With his hands in his pockets, Straf walks up to the tents at the foot of the hill. Soldiers sit around campfires, and a man standing guard sees him walk closer.

「Hey, you! You're not allowed to leave the camp without permission! Who are you with!?」

He shouts at Straf, looking at him with wary eyes.

「Me? I'm with the uhh, Redwing Kingdom, I guess. I'm here to kill the commander.」

Straf nonchalantly answers, shrugging his shoulders.

「Tsk, fucking smartass. Fine, do what you want, but if an officer sees you leave, you're fucked.」

The guard scoffs, and shakes his head while scowling at Straf. Meanwhile, Straf casually passes him by completely unopposed.

「…And we were making good progress too, but those suicidal idiots had to get in the way.」

「Yeah, we'd be in the capital in two days at this rate. Now we'll probably rot in this war for a year or two.」

「I don't mind if I'm getting paid.」

Soldiers around a campfire discuss the current situation among themselves, Straf ignores them, only glancing at them in passing. He navigates the maze of tents and heads upward, up the lesser incline. Two guards with spears in hand stand at the entrance to an area fenced off with cloth curtains.

「Halt. What's your business here?」

One of the guards stops Straf, holding his palm out towards him.

「I'm here to kill the commander.」

Straf shrugs, giving the guards a nonchalant and honest answer.

「Heheh… Fucking joker, get out of here.」

The guard shakes his head with a grin, and waves Straf off, shaking his head as he chuckles.

「I'm goin' in.」

Straf ignores the guard, and simply walks towards the entrance.

Clank!

The guards cross their spears, blocking Straf's way.

「Hey! Are you fucking deaf!? Unless you have a reason to be here, fuck off!」

The other guard, a man with a high pitched tone, shouts angrily at Straf.

Crackcrack!

Straf ignores him, grabs onto the spears just below their sharp points, and snaps the shafts with his hands alone.

「What the-!?」 「How did he-!?」

The guards stare at their broken weapons with missing spearheads. Straf discards the spearheads by carelessly throwing them aside. The spearpoints violently dig into the dirt, and disappear beneath the surface.

「Who's the commander here!?」

Straf asks, casually walking in the middle of the high-security encampment with his hands in his pockets. Heavily armored men at a campfire look at him, and one particularly rich-looking one stands up and walks towards Straf.

「I am. Who are you?」

The blonde, blue-eyed man asks Straf. He cautiously glares at him from a distance. Albeit he has a relaxed posture, his hand stays on his sword's hilt.

「I am Straf. Katastrof. Vindict…」

Straf looks at the man with a serious face, and enunciates every part of his name.

「…You're that runner-up?」 「…I know, you never heard of me- What?」

Straf rolls his eyes, already anticipating the answer. His eyes widen in surprise however, when the commander asks him a question.

「The tournament. The big one. Aren't you the one who got to the finals, and lost to that masked Sturm guy?」

The commander clarifies, still warily staring at Straf with eyes like a hawk.

「No, I- Actually, yeah. It was me. I'm surprised you know me.」

Straf lifts his finger to protest, but then changes his mind, and nods.

「You are literally the first to recognize me. How long has it been? Three weeks? A month? I guess nobody remembers the second guy on the moon, either.」

Straf sighs and shrugs, rolling his eyes.

「…What? Nevermind, forget it. What are you doing here? If you are from the Redwing Kingdom, that means you are not a part of our forces… Then why are you here?」

The man squints in confusion, but then shakes his head and ignores the bizarre statement. He glares at Straf as he asks, gripping onto his sword tighter and taking a posture ready for sudden combat. The men behind him also prepare for a fight, gripping onto their weapons.

「Uh, yeah, well… The thing is… I came here to kill you, but hear me out.」

Straf chuckles, shrugging his hands with a grin on his face. The commander's guards draw their weapons and begin approaching Straf, but stop when the man raises his open hand.

