human
Arakiya:  The one trading blows with the user of the huge swords, the Hornet, was the man who had brought her this far. Apparently, his name was Al, given that the Hornet kept referring to him as “my sweet little Al.” The fact that Al somehow continued to survive against the Hornet looked to Arakiya like nothing short of a whole series of miracles.
gpt
Arakiya:  Sad to say, in her eyes, Al’s abilities were no more than second-rate—if she was being generous. Having spent his life on the sword-slave island, he must have survived many battles for his very life. But he couldn’t hope to improve his abilities further, even with more of these mortal contests.
human
Arakiya:  The man named Al had reached the limits of his natural abilities, and it left him with a gulf to the Empress of the sword slaves, a chasm of power, talent, and skill, that would be difficult to bridge. Arakiya judged that if she’d felt like it, even she could have taken Al out in a matter of seconds. And yet she was confronted with the reality she saw before her. “Amazing…”
gpt
Arakiya:  It wasn’t that her estimation of Al’s skill had improved, but rather Al’s fighting style—the way he would parry or dodge the Hornet’s attacks by a hairbreadth, then attempt a pitiful counterattack—that gradually turned Arakiya’s opinion. He should have been dead by now. With those skills, he shouldn’t have lasted two seconds against the Hornet. And yet here he was, still alive and even trying to fight back.
human
Arakiya:  Unlike Arakiya, who had hoped to slip past unseen—an underhanded tactic—Al faced the Hornet head-on, and he kept fighting. And he did all this—taking on the Hornet—to protect Arakiya. “—!” She gritted her teeth and forced strength into her arms and legs.
gpt
Arakiya:  She hadn’t exactly been cut by the blow from the giant sword; it was more the impact itself that had threatened to crush the young woman. She suspected she had a number of broken bones, not to mention a range of internal injuries.
human
Arakiya:  She was using the power of the water spirit she’d ingested to speed up her recovery, but she wouldn’t heal quickly. What was more…
gpt
Hornet:  “Ding.” The Hornet said warningly, turning toward Arakiya.
human
Arakiya:  Even as she’d been fighting with Al, she’d been keeping track of what Arakiya was doing. If Arakiya had tried to make a break for the control tower, the Hornet would no doubt have broken off her fight to stop her. And as much as she hated to admit it, unlike Al, Arakiya couldn’t fathom any way to dodge such an attack. She would be buried by the blow, and there would have been no point to Al’s jumping out to help her. So what was there that Arakiya could do?