The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 346: Promises of the Past and Present

“Fuhih!”

“Tch!”

It had been several minutes since I began battling Lavienne, the one wielding racial magic.

The current situation in combat… it’s not looking good for me.

“Tch. Seriously too fast. Plus, with the shadow aura boosting her attack power, just dodging makes my hands numb.”

“Aww. If you say it that way, it makes me sound like some kind of muscle-brained fool!”

“Well, it kinda is. I’m using fighting spirit, and I’m still losing in strength; I think that qualifies as pretty ridiculous muscle power.”

“Mu~! Calling an innocent maiden muscle-brained is a no-no! I’m a little mad now! So, ‘Shadow Curve’!”

Lavienne pouted exaggeratedly before pulling six knives from the holster wrapped around her thigh and launching them at the shadows appearing in front of her.

“Seriously? My escape route is completely blocked!”

“That’s not all, you need to watch above you too!”

The daggers Lavienne threw at the shadows vanished as if through a space-time magic, and the next moment, six shadows surrounded me with the same daggers flying toward me.

Then, looking up at the sound of Lavienne’s voice from above, I saw her brandishing a large scythe infused with dark magic.

“Ha ha. That’s seriously gonna kill me.”

“You’ll dodge it, right? And then, you’ll kill me!”

“Honestly. You’re so selfish. ‘Acceleration!’”

With my escape route sealed both below and overhead, I reluctantly activated the space-time magic acceleration, moving normally while the world slowed around me, slipping through the encirclement of daggers. The instant I stopped, Lavienne brought her scythe down on the spot I had just occupied.

The impact gouged the ground, and the daggers that were meant for me were sent flying as the dust settled, revealing a puzzled Lavienne.

“Eh? Did it disappear?”

“Haha. You’re free to be puzzled, but you mustn’t let your guard down!”

“Hehe. I’m fine. I’m watching only you, Lewis!”

As she said this, Lavienne looked toward me, readying to stab at my heart, bouncing my thrust away with the grip of her scythe. The rebound saw the scythe’s blade, infused with the magic she had set up before, sink deep into my shadow around the thigh area.

“Yikes!”

“Aha! Caught you! ‘Common Shadow’!”

“Guh!!”

In that instant, I felt a sharp pain where Lavienne’s scythe had pierced the same spot, my leg weakly giving way, and I stumbled.

“I’m still going! ‘Sew Shadow’!”

Not letting my moment of vulnerability escape, Lavienne closed the distance and pulled me in with her left arm. The moment our shadows overlapped, she plunged the magically-wrapped scythe as if driving in a wedge, channeling magic into the shadow.

“With this, our shadows are connected! I won’t let you escape anymore!”

“Tch. What a terrible situation this has become.”

“Hehehe. You’re one with a cute girl like me now, so be more joyful!”

“No, seriously, that doesn’t give me a reason to be happy given how dangerous that ability is. Also, your word choice is heavy.”

“Geez! Calling it heavy is rude!”

As Lavienne gazed up at me, still clinging to me, I could only manage a wry smile, considering the effect of the ability she just used.

About the ability I couldn’t laugh about even if I wanted to, ‘Common Shadow’ allowed one to stab a weapon wrapped in magic into any part of the opponent’s shadow, inflicting several times the normal pain at that spot, effectively tying the shadow and body together with magic.

Next, ‘Sew Shadow’ was a spell that connected one’s own shadow to the opponent’s when a weapon wrapped in magic was stabbed the moment both shadows overlapped. Using this magic meant that even if no weapon had been stabbed into the opponent’s shadow, stabbing into my own shadow would forcibly activate ‘Common Shadow’—a truly broken spell.

In essence, right now, my shadow was tied to Lavienne through her magic. Regardless of how far apart we were or what I attempted, if she jabbed a weapon into her own shadow, I would feel the multiplied pain in that area.

Well, ‘Sew Shadow’ also transmitted the pain to the user, making it sort of a self-harming ability. But, judging from how she reacted when her joints were forcibly dislocated, Lavienne didn’t seem to be the type to flinch at pain, so its relevance was minimal.

“Here’s a punishment for rude Lewis-kun!”

Saying this, Lavienne took a step back and dramatically raised her scythe high, thrusting it with force into her shadow’s abdomen.

“Ahaha!”

“Guh…”

In that moment, I felt pain as if stabbed by a blade in the exact same spot. My voice involuntarily slipped out due to the pain.

“Told you it would hurt. But it’s okay! I’m in pain too!”

“Well then! You could at least drop that silly magic!”

“Hehehe. Sorry! But I can’t do that. And besides, if I don’t use it now, my body would just move on its own anyway, right? So it’s pointless.”

“Well, that’s true, but still, for someone saying they want to die, looking at you now just seems like you’re enjoying it.”

It’s true, like Lavienne said, even if she didn’t use this magic, she’d inevitably activate it in a life-and-death situation, so her wish to fight and die seems genuine.

However, ever since earlier, it appeared she was enjoying this fight against me—it felt like a figment of my imagination.

“Ahaha. Did you catch on? Actually, it’s been ages since I fought someone of equal power, and it’s kind of a blast! Plus, considering all the trouble you’ve caused me, it feels exhilarating to get my revenge!”

“Definitely sounds like that last bit is your true intention. Plus, you sound like a sadist.”

“No way! You’re overthinking it!”

Lavienne laughed, but I sensed that her smile held back all the resentment she had accumulated due to me, which made my feelings a complex mix.

