The Paladin Order Reformed - Chapter 33

I was freed from my bindings and an area was promptly cleared for our duel, they stripped me of all my armor and clothing except for my pants and boots. I guess they wanted to make this was as “fair” as possible. It didn’t matter to me, I was confident enough in my unarmed combat Lvl, but even still I was worried.

An assortment of beastmen, wolf-men, and others of the demon ranks encircled us. There were wagers made and bets were placed, It seemed that the bettings were not in my favor, I have no idea why. I think I make for a pretty good underdog, I would bet at least 1 gold on me, these beastmen are too biased.

Rett walked back and forth hyping up the onlookers, I paid no heed to him, instead I prepared myself for the approaching fight. There were a few things that I had to be wary of, first is the fact that he’s not only a wolf-man but also a member of the most powerful beastman clan, the Moon Claws. The second fact is that he’s the head of the Moon Claw clan, how is this important?

Well, to be the head of the clan you have to be part of the royal lineage, but the chieftain can be challenged at any point by any of the members of the clan and if you are defeated in battle, then the royal family is replaced by the family of the victor and the previous chieftain and their family has to serve the other faithfully.

The importance lies in the fact that he still is the head of the Moon Claw’s clan, he’s led the clan after his father’s death and has remained the head by his own strength. I don’t know whos challenged him or how many people have challenged him, but he is strong enough to remain in the position he’s been given. I need to be careful, I cannot risk underestimating him, and If I do then I’ve already relinquished my life.

I review all of my options, I can’t use magic, I don’t have any weapons, they took my armor, and I’ll be fighting him on his terms at the type of combat he’s best at. A great challenge to be sure, It’s not like I haven’t faced worse threats before, like at Valdora. But I was only able to defeat that archdemon because it was a bad matchup for him. He was used to killing weak foes from afar with magic, it was a miracle that he was too arrogant to back down from my provocation. If he would have decided to start casting spells, then I don’t think I would last a minute.

I’m matched against an experienced close-ranged fighter that has already marked me for death, I don’t know what I’ll do, but I have to win. I have no other option, I’m backed up in a corner and all my tools have been ripped away. I have nowhere to run and nothing to do but fight, but can I succeed with only my skill and experience left to aid me? Can I succeed when everyone else has abandoned me and I have nothing to support myself except my own hands and my desire to live? I don’t know, I may die here, but I will die fighting for my dreams. For Sir Richard, Aliece, my squad, and….

I looked at Lili, she was restrained by two wolf-men flanking either side of her, she felt my gaze and tried to meet it with a word of apology formed on the edge of her lips. I never saw it, I turned away, the gash of betrayal burning deeply in my chest, keeping me from baring to look at her. I wouldn’t do this for Lili, to me, I died to her when she allowed me to be dragged away in chains.

I steeled myself and approached the center of the dirt circle and waited for Rett to quit communing with his men. I wish he would talk me a little more seriously, it’s like he has no doubt in his mind that he’ll beat me, the bets aren’t even if I’ll win, it’s how long I’ll last. So far most people are saying a minute, I wish I could bet on myself so I would be the only one to win anything. I smiled to myself thinking, “I’ll need a lot more than confidence to win this fight.”

Rett finally noticed my presence, although he didn’t seem to publicly acknowledge me, he only approached the circle and said. “Let’s hurry and finish this, I have 10 gold on you not lasting past a minute.” I grinned spitefully at him and announced to the broker managing the bets and said. “I got my purse of gold and set of armor on me, to win.” Rett looked away indifferently, but I saw the muscles in his jaw tensed.

One of Rett’s lackeys approached us and explained the rules since this is officially a duel. He said. “This will be an unarmed brawl to the death, there are no rules besides only harm each other. If you injure a bystander, then you will immediately be killed. This is a fight to the death, do both of you understand?” I nodded seriously and Rett nodded with a grin saying. “Let’s see how long you last Christian, but just know I’m going to enjoy riping that sharp tongue from your throat.”

The lackey raised his hand and said, “Ready,” He waited a moment, then backed away saying “Fight!” The years of training and time of fighting on the front line instantly sharpened my senses, tensing my muscles for a sudden burst of movement. But even with my heightened senses, I was barely able to raise my arms to block Rett’s attack. He quickly closed the gap throwing powerful jabs at me, testing my defenses.

The force of each punch reverberated through my bones, making them start to feel numb. I retreated several steps, but Rett didn’t relent, he threw a plethora of blows at me, testing my defenses and reactions. But his face was stuck in a sadistic smile, taking pleasure in every wince of pain I made, he was enjoying this.

I avoided a punch aimed at my throat and raised my arm to deliver a blow before he recovered from overextending himself. He raised his hands to deflect it, I smiled. Quickly I brought my leg up, kicking at his exposed head. He reacted quickly, catching my leg with one hand, pulling me closer, he brought his fist swiftly into my stomach.

I was launched several feet and the breath was completely knocked from me, I tried to get up quickly, but fell to my knee unable to stand. My legs felt weak and buckled under my own weight, Rett jumped up and down around my punching the air in mock combat saying. “Get up Christian, you still have 23 seconds to do something. I’ll beat you before a minute is up, but I can’t let it be that short. Honestly, I thought you would have at least some skill to match that arrogance.” He taunted. Fury burned within me, but I fought it back. I can’t lose my head, not here.

