The date was close to rolling over.

The banquet that had been held in Goto had ended several hours ago and the residents of the village were no sleeping peacefully in their own homes.

The same went for the people Daska had brought with him, who were all sleeping in their tents, save for a few knights who were entrusted with keeping watch.

But, in the midst of all of them……the all important Daska was not inside his tent, but out on the Selemus Plains, far from Goto.

Of course, he hadn’t come out all this way by himself. Rei, Set, Vihera, Min, and Rhodes were with him.

……As well as Elk and Theorem, who Rei was watching at the end of his gaze.

Clouds had covered the sky a few hours ago, but those clouds had now disappeared, as if scared away by Elk’s bloodlust and fighting spirit. Only the moonlight shone down onto the ground.

Elk and Theorem faced each other in silence. Each of them had their weapons in hand as they stared at each other, trying to get as much information from the other as they could.

In the middle of this, Daska took a step forward and spoke.

「Then, the duel between Elk and Theorem will start. You both might have your own personal thoughts about the other, but let’s not leave any grudges after this fight.」

The two of them nodded silently at Daska’s words.

After seeing their responses, Daska gave a small nod……and announced the start of the fight in a loud voice.

「Start!」

「UOOOOOOOOH-!」

「-!?」

Elk charged forward as soon as the signal was given.

He swung his Axe of the Thunder God, his namesake and the name of his party, as he closed the distance to Theorem.

The first to act would win. It was clear what Elk’s intentions were as he swung his axe.

「HAAAAH-!」

A roar filled with fighting spirit.

His attack was wrapped in lightning as he attacked Theorem with a speed and sharpness that made it hard to believe he was wielding a huge axe.

However, Theorem had his own title, Flash. There was no way he would take a fatal attack silently and he fell back the moment the Axe of the Thunder God swung down.

Boom-!

The ground exploded as soon as the Axe of the Thunder God landed.

……Yes, it literally exploded.

Dirt, stones, and grass flew out everywhere. Maybe because it was the Selemus Plains, where Undead would appear, some bone fragments were also scattered into the surroundings.

Naturally, some of it also flew towards Theorem, who had jumped back to avoid the Elk’s strike. He swung his sword through the dirt and stones as if it were a hindrance.

A flash of steel worthy of his title.

It was a sweeping attack that seemed not only to cut through the air, but through space itself. However, Elk was a renowned adventurer himself. He hardly saw the attack coming, but with the intuition of a veteran adventurer, he quickly caught the attack with the shaft of the Axe of the Thunder God.

Kiin-, a metallic screech echoed into the surroundings……and Elk gave a roar as the longsword and the shaft of his axe collided with each other.

「UOOOH-!」

Elk tried to break the blade of the longsword with brute force as he put all his strength behind the shaft of his axe.

However, Theorem saw through it in an instant and withdrew his power from his longsword.

At the same, Theorem was sent flying backwards.

He used the power Elk had put behind his axe to leap back.

The two of them glared at each other from a distance of several meters.

They stared at each other, looking for any potential gaps.

As they each watched the other, they repeated slight movements of their weapons as well as fine feints with their shoulders and legs.

To the untrained eye, it looked like they were just staring at each other. But fortunately, everyone here had reached a certain level of skill.

Even the one with the lowest skill present, Rhodes, was a C rank adventurer, and he understood that there was a silent fight going on between the two of them, even if he didn’t understand all fo it.

The feints continued for several minutes as they tried to catch each other out.

Not liking to drag the time out like this, Elk spoke up.

「You’re quite good, aren’t you? Your title of Flash isn’t a bad one.」

「You too. I felt chills when I saw the famed power of the Axe of the Thunder God from the rumors up close.」

「Heh, well said. ……However, it’s unforgivable to resort to taking hostages when you have this level of skill, don’t you think?」

Elk had probably wanted to say those words from the very start, and not as a provocation.

As Elk spoke those words, a thick bloodlust overflowed from his body.

His bloodlust was similar to what he had displayed from inside the carriage when he had arrived at Goto.

His bloodlust was so thick that it made people feel like it had materialised into reality.

However, Theorem had faced it before, and while his face stiffened for a moment, he show no other obvious reactions.

That said, it was probably only because it was Theorem, Flash.

If it had been an ordinary soldier, knight, or adventurer, they would definitely have frozen up……and their hearts might even have stopped from the bloodlust.

「It’s true that I don’t like to do things like that personally. But, unfortunately, I’m a general, not an adventurer. With the lives of my men and the name of the Bestir Empire on my shoulders, even if it’s underhanded, if it means less danger, I will choose it.」

Theorem spoke boldly as he countered Elk’s bloodlust.

However, that only seemed to make Elk angrier. He glared at Theorem with such force that the veins on his forehead popped out.

「Hah, that’s ridiculous! No matter what you do, you should be able to distinguish between good and bad things!」

Spitting those words out, he stepped forward and closed the gap to Theorem as he swung the Axe of the Thunder God.

His previous attack might have held a lot of power, but his current attack made people wonder where all that power had been before.

Facing such an attack, Theorem judged that it would be a bad idea to block it. He focused on dodging as he swung his longsword, weaving in attacking between the gaps in Elk’s attacks.

Elk unleashed a storm like series of attacks while Theorem struck back in single strikes, as if to exploit openings……the two titled foes attacked, blocked, parried, evaded, and repelled each other at a speed that Rhodes could barely track.