「So you are the enemy… What is it, then? Be quick about it.」

「How about you just take your army and leave? I've been told to try and not kill anyone, and she'll probably get upset if I kill your whole army single-handedly… So, can you leave?」

Straf asks, grinning with his hands spread. The commander's guards look at each other, and start laughing themselves. The commander tries to suppress a grin, but the request is too ridiculous not to scoff at.

「I don't believe you have walked in here to make a joke, unless you're suicidal. What are you about, exactly? You think you're good enough to take on an army all by yourself? You're either a madman, or…」

The commander draws his sword, and takes a few steps towards Straf.

「Or, y'know, I'm fairly sure I can kick your shit in.」

Straf chuckles with his hands in his pockets, smugly grinning at the blonde man.

「…Exactly. A mere madman sneaking past the entire camp, and then getting through the guards at this encampment? I don't buy it. You mentioned her. Who?」

The commander questions Straf with his blade low, but ready.

「Lia- I mean the queen.」

Straf answers with a pet name out of compulsion, then corrects himself with a roll of his eyes.

「…What?」

《He knows the Redwing queen personally? She has sent him here? Alone? Who is he? The best mercenary that money can buy? A veteran soldier?- No, a single soldier wouldn't take on an army. What is going on here?》

The man's blue eyes widen out of shock, then narrow in a cautious glare. He stares at Straf in absolute silence, seldom even blinking.

「…So, how about it? Are you going to retreat? Honestly, I already tried more than I thought I would to make this bloodless. If you refuse, I guess I'll have to kill you.」

Straf smirks, chuckling quietly after a shrug of his shoulders.

「Shut your fucking mouth, idiot! We'll chop you into worm food!」

「Yeah! Who the fuck you think you are!?-」

The guards start shouting angrily, but the commander stops them again.

「Let me guess… Your goal is to kill me and rout the army by causing panic, correct?」

「Yup.」

Straf shrugs, giving a monosyllabic answer back. The commander starts chuckling, and scoffs at Straf.

「Well, allow me to disappoint you, that is not happening. I could order my men to slaughter you, right now, but…」

He looks around himself. More heavily armed and armored men walk up to see what the shouting is about.

「…But. Out of recognition of your bravery, and your dignity to come before me openly, instead of attempting to assassinate me from the shadows like a coward, I will grant you a duel.」

「And if I win, your troops fuck off to where they came from?」

Straf scoffs with a smirk.

「Brave and respectable you might be, humble, you are not. Make no mistake, fool, this is an execution. Dueling is close to my heart, which is why I have heard of you to begin with. I am an unparalleled duelist, you stand no chance of victory. I am simply giving you an honorable death.」

He points his sword at Straf with a serious face. In response, Straf chuckles with a smug grin on his face.

「Okay, yeah, cool. But will they, or will I have to hack them up?」

Straf points his hand at the elite soldiers watching on from behind the commander.

「Everyone! Listen closely! If by some miracle he manages to kill me, return to Rankor without further fighting and inform the king!… There. Happy?」

He looks around and shouts so all the gathered men can hear him. He points his sword at Straf again, ordering them to respect the result of the duel.

「Hey, it's not my idea. If it was up to me, there would be already guts strewn all across the camp down there.」

Straf shrugs, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder as the terrified guards stare at him from the entrance.

「…We are so fucked.」

「…We are never getting out of the latrine duty, man.」

The guards say with a tight-lipped grimace on their faces, watching the scene they permitted to happen in horror.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

「Where is your sword? Do you not have one? I refuse to fight a duel on an uneven footing caused by anything else but inborn ability.」

The commander says, stripping off his armor. He throws the breastplate and bracers off to the ground, and steps further towards Straf. The men behind him begin to cheer.

「Yeah! Kill his fucking ass, commander!」

「Lop his head off!」

「Show us the thing, commander!」

They clap and cheer, whistle and holler. Some men from the camp below come to the entrance to see what's the noise all about as well.

「Oh, I have a few, don't you worry…」

Straf chuckles, and extends his arm sideways.

