The whistling of the silver chains bearing deadly hooks did not concern the barbarian. He had finally got past them. Finally.

Finally.

And nothing stood between him and the blue crystal now. No shields. No hooks. Not even his own heavy weapon to hamper his mobility, to reduce his Dexterity.

A few strides carried him to his destination: the blue crystal.

The might of his burly muscles was all he needed.

And he landed it. The hard surface shattered at once under his balled fist.

This, of course, exposed him to Maria’s attack from behind.

He had committed everything he could to land this punch, without any regard for subsequent safety.

Teeth gritted, he rolled away from his spot, but it was too little too late. One of the hooks struck close to where he was moving. And this time, be it because he was too slow, or that the hook’s power had been raised to a sufficient level that the radius of its impact had grown, the explosion caught his leg, shattering his foot.

The sheer force of the impact hurled him across the ground. And he could not rise again.

With his rage bar activated, even such an injury could be healed, but it would take more time than an instant. An instant he could not afford. Already the other hook had corrected its trajectory to lunge at the sprawling man.

Shit, he cursed, all over now.

The barbarian faced down his doom with a hard grimace.

In the moment before the impact, however, the hook inexplicably jerked backwards, and flew in the opposite direction. The other one, which had grazed and smashed his foot before, also followed it, flying away.

“The hell...!”

No way Maria had chosen now of all time to show her mercy.

No freaking way someone who was being so senselessly angry would be capable of it.

Then why?

His gaze followed the chained hooks along their trajectories.

Rania, his ally that should have been done for after the little distraction she provided to allow him to break away, was clinging to Maria.

What she was trying to do, he could not begin to guess.

The girl was weak, even weaker than Maria who did not excel physically. And the green crystals being still intact meant what little damage she could inflict upon this overpowering foe would be meaningless.

Even in melee range, Rania shouldn’t be able to harm Maria. She would be at most an annoyance.

The correct play here would surely be to ignore the maid and finish the barbarian while she still could. It was the first time in this battle that he had been crippled.

And yet, Maria had for some reason decided to give up on the golden opportunity, just so she could deal with a paltry threat, an inconsequential foe.

Anger is a great driving force, yet a great many things could quench it.

The girl might have been consumed by the moment’s anger, but deep down, her personality had not changed. Her lack of confidence, her low self-esteem, her tendency to expect defeat--all played a big part in her decision-making. It was something deeply ingrained in her psyche.

But most importantly, she lacked the habit of reckless abandon of a certain barbarian. And there lay her ultimate weakness.

Even knowing she was practically invincible with the green crystals still active, she still reeled at the sight of an angry maid, whose intense gaze had once caught even Agravain off guard.

Her instinct had kicked in, and all logical thoughts vanished in an instant as she channeled all her effort into keeping herself from harm. And so the hooks had pulled away.

Even knowing that the majority of snakes are harmless, most people would still be frightened out of their wits were they to find one in their bedroom.

Much like anger, instincts and fear are not supposed to be logical.

Whatever training Hanael had managed to instill in the girl, nothing could change the fact that up until a few days ago, she had just been a normal teenage girl in a normal world, who probably had not faced anything remotely violent in her entire life.

And then she had been accosted by a maid with a look to kill. Her natural response was to defend herself.

“Agravain,” Soraya’s voice echoed in him, “The crystal!”

Half-stunned by sudden development, the barbarian had sat there unmoving, but now recalled to the task at hand, he leaped to his feet, his broken limb already regenerated to usable shape.

Without thinking, he resumed what he was doing and raced across the ground for the green crystals. This was a fortunate choice. Had he instead chased after Rania to help her, the girl would have met certain death.

With one decisive blow, he shattered another crystal.

The effect was keenly felt by Maria as she jolted at the corner of the barbarian eyes. Rania by then was still clinging to the girl, quite literally so, with both of her hands wrapped around the girl’s waist from behind.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

The chasing chained hooks halted midair. Maria must have realized by now the purpose behind the maid’s suicidal charge. Her eyes darted to the side of the green crystals, one of which was now broken. Should her hooks strike Rania now she would also be caught in the resulting explosion, undone by her own boosted magical attacks.. With one of the green crystals gone, her chance of survival from mutual destruction had been reduced by half. She feared.

Before his foe could pull herself together, Agravain had arrived at the remaining green crystal.

One punch and it was done.

As the glassy surface crumbled under his fist, the barbarian loosed a triumphant roar.

At last, at long last, the tide of battle had turned again. And this time there would be no more scruple, no more uncertain mercy.

Wheeling the way he had come, the barbarian ran, on the way picked up the club he had discarded in the strained effort to break the combat’s perilous balance.

Before long, he had reached Maria. Without the shields, evading the hooks was no more a problem for him.

Only when the man was towering over his helpless foe did Rania let the girl go.

One strike would be all it took. One finisher.

Maria knew this, and her eyes widened with fear. He saw in her eyes the resurfaced memories of the previous pains he had inflicted. And she looked as though begging, her expression miserable and stricken.

