Chapter 10

"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.

***

I chewed up my innocent lips. My stamina has been pushed to my limit, and if I continue, I will soon be defeated by him.

I wanted to use magic, but I couldn't do it right away.

To defeat Mikhail, I had to cast strong magic, and to do so; it required complicated calculations.

There is no magic in Korea, but various calculations were required to use magic in this world.

Distance calculation, moon phase, sun position, strength calculation, etc.

Mathematics was essential for magic.

The pace of my calculations was getting faster and faster as I was also busy concentrating on Mikhail.

I clenched my teeth and tried to concentrate on two things.

'It's almost done now.'

Chaeng! (sword clash sfx)

It was a moment when I thought it was done.

Despite hardening my sword, Mikhail broke my sword again.

'Damn it!'

"Huh......!"

I quickly made a sword, but I couldn't wholly resist Mikhail's attack, who was faster than me.

As I rolled back to the floor and staggered, I decided to gamble.

Now not only was my kicked abdomen aching, but my whole body was suffering.

Mikhail came to me with all his might.

I energized my narrow arms and drew his sword toward my neck.

And at that moment, I regained my magic power but had no sword.

"Ugh......".

"You······!"

The sword that was facing my neck stopped at a breathtaking moment.

The tip of his sword slightly stabbed my neck and it started bleeding.

He apparently thought I would stop it.

Mikhail's eyes shook wildly.

I looked at him with a victor's smile, and Mikhail belatedly noticed my smile and his face was filled with admiration.

Finally, I made a perfect gap in his defense.

I couldn't check it, but luckily I had just finished the golden calculation.

"Destroy."

"....!"

Realizing his mistake, Mikhail hurried to wear magical power around her body, but I was one step faster than him.

Quang!

A white streak of light that hit Mikhail.

My eyes were dazzled by the light, and I frowned reflexively.

Mikhail was struck by a powerful blow and fell to the floor.

I approached him on the floor at a slow pace.

Of course, I couldn't walk quickly because my whole body was tattered.

"Listen, Brother. I'm not as good at swordsmanship as you, but I'm much better at magic than brother."

"......"

"It's funny who's worried about whom right now. But just one thing, brother, you don't need to worry about me."

"........."

Mikhail glanced at me once and quietly closed his eyes. I looked down at him calmly, and Mikhail sighed.

"······Mine 30%. Not below that."

As I looked at him with absurd happy glittering eyes, he shrugged while lying down.

"I told you not to go, but you're going anyway, right? If you can't stop them, you should join them—might as well be compensated for it."

Mikhail's face was smiling softly again.

I got the inkling that it was a lie, like the mask he showed me before.

"So where's Toshiff's invitation?"

"I put it on page 273 of <The History of Imperial Rebellion>."

"It's a book that suits you brother."

"Hey, you wicked little sister."

I left Mikhail on the floor behind me and headed to his room.

* * *

Following the instructions on Tosiff's invitation, I entered a dark and cramped alley.

Wondering if I took the wrong turn as I passed through the cramped lane, a big building appeared around a dark corner.

Who would have guessed that there would be a large illegal slave headquarters in these quiet outskirts?

"Do you have an invitation?"

"Here you go."

I handed the man the invitation from Mikhail.

The man who opened my invitation opened his eyes wide as he looked at the seal and name written on it.

"Go, gold..... Rotor-nim...?"

No one could see my face by wearing a mask, but a smile slowly spread from behind the mask.

The man who received the invitation looked surprised and then ordered the man next to him.

"Hey, quickly, call the manager...! Rotor-nim is here...!"

"......Yes? Rotor-nim?"

"Idiot! Why are you still here? Go now."

The man who received the order immediately gasped and reacted to the name 'Rotor' and panicked.

Only

The more he offered and did, the more I tried to reject politely, the more eager he became to find something I liked.

He wanted to give me everything I wanted it seemed; he looked mildly perplexed when I declined.

He must have wondered what I would buy at the auction for plenty of other things for sale other than slaves.

Finally, the manager arrived and smiled and cried at me.

I realized Mikhail's influence in the world behind me.