High School Soldier
78. Against the Mad Sword

17 September 2321, 09.53 WIB/1914 Kingdom of Arevelk, morning.

**

On a hill, near the border between the Kingdom of Arevelk and the Luan Empire. At the foot of the hill, hundreds of thousands of soldiers were carrying out activities before leaving for the battlefield. That was why it stood hundreds of tents as temporary residences for the soldiers.

Now is lunch time, a young female servant enters a tent inhabited only by Sigiz. He saw his Queen still asleep in bed, half naked. It was obvious, since he had been in this place this morning, and had not been able to fall asleep for a whole day.

This place is at least not too narrow to put a mattress. In addition, there is a round-shaped table with versatile functions. In addition to being used as a dining table, this table can be used as a negotiating table.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers lined up in front of the cooking furnace numbering in the hundreds. The pot was filled with filling soup and steam that floated upwards, and the cook was in charge of handing out food to each soldier holding a wooden bowl.

If he asks where Nio is after delivering Sigiz, he is in a place that allows him to smell the scent of horse dung.

To be precise, Nio rested inside a tactical vehicle parked near the war stables belonging to the cavalrymen. He was seen still able to fall asleep in the back seat of the vehicle, regardless of the smell of dirt. Music is still heard from speakers connected to Nio's smartphone.

Somehow he was able to get to this place, but a general of this army deliberately told Nio to put his vehicle here, along with his person.

Unbeknownst to Sigiz, one of the generals forces Nio to be near the stables until the departure of this army.

Whether it was the general or the subordinate soldiers, they all did not like the existence of Nio here. The reason was very simple, because Nio was too much near their Queen.

Given that Nio was a subordinate soldier as well, so the generals felt that they were free to order Nio to rest anywhere, including near the stables.

When the entire army was eating their food rations this afternoon, Nio woke up because his long-distance communication device rang, signaling that he should report.

All Nio did was mention his current location, after which he could not continue sleeping because he was hungry. There was not a single person in the car other than him, Nio thought if he could do anything while being alone like now.

No entertainment other than music was still playing, Nio took out a packet of fried rice rations from his backpack and a bottle of mineral water. At least there are no distractions at the moment, except the shrill sound of the horse and the smell of its feces.

Nio got out of the vehicle while carrying a folding stove and his lunch ration. At least outside the weather was not too hot, so he did not have to bother setting up a small tent.

The stables were quite far away from the warrior camp, this caused Nio to feel extremely lonely. Even some of the soldiers who saw it only said some harsh words.

“Finally you wake up.”

Nio heard a voice that sounded without a tone, very flat. After that Nio saw something flat again, it was the chest of the soldier that spoke to him.

The woman walked up to Nio with a cold gaze and words. Nio looked confused and tried to greet him while watching the fire on his folding stove.

“Se-good morning.”

“It's noon, the soldier who woke up late is a failure.”

Nio turned his gaze away from the woman while scratching the back of his head.

She was clearly a beautiful woman, Nio judged the lack of women was only on the chest that was too flat for most women. But his cold expression made his disposition appear harsh, or unfriendly.

The woman looked around where Nio was resting, and her gaze came to a halt when she saw an iron wagon in dark green.

Nio glanced at the woman walking closer to the tactical vehicle by glancing at the parts of the vehicle. Nio felt that if the woman would only do limited sight-seeing, nothing more.

However, the woman slashed her sword into the body of the tactical vehicle as hard as she could, and caused a very disturbing sound. The sound of the impact of the two metal objects can be heard up to a distance of 20 meters.

The body of the tactical vehicle that was hit by the female sword slash was visibly scratched, and that was the only damage the vehicle had gotten. While on the sword belonging to the woman, the weapon almost broke and visible iron fragments on the ground.

“What are you doing huh!?”

Of course this is a problem for Nio. Although tactical vehicles are designed with above-average strength, this is a problem for Nio.

While the woman seemed to hold back the irritation because her sword was almost destroyed by colliding with the body of the vehicle

“What the fuck is this wagon, why is his body so hard. Did you put iron on this wagon?”

“Ni sane chick not ‘njir?”

But the woman's frustration was only for a moment, after which she saw a look of admiration from him. It only made the corner of Nio's eyes twitch as it held back the vexation.

