Can I do this?’ Ard thought.