"Aaaah!?"
Before he could even bounce, I appeared ahead of him and brought down my other hammer in a perfect arc-smashing him into the dirt and shattering the second weapon in the process.
"Two hits, not bad," I said, examining the broken stubs in my hands. "Especially against that overhyped defense of yours."
Dismissing the remnants, I strolled toward the two hammers I'd tossed earlier. They lay on the ground among a scattered circle of others-my little graveyard of blunt surprises.
"Now then," I said, glancing back at Hugo as he staggered upright again. "That's two down. Twenty-eight more to go."
From above, the camera crystal zoomed out, revealing the full picture: Hugo and I, standing at the center of the coliseum, surrounded by thirty identical war hammers, laid in a deliberate pattern.
They weren't normal hammers either-each one had shortened handles, reinforced heads, and chains dangling from the base like trailing serpents. Earlier, most people hadn't noticed my hammer tosses, attributing them to mere flair. But now-
'That wasn't just random throwing,' Mom thought, watching from her seat with a nod of approval. 'As expected from her.'
With a flick of my wrist, I summoned two more into my hands and began spinning them like windmills. The hum of mana around them was tangible. Then, I vanished-only to reappear directly in front of Hugo, crouched low with both hammers aimed at his knees.
"You won't be needing these anymore," I quipped, grinning like a fox.
Clang! KABOOM!!
A surprising burst of agility saved him, and he dodged just in time. The two hammers collided mid-swing, causing a fiery explosion that swallowed both of us in smoke and sparks.
From the stands, a few nobles gasped.
"What was that!?"
"Did they both just-?!"
But as the dust cleared, I emerged completely untouched, while Hugo...
His mane was singed, his fur smoldering at the edges, and several black scorch marks painted his face like ash tattoos.
"Oh, you dodged it. Impressive." I stepped through the smoke toward him, my grin sharp. "But... probably not a good idea."
His jaw clenched as he stared at me, rage barely held in check.
"I mean, I have fire resistance," I added, "but you? Heh. You smell like a burnt dog biscuit."
"YOU-!?"
He lunged but froze mid-motion. Another hammer was coming. Again. For the same spot.
"Not this time!" He growled, side-stepping right-straight into my second hammer, which cracked against his left shoulder.
"Ugh! My shoulder-!"
I paused, squinting at the dent in his armor. "Huh. Who the hell made this garbage? That's cracking already?"
Before he could answer, I reached out and touched the damaged spot. Frost rippled along the dent, sealing it temporarily.
"I can't have you falling apart just yet," I said, right before he tried to punch me. I sidestepped casually.
"Don't touch me, you filth," he spat.
"Oh? Sorry, I couldn't hear you. I have ice in my ears." I wiggled both ears, revealing tiny icicles sticking out.
"I freaking said don't touch me!"
With a roar, Hugo rushed me again.
"But I didn't touch you. I touched your armor," I said mockingly, tilting my head with a bright smile.
As he closed in, I sidestepped once more and slammed both hammers into his torso-one from the front, the other from behind.
WHAM!!
"You know what?" Hugo growled, vanishing in a blur of speed. "I'm done holding back!"
"Ohhh?" I blinked. "You've got Flash Step?"
"Of course. It's one of the easiest things to learn!" he barked proudly.
"Hah. If you say so," I replied, amused. It took me a year to control it. But sure, let the lion boy have his moment.
I ran at him, vanishing in a blur of my own.
Reappearing at his flank, I swung both hammers at his right knee.
CRACK!
He dropped with a snarl of pain. I retreated, tossing aside the broken weapons and grabbing fresh ones from my stash.
As he tried to stand, I came for the other knee.
BOOM!
He barely dodged, but the explosion from the missed attack engulfed him again.
"HOW are you that fast?!" Hugo barked in frustration, blinking around, trying to spot me. "Even with Flash Step, I can barely react-!"
"Yo. Behind you."
He turned-
BOOM!!
My hammer connected squarely with his groin.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH-!!"
"Oh shit," I muttered with a mischievous grin. "I missed. That wasn't the plan... but hey, it's not like you'll be needing that tonight."
"You... will... pay for this," he groaned, clutching himself and glaring up at me.
I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Who's going to make me pay? This is a fair duel, remember?"
"You lied-about your class. You have one, don't you?!"
"Lied? Never told you a damn thing about my skills." I shrugged. "And no, I don't have a character class. I'm using base stats, and they're not even maxed out yet."
He stared at me, eyes wide in disbelief. "No... way..."
I stepped closer, letting my voice drop just for him. "Didn't you say your race was the best? Want to rethink that?"
