Ch.433Chapter 433 – Duel (2)

When the word “duel” left Eve’s lips, the surroundings fell silent for a moment.

Then, Lizanis, who had been glaring at Eve, stared at her with a dumbfounded expression and said:

“A duel?”

“You wouldn’t think of avoiding it, would you, Great Warrior?”

Eve said, looking at Lizanis.

“Are you not confident?”

“…This, a mere human…!”

Lizanis shouted in response to Eve’s provocation.

“You think you’re on my level? I’ve been nice enough to listen to you, and now you’re looking down on me?”

Pointing at Eve with her finger, Lizanis continued:

“It wouldn’t be difficult for me to snap your neck with this hand! The White Dragon might be different, but you, against me?”

“Are you unwilling to do it? You’ve been all talk so far.”

Eve said, putting down her sword, as if looking down on Lizanis.

“I thought I was doing you a favor by coming down to the place where you feel most confident, but are you actually just shouting with your mouth because you’re not confident in fighting? I heard the Great Warrior of Bestia was a strong warrior, but was I misinformed?”

“…You!”

“I won’t listen to excuses. You have only two choices.”

Eve said, looking at Lizanis.

“If you’re willing to accept the duel, pick up that gauntlet. If you’re going to avoid it, turn your back and run away right now.”

After saying that, Eve glared at Lizanis and continued:

“However, if you run away, I’d prefer you never appear before me again mentioning Kay. A cowardly person appearing before Kay would only hurt his eyes.”

“Well, said!”

It seemed Lizanis’s patience had finally reached its limit.

She picked up Eve’s gauntlet and shouted at her:

“I accept, human! I’ll make you regret every word you’ve uttered!”

“If you can.”

As soon as Lizanis’s acceptance and Eve’s response ended, the lizardmen began to back away.

Perhaps it was because this was a place where a warrior’s logic prevailed.

They were retreating to avoid interfering in the duel between Eve and Lizanis.

That was also an implicit indication that we should back away too.

The moment we retreated, the duel would begin.

I quickly approached Eve.

“Eve, you…”

“I’ll be fine, Kay.”

Eve gave me a brief answer and then checked her sword.

She was checking her beloved sword that she had brought from the Kingdom of Mikea, not the one made of dragonbone.

And Sera, who had somehow approached my side, quickly said:

“Eve, before you start, your equipment…”

“I don’t need it.”

Sera began to look troubled at Eve’s indication that she would fight with just her one beloved sword.

Seeing her adamant refusal, I immediately asked:

“Do you have a chance of winning?”

“I wouldn’t challenge her if I didn’t.”

Eve answered confidently.

Given her confident words that suggested she definitely had a chance, I felt it would be difficult to stop her.

So instead, I asked for her reason.

“Then why are you creating this situation?”

Eve could have resolved this sufficiently without creating such a dangerous situation.

And Eve, looking at me with a slight smile, turned to Lizanis and said:

“Because I’m annoyed by that lizard woman who keeps putting Kay in awkward situations.”

After saying that, Eve quietly added:

“Including how she ruined the good atmosphere between Kay and me.”

“Eve.”

“Go now, Kay. And don’t worry.”

Eve turned her back to me and approached Lizanis.

With her back still turned, Eve said:

“I’ll definitely win and come back.”

I stared at her back for a while.

Just as I was wondering if I should still try to stop her, someone grabbed my shoulder.

Looking back, it was Sia.

“Let her go, Kay.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry.”

Sia said with a grin.

“That young lady will definitely win.”

Sia added the words “I have a feeling” to that statement.

+

Eve slowly approached Lizanis with her sword in hand.

When Eve had come within a suitable distance, Lizanis raised her halberd and said to Eve:

“It seems the White Dragon really cares about you.”

“He cares about more than just me. But you’re quite perceptive.”

Lizanis frowned at Eve’s relaxed attitude.

It wasn’t just that Eve kept provoking her; she felt some other emotion was stimulating her.

Slightly confused by an emotion she hadn’t felt before, Lizanis quietly asked:

“Why would the White Dragon care about someone like you…?”

“Are you jealous?”

“Jealous?”

Lizanis stared at Eve with a blank face for a moment.

Then, she quietly asked:

“Jealous, me?”

“Your expression has turned even more ashen since Kay and I were getting along well. I thought perhaps you believed you should be in my place.”

Lizanis didn’t respond to Eve’s words and quietly placed her hand on her weapon.

Soon, Eve smiled slightly and said:

“I guess I was right.”

“…What’s wrong with that?”

“About half of it is wrong.”

