Ch.402[Chapter 402] Duel

The first round was Kageyasha’s victory.

Sir Dominic suffered a judgment loss due to time expiration before he could reach Kageyasha through the flames.

However, Sir Dominic wasn’t particularly concerned about his first defeat.

No, he was actually wearing an even happier smile.

Because he knew he had already seized the initiative.

“…What impressive fighting spirit.”

Kageyasha recalled the terrifying battle intent that Sir Dominic had just emitted.

Just remembering it caused cold sweat to run down Kageyasha’s back—the psychological shock he had received at that moment had been tremendous.

At first, he believed he could physically defeat Sir Dominic.

Kageyasha’s special technique was a counter to Sir Dominic’s, and the current Sir Dominic was still only at tier 4.

But this was Kageyasha’s misconception.

Sir Dominic had hidden strength beyond what could be sensed on the surface.

“…There’s no way I can win.”

Kageyasha fell halfway into despair.

It was a rather strange reaction for someone who had just won the first match.

But Kageyasha truly believed he couldn’t defeat Sir Dominic.

Although he had managed to catch Sir Dominic off guard and take one round, how could he possibly face that walking fortress now that he had shown his hand?

Why had Kageyasha fallen into such desperate thoughts?

It was the effect of Sir Dominic’s special technique, [Cinematic].

Sir Dominic’s special technique [Cinematic] not only made him appear more impressive or slightly altered situations to his advantage, but it also had another characteristic.

It made whatever situation Sir Dominic intended feel more dramatic, realistic, as if one were witnessing it right beside them.

Just now, Sir Dominic had burned with fighting spirit to reclaim the momentum he had lost.

And [Cinematic] recognized that he was using “burning fighting spirit” as a means to achieve the goal of “reclaiming lost momentum,” and transmitted that fighting spirit to his opponent vividly enough to reclaim the momentum.

In the end, this meant Kageyasha had been afflicted with the status effects of fear and terror due to [Cinematic]’s effect.

Unfortunately, Kageyasha had no immunity to such status effects.

He was the type who, like many young people in Gacharland, believed flashy dealers suited him better than boring tanks.

As such, Kageyasha only had aggressive traits and aggressive special techniques.

Above all, what made Kageyasha so gripped by fear and terror was his lack of experience.

Because Kageyasha was stronger than anyone his age, it was difficult for him to find worthy opponents.

Combined with his personality that only sought to fight against the strong, he had actually fought fewer battles than one might expect.

In contrast, Sir Dominic was a battle-hardened warrior who had fought thousands, tens of thousands of battles in Feralant alone, to add some exaggeration.

This meant he would never lose a battle of momentum to a greenhorn like Kageyasha.

All of this combined made Kageyasha feel that Sir Dominic was an insurmountable wall.

However, Kageyasha did not give up here.

He was a samurai, a warrior, and a descendant of knights.

No matter how unfavorable the situation, he would not surrender.

That was Kageyasha’s motto.

Kageyasha suddenly remembered that the second match was scheduled to begin shortly.

The break time was about to end.

Kageyasha raised his halberd again, burning with fighting spirit.

1 to 0.

The score was still in Kageyasha’s favor.

Kageyasha reassured himself that there was still hope.

Above all, opportunities to fight against such a powerful opponent would be rare in the future.

If that was the case, he had no choice but to give it his all.

…

“A failure?”

Sir Dominic muttered as he watched Kageyasha walking toward him from the opposite side.

Looking at the aura emanating from Kageyasha, Sir Dominic felt he had failed to seize the initiative.

Kageyasha’s momentum was that fierce, with flames seeming to stream from the eyes behind his mask.

“No, there was still some gain.”

Sir Dominic suddenly looked at Kageyasha’s hands holding the halberd.

Though outwardly pretending to be composed and dignified, those hands were trembling while tightly gripping the halberd.

This meant Kageyasha was still very conscious of Sir Dominic.

At least, in a way that favored Sir Dominic.

Having reached that conclusion, Sir Dominic slowly rose from his seat and prepared to return to the training ground.

“Snack?”

“Yes. Wait here and eat your snack.”

Sir Dominic opened a bag of snacks for Sir Dominica and patted her head.

Sir Dominica raised both arms in joy at the new snack, showing a happy wiggle.

Like a shaman performing a rain ritual.

“Kau!”

Sir Dominic smiled at the sight and returned to the training ground.

