After August had yelled, I made the first move and casted ‘Wind Friend’ and dashed towards the path of the shower room.

With a quick reaction, she uses [Overdrive] and enhanced her speed, intercepting me. Even though I was fast, she was faster.

With a flick, the spear that she wielded on her left hand was coming straight to my body horizontally.

As I had spent quite some time sparring with her, I had gained a lot insight on her way of fighting. Dodging this would be easy.

The trick was not dodging it to the side as she would thrust the spear during mid-swing nor to quickly duck as the speed was too swift but to jump above it, so I somersaulted.

My pre-summoned state wouldn’t be to do as such but after some rigorous training and the aid of ‘Wind Friend’, a simple somersault was one of the physical movements that I can at least perform although moderately as constant use would excite my anaemia.

After I landed, I quickly pull myself back as the spear on her right hand thrust at where my face was just a second ago. Dodging that, without even seeing my back, I knew the first spear would swing back towards me so I quickly duck and rolled forward, free from her engagement.

I quickly ran. Thankfully her two second bonus ended and she ran after me. Even without Eomancy enhancement, she was fast enough to run at the same pace as me, too inhuman.

Oh, I almost forget. I jumped slightly to the right as I ran. A spear sailed right at where I was. One of the advantages of fighting in dual spears was that one of them could improvise as a javelin.

Thankfully, after ten seconds of running, I got to the first stage of my traps.

I turned back and saw her, like a graceful lion read to pounce on her prey, readied both of her spears to strike at me.

I activated [Synikorvus] and the Kashra papers that I had applied on the two trees on both sides of this path that we crossed had the circles applied on them, lit.

One was a light red burst spell and the other one was deep white arcing spell. The former targeted at the widest part of her body while the white lightning arced toward a certain trajectory.

She was sprayed by the first which caused her to momentarily sap of her strength and she stumbled slightly. The second one hit her by the side, shocking her.

I really appreciate the existence of Kashra papers. In terms of appearance, Kashra papers are like sand paper on which the sand are finely crushed refined Eo stones. In fact, the Fhagec Stone Key or the Elite Guards Shield during our summoning was partially made by them. All of them were made by Eomancy Enchantment.

Looking back at her, she got up and recovered. Most of the spells I set up were non-lethal, just enough to wound her to a certain extent.

Not waiting to stare, I further ran to the second stage. By now, she would probably be in a cautious mode as she trod along this path.

In ten seconds or so, I reached the second stage and I turned behind. This path had already deviated from the path to the shower place and had no visible pavement.

She was at a walking pace while looking around her surroundings. Good, as expected, I got her into that state and judging by how many seconds had passed, at any given time…

She locked eyes with me and I knew that-

~Whoosh~

I quickly activated the Kashra paper at the ground just in front of me that contained Deep Grey Eomancy spell.

After being activated, a rough stone-like pillar roughly my size appeared in front of me. It came in a nick of time as I saw her threw the spear earlier when she used [Overdrive] of speed to charge at me.

First there was a loud ‘thud’ and after that, the stone pillar tilted towards me as something akin to a car collision had made it to tilt. I jumped back a little and took out three kashra papers and threw them in the air in front of me.

Activated by [Synikorvus], the each paper emitted circle of Green Eomancy.

The probability of her coming from the right or left is high but she could also vault over this pillar by-

Oh, she came from above.

On her left hand was a spear aiming at me while she let go on her right hand of the probably broken spear that she definitely use as a pole to vault over.

From the three circles, three orbs of verdant colour shot out at Katarinova.

Seeing them, her right hand landed on the top of the stone pillar and tried to dodge them in mid-air.

She managed to dodge two but one of them hit at her stomach.

She fell over with a thud. The stone pillar had dissipated after eight seconds.

I turned and ran to the third, final stage which was a tiny clearing surrounded by underbrush’s and trees.

After fifteen or so second of running, I turned and look behind. She was nowhere in sight. She’s probably being more cautious considering how she had fell for the second trap. Since I reached the last stage, I went and hid at a nearby tree and activated a Deep Purple Eomancy spell which invoked an image of me standing on the Kashra Paper as a 3D hologram.

