Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: You're Dying Today...? - 3
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A life-or-death struggle had begun.
Of course, the life in question wasn't mine. For now, it was Cheshire staking her neck against Balrog staking his. But that wasn't entirely inaccurate either.
I quietly spectated their fight from stealth, right up close.
‘Actually, Cheshire isn't completely hopeless at close-quarters combat.’
Just look at the Ermetylene hammer granted to her as her main weapon.
Cheshire was fairly skilled in melee, nimbly swinging her hammer around. But that advantage was heavily blunted by her heavy armor.
Balrog swung his halberd around like whipping feathers, and Cheshire focused solely on dodging those attacks.
Kwaboom—!
A crater formed where the halberd smashed into the ground. He was certainly a powerhouse in raw strength, but sadly, a dull brain makes the body suffer terribly.
I strolled around with my hands clasped behind my back, watching the two of them.
The reason I suppressed my urge to pummel Balrog and didn't jump in to help Cheshire right away.
It wasn't because I was lazy or mean. I figured studying Balrog's attacks up close would help when dealing with the other knights too.
That's when my eyes met Cheshire's.
-Help me, nya! Help me, nya! He.lp.me.nya!
Her eyes seemed to scream that at me. We only locked gazes, but it felt like my ears were ringing noisily.
And what about Balrog's eyes, by contrast?
‘Brutish as hell.’
He had that classic brutish gaze of someone whose only gift was overwhelming power.
There was a saying about how scary it is when a stupid person clings to convictions backed by brute strength. Maybe that's why his subordinate knights feared him.
Bang! Bang! Clang!
Cheshire's dodges continued nonstop, and I etched Balrog's attack trajectories onto the canvas of my mind.
The attack paths were simple too. Identical to those Kalimans who ambushed us before, really.
Strong power, so it'll work fine—zero research into trajectories. Purely ‘brutish’ and ‘simplistic’ swings.
‘Pissing me off all of a sudden.’
Analyzing it like this, I couldn't see a single angle where I'd lose to Balrog.
Yet this bastard couldn't forgive me? Thought it was hilarious I didn't graduate the academy? Absolutely ridiculous.
I could've graduated from the academy too. If I'd had money. If there'd been just a bit more welfare for commoners.
“You're dying today.”
Finally, I threw myself into the fray.
◈
Crash!
I subtly hooked my foot in, and Balrog went tumbling spectacularly. It was a hilarious sight, like a bull tripping over nothing.
He sprang right back up, but he couldn't fully mask the bewilderment on his face.
“...What the hell?”
Balrog growled at Cheshire.
No wonder he was flustered. She'd been purely defensive this whole time, and suddenly he was the one hitting the dirt.
I spoke up in her place.
“How desperate do you have to be to trip over your own damn feet? Or did you finally get scared? Huh?”
But Balrog himself knew the truth. He hadn't tripped—not even close.
“Pulling your tricks again!”
Balrog charged me with even fiercer momentum.
If he'd been a plow bull before, now he was at least a bullfighter's target. The outcome would still be pathetic, though.
“Weren't you the one rolling tricks, Balrog?”
“......”
Whoosh! Swoosh!
Swinging his halberd with all his might left Balrog no room to even reply. I had plenty of leisure, so I kept talking.
“How the hell did a knight like you think to stuff a steel carriage full of gunpowder? When that one guy spread smoke and wailed, ‘Oh no, what about Lord Balrog's precious carriage~,’ I nearly bought it.”
I muttered as I leaped into the air, then slammed my heel into the back of Balrog's neck with a sharp crack.
Crash!
Balrog rolled across the ground once more before staggering to his feet. Whether he was fine or not, by now his subordinates would've realized their boss was losing.
Balrog still had some pride left—he hadn't resorted to anything too pathetic yet...
“I-I lost! Let's call it quits!”
Right on cue, he spat out the ugliest plea imaginable. Was begging for his life from an unforgivable foe what this guy called knightly honor?
