The Challenger

"Evil Demon!!!"

When Duanmu Huai and his party heard the sudden shout, they were all taken aback. Soon afterward, however, they saw a young man in battered armor blocking their path, a longsword clutched in his hand.

"Evil Demon! Accept my Challenge!"

Staring at Duanmu Huai, the young Knight raised his sword high and roared.

"..."

Duanmu Huai looked to his left, then to his right.

"Are you talking about me?"

"Who else could I possibly mean?"

Hearing Duanmu Huai speak, the Elf Scout sitting in the carriage giggled.

"Dressed like that, nobody would believe you if you said you weren't a Demon."

"What nonsense are you talking about? This is standard-issue Inquisitor equipment."

"I've never heard of an Inquisitor wearing equipment like yours."

While Duanmu Huai chatted with the Elf Scout, the young Knight had already charged at him with an angry roar. He raised his longsword high and brought it down at Duanmu Huai!

"Take this-----!!!"

Yet the moment the young Knight's sword came down, Duanmu Huai caught it in one hand.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Duanmu Huai stared at the young Knight before him in utter bewilderment. This kid was only Level 3. Who had given him the courage to attack Duanmu Huai? If the color above his head had not been yellow, marking him as neutral, and if Duanmu Huai had not worried that killing him would lower his reputation in this region, he would have smashed this idiot into paste already.

"Let go of my sword, you despicable Demon!!"

The young Knight strained to pull his sword free, but it was useless. Duanmu Huai's hand clamped around the blade like a pair of steel pincers. Still, the kid was fearless in his ignorance. He lifted his head and cursed at Duanmu Huai.

"Enough. Get lost."

Duanmu Huai could not be bothered with him. Grabbing the sword, he flung the young Knight and his weapon aside, then continued onward. He had initially thought this inexplicable fellow might have some kind of quest, but the system did not react at all...

"Stop!!"

However, after being thrown aside by Duanmu Huai, the young Knight rolled over and scrambled back to his feet.

"I will never let a Demon like you plague this world! I will destroy you and Rescue the victims you have captured! Take this!!"

Shouting, the young Knight raised his longsword and charged toward Duanmu Huai again.

"I know very well that huge Demons like you are all clumsy. All I need is one sliding tackle..."

"Thud."

At that very moment, Duanmu Huai's fist smashed into the young Knight's face, sending the idiot who had been about to slide-tackle him flying. The young man landed facedown in the grass some distance away and did not move again.

"Black Knight, did you kill him?"

Elisa was shocked by what she saw, but Duanmu Huai shook his head.

"No. I only knocked him out. Let's go. No idea where that idiot came from."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai began walking forward again.

The Elf Scout, on the other hand, picked up the subject with interest.

"Ah, I'd guess he's an Exploration Knight."

"An Exploration Knight??"

Elisa looked puzzled at the Elf Scout's answer, and the Elf Scout nodded.

"Mm. Simply put, they are Knights who abandon everything to seek the Lady of the Lake. They wander the land, Challenging all sorts of Demons and monsters to prove their faith, hoping the Lady of the Lake will appear before them and make them Grail Knights..."

"Has anyone succeeded?"

"Not that I know of. Most Exploration Knights die out there. Well, if they are all like that, it really would be hard for them to survive."

As she spoke, the Elf Scout grinned at Duanmu Huai.

"It seems that brave Exploration Knight took you as his first opponent."

"If I really were a Demon, I'd skin him alive and shove red-hot iron pincers into his stomach."

Duanmu Huai snorted. He had heard players on the forums talk about some of this country's absurd behavior, but he had not expected reality to be even more ridiculous.

A mere Level 3 dared to go out adventuring? He would probably end up as Ork food.

To Duanmu Huai, this was no more than a minor interruption on the journey. However, when they Set Up Camp to rest and the Elf Scout reported that the young Knight was once again lurking in the bushes and spying on them, Duanmu Huai was truly speechless.

"What should we do? Drive him away?"

"You can drive away someone with chuunibyou, but it won't do any good."

Duanmu Huai shook his head, then stood up.

"Perfect. We need a guide. Since this guy is so eager to follow us, let him contribute something useful. Go catch that idiot. I want to see what kind of Knightly spirit he has."

"Understood."

The Elf Scout moved quickly. A short while later, the unconscious young Knight was tightly bound and thrown in front of Duanmu Huai. Duanmu Huai picked up a cup and poured its water directly over his face. The young Knight's eyes immediately snapped open, but when he saw Duanmu Huai standing before him in full Power Armor, his face went deathly pale.

"You despicable Demon! You actually ambushed me! Give me back my sword! I demand a fair duel!"

The Elf Scout giggled at the sight, while Elisa and Christine stared in stunned disbelief. Old Knight Kado, meanwhile, seemed to remember something and could not help sighing.

"So young... Back when I was a boy, I also once... ahem..."

Halfway through, Kado's old face reddened, and he hurriedly buried his own embarrassing past.

As for Okegis—she had no interest in this clownish farce and continued reading by the campfire.

"How ridiculous."

Duanmu Huai scoffed at the young Knight's words.

"If I'm a despicable Demon, why would I fight you fairly? If I fought fairly, what would make me a despicable Demon? Is something wrong with your brain?"

"Ugh... Er..."

The young Knight was momentarily rendered speechless by Duanmu Huai's reply, but he soon spoke again.

"As expected of a despicable Demon! I will never submit! You may kill me, but you can never make my heart submit! I will never bow my head to a despicable and evil being like you!"

"Are you done yet..."

Duanmu Huai's face darkened as he listened.

"Listen carefully. I'm not some Demon. We're outsiders who came to Bartonia and want to go to Carcassonne. If you lead us there, we'll let you go. How about it?"

"What are you going to Carcassonne for?"

The young Knight looked confused by Duanmu Huai's answer. Then his eyes widened as though he had suddenly thought of something.

"I understand now! You want to bring Destruction upon Bartonia and wipe out faith in the great goddess! You want to turn this land into your evil domain! I will never let you succeed! No, I will never lead you to Carcassonne! You can kill me if you want! But I will never bow to evil!"

Damn it... people with chuunibyou really were annoying as hell...

Duanmu Huai was speechless as he watched the young Knight strike a pose as though he were about to heroically sacrifice himself. If this were some chuunibyou girl, it might at least be cute. But a grown man acting like this was just unbearable. He looked well past the age for such nonsense, so why was he still this brain-dead?

"Listen, kid."

With that, Duanmu Huai removed his helmet and glared fiercely at him.

"You won't get the easy death you want from me. I'll drive nails through your fingers one by one, then cut open your belly with a knife, pull out your intestines and wrap them around your neck. Then I'll hang you from a tree and let you die slowly. Understand?"

"..."

Hearing Duanmu Huai's vicious words, the young Knight trembled. Then, as he made out Duanmu Huai's face by the firelight, his eyes suddenly widened, and he screamed...

"Mommy!!!"

The next moment, the young Knight's eyes rolled back, his legs went limp, and he fainted dead away.