The Second Duel
Cheers and shouts echoed from outside the dark, deep tunnel. It was the exact opposite of my duel a year ago. The boos had turned into cheers.
Being expected to win doesn't feel half bad.
Step, step.
I walked through the pitch-black corridor. The closer I got to the exit, the louder their cheers became.
"—Entering the arena is Estrada Academy's top prospect, Sir Hound Egil Yohanes!"
"Whoooo!"
"Sir Yohanes, you're so cool!"
"Viscount Yohanes, you're so handsome!"
"..."
Well, I tried to keep a straight face, but it wasn't working. A smirk slipped out despite myself. But then... I felt it through my Aura. From the deep tunnel on the opposite side, Shadys Rutenia was trembling. His heart was hammering relentlessly, fueled by fear and regret.
Well, not my problem, so whatever. I looked up and flashed a fan-service smile at the spectator stands, waving to the crowd cheering my name.
So much has changed.
I looked toward the VIP box, where she sat next to Mikaris. Eilyn Rutenia. Those beautiful ruby-red eyes of hers were currently lifeless. Just you wait. I'm about to bring the light back into your world.
Meanwhile, in the VIP box.
"Hey, what do you think of Hound?" Mikaris asked.
"He's... a bit of an odd person," Eilyn replied.
"Right? I thought so too. But..." Mikaris stood up and looked down at the arena before continuing. "He isn't just odd. He's someone who shows you the light. I hope this duel helps you see it too—just how colorful and vibrant the world can truly be."
"What do you mean by..." Their brief conversation cut short as the duel was about to begin.
"—Entering the arena is the elite archer of the Marquisate of Rutenia, Lord Shadys Rutenia!"
"The winner of this duel is a foregone conclusion."
"The gap in their realms is overwhelming. What can an archer even do against him...?"
"Did you guys seriously come here not knowing that? Honestly, most people probably just came to see Sir Yohanes."
Trudge, drag. With listless, heavy steps, Shadys Rutenia climbed onto the dueling platform.
"You do not seem very confident, Lord Shadys."
"Shut up! Damn it, why did I end up in this mess?" Shadys kicked at the ground, staring down. He clearly knew how this duel would end. But forfeiting outright would completely ruin his pride.
There's no fun in playing with a guy who has zero will to fight... I decided to provoke him a bit to stoke his fighting spirit.
"You seem to lack confidence in your skills... To think you are only strong in front of your little sister. It seems you truly are weak against the strong and strong against the weak. That is how sly, cowardly snakes usually behave."
"You bastard..."
I smirked. "Lord Shadys, I shall go easy on you, so do your best to struggle. Let us see what you are made of."
Shadys Rutenia did not answer. He merely trembled with rage. Of course he couldn't say anything. That was the trademark of cowards like him. Along with my arrogant gaze,
"—Let the duel between Sir Hound Egil Yohanes and Lord Shadys Rutenia begin!!" The commentator's voice boomed, signaling the start of the match.
"..." What was he doing? The duel had started, but he wasn't drawing the bow slung across his back. Did he really have no intention of fighting?
"Are you not going to draw your bow? Do you not intend to fight?"
"...An archer must always be prepared for close combat." Sring. Shadys drew a pair of dual swords.
Dual wielding? Shadys fell into a stance. It looked like he actually intended to take this seriously.
"You employ a rather peculiar fighting style."
"...If you have time to chatter, then come at me."
"I have no need to close the distance."
"What?"
I summoned a dark mist into my hand. "You see, I am actually a black mage."
"...What?"
"Preta Realm."
Whoosh! The black mist surged from my fingertips, wrapping around Shadys Rutenia.
"What the hell are you doing... cough, hack!" Shadys's eyes began to twitch violently. Drool dripped from his mouth, pooling on the stone floor, and he clawed at his face with trembling hands.
"Is something the matter? Are you seeing something unpleasant?" He was likely experiencing the very things he had inflicted upon his sister, but in reverse. I didn't know the full depth of his cruelty, nor how long it had been going on. But I knew one thing for certain: judging by his reaction, it was absolutely devastating. Shadys Rutenia was suffering from severe auditory and visual hallucinations.
"Keep your damn eyes shut!"
"You worthless piece of trash... You are a disgrace to the Marquisate."
"Listen up. From now on, the only food Eilyn gets is rotten scraps and muddy water."
"I'm in a bad mood today. Prepare for a beating."
"Ugh, stop..."
"Why are you still alive? How can you even want to breathe after all that?"
"Tsk, looking at you makes me sick. Is anyone there? Throw this filthy beggar out of my sight immediately!"
"*Slap!* You miserable wretch! If it weren't for the Marquis...!"
"Mother, I'm sorry... Stop, please stop!" The world Shadys saw turned completely black and white. Everything lost its color. Or rather, it was more accurate to say he had given up on seeing color. The world he was looking at was hell. The very hell Eilyn had endured.
"Stop it!"
The crowd murmured.
"What kind of magic is that...? It's creepy."
"Is a Sword Saint even allowed to learn black magic?"
"A Black Magic Sword Saint... That's actually pretty cool!"
Shadys's experience in the Preta Realm came to an end. Bloodshot eyes, disheveled hair from clawing at his head, and a completely vacant expression. Now this is what black magic is all about. I was glad I chose it.
"What is the matter? Did you see something unpleasant?"
"Y-You son of a bitch!"
Pitter-patter! Shadys completely lost his mind and charged at me. For movements like this... I didn't even need to look at the red lines of the Path of the Sword God. Even with my eyes closed, I could easily dodge them using a Sword Saint's sixth sense.
Whoosh. Shadys desperately swung his dual swords, but to me, it looked like nothing more than a toddler flailing his arms.
