20 Chapter 20: Victory Feels… Underwhelming

I turned, dodging the longsword aiming for my hip, then quickly back-stepping to avoid another sword trying to stab my shoulder.

The duo of the blue rangers seemed to try their utmost, distracting me from the green ranger who was charging an enormous (compare to his meager pool of mana, I mean) blast while aiming for me.

'Too blatant.'

"You are distracted!"

I turned to see the light blue ranger's sword quickly approaching my abdomen.

*Clank*

Only to be stopped by my armor-clad hand.

He tried to push harder, doing his best to pierce me, but it was all in vain. The sword didn't budge.

*Crack*

In a moment, the sword cracked and then was completely shattered as he watched in shock.

"Wha?"

'And that's 4 times. Really now. These guys are in serious need of some added vocabulary for when surprised.'

I sighed exasperatedly.

Back slapping him lightly, causing him to fly a short distance away, I dodged another sword and then a single quick chop to its blade broke it in two.

"Wh—"

"Stop saying 'Wha?' every time you are surprised, damn it!"

"Eh?!"

The dark blue ranger seemed to be taken aback by my sudden outburst, but quickly fell back, making some distance.

"Ahem. Nothing. Nevermind that. So, do you—"

I turned to my right and putting a hand in front, cast a quick barrier. A translucent, flat hexagonal shield came into view in an instant and a second later, a ray of magic power clashed with it, causing a loud booming sound and erupting a small storm of dust.

When the dust from around me cleared after a short while, I was no longer there.

***

[Clarise's POV]

Clarise had been watching in shock and surprise, finding the duel hard to believe.

'Amazing… so that's his strength.'

Leon was strong. Very strong. His prowess was probably among the best of the best.

"That guy… he's a monster, alright. He's practically toying with his opponents. I heard his opponents are all pretty high on the ladder for their age in terms of skills and talents. But he's… on a completely different level."

She could understand why Dan thought so. From their vantage point, it was quite clear that this fight had always been one-sided.

Even now, he was facing 3 opponents at a time, including the famed son of the sword saint, and yet he didn't seem to be too stressed out.

As the fight continued, she barely caught his movements, dodging and parrying the attacks from the prince and Chris.

"That bastard is trying to do something pathetic. That's just like him. Never getting close to troubles. Coward."

Hearing a low growl of anger and frustration, she turned to see Dan looking at the green-haired boy who was aiming toward the center, at his black-haired opponent.

She too frowned for a moment but tried to not think of unnecessary thoughts.

"I hope he gets crushed thoroughly in this fight."

Unlike her, however, her follower didn't hold back whatsoever.

Suddenly, a glowing light made her focus back on the arena as a large ray of energy was blasted from the sniper Jilk was aiming towards Leon.

"Ah."

Without realizing it, she stiffened, glaring at the field, trying to see if the one it was aimed at was fine. A loud explosion had erupted a dust cloud in the arena, which seemed much denser than normal. And when the dust cleared, the audience, including her gasped in shock, finding Leon missing.

'Where?!'

She darted everywhere to look for his figure, not wanting to imagine that that attack actually did what this scene suggested.

'No, it can't be. Where is he?'

"There!"

She saw someone pointing towards the outer regions of the arena where Jilk stood, panting.

Unknown to the green-haired boy, a black-haired boy stood still, looming.

She felt somewhat relieved, seeing not a scratch on him. But then, her eyes widened for a moment. She felt the boy's eyes locking on to her and… did he smile at her?

Before she could think further, the boy did something bizarre.

He… kicked Jilk's rear.

"Pfft! Ahahahahaha!"

"Eh?"

She and her follower seemed to have completely different reactions on this matter.

***

'Oh, that felt kinda good. I wonder why.'

After the attack created a dust cloud, I used my greater agility to near-instantly reach behind the green ranger who was trying to snipe me from afar.

In a fight, you always take out the snipers and other long-ranged attackers; It's common sense. Because they are the most annoying when fighting melee.

But since I'm a 'fair' person, I gave him one try. So, nobody could say I was being unfair. In fact, I had given each of them a chance to attack me and didn't just immediately knock them out.

Aren't I fair? Heh.

"Ouch."

The green ranger who was lying on the ground, his rifle a few meters away from him finally stood up.

I walked up to him, causing him to flinch and look at me.

"Hello, Jilk Fia Marmoria. I couldn't help but notice that attack carried a bit more Oomph than it should have. Like, enough to blast a hole through steel armor. Care to explain why you thought it was okay to use such an attack?"

"What? What are you trying to insinuate, Alpenwind?"

"Oh, nothing really. I was just curious. That's all. I'm not trying to insinuate anything. I mean, in the end, even that attack didn't do shit, so who cares if it could put a football-sized hole through any other student."

He frowned, gritting his teeth.

"Then, there's nothing I have to say to you. I did what I had to, to ensure we win. This duel is very important to us, unlike you."

"Hoh? You sure care a lot about it. Is it because of Marie?"

"Of course! Who else?"

"Oh, no one. But… Hmm, interesting. I see, I see. Too bad you never showed such passion towards your ex-fiancee."

My casual remark seemed to cause his frown to deepen.

"What is it to you, Alpenwind? Why do you care?"

He practically growled, losing his meek and composed façade.

"I don't. At least, I don't care about you. But, I did happen to recently get acquainted with your ex-fiancee. She was heartbroken. I gotta admit, even I thought it was pretty pathetic and shameful to break up with someone over a letter. You must've really not cared about her at all, huh."

