Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1296: Great display of Valor

-----Perrerian----

The massive arena was filled with the sound of giant hunks of metal clashing. In the sands below, two titans approximately 40m tall were finishing their battle. Monique started to think that showing off their Titans to their guests was a custom among these people.

“After this great display of Valor, we have another fight today. Our esteemed guests from Minas Mar agreed to display some of the strength that has conquered the Demon Cave!” the announcer exclaimed.

Monique sighed. How had it come to this?

It had been two days since they arrived at Blackfeather, the capital of Clow Country. Count Clutcher had welcomed them in a similar fashion to the garrison Commander. On their first day, they were allowed to rest in the lavish rooms prepared for them.

Yesterday, Jane had an audience with the count. While Monique accompanied the merchant to protect her, the count had two extremely tall knights in full armor behind him. Over the course of their conversation, Monique found out that this was her first instance of seeing the so-called Dungeon busters.

Clutcher actually used two of these titans meant for dungeon subjugation as bodyguards. Size-wise, they were actually closer to Epsilonʼs power armors, but Monique was unable to estimate their power, as they simply stood still behind the count.

As for the conversation, it was the usual at first. Both sides were exploring what the other could do for them and at what cost. Minas Mar was interested in food produce, so Jane was finding out how much Clutcher was able to sell them and at what price.

Obviously, since this was not a system world, these people would not accept the system coins, so Jane was negotiating a trade of goods, using mostly ores that Minas Mar mined on Urth or in the cave system. Of course, she only offered what Seth agreed to.

“I know this may be impertinent, but would you be willing to show us some of the power of Minas Mar?” Clutcher has asked something along those lines after the initial negotiation finished. Monique didnʼt quite remember the exact wording.
The crux of the matter was that they were still understandably doubtful of Minas Mar. After all, all they knew about them was what they were told. Although the people of the fort reported that they came from the cave, they had not seen them actually fight any monsters.

Jane agreed, and Monique got the role because Jonah was too worried about his leg suddenly bursting out in song during the fight. Afterward, they had a pompous dinner prepared for the whole expedition. The food was quite good, and Monique had almost forgotten the burdensome task until now.

After her sigh, she swung herself over the balustrade of the VIP seats where they had been watching with the count and his family. The Chosen of Athena finished the almost 50m drop with a superhero landing. The audience cried out in awe at her spectacular entrance.

At the center of the arena, one of the massive gates to let in titans opened, and a titan slightly smaller than the two who had just fought stepped into the arena. The ten-story-tall opponent seemed not just shorter but also sleeker and more polished.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Had they upped the difficulty for her?

“On one side, we have one of our guests, Monique, a Lord of Minas Mar. Facing her is one of Lord Clutcherʼs famed showpieces, the Titan Archellon!” the announcer introduced them. Monique couldnʼt help some of the cheers and jeers the commoner audience in the lower stands called out.

“Who do you think you are?!” “ Not even a sword master can face a titan!” “Destroy her, Archellon!” It was safe to say the audience was not on her side. Was it this much against the common sense of this world to be able to face a giant opponent alone...

Yes. Monique realized how twisted her own common sense had become ever since she became a player. Obviously, people would think she is some arrogant bitch or crazy if she nonchalantly challenged a giant mech just like this.

Right, even so, people in this world could train aura and magic, on their own, they could almost never reach a stage to challenge the power of technology. Mina couldnʼt exclude the possibility of a genius emerging.

Yet, as fucked as her common sense may have been, it wasnʼt wrong. After all, Monique was supposed to show off the power of Minas Mar, although not too much. Jane had cautioned her to only use as much force as needed.

“Without further ado, let the match- Begin!” the announcer declared the start of the battle. Archellon stepped forward, a giant sword in hand, about to charge at Monique, when the mechʼs right shoulder suddenly exploded, interrupting his charge.

The smoke quickly settled, revealing the damaged, mangled armor plating. The audience cried out in shock, seeing the great Archellon this damaged after a single attack. Monique was a little surprised that one blow wasnʼt enough to break the shoulder.

This was actually quite good for her. Since Jane told her to hold back, she wasnʼt using Tatzelʼs Sacrifice, but aura spears. If the aura spears would take 3 or 4 hits before the parts broke, she would have a much easier time concealing her power.

Another javelin left her hand, aiming at the left shoulder, but this time Archellon did not underestimate his tiny opponent and brought forward his massive shield. Her energy spear crashed into the shield, creating a deep dent in it.

“Good shield, letʼs raise the difficulty.”

A row of aura spears appeared behind Moniqueʼs back like a fan of death, and she started throwing one spear after the other in quick succession. Like Zeus firing lightning from the clouds, the chosen of Athena brought the thunder, as explosions rocked the arena.

In favor of the titan, it didnʼt just stand there getting pummeled like a giant target. The operator made various attempts to block and evade, but Archellon was unable to close the gap between it and Monique to get in an attack of its own.

The aura spears drilled through the shield and wrecked the titanʼs armor. The fight had taken barely 5 minutes, but Archellon looked like a ragged doll. Most of the armor plating was churned or outright ripped off.

The only thing still somewhat intact was the torso, where the operator cabin was located. After all, Monique didnʼt try to kill anyone. She had been aiming at the joint of the mech to disable it, but since Archellon had been moving a lot, the damage was more evenly distributed.

The jeers and cheers of the audience had fallen silent as they watched their champion get disassembled in horror. Monique rolled her shoulder, as if to say that this was just a warm-up. Then she looked back up to the VIP seats where Jane and Count Clutcher were sitting.

“Shall I end it, or do we stop here?” she asked in a bored tone. She had not been affected by the audienceʼs jeers or being underestimated. This was just a bothersome task to her. Perrerian was an interesting place, but too far below her power level to disturb her.

Lord Clutcher looked over at the demolished Archellon. Its armor plating was ravaged, but the titan wasnʼt beyond repair. With a calm sigh, he nodded.

“Minas Mar is truly powerful. Iʼm sure nobody will dare doubt your subjugation of the Demon Cave anymore,” he said, his voice amplified by magic. “It is your victory, Lady Monique.”

The arena was silent for a breath of time before the audience broke out in cheers. Even though they scowled at her before, now everyone was cheering for the unlikely victor.