Interlude ─ Duel again

The clock read eleven o'clock at night.

The lights of the businesses were unlit as they had all closed.

Streetlights illuminated every corner.

Knights patrolled looking for suspicious people.

Walking in the midst of that darkness with lights on the sides were Rei and Zoey holding hands.

"Y-You're really planning to go?"

"Just shut up and follow me."

Rei was grumpy for some reason.

After arriving at the restaurant where the duel was supposed to be, a waiter came out and handed him a piece of paper.

On that paper was the address of the duel location.

Rei didn't say anything, he just read the address and went together with Zoey there.

◇◇◇

After arriving at the designated place, it was a residential area for wealthy people.

A large wall covered almost a whole block.

They arrived at the gate, there a man in a suit saw them and said.

"What's the company for? Do you want to see what they'll do to you?"

The man in the suit knew Rei apparently, but Zoey he didn't know, he didn't care.

He checked her body for any concealed weapons and after detecting nothing gave his approval.

"You can come in. You've got some nice curves for a brat, too."

That didn't please Zoey to hear from an old man.

The path was long, torches lit the place every half meter.

At the end of the path was a red light that grew larger with each step they approached.

After reaching the end, they came upon a scene they did not expect.

In front of them was a circle of sand 30 meters around.

A bunch of armed men surrounded the circle.

The building behind them looked like a luxury hotel in Dubai.

With their palms swaying in the cold wind and quiet music they looked pleasant for the night.

At the top was a huge courtyard where wealthy people were staring at them.

They all had silver masks covering their faces.

Their clothes were too luxurious to be simple nobles.

They were important people from the underworld.

They were all business partners, buyers, sellers and even friends of the Bartolt family.

They were sitting at their round glass tables eating exotic dishes that would be hard to come by since they were illegal.

Women in skimpy garments, almost naked one might say, were serving them drinks and food.

The men playing the instruments were just like the women, scantily clad, barely covering their genitals.

Even with the cold weather they were not given a coat, that was because they did not care what happened to them.

This was the dark side of the nobility.

People who came to watch the duel out of morbid curiosity, for pleasure, for personal satisfaction or resentment.

The reasons were varied, but the goal was the same.

At that moment where the conversations of the nobles could be heard, a voice came from the back of a door that opened in the middle.

There stood two of his acquaintances.

Finne wearing a beautiful red dress and his cousin Bertram, who was full of bruises due to the light blow that Rei gave him with great force.

Bertram's body was thin and did not have good defenses, therefore, his current state was mostly his own fault for not gaining stamina and muscle mass.

Bertram clapped his hands as they approached the circle.

"Let me congratulate you on not running away."

"I was hoping you'd get scared and run away. But you didn't, that's gutsy."

"But it won't do you any good because you'll die tonight. Boys, come on!"

From the same room where Bertram and Finne came out, six figures came out as well, placing themselves behind them.

Bertram was introducing each of them in order from left to right.

"Allow me to introduce you to your executioners, they are the 'Six Fingers', my father's exclusive group of assassins."

"The Six Fingers were chosen by my father and became a limb of his, they only move on his command. I had to promise father not only 20-year profits that gives the restaurant, I also had to promise him that the prize money from the bets along with the tournament victory would all be his."

After saying that, Bertram became quite angry.

"But thanks to you I couldn't not only extort money from the winner, I couldn't win anything either since... you won the bet!"

Bertram pointed out to Rei that he had won the bet. Was this possible with Rei being the loser?

In fact, Rei did win.

After everyone thought Nadine was the last one standing, Rei was in the ring.

He never engaged in a fight against Bret, because he had specified that he would win, but not against Bret but against the other participants.

In other words, a trap with no basis and a high possibility of failure.

The bookmaker wrote Rei's detail gave him to win.

And just as he said, Rei won, then left the ring.

He went to see the bookmaker who didn't want to pay him anything because it was absurd.

It was normal for him to be angry, but he didn't want to lose money for a ridiculous method that turned out to be true.

