-Grydol Kingdom; Silver City; Silverheart Territory-
Somewhere in the vast Silverheart County, Feylit reached the place where Veiled Mistress, was cornering the giant boar carrying the pink slime.
Upon getting there, his first reaction was to try and launch lightning at both creatures, but as the lightning formed and left his hand.
*Cough* *Cough*
Blood fell to the ground as Feylit fell to his knees, weakness permeated his body, and the blood symbols on his hand activated as the skin around it tensed up with various veins visible.
"That bastard! Did he plan this?!... Even after dying... You're still getting in my way..." Feylit got up slowly by forcing himself to withstand the pain and weakness.
"What is wrong with you?! Did that guy get you that hard?" Veiled Mistress was surprised to see his state as her foxes had the boar on its last legs.
The lighting was still forming around Feylit's hand, and this time in pain or not, he was going to shoot it at his target.
Right before he did, an earth pillar came out of the ground and pushed his hand up, making him cast his lightning at the sky.
Both Feylit and Veiled Mistress looked in the same direction the moment it happened.
Sitting there on a tree branch and looking down at them, was Naila, the silverheart family's third daughter.
"You know, for someone who's wanted in a lot of places, you're not in a good state to fight, and yet you're here hunting down my pets. They were given to me by an annoying baldy, but I still like them, ya know." Naila calmly talked with a mischievous smile on her face.
"You're a rude child... I should let you get what you deserve, but I think it's best if you leave before this guy recovers." Veiled Mistress looked at Naila with her arms crossed as she spoke.
"Weak people shouldn't speak to me. I will kill you if you do that again. As for this guy... Just look at him, I've seen geriatric old people with more energy in them. He's not doing a thing." Naila waved her hand in the air as she pointed at the individual in front of her as she talked to them.
"Insolent brat! Just wait and see how fun burning in hell will be!" Veiled Mistress was clearly not ecstatic at the comments the girl made about her.
"Otherworld trash has no right to speak of me!" Feylit once again had lightning readying around his hand.
"So angry... You're not going to win a fight like this... Much less this fight." Naila snapped her fingers and a bunch of earth walls came up between her and him.
Unable the change his positioning in his weakened state, Feylit let out his lightning the same way.
The lightning burst through each and every earth wall Naila set up, all in an instant before she could even react at all.
However just before she was hit, a young elven woman with blue eyes and hair dressed in a maid attire, stopped the attack with her bare left hand, while holding a dagger in her right hand.
"Wow... You're more dangerous than I thought, props to you." Naila kept her smile as she stood behind the elven woman like a child behind their mother.
At the same time, before any response could come, a suffocating aura with an insurmountable weight and terror crawled into their skin and like red ants left the itchiness of fear all over them, eating away at their mobility each instant that it made itself present and felt.
"Fuck! We're out!" Veiled Mistress immediately moved to Feylit and got ahold of him.
5 seconds from the moment lightning was shot at Naila, both Feylit and Veiled Mistress were gone turning into her mist and disappearing.
"... Damnit! They escaped!..." An oblivious Naila complained after sighing.
Only then did she notice that her maid was paralyzed right in front of her.
"... Hey... Are you ok?" Naila was confused and looked around as well as inspected the maid, from her face to her panties, nothing seemed wrong with her. "Weird... What's going on?"
*Boom* *Gust*
Immediately, a whole 10 seconds after the lightning was cast at Naila, straight from the sky a woman standing at 3m(9ft10) in height, having a body with scales on her face and arms, green hair, purple eyes, horns on her head, bat-like wings covered in scales, a lizard-like tail, voluptuous muscular body, all while wearing a skin-tight suit that left her cleavage exposed.
"I'm sorry for being late, so where's the danger?" The woman asked as soon as she landed.
"... Hum... Who are you?" Naila asked looking at the woman warily.
Meanwhile, the elven maid kneeled on the ground and greeted her. "My Lady! It is my pleasure to be in your presence!"
