The Catfight at the Engagement Ceremony
The madness of the half-elf and the vampire who had tried to burn down the engagement hall was still fresh in everyone's memory. The murmurs of the buzzing guests had long been drowned out by the clash of blades, and the moment an engagement ceremony where no one paid any attention to such things became a vulgar joke, two women were fighting.
Glacia pressed Iri without giving her the slightest opening, unleashing a relentless barrage of sword strikes. Iri blocked the blows with ice magic while launching wind blades with her wind magic, looking for any chance to counterattack. Is she seriously this good at magic sense? Wait, is she some max-level regression user or something? Iri fought so well that such ridiculous thoughts crossed my mind.
Of course. The synergy between the heroine's bloodline and my own genius guidance had produced this result. She was like Naruto—possessing the best bloodline and the best master. I planned to step in the moment one of them started getting pushed back.
And it seemed Melkior's thoughts weren't much different from mine. He had filled a plate with food and was leisurely munching away while watching the spectacle.
Then suddenly, Iri's kick landed squarely on Glacia's stomach.
"You insignificant little bitch, acting all high and mighty."
In that instant, Glacia's defense crumbled. Iri's kicks kept pouring in. The kicks, which brought to mind the legendary techniques of Master Kim of Justice, were quite powerful. Glacia's expression grew increasingly grim.
When I had been teaching Iri various things, I remembered demonstrating Master Kim of Justice's techniques a few times while teaching her martial arts. She's not going to pull out Phoenix Kick or Phoenix Heavenly Dance Kick at this rate, is she?
A truly artistic series of kicks!!! Glacia's brief opening was exploited perfectly.
Melkior praised Master Kim of Justice's legendary technique. Remember this: Taekwondo is invincible, and Master Kim of Justice is a god.
"Brother, Glacia just got hit and you're not even angry?"
Was Melkior truly a hopeless father? No matter what, his only daughter had just taken a combo of those legendary kicks to the gut. How could any person remain so cold?
"It's only natural for bodily techniques to be exchanged during a warrior's duel!!! And my daughter isn't so soft that she'd fall from something like that, Werner!!!"
My ears were going to fall off for real. Had he boiled that loud chicken doll into a bowl of samgyetang or something? That voice definitely didn't belong to a human. Melkior, the overpowered character with Lion's Roar as a basic passive, slapped my back with a loud whack whack. My back skin was going to peel off at this rate.
"Look!!! Even while taking those hits, she's keeping her guard up!!!"
It was true. Glacia had raised her guard and was looking for an opportunity. Yeah, if you want to understand fighting games, you have to master guarding first.
Glacia, who had been raising her arms to continuously dodge the fatal strikes, didn't miss the recovery delay after Iri launched her kick combo. Glacia's fist slammed straight into Iri's face.
That was definitely similar to the Falcon Punch Glacia had used on Iri in the original story. Having successfully landed the Falcon Punch, Glacia immediately drove her fist into Iri's thigh. That technique was clearly Power Geyser. It seemed her intention was to seal away the previous kick combo and any potential Phoenix Kick.
"You worthless bitch!!!"
Whoa, what a loud voice. Melkior had probably shared both drumsticks of that chicken doll samgyetang with his daughter. A father's love was truly shining through. Damn, my ears felt like they were about to burst.
Were these damn people trying to rub it in my face that they'd gotten to eat samgyetang drumsticks while I had no father? Iri, having taken a heavy blow to her thigh, let out a short groan. Was it because of the insane damage output of that Power Geyser?
But Iri was a tough one. She immediately raised her hand blade and brought down the ultimate hand blade strike—Berlin's Red Rain—onto Glacia's head. It must have been threatening, because blood streamed down Glacia's forehead.
"Brother, isn't this getting a bit dangerous?"
"It certainly looks like a dogfight now. If the Heavenly Demon old man were here, he'd be throwing a fit saying this isn't a spar at all."
"Should we stop them soon?"
"No, let's watch a little longer."
To be honest, it was pretty entertaining. From the looks of it, it was just a simple fistfight, and it didn't seem like they were actually trying to kill each other. Besides, where else in the world could you find entertainment as fun as watching a fight?