“Well, whatever. Besides, I prefer fighting seriously against you than someone dull, so I couldn’t care less what feelings are there.”

“That hurts, but if you’re willing to take my feelings into account, I’m happy!”

She said this while once again bringing the scythe down toward her shadow. A violent pain shot through my shoulder, but I just exhaled and gritted through it, shifting my focus.

Then, readjusting my grip on Ignid, I kicked off the ground with acceleration magic, closing the distance to her in an instant, swinging down my sword and severing her exposed left arm.

“Gah! Huh? Did my left arm just get cut off?!”

The moment the acceleration spell wore off, the world’s pace returned to normal, and she watched, blood scattering as her arm flew through the air and eventually landed on the ground.

“When on earth did that happen? Hmm. You shouldn’t be able to move faster than me, so what’s up?”

However, Lavienne didn’t seem particularly fussed about her severed arm and wasn’t writhing in pain either. Instead, she calmly bound her arm with a knife holder she had wrapped around her thigh, quickly stopping the bleeding.

“Not that I’m one to say, but can’t you at least scream a bit from the pain?”

“Not really. Losing an arm or leg doesn’t mean much to me anymore, and pain isn’t a big deal. What I’m curious about is how you managed to move faster than me to cut my arm off!”

“Unfortunately, that’s not something I’m obligated to share. But I can tell you one thing: I won’t be using that magic anymore.”

“Is that compassion toward me? Or do you think you can win without using that magic, looking down on me?”

“I’d say the latter. But not that I’m looking down on you, it’s just the truth. That was merely a test to see if your magic worked against me, and cutting off your arm was just a bonus.”

“So, you just tested whether I could react to your moves, and since I couldn’t, you won’t use it anymore?”

“Correct.”

To be honest, using space-time magic against Lavienne, no matter how strong she was, would guarantee my victory given that she couldn’t react.

Besides, doing so would allow me to win with ease and safety, but that’s not the kind of fight I wanted.

What I truly desired was a life-risking showdown where I conquer her, who I lost to once in the past, under the same conditions.

Thus, I had no intention of using space-time magic any further, nor did I plan on ending this enjoyable fight easily with that power, even if it meant being underestimated.

“However, it’s true I cut off your arm with that magic, so forgive me for this round.”

As I said this, I enveloped Ignid in flames and cut off my own left arm, putting myself in the same condition as her.

“Now I’ve lost my left arm too. The conditions are equal now.”

“Wow. Cutting off your own arm to equal conditions? Feels a bit condescending, doesn’t it? But if I can’t push you to use all your strength, it’s clearly my shortcoming, so I’ll let it slide just this once!”

“Thanks. Just don’t misunderstand; this doesn’t mean you’re weak.”

“That concern stings extra. But fine! I’ll indulge you this time. Now, shall we continue?”

With that, we eliminated unnecessary dialogue and continued swinging our swords and scythes, using all our skills and magic to hurt each other’s bodies.

“Ahaha!! This is so much fun!!”

“Yeah. This is really fun!”

A life-risking brawl.

Even in such a situation, Lavienne and I shared laughs, fully enjoying this moment and living in it.

It felt as sweet as the time lovers would share, and it was so enjoyable that it almost felt like we had become one, yet, there lingered a sadness knowing that an end was drawing near.

Little by little… gradually, Lavienne’s movements became monotonous, revealing more gaps and making her actions easier to predict.

However, it wasn’t because she was weakening or tiring but because fighting against her allowed my movements to become more precise and efficient, enabling my mind to perfectly understand her movements and even predict her future actions, leading me to restrain her movements, create gaps, and force her to execute more predictable actions.

In other words, at this moment, she was being controlled by me—she was guided by my thoughts, and all of her decisions were made from a limited selection of choices.

“Guh…”

“Haah, haah… This is where it ends.”

“Seems that way… doesn’t it…”

The moment I understood and subdued her completely, my strike deflected her scythe, causing Lavienne to release it, and she knelt on the ground, utterly exhausted.

“Really, your strength is absurd. Almost all of my racial magic didn’t even work.”

“No, it worked. At the very least, I died once.”

Lavienne claimed her racial magic had no effect on her, but I had been killed once by her magic in the past, and currently, even using most elemental magic alongside White Thunder Garb, I barely managed to win. My left eye was crushed by her scythe, and my body was bloodied with cuts and stab wounds.

Honestly, I thought I’d win a bit easier this time, but if I, even now, was pushed this far, her prowess was undeniably incredible.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Forget it. It’s nothing.”

While I felt a bit sad that the Lavienne in front of me didn’t remember our promise from the past, it was still significant for me to fulfill the vow to kill her now.

“Well then, this is where it ends.”

“Yeah. Thank you for listening to my request.”

“Don’t mention it. I basically enrolled at the academy just to meet you.”

“Ahahaha. We technically shouldn’t have met before joining the academy, but hearing you say that feels like destiny! I wonder if there could have been a different future if we had met differently.”

“Who knows? That’s uncertain.”

“Aww~. I wish you’d just say ‘that’s true’ in response.”

“Sorry, but I’m fundamentally against lying.”

“Honestly, that’s so you. Now then, I’m ready. Kill me.”

“Understood.”

Lavienne looked up at me one last time with a smile, and I nodded in response to her words, raising Ignid in my right hand.

“Ah. Truth is, I also…”

With that, as I heard her final words, I swung down the raised Ignid.