The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing

Before the duel began.

Mutterings arose from the two lackeys of Kyouya Mitsurugi.

“Why are you being so impulsive? It’s not like you at all,” one said.

“You wouldn’t understand. I’m doing this on purpose.”

“What?”

“Just now, Kyouya clearly had no hope, so I provoked the opponent to force a duel. The proud archmage will be subdued by the hero’s strength, and then join our party… That’s called turning foes into friends! It’s written like that in all the hero storybooks.”

“Haa…

She was helpless against her companion’s bizarre thought process.

“Don’t worry, Kyouya is very strong. He absolutely won’t lose to some novice adventurer…”

“Eeeeeeek—!”

Before she could finish speaking, a miserable scream from Kyouya Mitsurugi filled their ears.

What!?

Seeing Kyouya collapsed on the ground, charred black as if he’d been roasted, the two rushed over to support him, loudly scolding, “You’re such a lowlife! Weren’t you supposed to count to five!?”

“…Young people don’t count to five.”

“What did you say!?”

Their eyes widened in anger, glaring at Zun Zun, seemingly unable to believe that this handsome person had resorted to a sneak attack!

Megumin, seeing this, immediately jumped in, placing her hands on her hips and laughing loudly, “Hahaha, now you know our strength! Since you lost, hurry up and apologize to me! How dare you call me a useless, brain-damaged explosion magic user… Hurry up and apologize!”

“Huh? We didn’t say that…”

The two girls exchanged confused glances.

At that moment, Kyouya Mitsurugi slowly stood up from the ground, “Wa-wait a moment…”

“Kyouya!”

“Are you okay!?”

The two girls were overjoyed.

Kyouya Mitsurugi forced a smile towards his concerned companions, then looked intently at Zun Zun, saying, “The duel… isn’t over yet, right?”

“Oh, you can still stand?”

Zun Zun admitted to holding back, but the power of an archmage’s advanced magic was considerable, and he shouldn’t have recovered so quickly.

An unkillable cockroach…

Come to think of it, he does have the flavor of a hot-blooded manga protagonist.

“Do you still have the strength to fight?”

“Then I must thank you for holding back. You didn’t use your full strength, did you?”

Kyouya Mitsurugi knew how powerful an archmage’s advanced magic was. The power used in that sneak attack was at most only intermediate level.

“To be able to use such magic in an instant… I want you more and more.”

“Ew—”

Looking disgusted, Zun Zun took a half-step back, arms crossed. The others in the guild also whispered among themselves.

“Hey, did you hear that? Mitsurugi actually has that kind of preference.”

“What, I didn’t expect that…”

“In that case, maybe I’m not bad either?”

Hey, there’s something wrong with that last one!

And the two girls following him were also teary-eyed, sobbing as they said:

“Kyouya, so that’s how it is.”

“No wonder you never made a move on us.”

“N-No! I just said I wanted him to join the party! Besides, you two are my companions!”

Kyouya Mitsurugi hurriedly explained.

Amidst the banter, his injuries gradually recovered. It seemed he had points invested in physical skills, after all, a swordsmaster was often injured, and his party currently didn’t have a priest or similar healing class.

“Alright, come on!”

He gripped his magic sword tightly, bracing himself as he said, “No matter what magic you use next, I will nullify it with my magic sword!”

“You really don’t learn your lesson.”

Zun Zun also sighed, saying, “Since you don’t like magic, I also know a little bit about swordsmanship.”

“Sw-Swordsmanship?”

Kyouya Mitsurugi stared blankly at the lightning sword held by Zun Zun. He never imagined that magic could be used like this.

An archmage who doesn’t know swordsmanship isn’t a good adventurer!?

“An archmage using swordsmanship…”

“Don’t worry, because my sister likes swordsmanship, so I also know a little bit about it.”

Zun Zun adopted a stance.

An expert’s move reveals their skill. Many vanguard-type adventurers in the crowd had their eyes light up after seeing Zun Zun’s stance, nodding involuntarily.

Kyouya Mitsurugi also felt a slight pressure.

“Alright, then I’ll get serious! Haaah!”

He shouted and charged towards Zun Zun, raising the magic sword high and slashing down. If hit, one would be seriously injured even if not fatally.

However, such a reckless swordsmanship was full of flaws. Zun Zun simply sidestepped to avoid it, and even couldn’t resist kicking him in his perky butt.

“Waaah!”

Kyouya Mitsurugi cried out in pain.

Zun Zun didn’t press the attack, but stood there quietly, displaying the demeanor of an expert.

“What’s wrong, come on.”

“Haaah!”

He attacked again. This time, Kyouya Mitsurugi was smart and didn’t raise his sword first, but instead attacked after getting close. But he was still seen through by Zun Zun, the lightning sword blocked the magic sword and dodged, while his butt received another kick.

The whole process was relaxed and easy, as if he was toying with him.

“Hey, hey, hey, really?”

“That’s Kyouya Mitsurugi, the magic sword hero!”

The onlookers discussed animatedly.

The two girls couldn’t help but shout.

“Kyouya! Quickly use the power of the magic sword!”

“That’s right, use the power of the magic sword!”

“No! The power of the magic sword is too strong! What if I hurt someone else? Even if I don’t hurt someone else, it’s wrong to hurt the flowers and plants!”

Kyouya Mitsurugi was very aware.

He knew the magic sword’s power was strong, so he didn’t use it easily. If it were Megumin on his side, she wouldn’t care where it landed when pushed to the limit.

However…

“Is that all you’ve got?”

Zun Zun looked disappointed.

Kyouya Mitsurugi was similar to most reincarnators who received cheat items, possessing great power but not knowing how to use it… No, he should be said to only know how to use it superficially.

Once he lost the magic sword or couldn’t use it, he was just an ordinary swordsmaster, unable to do anything.

He hadn’t even beaten Kazuma Satou.

You could say Kazuma Satou used tricks, but what about the superior devil Hoost? He was seriously injured by Hoost even with the magic sword that could defeat an ancient dragon, which was enough to explain everything.

Zun Zun stopped holding back, constantly beating Kyouya Mitsurugi while saying, “Your backhand is weak, your forehand is unskilled, your steps are loose, your reactions are slow, not a single movement is decent. You want to compete with me? Keep dreaming! I will let you know how weak you are, how incompetent you are!”

Pfft—

With a final kick to his butt, Kyouya Mitsurugi couldn’t help but fall to the ground.

“Kyouya!”

“Are you okay, Kyouya!”

His two lackeys once again stood in front of him, glaring angrily at Zun Zun. Although their mouths were foul, they were very concerned about Kyouya Mitsurugi.

Megumin was now triumphantly laughing, while Yunyun looked worried. The other adventurers were also somewhat silent, obviously not expecting the magic sword hero to lose so thoroughly.

Normally, Zun Zun should say some witty remarks, but he had already said them all.

In the end, only one sentence was left.

“Victory and defeat are common in war. Young hero, please try again.”

Then he left with Megumin and Yunyun.

And Kyouya Mitsurugi, lying on the ground, looked at Zun Zun’s receding figure, his cheeks slightly red as he whispered, “Amazing…”

“Kyou-Kyouya!?” X 2

Hearing this, the two girls were dumbfounded. Could Kyouya Mitsurugi have been beaten into becoming a masochist?