A fight or a performance?

I did say that I was going to put on a good show, but it wouldn't be good to just completely thrash the captain of their protectors right?

Let's just reduce my power output by a bit.

"Let the fight....BEGIN!"

Zonn did a hand chop to signal the start of the duel and quickly backed away into a safe distance to watch the fight.

As the crowd saw the signal for the battle they started cheering once again.

"Alright. Come at me."

I curled the fingers of my left hand towards my palm.

[Whoosh!]

Dust and dirt on the ground picked up as the guard leader charged towards me at lightning speed.

Oh she's going for close combat first? I thought she was a long ranged fighter from the bow on her back.

She reaches for her side swiftly and grabs two daggers, one in each hand.

First swing.

Second swing.

Third swing.

She's pretty good. She makes minimal movements while going for her opponents vital points at such a speed. No wonder she's hailed as the captain of the guards.

Each of her swings contain a small amount of aura that was gradually increasing overtime.

Since she's also at the bishop stage she can manifest her aura. Besides Zonn, I don't think anyone from the Parakirt tribe has the capability of matching her in terms of combat.

Fourth swing.

Is she getting faster?

Fifth swin-

As the guard leader closed in on me again and twisted her right hand to deliver an attack with her dagger, she unexpectedly ducked, revealing an arrow clad in blue energy that was flying straight at me.

"Wow."

She manifested her aura in such a short amount of time. The blue arrow was quick but silent. If anyone else got targeted by this, they would probably have a hole in their head right about now.

This woman...

She perfectly hid herself before manifesting her aura and then masqueraded it by standing in front to draw my attention.

What amazing combat sense.

I grabbed the arrow emanating blue aura before it could reach me and poured my own mana to disintegrate it.

Is this why she chose to fight close quarters?

Several more aura manifested arrows aimed towards me at an extreme speed. Unfortunately for the guard leader, none of them managed to hit me.

While I was dodging, at the corner of my eye I could spy the elders' dumbfounded faces.

"He's really avoiding all of captain's movements."

"No way. Is that even possible?"

"Are you sure he's only human?"

Astonished comments like those kept popping up as I successfully avoided strike after strike.

The guard leader threw her two daggers towards me and I once again avoided them cleanly by tilting my head slightly.

Hmm?

Wait, are they coming back?

I promptly turn my head after hearing a slight "whirring" sound.

She's controlling them with her extended aura?!

It might look invisible to the naked eye but I can clearly see her pulling on blue energy shaped like a rope. When did she manifest it?

"Clear wall."

[CLANG!]

A loud clash made by impact of the daggers sounded as it collided with my spell.

Before I could even turn around, I realized the guard leader had already silently jumped to my right and was starting to deliver another swing with a concealed third dagger.

I block it easily with two fingers which causes her to rapidly step back.

"Tch."

She narrow her eyebrows while facing me.

She reaches for her back and holds onto her bow while pulling out three arrows with her other hand.

"Oh! Captain Lucia is finally using her bow!"

"That human is dead meat!"

"YEA!"

Enormous cheers erupted once again as the guard leader readied her stance.

Right foot back, a half squat body, and piercing eyes of a hunter. Looks like this will be a big one.

I could've attacked her in this short window of time but chose not to because that would end the fight too soon. I want to see more of her abilities.

So far, the combat senses and quick thinking has really sparked my interest in her.

[WHOOSH!]

The three arrows fly at me, causing a mini gust to be formed as it kicked up the dirt on the ground.

What incredible aura these arrows hold. Did she reinforce them with all her power? They are certainly heaps better than the ones before.

"Demonic art 33: Shade of shelter."

I raised my hand and a lump of shadows emerges, devouring the three arrows that flew straight at me.

Upon seeing this, the guard leader wasted no time and sent another barrage my way.

Countless more arrows followed, some were real, others were manifested. But they all had one thing in common: speed.

Each and every one of them was fast, causing the wind to be picked up each time an arrow was shot.

The repetitiveness and speed made it feel like I was up against a gatling gun.

Luckily for me, all I had to do was keep up my demonic art to eat each and every last one of them.

Shade of shelter was similar in terms to the 32nd demonic art: Shade of cover. Both of them utilized shadows to create a coating. For shade of cover, it was about using those shadows to hide my presence. But for shade of shelter, it uses shadows to create a shield.

Anything of high speed that comes into contact with it will be absorbed. It is a perfect use for this type of situation.

