The Sacred Duel for the Chieftain
Crack! Bendan Kru stretched his body. He tossed aside the cloak that draped over him, the mantle symbolizing him as king of the Crui Tribe, which fell to the ground. With it came the bulging reveal of Bendan Kru's muscles. Etched into his flesh were tattoos drawn in vivid red blood.
"That incantation... it's been a while since I've seen it."
"Incantations I researched to defeat you."
With those words, Bendan Kru yanked out the massive greatsword plunged beside the throne—a blade taller than a man. He swung it around one-handed, far larger than his own body.
"Priest!"
"Yes."
"Preside over this sacred duel from now on."
"Understood."
The shaman, clad in fur leather with tattoos different from Bendan Kru's, nodded.
"The duel between Crui Tribe chieftain Bendan Kru and his daughter Baekseol—to decide who holds the mantle of traditional leadership—shall now begin!"
The shaman's mana-infused shout drew the gathered villagers one by one, then in droves. The largest nomadic people swelled the crowd in an instant: hundreds, no, thousands of spectators.
"I won't go down as easily as before."
With Bendan Kru's declaration.
Ziiing! Heat surged from his entire body. White steam rose from Bendan Kru's form. At the same time, light began emanating from the tattoos etched across his skin.
Meanwhile, I rapidly chanted my spell.
-Fireball. Sixfold stack.
Sixty-four fireballs blanketed the sky in a heartbeat.
"Brutal from the start."
No sooner had Bendan Kru spoken than.
Whoooosh! The completed fireballs rained endlessly toward him.
"Tch!"
Bendan Kru slammed his greatsword straight ahead. Using it as a shield, he deflected the onslaught. Sizzling flames engulfed him, but his body emerged unscathed save for faint scorch marks.
"Too bad—it won't work anymore."
Bendan Kru chuckled lowly.
"A new incantation effect, I see."
"Thanks to you, I realized I needed defenses against magic."
Bendan Kru laughed again. The Crui Tribe, rarely encountering magic, had low resistance. One of those tattoos must enhance magic resistance.
Troublesome.
A naturally tough Crui Tribe body bolstered by magic resistance. A real pain.
As the flames subsided.
"Is that all? Not as impressive as I thought!"
Bendan Kru launched himself forward.
"We'll see."
At his landing spot, I cast.
-Bind.
"Pathetic!"
Thwack! He kicked away the roots surging to snare his ankles.
"Morris Dmitry!"
The massive greatsword bore down on me at impossible speed. But.
Whoosh!
"Tch!"
I slipped behind him with a short-range Blink spell.
"Since you've prepared so well, I should return the favor with a gift."
Rumble rumble rumble! I snapped my fingers, and the ground shook violently. An earthquake spell to halt his leaps.
"I don't know what you're planning, but..."
Boom!
Bendan Kru kicked off the earth, soaring skyward.
"It won't work on me!"
Airborne, he hurtled toward me like a meteor.
"Tch."
Not that either. I snapped again, erecting a barrier.
-Barrier. Eightfold stack.
A translucent mana wall divided us.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
He shattered three layers, but that was it.
"You bastard!"
Kaboom! Bendan Kru, clinging to the barrier, swung again. Mana and steel clashed, unleashing a massive shockwave.
"Gah!"
Some spectators flew back from the blast.
Bendan Kru struck repeatedly, but the fourth barrier held.
"Is that all? Disappointing."
"What?"
Bendan Kru couldn't finish his retort.
Boom!
"Gurk!"
He was flung backward from atop the barrier.
-Air Boom.
A spell detonating air for a shockwave attack. Unlike pure magic blasts, it carried physical force from the explosion. Magic resistance meant nothing.
"Did you think those spells could block all my magic?"
-Ice Spear.
Ice crystals gathered, forming a massive spear.
"There are countless spells with physical force. So..."
I hurled the spear at the bracing Bendan Kru.
"From here on, steel yourself."
The colossal ice spear, forged in northern extremes. Bendan Kru swung to block.
Crack! Chips flew from the blade that shattered the ice.
"What the—?"
