The Heavenly Demon Is Just Stuck In My Head

Fluffy, who was sitting next to me watching the match, asked me, "What does that mean?"

I answered bluntly, "How should I know?"

"You should know. Who else would?"

"Be quiet. Shut up."

"...."

I watched Lady Ashley cross the arena with a dignified air. Although I hadn't met many people in Maia who could truly be called knights, I felt that here, I was learning a lot about what a knight is and what kind of people are called knights.

Perhaps if I hadn't fallen off that cliff, I would have never known. When you look at it that way, this unexpected journey that began with falling off a cliff had gifted me a priceless experience that money couldn't buy. To think that what I thought was the worst situation turned out to be the best gift.

...What is life?

I was reminded once again that life is just such an unknowable, mysterious thing.

"Do you get it, Fluffy?"

"Get what?"

"Be quiet. Shut up."

"...."

The cheers of the crowd could be heard.

"It's the Golden Flash!"

"Waaaaah!"

Mixed in were some people chattering about the events of the previous day. Hmm. It seems I unintentionally raised her prestige again.

Who is Lady Ashley? She is the captain of the Stavanger Knights. And what is the Stavanger family? They are the Black Prince's most ardent followers. Therefore, it means that I have raised the Black Prince's prestige. The conclusion is that the Black Prince should be endlessly grateful to me.

I looked over at our dark prince, who was now inelegantly biting his fingernails.

"...."

Well... our prince didn't seem to have the luxury for such thoughts.

At the sound of Aron Hobas's voice echoing through the arena, I turned my eyes to the stage. The two of them had taken their stances, their swords aimed at each other.

Ashley's stance was similar to the one I had seen the day before. Her front foot was slightly forward, her center of gravity excessively shifted forward. She looked as if she would topple over at any moment. However, this time, she was holding her rapier firmly with both hands, pulling it back tightly behind her shoulder. The image reminded me of a tensely drawn bow.

In contrast, the knight called Durant had a very defensive posture, his stance lowered and his sword held out slightly. He seemed to be wary of the Golden Flash's trademark charge. Her secret technique, where she pierces through you in a flash of golden light.

She is more often called by her nickname, Golden Flash, than by her own name. Her technique's name has become her nickname. What does this mean? It means that her secret technique—or as my master would call it, her "fame-making ultimate skill"—is that famous. It means it's a powerful ultimate skill that everyone knows, but conversely, it also means that everyone knows her ultimate skill.

An ultimate skill is supposed to be one's own secret technique, kept hidden until a decisive moment to defeat an opponent. But in her case, her fame-making ultimate skill was so famous that it had become her nickname, a situation where everyone knew it.

Any attack becomes useless if it can be predicted beforehand. No matter how great the ultimate skill, what is there to fear if one can prepare for it? This was why knights in Maia were so desperate to gather prior information about their opponents before a duel.

The opponent knows and is wary of her secret technique.

What will she do?

I was looking forward to seeing how Lady Ashley would overcome this challenge.

Flash!

The moment a brilliant sunlight flashed.

Lady Ashley was gone.

...Thud.

Durant suddenly dropped to one knee. He looked down at his shoulder with a dazed expression. A hole that hadn't been there before had appeared. It wasn't exactly a small hole.

Through that hole, he could see the back of Lady Ashley, her shoulders heaving. She had already appeared behind Durant. A moment later, blood poured from the hole in his shoulder.

Durant's face was colored with shock.

"This is... impossible..."

Splat.

Sir Durant collapsed forward.

"...."

The match had ended in the blink of an eye, leaving the crowd speechless. The culprit who had stolen all sound from the arena simply let out a long breath. It looked like a sigh of relief.

This might be the fastest duel in history.

Aron Hobas declared in a dazed voice.

Belatedly, a roar of cheers erupted.

"Waaaaaaaah!!"

"Golden Flash! Golden Flash!"

Despite the cheers pouring down on her, Lady Ashley maintained a composed expression, controlled her breathing, and walked steadily back to her position. Her dignified appearance naturally drew my admiration.

"Wow..."

Lady Ashley had answered my question with her actions.

Her answer was a frontal breakthrough.

So what if the opponent knows her ultimate skill? She can just smash through them head-on.

Try to dodge it. If you can.

It was an ultimate skill that was impossible to block even if you knew it was coming.

"Well, that's..."

As I was repeatedly expressing my admiration, the Heavenly Demon asked me.

[How would you deal with her?]

"Wow... I don't know. That's a tough one."

Just thinking about it for a moment was daunting. How should I face her if I met her as an enemy? It was a question that required considerable thought. One wrong move and my heart would be pierced in the blink of an eye.

I posed the same question to Fluffy, who was sitting next to me with his mouth half-open.

"Sir Fluffy."

"...."

Sir Fluffy, who had been momentarily dazed, answered belatedly.

"What is it?"

"If you met Lady Ashley as an enemy, how would you fight her?"

Fluffy let out a hollow laugh.

"How would I fight her? I'd run away immediately."

"Excellent."