"Shut up!"

He sprang to his feet, and pulling out a magic handgun, shot directly at my face.

"Hmm."

I spoke, my hands in front of my face to not get hit by his attacks. Even I wouldn't feel completely fine if those attacks hit sensitive areas like my eyes.

"That too. It could have badly hurt any other competitor. You're quite ruthless, aren't you?"

"Shut up! I don't want to listen to your nonsense! Stop talking about my relationship with Clarice so casually. You have no business in my personal matters! You don't know me and my life! And I don't care if you get hurt. You should be prepared to die when you enter a duel."

"Oh?"

I smiled briefly, only to deadpan a second later.

"Was that a threat, Jilk Fia Marmoria? Are you threatening me right now?"

"Humph. Think what you like, you brute. I am willing to hurt you and anyone else who comes in my way. You are not worthy of our time! And mark my words. You will certainly suffer for trying to challenge His Highness."

[Name: Jilk Fia Marmoria

Race: Human

Level: 29

Thoughts about you: Anger, Annoyance, Bitterness]

'Wow. This guy is… pretty nasty.'

I idly wondered. I was just trying to see if I could make him snap, but boy was it way too easy. I didn't even have to do much here.

"Whatever you say, pal. It's time I finished this fight. And good news, you're the first one to be knocked out."

By this point, the dust had started to subside and the other two power rangers had found me and were running toward me.

"Y-You!"

Before the broccoli could say further, I sucker-punched him.

'Aaaand… that's one down. Two to go.'

I briefly turned to look towards the audience stand, in a particular section where my eyes could see a certain girl sitting and watching this match. Turning towards her direction, I gave her a thumbs-up and a brief smile. She seemed to notice and acted surprised.

'Welp, hope you enjoyed the show. Now then, shall we end this duel?'

Ignoring the frothing green ranger, I made my way toward the two swordsmen who, with their broken swords, were quickly approaching me.

Chris reached me first.

And so, he got the first punch to the gut which knocked him out, unlike his red-haired and slightly more muscular band member who somehow managed to stay conscious. Not that it did anything in the end.

"Haaaa!!"

The prince, not giving up despite being pretty much done for, still attacked me.

"So, Your Highness. I was interrupted before. Do you give up? Your companions are all down and I am sure you know your fate already. You don't have to continue this."

"I WON'T GIVE UP! I'll continue to fight! For Marie and all of my friends! This is my resolve! I will fight till the bitter end!"

"Hmm. Very inspirational, indeed. Did you get a power boost too by any chance?"

I idly muttered while dodging his attacks and pulling up his <Observe> page.

[Name: Julius Rapha Holfort

Race: Human

Level: 30

Thoughts about you: Bitterness, Frustration]

"Guess not."

'It's the same as before.'

"Leon Alpenwind. This fight is very important to me. You don't understand. I can't give up. If I did, I'll lose Marie. And I can't live without her."

"That's unfortunate. If I lose now, it'll not only look unnatural because I'm clearly stronger than you guys, but it'll also make me break my promise to Angelica. So, you see. I can't lose either. Guess we're at a standstill, Your Highness. Duking it out is our only option, it seems… unless…"

I looked back towards the stand where Angelica sat, her expression completely stoic.

"How about a truce, Your Highness? If you give up, I'll ask Angelica to change her condition to something else. Sounds good? You'll not be separated from your lover and we'll all be happy."

"What?"

"Yup, you heard me. Give up and I won't have to punch the prince which will bring all sorts of annoying things my way. You'll maybe lose your honor, but at least you'll have Marie with you still. And I'll get to keep my promise and avoid maybe some of the heat coming my way. Or, you know, don't do it. In the end, it won't matter if I decide to act. But I've been feeling pretty lethargic lately. I would rather work on my passion project than deal with a bunch of high nobles. You know what I mean?"

He blinked a few times, thinking about my sudden offer.

[Angelica has agreed to change the condition, Captain. Also, I may have given the two girls a spook by suddenly appearing in front of them. My apologies.]

"Hm."

I replied to the suit's hidden microphone with a quiet hum that no one seemed to have caught on to.

Eris had realized what I wanted her to do with just a glance and had shown herself to Angelica to ask for her consent.

'I hope she recorded that. Kinda wanna see their faces.'

Holding back a smirk that threatened to leak at the amusing thought, I returned my focus to the prince.

"If that's true, then I will give up."

"Okay. Glad we could come to an agreement."

The guy didn't even think for a second that this might be a ploy to make him give up.

Well, it was. But I wasn't lying. Angelica did consent to it, after all. So, he didn't get conned. Although, that might have been funny too.

We turned to the referee who was watching the fight from afar.

"I give up."

The prince stated simply.

"Huh? What was that, Your Highness?"

"I said I GIVE UP! I no longer wish to continue this pointless duel."

The surprised referee took a few moments to process it, but then finally announced.

"The prince has given up! The winner of this duel is Leon Alpenwind!!"

I nodded to the prince who nodded back and I walked back toward the exit, leaving him and the medics to collect the fallen fighters.

'Haaa… That felt…underwhelming.'

And thus ended the duel with the power rangers boyband.

A duel that caused an uproar in the capital and academy. Except, this time I wouldn't be made the villain of this incident. Not saying it wouldn't cause any issues for me at all. But at least, it would be much tamer than what happened in OG Leon's case.

"Hey, Eris."

[Yes, Captain.]

"Look out for any envoys from the Royal Palace. Also, ready Partner. I'll leave for my island tonight."

[Roger that.]

***