Chapter 181: A Man's Fight
Chapter 181: A Man's Fight
The Summoning War waiting room.
Jiha sat with his eyes closed in a place he hadn't visited in a long time.
He focused his mind, and Mana rose up, wrapping around his body.
It coated both arms, one leg, and half of the other.
'If I drain another Unique's blood, that should cover the rest of my leg... Then I suppose it'll be the torso.'
He could hold his own against a Unique now.
Hadn't he nearly taken Narsha's head? If Lungtao hadn't barged in, it would have been over.
"Still, having more bullets doesn't mean you automatically win a fight."
To use an analogy, Uniques and other high grades were like state-of-the-art firearms with infinite magazines. They dominated the battlefield and mass combat so overwhelmingly that they earned the title of Unique and were treated as strategic weapons.
Beings whose mere presence at a stronghold could dictate strategy.
But in a Wild West showdown—a duel where you face each other and the first to draw and fire wins—a Unique's advantage becomes nearly meaningless.
"......"
Though he'd grown incomparably stronger since acquiring Vampiric Mana, Jiha remained composed.
His next opponent was a seasoned warrior.
Lungtao was the strongest of the tiger beastmen, heavily armed with a special weapon and armor crafted by a Dirga.
Jiha's previous opponents had all been powerful, but most of them had let their guard down. They dismissed him as a Common, as a man, as a human, and paid for that carelessness with defeat, submission, and death.
Lungtao would be different. He wouldn't be careless. He would come at Jiha with everything he had.
"Hoo..."
A sense of satisfaction settled over him.
In this world of survival of the fittest and female dominance, a world he intended to upend, he'd found someone with a similar sense of purpose. And the fact that he was a broad-minded man pleased him.
Which only made him want to break him all the more.
He wanted to fight and win, fair and square, before the tens of thousands of spectators gathered today. He wanted to prove himself, to declare that he was the one who would change this world.
"Alright."
Just as Jiha, his fighting spirit honed, clenched his fist, a knock sounded.
"Do you have a moment?"
"Yeah."
At his permission, Enril opened the door and entered. He'd wondered if something had happened, but she simply closed the door behind her and looked at him cautiously.
"......"
She had the look of a woman with something to say.
The aloof black panther, holding her tongue with a prim air, looked like a woman who had something to say but was hesitating. As if realizing her attitude was a bit off, Enril quickly spoke.
"I didn't come to distract you."
"Hmm..."
Jiha, still seated, leisurely ran his eyes over Enril's body. Her combat gear, especially the assassin's outfit that fully exposed her hips, alluringly showcased her figure. The mere sight of it was enough to stir carnal desire.
Seeing the lust in Jiha's gaze, Enril blushed as if suddenly self-conscious. She lightly covered her chest with an arm and admonished him.
"...You can't. You're about to fight."
Despite her words and gesture, a subtle hint of pleasure was woven into her voice. She was secretly pleased by the male's response to her as a woman.
"What, did you come here just to seduce me?"
"I told you, that's not it. I'm not here to be a distraction."
Though Enril quickly composed her expression, Jiha gestured with a hand.
"Come here."
"...I told you, you can't."
Sexual activity consumes a tremendous amount of stamina. It was the last thing a man should do when he was about to risk his life in a fight.
Even Jiha, ever since he'd lain with Leticia, had been carefully managing his food, getting long hours of sleep, and even receiving Healing Arts to preserve his stamina.
With his duel against Lungtao imminent, any act with Enril would be self-destructive.
"Come here."
"......"
Flustered, Enril still walked toward him. Jiha stared openly at the dark elf as she approached with her hands hidden behind her back and stood before him.
This beautiful, voluptuous body that he once couldn't even touch, that he could only look at and curse, was now completely his possession.
The face of the haughty beauty standing before him was a mixture of anticipation, wanting the touch of his hand, and anxiety, knowing this was wrong.
A beauty who could drive men mad was entirely his. The prey he had won by fighting with his life on the line.
After looking his fill, Jiha nodded with satisfaction and closed his eyes.
"So, what's your business?"
"Well..."
Enril hesitated before finally managing to speak.
"Today's fight... it's over an elf, right?"
"That's how I advertised it."
Jiha was the villain who had kidnapped Leticia, and Lungtao was the righteous man stepping forward to dispense justice as the proxy of her fiancé candidate, Guason. They'd crafted an easy-to-understand story to draw a crowd, and the citizens had taken the bait completely, making it a blockbuster success.
The money riding on the outcome between Jiha and Lungtao was already close to 4 billion. It was the highest-grossing spectacle in the Summoning War's centuries-long history.
"...If you win, do you take her?"
"......"
Jiha opened his eyes and looked up at her. She must have already figured out the gist of it. Had she come to confirm?
As Jiha watched her silently, Enril lowered herself and placed a hand on his shoulder. Kneeling on one knee, she looked up at him and spoke.