Rei planned to defeat the winner and then surrender, but when that didn't happen, he won.

Of course, he beat the betting boss and took not only the betting money, but also the money he had on him.

The betting boss was a subordinate of the Bartolt family, therefore, this would not be left alone.

Bertram remembered what Rei said and that made him angrier, he introduced the assassins who would end his life.

"This man is a former mage of the desert kingdom. His country tried to kill him since he had stolen funds from the palace for his own welfare."

"Bagrada Al-Royman, also known as the Flaming Serpent."

A tall man with yellow robes covering his body, his skin was dark as night, on his bald head he had spikes embedded forming three rivers.

His face was very serious and expressionless.

Bertram pointed to the one standing next to him.

"This man is a swindler from Norden who ran away for robbing the king to his face. He is an expert at camouflaging himself as others and revealing dark secrets that you would not want anyone to know."

"Klavis Zanpano, the one and only Phantom Thief."

A man of short stature, with cuts and scars on his face, a huge one in his mouth, his clothes were rags and his brown hair was so dirty that ticks peeked out.

Then he introduced the only woman in the group.

"This leather-clad beauty with snow-white skin is a relegated Sword Maiden from the frozen lands of the east. Being part of the last family of the Archduke."

"Elizald Ivanovna Prussia, the Goddess of War."

As Bertram described her, a beautiful woman with long green hair that reached down her back, a military hat covering her cut in blinds that covered her forehead, her blue eyes were as freezing as her thick lips that were painted the same color.

Instead of Bertram being the one to introduce the next one, it was Finne who did so, with not one but two of them.

"If those guys are scary, the next ones are to make you pee your pants!"

"This weird guy is a mystery. No one knows where he was born or grew up, we only know he stole his name from the first person he killed and that he's a danger internationally."

"Jerson Fiore, feared by many as the Eight Arms."

An old man with a strange as well as eccentric look looked at Rei in an unpleasant manner.

The man wouldn't take his hands out of his pockets for nothing, his clothes were a leather coat covering his body.

"But this guy is even worse than that weirdo."

"He comes from the eastern tribes, from the kingdom of the barbarians, content with being king he went to train in the east with the monks and that's how he managed to learn the deadly style of killing with a single blow."

"Olgert Dharma, known throughout the world as the Demon Monk."

Bertram walked up to Rei to look him in the face.

"Scared?"

"I'm sorry to tell you that those five are not the most dangerous. The last of them is their leader and the reason they are controlled."

Bertram pointed to a tall man in black armor, his face could not be seen.

But if one were to guess by his soothing voice, one would think it was the voice of a blond haired, blue eyed man in his twenties.

"Arcadius El Albarea. A candidate to be the next sword saint of the empire, but because he failed, he became the Dark Knight."

"Each of them uses high-level magic and are the perfect enemies to kill you!"

"Even the knight commander himself couldn't beat them if he fought with an advantage!"

"Now do you see? I gathered these guys after that day, but now this is personal!"

Bertram clenched his fist, blood filling his eyes.

"It's unforgivable what you did to me."

"I will kill you in the most painful way possible after I torture you. I will make sure those women and your family are sold into slavery and raped every day until they beg for forgiveness and curse your name."

"Especially that filthy elf! A being lower than a fly shouldn't dare to look a human-sama like us in the face! No, a great human being like me!"

Rei was showing his anger little by little, he saw Zoey and said.

"How much hatred do you have for that girl?"

She answered a little scared.

"W-Well, I hate her on a lower level just for annoying me. But this guy is messed up in the head."

"You're right."

"Hey, seaweed head."

The surrounding voices and laughter quieted as Bertram was called out.

"... What did you call me?"

"Seaweed head. It's getting late, I've wasted almost 30 minutes of my life here and I want to sleep. Let's get this over with now."

Bertram, looking at Rei through his hair, gathered them up to tie them back.

"It's okay. I was getting off my rocker."

"People who support the Bartolt family, know that the show is about to start!"

"You can place your bets on how long you think it will last."