I, too, would probably attempt to flee like Sir Fluffy in most cases. But if I were in a situation where I had no choice but to fight...

"Hmm."

No matter how much I thought, no clear solution came to mind. This was because I was a man who was strong in actual combat. In the fantasy world of my head, I honestly couldn't see an answer.

[Think carefully. There is a fatal flaw.]

"...A flaw?"

I observed Lady Ashley carefully. She was returning to the center of the arena, and she was limping slightly on one foot. Come to think of it, the charge she had just shown seemed twice as fast as the one I saw the day before. That must have put a strain on her ankle.

Her charge just now had deviated slightly from the stable posture she had shown the day before. She had excessively exploded her mana, and it seemed the side effects were catching up.

"Hmm."

Perhaps because of the opponent she was facing, she chose a method to finish it as quickly and surely as possible, even if it meant overexerting herself. In other words, eliminating variables. The Count had given up a shoulder to defeat his opponent; a slight strain on her ankle seemed like a cheap price to pay in comparison.

Watching her limp slightly, I muttered.

"...Disadvantageous in a long fight?"

[That's somewhat correct, but there's something more fatal.]

"More fatal? What is it?"

[Watch carefully.]

The Heavenly Demon added an ominous remark.

[There is likely someone among the opponents who has noticed it as well.]

I mulled over the Heavenly Demon's words and watched the next match.

The next match didn't unfold much differently. The opposing knight entered the duel with an even higher level of alertness. He fought quite well because of it, but in the end, he suffered a bitter defeat, giving up a shoulder to a flash of golden light that appeared at an unexpected moment.

"Waaaah! Golden Flash!"

"A comeback! Let's go for a comeback!"

"My lady knight! Take me!"

...Why would she take you?

Once again, the crowd's cheers for the Golden Flash poured down like a waterfall. But she showed no expression of joy or sadness. She simply returned to her position in silence. For a moment, I thought her ability to remain calm, not getting easily excited or agitated, was very knightly.

On her way back to her position, I caught her wincing. She stopped for a moment, controlled her breathing, then moved her leg again and stood resolutely in the center of the arena. The pained expression was gone.

Fluffy spoke in a worried tone.

"It seems she's injured."

"Looks like it."

It seemed she had overexerted herself again to finish off her opponent as quickly as possible. To unleash the Golden Flash diagonally like that... her ankle looked to be in danger.

'Do not worry. I will do my absolute best. Even if it means my death.'

Ashley's face, as she had spoken in that solemn tone, came to mind. It hadn't been an empty promise.

Come to think of it, her words were a contradiction. Who wouldn't worry when someone vows to fight to the death? But I couldn't tell her to step down. She wasn't the type to step down meekly even if I told her to, and to be honest, it would be a burden on me as well.

Lady Ashley had secured two victories, so the score was now 8 to 6. Our side still had two knights left. Their side had four, and three of them were Royal Knights.

Honestly, even though I had devised a spectacular ultimate skill, three Royal Knights were still a burden. This was because the ultimate skill I had devised was not for them, but to beat up the First Prince's knights. I had no idea how to defeat those monsters.

"...."

The height of the stage that separated me from them came up to my shoulders when I stood. When I was standing, I could occasionally feel their gazes, but after sitting in the chair, I hardly felt them. The stage, which naturally became higher as I sat, blocked their view. Of course, since I saw the world through ki with my eyes closed, I would occasionally expand my ki sense to check on their movements, but it seemed they couldn't see me from their side.

Only the massive knight, presumed to be Van Dyke of the Iron Spear, would occasionally raise his head to check on me. The knight presumed to be Rutie of the Swift Sword would also occasionally jump up and down to look for me.

"...Why isn't he coming up?"

Fluffy, who was watching the arena, muttered from beside me.

After the injured opposing knight had left the stage, the next challenger was not coming up. I discreetly extended my ki sense to observe the opposing camp, and it seemed they were bickering amongst themselves, as if there was a difference of opinion. The distance was too great to hear what they were saying, but I could roughly guess.

They were on track for a smooth victory with a score of 8 to 4, but the sudden success of the Golden Flash had instilled a sense of crisis. Therefore, they were probably in a heated debate about how to overcome this crisis.

I leisurely clasped my hands behind my head, leaned back in my chair, and said.

"I don't know what it is, but the longer it takes, the better for us."

"Why?"

"It gives Lady Ashley time to recover."

"Aha."

Someone else's misfortune is my happiness, and their argument is our good fortune.

I took out some beef jerky from my pocket, chewed on it, and waited leisurely.

"Fluffy."

"What is it?"

"Want some jerky?"

"...Can you even stomach jerky right now?"

"Suit yourself."

A short while later, a knight ascended the stage.

"...Huh?"

I had to unclasp my hands from behind my head.

With her hands behind her back, she sauntered to the center of the arena with a leisurely gait and stopped in front of Lady Ashley. Then, she whispered to Ashley, whose face had hardened like ice.

"Hello, Ashley."

"...Lady Rutie."

She replied, her voice laced with a smile.

"You should call me Big Sis."

(End of Chapter)