Chapter 25: Goddess of Duel

The victory procession continued throughout the morning.

Following the royal procession, the king, who appeared alongside the 3rd princess and 2nd prince, praised the victors and then shouted to the crowd.

“The Demon King is dead! The peace of our era has arrived!”

The soldiers stomped their feet and echoed the declaration.

“The Demon King is dead! The peace of our era has arrived!”

At the king’s declaration, the citizens cheered wildly.

And then, the procession continued.

The royal family ascended the platform the king had stood on, and this time, generals and famous adventurers led the way.

That wasn’t the only change.

“Clear the way!”

The general, leading the front of the procession, gave the command.

At that, the soldiers began removing the cloths covering large boxes placed throughout the procession, revealing what was inside.

It was a massive cage.

A cage that had trapped all sorts of monsters!

Though they had been severely wounded and had their tendons severed, upon seeing the sunlight, they began to thrash violently, and the citizens gasped in amazement at the sight.

“Unbelievable! A monster of that size!”

“Did our kingdom’s warriors really fight and defeat such horrific beasts!”

The citizens cheered for the soldiers and jeered at the monsters, throwing trash at them.

As I watched the scene, I noticed something strange and my eyes widened.

‘A demon?’

It was a demon in the form of a child.

With skin so pale it almost appeared blue and a severed horn jutting out from near its temple.

And above all, its black eyes—eyes that no ordinary creature could have—left no room for doubt about what it was.

Ignoring the trash and jeers thrown at it, the demon gazed into the distance with an emotionless expression, and when it seemed to notice my gaze, it turned its head and looked at me.

And then, it smiled.

• Found you, specter.

The voice echoed in my head like an illusion.

I looked around, but it seemed no one else heard the voice; only cheers and jeers filled the air.

When I glared at the demon again, it was once again staring off into the distance, as if nothing had happened.

I felt my heart thumping uncomfortably.

‘A demon.’

If it were just a monster, that would be one thing, but why did they capture a demon alive?

Demons are fundamentally different from mere monsters.

They possess the power of monsters and the intelligence of humans, which made them such a significant obstacle during our journey.

Remembering that time, I felt a sharp pain in my severed left leg.

I squeezed the hand I was holding with Selly and repeated to myself,

‘Nothing will happen. Today is a good day.’

Right, nothing should happen.

What could possibly happen with nearly all of the kingdom’s forces assembled?

Even if it had planned something, it would be easily suppressed…

Listening to the whispers of reason, my mind calmed a little.

However, the lingering sense of unease that clung to my heart refused to leave.

When the victory procession ended, the official victory celebration began.

The streets overflowed with music and performances.

At the theater in the capital, a play depicting the adventures of famous adventurers was performed, and a poet reciting verses on the street, while placing a hat for donations, enjoyed a prosperous time with the citizens’ open pockets.

Of course, the most important event of the victory celebration wasn’t these things.

I closed my eyes and, while listening to the cheers coming from outside, asked Victoria, who was listening intently.

“How do you feel?”

“It’s amazing.”

“Amazing? About what?”

“About wielding a sword in front of people who are watching. I never thought it would become a spectacle…”

Victoria opened her eyes and smiled.

“Still, I can understand it when I see my teacher! Watching you fight is so enjoyable!”

“I don’t think the audience is expecting that though.”

Instead of saying more, I patted Victoria on the shoulder and cheered her on.

“Anyway, enjoy it as much as you can.”

“Yes!”

Victoria shouted energetically and confidently walked toward the place where her name was being called.

Leaving the waiting room for the contestants, I returned to the audience section and sat next to Selly, who was chewing on a hot dog.

Selly swallowed the hot dog she was eating and greeted me.

“Ah, you’re here?”

“How is it? Is it good?”

“No, it’s awful! I was expecting festival food, but…”

See? That’s how festival food usually is.

I took the remaining hot dog from the complaining Selly and took a bite.

Cheap sausage with tough bread.

And it was a flavorless combination with no sauce or any other ingredients.

The only taste was saltiness.

Honestly, it could be considered average, but for someone like me, who’s gotten used to finer dining after opening a restaurant, it was a terribly poor meal.

As I struggled to finish the remaining hot dog, Selly suddenly shouted.

“Oh, here they come!”

At her words, I turned my gaze to the arena, and I saw the players entering the large stadium.

The players had various appearances.

From fully armored knights to duelists who made their living from combat, and adventurers clutching their respective weapons.

It was a mix of races and people who you would never expect to be in one place, all lining up toward the highest seats in the arena.

‘The first match is a brawl, right?’

Since this tournament had participants from various backgrounds, including knights and others, and there were so many people, I had heard that the first match would be a brawl to reduce the numbers.

As a result, the citizens, who would normally never witness such a combination of fighters, discussed eagerly with excitement in their voices.

“A brawl? The knights will probably dominate, right?”

“Yeah, they should. After all, why would knights be knights? A duelists’ or adventurers’ weak weapons can’t pierce plate armor.”

