Still willing to continue the duel, another pair of the noble’s lackeys stepped forward.

“Bastards…!” one of them growled. “Don’t you dare look down on us!”

Saying nothing in response, Sigulf simply got back to his fighting stance. On the other hand, Alba taunted them while tapping her claymore on the ground.

“I’m not even looking on you guys. I’m looking at the joker backing you!”

“Why you…!”

Losing their temper, the noble’s underlings charged towards Sigulf and Alba. A loud clang could be heard as Alba blocked with her claymore, stopping them in their tracks.

“Hee… You guys are a bit faster than I thought.”

“I told you don’t underestimate— Oof!!”

“Battle point, down by 15%.”

Much faster than they can imagine, Sigulf circled around them before striking with a spinning slash from Alba’s left side, sending both of the lackeys sliding on the ground at the same time.

“Hey, now! I know you got super fast and all, but that’s just rude!” Alba protested.

“Don’t care. I’ll finish this fast and get at him.” Sigulf replied bluntly.

“Chee… No fun.”

As they engaged in a small banter, one of their enemies suddenly got up on his feet and attacks once more.

“Whoa!” Alba exclaimed as she managed to block on time.

“Quit fucking around!!” her opponent shouted.

“Oh, what’s this? You talked shit first, and now you’re demanding some respect? As if!”

Kicking her claymore, Alba knocked the lackey back and breaking his guard.

“Shi—“

Alba strengthened her grip, and seeing her opponent are now wide open, she thrusts her claymore forward.

“There!”

“Gahh…!!”

The thrust from the Braveheart sent the boy rolling.

“Battle point, down by 20%.”

Meanwhile, the other lackey finally got up, his legs still a bit shaky.

‘Dammit! I know they are A-class duelists, but…!’

The boy straightened his stance.

“I won’t lose against lowborns like you!”

Seeing her opponent charged again, Alba sighed while she raised her claymore.

“Talk about predictable.”

With full force, she brought the Braveheart down… only to hit empty air.

“Oh…?”

The boy made a feint at the last moment, successfully avoiding Alba’s strike.

“I know you’re going for that! And now…!”

He jumped in towards the defenseless Alba, ready to strike with his sword.

“Oi.”

“Eh— Aargh!?”

“Battle point, down by 15%.”

Sigulf quickly intercepted and sent the lackey flying with a swing from his axe.

“…they actually forgot I’m still here?” Sigulf sighed.

“Hah, I knew you’d cover me.” Alba added.

“…no, you didn’t.”

“What, are you saying I screwed up?”

“Looked like that to me.”

The two continued while slowly advancing towards their opponents. The noble’s men, meanwhile, managed to stand up with some difficulty.

‘Dammit, treating this like some game…!’ they furiously thought.

The lackeys looked at each other, nodded, and then charged again towards the Sigulf-Alba duo.

“Oh, here they come.” Alba said non-chalantly as she realized the situation.

Sigulf and Alba braced themselves for the clash, but all of a sudden, one of the lackeys gained speed and dashed past them.

‘What are they trying to pull?’ Sigulf thought as his eyes followed him.

Meanwhile, the other lackey simply braked. Alba, being preoccupied with this one, raised her sword.

‘Is it another feint? Then—‘

“You’re wide open!”

“!?”

Instead of moving sideways or jumping away, the boy dashed right towards her.

“Guh…!”

His sword struck Alba, knocking her backwards.

Bump.

“Wha—“

She inadvertently knocked Sigulf off his balance.

“I’ve been waiting for this!”

The other boy does a 360 and hit both Sigulf and Alba with his sword, knocking both of them aside.

“Gah…!”

“Kyah!”

“Battle points, down by 30%.”

‘Tch, blindsided like this…!’

Both Sigulf and Alba managed to do an emergency roll. The lackeys, meanwhile, gave a smug smirk towards the now crouching duo.

“How’s that!? I told you not to underestimate your superiors!”

“Heh, I wonder about that! Probably just a fluke!” Alba retorted.

Sigulf simply shook his head.

‘Should I release Dromi here? …no, too soon.’ He thought.

Sigulf stood up and got back into his fighting stance.