Bendan Kru's eyes widened like saucers. Impossible. This sword symbolized the chieftain, forged from northern steel. Exaggeration aside, it could grind rocks unscathed. And now it was chipped—from one ice spear!
"Didn't I say? Steel yourself."
I smirked. Clear mockery.
Grind! Bendan Kru gnashed his teeth.
How much preparation for this fight? Dozens, hundreds of shamans etched incantations into his flesh: nullifying magic, bolstering his body. Yet even with them.
His sword hadn't touched me. Look at that smug face. Was that a fighter's expression?
"Mocking me?"
"Of course. Admirable effort, but no reward."
"You son of a—!"
Whoosh! No hit.
Whoosh! Again.
Whoooosh! No matter how he swung, his blade never reached me.
"You dog!"
Not even overwhelmingly powerful spells. Fireball, Bind, Ice Spear—basic fare any mage could cast. Yet Bendan Kru felt the wall. An insurmountable barrier.
No way through.
Unlike last time, no retreat without resolution. A duel for chieftaincy, under thousands of eyes. Backing down? Impossible. Defeat meant losing his seat, all glory gone.
He couldn't lose. As the Crui Tribe's absolute ruler. As the warrior who'd prided himself strongest.
This defeat was unacceptable.
Baekseol... that damned wench.
The daughter he'd sent to seduce me, bear my seed—betrayed tribe and house. Rage boiled over. Betrayal stabbed his chest; he bit down hard.
"I'll smash you all."
Bendan Kru's body swelled. Red glow in his eyes. His breath reeked foully. Crimson tattoos darkened to black-red.
Innate True Qi. He staked everything on this fight.
"I'll kill youuuu!!"
He charged me.
***
"Cough, cough."
Bendan Kru sprawled, vomiting blood. A pitiful sight. Severed right arm rolling on the ground, wounds gushing everywhere, proud muscles deflated like punctured balloons. Backlash from exhausting his Innate True Qi.
His sword lay plunged far off.
Silence blanketed the area. Only his ragged gasps filled the village.
"Gurk... I... lost. Kill me now."
I looked down wordlessly. A grueling fight. My clothes shredded. I bore gashes from his blade here and there. Perilous, but victory was mine.
A shame.
If an ally, he'd carve enemies at the vanguard. But unallied? Better crushed.
Eliminate potential threats.
I glanced at the presiding priest.
"No result yet? Must I sever his head to claim victory?"
I formed an ice blade as I spoke. At my casual throat-slitting remark, the priest blurted.
"The duel is decided! Winner: Morris, proxy for Lady Baekseol! Thus, Crui Tribe chieftain is..."
"Stop!"
Bendan Kru shouted. He staggered up, halting the priest.
"How... can a wench who sends a proxy instead of fighting become chieftain? I won't accept this."
Gasping, he shuffled toward his grounded sword.
"The fight isn't over."
He tried lifting it with his remaining left arm. It didn't budge.
"Bendan Kru, it's done. You lost."
"You can't be our king. How could the empire's dog rule us?!"
"Isn't that why you sent her?"
I approached Baekseol, watching nearby.
"Baekseol, that is."
I draped an arm over her shoulder. She glanced up, not displeased, then clung tightly.
"Arrrgh! I didn't send you for that! To fall in love and abandon tribe and house?!"
Baekseol addressed his raging scream.
"I didn't abandon the tribe. Chieftain—no, Bendan Kru now?"
"What?"
"Morris becoming king will make our tribe stronger."
"Dogshit..."
"Look around. Even you, the tribe's strongest, couldn't beat him."
"You wench! No respect for your father."
"After you sent me as a gift to Morris, I have no family. And..."
Baekseol pressed even closer.
"Isn't a woman's happiness yielding to a true man?"
Her blissful smile twisted Bendan Kru's face in fury.
"The winner... Morris! Henceforth, he is our chieftain and ruler!"
At the priest's cry, Baekseol stepped forward crisply.
"Bendan Kru."
She held the chieftain's symbolic mantle.
"I'll take this seat now, my lord."
Drained of all strength, Bendan Kru could only watch helplessly.
