Chapter 17: Champion Rising

"….No way….you survived?" Eristia said, stunned to see Joshua alive.

"But…how? That beam…it…" Yuriy muttered.

Eristia, Yuriy, and Luciana couldn't believe their eyes. Joshua not only made it out, but he was also alive. Minna on the other hand was angry but didn't show it outside of a slight scowl. Joshua limped towards them with a pained smile, and it didn't take long for Luciana to start crying tears of joy and tackle him. Joshua felt everything spinning as he heard her sobbing into his chest. He also felt extremely drained like someone, or something pulled all the strength in his body into a single point and sucked it right out of him.

"Thank…goodness *hic*…I-I thought you were *hic*…dead…" Luciana sobbed as she lay on top of him.

"Ain't nothing or no one that gets to do me in unless I say so…." Joshua groaned as he lay there.

Minna looked at the two of them and wondered just how Luciana could like someone who was nothing more than a killer. Then again Luciana was a knight of the Ice Flower so it quickly made sense. Minna looked at the crater, then back at Joshua wondering what he did to cause that. She then noticed the signet on his left hand, a mark that hadn't been there when she knocked him down into the hole in the mine. It then clicked with her: he had gained the ability to use magic.

"But how did you escape?" Yuiry asked him as he looked down at him.

"Just look at his left hand." Minna replied in an annoyed voice.

Both Eristia and Yuriy glared at her but looked at Joshua's left hand. They saw the signet that looked like a more ornate version of the order's cross. Luciana looked as well and all three were confused. The signet flashed briefly as a tiny amount of mana swirled towards it from the air.

"Oh….it recharged a little….yay…" Joshua groaned.

"What on earth?...what is…"Eristia said as she looked at the signet.

"I'll explain later. For now, let's just head home.

Joshua glared at Minna as he and Luiana stood up. Part of him wanted to place a single bullet between her eyes, but a better idea popped into his head. He reached into his lower right coat pocket and pulled out a translucent green twenty-sided die with yellow numbers and looked her straight in the eyes.

"As for you…you tried to kill me. I don't like half-assed work. It only leaves a mess for others to clean up. So, here's what you and I are gonna do." He said calmly as he held up the die and looked her in the eyes.

"We each take three turns back and forth. The goal is to get a score of thirty or more. Rolling three twenties in a row is called a 'dead-man's grace' and is an automatic victory. Rolling three ones in a row is called a 'dead-man's hand' and is an automatic loss. Before the third and final rolls are made we each make what's called the 'last words' and say what our demands of each other are. Whoever has the highest number at the end wins and chooses the fate of the loser. In the event neither of us has a score of thirty then the highest score wins by default. If the difference in score is by a one-point margin the game enters 'purgatory' where the game is decided by an old riddle that the loser must answer. A correct answer is called an 'afterlife' while a failure is called 'hell'." He explained with a smirk on his face.

Eristia, Yuriy, and Luciana gave each other concerned glances. Minna had an annoyed look on her face but quickly realized she could potentially end his story here and now.

"Alright, I'll play your little 'game'." Minna said with a smirk.

"He doesn't know who my husband is…if he wins, then Richter is going to have a field day with him." Minna thought behind her smile.

The two of them sat down with Joshua making the first move. He rolled a seven before passing the die to Minna who in turn rolled a ten. She passed the die back to him and Joshua rolled a five. Minna made her second roll and got a two. Both glanced at each other, poker faced, before Minna passed the die to Joshua. An uneasy silence that was only broken by the sound of the whispering wind filled the air. A flock of birds cawed overhead as they flew towards the sun. Joshua was the first to break the silence.

"I'll start. If I win you are to forget we were ever here. You never saw the three of them, and you most certainly didn't see me. You don't know what happened to that old mine. We all walk away from this." He said with a straight face.

"If I win then I get to kill you for what you've done to those poor werewolves and to me. Those three will surrender and be turned over to the demon lord as tribute. Lescatie will fall and it'll be all your fault." Minna said with the same straight face.

Yuriy, Luciana, and Eristia tensed up at Minna's words. The fate of everything now rested on two rolls of a single die. Luciana and Eristia both glanced at each other in anxious anticipation. Yuriy didn't like the thought of being made prisoner and began to wonder why he even "got out of bed". Joshua picked up the die and made his roll, rolling a ten. Minna smirked while everyone else's hearts sank. Joshua had one last trick up his sleeve. All he needed was for Minna to roll a nine or lower and he could still win this. Minna made her roll, rolling a nine, and a grimace spread across her face. Eristia, Yuriy, and Luciana breathed a slight sigh of relief as a smile spread across Joshua's face.

