Victory and Defeat (5k, Please Keep Reading)

Shivana had never been patient, and in her fury, she gave Black Snake no room to breathe.

Her attacks came like a storm. In her hands, the enormous Great Axe swung as easily as a bamboo fishing rod.

Black Snake was determined to drag this out, so he focused entirely on dodging.

He had far more combat experience. With his background as a rogue, he understood every muscle and bone in his body.

That was why he could always slip through the gaps in her attacks like a boneless viper.

But seeing her attacks miss again and again only made Shivana angrier—

This was a duel she could not lose.

There was only one prophet.

But plenty of old hands refused to accept her as chief.

"Coward! What good is hiding and dodging?"

At full strength, Black Snake would have fired back.

Right now, he was too exhausted to waste breath on words.

He retreated until he found himself before a Beastfolk with nowhere left to go. Then he leaped, planted a foot on Shivana's shoulder, and pulled away to the other side.

Shivana was still furious.

But sooner or later, that fury would turn to frustration.

Disappointment would calm her down.

That would be his moment to strike.

Watching Black Snake weave and dodge until he had steadied the situation, Tang Qi felt the outcome was only a matter of time.

But the closer they came to the end, the less he could afford to relax.

The Goblin warlock was their only bargaining chip.

He could not let her escape in the confusion.

Otherwise, they would have no grounds to negotiate.

Yet throughout the duel, the old Goblin had been surprisingly obedient.

That trace of necromantic energy around her wound was keeping her injuries stable...

Tang Qi considered the threat she still posed—

Ordinarily, after casting Fireball and Fear Spell in succession,

she should have exhausted her Spell Slots.

Spell Slots were closely tied to a Spellcaster's mental strength.

A Spellcaster at New Star's level had enough mental strength to support two Second Ring spells and four First Ring spells.

Without extraordinary measures, once his Spell Slots were spent, his brain could bear no more strain. He would need a long rest to restore his mind to its peak.

Warlocks were Spellcasters too, but their Spell Slots were meager.

Of course, her power did not belong to her in the first place.

So a short rest was all she needed to release the strain.

False Life was a special blessing granted by her Sovereign, not one of her spells.

What worried Tang Qi was this:

During the duel between Black Snake and the Beastfolk woman,

did lying there with a curved blade stuck in her belly count as resting?

Would another stab to her abdomen be safer?

Tang Qi could not be sure.

"Better play it safe."

No sooner had the thought occurred to him than he yanked the curved blade free and drove it toward Babaya's other side—

"Damn you, human! What are you doing?"

The sudden stab drew a cry of pain from the old Goblin.

Tang Qi noticed that the ghostly green glow around her wound vanished with that stab.

No wonder Babaya was beside herself—

While the two fighters clashed, she had closed her eyes and prayed for her "master's" grace to ease the strain on her brain.

But the sudden stab had severed her connection to that blessing.

And with False Life gone, any further damage she took would fall entirely on her...

Was it a coincidence?

Or was this human simply that perceptive?

She gritted her teeth, her expression shifting.

As Tang Qi delivered that second stab, Kuru suddenly ducked his head and moved close to Tang Qi's leg.

"Watching! Too many people!"

Tang Qi looked around. Many Goblins and Beastfolk on the turtle shell were crowding toward the center for a better view.

The duel had reached a fever pitch, with Shivana apparently holding the upper hand.

Cheers and shouts rang out all around them. It was only natural that more spectators would gather...

No.

Tang Qi narrowed his eyes.

He was inside the ring of spectators now, only a few feet from the crowd.

The onlookers gathering around him were of different races, but most of the short, yellow- and green-skinned Goblins had clustered near his side.

"Kuru, watch the people around us."

Tang Qi tightened his grip on the old Goblin's neck and moved farther from the Goblins behind him.

"Behave. Don't try anything."

"You already stabbed me! What else can I do?"

Babaya's thin, raspy voice never failed to set his teeth on edge.

In the middle of the crowd, Black Snake had led the raging Shivana around the arena for a full lap.

All the while, he calculated how to let Shivana win the duel without losing face.

Reluctant as he was to admit it, sometimes "defeat" was a kind of "victory."

He was not here to prove he was better than anyone. That was something he had enjoyed when he was young.

Right now, he had to get back to town ahead of the Beastfolk.

With that settled, Black Snake stopped hesitating. He saw the fury in Shivana's eyes begin to fade.

He knew this was his only chance.

He stopped, turned, and sprinted straight at the Barbarian.

Seeing that the irritating flea had finally stopped darting around, Shivana roared and swung the Great Axe at his head.

The blood-red crescent tore through the wind.

But the human was no longer in front of her!

As her swing missed, the fury in her eyes and the savage bear looming behind her vanished in an instant.

Black Snake had already slid behind her. He planted his feet, sprang up, twisted around, and drew his blade.

Shivana panicked. She hurriedly twisted with the momentum and shouted as she whipped the Great Axe through a full circle, slashing behind her!