Baekseol tried draping the bloodied mantle over me.
"No."
"You must wear it. It's the chieftain's symbol."
"I'm not the one to wear it."
I draped it over Baekseol instead.
"You'll wear this from now on."
Draping it on her, I kissed her forehead.
"Baekseol will rule the Crui Tribe as my proxy. She holds full authority. She is the new chieftain."
I addressed the assembled.
"Any objections? Prove you can overturn my decision with strength."
No one stepped forward.
"You'll rule here from now on, Baekseol."
She stared, stunned.
"But then I won't see you, my lord?"
"No worries. Your tribe will soon cross the barrier southward. And..."
I whispered so only she heard.
"I'll stay by your side until the deadline, so you won't miss me."
Her face flushed hot.
"By victorious Morris's decree, Baekseol is proclaimed rightful heir."
With the priest's words, Baekseol became Crui Tribe chieftain.
"Now, Chieftain. What to do with him?"
"..."
Baekseol looked down at Bendan Kru. She issued her first command to the warriors.
"Drive him from the village."
"But he's your father, Chieftain?"
"No. He's nothing to me now. Since he sent me to the empire."
Her voice cut sharp as northern frost.
"I'm your father!! The one who birthed and raised you!"
Baekseol didn't even glance at his wail.
"Arrrghhh!!!"
His screams faded as warriors dragged him away.
Baekseol wrapped her arms around my neck.
"Affection here?"
"Why not? They daren't speak against me now."
"You've changed. Since that day."
I recalled her time with Lilith.
"Don't you like it?"
"No. I do."
Her honesty pleased me. I caressed her ear. Her soft lobe reddened her cheeks.
"Wait a moment? I have business. In the chieftain's tent."
"A kiss, and I'll allow it, my lord."
Before I could reply, she kissed me.
***
"I... will tear you all apart."
Bendan Kru limped through the snow. Better alive than dead.
"They don't know."
Our ancient relic could restore a body drained of Innate True Qi, per legend.
"They think me done for."
Regain strength, snap Baekseol's neck, reclaim the throne, then unleash troops on Morris. Sacred duel? Even he couldn't beat numbers.
"Heh heh, heh heh heh. No mercy..."
Imagining Morris kneeling, begging—I laughed like a madman.
"That amusing?"
"What?"
It was me.
"Seemed like words you shouldn't utter."
"Wh-where?!"
"Space means nothing to a mage, apparently you didn't know."
"I've lost everything. What now..."
My cold gaze pierced Bendan Kru.
"Baekseol too soft to kill her father herself."
"Wh-what?"
"So I came to tie up loose ends."
"You wouldn't."
"I would."
Mana rippled in my hand.
"Think I'll die like this?!"
For this final moment, he drew his hidden dagger, stabbing at me.
Stab!
"Gurk!"
My throat—casting a spell—pierced through. Blood fountained.
I looked up at the illusion and him, disbelieving.
"Wh-what..."
My bloodshot eyes on him, I collapsed.
"Hah... hahaha... Did I... win?"
He staggered, prodding my body. No response.
In the northern chill, I swiftly cooled to a corpse.
"I did it. I did..."
Now, kill that wench Baekseol. Reclaim the throne.
"Heh heh heh, heh heh heh heh. I did it. So easy—why'd I ever leave? Heh heh heh."
Bendan Kru rose unsteadily. He trudged back to the Crui Tribe village, slowly, surely. Laughing vacantly.
***
"Heh... heh heh heh... Heh heh heh heh."
I looked down at Bendan Kru, sprawled and giggling senselessly. The once-mighty northern conqueror crumbling. A tragic sight, but.
"Necessary sacrifice for Baekseol to truly claim chieftaincy."
I reviewed the spell I'd just cast. A charm spell showing the foe their deepest desire as a dreamlike hallucination. So realistic, they feel no death even as it comes.
Found in Lilith's dungeon. Tested on Bendan Kru—better than expected.
But useless in combat.
So I concluded on the dream spell.
Bendan Kru writhed on the ground, laughing. What illusion did he see?
"Sweet dreams? Laughing well."