"Haha, what are you doing? You are merely striking my afterimage." Man, I've always wanted to say that line.
"You bast—"
"Hell Realm."
Whoosh. Once again, the dark mist spread from my fingertips, enveloping Shadys's body.
"Aaargh!" This was the dark magic of the East that dragged one's mind straight to hell. A hell where blazing flames roared and thick, suffocating smoke billowed. If those flames touched your skin, your skin burned; if they touched your tendons, your tendons burned; if they touched your bones, your bones burned. Even though I was the one casting it, it was a truly brutal spell.
"Ugh... Please, st-stop... I, I was wr-wrong." He couldn't even pronounce his words properly anymore.
"What did you do when Eilyn begged you to stop? What did you do when she could only weep and groan in pain?"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, so please stop!"
"Your apology should be directed to your sister. Hell Realm."
"Aaaaaargh!" This time, he would feel the agonizing sensation of his hands, arms, legs, shoulders, and head being hacked away by iron axes. Let's see how long his mind can hold out.
"Ugh..."
"Passing out already? We haven't even started." I walked over to Shadys and lightly tapped his cheek. "Wake up. It is not over yet."
"I... I was wr-wrong..."
"Good grief, I told you to apologize to your sister. Deva Realm." I forcibly cleared Shadys's shattered mind. This would wash away all his mental stress and restore his absolute calm.
"Pant, gasp. You bastard!" Look at him immediately flipping his attitude the moment his mind is restored. He really is a hopeless piece of work.
"Just a moment ago, you were begging for mercy and repeating how sorry you were. Yet you immediately resort to insults?"
"Stop using cowardly black magic! If you are a Sword Saint, draw your sword like one!" Oh, he's complaining about how I fight. I'll take that as a compliment.
"Very well. As you wish, I shall face you with a sword." Whoosh! As I drew Aeterna, a fierce gale swept across the arena.
"Tsk." I held my sword in one hand and its scabbard in the other, mimicking Shadys's stance. "I shall also dual-wield."
"...Are you mocking me?"
"You told me not to be cowardly, so we must keep things fair." Pitter-patter! Shadys charged at me with a completely different movement than before.
Yeah, I definitely don't need the red lines for this. His movements were so predictable they were boring. I lightly raised Aeterna in my right hand and deflected his dual blades. Clang! With a sharp, ringing sound, Shadys's arms were forced upward, leaving him wide open.
"Haha, to think I would get another opportunity like this." Thwack! I thrust the scabbard in my left hand straight into Shadys's throat.
"Ack!" Shadys clutched his throat and stumbled backward.
"Unfortunately, I cannot heal physical damage. Can you still continue?"
"Y-You bast—" Thwack! I repeatedly bashed the crown of Shadys's head with my scabbard.
As I toyed with Shadys—no, treated him like a literal plaything—murmurs began to rise from the spectator stands.
"Is he allowed to do that in a duel? It seems like he has absolutely no respect for his opponent."
"Sir Yohanes has always been like that. Just look at the comprehensive evaluation or his duel during the entrance ceremony."
"It doesn't look good. First black magic, and now a Sword Saint bullying the weak."
What do you people even know? This isn't even half of what Eilyn had to endure. Seeing them gossip and tear others down without knowing a single thing about the truth... in the end, these nobles are all the same. Well, even though I'm a noble now too.
"It seems it is getting difficult to proceed. Let us end this now."
"Grr..." Shadys bit his lip and finally drew the bow from his back. Dropping to one knee, he aimed directly at me. His Aura vibrated through the surrounding air, rapidly condensing at the tip of his arrow.
"Let's see you block this!" Boom! An arrow packed with a massive amount of Aura spiraled toward me like a raging tempest.
"Flowing Water Sword." Screeech! A deafening, ear-splitting screech erupted as the arrow collided with my blade. But it lasted only a split second before the arrow was cleanly sliced in half, splitting to the left and right.
"No way... so easily...!"
I slowly walked toward Shadys and whispered, "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons."
Black muck wriggled and danced as it rose from my shadow. First came the hands, then the heads, and finally the torsos as the ghosts manifested.
Oh, shit, those things... The appearance of the ghosts was rather shocking. After all, they took the form of my pre-transmigration self—Kim Geundae.
"What on earth is that?! Why do their faces look so terrifyingly rugged?!"
"Are those summons? But why do they look like... that?"
Damn it... Kim Geundae #1 and Kim Geundae #2 were the first to approach Shadys, their teeth chattering with a grating *clack-clack*. I had to squeeze my eyes shut because watching them chatter their teeth like that was just too painful to look at.
"S-Stay back!" Shadys began firing Aura-infused arrows in rapid succession. But the Kim Geundaes were ghosts. Unless they were completely obliterated, they would keep moving forward.
"Aaargh!" The horde of Kim Geundaes began to beat Shadys down. They stomped on him, bit his arms, and thrashed him mercilessly. I couldn't bear to watch. For a long time, Shadys could do nothing but take the beating from the Kim Geundaes. There were simply too many of them for him to resist.
"I forfeit! I forfeit!!" Shadys screamed, tears streaming down his face like fat raindrops.
"Lord Shadys Rutenia has requested to forfeit! The winner of this duel is Sir Hound Egil Yohanes!" The referee's voice echoed, and I immediately recalled the ghosts. Watching them melt back into black muck and sink into my shadow was... a bit much.
When the duel ended, what greeted me was not cheers and applause, but a heavy silence. Understandable, really. The duel had been rather dirty. But what could I do? This is what a black mage does. I didn't care. It wasn't like I had a reputation to protect at this point anyway.
And so, the anticlimactic duel came to an end. Now, it was time to go ask Eilyn if the world she saw had finally changed.