To become a king and a magician

The midday sun's intense light has transformed into the afterglow of the setting sun at dusk.

The bright sky was already filled with fiery red sunset clouds.

The duel that began at noon to determine whether Quetzalcoatl would remain an ally has now reached dusk and continues to this day—

"Clang—!"

The match remains undecided.

This is already the umpteenth round of their confrontation.

Bathed in the blood-red glow of the setting sun, Natsukawa Torato and Quetzal wrestled with each other, their blades locked in a fierce struggle, desperately resisting and trying to suppress the pressure emanating from the other.

Both of their feet were already embedded in the ground. If they were to be pinned down in this position, they would definitely expose a huge opening!

(I'll do everything in my power to keep you under control!)

Is it true that soldiers all have similar thoughts?

The two shared the same idea.

However, contrary to expectations, no matter how resilient and strong a body is, it has its limits. From noon until sunset, nearly six hours of long battle had taken its toll. Even gods and elves would inevitably feel fatigued.

therefore--

"Crack—!"

In an instant, truly just a moment, the muscles uncontrollably relaxed, causing a slight deviation in the originally balanced collision between the serrated sword and the holy sword.

Then, the situation completely turned into a one-sided one!

"Boom--!"

Caught by the serrated edge of the serrated sword, Natsukawa Tiger suddenly used all his strength to press Quetzal along with the serrated sword down beneath him, and then slammed it down with all his might!

"Boom—!"

With a deafening roar, Quetzal was blasted dozens of meters away to the ground. He bounced several times before rolling over to steady himself, gasping for breath.

"Hoo-ha...hoo-ha...hoo...This is really interesting."

The battle lasted approximately six hours.

This wasn't a particularly long battle for Quetzalcoatl; in mythology, she had experienced far longer battles. However, she was currently merely a Servant, a fragment of her original being. No matter how high her theoretical potential was, her physical limitations restricted her power.

This includes, but is not limited to, the use of power and the lack of physical strength.

Although the lack of physical strength is something that can be recovered in a few breaths, she is still at a disadvantage for the time being.

Meanwhile, on Natsukawa Tora's side—

"They're really tenacious. It's about time they gave up, wasn't it?"

Similar to Quetzalcoatl, Natsukawa Tora, backed by the planet itself, has unlimited magical power and physical strength. Even after a whole afternoon of intense fighting, he is still at his peak, full of energy, and has not suffered any depletion.

Quetzal chuckled. "I'm not going to admit defeat. I don't think I've lost to you at all, and you don't think you've ever truly beaten me either, do you? We've always been evenly matched."

Because of the characteristics of elves, Natsukawa Torato's power has always been maintained at a level that is just enough to suppress Quetzal. Although he is not sure he will lose, he is not enough to completely defeat his opponent.

To put it bluntly, if things remain the same, the two will never be able to determine a winner.

"But I've been the one suppressing you the whole time, haven't I?" Natsukawa Tora asked with a smile. "In all our matches, I was the one who ultimately suppressed you. According to the rules of wrestling, I've knocked you out of the ring countless times. In reality, I've already won, haven't I?"

"Wrestling isn't over until the other person is completely unable to fight anymore!"

"You're cheating!"

Xia Chuanhu curled his lip.

Just then, at the edge of the enormous crater created by their battle, the figures of the leopard man and Tomoe suddenly appeared.

Seeing the two standing separately on opposite sides, Tomoe Gozen looked at Natsukawa Torata with some concern: "Are you alright, Lord Natsukawa?"

"I'm definitely fine. By the way, why are you guys here?"

"Since the tremors stopped for a while, I wondered if the battle between the two had ended, so I came to check on the situation..."

"You two are going way too far!! Kukul, you've definitely lost your temper too!!"

The leopard-man, who had already pounced on Quetzal, shouted in an exaggerated manner: "You two have almost destroyed the dense forest! Except for the places where humans live, there is hardly any intact area left! Kukul, are you going to tear down our place?!"

"Oh my, was the fight really that brutal?"

Quetzal was somewhat surprised, because she was so engrossed in her duel with Natsukawa Tiger that she hadn't noticed her surroundings at all. It was only after the leopard man pointed it out that she realized the area was in such a terrible mess.

It looked just like a forest that had been battered by storms and typhoons.

After thinking for a moment, Quetzal suddenly clapped his hands, came up to Natsukawa Torato, and said with a smile, "Shall we stop here for today? It was a very enjoyable duel. We can continue the unfinished part tomorrow!"

"Huh?"

Xia Chuanhu was slightly taken aback.

Let's stop here for today and finish the rest tomorrow?

"After all, look how badly this dense forest has been damaged by the aftershocks of our battle. If we continue fighting, it might affect the survival of the humans in the forest. So let's stop here for today."

"Uh... well... what about our duel agreement..."

"Ah, let's wait until one of us is completely defeated before we talk about that. Although you have the upper hand in terms of the battle situation and your strength is indeed superior to mine, the outcome can only be determined when one of us is completely unable to fight anymore, right?"

Quetzal smiled brightly.

"However, given that you've given me a whole afternoon to enjoy, and that you've indeed kept me at a disadvantage the whole time, I can give you a little something in return—Uruk, I won't be taking any further action there."

Although no winner was decided, Natsukawa Torama did demonstrate power surpassing Quetzal in the course of the battle, a fact that Quetzal acknowledged. And for someone stronger than herself, and a warrior who had given her a good fight for an entire afternoon, she was willing to make some concessions.

