Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter, and providing feed backs.
Special thanks to Commissar Gaunt for the whole idea of Archduke Wales threaten to disown Mordred for her confrontation with Naofumi. I didn't have him follow through it this chapter since the queen already pardoned her for the action, but I do try to show that Mordred's family is NOT behind her on her action.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
Fuckboy closely follows Mordred with his head bowed low as she patrols the royal garden. She glares at her slave servant with disgust. The previously arrogant worm seems to think his flattery words and submissive attitude might win some of her favor. It won't happen, not in a year, a decade, or a century. Before the Shield Demon, he was the one that wanted to harm Jaune for nothing more than his own fragile ego. And while she hates that gluttonous pig Lancelotte for not caring for Jaune enough, she is right in that he's the one who wanted to intentionally kill Jaune. That's enough reason for her to want nothing more than endless torture, and an eternity of humiliation for the little shit.
As she walks through another crossroad paved with shining pebbles, she notices a familiar figure walking towards her. Her fur-collared coat, and golden armor, and tiara isn't as brilliant as Mordred remembered. Covered in a thin layer of ash and smoked dark. But regardless of her appearance, Artoria, the eldest daughter and heiress of House Arc still carries her with the same posture fit for an ancient king. Mordred knows how much expectation Father placed on her, simply for naming her after their grand aunt, the companion of Bow Hero Shiro Emiya. She narrows her eyes. "What do you want, Artoria?"
"You would do well to keep sniveling scum such as that one away from you, Mordred. Their malice would slowly infect you without you noticing." Instead of answering her question, Artoria starts their meeting with a short lecture. Mordred rolls back her eyes. This is the reason why she puts up with her eldest sister even less than that gluttonous pig.
"Stop pretending to be Father, Artoria. It's disgusting. Are you your own person, or are you simply his puppet, parroting all of his words and doing everything he tells you to do?" Mordred's eyes narrow at the same time as Artoria. The two sisters glared at each other for a brief second, none of them backing down.
"One of us has to take the honor of our family seriously. But since you are talking about Father, I'm passing a warning from him." Artoria is the first one to break the silence. Mordred didn't even have any time to feel smug about it when she felt alarmed from Artoria's words. Or more specifically, the words of her father. "Father would overlook your transgression against the Shield Hero this time, because Her Grace has already pardoned you. But make no mistake - we all know you went after the Shield Hero for your personal grudge. Not for the good of our family, and not for the good of this world."
"How dare you, glutton, or father talk about family when none of you cared about Jaune's death? He was struck down by the Shield Demon's little pet. And all of you pretended it never happened." Mordred lets a snarl escape her throat. Of everything she hated about her own family, this has to be the biggest reason. Father's absolute hypocrisy when it comes to the sense of 'honor'. Where even is any sense of honor, or glory if it can't even be used to protect one's closest family member?
"If you want to settle Jaune's death with the Shield Hero. Do it properly, once the Wave of Catastrophe has finished, Challenge him to a duel. A duel to the last drop of blood if you wish. But as a noble, you have your duty to your vassals. Don't throw away the lives of everyone because you want to settle a personal grudge." Artoria didn't even bat an eye at her, like Jaune's death didn't matter to her at all. "Father would not discipline or punish you this time, but make no mistake. If you wish to continue antagonizing the Shield Hero, you will do so only as yourself, not to represent House Arc, or Jaune. You have been warned."
"You- you can't do this to me! You are going to burn me out of House Arc's family tree?! ARTORIA!" For once, Artoria's words actually makes Mordred feel cold. Even as she screams at her slowly retreating backside, Mordred realizes that the warning came from Archduke Wales, not from Artoria herself. Her attempt to rightfully avenge Jaune's unfair death, only to end with she herself being cut away from her family.
Chapter 46: A Song for Losers
As Naofumi expected, the useless goddess is as incompetent as always, but she did reveal some pretty important information. One, Kyoya isn't the only champion she threw into this world. And two, she's the only one left now. Which raises his next question. "Who killed your champions? Were it... The Burning Legion?"
"Yeah, The Burning Legion is very bothersome, and they are the reason we've been sending our champions into this world. But no! My champions didn't die from The Burning Legion! Kazuma got shot to death by a nasty noble's crossbow, Megumin got torn apart by a bunch of balloons after she exhausted herself with an explosion spell, and Darkness got her head chopped off when she challenged a fellow knight to a duel of last blood..." The useless goddess begins to stomp her feet in the air, while angrily ranting about the different ways her champions lost their lives. It made Naofumi realize how lucky the Konosuba crew were in their original series, where they bumbled their way into defeating the big bads in spite of all their flaws. And it makes him realize the same luck isn't with him, if most of them died without even seeing the real enemy.
