Butler vs. Butler [2]

The dust settled, revealing an injured Luka lying face-down on the ground.

His loss was almost declared by Rebecca if it weren't for him pushing himself up in the knick of time. He coughed and gagged and tried to catch his breath.

Then slowly but surely, he lifted himself up and stood back on his feet. Roberto didn't take advantage of the recovering Luka. An act like that is something Roberto considers dishonorable. Though Luka would think otherwise. If the situation were reversed, Luka would've not hesitated to attack a downed Roberto. Sadly, it was Luka who was down on the ground, not Roberto.

Luka took a slow and deep breath to calm his nerves and maintain a cool head.

He realized he overestimated himself just because of his newfound control over his wind abilities. The fact that he still doesn't have a solid fighting style doesn't help either. Because of his abnormal flexibility, Weiss instructed him to create a style of his own, something unique to him and usable by only him.

Creating an entire combat style isn't exactly easy. So he was at a serious disadvantage against people with solid foundations like Roberto and his 'Klujic Clan Arts'.

While Luka was still trying to find a way to potentially turn the tide in his favor, Roberto disappeared from his view.

He quickly focused his Wind Sense to detect Roberto's position.

After finally detecting Roberto, Luka quickly ducked down and barely avoided Roberto's attack.

Roberto spun and followed up with a kick, using the momentum of his initial swing to boost his attack.

Sensing Roberto's movements through the wind, Luka desperately tried to block Roberto's kick with his sword.

Luka was sent flying and bounced off the ground a few times before coming to a full stop. His wooden sword was shattered and he had a couple of bruises and graze wounds dotting his body.

Luka was now unarmed. Roberto saw this, and guided by his moral code, threw away his sword, making himself unarmed as well.

There was an immediate mutual understanding between the two butlers. The following would become a close-quarter combat battle, no longer shall it be a sword duel.

Both of them took up a stance. Roberto's stance looked solid and complete, his hands were stretched out simulating fluidity. While Luka's stance was the complete opposite. He just arbitrarily raised two of his fists in an amateurish stance.

In a blink of an eye, the distance between Luka and Roberto shortened.

Luka clenched his teeth and threw a right straight punch. Roberto then retaliated with a cross. Roberto's long adult arm reached and made contact with Luka's face. Luka's fist didn't even reach Roberto as he was subjected to a painful blow.

Before Luka could recover, Roberto followed up with a kick.

Luka was once again blown away and rolled all over the ground before coming to a full stop.

Roberto dashed toward Luka. A fist was ready to pummel Luka's body again.

Luka grabbed a fistful of dirt. Right before Roberto's fist could reach him, he threw the dirt into Roberto's eyes, temporarily blinding him.

Roberto felt furious.

"You coward! Have you no honor?!"

Luka seized the opportunity and tackled Roberto. But it wasn't enough to topple him.

"I don't fucking care about honor..."

Seizing Roberto's legs, he dragged them with all his might. His Aura strengthened exponentially, empowering Luka with strength proportional to his current emotions.

Roberto lost his balance, his arms flailing around wildly and inadvertently fell. Luka quickly mounted him and readied his fists.

"...all I care about..."

His right fist crashed down into Roberto's face. The impact bruised his cheek and chipped off a tooth.

"...is survival..."

Then he followed up with a left strike, but it wasn't able to hit its target. It connected with Roberto's arm. He was able to block it at the very last second.

"...AND VENGEANCE!!!"

But Luka didn't stop. He punched, slammed, and thrashed. Even tried to scratch through Roberto's defenses.

Luka had the image of a wild animal, desperate to devour his prey. The duel was already gone from his mind. With the adrenaline pumping through his veins, Luka's deep-seated emotions boiled over.

Before Luka's eyes, Roberto transformed into the image of the entity who killed his family. Rage and hatred seethed within the hallucinating boy.

His erratic assault on Roberto continued until the latter could take no more. The bright blue Aura exploded in a bright fashion, knocking away Luka.

Roberto executed a kip-up and got back on his feet.

"Let's finish this."

He rushed toward Luka and assaulted him with a flurry of punches and kicks.

The gray-haired boy couldn't defend nor evade. Roberto's attacks were too fast for him to react to.

With a final punch to the liver, Luka was instantly incapacitated.

The duel was over, and Roberto was the winner.

Rebecca quickly dashed towards the unconscious Luka and force-fed him a potion to accelerate his healing.

Roberto dispelled his Aura, walked towards Flora, and knelt in front of her.

"I have won in honor of your name, Milady."

"Good job, but..." Flora's gaze swept over to Luka. His heavily injured body was healing thanks to the potion, but it was too slow.

Gripped by guilt, Flora made her way to Luka and cast a spell.

A soft white glow emanated from the magic circle she conjured. At a speed visible to the naked eye, Luka's injuries quickly healed and left no scar behind.