"They're two vixens, aren't they?" Jacques tiredly remarks, but the red beast still looks at them with warm eyes.

I wryly smile at him and reply, "You should hear Roxanne's banter; it's so mean. Even your daughter participates in ganging up on me sometimes. I'm simply outnumbered."

Jacques snorts and glances at Alissa. "She is her mother's daughter, after all."

"Indeed."

And he gives me a glance as his posture starts to relax. "I feel that your situation is worse than mine. Ofilia also likes to tease me, but she doesn't have the slyness of Léonne."

I shrug softly and also start to relax in my seat. "Well, I did choose to have a large harem and also encouraged them to be themselves, so the only one I can blame is myself."

He strokes his beard with his clawed hands as he gives me a measuring look. "Sometimes, dealing with two women is hard, so I can't even imagine what it's like to deal with… the number that you have and more."

And I smile smugly at the succubus who has the decency to blush as I state, "I'm actually blessed because they don't often join forces. Not only that, but it's mostly Roxanne who does the teasing, so it isn't a constant attack on my mind."

"I actually feel like I'm her target more often than you," Hana chimes in with a pout.

"I wonder why…" Roxanne cheekily whispers.

"Hana is like our second dad, so she gets teased just like Wolfy," Alissa blurts out and immediately regrets it.

"What…?" Jacques grunts and stares at her. My foxy c-m s--t slave just used my depraved definition of "dad," though I prefer "daddy" to avoid this exact kind of confusion… and also the slowly creeping horror of realization that appears on her father's face.

But I come in with the save, "Hana and I have very protective feelings towards the harem, which the rest of the girls tease us for since it makes our behavior predictable."

"Hmm…" The red beast hums thoughtfully and caresses his red mane with his clawed hands.

Distraction successful.

"They're ready," Léonne calmly states while faintly smirking, and we turn our attention to the courtyard below.

Gray werefox daddy versus golden elven daddy. The two start a few meters apart and calmly walk towards each other until they're just outside lunging range.

The werefox seems to be the more aggressive one as he smirks ferociously, and he takes a step forward, touching the tips of their longswords, then teases his opponent with a feint wrist chop, just a quick movement to measure the elf's reaction.

Golden daddy doesn't even flinch as the other man's sword launches towards his face, his eyes still locked with his opponent's, but the graceful man casually bats the long weapon away for daring to come too close.

And like most duels, the two explore each other's defenses, probing for openings and teasing out reactions, all while playing mind games to force the other into a compromising position where they can pounce and strike at a vulnerable spot.

"A dance of longswords is the most noble and graceful way to establish masculine superiority," Yunia states wistfully.

"More nuanced and dazzling than any other weapon," Léonne adds, and the other Queen nods emphatically, making her glorious drill bounce.

The two daddies intensify their exchange of blows, and even the golden daddy assumes a fierce and cocky expression. They're near the peak of male performance, and it'd be un-elven to not be proud of that.

They're so evenly matched that their bodies start to glisten with sweat before the vibrant red of blood appears in the field. But once it does, their astonishing speed and sweeping movements paint their chests with long, red lines as gravity forces the droplets to run along their skin until their movements see them fly away.

"Rah!" The werefox grunts as he uses [Muscle Explosion] to lunge forward.

But the elf prefers to take a slice to the forearm rather than use the skill himself, and then he counters with a lunge that sinks into the graying fox's stomach. A grievous wound for any inexperienced warrior that doesn't know how to deal with pain.

And the fox daddy answers by roaring as he strikes back, "ROOH!" Giving the elf a long slash along his shoulder, impairing the strength of his dominant arm. Not a favorable trade, but it's better than taking a free blow.

The two men disentangle and test their bodies for damage while staring at each other ferociously. They flex their glistening muscles and stretch to check for decreased mobility, then promptly approach each other for another bout.

Their swords slide against each other as metal grinds against metal, then the tips whistle as the cut begins, but all they split is air as the daddies dance around each other once again, neither of them making any big moves nor committing to an overwhelming attack.

