It was nearly midnight.
The banquet in Goto had ended several hours earlier, and the village residents were likely deep in peaceful slumber within their homes. The same was true for the party Daskar had brought with him; aside from a few knights tasked with guard duty, everyone was inside their tents, soothing the fatigue of their journey.
In the midst of this stillness, Daskar was not in his tent. He stood on the Seremuse Plain, some distance from the village.
Naturally, he had not come alone. Rei, Seto, Vihera, Min, and Rhodos were also present. And standing before them, at the center of their gaze, were Elk and Theoreme.
Though clouds had covered the sky just hours before, they had vanished as if terrified by the murderous intent and fighting spirit radiating from Elk, leaving only the moonlight to illuminate the earth.
Elk and Theoreme faced each other in silence. Each gripped his weapon, intently observing the other to glean even the slightest bit of information.
Daskar took a step forward and spoke.
"The duel between Elk and Theoreme shall now begin. I imagine you both have much on your minds, but let it be known that after this fight, no lingering grudges are to remain."
The two men nodded silently.
Accepting their acknowledgement, Daskar gave a small nod of his own and finally announced in a voice that echoed across the plains.
"Begin!"
"Uooooooooh!"
The instant the signal was given, Elk kicked off the ground. Swinging the Axe of the Thunder God—the namesake of both his alias and his party—wide over his head, he closed the gap with Theoreme.
He went for the preemptive strike. His intention to end the fight quickly was clear from the electricity discharging from the raised axe.
"Haaaaah!"
With a sharp cry, the blow descended. Wreathed in lightning, the strike fell with a speed and precision that defied the weapon's massive weight.
However, Theoreme was the man known by the alias of 'Flash.' He was not about to suffer a fatal blow without a fight, and he leaped back the moment the axe began its descent.
A massive roar shook the air.
The moment the Axe of the Thunder God slammed into the earth, the ground literally exploded. Dirt, stones, and grass sprayed into the air. Fragments of bone joined the debris, a reminder of the undead that haunted the Seremuse Plain.
Theoreme, having leaped back to evade the impact, found the spray of earth obstructing his vision. He swung his sword to clear the path.
It was a strike worthy of the 'Flash.'
The horizontal slash seemed to cleave not just the air, but space itself. Yet Elk was a seasoned adventurer. Almost without looking, he relied on his long-honed instincts to catch the blow on the shaft part of the Axe of the Thunder God.
A sharp metallic ring echoed through the night. In the next instant, while their weapons were locked, Elk let out a roar.
"Uoooooh!"
He poured his strength into the lock, intending to use brute force to shatter the longsword against his axe's shaft.
But Theoreme saw through the move instantly and withdrew his strength. He utilized the momentum of Elk's shove to power a great leap backward.
The two glared at each other across several meters. They remained still, watching for any opening. They traded subtle feints—shifts of the weapon, twitches of a shoulder or foot.
To an amateur, they would have appeared to be standing in total silence. Fortunately, everyone present possessed significant skill. Even Rhodos, a Rank C adventurer and the least experienced among them, understood at least some of the silent psychological warfare playing out between his father and the general.
After several minutes of high-tension feints, Elk grew impatient with the stalemate.
"You're pretty good," Elk grunted. "That alias of 'Flash' isn't just for show."
"Likewise," Theoreme replied. "My heart went cold seeing the power of the famous Axe of the Thunder God at such close range."
"Hah, look who's talking. But for a man with that much skill to play a dirty trick like taking hostages... that’s not something I can just walk away from, you know?"
Elk hadn't said it to provoke his opponent; he had likely wanted to speak those words from the very beginning. As he spoke, a thick, viscous murderous intent overflowed from his body. It was a manifestation of the same bloodlust he had directed at the carriage when he first arrived in Goto—a pressure so dense it felt as though it had taken physical form.
Theoreme's face stiffened under the weight of it, but he held his ground. Had it been an ordinary soldier, knight, or adventurer, they would have been paralyzed with fear—or perhaps suffered a heart attack from the sheer pressure.
"Personally, I have my own reservations about the matter," Theoreme declared grandly, meeting Elk's bloodlust with his own resolve. "But unfortunately, I am a General, not an adventurer. I carry the lives of my subordinates and the name of the Bestia Empire on my shoulders. If a dirty method lowers the risk to them, I will choose it every time."
Theoreme's unwavering stance only served to further ignite Elk's anger. Veins bulged on Elk's forehead as he glared.
"Hah! Don't screw with me! No matter who you are, you should at least know the difference between right and wrong!"
