ILLYML – 10.1

“No way I’m giving up. I’ve been so scared that I’ve had goosebumps all over my body. But I need an invitation from Toshiff enough to ignore brother’s warning.” 

Mikhail’s face was distorted. I smiled sweetly at him and didn’t break my gaze from his face.

I’m confident I’ll never lose this fight. 

“Serina, it’s my last warning. Stop being foolish. Before I become angrier.” 

Mana began to leak out of Mikhail’s body. 

The more magical power that gathered around him, the stronger the wind began to blow around us.

My silver hair fluttered about. 

Mikhail swept his dark hair back and directed a cold gaze towards me.

“I need Toshiff’s invitation.” 

Like I did, Mikhail created his sword with magic in an instant and swung it so fast it couldn’t be seen. 

Chang-! The broken blade of the sword circled round and stuck to the floor. 

Mikhail broke my sword in a blink of an eye and pointed the sword’s tip at my neck. 

But my sword was made of mana, and when I breathed more magic into it, it quickly regenerated. 

This time I added a little more so it wouldn’t break as easily.

“Serina, are you really not going to stop?” 

The wind blew over Mikhail’s fine dark-gray hair. 

I took my sword and held it with both hands.

When I answered with my body instead of my mouth, Mikhail’s eyes held arsenic. 

“I don’t know why you’re so against it. I’m just trying to participate in the auction.” 

“You can’t do that.” 

The wind got stronger. It caused the soil to circulate around us, creating an increasingly massive sandstorm. 

Knights who sensed something strange at this point slowly stopped moving.

But because I put the blocking magic on, they couldn’t see what was causing this change of aura and power around them.

I glanced at them in confusion and fixed my gaze back on Mikhail. Mikhail looked really angry.  

I had never seen him so furious.  

Honestly, it was difficult to understand. Is it so upsetting that I asked for Tosiff’s invitation?

It was clear that Mikhail saw me as his sheltered, naive sister—like a carefully grown plant in a greenhouse. 

Certainly, Mikhail was accustomed to danger, and I wasn’t. At least not like him in the underworld. 

I may have stayed in the mansion more, but the estate has never been a greenhouse. 

To Mikhail, it was clear that he saw a young and immature little kid even when I had first possessed Serina’s body.

It seemed he was tied to the past.  

I decided to take this opportunity to change that stupid belief for sure.  

The plants in the greenhouse have been out of the greenhouse for a long time.  

“Are you going to kill your sister, brother?”  

“No way. But I can keep your feet tied to prevent you from going there.”  

Are you trying to knock me out? 

My body became stiff with tension.

I smiled grimly to myself.  

If you can’t solve this much, you will be more stupid than you are now.  

I fixed my sword stance and remained steadfast by admonishing myself like that.

My hands were wet with tension.

The sword’s handle became more and more challenging to grip. 

Whoo. I took a slow deep breath and relaxed as I centered myself.

Bam! 

I moved first. 

I swung the sword as hard as I could, but Mikhail had just cut my blade lightly. Then with one hand, he lightly tapped my sword. 

I was pushed back by his force. 

“You’re weak, Seri. Do you think you can beat me with this?” 

I clenched my teeth, looking for a gap, but I couldn’t see a crack in his defense at all.

Anxiety shook my body, but I had no intention of giving up. 

Even if I failed, I vowed to stand up again and again. 

Without such a conviction, I wouldn’t have raised my sword against his in the first place. 

Mikhail quickly blocked my swinging sword. 

Lightly hitting my sword, readjusted his blade, and swung the sword’s handle at my neck. 

I leaned over instinctively and avoided it.

He thought he could stun me without hurting me. 

His unnecessary worries provided me with a chance to dig in—what a fool. 

I clicked my tongue and swung my sword. 

-Chaeng! 

The attack was also lightly blocked. 

Although he showed a gap, Mikhail was relaxed.

He was so confident that he would not lose in this fight.  

I dug through his cracks over and over again, and my attacks often failed.  

And whenever Mikhail attacked me, I had to withstand both his force and overwhelming dizziness at the same time—I was panting, losing my breath to my overexertion.

The difference in strength between us is so significant that my hands trembled every time I blocked his sword.

“Kkuok….··!” 

Mikhail kicked me in the stomach in a lackadaisical manner. 

I barely managed to support my body with mana, so I wouldn’t fall. 

My feet dragged on the dirt, leaving long drooping footprints on the ground. 

Instead of grasping my tingling abdomen, I applied strength to my sword hand. 

For a moment, I saw him hesitate. 

He probably figured there was no use in continuing this fight anymore.  

“Seri, please stop. Surrender now.”  

Mikhail begged me to yield and admit defeat.  

But it was hard for me to accept a request that sounded like a favor.  

Mikhail, who struck my stomach, frowned as if he was the one that was actually hurt.  

He seemed to want to finish this as soon as possible so that I wouldn’t get hurt further.

Damn it, there’s no chance of winning. 

***

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