I didn't care about honor. I would fight this samurai without taking my sword out if it gave me an advantage. Maybe then his honor wouldn't allow him to attack an unarmed opponent?

But if I did that, he might see me as honorless and then kill me as I wasn't worth fighting.

For now, the best option was to play along.

Unsheathing my sword, I took a loose stance that showed I wasn't afraid to take some injuries if it assured my victory. This style usually would end up in an exchange of the user taking two hits and the enemy taking one.

This wasn't a good strategy against a zombie.

"I see that you have another sword. Why don't you take that out too? Or do you see me as an unworthy opponent to go all out against?!" The dangerous aura around him increased a dozen folds, and the grass under the zombie's feet started withering.

"No," I shook my head and smiled, trying to look unbothered, which was hard to do with all this pressure on my shoulders. "My second weapon is a cursed sword, and I feel like that would taint our duel."

The samurai stared at me; his undead face was impossible to read. "Young man, have you ever fought a high class demon?"

He sheathed his sword. What was he getting at? Did he want to solve this with words? Whatever it was, I had to play it safe for now. "Yes."

"Good, then, since you have been an honorable young lad. I will show you something you rarely see nowadays. The difference between a high class demon who just throws their power around and one who controls it."

Taking out the sword from its sheath and breakneck speed, the samurai swung so fast that I only saw a blur. But despite not seeing his attack, I could feel it.

The whip-like noise of air getting cut at supersonic speeds. Earth crackled, and a ravine opened as far as the eye could see. He cut the river in two.

I didn't know what to say as my body froze. Whether it was fear, shock, or amazement, I didn’t know. Maybe it was all of it together. But amongst that doubt, one thing was for sure.

There's no way I could block that!

If the samurai demon fought against the eel demon, he would easily cut through the lightning ball. That same slash would probably decapitate the eel demon too.

Also, it was daytime, and the samurai zombie was weakened. This was him not at his full power.

If I fight this thing head-on, I'm a dead man! Even if I could use Perfect Me, the difference in power was too broad.

Still, I was ready for the fight of my life.

But the samurai sat down and sheathed his sword. "Sorry, but I can't fight against a fellow honorable man while lying to him!"

A familiar person came out from behind a tree, clapping. "You did well enough and showed him the true meaning of power. Don't worry, Kon. You did quite well… for a kid."

It was Ellen. She had been behind this whole thing.

***

'Ahahahahaha! Look at that bastard squirming!' Ellen was joyous when she saw Kon's eyes widen in surprise for a second.

This was what she lived for!

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But the kid was so boring. As that surprise soon turned into indifference. "Yeah, it makes sense you would be behind this."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She narrowed her eyes, putting as much ferocity in them. She tried to act as if she took offense to what he said.

But her fake anger did not bother the kid. He shrugged. "I mean, what are the chances of encountering a high class demon in the middle of nowhere? They're about as close to zero as possible. Only some main character in a book would encounter high leveled enemies at every turn."

What he said was a logical conclusion. But Ellen didn't like it at all! The brat was too hard to read and seemed to not care about anything around him.

Ellen pouted. "You should at least act like you didn't see this coming! Why do you have to be such a mood killer?"

She approached him, and their faces were close. She had done this with 'innocent' intentions in mind. But Ellen knew that with her passive charm, no teenage boy could resist her.

"Can you stop blocking the view?" He frowned at her.

Never before had she wanted to punch a person so badly!

"Yeah, can you move aside, Ellen," the samurai demon said as he walked closer to them.

With no choice, Ellen gave them some room "Humph! Then I will leave you to your business."

She walked away. But as soon as she was far enough not to be seen, she hid behind a tree. Listening to whatever the samurai and the kid were going to talk about.

"You have talent, kid. But more importantly, your heart is in the right place. How about I teach you some moves while you're staying here?" The samurai asked.