「……Elk is too naive.」

Rhodes reflexive turned to Daska, who had spoken those words, with a twitch.

If Rei had been the one to say it, Rhodes would probably have attacked him immediately.

However, since it was Daska, the lord of Gilm, who said those words, Rhodes could only keep his mouth shut.

And so, it was Min, his mother, who spoke up in place of him.

「Sure, you could say he’s naive, but that is his strength. That’s who Elk is, and that’s why I trust him.」

「That is true. I agree with you.」

Rei nodded in agreement to Min’s words.

As an adventurer, he had naturally received a wide variety of requests. And among those requests, if one was not ruthless enough, one might end up fighting their allies to the death.

……yes. For example, the time Theorem had taken Elk’s family hostage.

Rhodes understood their meaning. He gritted his teeth as he held back his words.

It was because he had be captured in the first placed that this was all taking place, so he wasn’t in a position to say anything.

Elk and Theorem’s fierce exchange continued as Rhodes faces his troubles in his heart.

「Fuck you, you bastard!」

With such a shout, the Axe of the Thunder God swept out horizontally, aiming to cut Theorem’s body in half if it connected.

However, it only struck air……as Theorem leapt back to dodge the attack.

He couldn’t take the attack. This was a major disadvantage to Theorem in this fight.

Theorem was a general of the Bestir Empire known as Flash. Naturally, the longsword in his hand was forged by a blacksmith at the level of a master craftsman. His sword was sharp enough to take on any half baked magic sword and was even capable of cutting through the blades of some of them.

However, his opponent right now was the A rank adventurer, Axe of the Thunder God.

The weapon that Elk wielded and had given him his title was a very advanced magic weapon.

If Theorem tried blocking the axe with his sword, his sword wouldn’t be able to withstand it. That was why he could only dodge Elk’s attacks.

In the reverse situation, if Theorem’s attacks were blocked by the Axe of the Thunder God’s blade, his longsword could be destroyed from just that, so he needed to take great care in lining up his attacks.

Theorem prided himself on having greater physical strength that most other people, but every time he attacked with his sword, it took a mental toll on him.

「Guh-!」

Although Theorem leapt back to avoid the fatal attack, the lightning emitted from axe, as befitting its name, burned his leather armour black.

Naturally, the effect extended to his body, and although he had leapt back, his movements slowed down for a moment.

The Axe of the Thunder God. Its power was unparalleled, but what was even more troublesome was the lightning the axe emitted.

Even if you avoided an attack, forks of lightning would extend out and your body would gradually take damage, resulting in paralysis from numbness, slowed reaction speed, and even robbing you of your physical strength.

If dealing with an ordinary enemy, it would only be a slight disadvantage.

However, the paralysis and slowed reaction speed against a strong opponent like Elk was fatal.

「DIEEEEE-!」

Seeing Theorem freeze up for a moment, Elk judged this to be his greatest opportunity and quickly closed the distance as he swung his axe.

Realising it was impossible to dodge the attack, Theorem used his sword as a shield in a last desperate struggle.

Kiin-!

A metallic sound echoed out as his longsword broke in the middle of its blade, sending the blade flying.

Elk seemed to realise the blade had broken from that sound. His eyes didn’t even track where the blade when as he swung the Axe of the Thunder God down with great force, as if to smash Theorem’s head.

Everyone present thought that the fight would end with Theorem’s death.

However……the axe stopped as the blade touched Theorem’s head.

Even though he had swung the axe down with all his strength, he had still managed to stop his attack.

「……Eh? Why?」

Why did he stop his axe? Rhodes unintentionally muttered his thoughts out loud in confusion, but Rei’s words cleared his doubt.

「Rhodes, look at Elk’s throat. Then you’ll know why he stopped.」

At Rei’s words, Rhodes looked at Elk’s throat.

Min probably didn’t understand why her own husband had stopped attacking either as the two of them looked over at Elk……where they saw the blade of a dagger pointed at his well trained throat, which was covered in thick muscle.

「When……did that happen?」

「It was when his longsword broke. At that moment, he let go of his sword and drew the dagger from his chest before thrusting with it.」

「That’s right. Even from my point of view, his speed with the dagger was quite fast. As expected of someone with the title of Flash.」

「That’s not the reason why he earned that title, but……」

Daska agreed with Rei’s words while Vihera corrected him with a wry smile.

The reason they had started to converse so peacefully was because they judged the battle to be over.

In fact, Elk glanced at the dagger pointing at his throat before giving a snort and pulling the Axe of the Thunder God back from its position a few centimeters from Theorem’s head.

「……Phew.」

Seeing that, Theorem let out a sigh of relief.

Depending on how you viewed the battle, they seemed to be evenly matched, but in actual fact, Elk was always the one with the initiative. It was close to sheer luck that Theorem had managed to bring it to a draw.

Even so, he was quite happy to survive this difficult battle.

Although he was also quite pained to have his beloved sword broken.

「……Well, fine. I’m not saying I’ve completely forgiven you, but I’ll call it even here. But remember. The next time you lay a hand on my family. Next time, I won’t stop at anything and I’ll smash the Axe of the Thunder God into your beautiful face as hard as I can.」

「I’ll keep that in mind.」

Theorem gave a small nod in response to Elk’s words, as if trying to convince himself.

However, at the same time, he wouldn’t hesitate to try the same thing again if it was absolutely necessary. That was what he thought in his mind.

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