Soon, the exchanges slow down as they catch their breath and formulate new plans, but they continue circling around the edges of the arena with their eyes still locked, not even noticing the excitement of the crowd. Two men at their prime dancing with each other in a struggle for supremacy. Considering who is currently observing the duel, there simply isn't a single person present who doesn't appreciate this scene.

The gray fox flexes his muscles and does a quick strike, but the golden elf steps back and gracefully bats the blade away. It's clear that the belly wound is taking a toll on the fox daddy as he's recovering much slower than the elf daddy, and this difference in stamina will only get worse with time, so their next bout will decide the battle.

And the mood starts to shift.

The fox lets his wild instincts take hold, and he bares his fangs at the elf, who hardens his expression in anticipation of the incoming savage attack, becoming so stern and stiff that it's like he's a living statue.

On one side, there's a beast ready to launch forward with explosive force, and on the other, there's an unmovable wall ready to stop the attack. Hair and fur standing on end from tension and the absolute stillness from perfect concentration make the crowd go so silent that we can even hear our own breaths.

Then the fox becomes a blur, and the elf instantly strikes down with his longsword.

Metal meets flesh, and the weapon sinks into the gray man's right shoulder, going so deep that it has definitely reached his lung. But he doesn't care because the tip of his own sword has penetrated the golden man's sternum, crossed his chest, and come out through the back of his spine, just under the neck guard.

The golden man relaxes and closes his eyes, his limbs going limp like a puppet with its strings cut, then the fox releases his sword, and his opponent collapses to the ground. The referee immediately ends the duel, giving gray daddy the victory, and a group of healers dash towards the combatants.

"Splendid," Jacques murmurs contently.

"Impressive 'Endurance' and 'Speed,'" Yunia respectfully states as she watches the fox collapse from the pain.

And I softly remark, "I once got a sword through my collarbone during a duel, and I'd rather get my lung stabbed than have to suffer through that again."

"Wolfy has a thing with letting himself get stabbed," Lina comes in with a sneak attack.

But I just shrug. "I can instantly cast [Heal], so it's a good strategy to get within the enemy's guard, and it's worked a few times already."

Then Hana chimes in, "That's what [Tatesomu Style] teaches, but I haven't had many opportunities to use it myself, especially after gaining [Draconic Body]."

Jacques chuckles softly, and it's surprisingly quiet considering his size. "I've seen [Tatesomu Style] being used to its fullest a few times, and everyone I've talked to who has also seen it agrees that they'd rather not fight against it," he amusedly remarks.

"Damn right," Hana mumbles proudly.

Then we make some small-talk while the next duelists prepare themselves.

It seems that both Queens have chosen more unorthodox warriors for the second fight to make things more interesting. We have a younger fox daddy with brown hair and fur (which Alissa says is from the Bloody Spear clan) that uses a short [Switch] sword-spear, and a silver elf mommy that uses [Vine Weapon], also like a [Switch] sword-spear.

But the most interesting thing here is mommy's bikini chain armor. It's been padded with cloth to not pinch the skin, but it's still basically a bikini that's just as revealing as an elven dousnadeia. It's just tied tightly to her body to not allow any bit to slip during combat.

Most men don't really care if their friends come out of their pants in combat, but a lot of women do… care about not exposing themselves, is what I mean, so that's why bikini armor is actually a thing in Rupegia.

"Having a sword was really nice, Wolfy. I wish you'd do that again," Hana comments through [Bind].

And I decide to not reply to that because that's a slippery slope that I don't want to go down.

Back to the fight, the two warriors stretch, purposely displaying their slender bodies and revealing to all of us that they're "Speed" focused, even more so than the previous two. Mommy elf is especially alluring, but our knights are different from the Companions, as the former is focused on supporting the stability of our lands while the latter's job is exclusively our personal protection, so it's harder for knights to fall in love with us.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

But the silver elf turns to the balcony and casts [Grow], then a pink lotus flower grows in her hand out of seemingly nothing. Considering how pink is the most common color for elven private parts (and believe me, I've seen enough elves to be sure of this), the connotations of the color are rather suggestive.