"WAIT! Did you say Darkness? That crazy bitch was a champion of an outter goddess?" Sir Crepe suddenly screams out, seemingly come to a belated realization of something important. "Well... I guess I didn't have to feel so bad about her anymore. Now that I know she's a heretic."
"You knew about her, Sir Crepe?" Itsuki looks at his knight companion, clearly just as surprised at the revelation. Although probably for an entirely different reason. "Wait. Did you saw the duel Aqua was talking about?"
"Yeah! I was the knight who got into the duel of last blood with her. I was only going to try to knock her weapon off her hand, since we were both knights in training under her majesty. But she declared it a duel to the last blood and then started rambling like an insane woman about how she wants me to beat her bloody... She sounds like someone completely mad. So I got spooked and cut her head off from her shoulders." Naofumi isn't sure what his own face look like right now, but he imagine he has a pinched look like Itsuki does right now.
"...where was I? Oh, right. The Burning Legion is coming. And Kyoya is the last champion I have left in this world." Thankfully, it seems like they didn't miss anything important from Aqua's rambling. "But there are other gods who have sent their champions in this world besides me. The Burning Legion is a menace to everyone in the Divine Court."
Naofumi would like to ask if this Burning Legion is such a problem, why hasn't the gods done something themselves directly. But then he remembers what the useless goddess actually was like, and he begins to understand why Devil Tatsuya said that divine beings and mortals should each keep to themselves.
"I don't like some of your other champions, my goddess. But it would be dishonest for me to deny their achievements. Can't you send them to this world again? I know only their bodies from this world were killed, but their souls should have returned to you. That's what happened to us in our last life." Knight Kyoya takes a step towards the useless goddess floating atop of the altar. "If this Burning Legion is a crisis that got you, and the other gods' attention, then we'll need every able bodied champion to fight them."
"I can't do that! Well... technically I can. But I shouldn't do that. It could be really, really bad for everyone in this world. You! Heroes of this world. You know the truth about this 'Wave of Catastrophe' is caused by different imperfect worlds with weak world barriers blending into each other, right?" The Useless Goddess looks down to Naofumi and his fellow heroes next, she smiles as he nods his head. "Good, I don't have to explain everything. But that's the reason why gods like us who don't naturally reign over your world shouldn't send our champions directly into imperfect worlds like yours. The process could weaken the world barrier even more. That's why we send the souls of our champions to reincarnate in this world and naturally have them grow up to their prime when the crisis happens. There's simply no time for them to naturally grow up again!"
Naofumi nods his head along. Aqua is rambling a little like a ditzy school girl, but her thought process is surprisingly clear and actually makes sense. Although he does notice something inconsistent with a certain pair he already experienced with. "What about Riser Phenex and Diablos working for Goddess Madoka and Devil Tatsuya? Don't tell me they got reincarnated into our world as kids too and then they just fucked off in the middle of the Burning Legion's invasion?"
"Oh, right. Goddess Madoka. Well... all of her champions work differently from most of us. First, their powers work on a conscious basis, different from us who use our energy to directly manipulate the material world. And they cut off their mortal world from their supernatural world, so all of their champions reside in a separate plane from material world mortals reside in. They can project themselves into another world through a mind projection without physically harming world barriers. Don't worry if you can't make sense out of it. Just know she can do things the other gods like me can't. That's why her champions usually act as our sentry and patrol, warning us about outer gods' invasions."
"That's fascinating, but it's not really helping us in any way." Naofumi turns his face to look at Malty and he realizes that she's right. Regardless of how different Aqua's method of sending her champions to Medea is from Goddess Madoka and Devil Tatsuya, it wouldn't help them against the current crisis against Astaroth, or The Burning Legion. She turns to the useless goddess next. "Honored goddess. Is there any way for you to give undeniable proof that this Burning Legion, a legion of world destroying demons are currently invading our world? My master, Lord Shield Hero, tried to rally the powerful lords and heroes of our world to unite against this common enemy, but he is not having success so far. Most people still care more about their purse strings, or their game than the survival of our world."
Naofumi turns his attention away from Malty to look at the two foreign heroes currently standing with them - Dio the Gauntlet Hero, and Tact the Whip Hero. Siltvelt's white tiger remains stoic from the start to finish, barely batting an eye at the useless goddess' appearance, or when she starts bumbling around and rambling like a drunken (she probably is drunk) school girl. The Faubley's prince on the other hand, Naofumi half expected him to act like a perv. But he's simply staring at Aqua like Dio. His expression is less stoic, and more lazy looking with his eyes barely open. But he's certainly not acting inappropriate.
