Chapter 126: One-on-One
As she felt the vibrations in her sword from the latest clash of the weapons, Kim gritted her teeth. Her opponent was strong, and clearly was more of a threat than she had first thought, but that didn't mean she was going to give up. It just meant that she was going to need to come up with another way to defeat her opponent.
She'd already tried her Combat Dance, but all she had managed was to was avoid a few close calls. Whoever her opponent was he wasn't an average swordsman. He was a threat Kim couldn't help but be glad she was facing now rather than later.
If she had found herself facing this opponent when they were fighting to keep the king from being killed, she was sure that she'd have been distracted enough that she'd have allowed this person's blade past her guard. Even once would be too many times, as she had no idea how bad just one strike would be. It might not be worse than a small cut or it could be the end of her life. The only way to know was to see what happened if it managed to do that, but she couldn't afford to find out.
Kim swung her sword again, wondering if all that she'd been through to this point was going to end up being for nothing. She recognized that her own strength was failing. Maybe if she hadn't used so many of her skills on the other opponents, then she wouldn't be so tired now, not that she felt any regret at that fact. As she'd only used her skill as she felt the need to.
However, she thought she saw something that might lead to a weakness in her opponent's guard. Yet, she couldn't be sure. She could only hope that what she thought she saw would appear again, letting her know if she wasn't imagining things.
She wouldn't be surprised if she was. This was a more intense fight than she'd had to fight before. Even against the hobgoblins whose armor she was now wearing wasn't nearly as difficult as this opponent, and that was with all the other goblins coming in to assist it. As such, she was sure that she had to win this fight. If only to prove to her own doubts that they were wrong and she wasn't as weak as she had once been, back in her early teens.
Feeling a burst of energy having thought about her earlier life, she renewed her assault on her opponent's defenses, swinging her sword, driving him back. Then almost as if her determination had summoned what she had thought she'd seen before again, she saw it. A clear opening that she could strike at, if her sword wasn't preoccupied at the moment.
However, as she pressed her attack she suddenly remembered about her short sword as she felt its hilt brush against her left arm, that she held out to her side for balance. So, she gripped her short sword tightly, while waiting patiently for the opening to arrive again.
She didn't know how long this fight had taken already, but she forced herself to continue, even as she felt her arm screaming in pain as it was being pushed past its limits. Her arm having never been put under such pressure before.