Transmigrated as the Novel's Final Boss-Chapter 101:Practical Preparation [2]

I had technically cheated, but so what?

If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.

Also, I was quite literally the demon king disguised as a human in Glaive Academy.

Cheating in a simple spar was nothing compared to that.

Not even giving me a moment to rest and recover, Scarlett charged forward for the first time, taking the offensive in our fight.

Yet, to me, she resembled something else.

Like the bullets ricocheting off a wall and charging toward me, countless holographic lines appeared, starting from Scarlett’s body and ending anywhere near me.

Usually, I would have been overwhelmed by the dozens of holograms and confused about which to follow, but yesterday’s training seemed to have worked.

I had to dodge all of them.

Not only that, but I had to account for their ricoshet, or in other words, Scarlett’s counter to my movements.

It was as if I were in a laser obstacle course, where I would die if I even touched one of the lasers.

Ducking and weaving through the lasers on my right, I tried to make way to an empty space where no holograms appeared.

However, at that moment, the lines suddenly shifted as Scarlett angled herself leftward, accounting for my movement.

Just like me, she had tempo and could predict my movements.

Every single thought running through my head was probably represented as a holographic line from her point of view.

Halting, I chuckled and readied my sword, specifically watching the lines that started from her sword and not her body.

If I wanted to run around and learn how to dodge and retreat, I would be training with Daisy.

As Scarlett lunged forward, jabbing her sword right at my chest, I diagonally raised my sword across my chest so it intersected almost every line from her sword.

But, then, instead of waiting for the impact, I rushed my diagonal sword forward, preventing her from changing her attack due to my Tempo lines.

As they made contact, my sword easily overpowered hers as only her blade’s tip connected with my entire sword; however, at that moment, her right leg lifted.

I had been too focused on the upper portion of her body.

Before I could react, she mimicked my movement from earlier, horizontally sweeping her right foot from right to left.

As her right foot made contact with my left ankle, my stance staggered, and my sword faltered and lowered.

No longer blocked off, Scarlett’s sword continued its jab at my chest.

With my right hand completely immobilized and my legs covered, unable to retreat, I threw my left hand away from my chest.

It was simply too unrealistic of me to believe I could block her sword with my non-dominant hand.

So, instead, I made a fist and aimed at her right shoulder.

When the tip of her blade made contact with my chest, I fell back, but holding on, I hyper-extended the muscles in my left hand, reaching it as far forward as possible.

And, right as my legs buckled and fell backward, my left fist suddenly halted upon hitting something.

Simultaneously, both of us fell backward onto the ground, our swords still tightly gripped in our respective right hands.

However, unlike her, I had no hand to catch myself as my right hand held my sword, and my left hand was too far forward.

So, with one last burst of energy, I grinned and rushed my right hand forward, releasing my sword right at her falling figure.

Then, without skipping a beat, I retracted my right hand and pushed it downward, feeling it hit the ground before the rest of my body.

On the other hand, Scarlett immediately pushed her left hand down to halt her fall, but just as it was about to hit the ground, my sword appeared.

She was completely focused on catching her fall, oblivious to the sword, so it easily made contact.

As my flying sword hit her left arm, her left hand subconsciously buckled upward, and before she could react, her back hit the ground.

At that moment, her right hand, which was by her side, hit the ground as well, causing her palm to open.

A moment later, my sword bounced off her body and flew far above my sitting body, flying over me.

However, I wasn’t worried.

Because the sword in Scarlett’s right hand had fallen out and touched the soft sand floor of the training floor.

*RUSTLE*

With both our swords now touching the sand, I leaned backward, my two hands behind me, and gazed forward.

"Touch the ground was the rule, wasn’t it?"

Ignoring the pain in her back, Scarlett gritted her teeth and muttered.

"It was."

"The-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Scarlett suddenly reached downward, scooping a handful of sand with her palms.

Then, without giving me any time to defend myself, she rushed her hand forward, releasing the sand at me.

Desperately covering my eyes with my arms, I managed to mutter, feeling the rough and gritty texture of the sand touch my tongue.

"W-what the hell is w-"

"That’s for throwing your sword."

After a couple of seconds, I reluctantly opened my eyes...only to see Scarlett covering her mouth, her cheeks colored a light red, matching her fierce blood-red eyes.

Suppressing her laughter and pointing at me, she said in between coughs that were clear attempts to disguise her laughter.

"y-you c-covered your right eye."

...I had subconsciously blocked my right eye with my arms to protect it from the sand.

Like a swimmer kicking their legs, I shook my right foot, sending a cloud of sand right at Scarlett.

But, before the sand could even reach her, she scooted three steps backward, far out of my range.

Waving her hands around and pretending to be scared, she enthusiastically said.

"Nice try!"

Wiping the sand off my black pants, I sarcastically replied.

"Oh, so this is when you decide to dodge? Not when my sword is about to hit you? You know, maybe if my sword was covered in sand, you could have won!"