"Proof? What proof do you want from me? Hasn't your world's Alaya already told you about The Burning Legion? If a world's native earthbound demi-god can sense them, there's no need to ask for divine intervention!" Once again, Aqua begins to stomp around while throwing her arms in all directions as she floats in the air. She's certainly not showing any grace one would think a goddess should have. "I can use my miracle to show you what the Burning Legion looks like if you want- AW! STOP IT! Sorry, I can't do that. Madoka is being a big meanie and doesn't let me."
Naofumi can't help but raise his eyebrows. He wonders why Madoka, out of all the gods, is stopping Aqua from showing them more information that might help them stop The Burning Legion. Isn't she supposed to be someone who cares about others? Granted, this version of Madoka is probably not the same from the one he knew from the anime (if her younger brother became the Devil is any indication), but surely she wouldn't completely change her personality? Was The Burning Legion something like a Cthulu-like eldritch abomination that would drive people crazy simply by looking at them? Regardless, Malty's father moves over and holds his arm up in front of Malty. "Making us see The Burning Legion with our own eyes might help, but it won't help us win support, Malty. Fact still remains that Sir Graham's patron goddess is an Outer Goddess. The fact that we tried to commune with her would already label us as potential heretics for anyone who wants to undermine our effort for their selfish reasons."
Ah, right. Office politics. The thing human and all human-like creatures does best even when they are facing imminent annihilation. Naofumi shakes the cynical thought out of his head. He can sulk when this world isn't facing destruction from some shitty crossover isekai protagonist, or knockoff demon invaders. At the moment, he needs to focus on gaining as much information about their enemy as possible. "Is there anything about The Burning Legion you can tell us?"
"Well... I don't know how much you know about The Burning Legion already. But it's technically a legion made of mostly mortal beings. Not a legion of divine, or infernal creatures like some people expected." Aqua's answer kind of surprises Naofumi. Does this mean... this knockoff Burning Legion is made of people like the people of Medea?
Now that he thinks about it... other than the Burning Legion probably being even more powerful, are they really that different from greedy fucker like Astaroth? He is also an invader from another world who wanted to take another world for his own ambition. A world invading legion made of a bunch of isekai protagonists banded together, who have all left the world they were summoned or incarnated into. That sounds dangerously plausible. When he was summoned, there are already some 'deconstruction/subversion' isekai stories where isekai protagonists are used as antagonist, destroying, pillaging, conquering the world they were brought into and the natives are portrayed as the main characters to fight these 'isekai protagonists'. Surely, uniting into dimension hopping, world destroying/conquering invasive legions is naturally the next step... if their egos don't bump into each other first.
"The Burning Legion calls their master a Goddess, and she could fight off other divine beings if she's cornered thanks to all the worlds she burnt down. But she's not like us because she has no divine domain. A fake god, if you will. And her goal is to become a real goddess. That's why she's been sending her subordinate to all the worlds she can get, believing taking away the worlds' essence would help her achieve godhood." Aqua continues her rambling, her face turns into that of an annoyed look as her eyes squint closer and her lips purse. "That's not how you achieve godhood, dummy. Building Divine Domains is about restriction and fulfilling your duties no matter if it's for good or evil purposes."
"A goddess of The Burning Legion?! It all makes sense!" Naofumi's self-proclaimed fan suddenly slaps his hands together, and he immediately feels a wave of coldness shooting up his spine. His worry is proven true as Sato turns to look at Malty. "In the original web novel, she's a fragment of an evil goddess who wants to take over this world. If the big bad is a wannabe goddess, that must be the reason why they want this world! Maybe she wants to eat Malty, or something… to get whatever the goddess' power she has!"
Naofumi quickly looks at Malty, and sees a brief flash of terrified realization on her face before she manages to calm back down. He thinks back to when Fitoria and Metatron revealed that Lautrec's goddess was the one people worship as 'The Lady', Not an invading Outer Goddess like they first thought. Kumoko, who was obviously under the control of The Burning Legion was also trying to get Malty when she webbed Malty up. If Sato's claim is actually right this time... it would explain why The Lady wants to kill her, and The Burning Legion was trying to capture her. Maybe she IS the one The Burning Legion is after. His self-proclaimed fan isn't bluntly saying something about killing Malty (or trying to kill her himself), but his implication is clear. Naofumi looks at Malty's mother... and the look she's giving Malty is NOT how a mother should ever look at her children.