I buckled to the ground holding my stomach, discretely grabbing a handful of dirt, making it look like I used my hand to brace myself on the ground to keep from collapsing. Rett drew closer raising his foot to crush before I could recover, I smiled at the ground and threw the dirt at the apex of his kick.

Rolling out of the way of his foot as he struggled to clear the dust from his eyes, I jumped up and delivered a nasty uppercut. Stunned, he started swinging wildly trying to return a hit, but was still unable to see me, I dodged the reckless attacks and delivered blow after blow to vital areas. I struck his noes with a jab, a kidney punch, then I struck him in his chin with a right hook using all my strength.

I raised my fist to finish him, but the side of my face suddenly flared with pain as his knuckles cracked on my cheek following a flurry of blows. I had to switch to defending, barely able to deflect his strikes. He swept my feet from under me, sensing something I quickly rolled out the way of the fist that was aimed at the spot where my face was a second prior. He didn’t give me any time to breathe, we stood there trading blow after blow, grappling for every advantage.

As the battle continued our energy drained, the time between blows grew and the power behind both of our punches became less. But even after expending all that energy with such powerful blows, his breaths were more even than mine, he wasn’t letting up despite the time that passed. He dropped all pretenses and became even more serious than before.

He struck me from every side, I was used to feeling pain, I was well accustomed to it and resistant to it, but even still the pain from each blow was almost unbearable. It felt as though my arms were going break like some of my bones were fractured, I changed from trying to look for openings to trying to survive the onslaught of deadly attacks that rained down on me.

It took everything to stand up, it took all my willpower just to keep from giving in and accepting my fate, although it became harder and harder as a voice in the back of my mind kept whispering for me to give up. It would be so easy to give up now, right? I don’t want to do this anymore, the pain’s too much. I just want to sleep, forever.

I’ve tried so hard for so long, but what use was it? I was betrayed by the army I trained so hard to fight for. I tried so hard to become the best knight that has ever existed, but I couldn’t even protect the few friends I had under my command, I failed them. I was even tricked into thinking I met my soulmate and fell right for her trap, I’m a failure, I’m so stupid. Maybe I should just die here, who would even miss me? Sir Richard? Aliece? I don’t even know if they’re alive, but would they even want me back after what I’ve become?

Every blow that struck me hammered those thoughts harder into me, I wanted to die fighting before, maybe this is finally my chance to be set free from all these burdens. I was beaten to my knees, blocking his attacks with numb arms.

By chance, I looked over to where Lili was, maybe to look at her for a final time before I died. I couldn’t hear anything, there was no sound or feeling left in me anymore, but I could see Lili. She was struggling and fighting her guards, she was desperately crying out to me, trying desperately to help. There was nothing she could do, but she struggled anyway. “Why is she doing that?” I thought numbly, “She can’t do anything, so why is she struggling? She’s just wasting energy.”

Maybe, but she was struggling tooth and nail for me. Deep down it made my heart yearn, I hate what she did, but Lili…. I…. god…. I don’t want to die….. no.. no…help.. god.. no.. ….help…not.. not yet..please. Not here, I can’t die yet. There’s so much I haven’t done, I haven’t had kids or a family…. I haven’t seen my dreams realized… NO, I WILL NOT DIE HERE!!!

I jump up suddenly, surprising Rett before he quickly recovers. We’re stuck trading blows again, but he becomes overwhelmed by the ferocity of my punches, each one filled with the desperation of someone with the will to live. For the first time, I see real fear in his eyes. He was completely confident, but now, he’s afraid.

He becomes desperate as well, then we’re both scraping and clawing trying anything to subdue the other. I grab his arm in an unyielding grip and bash him repeatedly in the face until my knuckles become bloody. Even still he doesn’t let up, he grasps my neck in an iron grip and contracts his hands until the air from my windpipe is completely cut off.

Light flashes out of fingernails and he raises his moon claws to deliver a final blow, my mind starts swimming as I drift on the edge of consciousness, I try desperately to escape his grip but every frantic strike uselessly glances off him. I start to lose strength with each strike, my vision starts swimming, but I can see Rett’s smiling face as he watches the life slowly drain from my eyes.

Visions of my life once again pass through my mind, I see my entire childhood up until this moment in a few second. I’m going to die, even after fighting with everything I had, I’m still going to die. Rett brought his claws to my face saying something I wasn’t quite able to hear but was most likely some mocking farewell.

But before he could drive his claws through my eye socket, I felt a quick flash of desperate warmth in my hand willing me to live. It felt as though my left hand was set ablaze, as my tattoo of a flame glowed with a warm pink light. With a single, final desire to live, I unconsciously wished for enough strength to defeat him, and to my surprise, someone answered.

Shade’s continuous filled my mind, she couldn’t speak to me, but I could feel her intentions. She enhanced my arm with a spell and with a final desperate throw of life I struck a wide-eyed Rett with a glowing left fist. He was sent flying back several feet, rolling until he laid at the edge of the onlookers that were now silent unknowing whether to cheer or not.

I gulped air as if it was water in a scorching desert, just before I faded into the dark abyss I heard Rett’s Lackey reluctantly say. “Paladin Knight Christian wins.”