The burly Paladin suddenly stopped struggling to get at me and guffawed. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You hear that? The stupid boy wants to duel me” He pushed the restraining hands aside and pointed right at me. “Fine! I accept! I’ll gut you just like I did to your street rats! Maybe that will teach you to respect your superiors.”

The Archmage frowned deeply. I guessed he wasn’t a fan of Palusi’s plan to kill me in order to get me to be more pliant. Well, nobody ever confused Paladins with PhD’s…

The Prince, after a moment of deliberation, finally spoke. “Paladin Palusi. Bring Ser Rummy to me alive, or you shall never be a Paladin again for the rest of your life.”

That took some of the excitement out of the Paladin’s eyes. “Your Grace. I… I hear and obey.”

“Should I win, I want the remains of my scouts, along with the wolf.” I calmly declared the stakes.

Archmage Schuma weakly smiled in response. “Ser Rummy, is that truly all you want in exchange for risking your life and limb against one of the premier Paladins of the Imperium?”

I glared at him and sharply replied. “That’s all I ever wanted out of you lot.”

“Should I win, I would take you in chains!” Palusi countered.

“It seems that the terms are set. Let’s get this over with.” Without waiting for their replies, I turned around and slowly walked toward the 700m stone marker. Once I’m past it, I paced 10 meters more and turned around. I began to load a clip into my Garand.

The Paladin remained at where we parlayed. “I’ll give you your distance, peasant. That should give you a sporting chance against the might of a Paladin!” Palusi boasted and chuckled. His arrogance was not misplaced. Rats probably did shoot at him prior to his defeat. And knowing his track record at the range, he probably did land a few center mass hits. The problem was that .45 ACP isn’t gonna do shit against the armor and magic of an elite Paladin. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if a Springfield could punch through.

So why did I risk it all knowing that my primary weapon might be useless against him?

I took out a flare gun and aimed up. A black signal flare shot into the sky. I quickly discarded the flare gun and took a shooting stance with my Garand.

Because Severance Pay wasn’t my primary weapon for this duel.

Palusi took this as a signal to charge forward. I began to walk backwards. Right as he was to race past the 700m stone marker, I initiated <> and took aim.

**BANG!** **BANG!**

As I’d feared, 2 center mass hits failed to penetrate the magical armor. But unfortunately for Palusi, the 2 shots knocked the wind out of him and forced him to stagger. I continued to walk backwards. He tried to advance once more, but…

**BANG!** **BANG!***BANG!** **BANG!***BANG!** **BANG!** **PING!**

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With zero hesitation, I dropped Severance Pay and drew Aurelia as I retreated. This time, I didn’t bother with center mass and aimed for his eyes with <>.

**Pop** **Pop** **Pop**

Forced to shield his eyes from my pot shots, the Paladin couldn’t advance past the stone marker. His frustration was mounting. “IS THIS THE BEST YOU COULD DO, PEASANT? PESTER ME LIKE SOME BUG?!?”

I ignored the trash talk and kept firing as I retreated. He was about to keep going until we both started to hear a whistling sound approaching.

**Pop** **Pop**

His battle sense compelled him to dig his armored boots into the ground and brace for impact.

“Danger close” is defined as an artillery or mortar strike within 200 meters of a friendly position. By those standards, I was practically suicide bombing myself by calling for a mortar strike 10 meters from where I stood. Fortunately, I had the 700m stone marker as aid. The mortars mounted on the battlements had presets based on the stone markers planted all over the field. Based on previous testing and calibration, I give it a 60-40 chance that the shell lands within 20 meters (the effective range of the mortar) of the Paladin. Assuming I don’t get caught in the blast radius, I should be able to finish him off after that.

On that note, I dove to the ground with hands covering the nape of my neck..

**BOOOOM!!!!**

A thunderous explosion sent me back 5 more meters. One of my eardrums ruptured and I got the wind knocked out of me. On top of that, the deep scrapes and shrapnel cuts burn like hell, but compared to Palusi, I got off easy. The shell landed ~10 meters behind him and tore him a new asshole. He was down on his stomach, completely unresponsive. Metal and flesh melted together on parts of his back. I could see many shrapnel dug deep into his back.

I got up, gingerly limped towards my downed opponent, and put 3 in the back of his head.

**Pop** **Pop** **Pop**

And that’s game.

***

“That was not very chivalrous, Ser Rummy.” The Archmage tried to admonish me as I attached a tarp to the saddle of Loki. Impressive of him to realize that I didn't cause the explosion, at least not directly.

“That’s funny, I don’t recall you protesting the injustice of me fighting this duel without Paladin-grade armor.” I sarcastically retorted as I loaded the 3 bodies onto the tarp.

“The remaining Paladins would not forget this.” He grimly warned.

“Good. Maybe the less stupid ones would take the hint and go home.” I tied the bodies together to ensure they didn’t fall off the tarp during transport. Not very honorable to the dead, I know, but it’s not like I have a pickup truck on hand here. “If not…Well, I was going to kill them all anyways.” I beamed a cheeky smile.

“Ser Rummy…”

“Listen here, Archmage. And listen well. I’m not here fighting a pointless tournament for the favor of some rich asshole. I’m fighting for my freedom. So I will do whatever it takes to win, because losing is simply not an option. Your warped idea of fairness and chivalry doesn’t mean an ape's fart to me. If you keep going down on this path, you shall see no honor- only blood.” Without waiting for a response, I hopped onto Loki (Tali was already on).

That seemed to quiet him down and force him to abandon whatever misguided train of thought he had. After a long sigh, he asked.”That weapon of yours… did you know there was a chance that you’d get hit too?”

That Archmage was no fool, it seemed. I turned around and chuckled. “Archmage Schuma. Just because I am no Knight, it does not mean I don’t have the resolve of one. From the moment I stepped out of Pridwen, my soul was prepared to end it all.” I nudged Loki on the flanks and he slowly traveled back home.

We’d won Round 1, but sadly this was only the beginning…