His mouth opened. "That's not possib-!"
"Then answer me, Hugo. Whose race is better?" I asked before appearing before him and slamming my hammer upward.
BOOM! BOOM!
For the next five minutes, the crowd could barely keep up. It was a flurry of speed, explosions, and hammer blows.
Each time Hugo tried to rise, I sent him flying again-like a ragdoll trapped in a game of pinball. His once-proud mane was all but gone, fur singed down to his skin.
"I... sure-ughh..."
He collapsed, wheezing, barely conscious.
"Nope!" I said cheerfully, stepping on his face. "No surrender now."
I sighed, examining the empty chains in my hand. "Hmph. All thirty were used. Shame."
With one last glance at his ruined armor, I released the ice holding it together. The metal crumbled off him like brittle bark, exposing his hairy chest.
"Ew. Not even a shirt?" I winced. "You really went full 'feral barbarian,' huh?"
I lifted my foot off his face and immediately brought it down again. —
CRACK!
"AGGGGGHHHH-!!"
"There we go. No more talking for you~" I sang, stepping back as he flailed, jaw clearly broken.
"Kitsuna Draig," Kayda called out from her seat. "Reminder: no killing."
"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving her off.
I created two long, sharp ice spikes-a meter long and 4 cm thick-and twirled them like batons.
"I hope you don't pass out."
"Mmm-nuhhh, don't-please-I beg you-don't do it!" Hugo tried to speak, but it came out as a garbled mess.
"It's too late," I said coldly, stepping behind him. "You lost everything the moment you decided you were the best."
THUNK!
One spike rammed into his abdomen, pinning him to the floor.
He screamed again.
Flipping the second spike, I aimed down between his legs. "Congratulations, Hugo Boei. You're about to become the world's first transsexual."
BANG!
A gunshot rang out.
Pain burst across my right shoulder. Blood sprayed.
"You dumb fucking furry," Kayda growled, her wing pierced by the same bullet.
She stood beside me, fury radiating off her in waves.
I followed her gaze to the stands-and locked eyes with the Duke, pistol still smoking in his hands.
My rage ignited instantly.
"You stupid piece of shit," I hissed. I clapped my hand, detonating a miniature explosion that drove the spike straight into Hugo's groin.
BOOM!
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
He writhed, voice cracking with agony.
BANG!
Another shot. I dodged mid-jump.
Just as I prepared to Flash Step straight into the Duke's throat, arms wrapped around my waist.
"Calm down," Kayda whispered. "You're about to go berserk. Stacy will handle it."
Right on cue-Mom appeared beside the Duke, her heel raised.
BOOM!
He flew like a ragdoll into the arena.
She was above him instantly, slamming him into the ground again and again.
Even from a distance, I could hear the wet cracks.
'Mental note: Never piss Mom off this bad,' I thought, shivering slightly.
"Are you okay?" I asked Kayda, eyes still on the blur of violence.
"What do you think?" She growled. "He shot me with a magic bullet. It pierced my wing."
"Yeah, that has to hurt," I muttered. "But his defense is holding, oddly."
"I don't think Stacy's aiming to bleed him," Kayda said dryly.
"True. At this point, his insides must be soup."
CLAP. CLAP.
"Enough!" the King finally spoke from the royal balcony. "We don't want anyone to die tonight."
I turned toward him, still holding my bloodied ice spike. "We have Sirone. My mom can go for a bit longer."
The king looked baffled. "Umm... can she even heal him?"
"Yeah," I said with a confident smile. "I taught her, after all."
"...Okay," he muttered, slowly sitting back down.
As the crowd roared, I looked at the Duke sobbing in the dirt and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Justice served."
avataravatar
Chapter 75: Gloating
"OI, OI! Someone stop that woman! She's going to kill him!" The king's voice thundered from his elevated perch, echoing across the smoking remains of the battlefield.
No one moved.
Not a soldier, not a noble. Even the breeze seemed to hesitate.
"Seriously, no one? And you!" He jabbed his finger at me. "What the hell are you doing to the kid!?"
Boom.
A small explosion of flame flared up around my hand as I straightened from the still-burning body of Hugo. He lay crumpled on the ground like a roasted chicken, twitching slightly.
"Did you say something?" I asked, feigning innocence as the smoke curled up from his singed form.
"You already won!" the King said, exasperated. "Why are you still here-he's still on fire!" And what's that on his back!?"
I tilted my head, genuinely confused for a second. "Oh, that? I just thought the phrase 'I am the best sucker' really suited him. It's got layers. Ambiguity. Multiple interpretations. Very avant-garde."