"You are just trying to kill Malty again, you crazy Syndrome wannabe reject!" Motoyasu immediately begins to lunge and points his finger at Sato. He would probably push the other guy on the ground if Itsuki didn't hold him back, seemingly more out of reflex than genuine desire to stop him, judging by the equally angry look he has. Naofumi ends up holding him back, even if he's equally annoyed at Sato for putting Malty's life in danger again. "Well, The Burning Legion is already here, fucko!We were busy fighting them on Cal Mira Island while you were busy picking a fight with everyone else! Forget about if you are wrong. Even if you are right, how do you know they'd leave after they 'eat' Malty, huh?! What if after they get whatever goddess' power from Malty, they'd just have an easier time killing all of us?!"
Sato opens his mouth, looking like he's ready to rebuke (as in he curses and screams back at) Motoyasu. But his body suddenly freezes, as he seems to be thinking over something. Perhaps it worked that dispatching him to help the people of Medea had been a good experience for him. So he doesn't look at the native people as NPCs like Fuckboy, and more as real people. "You are actually right for once. If we really are going by the original web novel rule... then Malty's soul can't be destroyed even if her body gets destroyed, because she's part of the evil goddess. And a soul is probably even easier to catch than if she has a body. No, that would put Naofumi-sama into even more danger if he's facing a completely non-canon, unknowing enemy and they have the power of his original enemy. You are right. We have to keep Malty safe from now on, even if she might be a fragment of the Evil Goddess."
"SILENCE! All of you young, inexperienced and immature heroes are missing the point here while you were busy fighting in the mud like children." The queen closes her fan with a crispy, snapping sound. "A communion ritual with a god, especially an outer god, has a time limit. If you want to discuss anything, do so after you ask all the questions from the god."
"It's too late, Mother." Melty points her hand towards the altar, and Naofumi turns his attention over to Aqua again. Just like Melty said, the image of the useless goddess is already wavering, large trails of smoke are leaking out of her body, making her form look more and more faint.
"Be careful of... false servant-" With one last warning that sounds more like a death wail, Aqua's image completely crumbles into a cloudy mist that slowly dissipates. The last message of the useless goddess sounds like it was cut off, possibly having something lost in the middle in addition to whatever she didn't finish at the end. But Naofumi isn't sure if they should take her warning at face value... since it came from Konosuba's (in)famous useless goddesses. It's not like he's concerned about her trying to maliciously mislead them. He simply isn't sure if she knows what she's talking about.
"At least we got more confirmation about this Burning Legion from a divine being. Although I'm not sure if we should trust her. She's still an outer goddess after all... and the way she acts. I half expected her alignment to lean towards chaos. Not saying she's evil based on it, but chaotic aligned gods are notorious for the mess they create even when they are fully benevolent." Aultcray rubs his chin as his sight falls on Arch Vicar Logarius and Vicar Vittorio. "What do you two think, venerated vicars? I think this would be a good time to consult your expertise."
Hmm... Naofumi has never thought about the situation this way, since Konosuba was making fun of a lot of 'hero style' narratives popularized by Dragon Quest. The idea of Aqua isn't incompetent, but a goddess who has a chaos alignment? That does seem to make sense if the entire narration is taken seriously instead of serving as punchline for jokes. Considering all the shenanigans that happened after she followed Kazuma into mortal's world. And speaking of characters from Konosuba... he looks at Kyoya's reincarnate, Sir Graham. And his eyes are staring at the empty space where his goddess was moments ago. The long, distant look in his eyes reminds Naofumi of a lost puppy. Probably because the goddess he worshiped barely paid any attention to him.
"There is too little evidence to make a conclusion, Your Grace." Arch Vicar Logarius turns to address the queen. Speaking of whom... her face looks even darker than usual. "Based on what happened, we don't think Sir Graham's patron is malicious, even if she's not part of our pantheon. So he should be trustworthy. Regardless, his goddess isn't the one currently invading our world. So it would be more productive to turn our attention towards the real threat."
"He is still a secret worshiper of an outer goddess. And I will not have someone accuse our nation for harboring heathens. Take him to the back with you, Cromwell. And make sure he can't rebel, or try to trick us from now on. Unless you have an objection, Prince Joseph? House Armure is one of your banners." The queen gives a quick look at Cromwell, who immediately steps up from her side.
"There is no objection, aside from giving me the same privilege over Sir Graham as you, my queen. He might be a heathen who worships an outer god, but as you said so yourself. He is still a part of my banner. If a leash needs to be placed around his neck to make sure he doesn't plan something to harm us, I want to hold onto it too." The Gallian prince gives the queen a brief look, and then nods his head.