"I dedicate this battle to you, my Queen Yulania," the knight announces with a dashing smile.

Why is Yunia so popular among elven women?

"Why are you so popular among elven women?" Yunia snarkily replies in my soul space, making me chuckle internally.

Then the knight casts [Vine Weapon], and the thin stalk grows and thickens, but the petals remain in place like an adornment above her hand as the flower turns into a short spear.

She points the weapon at the brown fox, who raises his eyebrows in awe at her showmanship, but he quickly hardens his expression, and they start the duel.

Two snakes launch towards each other and snap their jaws, by all they catch is the wind as their bodies dodge in an uncanny way, almost as if they're simply ignoring physics to move aside. It's both mesmerizing and baffling to see the way they move.

The two warriors both have incredibly high "Speed" and [Dodge], so much so that it seems like they move faster than anything I've ever seen back on Earth, which means that they might have broken through the limits of physics with their "Stats" and skills. Similar to how Hana can reach superhuman strength, these two can reach superhuman speeds.

But even they need to occasionally take a breather, so after a flurry of jabs that find no target, they separate and catch their breaths while coming up with new plans of attack. The elf's chain bikini is actually quite effective as even after all this exertion, there's no sign of it slipping, which is a bit unfortunate.

I'm way too protective of them to enjoy a bare, bloody duel between my women, but when it's a woman I'm not interested in, the idea of nudity and violence sounds slightly attractive.

"But you're always violent with my flower," Alissa remarks through [Bind].

But the flower violence is at a completely different degree in comparison to stabbing and gutting you.

"I'd like to get beaten and stabbed during love," Hana absentmindedly remarks.

"I'd love to see that," Roxanne softly adds with a sadistic tone.

This is a bit too extreme, even for me, so I cut the chatter short and focus on the fight.

Spears are less complex weapons in comparison to swords, so while spears are easy to learn, they have a lower "skill ceiling," but [Spear Use] still has the same max level as [Sword Use], 100, so the difference in skill level between opponents is less noticeable with spears than with swords. On the other hand, spear duels can show a level of nuance that's rarely found in duels with any other weapon.

And coupling that with how fast these two warriors move, it makes this duel feel exotic and unique. Martial arts is commonly called a dance, and what we're seeing feels like a fast, flashy tango.

They engage again, and both aim for the center of mass to make it harder to dodge, but now they use the full extent of their [Spear Use] skill to bat the opponent's weapon away from its target while also angling their own so that they can score a hit. It's rare for anyone but the Emperor to reach level 100 in combat skills, so these two warriors eventually make mistakes, and the small blade at the tip of their spears starts to find flesh to cut open.

Suddenly, the elf's weapon coils around her opponent's like a living snake, and the tip sinks into his right shoulder. I blink in surprise, having forgotten that her weapon is magical as it was formed through [Vine Weapon], and when my eyes open again, there's a brown fox on top of her, biting her right shoulder, but she just kicks his stomach and throws him off of her.

Another second, and they're both standing again, the fox back to his humanoid form, both combatants holding their shoulders in pain, inspecting the damage. The brown fox has a deeper wound while the silver elf has a more extensive but shallower wound, so they're more or less even.

"Such a fast transformation," Alissa hums in wonder.

"At a heavy cost of stamina," Léonne soberly replies. It seems that in the end, the fox came out with a worse deal than the elf.

After checking their wounds, they start circling each other again and launch probing attacks, testing the other and themselves for limited movement. The slower combat allows us to appreciate the nuance of their exchanges, and the intentions of each move they make start to become more clear to us.

A dodge with minimal movements so that they can keep their body leaning forward, increasing the range of their thrust, but their weapon is diverted by the other's, who leans to the side just enough that the blade of the spear achieves only a mere shallow cut. Perfect exchanges as they both showcase a masterful handling of their weapons.