After saying this, Quetzal summoned a Quetzalcoatl and instantly flew into the sky, leaving the crater behind.

After staring at the direction she left in for a while, Natsukawa Tora lay down on his back: "Haa~~~~ In the end, all I got after fighting all afternoon was a promise not to attack Uruk."

"This is already a remarkable achievement, Lord Natsukawa, thank you for your hard work." Tomoe Gozen knelt down and smiled, "You fought that forest goddess for a whole afternoon, you are truly amazing."

"Well, to put it bluntly, we were just playing around. She didn't use any Noble Phantasms, and I didn't seriously use Imaginary Manifestation either. The Holy Sword wasn't unleashed either... Since neither of us used our full strength, this was indeed the only result we could achieve."

They didn't even use their full strength?

Tomoe looked around at the ruins that looked like they had been touched by a meteorite swarm—she couldn't even imagine what it would be like if Natsukawa Torama fought with all his might.

Standing up and brushing the dust off his clothes, Natsukawa Torara extended his hand to Tomoe Gozen: "Well then, it's getting late, let's head back to Uruk. We'll report the situation here to Gilgamesh, and then it'll be time for dinner. I'm starving after fighting for so long."

“Go back to Uruk... If we go back now, it will probably be dark by the time we reach Uruk.”

No, that's not true.

Natsukawa Torama grasped Tomoe Gozen's hand and stepped into the light screen that suddenly appeared in front of them. The two then traveled directly from the depths of the dense forest back to the gates of Uruk.

"Look, they're back in no time."

Tomoe Gozen: "..."

Now that things have come to this, she's become somewhat numb.

Lord Natsukawa is truly an extraordinary person.

25. Turn Gudako into a dress-up doll.

The guests from Chaldea went to the Forest and fought with the Forest Goddess, securing a non-aggression pact for Uruk.

—Just a few days after Natsukawa Torara and Tomoe Gozen returned from the dense forest, such rumors spread throughout Uruk.

Naturally, Uruk, who had been troubled by the alliance of the three goddesses for the past six months, suddenly became excited.

To be precise, their fighting spirit soared.

Uruk is already struggling to defend against just one of the demon goddesses, and has no energy left to fight the other two. If they were to attack now, Uruk would definitely not be able to withstand it.

However, in this situation where destruction could occur at any moment, the guests from a distant land bought them a breather and solved a huge problem for them.

"Everyone outside is saying that you, Minister, are the hero who saved Uruk."

Inside the Chaldea Embassy, ​​Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had just finished a commission and was taking a break, sat at a wooden table drinking tea and smiled at Natsukawa Tora, who was lying on the edge of the window.

"You did something so big on your second day in Uruk. At least tell us first. Minister, you really are the kind of person who can do something quite amazing without us noticing."

“Anyway, I’m just sitting here doing nothing.” Xia Chuanhu put his hands behind his head. “Besides, I can’t call you guys. Weren’t you all immersed in your part-time jobs back then? I see that you’ve been fully committed to the construction of Uruk these past few days.”

“Because it’s unexpectedly interesting, and by getting involved in it so directly, we’re realizing even more just how vibrant Uruk is—right, Mash?”

Mashu, sitting next to Fujimaru Ritsuka, smiled and nodded: "Yes. This is a very vibrant city. The residents are very enthusiastic and have a strong will to live. It's really wonderful."

I've completely fallen in love with Uruk.

Xia Chuanhu smiled and said, "So, since you all want to stay in Uruk, how could I possibly take you away from Uruk? Let's just consider it as each of us doing our own job. You handle the internal affairs of Uruk, and I'll handle the external affairs of Uruk. It's a good division of labor."

That's what they say, but Natsukawa Torato knows what the two of them are really thinking.

"But even I have my limits. There might be times in the future when I need your help, and I'll take you with me then."

"Really? Then it's a deal, Minister, you can't lie to me."

"I'm not bragging, but I've never lied to anyone."

If I had to put it in perspective, he was the one who was deceived. The wicked women in his family often set all sorts of traps for him in order to realize their dark and unspeakable desires.

In different senses.

Just then, Mash suddenly spoke up: "For my brother to say he needs help... he must be a very powerful enemy. A goddess from the Three Goddesses Alliance? Even someone as strong as my brother couldn't completely defeat her?"

"Yeah, you're pretty strong. At least if you went one-on-one with Mash, you would definitely be crushed so badly that I wouldn't even recognize you."

Natsukawa Tora made a joke.

"But rather than saying it's impossible to completely defeat her, it's more accurate to say it's impossible to control the situation to the point where it's just enough to defeat her."

"So this means... you can actually defeat that goddess in the dense forest, Minister?" Fujimaru Ritsuka frowned in confusion. "Then why don't you defeat her? Wouldn't that have been a clean and efficient way to eliminate an enemy?"

Xia Chuanhu shook his head: "That's too risky. Although I could definitely defeat Quetzal Koyatl if I went all out, I wouldn't be able to pay attention to my surroundings. There are still quite a few humans in the forest. Plus, the noise from the battle might attract other goddesses, and I'd be in trouble if I got ganged up on."

But Natsukawa, you're perfectly capable of killing the goddess, aren't you?

Roman's voice rang out on Fujimaru Ritsuka's wrist.

Or is it that your demonic eyes are ineffective against enemies at the level of a supreme god?

Magic eye?