‘They are probably right. We took them too lightly. Plus considering that last one, they probably have some experience as a team. Or at least, fought each other well enough. While I…’

Sigulf glanced towards Alba who got up as well, looking fired up.

‘Got paired with someone I just met.’

“Alright, no more games!” Alba exclaimed. “Time to—“

“Hunter.”

“Eh, what?”

“Don’t charge alone.”

“…you have a plan?” she asked in a lower voice.

“No.”

Alba nearly faceplanted. “Then what are y—“

“I said, stop messing around!!”

“Whoa!”

The lackeys suddenly attacked, though Sigulf and Alba managed to jump away. Clicking his tongue, one of the lackeys pressed on with his attack, forcing Alba to defend, while the other boy pursued Sigulf.

“Come on, come on! Where did that arrogance of yours go!?” the noble’s underling taunted in-between his attacks.

‘Don’t charge alone?’ Alba thought while defending. ‘I guess he wants us to coordinate our attacks? That sounds deceptively simple…’

Taking a glance, she noticed that Sigulf himself is being pushed back, forced to either evade or block the attacks.

“What’s the matter, village boy!? Too scared to even strike back!?”

Sigulf ignored his opponent’s provocation while being pushed further towards Alba.

‘This is…!’ Alba realized something. ‘They are planning to flank us like before!’

“Don’t look around, bitch!”

“Tch…!”

Alba barely managed to block his sword.

‘I don’t know what he’s thinking… But on this situation, I can only try…!’

Both Sigulf and Alba are being pushed further and further, making the lackeys intensify their attacks.

“It’s over, punks! Grovel before your superiors!”

Both of the noble’s men then lunged forward, forcing Sigulf and Alba to block.

“Sig-kun, no!” Yuu exclaimed from the sidelines.

“I know.”

“!?”

The lackey’s grin suddenly disappeared at Sigulf’s words. Before he and Alba bumped at each other, both of them suddenly stopped blocking and jumped sideways at the last moment instead; essentially, pulling the lackey’s force towards each other.

“Sh—“

A loud thud could be heard as the boys knocked their heads against each other. Not willing to waste the chance, Sigulf and Alba quickly turned around and charged towards the still dazed lackeys.

“Now you are wide open!!” Alba shouted as she, and Sigulf, brought their weapons down with full strength.

“Gwah…!!”

Their opponents got slammed hard against the ground with a loud crash.

“Those idiots!” the noble cursed. “How…!?”

One of the lackeys struggled to get up, only to see Sigulf and Alba staring down at him, with their True Arms raised.

“Hunt’s over.”

“Try again next time!”

Without giving them the chance to even get up, Sigulf and Alba unleashed a relentless storm of blades, effectively ending the duel.

“Battle points, 0. Cannot continue duel.” The system announced. Yuu sighed out of relief.

“So this is how they fight…” Arthfael muttered, still watching the duel.

The noble now looked less furious and more horrified as Sigulf and Alba are finally done with their rampage.

“Is this you wanted us to do?” Alba asked Sigulf casually. “Using their own tricks against them? That’s pretty neat, if I must say!”

“Actually, no. That wasn’t the case.”

“Eh? Then—“

“I actually wanted to say ‘coordinate our attacks’. Even brute force can be much better if it’s well-coordinated.”

“…so that last one was—“

“…yeah, that was a spur of the moment.”

Alba groaned at the revelation.

“Well, with that out of the way…” Sigulf continued, pointing his axe towards the noble. “We can try to practice coordinated brute force on him, now.”

“Heh, I suppose you’re right!” Alba added, getting into her combat stance.

“Y, you uncivilized barbarians!” the noble retorted. “Just what do you think you are doing!?”

“Backing off, aren’t ya? After all the nonsense you said…!” Alba returned.

‘Ugh, they are much stronger than I anticipated…!’ he thought. ‘But…!’

“I, I’m not running away! I shall set an example on how lowborns should bow before us, the nobility!”

“Whoa, that’s bit admirable.” Alba commented. “Putting the shitty motive aside, that is.”

“You! Fight alongside me!”

The remaining lackey looks surprised, but complied at his order nonetheless.

“Finally.” Sigulf muttered. “Time to end this freakshow.”

“You lowly peasants!” the noble exclaimed after he and his partner done summoning their weapons. “I’ll make sure you learn to know your place!”