Only I Am A Reader



"Maybe, but I'm going to go in anyway. Are you sure you don't want to follow me? I can't guarantee us getting out, but I will at least ensure your safety."

Despite already deciding on what to do, Leo still offered the duo a chance to change their mind. Since he might not be that trustworthy, following him for the sake of clearing the Gate would be an obvious act of altruism and bravery.

In addition, although it wasn't as obvious, Leo let his Enigma signals out of their confines to showcase his strength. If they were truly fearful over their life, he would be alleviating that danger to a more reasonable level.

"I…"

Alice seemed to have something to see, but once Miyu looked her in the eye, she quickly closed her mouth. It was obvious who was in control here.

"Sorry, but we have to wait here in case Aurora takes the same path so we can provide her with our support. In any case, it doesn't seem like you need our help."

Once again, Miyu provided a valid reason, if only at the surface. It was obvious that she was trying to drive Leo away after noticing his Enigma signals.

'I guess she took it the wrong way.'

Anyone this strong joining the team out of charity was bound to be suspicious, and Miyu didn't trust people by nature.

In the end, it looked like Leo's attempt at giving them another chance was a failure. He was just being treated like an intrusive element to Miyu's scam.

"Suit yourselves. I was just trying to get the team together faster. I will let Aurora know that you are here if I meet up with her."

Naturally, Leo wasn't actually going to leave if they didn't follow him. As much as it was a last chance for them, it was also a distraction to speed up things.

While Leo was slowly walking towards the portal, the duo's shadows were already starting to wriggle. If it were to successfully capture them, this would end up being his fastest lesson so far. Unfortunately…

Swish!

Miyu, who had never let go of her sword's handle, drew it open, making a full turn before slashing the Shadow tendrils that had been silently climbing up.

The quick-draw slash wasn't enough to cut the tendrils into pieces, but a solid cut had landed on each one. Most importantly, the destabilized Enigma ended up causing the tendrils to return to their original form!

On the other hand, Alice was already completely captured and wrapped like a gift. It was just that Miyu didn't have any intention of helping her out. She just put her sword in its sheath once again before glaring at Leo.

"Well, I didn't think it was going to be that easy either."

The healer could do nothing even if her ability was great, but this swordsman was full of tricks. Although her ability rating didn't go beyond Advanced, depending on the situation, her combat ability wasn't that different from a Peak one.

At first glance, her ability didn't appear that different from the ability that Leo pretended to have. However, Miyu's ability was far more complicated than weapon strengthening.

In fact, the sword that she was holding was actually her ability's manifestation and not a human's creation. Moreover, it contained the sword spirit of an unknown samurai!

What made Miyu's ability interesting was the fact that the samurai's teaching didn't improve her swordsmanship. Instead, she had to follow the sword spirit's instructions in order to enhance her sword's sharpness.

The whole ability was in reverse, but its effects weren't to be underestimated!

While the ability reminded Leo of those games where one had to follow the light spots to correctly perform an action, following these instructions allowed Miyu to surpass the strength of most weapon-strengthening experts.

For example, she only had to perform Iaijutsu, a standard quick-draw technique, to get out of Leo's grasp. If not for the ability's shortcomings, she might have had her own team…

'Let's see how far can you resist.'

That being said, Leo's Shadow tendrils could have easily resisted her attack if he used the proper amount of Enigma, but in return, he would have lost the element of surprise.

If Miyu had moved in response and ended up distorting her shadow, Leo's connection with it would have also been broken.

"I don't need to know who you are, but what is your objective? Perhaps we can come to some form of agreement."

Although Miyu's hand was still stuck to the sword handle, she immediately went into negotiation mode. She wasn't trying to drive Leo away from the beginning for nothing, she judged that it was unlikely for her to prevail in this battle.

"What if my objective is you? Can we still discuss the terms pertaining to that?"

"This is your last chance to end this in a friendly manner."

Miyu wasn't sure if Leo was just trying to get a kick out of this, but she held onto the olive branch for one last time.

"Ah, my tone might have suggested so, but it really wasn't a joke. You are my target."

Shing!

Regardless of how low her chances of winning were, Miyu was never going to hand her fate to someone out of fear. She was still the only person that mattered to herself, and also the only person that she would give her all to protect.

Since Leo remained in place, she took the initiative by drawing her sword once more before he could deploy that sneaky attack of his one more time.

With the sword already out of the sheath, Iaijutsu was no longer an option, but it wasn't like that was Miyu's strongest technique.

Keeping up the momentum of the draw, she followed the sword spirit to deliver a diagonal slash, and once Leo easily avoided it… She turned her sword and ran.

Since she didn't stand a chance in a direct confrontation, a war of attrition was Miyu's only chance at surviving this.

'I just need to stall for time until Aurora is here.'

Just like the rest, she leaned on the only wall she could trust. Seeing this expected response, Leo's smile persisted before melting into his shadow. It looked like he was just about to have a very unconventional sword fight.