"Boys, it's all yours."

Bertram gave the order and walked out, Finne was behind him smiling at Zoey.

The Six Fingers were slowly approaching.

Bagrada sat on a flying carpet with flames all around.

He pulled out a flute and a rock snake with a flaming back materialized.

"It's not personal. But I'll get paid a lot for this."

Klavis pulled out a Persian dagger with three forks on the sides which was covered in poison. Then his body began to change its shape to a thin man thanks to his magic that allows him to steal cells from others.

"Terere. This poison is not deadly, but once you touch it you will feel like you want to tear your skin off. I tested it a lot on children and old people."

Elizald pulled out her sword which was covered with ice.

"I like only killing women, so your companion will be a nice collection for my pretty girls hanging."

Jerson smiled as he took off his coat.

From the back of him, a few sea oysters were peeking out, which stuck out repulsive tentacles.

"Nihihihihi. do you want to cry? I wonder what sound you'll make when I cut off your skin? Then the flesh and the nerves. But don't worry, the slime of my little ones can regenerate the skin because this will go on forever."

Olgert moved into an attack stance.

"This fist is called Absolute Fist, nothing can be left alive if you get hit, I fractured a man's skull using only the basic of this move."

"What nasty things they say."

Arcadius said as he drew his sword, which is a magic sword and has the ability to grow up to sixty meters long at a great speed.

Rei was waving his hand towards them and after finishing it he said.

"Okay, preparations finished."

"Before I do it. I wanted to tell you some things, but I'm angry with that old knight, so I'll just do this."

"I'll start with you, the ugliest one of all."

He pointed at Klavis.

"Me? Hey, hey, you really believe─"

"Accept."

In that moment that didn't even last a blink. Klavis' head exploded as if a bomb had been placed there.

That simple movement was enough that everyone's laughter and comments froze, including the remaining fingers.

Rei pointed to his next target.

"You're the second ugliest. Besides, I'm disgusted by those tentacles."

"...Huh?"

"Accept."

Jerson wondered what had happened, it was the last thing he did as his head exploded.

As Klavis' body collapsed to his knees and then fell backwards.

Elizald was frozen, after her cheeks filled with blood, she burst into tears.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

"Y-Y-Y-You! W-W-W-What did you do?"

Rei answered her without hesitation.

"Get it over with quickly I said. Are you an idiot not to understand?"

He said that and then saw how his hand went to her, Bagrada who was quiet, analyzed the situation.

He didn't understand what was going on, but he would take that opportunity to attack.

The distance between Rei and him was 2.4 meters.

His snake was 1.85 meters.

It can reach 1.40 meters in three seconds, that means that before Rei did anything, it could tear his head off in that span of almost seconds.

It was all or nothing.

If he attacked, Rei would kill him. If he ran away, Rei would still kill him.

He could only survive by taking a chance.

"Go, my─!"

"Shut up. Accept."

Bagrada's mistake whereby his head exploded and his dying body wobbled like a chicken and fell on the guards was because he thought he could beat Rei.

Seeing three corpses in less than a minute, Olgert hit the ground to draw strength and be propelled into the sky.

"I'm getting the hell out of here. Who wants money instead of living─"

"Accept."

It did him no good to run away as Rei made his head explode, his lifeless body fell on a table. Spraying his blood on some nobles, dishes and drinks.

A fat woman drank her wine full of blood before realizing the sputtering falling on her face.

An elderly man put some of Olgert's brains in his mouth thinking it was fish.

That left only two fingers remaining.

Elizald was trembling, Arcadius was terrified as fascinated.

He took off his helmet and sure enough, a blond-haired man with blue eyes and a split chin was visible to all.

He knelt down and spoke to him in a respectful manner.

"I deeply regret the actions of my foolish lord and my foolish companions, so I ask you to forgive us and make us your vassals, I promise you that we will always be loyal to you."

Elizald seeing how her proud companion gave in to fear, she did the same only amplified.

"I-it is as he says."