"Yes!" Kon didn't hesitate even a second. He looked ecstatic at getting a chance like this. Ellen couldn't help but feel betrayed.

Was this what it felt like when a spouse cheats? It was heartbreaking!

…

Four days passed in the blink of an eye, and Ellen tried her best to tease Kon during that time.

But he was like a monk who had detached himself from worldly desires.

She was currently in a bathtub and had been doing so for four hours straight. Waiting for Kon to come.

'Does that guy ever need to go to the bathroom? I've been waiting for him for so long, and my skin has gotten all wrinkly in the water.' Ellen complained internally. What she was doing wasn't a waste of time. At least, that's what she told herself.

Finally, she heard footsteps in the hallway. Immediately she slowly got out of the bath, naked as the day she was born.

The time had come for her to shine!

Whether or not he had self-control, it wouldn't matter once he opened that door and saw her. Even if he played it off cool, she would call him a pervert. Playing with his emotions until he felt sorry for what he had put her through these four days.

Now that she thought about it. What she was doing sounded pathetic, but deep down, she knew it was for a good cause.

The door clanked, the sound of the handle turning.

Ellen felt her heart beating in anticipation.

But before the door could fully open, it closed again. "Is anyone in there?"

She felt her heart stop. But Ellen quickly calmed down. As long as she didn't answer, he would enter.

He will walk in on her. Then she will blame him-

Suddenly a hand sneaked past the door and touched the tile wall. "Yep, there's still moisture. Someone probably took a hot shower. Ellen, are you there?"

Fucking shit! What does it take for a guy to get so good at this?! Does he not want to see her naked or what?!

Ellen felt like crying. Her heart was filled with all kinds of emotions; rage, anger, shame, a sense of loss, and absolute unbridled despair.

"Anyway, I came here to ask you to be an observer. Today my ability cooldown has reset, and I want to test if I can use the cursed sword while in Perfect Me state." He explained with his usual monotone voice. "The samurai will be there too. So he will hold me back in case I go berserk. But if you’re there, you should be able to stop me without harm to either of us."

Kon seemed to reassure her. But Ellen didn't care for any of that. The plan she had spent the last couple of days thinking up had shattered.

'What do I do now? Is this how I lose my pride as a woman? What a desperate feeling!'

But then, an idea struck her. She smiled widely and held in her chuckle.

If Kon wasn't going to make a mistake, then she will!

"Oops! Oh no! I opened the door while forgetting to put on my towel." Ellen proclaimed in a melodic voice, like a damsel in distress. She opened the door.

She glanced at Kon, expecting an embarrassed or charmed expression on his face. Instead, she saw the brat holding a book in his hand and not even bothering to look at her.

"What kind of super nerd reads books when he has a super hot older sister-type woman around him!" She attempted to slap the book out of his hand. But he raised the book slightly, and she missed.

Then he bopped her on the head with the book he was reading. "Please act your age."

'Ah, what is this feeling? It's so familiar. How long has it been since I felt this?’ She felt shame and embarrassment. Those feelings she had almost forgotten.

Kon never even turned to sneak her a glance. "Anyway, we're going to test my learning ability in Perfect Me state during its first two minutes. After that, we will draw the sword. Since I can use the ability only once a week, we will need to test many things simultaneously."

Ellen felt like her soul had drained out of her body. She followed behind Kon with empty eyes.

How could things have turned this way? After all the effort she put in?!

After putting on some clothes, she arrived at their training place. At the river shores.

Kon had the cursed sword in his hands, and his eyes were already cold.

Now that she looked closer, Ellen couldn't help but admire the cursed weapon. It had such a powerful presence that it made her feel chills down her spine.

'That thing probably belonged to a prolific killer in the past. The kind of maniac whose name was carved in history and horror stories.'

"His learning ability in that state was nothing short of phenomenal," the zombie samurai commented.

But by now, Ellen's attention was fully on Kon as he unsheathed the sword.