Afterward I casted a Deep Orange Spell that manipulated the locational source of my voice to the 3D hologram.

With [Synikorvus], I can keep two persisting spells at the same time which normal Eomancers wouldn’t be able to do.

After, five seconds, she appeared with only one spear at her right hand. She looks around suspiciously at my hologram surrounding as she proceeds at a cautious pace as she approached me.

“This is my last stand, if I can’t beat you here, then I admit defeat.”

I chortled with a resigned tone.

“You blemished my skin with that lightning shock, this payback time.”

She steadily approached and suddenly dashed straight with a spear lunged at my hologram.

The spear passed through the hologram. For a second, her face was horrified as though she thought she had accidentally pierced me but in an instant it changed back into expressionless as she realized she was tricked.

I came out from hiding and with [Synikorvus] I activated all the ten hidden kashra papers that surrounded her spot. Four of them were hid up on the branch and six of them were at the base of the nearby trees. Five various coloured circles lit up and coloureds projectile all flew towards where she stands at the same time.

In that moment, it was almost as time was frozen.

It must have been [Overdrive] of reaction.

In blink of an eye, she twisted her body, avoiding two of the projectile cannonballs of Green from the branches on her left side and then twisted again avoiding the projectiles of light red and light blue coming also from above from the right side.

For the other six, with a subtle coordination in moving her body part, she managed to avoid five of them. The one that hit her was an Eomancy Green of physical force that hit at the part near her waist.

All of this happened in two seconds.

She was pushed back but still managed to stand her ground and recovered in an instant.

She then sped towards me, with her spear aloft.

“I admit defeat.”

I quickly rose up my hands and lowered my face in defeat.

The spear stopped short just as it was about to reach me.

Both of us stood there with heavy breathing. That was intense and she’s a juggernaut of a monster. Most of the spells had only fazed her a bit.

Losing was the only option at this point but I not really ashamed of losing to her, as she was one of the best fighters of the Tenth Summon.

Her usual battle expression eases up into a carefree smile.

When I thought about how she had stayed close to me for the past days, I think part of it was that she had an earnest desire to guard me but I discovered that there was a motive behind it. I only knew about that because three days ago, to my consternation, Vassil had invited me to have a drinking bout at the village since we got exempted from night-watch ever since we’d implemented off day after the battle. After getting him drunk enough with a little bit of Quilens spent, he told me that Katarinova had initiated a pairing tradition called Yarbuchkov with me in which a woman would stay close with a man for the most of the day for three days. By the end of the third day, if the man and the woman found themselves wanting one another, they would be engaged. Even though three days had passed, she still sticks close to me every day.

I’m actually a bit happy since I feel like I had the popularity of the Ubermensch since he always gets letters of proposal for the last three months but I’m a little bit conflicted about this though.

Her eyes went soft and she suddenly dropped her spear to the ground.

She walked towards me and when there was about a few dozen centimetres between me and her, she let out a radiating smile; she looked at me straight in the eyes.

I was absorbed into the boundless red-coloured pupil of her and the hidden passion behind them. I felt like pulling her into my arms but I endured and I opened my mouth for the words to com-

!!!

“Ouch!!”

OH YE GODS, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!!

I staggered backward and broke free from the merciless hands that had clutched me and I reflexively hold my chest with both hands.

She twisted both of my nipples!!

I don’t why she looked so confused and surprised but I was the one who had been violated!

As I stood trembling looking at her, Vassil and August who was spectating from between the trees had both of their mouth wide open.

Then Vassil whose face on the brink of erupting into laughter and while the other one was a stupefied and confused face.

“Muahahahahahahaha!!”

“… Ruigne, brother…”

Vassil fell on the ground, ecstatically laughing while August muttered something. I wanted to clarify that I am not his ‘brother’ in that.

“What happened!!?”

Kiefy had run here after seemingly heard our duel even from a far.

I was beginning to be more afraid of Katarinova and there is no way in hell I would be able to answer her feeling without the possibility of making it out alive at this rate.