"In addition to making me your vassal, you can make me your woman. I will give you many children to claim the throne of that repulsive family─"

"Accept."

Elizald's eyes were bloodshot, thinking she would be saved, but Rei glared at her.

He didn't hesitate to kill her and then rebelled why he did it.

"It's unbelievable how low someone can sink for the sake of survival. A woman who enjoys raping other women, then killing and eating them to maintain her beauty, it's sickening."

"I would never let you near Eli or Rose. Let alone my idiot mother."

The crowd panicked, they ran screaming out of the place.

"Get away from me!"

"I don't want to die yet."

"I have a lot of money I haven't used yet."

Both nobles and guards fled.

Some stayed to fight, they feared the Bartolt more than Rei.

Rei raised his hand and then seemed to press multiple buttons in the sky.

"Accept all of these."

The heads of the guards facing him, like that of Bertram's subordinates exploded.

Only three people besides Rei and Zoey were left in place.

Rei looked at Finne who was in shock at what had happened.

"Zoey says she doesn't hate you to die but she is now my woman. Therefore, you won't end well."

"Cheat Skill: Total Hypnosis."

A purple light appeared from Rei's hand and went to Finne's eyes.

"From today until the day you die... you'll be a chicken."

"Cackle forever."

"Cluck, cluck!"

Finne began to act like a chicken, even her body tried to resemble one.

"There. One matter settled, only the two of you are left."

Rei looked at Arcadius who begged for his life.

"P-Please! If you let me live, I will be loyal to you. I know things about the empire that would serve the kingdom well."

"I even know the secret of the crown prince by which he attained to his position being only the second son!"

"I'm sure I'll be useful to you, please give me a chance!"

Rei sighed at the sight of such a pathetic man pleading for his life.

"All right. Come on, come here."

"Thank you very much. I promise you won't regret it."

Zoey looked at Rei in fright.

Arcadius looked at Bertram who had soiled himself on both fronts.

After coming up behind Rei, he said.

"Now it's just you left."

"You know, this couldn't have happened if you stopped being a piece of shit."

"Do you think I'm stupid to believe you?"

"Accept."

Arcadius had silently pulled a small sword from his arm, was about to plunge it into Rei's back when he blew his head off.

A magic field covered his back so for him as for Zoey not a single drop of blood fell from them.

"Back to you, didn't you learn anything?"

"Even activating my status screen to see all of you your secrets."

"You're just the pathetic eighth son. You don't know shit about your father other than what your brothers tell you."

"Just so you know. If your father wants to declare war on me, I'll take him with open arms. I'll kill him in the most painful way I'll kill you."

"For that reason, I'll leave you in a certain place I discovered."

"It's perfect for you."

"Let's see, this will do."

"Infinite Full Recovery."

"That should do it."

"Goodbye~."

Rei said goodbye to Bertram before a light surrounded his body.

◇◇◇

Bertram opened his eyes and found himself in a dark place.

It reeked of dampness and excrement.

Rei had teleported him to some unknown place.

He was happy. He had survived.

"Haha... hahaha... hahahahahaha!"

"Poor idiot. I'll be sure when I get home to tell my father to finish you all off."

"... What's that noise from earlier?"

Bertram heard a strange noise, it sounded like water falling from a waterfall.

At the same time, his feet felt something slimy.

"Fire magic: Floating Torch."

He activated his magic and a torch in the shape of a fireball floated above him, it was large in size.

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

As he looked at the ground, he noticed that he was surrounded by grotesque black cockroaches at least 10 centimeters long.

He used his fireball to burn them, the cockroaches were eating his shoes.

"Damn pests, get away from me!"

He burned them mercilessly.

Suddenly. His hand stopped.

Something had hit.

It was hard but wet.

He turned around thinking he hit some rock and his eyes widened like saucers.

Sweat ran down his body and his mouth fell open as he uttered.

"O-O-O-O!"

"Ortesaurus!"

Huge cockroaches 2.5 meters tall whose length was one meter, they were known as Ortesaurus.