"No way…this isn't fair….I'm supposed to win…I'm supposed to be the hero…" Minna mumbled in shock.

"So the game enters 'purgatory'. Here's your riddle….I am what the dead have, the rich have no need for, and the poor don't want….what am I?" Joshua said with a smirk.

"I'll be fair with the timer and give you one minute instead of thirty seconds…..and go." He said as he pulled out his phone.

Minna's mind began racing as she tried to think of an answer. This was one of her faults, as she usually only thought of joining Richter in bed. Her eyes darted back and forth, but nothing came to mind. Eristia on the other hand had thought about the answer and it didn't take long for her to find it. Joshua's phone kept counting down as a look of frustration spread across Minna's face.

Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

Joshua's phone timer went off. He pressed the stop button and put his phone back in his coat pocket, then looked up at Minna, a look of horror spread across her face.

"What will it be? Heaven or hell? It all lies on your choice!" Joshua said with a smile as he pointed at her.

Minna clenched her teeth as she let out a frustrated grunt. She looked Joshua in the eye for a full minute before lunging at him. Joshua suspected she would try this with how she had gazed at him and pulled out his baton in response. Minna grabbed hold of the shaft and began pushing with all her might to try and knock him over, but Joshua was able to match her strength. Joshua's friends jumped in, and it took all Eristia, Yuriy, and Luciana had to pull the succubus off him. They pulled her off with her letting out cries of rage and flailing her arms and legs. Joshua stood up with a look of utter disappointment on his face. He jammed his baton into the ground to collapse it before stuffing it back in its sheath.

"Everyone stop right this instant!" Joshua commanded. His voice echoed all around.

The four of them were taken a-back slightly by his tone. Not even Luciana had heard him raise his voice once like this. Joshua looked down at Minna and scowled with disapproval. Here he had given her a fair chance at walking away and she almost wasted it. He let out a frustrated sigh before speaking.

"When we were all back at that cabin, I told you if you were on your best behavior, I would let you go. Now stop and think for a moment how you almost wasted that. I am a man of my word, so you are free to go, so long as you do so peacefully." He said as he looked her in the eye.

"Tch…you think I'm just going to let you walk away? After all you have done to me? To those poor werewolves? You shall not pass…." Minna shot back menacingly. Her eyes glazed with fury.

"As much as I hate to say it….She's Richter Noscrim's wife….If we don't, then he'll come after Lescatie." Eristia said with a terror-stricken voice.

Eristia, Yuriy, and Luciana reluctantly released their grasp. Just the mere mention of Richter's name had them feeling terrified. Joshua was confused but said nothing. Minna seized the opportunity, and with a powerful flap of her wings, dashed at Joshua before anyone could stop her. Joshua managed to dodge her just as she was mere millimeters away from grabbing him. He quickly unsheathed his dagger and slashed her across her left shoulder as she flew past him. She flew low and scooped up a loose stone thrown in the blast earlier after she stopped twenty yards past him and hurled it at him at high speed. Joshua's reflexes were faster as he pulled out his baton and deflected the stone off to the side with ease. Eristia, Yuriy, and Luciana were amazed by how fast he was to respond to her movements as they were on par with a blessed hero's reflexes. The three of them were still too hesitant to try anything against her, though. Joshua glared at the succubus with a fury as hot as the sun and took a battle stance with his baton in his left hand and dagger in the other.

"I'm going to give you one last chance. Leave now…and NEVER come back!" Joshua bellowed angrily as he glared at her.

"You!...Shall not!...Pass!" Minna replied.

The two of them charged at one another. Joshua dodged to the side and struck Minna's right horn with his baton, breaking it off. Minna in turn grabbed him by his right arm and dragged him several feet before changing direction, going straight up twenty feet in the air, and then diving back down. Joshua tried swatting at her with his baton, but Minna couldn't feel the pain through her anger. She slammed him hard enough into the ground to create a small crater and crack the ground beneath him. Joshua sputtered and wheezed as he tried to regain the wind that had been knocked out of him. Minna stood up and her eyes burned with the same fury as his. She stomped a foot onto his stomach causing him to cough and writhe. She stomped down on his stomach twice more with all her strength, but he didn't die.