Naofumi immediately understands what she is planning to do. And he nearly opened his mouth to object, but catches himself. He knows that Aqua, and Kyoya probably aren't planning something bad. They might mess something up with their collective clumsiness. But intentionally malicious? They won't compare to someone like Cromwell. But what can he say, or do to convince Malty's mother of Aqua and Kyoya only trying to help? From his book knowledge of the 'series' they came from? Didn't his self-proclaimed fan claim that his own world, and so many people in it should act completely different from how he knows them? What if he is wrong, just like Sato? And more importantly... how can he convince the queen to not turn Kyoya into her slave, when he himself already enslaved a group of pirates because he can't trust them?
"As you wish, my queen. I live to redeem my own sin." The pardoned traitor priest bows down to the queen deep enough to be a prostration. When he stands back up, the disgustingly flattering smile on his face disappears, replaced with the same self-righteousness when he claimed Naofumi was a heretic as he lets his hand fall on Kyoya's shoulder. "Come with me, Sir Graham. You are guilty of being a heretic who worships an outer god not part of our own pantheon. Her Grace has decided to let you prove your loyalty to our world by fighting for us, but we'll need to ensure your continued subservice. Be grateful that you are allowed to keep your knight status, and not immediately transferred into the penal legion."
"I understand. Lead the way. I shall use my action to prove that both my goddess, and myself only wish to help." Kyoya's reincarnation holds his head tall. He didn't try to fight against Cromwell's hand, or his intention. The reincarnate didn't give Cromwell a chance to push him forward, choosing to walk out of the chapel himself. Any intention Naofumi had about stopping Cromwell and the queen's attempt to enslave him died with his compliance. Just like he didn't do anything to stop Kyo from voluntarily swallowing a torturous poison. Both of them choose to do something that harms themselves to comfort other people's suspicion. Yet, Naofumi knows neither action was moralistic. He wonders if this is the slippery slope that he was afraid of, but let out of the flood gate when he made the decision to enslave Dread Pirate Robert and his fellow pirates.
"Now that one potential threat is dealt with, we can move onto the next. I presume this is the Book Hero of Malach?" The queen didn't bat an eye for Kyoya, or Cromwell as they walked away behind her and disappeared. All of her attention is now focused on Kyo, who merely glimpses at her once from the corner of his eyes. "I understand that you, as a hero of this other world, would be immune to slave seals. Unless we use the Imperius Seal, which is unfortunately a taboo of our world. But from what I heard, the Shield Hero's retainers have controlled you through some kind of slow acting, chronicle poison?"
"You need not worry for such an act, Lord Shield Hero. Similar acts are also used here in Melromarc, and Faubley. The slave seal is an easy way to ensure one's obedience, but it would also be very easy to detect if for example, we capture an enemy spy and are trying to turn them into a double agent working for us. When it comes to the well being of the nation, let alone the world. It is well understood that certain acts regarding morality... can be compromised." The queen's voice feels like needles drilling into Naofumi's ears, but Lord Notches quickly clarifies for her. And unlike her intentionally taunting words, this is much more reassuring. Yet, Naofumi knows that he himself would still know that he has progressively done more and more despicable acts since his fight with the Three Heroes' Church.
"There's no point beating around the bushes. I have a duel planned with this idiot here." Kyo takes a long step forward. He cocks his head sideways, while pointing his thumb at Motoyasu. Naofumi's friend returns him with a glare. "And all of you want to see how a hero from Malach like me fights. To give you a better grasp on what you'll be facing when going after that demon king wannabe. Well! Let's not waste any time. I want to go back to understand how this poison in my body works. Unless you got cold feet? Stick boy?"
"I'm going to give you a good spanking like I did to that Fuckboy!" Motoyasu takes a few stomps forward, holding his spear like he's ready to skewer Kyo even before their official duel starts.
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever. it's not like I already whipped all of our butt if it wasn't for that sneaky dryad demigod." Kyo waves his wrist as he walks out of the chapel, with everyone following behind him. Outside, on the garden road leading towards the castle, he snaps his fingers. The pebbles that've been embedded in the ground suddenly levitate up, and float over to the poisoned hero. Naofumi still isn't sure how the book hero achieved this feat. Is it some kind of wind spell, earth spell, or good old fashioned telekinesis? Regardless, the stones arrange themselves into a large circle around Kyo. They then fall towards the ground, embedding into dirt like they have been built by a group of skilled builders. Turning the area around the Book Hero into a dueling ring. "You don't even have to actually beat me into submission. And we aren't playing some dumb rules like first blood, second blood, or to the last blood. Good old rule of 'ring out'. You win if you force me out of the ring. And I'll make this fight even easier for you because I'm a veteran hero and you are an amateur. I won't even attack you, only defend myself from your own attacks."
