A sapling sprouted as if it had been waiting for it.
Like a ravenous beast starved for flesh, it lustfully snapped up the approaching hazard.
“This branch doesn’t move on my will, it reacts to enemy hostility. Even if you launch a surprise attack from my blind spot, your attack will not reach me.”
Before he came here, Yuri had polished this power against Navie’s goons. He had tried to form a strong image around the words he heard from Haring. An absolute defense that would intercept enemy attacks. That was his Dragonification Armament: Engorger.
“If you direct hostility towards my comrades—I’ll protect them no matter what.”
Yuri declared his stalwart will as the branch constricted the shadow arm. But his words didn’t reach Navie. Navie was far too cornered to lend an ear.
“Damn—why, why isn’t my arm regenerating!?” He raised a voice of dismay, looking at where his first arm had vanished.
The Demon Tribe’s Familiar would regenerate so long as its user’s mana didn’t run out. But that arm showed no sign of wriggling back out from his shadow.
A mana-eating plant. The black branch didn’t just intercept strikes, it traced them back to their user and devoured the mana of whoever conducted the hostile attack.
In short—it drained mana from Navie, the master of these familiars.
“There’s no way...I’m going to lose to this pipsqueak...!!”
His arms moved in all sorts of nonsensical directions; it was clear he had grown desperate. Each time they aimed for either Yuri or Haring, they would be captured by a branch from the ground.
“Duelists are just idiots waiting to be sucked dry... There’s no way I’ll lose to them. It’s not going to end—”
His words didn’t go on. Haring was finally right before his eyes.
“It’s over for you, piece of shit.”
His raised fist smashed into Navie’s face. A fist with the might of the Dragon Tribe further enhanced by Dragonification shattered his cheek bone. But the force didn’t stop there. His frail cervical vertebrae snapped, his head continued to turn until it was facing the opposite direction and—the death of The Tormentor Navie Ionesca signaled the end of the duel.
The sepia-toned space regained its color, the only souvenir from it being Navie, who promptly fell flat onto the ground. The whites of his eyes showed through his cracked sunglasses, and he was frothing at the mouth. The faint scent in the air suggested he had soiled himself.
“Hah... A filthy end’s just right for you.”
Haring lightly kicked Navie’s body before turning to his followers.
“You’re up next.”
They shrieked out as Haring smashed his gauntlets together.
“Hey, you supported the bastard, and had your share of fun too. You’re not gonna tell me you don’t wanna die now, eh!?”
After being subjected to Haring’s roar, the followers timidly lifted their Proofs.
“Hey, you get ready. No slouchin’ on me.”
“Same goes to you, Mr. Haring. Please don’t ask for any breaks.”
Some light banter between them, they held up their Proofs in unison.
✦ ✦ ✦
They had finished dueling every one of Navie’s men. When they dragged their unconscious bodies out of the dungeon, the Babel staff members rushed over in a confused panic.
Perhaps having been dragged out of the other dungeons, those who were presumably Navie’s men were being carried around on stretchers. Those who were still conscious were being interrogated by staff.
“Ah, Yuri’s out too!”
Athena ran up, waving her hand and tail. Fram and Elias were already there.
“Did everyone make it through fine?” asked Yuri.
“Yes,” Fram replied, “I should’ve expected no less from that man’s followers. Not a spine to be found among them.”
“She’s right. They all got on their knees the moment I drew my sword,” Elias added.
“It was a pain to deal with them, so I blew them sky high!”
Seeing the three of them completely unharmed, Yuri broke into a wry smile...only to be firmly grabbed by the shoulder.
“Noooow then...Yuri. You’ve got quite some explaining to do...”
He fearfully turned his head to see Mirka, a vein popped up on her forehead.
“Yes, well...how should I put this?”
“Oh, I’ll listen to whatever you have to say. Especially after the terrible ruckus you’ve caused.” Her hand and wings were quivering as she read out his charges. “Abuse of Tribe Skills outside of the Field. Running around the duel city flaunting weapons and magic. Coercing powerless opponents into duels...these are not the sort of charges I can overlook with a smile.”
