Chapter 78: Tournament Day 3 (Part 5)

Just an announcement that I have a new experimental novel's first chapter available on Patreon, I'll be doing long-form chapters of around 5-6000 words and I plan on doing about 10 chapters of it on Patreon before determining whether I'll continue it after which I'll release those 10 chapters and any subsequent ones on a monthly basis here on Scribblehub. If you want to read it beforehand it'll be available along with another experimental novel I've been working on that's a short-form comedy novel focused around a guy that gets adopted by loli aliens and turned into one. Here's a screenshot of both of their descriptions and tags.

For Beyond Pluto(AKA Long-Form Novel):

For I Wanna Be a Loli(AKA Short-Form Comedy):

Still high on Adrenaline I felt the world slow down as I realized my imminent danger, I'd seen that damn lance pierce someone not a day before afterall. My perception of time slowed down I vaguely wondered if this was related to my Dragon Ancestry or if weird time effects were just that common in fantasy settings, at the same time however I also realized that as slow as I perceived the world to be moving I was only moving slightly faster. For some reason my perception had slowed everything to a crawl but my body hadn't caught up yet. It was also at this moment that I realized I wouldn't be able to dodge. At least not fully.

Realizing that I had to make a move now before it was too late I moved my heart out of the path of the deadly lance only for my stomach and side to become exposed, pain blossoming an instant later as I felt my side rip.

[AHHHHHHHH!] - Rose

[Che! Sheh  fookin dodg'd et!] - CuCuthain

[Could you shut up!?! You have no idea how much this fucking hurts!!!] - Rose

[Oh it looks like Lady Rose de la Amchier has been hit by contestant CuCuthain's blow! And our judge isn't calling the match for either side! Will our beautiful goth princess surrender or will she press on?!?] - Judico

[YOU SHUT UP TOO!] - Rose

Screaming in pain I pressed against my side that was currently hemorrhaging blood like it was a blowout sale and everything had to go, the pain from the blow paired with a sudden rattle inside my inner world as She woke up.

Hearing the infuriating jabber from my barely intelligible opponent I lost all control of myself, screaming angrily for him to shut up and as I focused on stealthily casting a healing spell, the further interruption from that damn announcer caused me to scream at him too as I felt a red haze filling my vision. These bastards! Each and every one of them keep getting in the way! I just wanted to kill that damn Prince, tear off his arms and feed them to him, rip his dick off and burn it in front of him, kill anyone in my wa- I stopped. This wasn't what I was after, I wasn't wanting to kill the Prince for vengeance, or some petty self-satisfaction. The image of the weeping King's face as he broke down over what they were planning on doing floated in her mind. The helplessness in his eyes as he tried to think of any way to save his little boy, even knowing what he'd become. Was I willing to cause someone that much pain for such a selfish reason? No.

Realizing such I calmed down, my side still throbbing from the blow as the blood slowed to a stop. I glanced at my opponent and realized that the damned coward hadn't even waited to see if I was okay and his next blow hit me in the face as I was blown away, surprise my primary emotion rather than anger.

[The hell was that you asshole?!? Ever heard of honorable combat?!?] - Rose

[Coombat es Coombat, es no honor en killin. En battle. Oony live an dead.] - CuCuthain

[I see... I can't agree with what you just said. We're not beasts, if we don't consider honor and morality we may as well be fighting for nothing. I'm not experienced with battle, I've never been in a war. Hell, in the past I was too timid to even consider the kinds of things I'm doing now. But I know one thing, the only reason I haven't lost to Her yet has to do with that piece of me. My motivation for this fight is far more than yours, I know that now. So bring it on... little man.] - Rose

Oh god was I seriously that cringey? I'd always felt like those last minute lecture's that Hero's gave to give them the motivation to continue were super cliché and like seriously who thinks about such deep things in the middle of a battle?!? Me apparently. Ahem! Moving on. Anyways I'd always thought something like that was just unrealistic in a life or death battle and well honestly it probably was, but this wasn't a life or death struggle. Not for me. No, this was a life or death struggle for the kids and other kidnapped people that damn Prince and his allies had perpetrated. CuCuthain was probably right, he'd obviously seen and participated in war before and seen it's senselessness. In most adult's eyes my speech would seem like the immature boasting of a snot nosed brat with no real experience in the world. But for me it felt right, like I wasn't willing to give in to killing only to stay alive. It may end up being a line I cross at some point in the future but for just this little while I wanted to hold on to the childish, immature me.

[Ha?!? Wot dos a brat leik ya know? HUH?!? Dragoon Lance: Silver Rush!] - CuCuthain

[Nothing, except that I won't lose to you. HA!] - Rose

Obviously angered at my one-sided preaching CuCuthain refuted my words as he rushed at me, activating some sort of aura around him as he barreled forward. Seeing that my opponent had decided to pull out all of his moves I obliged, rushing forward as well, my exposed side still throbbing from the previous blow as I concentrated, finding what I was looking for a moment later.

We slammed into each other, his silver aura exploding against the black flames that writhed around my form as we came together!