So upset, Nio activated his rifle to full automatic mode, if the woman acted again he would fire a warning shot. In addition, he also prepared ammunition on his pistol.

**

Sigiz walked in the middle of the camp for the soldiers to find a figure of Nio, but until the last tent he did not find the trunk of his nose.

Upon hearing a sound like two metals clashing together, the entire army stood up and stood by while tightly grasping each other's weapons.

“Queen, I saw the man who drove you with General Lux. And General Lux seems to be trying to cut down the man's vehicle.”

Sigiz immediately sculpted after hearing the report of one of the soldiers who happened to be near the two of them. Although the clothes he was wearing were suitable for the slightly sweltering weather, but cold sweat came out a lot from his forehead.

“Where is mr Nio located?”

“One of the generals ordered the man to rest near the stables.”

Sigiz's feelings began to not be careless, it was all because of the actions of his subordinates that might make Nio plan revenge.

Sigiz walked quickly towards the stables, he also hoped that if the female General did not challenge Nio to fight, because it was Lux's habit when meeting people who looked strong.

“Let's practice match!”

Lux pointed her broken sword towards Nio who seemed to be unconcerned, and chose to put a mouthful of rice into her mouth.

“You fight ? Wait till I finish eating first huh?”

Unfortunately, Nio spoke no language of this world. Lux certainly did not know what Nio said, but it made him even more sure that Nio was one of the otherworldly warriors.

“Udah ruining other people's stuff, nih girl even nantang. What do you want people?”

Nio devoured her lunch while staring in wonder at Lux who was looking at her with a serious face, which signified that the woman was seriously challenging Nio.

Nio did not ask why Lux challenged her, as this was one of the ‘market’ scenes in the fantasy novel. Where the main character is challenged to fight by other characters for a reason.

Nio accepts the task of escorting Sigiz back to the border, should be just that. However, inevitably Nio is stuck next to the stables for a while, after which a woman is challenged who has already damaged a tactical vehicle that does not belong to her.

After eating, he cleaned up all the equipment and put it back in the vehicle. Just as he was about to close the door of the vehicle, Lux was suddenly next to Nio with a look of admiration.

“Obviously, it's magic from your world right?”

“Not.”

After replying in an annoyed tone, Nio closed the door of the tactical vehicle while Lux still wanted to see the inside.

While carrying a rifle that had become a sign of greatness, Nio walked up to Lux to accept his challenge.

“At last I found you. General Lux, what did you do to Mr Nio?”

“Sorry? Mister? You just called this guy by the name of ‘tuan’?”

“What if I call him like that? One more thing, you must have ordered mister Nio to be near the stables?”

Lux just stared and looked towards a young man who was also waiting for him to tell the truth.

Sigiz was only worried if Nio would report this to his superiors, as this could be said to be an ‘insult’. After that, an army that almost destroyed the joint force of five countries would move, and attack Arevelk Kingdom just because of the report of a soldier.

“Queen Sigiz, why do you call this weak warrior lord?”

Nio raised his right hand to mediate the debate between this superior and subordinate. At once, he felt offended because it was called ‘weak by this woman, although Nio admitted that he was also still weak.

“Before, can you name, miss?”

“Lux, my name is Lux”

“Nona Lux, can we start the fight you are talking about?”

“Ber-fight?”

Sigiz was increasingly clueless with the actions of one of his generals, he really had felt embarrassed because of Lux.

Sigiz approached Nio with a pinched face, sticking his body into Nio's body in order to keep Nio from fighting Lux.

One more thing, because tonight this army will leave. The battle waged by Lux and Nio might just make this troop journey too late.

Although Sigiz was a queen, the two of them did not listen to Sigiz's whining.

“Prepare yourself, and we will fight as hard as we can!”

“Ready!”

**

Nio did not care at all if the opponent in front of him was a woman who became one of the generals of this army. All he cared about was wanting to put an end to all of this immediately, and immediately sleep on the bed of a fairly hard barracks.

All the soldiers had already finished packing, and they were ready to continue on their way towards the capital of the Luan Empire. However, one of their generals turned out to throw a tantrum and slow the departure.

Nio admits that Lux is a beautiful woman, but rather annoying.