Giant cockroaches that inhabited the forests near Norden's territory.

These cockroaches were extremely dangerous not because of their large size, in fact, their ferocity.

That ferocity had to do with their insane appetite for human flesh.

The giant cockroach in one bite tore off his arm.

Throwing Bertram to a faraway place.

As he fell, another giant cockroach approached and bit off part of his belly.

Bertram let out an unpronounceable cry of pain as tears and blood streamed down from his eyes.

Then, all the cockroaches and Bertram himself noticed how the area of the severed arm quickly regenerated.

It was faster than the blink of an eye. Even the part of his belly ended up regenerated.

The cockroaches were shocked, one of them grabbed his leg and with a pull up to the groin part, ripped it off.

Bertram could not scream as the pain was so great that he could only emit a squeal equal to that of a deflated cushion.

His eyes noticed how the torn part regenerated.

He observed the cockroaches that appreciated talking to each other with their antennas.

It was there that he understood Rei's words.

He sent him to a place that was inferior to the hell that will make him test his father.

He applied an infinite healing spell on him that would never stop until Rei said so.

The cockroaches were smart, they had just found an infinite source of food.

They would no longer need to go through danger to catch humans.

They would feast on their thousands of children every day.

Forever and ever.

Until they'd had enough.

"No..."

Bertram was grabbed by the cockroaches and dragged into the nest, where there were more cockroaches than anyone could imagine.

"Please, noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

He screamed like a child as he was dragged into that darkness where he would spend all eternity, unable to die, where he will be devoured an infinite number of times.

All because of picking a fight with the wrong person.

Maybe one day, Bertram will be able to die and avoid his suffering.

But that day is not today. Rather, for another story.

◇

Rei had just gotten rid of all the hassles.

Even the Six Fingers.

Annoying enemies of the game during the first, second and third year.

They were always changing members, they reminded me of that criminal organization from a children's game that always kidnapped monster animals.

It was really irritating.

Now that we're done with one annoyance, the bigger annoyance will come.

Maybe not, I hope.

Rei took Zoey's hand and led her outside.

"They won't bother you anymore."

Zoey was scared seeing her shaking, I told Rei to reassure her.

"Hey, the girl is scared. I'd be surprised if she doesn't develop traumas."

"Calm her down."

Rei heeded me and stopped to hug Zoey.

"Are you scared?"

She replied in a low tone.

"I am. That was scary."

"So much dead, so much blood. Doesn't it prick your conscience to do that?"

"..."

After that awkward break he answered her.

"I'd be lying if I said yeah. But the truth is, it doesn't."

"I'm not interested in those guys, they're like cockroaches."

"Would you feel sorry for a cockroach?"

"No. But they were people."

"Horrible people who hurt others. Do you still see them as people?"

"Under that way of looking at it. Not anymore."

Zoey was still scared, but it seems she is no longer afraid of Rei.

"From now on, your enemies are my enemies. If you ask I will eliminate them."

"Since you are mine and I won't let anyone steal you from my side."

Zoey nodded.

"I'm still in shock, so I'll have to get used to what you're doing for a while."

"Rose accepted it a long time ago, Eli doesn't even pay attention to it. They even told me I'm helping to rid the country of pests."

"I'm sleepy. Let's go to sleep."

"Yeah."

Rei took Zoey and that ended that busy day.

Of course, we reported this to the knights.

Rei was not stopped out of fear and so we continued our quiet days.

________________

Magic Sword Tournament Arc, Finished.

______________

What?

Did you really think these new characters would just be dismissed as trash?

Pff, that's what only crappy authors do.

I have their names, backstories, and even images for their debut.

Do you really think they're just filler?

Well no, I just eliminated them as part of my plan, you don't know what it is but remember this.

In my stories there is never a wasted character... well, Fritz is one thing I regret, but that's another story.

Just trust me and look forward to what I will post in the future.

Reference where I got the Bertram thing from, I consider this to be better than the original.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/overlordmaruyama/images/d/d1/Lord_of_Terror.png/