Episode 9

Chris didn't deny the warning either.

"If we fight with all our might, of course I won't be able to beat you, vice-captain. But are you going to give it your all? "A high-ranking person from the family is against a fool like me?"

"… … ."

"The magic energy that can be used is up to 1 star, and curses are prohibited. Let's compete with that. "If you're not confident that you can win with 1 star, would you mind raising it to 2 stars?"

Melin burst out laughing.

That bastard is now taunting me by saying that if I just use 1 star magic, he will be able to win.

A whopping 4 stars.

That too, to her, who is a demon of the 4th level.

"She doesn't even need 1 star. Let's only use half of it. "I only use the basic 'mud swordsmanship' technique."

Tight.

She tied her hair up.

"Instead, after the duel is over, I will break both your legs for insulting me."

It wasn't a threat.

It will be implemented exactly as it is.

At least he stopped short of breaking her collateral, since it was her Dark Maga bloodline. If someone else had provoked her like this, she wouldn't have tried to end it like this.

But Chris continued to laugh until the end.

"If I lose a duel, so be it. But I think you need to think about what you will do even if the vice-captain loses?"

"!!"

"I don't think I'll lose."

Melin laughed an unknown number of times.

I couldn't decide whether I should be angry or embarrassed by the crazy sound of that thunderbolt.

"If you win, I'll do anything you ask. "Any request."

"I think that's a bit of a dangerous condition?"

"are you okay. "Any conditions."

Faaah!

Melin's body accelerated momentarily.

She struck Chris with the sheath of her sword.

Wow!

She whispered coldly, looking at Chris who barely defended her.

"You won't be able to walk back from here today anyway."

* ? ?* ? ?*

bouncer.

Melin thought.

Now I know for sure that he has great talent.

Perhaps his talent may be comparable to that of Prince 'Esched de Baron', who is considered the successor to the original family.

Talent enough to be arrogant.

But that's it.

It is difficult to be arrogant and ignorant of the topic.

'The most necessary virtue for a demon is understanding the topic. If you want to live a long time.'

The society of powerful, self-respecting demons was not without order.

On the contrary, there were strict rules.

It is submission to the strong.

By that standard, Christian's current actions were nothing more than a reckless act of foolishness.

'I need to change my habits. Count Kazar has a lot to be thankful for, so it might be a good idea to take this opportunity to return the favor.'

She planned to thoroughly 'educate' Christian today.

So that she never again acts like a monkey and can't understand a topic like she did today.

Even that damn bastard will thank her later.

'I need to teach you how to bow your head to the strong.'

The method was simple.

You just have to lose.

If you get hit as much as you can, you will automatically develop respect for the strong.

With that in mind, she swung the sheath again.

A considerable amount of time has passed.

The duel proceeded with Melin attacking unilaterally and Chris barely defending himself.

All the horsemen watching thought that victory or defeat would come soon.

'As expected, I'm no match for him.'

'Still, you last quite a long time against the vice-captain.'

'Is talent real?'

The Mines gave Chris an admiring look when he lasted longer than expected.

But that's okay.

That damn bastard will fall down soon.

So, soon.

soon.

however… That moment never came.

"!!"

Melin's face hardened.

Something was strange.

It was clearly no match for his skills, but strangely the attack did not reach him.

Melin felt a sense of déjà vu.

Same thing with Tern… Even during the duel a little while ago... Wasn't it like this?

Chris grinned.

"It seems like something isn't going as planned."

"!!"

"Vice-captain too… "It seems like it's not as big a deal as I thought."

Melin's face lit up with anger.

It was an insult she had not heard since she reached a certain level.

She was furious and gritted her teeth.

I was planning to take down that annoying bastard like a mosquito at once.

The magical energy that rose from the core headed towards the sword sheath.

Mud slam, one of the strongest attacks among mud sword techniques.

As promised, it was only about half of a 1-star magical energy.

It's not a large amount, but it should be enough to subdue that damn bastard.

However, with her strong will, a problem arose with her posture.

Some of the movements have become larger.

A mistake she wasn't even aware of.

No, maybe it wasn't a mistake.

Even though the motion increased, it wasn't a big difference, and generally it wasn't a problem.

But unfortunately for her, Christian, or more precisely, the person inside him, was not an ordinary being.

A genius worthy of admiration from the warrior.

I didn't miss that gap.

Above all, he had mastered the mud sword technique in detail in just a few days.

He knew very well what gaps were created when he hit the mud.

Chris didn't miss the opportunity and dug inside.

"!!"

She was taken aback by her unexpected narrowness.

The distance between each other has changed.

Then the offense had to change too.

The problem is that she just moved a lot.

There was also a slight delay in changing movements.

Chris didn't miss that gap either.

He knew this was an opportunity that would never come again. If he missed this opportunity, he could never win.

So he made a bold move.

The magical energy from his core spread out into his body.

It was still very weak, so it was impossible to strengthen the entire body.

So we strengthened only some parts.

Only the most necessary parts.

And he dug deeper into her.

"!!"

Melin was even more embarrassed by the movement.