Nio was wearing his field uniform, without a vest and other protectors. Only clothes with a deep green color that part of the arm has been rolled up, and the preparation is less mature.

Lux uses a new sword, but the sword is only designed for female warriors. The sword was not as wide as that of a male warrior, but it had the same level of sharpness or even more.

As for Nio, he only used two carambit-type fighting knives. Therefore, many soldiers underestimated Nio for using small weapons like carambits. Even Nio did not equip himself with body armor.

“Are you seriously using a weapon like that? If you don't have a sword I can lend it to you.”

“No need, I just want to solve this problem immediately.”

Lux only smiled wryly and stiffly after hearing Nio's words that seemed to belittle her.

No one volunteered to be the referee in this fight. Then Sigiz walked up and stood in the middle of Nio and Lux, he willingly became the referee between the two of them.

“You both have my permission to fight. This fight will end when one of you declares surrender.”

Nio and Lux nodded in understanding from Sigiz's words just now. After that, the two of them did a prefix with their respective fighting styles.

Lux raised her sword at the side of her cheek, accompanied by horses that would allow her to jump far away. As for Nio, he put up the horses from one of the silat branches he studied.

Nio studied the movements of several silat colleges in Indonesia, and took some movements that did not require much energy. However, Nio's easy and deadly attack movements were the hallmark of his fighting style.

“Start!”

Nio gasped at hearing Sigiz scream, and saw the face of a woman in front of him. Lux jumped from a considerable distance, until it reached Nio's place.

Nio lowered his head to avoid Lux's horizontal slash which would have made his head slip out of place if hit by that slash. Then he rolled back and prepared the horses again.

Some people find it strange with Nio's fighting style, they feel that Nio's moves are too cute to use in a fight.

Nio took a few breaths, trying to focus on the opponent in front of him who was a woman. He tightly grasped the two carambits in his hand, and did a pose ready to attack.

Nio runs a zig-zag which leaves Lux with no idea which way he will attack. After reaching in front of him, Nio raised his right leg and did a spinning kick. Lux was able to fend off Nio's twisting kick with her sword, yet it made her fall to the ground.

As Lux tried to stand up, Nio again dashed the zig-zag quickly and unleashed a slashing blow quickly. The carambit he used added to the impact of the damage during the fight, many times he managed to make some of Lux's silvery hair strands fall to the ground.

Lux painstakingly repelled every attack from Nio, but Nio's movements were too fast and unpredictable in his direction.

“His movement is very strange and unpredictable, beladiri what is he using?”

Lux could not think quickly as his opponent made a quick attack as well. However, Nio should be able to think carefully and quickly while fighting. Thinking while fighting is easy for Nio, and all TNI soldiers.

Nio occasionally floated a kick that led to Lux's hip, and several times hit the target. Lux held onto her hip that was hit by Nio's kick, but she was not given a second rest from Nio.

“Do not underestimate silat, miss!”

Everyone did not understand Nio's words, all they understood was that Nio's fighting style was deadly, even if the movements were simple.

Nio again attacked, this time he used his weapon. Nio tried not to hit Lux's vital organs, even though it should be like that.

Nio made a slash move with a sharp knife back, but Lux was able to fend it off even though some of her body was scratched and felt agonizing.

Nio's movements were too fast for him to avoid, not just slashes, several times Nio released kicks towards Lux's stomach and hips. Both attacks make Lux fall and dragged to the ground, making everyone who saw him shudder.

“I, nicknamed ‘si Sword Gila’ lose to martial arts experts like him?”

Lux stood up using her sword as a pedestal, as her leg was hit by several incisions from Nio's weapon. Sweat that flowed and hit the injured place, added to his suffering.

Nio dashed quickly towards Lux who was already looking limp, he stood at the back of Lux and pointed the tip of one of his carambits at Lux' neck.

Lux glanced back, she saw Nio put on a flat face, like he had no interest in this fight.

Sigiz raised his right hand, and mentioned the name of the winner.

This was a miserable defeat for Lux, he was defeated by a person who only used martial arts and small weapons.

Nio reached out her hand to help Lux stand up, she was also sweating like Lux.

Lux received Nio's helping hand, and looked at Nio's face with fear and admiration for the young man before her.