Motoyasu swings his dominant arm a few circles, looking ready to stomp his way into the ring when Malty grabs him from behind. "Calm yourself down, Master Spear Hero. He's trying to get you to lose your cool, make you an easier target. Remember all the practices and preparation you had when you trained with Azula."
Motoyasu turns his head to give Malty a nod. He forces himself calm by taking a few deep breaths, and then he starts to bend down and stretch his body. Naofumi tip toes his way over besides Malty, and whispers to her. "You think Motoyasu has any chance of winning even with all the restrictions Kyo set for himself? He pretty easily beat all of us when we had that fight with him outside of Balafon."
"The most important thing between their duel isn't for Motoyasu to win, Naofumi. It's for all the powerful lords who have their personal armies to see how strong the false heroes from Malach are. We can't do anything about the other powerful elites from other nations. But to let someone like Prince Joseph, and Lord Arvis see a false hero's full power, and letting them know that they still can't compare to The Burning Legion? It'll force them to work with us. Maybe not throwing all of their might with us, but definitely make them give us more support." Malty takes a short pause as if thinking over something. "For that reason, it's actually better if Motoyasu loses to Kyo. So long as he doesn't instantly get tossed out of the ring like a complete fool, it'll show how much threat our final enemy possesses."
Naofumi nods his head along, pondering over Malty's points and certainly finds some truth in her words. Although he suddenly realizes something. "Do you think Kyo thought about what you said? And that's why he puts all these artificial restrictions on himself? If he's only defending and letting Motoyasu come after him, that means Motoyasu would fight him much longer, and allow both of them to show off their strength more, wouldn't it?"
Malty doesn't reply to Naofumi. But from the way that her body suddenly freezes, he knows that she's having the same sudden realization as he did before. "You might be right, Naofumi. But you could be thinking too well for other people and give them too much benefit of the doubt again. Let's observe how Motoyasu fights Kyo, and make our decision afterwards."
Naofumi nods his head and focuses on what's happening before him. Motoyasu steps into the dueling ring. He immediately leans his body down while opening his legs apart, and then brings the blade of his spear forward pointing at Kyo. The Book Hero only stares at Motoyasu from the corner with his eyes, looking not much different from when he was confronted outside of Balafon village. It's no surprise that Kyo isn't taking this 'duel' seriously. He already went through something similar a while ago, and he had more opponents during the previous confrontation. The two of them keep at each other for a few more moments, neither of them moving. Naofumi isn't sure if he should be surprised that Kyo actually does keep his words of not going on the offense with his magic. Now he thinks about it, aside from being uncooperative and not actively helping them, Kyo really hasn't done anything to actively hurt them either.
Motoyasu is the first one to break their staring contest after a few more moments. He steps forward, a light tap of his feet that shows he's still only trying to gauge his opponent rather than committing to his attack, and his spear lunges forward with a light poke aimed at Kyo's shoulder. Something that would startle an untrained opponent, making them expose more weaknesses and allow Motoyasu to do follow up attacks. But before the tip of his weapon got within a meter of Kyo's body, it suddenly shakes to the side, and misses Kyo's shoulder by a good few centimeters. Looking as if someone pulled it away with an invisible hand. Naofumi squinting his eyes, trying to get a better look. He notices Kyo's form seems to be slightly distorted. Another one of his spells, no doubt. Is it some kind of wind spell, perhaps?
"It's uneven heat. Kyo is creating a current around his body by controlling the heat around his body. I saw Azula doing the same thing when she was sparring with Motoyasu." Naofumi turns around to look at Malty. His partner is staring at the battle between the two heroes, eyes unblinking like an owl.
"What's taking your attention? Didn't he already do something like this when he took Avdol and Azula's fire attack, and used it on us?" Naofumi isn't sure what got Malty's attention, but she was more knowledgeable in the magic of her world than he is. So he flatly asks for an explanation while he returns his focus on the duel between his friend and Kyo. Motoyasu takes a step to the side, swings the butt of his spear up to turn his previous poke into a defensive swing. Keeping himself protected while he takes a step back to recover from his failed attack. But just like Kyo promised, he didn't even pursue Motoyasu as Naofumi's friend retreated back.
"I still don't know what Kyo did when he redirected Prince Mohammed and Azula's fire attacks, and used them to fight us. A mage is similar to a magician in that they shouldn't reveal their tricks to anyone other than their designated student. But if I have to guess, he has greater control of magic than them. That's how he overcame their own fire attacks, reshaped them, and then redirected it back to us." Words come out of Malty's mouth faster than usual, and her breath is more sharp. Making her words sound more tense than usual. "But he can't simply take over a physical object like Motoyasu's spear. That means he's using magic to direct natural forces around him, and then influencing and overpowering Motoyasu's physical form. There should be energy loss in the process. Making it much less efficient than if he created something like a magical, or earth barrier between the two of them. He's definitely showing off... which means he thinks Motoyasu is far beneath him in power."