“Nah, pass.”
I maneuvered cleverly. Keeping my path clear of Cheshire's, I only struck at angles that made it look like she was landing the rapid punches and kicks.
Since the blows were laced with mana over my body, no mere armor could block them.
“Guh—ack!”
“?”
Once the mind crumbled, the body followed suit easily enough. Balrog outright clutched his gut and dropped to his knees.
He even jabbed a finger at Cheshire and bellowed:
“K-Kill this wench! The duel’s over, but she’s still attacking!”
His knights weren't blind—they knew how pathetic their lord looked. But it was an order they couldn't defy, so they started stepping forward one by one.
‘Have they lost their minds?’
Did they think I'd just stand there?
Fat chance. I immediately drew Trivi from my belt and fired at the charging knights.
‘Explosive rounds it is.’
Recalling Ellis's instincts, infusing explosive circuits into the bullets was a breeze. I triggered them swiftly and precisely.
Kwaaang—!
The black armor hid the scorch marks well, but the knights got caught in the blasts and turned into pitch-black char.
“......”
Freezing up after watching a comrade drop to an attack they couldn't even identify? Natural progression.
These guys were only charging out of obligation anyway, so they faltered easily.
Bang! Bang! Kwaaang!
I kept blasting the ground in a line, carving out a trench-like ditch before long. The duel arena's boundaries sharpened nicely.
“Anyone who crosses this dies. Don't bother predicting how. Just know crossers die—that's the result.”
And just like that, we'd crafted a perfect dueling ground that strictly honored the distance rules.
Were only his minions spooked? Balrog himself looked speechless at the sight of knights roasted in their armor.
Balrog outright dropped his halberd to the ground. Then he blurted desperately:
“W-Wait a sec. I had no idea you had such an elite Kaliman. From today, you be Balrog. I'll step aside for you, so just spare my life.”
“Oh man, did everyone hear that? Balrog's begging to be spared. What do you all think?”
No one replied. But deep down, they had to be disappointed in their superior.
I couldn't see Balrog's face. But it was surely beet red. Shameful, yet he wanted to live somehow.
“You there.”
I lifted one of Cheshire's arms and pointed at a knight. The pointed knight snapped to attention.
“Got the knightly code memorized perfectly?”
“Yes, sir. Confident I do.”
“Does it include begging for your life after losing a duel?”
“No, sir.”
“Then what's the right move?”
“...To die.”
Exactly. That's how it should be. I nodded.
I grabbed Cheshire's arm again and swung it to point at Balrog.
“Your knights know this plain as day—why don't you? Fail the academy or something?”
“......”
Thwack! I smashed a fist into his helmet.
“This is exactly why blindly funneling nobles into the academy is a mistake. If you're gonna favor someone, include us commoners too.”
I shoved the hammer into Cheshire's hand. She immediately started hammering Balrog's helmet—clang, clang, clang.
Just enough to rattle his skull and induce a bit of nausea? Turns out Cheshire had a cruel streak.
“Hey. Balrog.”
“Yes.”
Clang, clang, clang—he answered while taking headshots. Somewhere along the way, he'd switched to polite speech.
“I'll give you one way to survive.”
“Yes.”
“Strip off all your armor, prostrate yourself buck naked, and beg. Do that, and I'll spare you.”
In truth, I had zero intention of letting Balrog live. After this level of humiliation, his own knights would take care of him.
Did he even question if I'd really spare him? Nope—he sprang into action immediately.
‘Should I just kill him?’
I pondered seriously. Seeing a naked dude would kinda be a loss for me.
Swish—
“......?”
“......!”
“...?!”
Everyone was plunged into shock.
When Balrog removed his helmet, what emerged was a girl with pale skin and brown hair.
"I'll beg like this. Please, just spare my life..."
Her voice was unmistakably a girl's too.
"I beg you like this..."
And that beauty was currently stripping off her clothes one piece at a time.