The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 225: Silver Knight

Chapter 225: Silver Knight

Once they were set up in the east garden, Kir dutifully took his place opposite the hippokin knight as the rest of her guards surrounded the fighting space.

As soon as everyone was settled in, Kir asked, "What are the rules?"

"The rules are simple. We fight until one can fight no more, or until one concedes. No leaving the garden, and no spells that target the mind," the woman replied. "Do you accept?"

"I accept," Kir said. "Though I’d hate to make a mess of the garden, so I will simply have to end the fight in a single move."

The hippo woman scowled at him - at least he thought it was a scowl. "I, Sabrekar Rabsiir, Silver Knight of the Steel Claws, place my honor and my life on the line for Queen Fruhe." She paused, waiting for Kir to introduce himself.

"I, Kiryu Nasumi, new professor, would like to get this over with," he replied back.

"Very well, wolfkin. Show me this single move with which you will end the duel," the Silver Knight reached out and was given a polearm and shield. "You will not pierce my hide."

She spoke with such confidence, Kir’s respect for her increased only marginally.

For a long moment, they stared into each others’ eyes. The tension built. Kir raised his hands...

"I concede," he declared. "Good job."

"You mock me?"

"You said the duel would end when one concedes. I conceded, hence the duel is over, yes?"

"You bastard," Sabrekar spat. "How dare you twist my words-"

"I twist nothing. You set the rules!" Kir said. "Would you compound your embarrassment by losing to me? Spare your Queen the trouble and find something better to do with your time, Captain."

For a moment, Kir thought she would strike out at him, but then Sabrekar seemed to master herself. "You have balls, mage. Or you are a coward who can bluff to the highest degree."

"No, I don’t," Kir snarked in his mind. "There is no cowardice within me, only pragmatism. I do not wish to damage the Academy, and you do not wish to embarrass your Queen further, no? This way we both get what we want."

"We shall see," Sabrekar shouldered her polearm and then stomped the butt twice on the ground. Almost as one, the guards began to step inward toward Kir. "As you have conceded the duel, your punishment can now begin."

Kir smirked but remained where he stood as he silently added another layer to his shielding. No one here had an aura above red except the Captain, who seemed to be right in the middle of orange.

The first guard to punch at him with a gauntleted fist met absolute resistance. No unaugmented punch was going to break Kir’s barrier, and they quickly learned that as their punches and kicks grew heavier.

On the fly, Kir made minor adjustments to the lattice of his shield, anchoring himself to the ground by changing it to deflect instead of absorb impacts, once he realized the staccato of hits was causing him to sink into the soil a little.

Eventually, one guard got fed up enough to use his sword. Then the rest followed with their weapons.

When that failed, they began to deploy maven abilities.

Kir’s barriers were stabbed at with lightning, pounded with fire, and one guard even made the grass grow to slash at Kir’s feet. It was only thanks to his secondary, anti-magic shield that the most direct spells failed.

The spectacle was somewhat blinding, so Kir didn’t notice that almost every girl in the dorm had come outside or to their windows to watch. At least, not until the guards started to give up, one by one slumping a bit as they grew exhausted from the continuous strain.

"I can go all night," Kir said. "Shall we call this a draw?" he stared down the Captain. In truth, he had maybe a quarter of his mana left, and would need to stop continuously using it so much in order to let it replenish.

"All my guards have failed to scratch you... but none of them are me," the Captain declared, before she began to grow. She loomed over him, and as she did so her weapon and shield grew as well. But her aura dropped from orange to red, indicating the high amount of mana she was burning up. When she was about three stories tall, she stopped, hefting her polearm. The guards surrounding Kir began to flee away from him.

"Prepare yourself! Kiryu Nasumi~!" the Silver Knight boomed, striking downward as her armor glinted in the moonslight.

Kir gawked, his mind trying to calculate the magic he saw before him. How is she doing that? Is that mavenry? How are her weapons and armor growing too? Did she gain mass as well or just size?

