— And yet, what happened to necessitate a duel? — Edmund asked me.

— Nothing much really. Just threats, insults, disrespect for a high aristocrat, and harassment of my maids by this rakshasa. — I replied calmly.

Frowning, he looked first at the kitten, then at my maids, pausing slightly at Miki, and then back at the kitten. He seemed to realize what had happened, and he didn't like it.

— I think I have a rough idea of what happened, and I apologize for my servant. I cannot forbid this duel, but I ask you to be lenient with Ururuk. He is still very young and has hot blood that drives him to rash behavior.

Ah, that's right. That was his name. It took a lot of effort for me to hold back my laughter and not change my expression, but I managed. Ururuk, man! You had to name a baby with a pigeon sound! I'm serious, his name is pronounced like a pigeon chirping.

— Don't worry, Sir Edmund, I'm not going to kill or even maim him. I'm only going to show the kitten his place, and that there's no need to hiss at the mountain, because the mountain may respond. Unless... — I stopped talking, and smirked sadistically. — He wouldn't get any bodily harm from me, except a slap on the head.

I said it with the most honest expression, but the margrave did not believe me. And he should have, because all I really meant to do was slap him. And humiliate him... Just a little bit...

— In that case, what are the terms of the duel? — Gralvin addressed me.

— Till death, or-r-r lose consciousness of the opponent! — Ururuk intervened in our conversation. - And without using attack magic!

The Margrave looked at me questioningly, and I just nodded. He just sighed and announced the start of the duel.

— If both sides agree to these terms, then I will be the referee. Any objections? — No one said anything. — In that case, duelists! Stand back to back! Move 5 meters apart from each other! Ready!

— All right, kitten. Ready to dance? — I smirked, choosing which song to play.

— You won't be laughing much longer-r-r, bitch. — The rakshasa smiled bloodthirstily, thinking he'd already won.

— Start! — shouted Edmund.

Well, we have started. The rakshasa started using body-strengthening skills and spells, and I just snapped my fingers for show and put my hands behind my back. As the music played, I smiled and closed my eyes walking straight towards the rakshasa.

Creating a small heel and toe on my sandals using earth magic, I started tapping my feet to the rhythm of the tune, beginning to dance something remotely resembling an Irish tap dance with my footwork.

At the same time the rakshasa rushed at me attacking simultaneously with all four sabers. But I didn't lose my rhythm or even accelerate, and I easily dodged it with a slight turn of the body and a step to the side. Meanwhile, in the song, in addition to the sounds of percussion instruments, the sounds of bass winds played, and I began to sing.

The lyrics were in the style of the gnomes, about military campaigns, gold and alcohol. About harmful dragons, women and alcohol. About mines, steel and alcohol. All in all, a typical fun gnomes song.

The music consisted of different instruments, different eras, and even different worlds. The motif reminded me of an Orcs shaman's kamlel when they speak to the spirits of the tribe.

The percussion combined the sounds of huge Orcs war kettledrums and Japanese taiko.

The winds had both the almost imperceptible sounds of the flute and the body-shaking bass of gnomes horns.

And if the elves who taught me the elven "magic of music" had heard this tune, they would have been proud that I had fully internalized their lessons and even improved upon them.

About halfway through the song, I stopped paying attention to the kitten's fluttering and began to enter a musical trance, continuing to sing and dance. And it was better than my most vivid sex.

I rarely managed to catch such a state, but if I did, then nothing could stop me in my desire to create, and it was in this state that my best masterpieces were born.

I'm sure that even in spite of the apocalypse, these songs will be popular for many centuries to come.

Thinking about the apocalypse, I began to change the melody and lyrics. My dance became slower, but much more aggressive. The sabers of the rakshasa, cutting through the air near me, began to move to the beat I set, adding to the composition.

The sounds of rifles, lasers, and machine guns firing appeared. The sound of blades clashing against each other. Muffled shouts of commanders and the cracking of bones of attacking skeletons. Exploding grenades, tank shots, flying airplanes, screams of pain and despair formed an absurd picture of a massacre where the living had no place.

I may not know how modern wars should be fought, but vague images from documentaries about world wars, and my personal experience in the war with the undead did their job creating the most fierce battlefield.

The music was filled with despair, rage, fear, hatred, and the desire to protect those who are behind your back. Wives and husbands, children and parents, brothers and sisters. Your home, your world.

I kept singing and dancing. Kept dragging out the melody as long as I could. But the end still came, ran out of words, stopped dancing and finished playing the last chord. The living had lost to the dead. The warrior failed to protect what he held dearer than life. Everyone died.

I stood there trying to recover from the most powerful trance of my life. Tears streamed through my still-closed eyes, and blood flowed from my clenched fists. It was only after ten minutes that I was able to calm down and open my eyes.

As I expected, all the people present near the main arena of the fortress, which was several hundred, stood with glazed eyes from which waterfalls of tears flowed, and with clenched fists.

Having carefully examined all of them, I realized that it was the first time they were exposed to the "magic of elves", and that if nothing is done, they will return to normal condition only in a couple of hours. And not to wait so long, I just went to the kitten, and gave him a powerful slap, which thundered through the silent room.

— That's it! The concert is over! No autographs, no encores! Don't even ask. — I said loudly, not hiding the fatigue in my voice, and noticed how the most stable ones came to their senses.

— W-what was that? — The stuttering rakshasa who had come with Gralvin asked quietly.