Are you coming further in? If this happens, the opponent will not be able to swing the sword properly.

At that moment, she realized Chris's intentions.

'no way?'

But it was late.

The explanation was long, but it was only as brief as the blink of an eye, and it was too much for her to change her movements after being caught off guard.

As a result,

Wow!!

Chris's forehead hit the bridge of her nose.

It was a headbutt strengthened with demonic energy.

* ? ?* ? ?*

The hall became quiet.

It was a silence I don't know how many times.

Unlike before, the demons could not even open their mouths.

'now… 'How did this happen?'

'Why, vice-captain?'

From the start of the duel until now.

Chris was pushed unilaterally.

Of course she was.

Even if the use of magic energy was limited to only half of 1 star, their levels were too different.

But at some point, Chris dug inside and succeeded in headbutting the person.

Melin's clever attempt to exploit the loophole was successful, but the demons didn't have the insight to even notice it.

Chris looked at Melin with a dazed look on her face, her nose bleeding, and she smiled inwardly.

'Strictly speaking, this duel is no different from fraud.'

It was an amazing idea.

As I thought, this duel was actually Chris's intention.

'No matter how much a 4-star demon can limit his power like this, there is no way he could be my opponent. Especially, the magic swordsman.'

Magic swordsman.

It refers to a knight who uses both sword and magic.

Dark Maga has traditionally been a place where the skill is in using swords and magic at the same time.

While mainly learning the sword, I used various black magic as an aid.

The Black Swamp Knights were a group with a reputation for being particularly adept at using 'curse' magic among black magic, and sealing the 'curse' was like fighting with one hand and one leg tied.

If Melin was a demon who focused purely on swordsmanship, Chris wouldn't have been able to catch her off guard so easily.

'If you just look at the level of swordsmanship, I think it's about 3 stars. The individual achievements of magic swordsmen are bound to fall compared to the level they have achieved.'

Of course, even if that were the case, it was a great thing.

Everyone's tearing eyes proved that fact.

A mixture of astonishment, shock, confusion, and disbelief turned to look at Chris.

At that time, Melin burst out laughing.

"Ahahaha!!"

Surprisingly, it wasn't an angry face.

On the contrary, it was a smile that seemed relieved without knowing why.

She roughly wiped the blood from her nose with the back of her hand.

"I should apologize for what I said earlier. "I think I ignored you too much."

Melin raised her voice again.

She recognized Chris.

A pleasant smile also appeared on her face.

She's a boner.

It's been a long time since she met a worthy opponent, and she feels happy.

She said, 'She was sent to the collateral and was wasting time killing every day, but to find this joy.'

Any thoughts of correcting her habit disappeared.

At this moment, Melin recognized Chris as her 'enemy'.

Of course, Chris wasn't technically her opponent.

If she powers up properly, she will be no match for her at all.

But who cares?

My blood is boiling like this.

I remembered the moment when Chris was poking into her gap.

She has a crazy sense of not missing a single moment.

And the boldness of a wild beast that never misses an opportunity.

It was thrilling.

It was my first time experiencing this kind of joy recently.

"It will be different in the future. "Let's focus."

Melin licked her tongue.

His eyes became more serious than before.

But Chris shrugged her shoulders.

"I think that would be troublesome. "The game is already over."

"yes?"

"Look at the neck."

Melin was embarrassed and touched her neck.

Then she felt a faint scratch.

"when?"

"I scratched her with my fingernails while headbutting her earlier. What if my nails... "Do you know what would have happened if it had been poisoned?"

Melin was dumbfounded.

Chris was right.

she lost

"but… This… This… ."

She bit her lip.

Are you saying it was because you let your guard down?

It was an excuse that only a fool could make.

But is it really the end?

She lost so vainly?

Above all, she didn't want to let her excitement go to waste.

I wanted to have a proper sword fight with that genius.

I wanted to feel that thrill again.

In the end, she surrendered her pride.

"… "Let's go one more time."

"Hmm? "Are you not admitting defeat?"

Melin bit her lip.

She hesitated, then she answered.

"No, I admit it. "You won."

As she admitted her defeat, her stomach churned.

"But why are you being so lame?"

"So, this is…" ."

Melin blushed slightly at her embarrassment.

"… I'm asking you for a favor. Regardless of whether I win or lose, I want to have a proper sword fight with you. Instead, if you agree to the duel, I will accept any additional requests you may have."

She gave the demons an expression of disbelief at her polite request.

I can't believe that noble vice-captain is showing such a low attitude.

"Aside from losing the bet, you want to do me one more favor?"

"Yes, it is."

It was a great thing.

Two blank checks combined with the reward for winning the duel earlier.

Considering that she was a Dark Demon who was recognized in her own right even by her home family, she could see its value even more.

but.

"I don't really feel like it."

"!!"

"The right to move you twice. "What a great right that is."

Melin's face hardened.

Chris lifted the corner of her mouth.

And she spoke in a low voice.

Only Melin, standing in front, can hear it.

"I don't know if the condition is that you kneel before me."