The black blade had already cut through the night, sweeping toward the back of Shivana's neck—

If it was fast enough, it would strike her neck before her axe could hit him.

It might not kill her.

But it would decide the duel.

Shivana clenched her teeth.

After fighting Black Snake for so long, she knew she was not fast enough to stop this carefully planned strike.

Once it landed, her earlier boasts and her hopes of winning respect would vanish.

For a moment, she regretted agreeing to that silver-tongued human's wager.

If she lost, would she have to honor her promise and let them leave?

After a brief hesitation, Shivana decided she would not.

What Pact? What honor?

No Beastfolk would care about any of that.

And no tribal chief would let someone who had defeated her live another three days...

Otherwise, that person would take her place as the new chief.

That was how brutal tribes were.

They had to die here!

Certain of her decision, Shivana braced for the outcome she expected.

But the blade did not sweep across the back of her neck.

Instead, she felt her Great Axe bite into flesh.

Boom!

Shivana followed through and sent Black Snake flying.

The duel was over!

She turned back uncertainly and saw the human sprawled on the ground, a vicious bloody gash across his back—

It looked terrible, but his spine had not been touched.

Only then did she realize that, in the final instant of the duel, the man had never turned to deliver that slash.

He had judged the distance in advance and kept his injury within limits he could endure.

He had let her win.

And her victory was unearned...

"Uha!"

But none of the Beastfolk had seen what really happened.

They had only seen the result.

Rough cheers exploded around Shivana.

"Shivana! Shivana! Shivana!"

She did not know whether she should enjoy them.

As she stood silent and the cheering rang through the forest,

a chill like an icicle striking his spine ran through Tang Qi.

The tingling warning of Alertness hit him at once!

But he still had the old Goblin in his grasp, hampering his movement.

The instant he sensed danger, he tightened his grip on Babaya's neck, turned, and held her up as a shield—

Several silver flashes crossed his vision. Four Goblins burst from the crowd and swung their cheap curved blades at their revered prophet.

"Aah!"

Babaya shrieked, tears as big as beans rolling from her narrow eyes.

"You useless fools! You hit me!"

The Goblins froze. They had never expected the human to react so quickly.

They had thought no one had noticed them.

But their failed attack did nothing to ease Tang Qi's predicament.

He was a Poet, not someone known for his strength.

He could hold a blade in one hand and lift Babaya with the other only because the old Goblin was small and had hardly any flesh on her withered frame.

But the four Goblins' heavy blows knocked Babaya off balance.

He could no longer keep a firm grip on the back of her neck.

She slipped from his hand and fell to the ground!

"Damn it!"

Tang Qi dared not delay. He lunged to seize their only "bargaining chip."

But the four Goblins pressed their advantage, swinging their blades at his forehead.

"Rua!"

Kuru waved his wand and fired an ice crystal into one Goblin's forehead. Frost stiffened him, leaving his curved blade no threat at all.

Trusting Alertness, Tang Qi sensed where the other three Goblins' blows would land and parried them.

He did not counterattack.

Instead, he risked another assault from the three Goblins and tried to push through them toward the fallen Babaya—

But those three Goblins had already bought her a moment.

Ignoring the blood running from her wounds, she seized the pendant her Sovereign had bestowed on her.

Harsh, jumbled blasphemies spilled from the warlock's lips, buzzing around their ears like flies.

A sinister glow burst forth, linking the pendant to her fingers.

"Magic Blast!"

In an instant, Alertness sounded the alarm.

The approaching danger sent a shudder through Tang Qi's entire body—

The raucous cheers, the Goblins' shrieks, the Kobold's worried cries...

Every sound seemed to turn into a dull wash of white noise, then fade toward silence.

Tang Qi suddenly found his vision sharper than ever.

So sharp that he could see two invisible forces distorting the firelight, white mist, and air in their path.

Their column-shaped trajectories stood out before his eyes.

They were like two sharp swords.

To pierce through everything in their path.

Straight to his chest, to his heart.

Tang Qi had already experienced the might of this repulsive force.

Being shifted just to his waist and abdomen was enough to make him violently spit water with difficulty.

This fragile body could not withstand its successive bombardments.

We have to dodge.

His mind was clearer than ever before.

This was the only choice he could make.

Hurry up and dodge.

He tried to move his legs.

Only to find that they seemed to have sunk into a quagmire, heavy and weak.

Firmly imprisoning him in place, unable to move at all.

Fucking hurry up and dodge!

Tang Qi roared in his heart, but the legs sinking in the quagmire had already grown roots and embedded themselves deep into the ground.

Ignoring his calls, completely unshakeable.

The chill on his spine made Tang Qi realize the reason—

[Alertness] had enhanced his perception of danger.

Equivalent to infinitely lengthening the distance of his reflexes within a fixed period of time.

Putting his brain into an illusion close to "Bullet Time".

Yet his body was too weak to keep up with neural transmission.

Thus presenting the kind of state before his eyes where thought and flesh were nearly separated—

There was never anything perfect in this world.

[Alertness] could help him avoid dangers he could react to.