「…A few? Where are they?-」

The golden-haired man narrows his eyes at Straf, before they widen in shock as he sees Straf's [Portable Storage] open, and a mundane iron sword slides out of the purple whirl. The cheers and clapping fade into silence.

「Hey! Before we start, promise you will not use magic! This is a duel of strength and skill, not some mage babbling!」

With a lightly nervous expression, the blonde man shouts a demand.

「What, scared? Have it your way, I'll just lop your head off manually.」

Straf chuckles, wielding his blessed sword in one hand, and keeping the other in his pocket.

「…Take your stance already! Stop fooling around and get ready!」

The commander shouts, holding his sword out in front of him, one leg in front of the other.

「What do you mean? I am ready. I'm waiting on you to stop pissing your pants.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders, with a completely serious face.

「…You disrespectful prick. I take back my words, you are just common trash that slipped through the guards. No matter, you'll die all the same.」

The commander scowls at Straf, clenching his teeth.

「Hey! One of you! Count down from three, so I can take this idiot's head!」

He shouts at the men behind him, and turns his head back to Straf.

「Ready! Three! Two! One!… Fight! Get him, Commander Kerul!」

A voice from behind the commander counts down, and begins the duel. He gets the first cheer out, and the men immediately resume their cheering and whistling. Kerul charges in, planning to take advantage of Straf's relaxed posture and his low weapon. He lunges in, slashing at his neck. Straf is grinning.

Clang!

Commander Kerul is sent flying, barreling through the air. He lands on the dirt and bounces again. He slams into the crowd circling around them and collapses some of the spectators like a group of bowling pins.

「That's a ring out! Don't I win!?」

Straf shouts at the golden-haired man as the spectators help him get up, shocked that Straf sent him flying without appearing to even move.

「There was… There was no such thing we agreed to! It's a fight to the death!」

Breathing heavily, the commander collects himself, and walks back towards Straf.

「…Okay! As you wish!」

Straf shrugs, and chuckles, still maintaining his relaxed posture. Meanwhile, the commander nervously swallows.

《…I thought I had the advantage here. I slashed at his neck, and I barely managed to block his slash aimed at mine in time. And this power… Is he even human!?》

「I'm surprised you even survived. Honestly, pat yourself on the back. That has to be a first. You are real fucking quick, you know that? I am actually impressed. I thought I was so broken, that nobody could take a serious hit from me anymore.」

Straf praises the commander with a genuine tone and a serious face with raised brows, nodding as he speaks.

「Fast? Heh…」

The commander lets out a singular chuckle, and nervously grins with clenched teeth.

《…My blessing saved my life. Without it, I'd have lost my head already. I am not fast… This monster is.》

The commander thinks, as he looks at Straf in front of him with an anxious glare.

Pat pat pat.

「Yeah, here. You earned it.」

「W- What!?」

Straf disappears from in front of the commander. Before he can even scan the surroundings with his eyes, he feels a hand patting his back, and hears Straf right beside him. Too stunned to even react, the commander realizes Straf just patted him on the back, and is now casually returning to where he was standing.

Straf turns around, and places his hand back in his pocket. Slowly, boredom sets on his face as he looks at the shocked commander.

《My blessing… I couldn't see him?… What is the meaning of this?…》

Commander Kerul's hands begin to shake on his sword when it dawns on him just how outmatched he is by Straf.

「Say, I know you said this is a duel to the death and all, but do you want to surrender, maybe?」

Straf asks with a shrug and a bored face.

「S- Surrender?…」

《That's right… I could just surrender, surely he wouldn't kill me-? No! What am I thinking!? I've faced worse adversities! I will overcome this as well!》

After slowly losing hope, the commander shakes his head left and right violently.

「Never!」

He shouts with a determined scowl on his face.