"It's not that he's wrong either. We couldn't do anything against him till Zylden and Bed-chan came along and ambushed him." Naofumi nods his head as Motoyasu continues his battle with Kyo. Seeing that his opponent truly isn't attacking back, the Spear Hero is now going full force into offense, where he swings his spear with a wild dance of lunges and slashes. He even utilized the backend of his weapon like a staff trying to hit Kyo. But none of his attacks seem to work, as all of them are pushed, or pulled away from the Book Hero by the current Kyo created.
Noticing how his attacks so far are useless, Motoyasu backs to the edge of the ring. He places both of his feet apart as he leans his body down once again, looking like he's building up his strength for something. He brings both arms in front of himself, spinning his spear in front like the helicopter blade as he charges forwards at Kyo. Seemingly decided to hit Kyo with everything like a hammer and leave the Book Hero no room to maneuver around. All Kyo did was waving his right hand in front of himself, with half opened, almost tired looking eyes. And the air in front of the Book Hero seems to suddenly glitter. Naofumi squints his eyes, and realizes these are what seems to be small, crystal looking things in front of the Book Hero. And Motoyasu hits face first into Kyo's new defense like he charged right into a wall.
The Spear Hero jumps back to the edge of the ring. A spinning five pointed star fires out of his weapon and shoots towards Kyo. For the first time since their battle starts, the flippant smirk disappears from Kyo's face and his previously relaxed body posture instantly tenses up. He makes a swiping motion with his arm, waving away Motoyasu's [Meteor Spear] attack into the sky. "You crazy fool! Do you want to blow both of us up at this distance?!"
Motoyasu's body already moved even before Kyo's words left his mouth. As soon as he finished firing off his spear weapon art. He leaps into the sky, body spinning as he swings the blade of his weapon down at Kyo. Looking like he's trying to chop a giant tree in half. Kyo's other hand moves up, as the distortion around his body grows more intense. Motoyasu's spear shifts ever slightly away, falling by the side of Kyo's shoulder rather than hitting him right on the head. But still missing his target. Motoyasu doesn't look discouraged, however. He lowers his arm as his weapon hits the ground, and digs the blade of his spear into dirt like a shovel. Even someone simple minded like Motoyasu is noticing that he can't break through Kyo's magical defense, and it appears that the Spear Hero decided to change tactics. Naofumi guesses that his friend is trying to dig the dirt the Book Hero is standing on, trying to flip him out of the dueling circle by figuratively pulling the rags from underneath.
"Interesting... but useless!" Kyo lets out a laugh as Motoyasu seems to be shocked by an electric current. His arms twitch, and he loses his balance, backing away and nearly falls out of the dueling circle. He manages to bring his own spear back at the last moment. Drilling into the dirt in front of him to stop his own fall. The Book Hero stares at him, the smirk finds its way back up his face again. "What? You think I'm putting all my attention around me, that the ground underneath is my weakness? YOU FOOL! The ground I'm standing on is the first thing I fortified when our duel started!"
Naofumi stares at his friend, wondering how Motoyasu would proceed at this point. To be honest, even he doesn't know how to snatch a win from Kyo at this point. Sure, he is technically stronger than Motoyasu in single duel thanks to his saiga weapon, and Kyo would allow him to bring it out since the Book Hero is only defending himself. But Naofumi isn't sure if the difference in strength brought out by his saiga weapon form is enough to force Kyo back. Because it's clear the Book Hero is barely taking the battle seriously at this point. But Motoyasu suddenly smiles. "I know what I have to do to win now."
"Oh, really? And what's your oh so smart move that would defeat me?" Kyo raises one of his eyebrows, clearly not convinced that Motoyasu is going to do anything to threaten him. But the Spear Hero didn't get discouraged by Kyo's flippant attitude. He charges again, and like last time, digs the tip of his spear into the ground right in front of Kyo. When he looks up at the Book Hero, Naofumi gets the feeling that Motoyasu must be smiling as he utters the name of his spear weapon art.
