Tension rose between them, as they stared at each other. However, there was a subtle, but still quite stark, contrast.
Infori stared with a look of surprise, while Queen Noya met his gaze with a relatively calm and relaxed gaze, not even intimidating or intimidating at all. She wore a faint smile, as if pleased to see someone she hadn't seen in a long time.
"Why are you...?"
"Here?" a familiar male voice rang in Infori's ear, as a man dressed in a brown and black tunic, leather accents, and a black cloak covering his entire body appeared—walking from within the same portal that had brought Infori here. Infori was shocked to see him appear before her, as if signaling something. "She's the Queen of—"
Before the man could continue, Infori interrupted him quickly, already knowing who Noya was.
"Yes, yes. She's the queen of the kingdom of Desorder. My question is, why is she in a place like this?"
"Huh…" he let out a long sigh. It showed disappointment with Infori, who had refused to give up his artifact and now wouldn't listen at all. "Not just a queen in the Overworld, but something greater than a queen."
"Huh?" Infori said, frowning. His gaze fixed on the man, he waited for him to clarify.
"She holds all destiny."
Infori's eyes widened. He paused for a moment, not thinking about the words that would come out of the man's mouth. Therefore, when he heard that statement—Shock came over him.
"...?!"
He had unconsciously taken a half step back, his eyes then glancing at Noya, who was behind the man. And his enemy noticed this movement.
"Your eyes already show genuine surprise, but that won't last long once you give the artifact to Queen Noya," he said, repeating the same thing.
"This belongs to someone else; I will never give it to anyone else."
Then Noya suddenly spoke. "Why, Infori? You want to give it to someone who wants to bring peace, tranquility, and serenity to the world?"
Infori answered immediately without hesitation. His count had even interrupted Noya's words: "You misunderstand my motives, Your highness. I only after bit of coin."
This statement put Noya in a bad mood. He sensed a strong murderous aura emanating from his queen. He knew she was now at the end of her tether.
"..."
However, unexpectedly. Noya smiled slightly, taking a deep breath. "Hah..." A long sigh echoed throughout the room, creating a distinctly unpleasant atmosphere.
They all felt it, an aura that couldn't even be defined without words.
Everyone fell silent, a silence falling between them. However, it didn't last long. When Noya opened his mouth to speak,
"I thought this would go smoothly. But..." His right hand formed a long, black, two-handed handle, with a silver metal divider in the middle to identify it as a double-edged sword.
It had a crossbar with a sharp top edge, extending straight to the side, forming the boundary between the blade and the handle. Then, Noya grasped the hilt. At that moment, infinite tiny particles appeared, forming a long, straight, silver blade with a sharp edge.
"Dimsk."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The man, named Dimsk by Noya, turned toward him. Noya then presented the double-edged sword to him, and Dimsk gladly accepted it.
Calmly, Dimsk turned back to Infori. His gaze sharpened. As if knowing what he was doing, Infori replied, "I won't give you that artifact."
"Keep it, if you can..." Dimsk replied coldly.
Infori braced herself; this wouldn't be easy for her to handle without any weapons to fight back. However, just as she was about to get serious with him, Noya suddenly spoke to her.
"Infori..." he called out to Infori, then said something quite important. "I will answer all your questions, but I will give you a choice: live or die."
"..."
"If you want to live, you must defeat Dimsk in one-on-one combat," he said again, but then he made Infori's position even more complicated. "No magic. No artifact... Only the power you possess."
At that, Infori fell silent, cold sweat breaking out. "…" He began to think about how he could fight without using the artifact he possessed.
(How can I win against someone who has a weapon when I don't...?! This is starting to make no sense...!)
Infori suddenly thought that this whole thing had been making no sense since he left the shop.
(Well, it's been making no sense since the beginning of my journey, anyway...)
He was now at a loss for what to do, because he wasn't sure he could even fight against an armed man who even had the power to create things from nothing.
Infori stiffened his arms. (Is there no other way...?!) Infori then began to regulate his breathing, trying to calm himself while there was still time.
With no other choice left, Infori immediately assumed his fighting stance. He stepped back with his left foot while his legs bent slightly, placing his hope in his own hands, which he held in front of him, as a defense.
Noya and Dimsk's reactions were simply surprise at Infori's acceptance of the challenge.
"Hoo..."
Meanwhile, the other Infori could only watch in silence.
"..."
Infori suddenly called out to the man.
"You want to play? Let's play!"
The man, identified as Dimsk, chuckled after hearing his call. He was immediately intrigued by Infori's courage to fight despite being completely unarmed.
"Hahaha... May your heart chip and shatter, Believer."
Without thinking, Dimsk lunged at him, giving him a moment of direct contact with Infori. This surprised Infori even more than before.
"...!"
Forcing Infori to take a step back, and out of position. Then, Dimsk brought his sword down on Infori's neck—