"I have no intention of questioning what you do. If you want to win and claim the elf, then do so. I won't mind. It's not my place to interfere."
"......"
Enril's face showed she'd made up her mind before coming. She suddenly cast her eyes down shyly and whispered softly into Jiha's ear.
"But... will you have dinner with me tonight?"
"......"
"...And after that, you can do whatever you want."
The unexpected temptation stirred his heart. As Jiha watched her silently, Enril gave him a light kiss on the lips before pulling her head back. Seemingly embarrassed by her own words, she tried to back away shyly, but Jiha caught her wrist.
"Ah..."
Jiha stood, pulling her close, and covered her lips with his. He wrapped an arm around her slender waist and brought a hand down to firmly grab her lush hip. The soft flesh filled his grip, molding to his hand, and his blood instantly heated.
He bit her lip through the kiss and pushed his tongue inside. The woman accepted it without resistance, wrapping her arms around his head. Amused by her reaction, he squeezed her hip harder, and he felt a slight tremor run through her waist as her body grew hot.
Chuup. Tchp.
A silent kiss, indulging in each other's tongues and lips. The proud, stunningly beautiful dark elf was now actively accepting Jiha without a hint of resistance, begging for more.
"Mmm..."
After a long while of biting and sucking Enril's lips, kneading her hip with one hand and teasing her breast with the other, Jiha pulled his hands away. Below, he was already fiercely erect, aching to plunge into her right then and there.
Released from the embrace, Enril's eyes were unfocused as she let out an alluring breath. "Haa..." Jiha wiped the saliva from her lips with a fingertip, and she lowered her eyes in shame. As the man's finger left her lips, a look of unconscious regret flickered across Enril's face.
Completely tamed. A man couldn't help but feel satisfied with his own handiwork.
"Sit."
"...Huh?"
"On your knees. Place your hands on the floor."
The standing man's order. Enril, though clueless about his intent, complied. She knelt before him, placing her palms flat on the floor in a posture of total submission. That the vicious dark elf would obey so willingly filled him with deep satisfaction.
"......"
Enril, realizing that Jiha's trousers were bulging right before her eyes, grew flustered. He was obscenely aroused. This wasn't why she'd come, yet the man had become this excited just from embracing her, kissing her, and touching her. A sense of guilt for distracting him before his decisive battle... and a secret delight filled the dark elf's heart.
"...What are you doing?"
Enril's trailing voice was unconsciously laced with coquetry.
Clank, clank. Jiha unbuckled his belt without a word, pulled down his trousers, and drew out his manhood. The heavily vein-streaked shaft pressed against the woman's lips and pushed inside.
"Ahk—!"
Enril panicked at the sudden intrusion of the rod of flesh. As the thought that she shouldn't let him finish surfaced, she tried to pull back, but Jiha pressed down on her head with a growl.
"Who told you to take your hands off?"
"Ah, ub, mmph."
Enril froze stiff, then glanced up at Jiha's face. Her upturned blue eyes were colored with unease, fear, and... worry.
"Hoo, mm."
He made the absolute beauty kneel before him, thrusting his hips as he pleased, shoving his cock into her mouth and pulling it out again. Enril stayed still, her mouth open, watching Jiha's expression, clearly at a loss. She seemed to want to purse her lips around him, to bite gently, to work her tongue, yet she also fretted, knowing that she couldn't let him spill his seed and drain his energy.
"...Mm, Enril."
"Ahb, mmm."
Moaning around the cock in her mouth, Enril unconsciously squeezed her eyes shut and tightened her lips. The moment Jiha whispered her name, a sharp thrill resonated in her chest, and she was overcome with the urge to please him. She knew this was wrong, but her female instincts took over.
Schluurp.
Pleasure surged as she sucked him in. Jiha abruptly stopped and steadied his breathing, while Enril kept her lips working, sucking in short, quick bursts and tickling the glans with her tongue.
"Hoo, mmph."
As jolts of pleasure rose from his tip, Jiha pressed on Enril's head and withdrew his hips.
Schlluuurp.
The long, slow drag of his cock pulling out.
"Hak, haaahk. Mmm..."
Enril instinctively leaned her head forward, trying to catch the retreating member with her lips, but Jiha held her head back. She flinched, like a predator brought to a halt right before its prey, utterly restless.
Right before her eyes, the rod of flesh, glistening obscenely with her saliva, bobbed. The cock, freshly pulled from the beauty's lips, was still connected to them by a long bridge of saliva.
"Ha, ah. Hoo..."
With each of Enril's ragged breaths, her lush breasts rose and fell... until the strand of saliva broke. Her head still pressed down, Enril fidgeted on her knees, a look of pure frustration on her face. If only Jiha hadn't stopped her, she would have taken it back into her mouth.
"That's enough."
"......"