And then.

As the guard leader reached for another arrow the inside of the quiver, she quickly jumped backwards after realizing it was empty.

"Is it my turn now?"

I wonder what demonic art I should use. It shouldn't be too destructive as others might get hurt, but it shouldn't be too weak as well.

I stare silently at my opponent and after thinking for a bit I finally came up with an idea.

"I think this should do it."

Let's use this fancy one to end this "performance."

"Demonic art 62: Ring of ruin."

I lifted my right fist before gathering demonic energy within it.

Upon seeing this, the guard leader immediately became alarmed and retreated further back.

Demonic energy continued to gather as I unclenched my fist revealing a small disc shaped like a ring swiftly growing in size atop my palm. It was completely black with a glowing red outline that made it shine.

A few moments later the ring had grown to be the size of a small child.

"Fly forth, ring of ruin."

The levitating ring immediately shot forth targeting the woman in front of me.

The guard leader hastily reacts with a side step before raising her bow in anticipation to brace for the oncoming impact.

[CLANG!]

The ring of ruin rammed directly into the guard leader's bow, pushing her back. She makes a rapid yet skillful maneuver to propel the ring off into another direction before dashing towards me, wielding her third dagger.

Calm and composed, she charges forth without a second thought.

"Hoh?"

I didn't expect her to block it, I assumed she would dodge without a second thought. But instead she managed to shield herself and launch a counterattack?

That bow seems like quite the artifact as well.

As I thought, she really is amazing at combat.

It is not just her strength that was astonishing. Her quick-wittedness and high level ability to adapt and improvise is something that I've rarely seen after coming to this world.

She would be great as a division leader.

Looks like I've seen all I could, time to end this fight.

"Ring of ruin, return."

As the guard leader closed in on me, I uttered the magic words, causing the ring that flew past her to do a one-eighty in a boomerang motion. I'm just using the same trick she used earlier.

The ring catches up to the guard leader who is now only a couple of steps away from me.

She shifts to her right and bends down after sensing the return of the ring.

This causes it to fly past us and she prepares to do an upward motion to strike my throat.

Unfortunately for her, the ruin of ruin doesn't just fly around.

"Ring of ruin, energy release."

[BOOM!]

A red streak of lightning descended on the battlefield causing dust and chunks of dirt to fly in the direction of the audience.

"What...happened?"

"Did anyone see that?"

"What was that huge sound?"

Countless whispers started filling the area, trying to make sense of the situation.

As it cleared up, all the dark elves in the surroundings quickly gasp in shock upon catching sight of the guard leader.

"No way...captain Lucia...lost?"

"Impossible!"

"How..."

"This has to be fake!"

I stared nonchalantly at the guard leader who still had her dagger in hand, kneeling down on the ground. Her skin was charred and she was barely breathing.

"Captain Lucia!"

One of the female guards attempts to charge forth, only to be stopped by Zonn.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Zonn blocks the female guard by holding onto her shoulder.

"Move!"

She twists and shakes, trying her best to escape from his grasp.

Zonn shoves the female guard away, before making an announcement in a loud voice.

"ACCORDING TO THE DUELING RULES, NO ONE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO INTEREFERE! EVEN IF THEY ARE AN ELDER!"

I move my head slightly to see Zonn firmly exuding his aura while folding his arms in displeasure.

[Thud!]

The guard leader fell to the ground, causing everyone to ignore the ongoing uproar and fixate their gaze on her.

Seems like that power was enough to take her out.

Honestly I'm surprised she still managed to remain conscious after being zapped by that.

By now, you are probably wondering how I attacked the guard leader...

Well, the ring of ruin is a unique demonic art that allows one to create a ring that follows their will. The time limit and size of said ring can be defined by how much demonic energy they choose to use when constructing it.

Back there, I only made it to be the size of a small child. In actuality I could've created it to be the size of a hut, but that would have blown away this entire area.

On top of the ability to move extremely quickly, the ring of ruin is capable of using something called "energy release".

This essentially causes it to self destruct, creating a huge bolt off lightning with the remaining demonic energy in the process and striking the enemy with a huge force.

While everyone was still stunned by the results of the fight, Licuz steadily gets up and walks to the middle of the dueling area, right next to where we were.

"It seems like the winner of this duel has been decided!

He lifts up his hand and swings his arm downwards to point all his fingers in my direction.

"Winner, sir Rolan!"