“But in a brawl, they can’t use horses, so even knights won’t be that overwhelming, I think?”

“I’m betting on that duelist! Just look at how they hold the sword, they’re something special!”

I listened carefully to the voices and nodded.

“Seems like no one’s really placing their bets on the adventurers.”

Famous adventurers were all invited to the palace and took their seats, which was only natural since adventurers were not a common profession familiar to the citizens of the capital.

Once the lineup was finished, the hired announcer in the stadium gave a long speech, making the audience bored. When the audience could no longer tolerate it and started jeering, the announcer hurriedly shouted.

“Then, let the match be-gin!”

Thus, the match finally began.

The players headed towards the ends of the arena, and with a signal, the battle began.

As soon as it started, someone shouted.

“Strike!”

At that cry, adventurers surrounded the nearby knights!

It seemed like they had prepared for this day, as they threw nets with iron spikes attached, desperately trying to restrain the knights.

The experienced knights endured the adventurers’ combined attacks, but it seemed they couldn’t overcome the sheer numbers and were gradually being pushed back.

And at that moment, a duelist charged in.

“This is our chance! Reduce the number of knights!”

It wasn’t clear whether there had been prior coordination, but the adventurers seemed startled by the duelist’s sudden appearance. However, when they saw the duelist attacking the knights, they quickly adapted to the situation.

Already struggling with the adventurers, the knights were now faced with the duelist’s attack, and a middle-aged knight finally exploded in frustration.

“Cowards! What is this in a tournament that should be fair?!”

But even though he shouted, all he received in return was a cold laugh.

“What? Fair? How shameless!”

“If you don’t like it, take off your armor and come at me! I’ll take you on!”

Even the audience seemed to find the situation fascinating and cheered loudly.

“Yeah! Good job! Knock those knights down a peg!”

“No matter how great knights are, they can’t beat numbers!”

As the audience said, the knights were on the verge of being crushed by the numbers!

But they had no countermeasures and were being pushed toward the edges of the arena.

Then, it happened.

A young voice pierced through the cheers of the audience and echoed across the arena.

“Knights! To the center!!”

With those words, a knight dashed toward the center.

The surprised adventurers and duelists tried to block the knight, but the knight broke through the encirclement using the weight of his armor.

As the encirclement faltered, the knights instinctively followed the command and charged toward the center.

The knights launched a cavalry charge without a word!

The adventurers and duelists, who never expected the knights to come out in such a manner, couldn’t stop the charge. Those who tried to block were knocked out as if they had been hit by a car.

Once the knights gathered at the center, another loud shout echoed across the arena.

“Formation of the circle!”

At that, the knights, under the command of the knight who gave the order, formed a perfect circle and began to guard all directions.

At that moment, the situation reversed.

The adventurers and duelists still had the numerical advantage.

But unlike the adventurers and duelists, who were scattered and unable to use their collective strength, the knights had no gaps.

Like a single living organism, the knights advanced together, and the remaining participants were helplessly pushed back.

There was a murmur of admiration from the audience again.

“Just like a knight! There’s no way they’d fall for such a trick!”

“Who’s that knight in the center? They seem like a famous knight.”

“Don’t you know the emblem? It’s the emblem of the Duke of Albion’s family!”

“A knight of the Duke of Albion? Now that I think about it, a young knight from the Duke’s family has been gaining fame recently…”

With the knights advancing, the number of adventurers and duelists quickly dwindled.

If they charged, they were trampled, and if they tried to escape, it was only for a moment.

As the situation grew dire, despair started to show on the faces of the adventurers and duelists.

“Damn, we’re screwed.”

“They talked about cowardice and fairness, but now they think what they’re doing is justice!”

And was it because of those words?

When the ratio of knights to the remaining participants became nearly even, the knight in the center signaled for them to stop.

When the knights halted their advance, the knight in the center shouted loudly enough for the whole arena to hear.

“Those who value honor, step forward! I will give you a chance for a fair duel!”

“Damn! What’s fair about fighting a knight!”

“If you refuse, I’ll drop all of you!”

The adventurers and duelists murmured at that.

To refuse meant they’d be thrown out entirely, right?

That meant if they accepted, they’d be spared and the match would end, right?

They exchanged glances, and slowly started pushing each other forward.

“Hey, you go. You said you’d fight one-on-one earlier.”

“What nonsense! If you want to go, you go!”

While they hesitated and murmured among themselves,

in a corner of the arena where no one was paying attention, an adventurer who had been watching the match stepped forward.

The atmosphere, which had been so chaotic, suddenly focused on that adventurer.

“Who’s going?”

“Some idiot who doesn’t know the mood…”

But the adventurer paid no mind to the atmosphere and kept walking.

As the adventurer advanced toward where the knights were gathered, they drew their sword and shouted.

“Finally, a duel! I’ve been waiting for this!”

With their short, dull blonde hair fluttering and eyes shining like they held stars,

the debut of [The Goddess of Duels] Victoria, who would throw the capital into a frenzy, began.