But Jiha simply tucked his cock back into his underwear and pulled up his trousers. At this abrupt ending, Enril looked up at him with a mixture of resentment and confusion. To stop so suddenly, just when things were getting serious. Had she done something to upset him?
Looking down at the silver-haired, exquisitely beautiful woman kneeling with her hands on the floor, Jiha smiled as he spoke.
"We can't do any more, can we?"
"......"
He was right. The decisive battle was imminent, and ejaculation would sap his stamina. It was a fact she already knew. Enril forcibly recomposed herself and pressed her thighs tightly together. To suppress her pounding heart and the desperate urge to quench her body's thirst right now.
At that, Jiha gently stroked Enril's head.
"We'll continue after I return."
It was a fine encouragement gift. As Jiha headed for the waiting room door, he clenched his fist. To fight another male, win, and return to savor the finest female. His male instinct for combat was perfectly ignited. He would win, no matter what.
Lungtao's waiting room.
Lungtao sat with his eyes closed while his followers maintained a respectful silence.
"It's time."
At the voice from outside, Lungtao extended his hand to the side. An escort guard waiting with a cup promptly presented it. A drink before a great battle was Lungtao's personal ritual. The fact that he performed this rite for a one-on-one duel meant that he recognized Jiha as a strong enemy—the greatest of enemies.
"......"
But the face of the guard offering the cup was strangely pale.
"What is it, Pawell?"
"N-no, it's nothing."
"......"
The human guard who had followed him for fifteen years had a stiff expression. As Lungtao silently watched him, Pawell's face grew even more rigid.
"How is your daughter's illness these days?"
"Ah, well..."
Pawell fumbled, unable to give a proper answer. That alone told Lungtao everything. Belatedly, Pawell opened his mouth.
"Th-this can't..."
"I forgive you once."
Lungtao drained the cup in one gulp and stood. Pawell's face was a mask of horror. The other guards, too, belatedly realized that something was amiss, but Lungtao paid them no mind. A fight awaited him. With the duel against the man he acknowledged before him, everything else was utterly trivial in this moment.
He would burn everything to ash.
The arena.
The circular arena was packed with spectators. A duel between the wicked human Jiha, who had orchestrated the kidnapping and negotiation over Unique Leticia's whereabouts and betrothal, and the tiger beastman Lungtao, who had stepped forward in righteous indignation. The citizens of Waris, captivated by the story, had scrambled to get in. Scalped tickets had been sold for dozens of times their face value, a chaotic frenzy of people desperately trying to enter the stadium by any means.
"I've never seen anything like this..."
Ruby, the rabbit beastman who had served as the Summoning War's host for years, was taken aback. She had been a commentator for a long time, but this was a first. She couldn't shake the baseless feeling that this fight was no mere duel, that it would become a turning point that would overturn the world.
"Now then, the Summoning War reopens after a long hiatus! And today's fight is different! It's a special designated match, where a specific opponent is challenged! The man who single-handedly revised the rules of the Summoning War himself declared it: let anyone who dares challenge him step forward!"
The crowd roared in response to Ruby's words. The fight they had all been waiting for was finally about to begin.
"The man who changed the rules of the Summoning War! The heinous villain who kidnapped the lovely elf Leticia Yormun! Blue Seal's Common, Jiha!!"
As Ruby's introduction continued, Jiha walked out onto the arena floor.
"Ooooooh!!"
"Waaaaaah!!"
The mixed jeers and cheers from the crowd caught Jiha slightly off guard. He'd expected nothing but boos, but the reaction was more favorable than he'd anticipated. 'Huh, so this is the power of romance...'
The world doesn't only sing the praises of heroes. Sometimes, even villains are worshipped. Besides, Jiha's recent fights in the public eye had gradually been making his name known among the citizens of Waris. Most of those battles had been for the sake of Waris itself. Even though Jiha had deliberately packaged himself as the villain in this story, some were interpreting it as a tragic romance—a man who couldn't suppress his deep affection for the elf Leticia and had no choice but to abduct her.
Surprised by the cheers exceeding his expectations, Jiha walked to the center of the arena and stood. The shouting voices gradually died down as he moved, the spectators holding their breath in anticipation.
"And next, the tiger among tigers! The Captain of the Escort Guard for Dirga Narsha Russellarms! A hero renowned throughout the lands of Warsland, who could not stomach this injustice and has stepped forth in this place today! Lungtao!!"
At Ruby's call, the gate opened and Lungtao slowly walked out.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
"Lungtao!"
"Do your best! Win!"
"Kill him!"
The spectators who disliked Jiha fervently cheered for Lungtao. With his tiger head, Lungtao had an imposing, dignified air that made him easy to like.
Walking out calmly amidst the cheers, Lungtao approached Jiha. As the human and the tiger drew closer, the roaring crowd noise subsided in an instant.
They stopped at a distance of three paces—close enough to touch. The two men faced each other.
With mutual grins, the men moved unhesitatingly toward each other. Close enough that a punch could land.