Eve pointed her sword at Lizanis and said:

“Coveting my place might be a natural emotion in some ways, so that’s not wrong. But you, who haven’t paid any price, cannot take the fruits of the years Kay and I have spent together. Is it right to desire results without effort?”

“My efforts…!”

“Were probably efforts to satisfy yourself, not considering Kay himself. The direction of your effort was wrong.”

Eve waved her arm once, then spoke again:

“Even if I explain further, you probably won’t understand properly. Let’s stop talking and do what we came here to do.”

Watching Eve take her stance, Lizanis tensed her muscles.

This place wasn’t created for the two of them to argue.

This place was their dueling ground.

“Let’s go.”

Eve ran toward Lizanis.

Eve’s weapon was a sword.

Lizanis’s weapon was a halberd.

Given the basic difference in reach, Eve first needed to approach Lizanis.

It would be disadvantageous for Eve if Lizanis maintained an appropriate distance while fighting, and trying to counter awkwardly from a distance would take more time due to the difference in reach.

Therefore, the choice to approach wasn’t necessarily bad.

But Lizanis saw a different problem.

‘She’s slow?’

Compared to her own speed, Eve was slow.

Significantly slow.

Eve was running a distance that Lizanis could cover in a single bound.

Of course, even for other beastmen, it was a distance they would have to run, but Eve was a bit slow even compared to them.

The speed difference was even more pronounced when compared to herself, one of the top-tier warriors among beastmen.

It was so ridiculous she couldn’t even laugh.

While thinking that, Eve thrust her sword toward Lizanis.

Lizanis deflected Eve’s sword with her halberd without much difficulty.

‘Her form is decent, but she’s weak.’

Compared to the human warriors Lizanis had occasionally seen, Eve might be considered well-trained.

But the difference in physical abilities between beastmen and humans was evident from the start.

Against Lizanis, who was among the top-tier warriors even among beastmen, no amount of human training would make much difference.

‘There’s no way I can lose.’

She had the advantage in strength, speed.

She would definitely have the upper hand in stamina as well.

Without needing any tricks, she could break this arrogant human woman’s pride just by pushing forward with raw power.

Thinking that, Lizanis swung her halberd with a triumphant smile.

‘This is punishment for daring to provoke a Great Warrior.’

With that thought, her triumphant strike…

Passed harmlessly over Eve’s head.

‘Did I misjudge the distance because she’s close?’

Thinking she had miscalculated the range of her attack because she had allowed Eve to approach while trying to gauge her strength, Lizanis immediately reversed her halberd.

She deliberately reversed the halberd in a trajectory that would be difficult for Eve to dodge, aiming to strike her legs.

But Eve was already outside the range of the halberd.

Realizing her attack had missed again, Lizanis narrowed her eyes and swung her halberd.

Occasionally mixing in punches, she attacked Eve.

But nothing connected.

Neither her fists nor her halberd.

They didn’t even graze Eve’s hair.

‘Why can’t I hit her?’

After more than ten attacks had missed, Lizanis shouted in frustration.

No matter how much she attacked, nothing connected.

Her attacks weren’t connecting even though she wasn’t holding back.

‘This is some kind of trick…!’

Come to think of it, she had heard there was a mage on the other side.

Could the mage be doing something?

She suspected that, but Lizanis’s instincts told her otherwise.

There was no intervention from the other side.

Yet her attacks weren’t connecting.

Growing desperate, Lizanis increased the frequency and speed of her attacks.

Still, her attacks didn’t reach Eve.

‘Why?’

Wondering about this, after attacking several more times, Lizanis finally realized Eve’s evasion method.

Eve was moving first.

As if she could see Lizanis’s actions, she was moving much earlier.

Eve was boldly moving to positions where she would be hit by other attacks if she was even slightly off.

It was as if she was confident she could definitely dodge attacks of Lizanis’s caliber.

“How are you, continuously dodging like that?!”

“Because I can see it.”

Eve calmly replied to Lizanis.

“Indeed, if I were to fight with just this one sword, I wouldn’t be able to defeat you. Because you excel in speed, strength, everything.”

Eve answered while calmly dodging the attacks.

She seemed relaxed enough to converse while Lizanis was busy attacking.

Lizanis increased her attack speed in frustration, and Eve dodged even that while saying:

“I would indeed lose if I were hit by you even once. But I won’t be hit by your attacks.”

The moment Eve said that, Lizanis’s halberd was being swung in a position where it could slash Eve’s abdomen.

However, Eve simply deflected the attack with her beloved sword.

It wasn’t a reckless block.

As if she had known in advance, she skillfully redirected the force to deflect the attack.

Watching her block such a fast attack, Lizanis burst out in frustration:

“Damn it, why can’t I hit you?!”