Then the silver elf starts to chant [Regeneration], and the battle suddenly takes a wild turn. That spell must not be completed.

The brown fox immediately shifts into his animal form and pounces, but the elf promptly drops the chant and grabs her spear with both hands as it turns into a pike that skewers the fox through its chest and then pushes it away as it continues to grow. A trap that the werefox fell for.

The pike angles downward so that the elf can use her weight to skewer the fox further, and when he crashes against the ground, the tip of the pike comes out of his back.

His body is made of mana, so he doesn't care about such a wound and pushes against the pike, sliding down its long shaft towards his opponent.

The tip of the pike turns around like a snake and pierces the brown fox through its shoulder, but the ferocious beast doesn't stop and quickly reaches the silver elf.

He rakes his claws across her face, then opens his mouth to bite her head whole, but he can only snap at the air as the vine weapon coils around his throat, pulling his head back and choking him.

The silver elf stumbles to the side, blind in one eye and most likely dazed from the pain, but tense seconds pass and her [Vine Weapon] spell holds. Meanwhile, the fox is continuously being strangled harder, unable to escape.

"Fuck, I surrender!" The brown fox beast shouts, and the silver elf undoes her spell.

She immediately goes to the healers to restore her beautiful face to its former glory, but the werefox refuses healing and uses an HP potion on his shoulder instead.

"I want this scar," he explains and grins at the elf, who merely gives him a cold glance before snobbishly turning her nose away.

"Yeah, he's a true Bloody Spear," Alissa hums wryly.

Once the female knight's face is healed, she turns to Yunia and bows while smiling like a supermodel who won first place in a contest, and Yunia responds with a dazzling smile of her own. The knight then gives a respectful nod to her opponent to show that she doesn't want to disrespect him. She just really doesn't like that he went for her face.

Their duel was short but very interesting. It's a pity that to preserve life, we have to end it a lot sooner than they could potentially last if they were fighting for their lives. Retreating and ambushing are also parts of combat, but they can't be recreated in a duel setting.

Soon, the time for the final duel finally arrives, and the crowd gets excited.

In the left corner, we have Palo Orir, a massive golden elf with a bottom-dropping smile and the goal to do every hole he comes across. In the right corner, we have Montague Nuage, a white mountain of a man with the Chaddiest chin in the world and the goal to wrestle a female Ogre into submission.

They'd be incredible with striking weapons, but, for some reason, they choose longswords, a weapon for refined and delicate users, and they're anything but.

The female side seems very interested in this fight considering the two warriors are bigger daddies with bigger bulges than the first two, but it makes me very pleased to see that the Companions and adventurers don't seem any more excited than during the first duel. It seems that their "type" differs from the ridiculous piles of muscles before them.

Yunia and Léonne, though, are very excited to see them fight. These two men are aces, and they rarely get the chance to fight someone on the same level as them because few manage to rise as far as they have. They're the best we have for single combat aside from ourselves… or Silvano, but he's in a different "weight class."

And the moment they engage, we see why they're the best. Strength, determination, skill, and the concentrated power of will. Peak male performance. The true ubermensch that we've only ever dreamed of. The closest that humanoids have ever come to a divine physique.

They aren't just about raw muscular power. Swords are already light, but with such steel-like bodies, they can swing a sword as if it weighs nothing for extended periods of time.

"But Palo's 'Endurance' has always been rather low," Yunia tensely remarks internally.

Still, his stamina consumption is ridiculously low, and it shows as they have exchange after exchange for long minutes without slowing down, though they deal only shallow cuts to each other.

When fighting with swords, it's usually hard to grasp how dangerous your opponent is, so inexperienced swordsmen routinely wound each other at the same time. To have so many exchanges without any significant hits is a feat in and of itself; it's a display of deep mastery of their weapons and the art of combat.

Unless, of course, you're a dragonkin or someone like me, who deliberately takes hits to keep the enemy within range.