She wasn’t wrong, they had done precisely that.
After Haring called Navie to the dungeon, Athena, Fram, and Elias had gone around chasing everyone affiliated with Navie. Athena ran around waving her sword and flames, Fram sealed their path with ice, and Elias threatened them with his god-like sword swing.
They spoke on everything that didn’t pertain to Navie. Through this information, they were able to smoke out all the members Haring hadn’t been aware of, and with Yuri—who had been waiting in the dungeons—threatening further, they managed to expose every member of the gang.
This had all been done on Yuri’s suggestion.
“I am prepared to take full responsibility,” Yuri told Mirka up front. “I just couldn’t forgive that man, Navie Ionesca. He called himself a duelist despite doing everything unbecoming of one, and he openly insulted all the duelists earnestly confronting their challengers. That’s why I resolved it in this manner.”
“I see. Even if that means you would have to resign as a duelist?”
Yuri sullenly nodded at the question. “Even if I was told I would have to leave the duel city, I’m sure I would have made the same choice. I thought nothing would change if I didn’t take action, and considering what Mr. Navie had done, and the people held captive by him, I knew I just had to take action.”
Even if the method was wrong, what he accomplished was not. That was what let him stick out his chest.
“I am proud of what I did. I do not feel ashamed.”
A large hand was placed on top of his head. “Sure, the brat proposed the idea, but I’m the one who took lead. I’m the one who offered info about Navie’s mooks, and I’m the one who called out the man himself,” Haring said, taking a step forward.
Athena hopped forward too. “Here, here! I enabled him all the way!”
“In that case, I’m responsible for not putting a stop to you two.”
“I took part instead of taking control of the situation, so I share the offense.”
Seeing Fram and Elias back them up, Mirka held her head and let out a sigh.
“Haaaah! Well, I knew it would come to this, but...!” A wrinkle stretching across her brow, Mirka turned back to Yuri. “I’ll put your punishment on hold for now...but it won’t be that severe.”
“...Err, is that alright?”
“Of course, it isn’t because we’re friends. What you did is deserving of punishment...but what you’ve accomplished is worth enough to offset it,” Mirka said with a glance at the next few stretchers on the way out.
A series of deathly-thin people in filthy robes. The duelists captured by Navie Ionesca.
“You saved these unjustly-imprisoned duelists without a thought to your own safety. If you consider what he’s done in the past, and all the crimes he surely would have done that have been prevented in advance—the official penalty will probably be quite light.”
“But.” Mirka stuck up a finger. “Never Again! Never do something this reckless again! You’ve now been registered as a person requiring special attention, so next time you’ll be heavily punished, no questions asked! You got that!?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Seeing Yuri diligently lower his head, Mirka let out another sigh. “Incidentally...why are you covered in blood? If you tell me you actually did kill a few of them, that does change things significantly...”
“Oh, this isn’t their blood.” Yuri vigorously rubbed off his brow before producing a leather sack from his breast pocket.
“...Blood paste?”
“Yes! A friend of mine assured me it would be very intimidating!”
He borrowed Eleanor’s blood pouch and used it for the production. It worked perfectly, and when he threatened, “Those who don’t negotiate get killed,” while covered in blood, they would cower and agree to testify under contract.
Having seen this process up close, Haring couldn’t help but grimace.
“Well yeah, if a guy covered in blood with crazy eyes and a smile like he’s clearly lost his mind points a sword at you, anyone’d freak out...”
“The blood aside, I just smiled like I normally do!”
“That’s even worse! That’s seriously your normal smile!”
“Ah...it was probably that one...”
“That same smile from training... Anyone would run from that...”
With a few ideas of their own, Athena and Fram exchanged an understanding look. Yuri didn’t think his smile was unusual, but he was coming to realize it was something terrible.
Whatever the case, the matter with Navie was now settled.
“It’s our win, Mr. Haring!” Yuri grinned and held out his fist.
While Haring hesitated for a moment, “...Yeah, it’s our win.” He returned the smile and touched fists.