— That? Just a sudden burst of inspiration. — I sighed. — If only I could summon them consciously, I'd have been impotent a long time ago. — I smirked sadly at the end.

— N-No. That's not what I mean. I felt so... I can't even explain it. It was like I was transported to another world, and I was fighting. It seemed so real, but now all I can remember are the sensations. And emotions... — the adult cat became silent.

Leaving him in a daze to remember what he felt, I walked over to the maids and gave them all a click. It was necessary for them to come to their senses.

— I'm tired, and I want to rest in my room until dinner. Come on. — I caught their meaningful glances and waved my head toward the exit. — Sir Edmund, the kitten is unconscious and can't fight, so I'll take it as his loss. The maids and I will now retire to my chambers, from which I don't plan to leave until after dinner. See you later.

Tiredly waving my hand to the Margrave, and not paying attention to him anymore, I followed Miki and Momiji while Gerda and Illya walked behind me. Haa...

Even though I wasn't tired physically, mentally I felt like a squeezed lemon. As usual, my musical trance had drained me of all my thoughts and emotions, leaving me feeling empty and indifferent.

Well, I memorized the song and the melody, so the other stuff didn't matter…

Fortress…
"The Grand Arena”…
A few minutes after Emilia left…

Margrave Edmund Gralvin was a warrior to the core, and instead of increasing political power at various events or increasing his family's wealth, he preferred to hunt monsters, train, and relax with his family. Basically all the men of their family were of similar characters, and so they had almost no conflicts with anyone from the rest of the nobles.

So when his only wife was killed by someone unknown to him and for unknown reasons, he went into a beastly rage. At that time, he was simply flooded with rage and grief at the loss of his beloved wife, and wanted to go to war against the entire empire just to find out who was responsible for her murder. But nothing happened.

His most beloved child, his youngest daughter, pacified her father's anger and then found the culprit. Who he was, and what happened to him, no one but Edmund knew, but it didn't matter. After those events, it was as if his core had been pulled out of him, making him a faded shadow of his former self, and after his father's death, he had withdrawn from his family and gone to live on the Wall.

He had lost his way, his Spark had faded, and he saw no meaning in life. The only reason he didn't leave after his wife was for his children, and the honor of his family.

And now this calloused and aged man stood and remembered. He remembered Mother, Father, Sisters, Wife and his Kids. He remembered their family motto, he remembered what he had been taught and what he wanted. And also remembered the emotions, the same emotions he felt when he heard about his wife's death, the same emotions he had felt again just a few minutes ago.

Rage, despair, hope, hatred, sadness, and many others he hadn't felt in a couple decades. And the same rage that had nearly brought down the empire had awakened from its slumber, but now its target was not outside. Now all of that dormant rage had fallen upon Edmund himself.

He was furious at himself even more than at his wife's murderer, because he had not just turned his back on his family. Oh no, the main reason for his rage was that he had given up! And that was unforgivable. And he wasn't going to forgive himself, but he was going to redeem himself.

"Who on earth are you?" — Edmund thought. — "How could you do what my children couldn't? And what was that dream vision?" - he was the first to come to his senses since Emilia, and nothing but his red eyes reminded him that five minutes ago he had been sobbing like a little girl. Now he looked like a predator on the prowl.

— Raran. — Said Gralvin to his best friend with whom they had been close since childhood. — Make sure your son learns his lesson, and start inspecting the army. It's time to put our house in order.

— Is it r-really time for-r the old men to come back? — Elder Rakshasa asked with a smirk in his growling voice.

— You've been here yourself, and I'm sure you feel the same way. Hiding here was a mistake, even though it was the reason we met such an unusual creature. What do you think it was?

— The only magic I felt was sound magic. You know how sensitive I am, and ther-re was no magic except sound and a little of ear-rth element. Although its contr-rol and the quality of magic was at some abnor-rmal quality level. — answered probably the most atypical Master of Magic (60-70). — Also, from what I understand, she doesn't use seals to use magic.

— Really? You know, I wouldn't even be surprised if she came to us from another world. — grinned the margrave.

— Ha-ha-ha, that's a good one, Ed. Tell me she came to us fr-rom infer-rno. — said Raran sarcastically. — You know the gods have long ago isolated our-r wor-rld from invasion. So it's impossible. But she r-really is unusual.

I_H_I

Fuck, another chapter gone wrong! This is the third time I've tried to create a negative character! (╬ Ò﹏Ó) 

I was going to make the bandit town extremely negative, but I changed it while I was writing it! Then I tried to make an arrogant and arrogant aristocrat, but I got Edmund Gralvin!!! (°ㅂ°╬) 

And now! I tried to make a young rakshasa an extremely negative character who couldn't stand the humiliation during the duel and would try to kill Emilia at night, but during the writing of the chapter everything went fucked up again, and I won't be able to realize it. ＼＼٩(๑`^´๑)۶／／ 

I don't understand how this happens, and why I can't create a character specifically for Emilia to kill him! (ノ_<、) 

Eh, thank you all for reading, commenting, liking, etc. I tried this week to write chapters to spare, but I don't have time to write more than one chapter before I post the last one. (-_-;)・・・ 

Join me on Discord and on Patreon. Send me your ideas for monsters, characters, countries, and events you'd like to see in the future (it doesn't have to be 18+, you can even ask for an ordinary run-in with bandits) and I'll see you on Monday! (＾• ω •＾)