Anyway, the girls see page after page of their swordsmanship textbooks being displayed by the two muscular men. They attempt every single attack that they know of, and every time, it's perfectly parried or dodged.

The warriors smile handsomely at each other, enjoying the veritable showcasing of skill they're giving to the excited crowd, but we're here for blood, and the two will happily oblige.

Montague suddenly goes for a dangerous lunge, almost catching Palo off-guard, but the white mountain still scores a deep slice into the side of the golden elf's right ribs in exchange for a long slice on the thigh.

They're tall, and their arms are long, so they have a dangerous amount of reach, and Montague correctly understood how powerful their lunges can be.

Palo then shifts his style and uses his great strength and a leverage advantage to simply push his opponent's sword out of the way so that he can kick the mountain right on his wounded thigh.

A 26 "Strength" kick is no joke, and Montague winces in pain, his knee bending at an uncomfortable angle, and he takes a step back to recover.

But the elf drops any pretense of coming from a graceful race with an affinity for nimbleness, switching to full orc mode.

"UOOH!" Palo roars as he does a savage downward strike, which he follows with a shoulder check as he recklessly advances forward.

"Fuck-…!" Montague suddenly finds himself off balance and unable to utilize the full extent of his high skill in weapons as Palo launches a flurry of brutish attacks his way. "RUAAH!" He starts to shout back, enraged, just like his opponent.

We go from art to an orcish mating ritual as the two brutish men wave metal sticks around while trying to assert dominance. Their swords clash wildly against each other, causing resonating rings to echo across the courtyard like a sword-fight scene straight out of Hollywood.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, Palo steps back and allows Montague to go on the offensive.

Another trap that the fox promptly falls for, and the elf scores a lung pierce in exchange for a shoulder stab.

The men promptly separate, but neither show any sign of tiredness or pain. They're like crocodiles, and the first to show any weakness will lose.

They resume the careful and skillful combat, but soon, the massive golden elf steps back, seemingly out of breath. Montague isn't going to fall for such a ruse twice, so he carefully presses on, allowing Palo a moment to breathe.

And the elf suddenly drops the act and becomes brutish again. The white fox keeps his calm this time and doesn't respond in kind, which results in a few cuts biting into his flesh, but at least he doesn't fall for another trap.

Palo attempts increasingly unorthodox attacks to break Montague's guard, but the white mountain has absolute faith in his skills and continues his unbreakable defense, holding back on lashing out until he can be sure there's no trap waiting for him.

Suddenly, the golden man takes a step back, and Montague carefully goes on the offensive again, but he easily bats Palo's weapon away, and the massive elf falls on one knee, completely out of breath.

"Eh?" Montague hums in confusion.

"I… surrender…" Palo announces, almost wheezing for air.

It wasn't an act. He really had run out of breath that first time, but Montague thought it was a trap, so he played defensively until Palo exhausted himself.

The crowd gasps in surprise, and even Léonne looks confused.

Yunia sighs, a wry smile competing for space with her frustrated frown, then she politely explains, "Palo has [Acting] and [Taunt], and his strategy is to lure opponents into traps, but I think Montague inadvertently countered him completely."

And Léonne suddenly laughs out loud.

Intermission – Reinhold

"So, Junior General Reinhold Fischer, do we have a deal?" Vanea asks while looking me in the eye. I don't know what the hell is wrong with this woman, but she makes my hairs stand on end every time her eyes fall upon me.

"Yes," I confidently reply, not allowing my discomfort to become apparent.

And she gives me a calm smile that would be gorgeous if not for the horrible feelings her presence causes within me. I'm glad that I was smart enough to keep my wife out of this.

"Then, I'll be taking my leave," she announces, and I slowly nod.

After she's gone, I let myself relax in my seat, and a smile suddenly creeps up on my lips. But it doesn't stop there, and the smile turns into a grin, then I even start to laugh.

And I heartily laugh out loud.