In order to find out as much as possible, he was going to have to let her hit him...

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little fun.

As soon as her polearm struck, the top of the axe sheared off, returning to normal the instant it became separated.

Kir had deformed his shield, converting the top part into a wedge perpendicular to the axehead as it descended. Sure, he was now a couple of inches deeper into the soil, but the strike had felt no different from a smaller polearm.

In other words, size did not indicate density, and growing had likely hindered the effectiveness of her blow because the same mass was simply not concentrated enough at that size.

She’d be better off focusing on using a sharper weapon, or a large one designed for the size.

The next moment, she cast aside her polarm and two-handed her shield, bringing it down on Kir like she was smashing a plate.

By forming his shield into a cone, he was able to withstand the blow and leave a perfectly circular hole in the metal.

Realizing her defeat, the Captain pulled up her shield and began shrinking back to normal. She wasn’t panting, but her face held a modicum of respect somewhere in the hatred.

Kir smiled wide like Rainier, projecting utter calm despite her last blow having drained him down to the dregs of his mana. He’d subtly let his shields go in order to regenerate his mana, but he wasn’t about to tell her he was now defenseless. If he lost any more mana, his illusion would fail.

"Captain, my offer to call it a draw still stands," Kir said, his hands in his pockets. Deciding to add to his bluff, he generated the tiniest spell he could at the ends of his fingertips, little red lights which he aimed to both sides. "Or I can end the lives of your soldiers and have you watch."

"You fight without honor."

"Says the woman who tried to surprise me with a beating. I’m a pragmatist," Kir said. "When I fight, I fight without restraint."

It was an utter bluff. Kir had always restrained himself when fighting... and Noir had died because of it.

Not for the first time, Kir wondered what he would do if he ever went all-out.

After a long staredown, Sabrekar’s gaze broke first. "Guards, form up. Return to your posts."

"But Captain-" one of the armadillo beastkin started to protest.

"Do as ordered!" she shouted.

As the guards marched off, she remained standing. None had made a move to claim her broken polearm.

She looked down on her shield, at the hole in it, and then placed it under her armpit. "I shall keep this to remember you, Kiryu Nasumi. It has been some time since I have felt driven to improve." Her tone was far more humble than when she’d been in front of her guard.

"I am glad you got something out of this."

"What would convince you to give your strength to Gra’Rhuel? It is my Queen’s ambition to make the continent hers from ocean to ocean."

Clearly, she wanted to bring back her honor by recruiting him. Kir wasn’t about to let that happen.

"Hmm. I will join Gra’Rhuel the moment it disbands the monarchy, institutes a democratic reformation, and guarantees that all shall have their basic needs met; without prejudice or slavery."

The look on Sabrekar’s face went from surprise to scorn. "I have your measure now. You are one of those rebels. It is no wonder there would be no place for you in Retha or Thera."

"What rebels?" Kir wondered aloud.

"Do not play coy with me, wolfkin. I can see now that even having you would be inviting a viper into the den." Straightening her back a little, she regarded him with respectful hatred. "This is not over. I shall return stronger, and with the proper weaponry, in time."

"And I will be stronger the next time we meet as well," Kir winked. "Don’t worry, I’ll leave this incident out of my report. Wouldn’t want you to lose your job before that."

With a slightly grateful grunt, the Silver Knight turned and left, her footsteps heavy and surprisingly quick.

As soon as she was out of sight, Kir sighed and looked around. The garden had a circular mess of broken earth in the middle, a crater for which he was the epicenter.

Some of the female students had gathered into groups and were whispering and pointing to him, while others - mostly the beastkin students - had a rather feral look in their eyes that Kir hoped was not what he thought it was.

With a slight smile, he bowed to the ladies and turned to leave.

"That was fun," Kiryu said as Kir entered the hallway. "You’re better at pissing off people than I was, that’s for sure."

"I guess I get that from my father," Kir thought bitterly.