Chapter 21

Glaring at each other, the civilians formed a cirlce around us as I prepared myself. Motoyasu twirled his spear a few times before pointing it at me, tauntingly.

Ignoring him, I looked back at Makoto and Daenerys. "This gonna be a one-on-one duel, Motoyasu?"

"Of course it is!" he growled in reply.

"Good." I locked eyes with my party. "If anyone in Motoyasu's party tries to intervene, I want you two to deal with them."

Makoto nodded her head firmly as she gripped the hilt of her sword. "Yes, sir!" Daenerys nodded as well.

Turning back to Motoyasu, I ignited my blade in fire as I pulled out my second dagger. After a beat, Motoyasu rushed me.

Moving back as he swung his spear at me, he twirled it above his head before stabbing at me four times in a row.

Dodging each attack, I wrapped my arm around his spear, yanking Motoyasu towards me and slashing my blade across his face.

Stumbling back, Motoyasu tapped the slash, glancing at his fingers before glaring at me.

"That's just the start." I told him. "Each slash you put on Naofumi, I'm going to double on you." I twirled my blades before taking a defensive stance. "I've been looking forward to this, Motoyasu."

"I tried to be nice!" Motoyasu growled.

"Yeah? Well I sure as shit don't remember asking you to be nice." I growled back.

Rushing him, Motoyasu tried to attack with his spear. Using my dagger to deflect his attack, I quickly closed the distance, slashing one blade across his left leg and the other across his chest.

Hearing the sound of a blade sliding out of its sheath, I glanced over to see Makoto with her weapon pointed directly at Myne. Daenerys was behind her, clearly ready to shift if things got dicey.

Smirking, I focused my attention to the duel at hand, only to be hit in the face by the hilt of the spear.

Stumbling away, Motoyasu swung his spear at my legs, knocking me onto my back. Seeing him prepare to stab me, I quickly rolled out of the way and pushed myself to my feet.

Motoyasu tried using his fast attack ability that he used on Naofumi, but I countered by using my Slow Time. Moving out of the way of his strikes, I slid behind him, pressing the tip of my blade against his neck just as time returned to normal.

Motoyasu froze for a second before hitting me with the butt of his spear. Holding my side as I stumbled back, I quickly recovered just as Motoyasu lunged at me.

Feeling the blade cut my side, blood poured from the wound as I took a few steps back to create a bit of distance. Looking at my hand, I took a deep breath to calm myself.

Readying my daggers, Motoyasu lunged at me. Stepping out of the way, I slashed his side as he went right passed me. Once he got his footing, he glared at me. Thrusting his spear in the air, fireball after fireball came out of it.

Dodging out of the way of each fireball, they impacted the nearby buildings, causing some pretty serious damage.

Once he stopped, I took the chance to rush in. Forcing him on the defensive, I kept up a flurry of attacks.

As he attempted to counter one of my attacks, I instead deflected his spear skywards, finishing the duel by slashing both of my daggers in an x motion across his chest.

Bleeding, Motoyasu slumped to his knees, using his spear to keep himself from falling over. Glaring down at him, Motoyasu stared up at me. Turning my back to him, I walked over to my party who still had their sights set on Motoyasu's group.

Locking eyes with Myne, she immediately began screeching. "You dare order your party to draw their weapons on me?! My father will hear of-"

"I won the duel." I told my party. "We're done here."

Makoto sheathed her sword before her and Daenerys followed me.

"We are far from done, Dagger Hero!" Myne snapped. "Once my father hears what you've done, he'll-!"

"He'll what, Myne?" I growled as I turned to face her. "I'm a hero. He can't imprison me. What exactly will your father do, huh?" Myne kept silent. "Your threats mean shit to me." I then turned to Motoyasu. "Let me know when you want another duel." I turned around and began walking away. "I'll be happy to put you in the dirt again."

Passing by countless civilians, none of them shot me any disgusted looks, those now having been replaced by awe.

I beat the Spear Hero in a fair duel and only suffered minor damage. It felt good to finally get payback for what he did to Naofumi. And I knew Myne was gonna try to help him once she noticed he was losing. Good thing I told Makoto and Daenerys to make sure she didn't.

With all this behind me, hopefully Motoyasu got it through his head that we are the furthest thing from friends. In fact, I hope he sees me as his enemy now.

Hell, screw Melromarc. Screw the king, Myne and everyone in between. Coming back was a waste of time. The only thing I accomplished was fighting Motoyasu. That alone made this clusterfuck of a return worth it.

In all honesty, this country can burn. And if I was offered to be the one to ignite the match, I'd do so in a heartbeat.

"Daenerys!" I said without looking back at her.

"Y-yes?"

"How fast could you get us to Siltvelt? We're done here. For good this time."

End of chapter 21