With a lunge that seemed to outpace his own words, Elk closed the distance and swung his axe in a massive arc. His previous attacks had been powerful, but this strike made them look like child's play.
Judging that blocking was out of the question, Theoreme focused entirely on evasion, his longsword darting through the gaps in Elk's assault like a needle.
Elk unleashed a continuous storm of attacks, and Theoreme countered with strikes that sought to pierce the tempest. They moved at such speeds that Rhodos could only just barely follow the exchange of blows, parries, and evasions with his eyes.
"...Elk is too soft," Daskar murmured.
Rhodos reflexively turned toward the lord. If anyone else had said it, he might have snapped, but he held his tongue before the Lord of Gilm.
It was Min, his mother, who spoke up.
"It is true that he is soft. However, that is Elk's greatest virtue, and it is why I trust him."
"True," Rei added, nodding in agreement. "I feel the same way."
As adventurers, they often faced requests that demanded heartlessness. Sometimes, failing to be ruthless meant taking a fatal blow or endangering allies. And as they all knew, Theoreme had exploited that very vulnerability by taking Rhodos hostage.
Rhodos gritted his teeth, refraining from speaking. He knew it was his own capture that had caused this mess. He had no right to complain.
As Rhodos struggled with his guilt, the fierce exchange reached its climax.
"You piece of shit, just die!" Elk roared.
The Axe of the Thunder God swept in a horizontal arc intended to bisect Theoreme's torso. It didn't just cut the air; it seemed to shatter it. Theoreme leaped back to avoid the devastating swing.
The fact that he could not block was his greatest disadvantage. Theoreme was a General of the Bestia Empire, and his longsword had been forged by a master. It was sharp enough to slice through the blades of most Magic Swords, but his opponent was an A-Rank Adventurer wielding a legendary Magic Item. If he tried to block the Axe of the Thunder God, his sword would shatter instantly. He had to be perfect in his evasion and cautious with every clash.
Even with his superior stamina, the mental strain was starting to take its toll on Theoreme.
"Guh!"
He evaded a fatal blow with a backward leap, but the axe released a discharge of lightning. Theoreme's leather armor scorched black. The shock reached his internal organs, and his movements dulled for a fraction of a second.
This was the most dangerous aspect of the Axe of the Thunder God. Even if one evaded the blade, the Tongue of Lightning would reach out to corrode the body, causing numbness and slowing reaction times. Against a normal foe, it might be a minor hindrance. Against a powerhouse like Elk, it was a death sentence.
"Eat... this!"
Sensing the opening, Elk closed the distance in a flash. Theoreme, unable to dodge, raised his longsword in a desperate, last-ditch block.
A sharp crack rang out. The longsword snapped in the middle, and the tip went spinning through the moonlight.
Knowing he had broken the blade, Elk didn't even watch it fall. He swung the Axe of the Thunder God down with enough force to crush Theoreme’s skull.
Everyone watching thought the match was over—that Theoreme was dead.
But for some reason, the descending axe stopped. Its blade rested just a hair's breadth from Theoreme's head. To halt such a blow at full power was a testament to Elk's extraordinary skill.
"...Eh? Why?" Rhodos blinked, confused.
Rei’s voice cut through the silence. "Rhodos, look at Elk's throat. Then you'll see why."
Rhodos looked. Min, who had also been puzzled, followed his gaze. There, pressed against Elk's thick, muscular throat, was a dagger.
"When did he...?"
"The moment the longsword broke," Rei explained. "As the blade snapped, he let go and drew a dagger from his breast, thrusting it forward in the same motion."
"Indeed," Daskar agreed. "His draw was incredibly fast. He truly earns his alias of 'Flash'."
"Actually, that's not why he's called that, but..." Vihera added with a wry smile.
The tension broke, replaced by a strangely calm atmosphere as everyone realized the fight was over. Elk moved only his eyes to look at the dagger at his throat. He snorted in irritation and lowered his axe.
Theoreme let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
On the surface, the fight looked like a draw, but in truth, Elk had held the initiative the entire time. It was only by a stroke of near-miraculous luck and timing that Theoreme had forced a stalemate. He had survived the most dangerous part of their mission, though it had cost him a sword he quite liked.
"...Fine," Elk muttered. "This doesn't mean I've forgiven you, but the debt is settled. But remember this: if you ever lay a hand on my family again, I won't be stopping. I'll smash this axe right through your pretty face."
"I shall keep that in mind," Theoreme replied with a small nod.
He said the words out loud, even as he thought to himself that he would not hesitate to use the same tactics again if his duty truly demanded it.