Once the butter biscuits on my plate ran out, the two of them started rolling around on the floor. Glacia, who had taken the mount position, threw a punch aimed at Iri's face, but Iri dodged it from that position. Glacia's fist slammed directly into the floor instead, leaving a deep dent in the marble.
"You damn insect bitch with your petty tricks...!"
Fuck... this was starting to look genuinely dangerous. What was she, some vicious death row inmate?
Iri seized the opening created when Glacia's posture broke after throwing the punch. She grabbed Glacia by the throat, stood up, and slammed her into the floor. The offensive and defensive roles of the mount position had completely reversed. Iri was about to bring her hand blade down on Glacia.
But Glacia instantly caught Iri's wrist. Iri spat out a voice as unpleasant as the expression on her face.
"You criminal bitch who kidnapped Master!"
So this really was a catfight. Though watching them fight, it felt less like a catfight and more like a mirror match between two fighters in an underground arena.
Glacia knocked away Iri's hand blade and grabbed her by the hair, rolling with her. This wasn't even a dogfight anymore. It was complete chaos.
"Master Werner left my side because of who, exactly!!!"
I had never seen Glacia this worked up before.
"Obviously because you're not his type, you garlic-hating vampire bitch!!!"
Bringing up race like that seemed a bit over the line...
"You're just like your own mother, hurting Master Werner!"
But since Glacia had countered with a mother insult, it was even. Racial discrimination jabs mixed with mother insults. It was starting to look exactly like the chat window of little kids playing an AOS game.
Iri: Half-vampires are scientifically—
Glacia: Just like her mom lol
That kind of chat.
Having thrown the first punch in both fighting and trash-talking, Iri showed no signs of giving up even as blood streamed from her nose.
"You're the one who tried to force an engagement on Master and keep him trapped!"
"Don't pretend like you're worried about Master Werner..."
Glacia suddenly stopped shouting and grew calm. But the look in her red eyes was incomparably more venomous than before.
"Do you know why Master Werner went to that city? It was for recuperation. Do you know why he needed to recuperate? It's all because you—"
This was getting dangerous. If she heard any more, given Iri's personality, she'd start crying and throwing a complete fit.
"Roots of the tree, entangle them."
Tree roots burst from the ground, wrapping around both Glacia and Iri and separating them. Fortunately, Glacia had only managed to get as far as "because you when you were young..." This much should be safe enough, I figured.
I turned to Melkior beside me.
"Warrior's duel or whatever, it was time to stop them. You agree, right, brother?"
"Yeah, it was perfect timing. My daughter is still young after all. To think her judgment was this poor."
Warrior's honor be damned—I had to protect my secret. Besides, if it became known in front of all these people that I couldn't use Grand Magic freely, there would definitely be an uproar. Then Iri's mother, Media, would eventually find out once she woke from her sickbed. That was the ending Werner wanted to avoid most of all.
Even the usually cold Glacia would get this worked up if she heard racial discrimination remarks. For some reason, I suddenly missed Martin Luther King, who had always advocated for the elimination of discrimination.
I gave Iri, who was wrapped in the tree roots, a hard flick to the forehead.
Thwack! The sound rang out sharply.
"That's your punishment, my disciple. Save the reunion hug for later."
Melkior also approached Glacia, who was bound by the tree roots, and gave her a knuckle to the head. Iri immediately looked dejected.
"Our princess's thinking was quite shortsighted this time. Father is a little disappointed."
Glacia must have felt upset at being scolded by her usually affectionate father—who would even share samgyetang drumsticks with her—because she averted her gaze.
Then Melkior shouted to the guests, who were sitting there trembling.
"The engagement ceremony is canceled! Go home right now!!!"
Only then could the guests leave the hall with relief. I should have said that earlier, but I'd been too absorbed in watching the fight and missed the chance.
I withdrew the tree roots binding Iri and Glacia and sat them far apart from each other. As sinners, they could only sit quietly without saying a word.
"I'll go stop the ladies' fight for a moment, so stay put, my disciple. If you fight again, disciple or not, you'll be expelled."
I then turned my head and warned Glacia as well.
"And Lady Glacia, please remain quiet as well. If you bring up that matter again... I will never look at you again."
Only then did they seem to realize the seriousness of the situation and nodded their heads.