Having just finished the first round, with the mindset of winning the next three rounds straight—

“Sir Dominic. I have a suggestion.”

“Hmm?”

Sir Dominic let out a questioning sound at Kageyasha’s sudden words.

Since the fight was about to begin, Kageyasha’s words were truly unexpected.

However, Kageyasha truly wanted to speak with Sir Dominic, so he went to the referee and asked to postpone the second round briefly.

The referee nodded readily to Kageyasha’s request.

He believed that tactical timeouts could be used freely as long as they weren’t abused.

After calling for time, Kageyasha returned to the training ground and stood before Sir Dominic.

Then he made a proposal to Sir Dominic.

“I want to nullify the previous round and have a single match instead of a best-of-five.”

“?”

Sir Dominic couldn’t understand Kageyasha’s words.

More precisely, he couldn’t understand why Kageyasha would make such a suggestion.

But with Kageyasha’s next words, Sir Dominic nodded in understanding.

“You are a warrior who grows stronger the longer you fight. I, on the other hand, lack experience and cannot defeat you in a conventional battle.”

“Even if I win this round, you will win the remaining three. You are the tortoise. The tortoise that ultimately defeats the hare.”

Through Kageyasha’s description, Sir Dominic realized what he was trying to say.

Being an experienced warrior, Sir Dominic would quickly notice Kageyasha’s weaknesses and persistently target them.

Then Kageyasha, lacking experience, would be unable to counter and would collapse pathetically.

That was precisely the situation Kageyasha feared.

He wasn’t afraid of losing, but he was afraid of losing pathetically.

“So I want to nullify the previous round where I had the advantage, and instead focus solely on this current round, excluding the future rounds where you would have the advantage. This round where the odds are most even.”

Sir Dominic immediately understood Kageyasha’s words.

Without any advantages for either side, one fair match in an equal situation.

He was saying they should settle everything with that one match.

Kageyasha, trying to calm his trembling hand by gripping his wrist with his other hand, asked again.

“Will you accept my proposal?”

Sir Dominic looked straight into Kageyasha’s eyes.

In those eyes, Sir Dominic saw a warrior’s spirit.

A truly fair situation, fair conditions, and a fair fight.

There was no glory in defeating a stronger opponent, nor fear of losing.

There was only a warrior filled with the desire to fight against someone strong.

“Very well.”

Sir Dominic grinned and extended his hand to Kageyasha.

Recognizing the meaning behind Sir Dominic’s gesture, Kageyasha also extended his hand and shook it.

“Referee? Could we nullify the previous round and decide the match with this single round?”

“Of course. Shall I delete the previous log then?”

Sir Dominic requested the rule change from the referee.

“Yes. And I would like a detailed record of the fight from now on. I want to keep it personally.”

“Certainly.”

Kageyasha asked the referee for a very detailed record.

Sir Dominic and Kageyasha looked at each other while still shaking hands.

Sir Dominic was still grinning unpleasantly, while Kageyasha seemed to have stopped trembling but remained tense.

“Whatever the outcome, I hope there are no regrets.”

Sir Dominic said to Kageyasha.

“That’s my line.”

Kageyasha gripped his halberd tightly with his free hand.

“…?”

Kageyasha tried to withdraw his hand from the handshake and step back, but he couldn’t.

[The wheel of fate is turning!]

“This will be a delightful battle.”

Sir Dominic was holding onto Kageyasha’s hand and wouldn’t let go.

“…That’s my line.”

Kageyasha kept trying to break the handshake and pull his hand away, but Sir Dominic’s grip strength was beyond imagination.

In fact, there was a bit of trickery involved.

While pretending to shake hands, he was pressing on the muscles that controlled grip strength with his fingers, preventing Kageyasha from exerting proper force.

This was something only an experienced warrior could do.

But Kageyasha, unaware of this fact, was simply bewildered by the situation.

Of course, he pretended not to be flustered outwardly—

[GET, SET, GO!]

A system message announcing the start of the match appeared between them.

“I’m happy. I feel like I’ll die if I’m not happy.”

Sir Dominic said with a maniacal smile.

And then…

With his free hand, he uppercut Kageyasha’s chin.

Kageyasha’s head jerked upward and bent backward.

In Sir Dominic’s hand that wasn’t shaking Kageyasha’s, he held his shield as usual.

Sir Dominic had once again successfully seized the initiative from this greenhorn.