I waved it off casually, letting the king stew in his frustration.
His eye twitched. "Fine. Whatever. But can you, I don't know, stop your mother? She's about to snap the Duke's spine like a twig!"
Following the direction of his shaking finger, I turned to see Mom still applying an extremely aggressive chokehold on the now thoroughly bloodied Duke. His eyes were rolling back, tongue lolling.
"Nah. It's only been ten minutes. He's got a few more left in him. Builds character," I replied nonchalantly.
Kayda, who had been silently observing the carnage beside me, leaned in. "Isn't he going to bleed out from that new hole in his shoulder?"
"Ah, good point." I nodded in appreciation. A small fireball formed in my palm, crackling with golden heat. Without missing a beat, I drop-kicked it into Hugo's side wound, causing a satisfying grunt of pain to escape him.
"That should cauterize it. Sirone can deal with the rest later."
Kayda looked unimpressed. "Won't his hair grow back and cover up the branding?"
"Pfft, no. I burned deep enough to scar the follicle beds. That patch of skin is now a permanent billboard."
Behind us, a soft, pitiful sob echoed.
Sob. Hick. Sob.
I glanced back at Hugo and grinned. "Aww, is the little furry crying? That's adorable."
At that moment, the Duke let out a gurgling wheeze and collapsed entirely.
"Did you pass out already?" Mom huffed, disappointed. "How disappointing. Kitsuna, come here and do that to him too."
I blinked. "I'm done! Dean Draig, get your wife and daughter under control!"
From high above, my father's voice rang out, clear and firm. "FUCK NO!"
"Amari Draig!" the king shouted again, nearly begging this time.
"NOT HAPPENING!" Mom called back gleefully, still holding the unconscious Duke like a chew toy.
The king clutched his head. "Can someone-anyone-just stop them? I don't want to lose the last Duke House!"
I looked up at him, eyebrow raised. "Who cares?"
Mom chuckled. "Ignore him. Go on, burn off his hair already."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm busy," I muttered, lighting my finger like a cigarette lighter.
[Two Hours Later]
The chaos had simmered down-well, mostly. I was now seated cross-legged on a massive bed, the chaos of earlier replaced by something quieter... and possibly more dangerous.
Hugo's harem-or what used to be his harem-sat across from me, some perched on chairs, others kneeling on cushions. Every single one of them had an expression that ranged from blank skepticism to outright annoyance.
"So let me get this straight," Rin, the tall white-furred bunny demi-human, said flatly. Her red eyes narrowed. "You only want us to gloat in front of the Furry?"
"That's... about it, yeah." I leaned back, stretching my arms with a grin. "Simple, effective."
Rin crossed her arms under her ample chest. Her pristine white fur, a rare trait among her kind, shimmered under the room's warm lighting. No wonder Hugo had his eyes on her-he probably thought she made him look more important.
"My queen isn't a pervert like the furry," Chinada piped up, puffing his chest with loyalty. "She just wants to use you all for strategic humiliation."
"We don't know that!" snapped Brit, a sharp-eyed catgirl with bronze skin and a black tail twitching irritably. "At least with Hugo, we knew he wouldn't touch us until he turned eighteen. This one? She looks like she eats people for breakfast."
"I do eat a lot, actually," I admitted.
"See!?"
"Come on, Brit," Mia, the curvy ram-girl with her curled horns, said with a wink. "We're free from that hairy freak. What's the harm in a little revenge?"
"Don't call Lord Hugo a freak!" Ava, the mouse girl, screeched. Her oversized ears twitched in fury.
Mia rolled her eyes. "Still as stuck-up as ever, huh, Ava?"
I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Yeah, this is going nowhere. We need to be in the throne room in ten minutes."
Standing up, I gave the group a slow once-over, noting each face carefully.
"Alright. White bunny, the catgirls, ram girl, black doggie girl, Chinada, Miss Raccoon, and brave little mouse-you stay. Everyone else, you're dismissed."
One of the girls raised her hand hesitantly. "Where should we go, Master?"
I winced. "Don't call me that. Go to the Draig Family's estate. I'll sort everything out after the meeting."
As they filtered out, Ava remained, arms crossed and glaring.
"What are you going to do with us?" she demanded.
I smirked. "You're one brave little mouse, aren't you?"
"I'm not little!" she squeaked, stomping her foot.
"Ava, hush. What's your plan?" Rin asked, tone sharper now.
I sat back down, legs folded. "Honestly? No plan. I'm just shocked that idiot managed to wrangle a group like you. You're all way too spirited to have ended up as his trophies."