"[Meteor Spear]." The proclamation of Motoyasu's attack name turns out to be much quieter compared to the disturbance he caused. With a loud boom that makes Naofumi's ears ring, a large cloud of dust is kicked up by Motoyasu's attack, and the shockwave begins to erupt from the center of their dueling ring outwards. Mages, and priests standing around them quickly put up barriers to stop it from completely totalling the garden not too far, and Naofumi throws up both his shield and miracle barrier to make sure Malty and Itsuki don't get hurt around him. A single, dark bundle flies back out of the dust cloud, hitting the wall of the chapel and slides down. Naofumi looks back, and sees Motoyasu crumbled on the foot of the building, a pained look on his face as he rubs the back of his head. The previously immaculate-looking stone wall of the chapel has a pretty deep indent above the Spear Hero's form.
"OH, BRILLIANT PLAN! You managed to knock yourself out of the ring. What? Did you think using your strongest attack on the ground I stand on would yield a different result from before?" A round of clap rings out alongside Kyo's sarcastic congratulation as a round of gust blows the dust cloud apart. And while the ground had been totalled, the Book Hero's feet are still both firmly planted on the same place he was standing the whole duel.
"No, I already won." Motoyasu slowly raises his still shaking arm, pointing the tip of his spear at Kyo. "Why don't you look at the ground around yourself?"
"Nani?!" Kyo lets out a brief, and confused yelp as he looks down like Motoyasu asked. His eyes suddenly grew thinner as Naofumi noticed the same detail. The ground around Kyo has been completely totaled. Meaning the dueling ring Kyo made with the pebbles is gone. "The ring. Your last attack wasn't aimed at me. You were trying to destroy the ring!"
"Yes. Since the goal was to get you out of the ring, you obviously lose if there isn't even a ring to begin with." Motoyasu's voice is shaking, likely from the pain of him colliding into a building at high speed. But he is also laughing at the same time. "The one thing I learnt from fighting with Naofumi at the start... is to be more flexible about how to fight. One doesn't have to overpower his opponent to win a duel."
Naofumi thinks back to the duel he had with Motoyasu at the start of their journey. He isn't sure how the tricks he pulled in order to beat Motoyasu would lead to him deciding to destroy the ground of his duel. Since he himself hadn't figured it out by the time Motoyasu pulled this dangerous stunt. But then again, he suppose the principle is similar to how neither of them won the battle with a direct confrontation. And he feels a strange sense of pride on how Motoyasu is giving him part of the credit for his technical win against Kyo. But his satisfaction quickly disappears when he remembers that Motoyasu only pulled off a technical win against his opponent. He himself is the one who suffered much greater injuries, while the Book Hero is still in perfect health and could harm him if he gets angry about this supposed loss.
"Tisk... what a dirty trick. Congratulations, Spear Hero of Medea. You win the duel between us." To Naofumi's relief. Kyo actually accepted his loss as he walked in front of Motoyas, and helped pull his friend back up to his feet. Whatever bad things one can say about the Book Hero (such as him being an arrogant ass, or him being extremely unhelpful against their common enemy), one can't accuse him of being a sore loser.
"Still playing at fighting with the heroes of this world, Kyo? Once a loser, always a loser." An unfamiliar voice suddenly rings down at them from the sky. Naofumi looks up, and sees the giant face of a young looking man with dark hair hanging over them in the sky in what appears to be a large mirror. His confusion didn't take a lot of time to be answered when Itsuki spit out a growl near him.
"That's the fucker on top of the Spirit Tortoise."
End Note:
Mordred gets a pretty severe last warning from her family. This totally would not come back and bite everyone in the ass at all in the future.
Hope the communion with Useless Goddess wasn't too wacky. Although this is Aqua we are talking about (and she's already half-drunk after wine was one of the tribute to summon her), so it probably is. But yeah, hope this answers the question. Kyoya wasn't chosen by Aqua as the only champion she send into Medea to help stop The Burning Legion. He's the only one to have survived. The idea of Sir Crepe, as a knight trainee killed Darkness was an idea I had for a long time. Not because Sir Crepe was actually stronger or more skilled than Darkness (I imagine Darkness being both much stronger and more skilled than Crepe with at least one extra life of experience). But because Darkness allowed Crepe to hit her without any reprecaution and she spooked a rookie like Crepe so much, the princess just went straight for a killing blow.
If anyone is remotedly interested... the one who killed Kazuma in this timeline was Joffery Totally-Not-Baratheon Potter. I might actually show how that happened in an omake scene because I think it's funny Joffery actually agree with Kazuma that chivalry was stupid right before killing him with a dirty trick.
And of course, Motoyasu has a duel with Kyo, where he gets to show the lesson he learnt from dueling with Naofumi and grabs a win through a technicality. This version of Kyo also gets to show that in spite of being an arrogant prick, he does have some class and would show respect towards someone who won him over. Yeah, that's the fanfiction's influence on Insector Haga/Weevil Underwood I took inspiration to make this version of Kyo.