Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 71 - Who Am I

"Gah!"

Medrauta had launched herself forward the instant Brigitte stepped away, her sword swinging at Leticia's throat as it cut through the air.

Leticia raised her sword hastily to parry it. Though she already knew that Medrauta would be a formidable opponent, she certainly hadn't expected such an aggressive start to the duel. Already finding herself being pushed back, Leticia parried Medrauta's flurry of blows as she desperately sought a solution to turn the tables.

Even without the power of a Crest enhancing her body, Medrauta's strength and speed were unparalleled among knights, and though Leticia recalled how the silver-haired knight had claimed Rosette to be her equal during the festival, each strike that Medrauta issued further reinforced how far the gap between herself and other knights truly were.

...It's strange though, Leticia frowned as she stepped backward quickly, flicking her blade and deflecting Medrauta's latest strike with some difficulty. While she was no doubt on the defensive, it didn't feel like she was losing. Something felt wrong to her, but she couldn't place her finger on what exactly it was.

As the two knights traded blows, Viviane and Rosaline watched by the side. The two noblewomen sat on a bench, both of them leaning forward with such intensity that they looked as if a gentle gust of wind would push them off the edge.

"I-Is Lettie going to be alright...? Dame Medrauta is attacking so fiercely..." Rosaline murmured as her beautiful features strained with concern.

"...I'd started noticing it after the attack, but it feels like Medrauta's changed." Viviane remarked worriedly, devoting all her focus to enhancing her vision so that she wouldn't miss even a single second of her knight's movements. "Yeah... There's no doubt about it. There's no way she would've fought like that before..."

"Like what?" Rosaline asked. To her, the movements of the two knights were simply blurs, and their blades were no more than glittering pinwheels of light and steel.

"So... aggressive. And she's leaving herself open so often despite constantly pressing the attack..." Viviane frowned. "Before, I doubt even Lady Sakura could have actually struck Medrauta with an arrow, but the way she's fighting now... Even I might be able to hit her."

Viviane wasn't the only one who noticed this fatal flaw in Medrauta's technique, nor was she the first. After the fourth consecutive exchange of blows, Leticia slowly began to recognize what it was that had initially thrown her off about Medrauta's form.

Leticia leveled her blade at her charging opponent's form now, her eyes open and alert as she spotted not one, but four openings in Medrauta's attack. Normally, she would have simply assumed that the gaps in her opponent's defense were nothing more than bait, but now she wasn't so sure.

Medrauta was attacking recklessly without concern for her own defense. Initially, Leticia thought that Medrauta was simply looking down on her and abandoning defense in favor of crushing Leticia with rapid blows, but she quickly reminded herself that she wasn't just facing a knight that was underestimating her.

She was dueling against Medrauta. The reason why the silver-haired knight was so greatly respected amongst her fellow knights was not only due to her strength, but also due to her technique. Her movements were always perfect and flawless with no wasted energy. They left absolutely no openings, and each one of her strikes forced a parry that would leave her opponent open to a vicious counterattack.

Most importantly, she never held back or underestimated her opponents. Even against knights who were known to be dismal duelists, she always gave it her all and fought gallantly, never looking down on those that she dueled.