"What do you mean? Who?!... Oh, wait... You never saw me like this... It was supposed to be your 18th birthday party surprise... Your father won't stop yapping about it once he finds out the surprise was ruined...
"As for me, I'm Farn's partner." She expressed.
"... My father is married and has no partner aside from my mother! Are you insane?!" Naila was visually disgusted.
"No... I meant dragon partner... I'm Ionessa... Remember me? I thought you about the Argrolia, the land of dragons..." Ionessa questioned.
"Aunt Ionessa!" Naila changed immediately and went up to hug Ionessa.
"It's good to see you remember me and are doing good. I was worried since I took so long to get here, but that's what happens when you travel between dimensions, this was the fastest I could get here. So what exactly happened? Your engraving mark said your life was in danger." Ionessa inquired.
"Oh, some dangerous people from that cult... Children of Morrow or something came here and were causing trouble, but they already left. Chilla over here protected me.
"Now it's my turn, how are you here? I thought you had to stay in Argrolia for a while before you could come back." Naila asked.
"Good, you will be rewarded later, Chilla. As for you my favorite niece! I'll get you something special since you are so brave. Now about being here... I'm not really supposed to... I kind of escaped illegally to come and save you... Hehehehe!" Ionessa responded before bursting into laughter.
"Hum... Won't you be hunted down by the other dragons as a criminal?!" Naila's eyes widened as she questioned.
"Oh it's not a big deal, I can just ask for a trial by combat whenever I get condemned guilty. Even if I lose, 300 years is not all that much." Ionessa calmly replied with a smile.
"What?! That's not fair! We have to explain it! Let me do it!" Naila suggested.
"That wouldn't work, they would eat your head if you did that." Ionessa explained in a cheerful tone.
Naila was made speechless as they went home with Chilla, the giant boar, and the pink slime following right behind.
____________________________________________
-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo's Outskirts-
"By the law of the Kingdom Of Reyha, you're under arrest for the unauthorized destruction of a public white dungeon, anything you say can and will be used against you in court! Comply with your arrest or face the consequences!" A short child-sized man wearing glasses and expensive-looking robes came to be with a few soldiers and a tall rabbit humanoid.
Hearing this got Kymani's attention and he immediately thought to himself. (Is Lavy going to overreact to this? And what are they talking about? It's illegal to destroy dungeons?!)
Lavenica got up and turned to them, then before Kymani even said anything, she suggested. {Master... We should surrender... As much as I dislike the idea we are very outmatched... There are other ways, but I don't recommend them.}
{Wait... What other ways?} Kymani's mind gravitated toward that possibility.
{One is called noblesse oblige. It's a challenge of equal terms, where both fighters have their stats equalized and are made unable to use their active skills or magic, as well as becoming unable to take advantage of any kind of stat buff since they have to be equal to the opponent in this regard.
While the other is just the usage of your status as a hero. Even without achievements to your name} Lavenica explained.
{So, you're suggesting I challenge them?} Kymani questioned.
{Yes, by calling for a noblesse oblige trial by combat, you can prove your innocence by winning... Though if you lose, you'll automatically be considered guilty with no second thoughts or further investigation.} Lavenica elaborated.
{What if they refuse or something?} Kymani wondered.
{If it is put on the table as an option, it's unlikely they will refuse, and even if they do right now, later on during your trial they will have no choice but to give you this if you ask for it.} Lavenica responded.
Getting off Lavenica's arms, Kymani turned into his hobgoblin form, looking at all the people in front of him, he had a somber expression, no real anger or worry could be found in his eyes, only a deep frown, and this bottled sense of nothing.
Surprise could be caught on the faces of most soldiers there, but the short man at the front and the rabbit humanoid man right beside him, both just looked at one another before focusing on Kymani once more.
"What if I say I didn't do it?" Kymani in a monotone voice while maintaining the same expression questioned.
"Evidence suggests otherwise but even if it didn't, so long as we have the proof of command of the King, a Noble, or a high-ranking officer, the authority to arrest you is already there. It's your choice to make things hard, but I'm quite busy, so do me a favor and just come with us." The short man explained as he pulled out of parchment and pointed at it.