「Okay, I tried.」

Straf shrugs again, and starts walking towards Kerul. The commander's eyes widen in panic. Despite being merely a head taller than him, to Kerul, Straf appears taller and more menacing than a troll, ominously closing in with an unimpressed expression, as if a fight to the death was a just a daily chore to him.

《Quick. Think. Think. Think. I can't rely on my blessing for this. He's going to attack, but how? From where? A stab? A slash? Where? My neck?》

The commander's eyes dart all over Straf's form, trying to predict his next move.

《There it is!-》

Clang!

Straf lazily swings at the man's neck, and he manages to move his sword in the way just in the nick of time. He staggers sideways, almost falling over. The cheers of the men largely died down, reduced to just individual half-hearted shouts of encouragement.

《Shit! That almost knocked me over, and I was ready for it! What is with his fucking strength!? Another!-》

Clang!

Straf gently flicks his blade at the man's neck from the opposite side, staring at him with bored eyes as the commander pirouettes and staggers around like a moving punching bag.

《I need to go on offensive! I can't win like this! I need to attack!》

Commander Kerul thinks, and swings his sword with all his might at Straf, hoping to hit just anywhere.

《…What… The fuck?》

He thinks in shock as he sees Straf's eyes perfectly track his blade, and casually move his weapon in the way to block it.

Clang!

Straf grins, and immediately counter-attacks, pushing the commander back onto the defensive.

《How is he this fast!? He didn't just see it, he was waiting for my attack! He was waiting, like it was too slow to even threaten him!》

The commander clenches his teeth, just barely saving himself from losing his head once more.

「Say, how do you do this? You're pretty fast, but you can't actually do anything with it, it seems.」

Straf asks, casually standing with his hand in his pocket as the commander tries to regain his stable stance.

「Do what?」

He asks, glaring at Straf with veiled panic on his face.

「The blocks. You can see my attacks, right? How?」

Straf shrugs, tilting his head a little.

《Should I tell him?… What does it matter anymore? He's faster, anyway.》

The commander clicks his tongue and clenches his teeth.

「My blessing… It allows me to match my enemy's speed if I'm the slower one.」

The commander answers, anxiously glaring at Straf, pointing his sword at him.

「Ah! So it's like my ability! Cool, that makes sense. But I guess I'll have to kill you now, I promised Lia I'll be back tomorrow… I guess I'll have to walk all the way to the fucking capital with time slowed to make it.」

Straf's brows rise in surprise, and he shrugs. He begins approaching the commander again.

「…What? What are you talking about? Your ability!?」

The commander shouts a question, but Straf ignores it. A blade approaches Kerul's neck from the side.

《Shit! Shit, shit, shit! His ability!? Does he mean his enemies move slower to him as well!? Then why am I losing!? He's clearly faster, why!? Don't we have the same blessing in that case!?》

Kerul swings his entire body around to block the blow.

《…What?》

The golden-haired commander's eyes widen in shock, when Straf's blade evades his sword and swings above his head. His eyes track the weapon carve through the air just above his blonde hair.

《Wait, shit!》

Kerul realizes that Straf didn't miss. His sword abruptly changes direction, and starts hunting for his throat again in thirst for blood.

《Wait, wait wait wait wait!》

The commander in desperation and panic attempts to throw his body to the other side again to block the other side, but he finds himself moving as if he was deep underwater. His movements are impeded far too much to fully utilize his blessing.

《Fuck, fuck, fuck! He's too fast! I won't make it in time!》

He stares at the blade closing in, while his sword is nowhere near ready to receive it.

「W-!」

Kerul attempts to shout something at Straf, but then he notices the blade pass underneath him. Terror dawns on him, when he realizes he's now sailing through the air.

Thud!… Thud!

With a splash of blood staining the well-stomped grass, Commander Kerul's body collapses onto the ground with a loud thud. A second or two later, his head descends down with a similar loud, dull noise of impact, and rolls a few steps towards the horrified group of men.

「Is anybody going to tell me that I haven't tried? Who wants to go next?」

Straf spreads his arms, looking at the men circled around him…