Yet it also made those unavoidable terrors deeply etched into his bones.

This invisible repulsive force arrived in a flash.

Making Tang Qi touch death.

And feel completely helpless.

"Bang, bang!!!"

Two explosions tore through the air, comparable to rumbling thunder accumulated among dark clouds!

Tang Qi was sent flying backwards.

His hearing gradually cleared, his vision grew dim, his chest grew heavy...

When he crashed onto the ground, he felt as though he would not be able to breathe.

Yet this was not the feeling death should have.

It was the oppressive feeling of suffocation when a heavy object crushed down on his chest.

Tang Qi blankly opened his eyes, groping at the heavy object in front of him.

Slick, wet warmth transferred onto his fingertips.

A thick smell of blood flooded into his nasal cavity—

This was a person!?

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Black Snake, who had suffered severe trauma to his back, only felt a fishy sweetness rush up his throat, spitting stagnant blood onto Tang Qi's shoulder.

Tang Qi had not expected that the one who saved him at the last moment would actually be this mercenary.

Yet he understood it even less.

What was the reason he risked injury to save him with all his might?

"You—why did you!?"

"Stop talking crap. If you die, how the fuck am I supposed to make it back to the town?"

Black Snake panted heavily, his tone of cursing even growing weak.

Star Plum Town... was it really that important to this mercenary?

"Save your talk for after we get out! Help me up, dammit, we still have to fight our way out."

Now was simply not the time to talk nonsense—

Babaya grasped the pendant on her chest once more.

Foul words were about to escape from between her teeth:

"[Magic Power]—"

Before her syllables could be fully chanted.

A heavy punch suddenly smashed into her cheek.

This punch carried boundless mighty force, the skin on her cheek trembling from the air pressure, her cheekbone following closely as it caved inward.

The old goblin was blasted flying with a single punch into the crowd of watching beastfolk, who stepped back one after another, leaving the prophet to drag a deep ravine across the damp earth.

She simply could not withstand such massive force, her eyes rolling back and white foam pouring from her mouth as she directly passed out.

"Uha!?"

The beastfolk were also shocked by this sudden punch, looking one after another at the leader who had thrown it—

Shivana spat coldly, ruthlessly driving the great axe in her hand into the ground:

"I fucking wasn't done fighting yet, what are you sticking your nose in for, you old bastard!?"

Tribal gladiatorial combat was sacred.

Before the winner and loser could be determined, anyone who intervened in the struggle, regardless of identity, would be regarded as showing disrespect to the tribe.

Black Snake could still move and had not surrendered, so it was not yet over.

Therefore, Shivana had ample reason to teach this old goblin a lesson who had displeased her from the very beginning.

As for that human...

Looking at Black Snake, who had been helped up by Tang Qi but was trying to stand straight.

Shivana could not help but clench her fists.

Honor told her that she ought to explain the fact to her clansmen that she had won unfairly.

"For this position, for the tribe, you must learn to suppress, learn to restrain..."

Shivana let out a long breath, slamming a fist against her chest with a "bang",

"You lost.

Our [Fierce Roar] tribe cannot tolerate the weak.

Yet some blind old bastard disrupted this wager.

So—

Get lost!

Scram back and recover properly.

Clutching your fear of the [Fierce Roar], watch our iron hooves trample that little town—

I will be waiting for you there.

At that time, we will restart this unfinished gladiatorial combat!"

"Uha!!!"

Perhaps finding it a thrilling spectacle, none of the beastfolk wished to defy Shivana's decision.

Celebrating their another victory amidst cheers instead.

Shivana sighed.

Perhaps she had truly grown up.

And could speak shameless lies without changing her expression just like old dad.

No matter what, though, she would spare this human—

Since she had obtained the renown she wanted, she did not mind honoring this wager.

Furthermore, she was unwilling to recall the outcome of winning unfairly.

This gave her the illusion that she had clearly won the gladiatorial combat yet lost everything.

Leaving him in the tribe would only make people feel vexed.

Yet one day, she would surely retake the dignity that belonged to her.

Before that, sparing him once was not out of the question.

Consider it...

Respect for the strong.

"Strength".

That was the creed of the [Fierce Roar] tribe.

"Hoo, ha!"

"Hoo, ha!"

"Hoo, ha!"

The beastfolk cleared a path for them leading into the forest.

The battle cries were like drums, celebrating while also making a show of force.

Taking advantage of the moment before Shivana could change her mind halfway, Tang Qi exchanged a glance with Black Snake, stepping out with chests puffed out and heads held high—

Also intimidating some of the beastfolk to tell them that their injuries amounted to nothing at all.

Yet when they carried Kuru and threaded through the forest foliage.

After reckoning they had put some distance between themselves and those slow Sky Turtles.

Black Snake could finally no longer maintain his deliberate facade.

He felt his vision grow increasingly dizzy and dim, weakness filling his entire body.

Making him want to just fall asleep like this.

Regardless of whether he would be able to wake up tomorrow.

Gradually, he could barely feel the pain anymore.

His knees went weak, and he collapsed onto the ground.