Please don’t do this, she begged silently. Then her eyes shifted to frantic desperation, pleading without regard for reasons or logic: please, just this once, let me win!

It was no mere last grasp of a sore loser who hates losing.

Agravain saw that whatever her purpose in entering this battle was, she seemed to have wagered or depended her whole life upon it. For some reason unknown, the girl was desperate to win. Not just for her admiration for her summoner, or her wish to claim the egg for herself. It was something else.

Something far more than winning or losing.

The barbarian didn’t give a shit.

He had but one task to get done. One business to complete: his own.

He raised the massive war club with both arms and slammed it earthward.

Before the metallic weapon could touch the girl, however, she dropped the chains from her hands and let out a whimper:

“I yield!”

“Huh?” the barbarian muttered, halting the club midair.

Then he called, “That’s good with you, Jophiel?”

In the distance, the angel shrugged, “Well, it’s not like the girl has any chance to fight back anymore.”

The long, grueling battle had finally come to a close.

Main Event Duel Ended.

The voice in his head announced.

Winner: Player Character #5, Agravain the Barbarian

Modifier added: Duel Victory x1

Focus Attributes (Strength, Endurance) +5

Intimidation +5

Tribal opinion +5

Feudal opinion +5

Rewards from skill level milestone:

+2% magical and physical penetration (Club Weapon skill level 5)

+20% reduction of Dexterity penalty from Club weapons (Club Weapon skill level 5)

Occupational Trait Developed:

Novice Fighter has changed to Journeyman Fighter

It finally, truly had ended. The announcement made sure to leave no doubt about it.

This fight that seemed to have dragged on and on after time and again when the conclusion seemed close.

Like a braked vehicle discharging its exhaust, the barbarian breathed out. Carefully he took a step back, away from the girl who was still shaking with fear.

Just as soon as she did, Maria’s legs gave out, her face that had gone through so many layers of emotions now a blank sheet of white, exhausted mentally and physically.

Jophiel was right, no way she could mount a comeback after all this.

All of her side’s stratagems had been overcome.

Then those in the audience finally arrived. Ophelia broke into a sprint towards the girl.

They sure made him look like the bad guy here, hugging and trembling with each other.

The poor girl was already in tears. “Oh, Ophelia... it was all me, all me,” she sniffed, “I ruined everything, everybody’s effort...”

Agravain scratched his head awkwardly, looking away.

Soraya was looking at him disapprovingly. Like he had just taken a child’s candy.

What? She also played a part in his victory, not like she was completely innocent.

“Well,” said the young princess, “you really didn’t have to traumatize the girl in the process!”

Not like he could control how scary he was when angered.

And also, Maria wasn’t entirely wrong to lay the blame on herself.

Hanael’s tactics had been almost too perfect. Even with the setback of having one of the blue crystals destroyed, Maria had had one too many chances to finish the fight.

Many other important factors contributed to this result also: Soraya’s timely intervention that helped them look at the situation with a cool head instead of giving into despair, Rania’s correct judgments at the right time and right place to save her own life and Agravain’s. But it was ultimately Maria’s inexperience and weak character that had decided the fight. Unfair as it was to ask so much of someone who had just been a normal schoolgirl a few days before.

It had been a thing close, too close.

“Well, credit where it’s due, you helped out a lot,” Agravain patted the young princess's head.

“Of course,” she took the compliment in stride, “What do you think I tag along for? But thank Rania too, she did way more than me.”

The maid in question could hardly stand aright on her own. After releasing her dead grip on Maria, she had been wobbling on her feet. Without the handles of Soraya’s chair to lean on she might have already dropped to the ground. “I did only what I could,” she said coolly.

Indeed she had done all she could, which had wrought numbers on her. Her clothes were tattered in many places, her braid tangled, messed up, her face paled painfully from the beating she had taken. At least her glasses had been left intact this time

“So what now?” Agravain asked, turning to the only one who had been useless for most of the fight.

“Well, we won,” Jophiel answered, seeming more relieved than elated. “Your first victory against another Player Character, congrats. That leaves five more to go. Now we finish our business here and move on.”

The barbarian stretched his body, his bones cracking under the pressure. “I’m beat. It’s still morning and I’m already craving a long nap. Do we loot those girls or what?” He tossed a finger in their direction.

The girls had gathered around Ophelia and Maria, who were still sobbing on the ground. All of them gave the barbarian a look of apprehension.

What did they expect? He raised a brow. They lost, fair and square.

“Loot them?” Jophiel rolled her eyes, “What do you think we are, bandits? Have you somehow missed the fact we’re on a quest? A competition? Ring a bell?”

“Well, your usual ruffian attitude does rub off on me a bit. So what, we let them go?”

Jophiel sighed, “Have you not been listening? Do I always have to spell everything out for you? Didn’t I tell you how this match was always supposed to end?” Suddenly her face went dark, “This was a fight to the death. So it’s only proper now that we’ll take their lives.”