"What the hell are you made of?..." Minna murmured as she looked at Joshua writhe on the ground.

They both heard Luciana let out a bloodcurdling scream as she charged at Minna with her sword drawn. Minna took flight to avoid her strike and hovered several feet above Luciana. Luciana stood there with her sword gripped tight and glared up at the succubus. A low growl escaped her clenched teeth as she stood between Minna and Joshua.

"Why are you defending him?...He's a murderer!" Minna asked Luciana in disbelief.

"Because he's my friend! And I won't let you hurt him!" Luciana shot back angrily.

Yuriy and Eristia rushed up beside her with their weapons bared.

"You nearly killed him once…you won't get to do that again!" Yuriy added as he stared up at Minna.

Minna looked down at the four of them, dumbfounded as to why three soldiers of The Order would associate with someone as low as Joshua as their high priests would never allow it. She couldn't even figure out why they summoned a creature such as him in the first place as he more than likely wasn't fit for breeding.

"*sigh* you leave me no choice…" Minna said before summoning a strange black crystal ball. She did her best to put on a smile and cheery voice as she spoke to it.

"Hi, Honey! I need you to do me a teensy little favor ~. I'm having a bit of a bad day right now, and I need your help with some misguided fools of the order and their strange pet. I'm at the old Iron mine in the Asacreta Mountains…or at least what's left of it. Do this for me and I'll give you something extra special tonight in bed~. Thanks, honey! I love you~!" She said before the crystal ball disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

What sounded like a stampede of animals rang out in the distance and grew closer and closer. Joshua lay there on the ground with his face contorted in exhaustion and pain as the ground began to shake. It didn't take long for a man riding a slide of Ice to shoot up over the trees and land right behind Minna. He looked to only be a year older than Joshua. His hair was long, messy, and the same shade of silver aqua as Wilmarina's. He wore leg guards made of demon realm metal over tight black pants and his ornate, light blue vest shirt was undone, exposing his well-toned chest. His arm guards were fastened tightly to his large arms. A long saber hung from his left hip in an ornate gold sheath. Eristia, Yuriy, and Luciana trembled with fear at the appearance of their new foe, and took a small step back.

"So…what's going on? Wait…what the hell happened to your horns?!" he asked in confusion as he looked up at Minna.

"That man bullied me!" Minna sobbed as she pointed towards Joshua.

Richter looked at Yuriy with utter confusion, then back at Minna.

"You mean the black haired one? How can he be giving you that much trouble?" He asked.

Minna let out an irritated sigh. Richter wasn't known for his intelligence, but rather his overwhelming strength.

"Not that one, dear, the one behind those three." Minna said with a slight chuckle.

Richter looked closer and noticed Joshua, who was just starting to get up. Richter gave him a skeptical look before looking back at Minna.

"That man stabbed me…sprayed my eyes with something that made them burn…tortured me...shot me with his gun…and broke off my horns!" Minna sobbed.

A look of rage spread across Richter's face. He glared at Joshua like he was going to rip him apart into tiny pieces. He drew his sword and pointed its purple blade at him.

"Hey, you! Asshole! Yeah, I'm talkin' to ya! Did you hurt my girl?! My Precious Minna?!" Richter demanded.

Joshua unsteadily walked off to his left several feet before turning to face Richter. He was tired from firing his laser and his stomach was throbbing in pain from being stomped on three times. His knee was sending waves of pain to his brain and all he wanted was to just go back to Lescatie. At this point he was willing to fight like hell to just be done with Gali's request.

"To be fair, I was going to let her go, but she just couldn't let it go! So yeah…I hurt your precious little bed buddy….So why don't you come and fight a real man!" Joshua responded as he took a battle stance.

Richter launched himself towards Joshua on a slide of ice, but Joshua managed to dodge him and strike him in the back with his baton. Both Minna and Richter were stunned Joshua managed to dodge Richter's attack. Richter launched himself at Joshua again only to get slapped on the back by his baton. For Richter, this was the second time someone had managed to strike him. He was confused by how a mere whatever could anticipate his moves and act accordingly in such a brief window. Minna was surprised but turned her attention back to Joshua's "friends".

"Prepare yourselves….I'm going to show you a world of new opportunities." She said with a lascivious smile.