It was something that couldn’t happen in her common sense.

And Eve quietly answered:

“Because I’ve already seen opponents stronger and faster than you.”

The moment Eve’s words ended, Lizanis’s chin was lifted upward.

As the fastening strap of her helmet tore, Lizanis’s helmet flew into the air, and with her chin pointing upward, Lizanis looked at Eve with just her eyes.

Eve’s sword had struck a gap, sending her helmet flying.

“That priestess was much stronger than you.”

While deflecting Lizanis’s attack, Eve slashed her abdomen with her sword.

The straps of the armor covering her abdomen tore, exposing Lizanis’s stomach to the air.

Immediately, Lizanis swung her fist for a counterattack, but:

“That priestess was much faster than you.”

Eve said that while completely dodging all of Lizanis’s attacks.

And in the midst of that, Eve swung her sword and slashed Lizanis’s arm.

The hand that had been slightly weakened from swinging a punch was cut, causing the halberd she was holding to stick into the ground.

And Eve quietly murmured:

“Frustrating as it may be, I’ve seen, experienced, and learned from a swordsman who was beyond my reach.”

Then Eve grabbed Lizanis’s arm.

Inserting her body, she executed a perfect throw.

Unable to resist properly, Lizanis’s body was laid flat on the snow, and Eve’s sword pointed at her throat.

“There’s no way you could defeat me.”

Eve said, slightly pricking her throat with the sword.

It stopped precisely above the throat, so no blood flowed.

“You’ve lost, Great Warrior.”

“This is, cheating…”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t make such flimsy excuses. Objectively speaking, you had many more advantages than I did.”

After saying that, Eve smiled slightly and said:

“Yet I’m the one who won.”

“Kuh…!”

Lizanis’s face contorted as if in frustration.

However, if she tried anything now…

Eve’s sword would pierce right through her throat.

In a duel where one could lose their life upon defeat without complaint, Eve was clearly showing mercy.

And that was humiliating for Lizanis.

But defeat is defeat.

Lizanis closed her eyes slightly.

And quietly opened her mouth:

“…I, admit defeat.”

The words acknowledging defeat flowed from Lizanis’s lips.

And just as Eve heard those words and was about to lift her sword…

A loud noise came from the lizardmen.

“This is cheating!”

“That witch is cheating!”

“There’s no way the Great Warrior would lose!!”

Eve’s face showed slight surprise.

She hadn’t expected the lizardmen to suddenly start a riot.

Though she looked like she’d scored a point, Lizanis felt more dismay than satisfaction.

‘Damn it.’

Simple as it was, Lizanis knew.

Her position was that of a Great Warrior.

One of only three such powerful individuals in Bestia.

In Bestia, which valued strength, Great Warriors were held in tremendous respect.

Sometimes they were even considered the glory of their tribe.

If such a Great Warrior were to be defeated so easily by a mere human…

It wouldn’t be strange at all for the lizardmen to start a riot rather than accept it.

And if the lizardmen were left like this…

The relationship with the White Dragon would surely become irreparable.

Lizanis’s face immediately turned pale.

“Stop…!”

“Rescue the Great Warrior! Kill the witch!”

Whether they had lost their reason or not, despite Lizanis’s urgent restraint, the lizardmen rushed to attack Eve.

And as soon as Eve was in danger of being attacked, the White Dragon, who must have rushed over to be in a position to protect her, was seen raising his shield.

He had come to Eve’s side at an incredible speed, ready to intervene if she was in danger.

“Kay!”

“Over here!”

Watching the White Dragon pull Eve under his shield, Lizanis couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy.

But that was escapism.

In this situation, the lizardmen and the White Dragon’s companions would end up fighting again.

‘I need to stop them…!’

As the White Dragon took Eve away, the sword that had been pressing on her throat disappeared.

Lizanis got up, trying to somehow salvage the situation, but by then, several lizardmen had already attacked the White Dragon and were being knocked back by his shield.

Looking back slightly, she saw the White Dragon’s companions rushing to join in.

At this rate, the two forces would clash.

For Lizanis, who had already made one mistake, this was a situation that absolutely could not happen.

“Please stop…!”

“STOP!”

A voice of enormous volume, seemingly amplified by magic, was heard from the sky.

The attacking lizardmen looked up at the sky with stunned expressions, and the White Dragon ran back to his companions with Eve.

As both sides looked for the source of the sound, a wyvern could be seen breaking through the clouds in the sky.

And a lizardman was standing on top of it.

Lizanis’s eyes widened.

“Liginis…!”

The shaman Liginis was descending from the sky.