Dodging his thrust I punched the side of his lance, pushing it away from me as I whipped my tail in a sweeping motion. CuCuthain, apparently reacting to my incoming counter attack, pushed into the increased momentum my initial blow to his weapon had given him as he whipped around, barely rolling over my tail as he followed up with a sweep of his own. Gradually getting back into the flow of things I moved into his sweeping blow and instead of dodging or blocking I instead attacked, my own thrust earning a solid blow to his stomach as he flew back a few feet, the continued momentum of his strike slashing my arm in return.

[Seems I got you.] - Rose

[Sam ta ya liddle lassie.] - CuCuthain

Grinning like a pair of maniac's we both stared each other down for a few seconds before finally making our next moves. I was the first to attack, my rush pushed forward by my extremely powerful lower body as I noticed CuCuthain bracing his weapon against the ground, it's point directed along my path. He planned to skewer me? Hahahahaha! This is amazing! I've never had a fight like this before! Feeling my predator instincts rile themselves up I quickly contorted my body, my straight path becoming one that passed by the man instead. Seemingly ineffectually zooming past him at ridiculous speed as I impacted the far wall. This had been exactly what I was planning for however as I coiled my tail, that I'd flipped around to lead with, like a spring, rebounding off the wall with even more speed than I'd hit with.

Catching the surprised man as he turned to face me my blow connected with his side, his arm snapping like a tree branch under the massive amount of force I'd put into the punch. Even my own hand hurt with that one. Recovering quickly however CuCuthain used his remaining arm to sweep his lance in a wide arc, forcing me to retreat out of range. Wary of his long range Gáe Bulg skill I was cautious to allow too much distance between us but something told me that ability required both arms and, considering his useless left arm, I couldn't see him pulling it off as it was.

But the fight wasn't over, despite his sudden reversal of fortune the man's eyes still hadn't dulled with surrender. If anything they seemed even more determined, as if he was fighting to prove something? I wasn't sure but somehow his gaze told me that.

Shaking those unrelated thoughts away I found that he'd used my distraction to get underneath my defense and after narrowly dodging an upwards thrust I noticed a tiny slip-up, he'd overreached. Seemingly desperate to end our battle quickly given his disadvantaged state he'd reached too far with his blow, leaving his balance too far forward and, using the skills I'd learned in basic martial arts school, I pulled.

It was her! I was sure of it! The person that I've been searching for this entire time HAS to be that Lamia woman, I believe her father claimed to be a Dragon? Of course that wasn't exactly uncommon, many noble's would make unsubstantiated claims that they were part or full Dragon-kin but sources from within Anguis had told her that it wasn't a meritless claim. As for how truthful it was, she wasn't sure. Either way the way that she'd fought, the power she'd constantly radiated throughout the battle, the way her pressure had peaked about halfway through before calming down as the fight progressed. All of them were signs of exactly what she'd been looking for! And on top of all of that were those black flames!

Oh the Lady Rose wasn't the only individual that could call upon black colored flames, not by a long shot even. But normally that's all they were, flames forced to burn in the color black. What she had done was different, she was sure of it!

[Oh? You're Rose de la Amchier right?] - Aerin

[I am? You're that Elf lady right? Umm? Aerin?] - Rose

[I am pleased you remember this humble one's name Lady Rose de la Amchier, I am indeed known as Aerin. Or more properly as Priestess Aerin of the Goddess of Life.] - Aerin

[Oh? And what business does a Priestess of the Goddess of Life have with a follower of the God of Commerce?] - Rose

Catching the Lamia noble right outside the prepatory room I acted like I'd stumbled across her by accident, bringing up that I knew of her identity, whilst being careful to not mention the state of her clothing. I had seen the battle so, while I couldn't help my wandering eyes from flicking downwards once, I avoided mentioning her state of undress, the damage making both her waist and shoulder visible. Seemingly confused as to how someone she didn't recognize knew her name I saw a glimmer of recognition as she realized who I was. Luckily she even remembered my name, making my job that much easier.

First things first though, create a bit of rapport with the target. A difficult job since I'd had little practice as such things since my betrayal years ago so instead of coming off as friendly I winced as my voice naturally took a threatening tone, condescension radiating off my manner in almost visible waves. An attitude that she obviously didn't take kindly to considering her response. Quickly realizing that the first plan was a bust I instead decided to switch tactics, going for a nonchalant approach.

[Oh nothing important, just curiosity mostly.] - Aerin

[If that's all I'll be going, my friends are waiting. I wish you best of Health Lady Aerin.] - Rose

[Ah, one more thing. Would the term Demon Lord mean anything to you?] -Aerin

[....Demon Lord? No, I can't say that I've heard of him before, perhaps we haven't covered someone like that in History class yet. Now I really must apologize but it wouldn't do to keep my friends waiting.] - Rose

[...of course.... Lady Rose.] - Aerin

The visible wince when I'd mentioned the Demon Lord, and the not so subtle deflection afterwards let me know that I was right. I'd finally found my target! I'd finally get to go home! I'd... finally get to go... home? A image of Edgar flashed in my head for a moment at the thought of leaving this Godsforsaken continent. I'd thought I wanted that. Didn't I?