"Try to block my final strike," the Second-Rank Lord whispered. He was still on the ground, exhausted.
The princess did not answer. She simply stood there, waiting for him to carry out his threat.
He stood up… swaying.
Then he moved. His steps were slow and heavy.
At a distance of twenty meters…
He stopped.
Suddenly—
A powerful aura began to surround his body.
The spring wind behind them began to intensify, as if calling for aid… or warning of an approaching catastrophe.
The princess narrowed her eyes.
One step… then she stopped.
For just a moment, instinct urged her to attack him.
But she held back.
"I will not win through treachery," she murmured.
Yet a different feeling began to grow within her… a sense of impending danger.
The energy continued to gather around the lord.
The girl, Galja, retreated several meters farther away from him.
Then—
The wind suddenly calmed.
The intense aura receded.
The Second-Rank Lord appeared again.
No.
He appeared again—