"I see... Then I would like to invoke the noblesse oblige trial by combat." Kymani requested with a serious expression and an empty tone.
"Denied, it seems troublesome to deal with something like that." The short man immediately responded.
Just as Kymani was about to say more, the humanoid rabbit man spoke up and as he did, he also thrust his pelvis forward in a quick motion. "Bun! Bun! Bun!"
Neither Kymani nor Lavenica could understand a word that came from this being's mouth, causing them to look at each other, considering their options.
"I see... You're quite lucky... It seems Sir Bun Bun wants to accept your challenge. Honestly, I would never do that... Especially since you are a slime... That's dangerous... People would probably start to call me a Nifel sympathizer or a Nifelist if I did that." The short man frowned as he mumbled things with cold sweat on him.
"Bun! Bun! Bun!" As he thrust his pelvis multiple times, Sir Bun Bun pointed at Kymani and said.
"So I just have to beat this guy?" Kymani asked as he pointed at Sir Bun Bun.
"Yeah, just let me set the C.O.F. Up, then you can go at him, but let me warn you... Sir Bun Bun is an Elemental User rank individual, my personal squire, a second-rate commander, a level 270, and a local hero... Are you sure you want to go up against that? Even under "equal terms" you won't be the same." The short man gave a detailed warning.
(Why is he bothering to say all that? Does he want to intimidate me?) Kymani questioned in his mind.
"I'm confident that I can take care of myself at the same level." Kymani's voice carried no weight due to his dull tone, but his words made his thoughts clear.
"So this is a hero?... I hope the Gods truly have a plan. Anyway,
Lavenica side-eyed the short man as she heard him badmouth Kymani, but then instantly hid her frustration behind a pretty smile.
Inside the C.O.F., Kymani and Sir Bun Bun looked at each other waiting for the first move.
"Oh well, can't wait forever, can I?" Kymani got tired of waiting and rushed to Sir Bun Bun, ready to activate
"Bun! Bun! Bun!" Sir Bun Bun shook his head as he saw Kymani approach and once he was close enough, Sir Bun Bun put mana on his leg with a blue glow and a green glow all over his body.
Before Kymani could do anything, even his acute senses and fast reactions could not stop him from spitting blood Sir Bun Bun's knee was pressed against his stomach as he was held down for maximum damage.
Not given time to recover whatsoever his left cheek had a first in it as Sir Bun Bun hit him with a right hook, followed by a left hook all of these moves creating air gusts and pulling blood out of Kymani's body.
In a finality of sorts, the combo ended with the fourth attack, as Sir Bun Bun roundhouse kicked Kymani's head straight to the ground, causing him to make a crater about the size of his head and even bounce off after he hit the ground.
That was how Kymani was completely and utterly defeated in four moves, and his eyes went blank as his consciousness left him.
"To the palace, we go. He lost." The short man announced as the C.O.F. faded and the damage on the ground disappeared.
Lavenica went to get Kymani and check on him, confirming he was in fact still alive, which led her to sigh in relief.
"Bun! Bun! Bun!" Sir Bun Bun spoke to the short man.
"Fine... Bun Bun says that you should tell the hero, once he wakes up, that he should focus on understanding his body before going around challenging people. He's unfit to have his title as of now. Even the other heroes are better. Now carry him if you can, if you can't leave it to one of my men. Anyway, follow us, the King has a lot to say to you both." The short man expressed before moving toward the city with Sir Bun Bun right behind him.
Without saying a thing, Lavenica lifted Kymani and put him on her back, then began carrying him that way, while surrounded by The short man's men.
Out in the distance among the trees, there was a hooded figure watching it all unfold.
"Hum... I just came back to an odd report and now it's all over before I can confirm things... Then again the ultimate disappointment was the slime... For someone getting compared to Nifel, this was not a fitting display, to say the least... Then again, it's apparently still young, so let's see what the future holds... I really hope they let me deal with Princess Merilyn... Anyway, better get going." In the shadows, the figure vanished.