"Knight Commander!"

Youji furrowed his brows. Looking up from his paperwork, he saw one of the knight captains standing in front of his desk.

"Don't you have any manners, Moe? Don’t just barge in here. Knock before you enter!"

"My apologies, Knight Commander." Moe wiped sweat off his forehead. "But it's an emergency!"

Youji rolled his eyes. "For you, every little problem is an emergency. What's the issue now? Are you asking for a promotion again?"

"No, I’ve come to report a major offence. Someone has defiled the honor of the knights!"

Youji began tapping his finger on his desk. "What are you blabbering about? Get to the point."

"A lunatic attacked the squad of knights under my command!" Spit flew out of Moe's mouth as he spoke.

Youji wiped spit off his face. "Why did he attack your knights?"

"Well... uh... I don't know. He just went berserk."

Youji slammed his hand on the desk. "Don't play dumb with me! No one would attack a squad of knights for no reason!"

Moe looked away. "Well... you see… a pit toilet cleaner spilled some filth on the boot of one of my knights. We were only teaching him a lesson, when a warrior intervened."

Youji narrowed his eyes. "What kind of ‘lesson’ were you teaching him?"

"A lowly commoner should know their place, sir. We were just roughing him up a bit."

Youji brought his palm to his face. "Did you injure the warrior?"

"No, we couldn't even lay a finger on him! In a blink of an eye, he crippled my entire squad with his bare hands! That's why I've come to ask for more knights to subdue this menace. Better yet, you should be the one delivering the punishment."

The warrior must have an extremely high level of skill.

‘Crippled’ was the keyword. The warrior had enough skill and experience to incapacitate an entire squad of knights without lethally injuring them. It would have been much easier for him to use lethal force. What was even more surprising was that he did so with his bare hands.

"You're right. I'll give the appropriate punishment."

Moe's mouth curved into a smile. "Show no mercy."

"I agree; the punishment needs to fit the crime. You are to be demoted from knight captain to knight. The knights under your command are to be suspended without pay for one month."

Moe's mouth fell open. "I don't understand. What have we done wrong? The one who needs to be punished is that warrior who assaulted us!"

"You imbecile!" Youji grabbed a book from his desk and threw it at Moe, who narrowly dodged it. "What have you done wrong? Do you even know what the most important duty of a knight is?"

Moe was speechless.

Youji sighed. "If you can't even understand something as basic as that, then you have no right to wear the title of knight captain. Knights exist to protect the citizens of this country. Who do you think pays your salaries? They do. With protectors like you, who needs enemies?"

“Isn't the punishment too harsh for such a little issue? It won't happen again, I promise!"

Youji gritted his teeth. "A little issue? You haven't even shown the slightest bit of remorse for what you've done. The only thing you seem to be interested in is protecting your rank. For that reason, my decision is final."

Moe clasped his hands together. "Please reconsider!”

Youji glared at Moe. "Do I need to repeat myself?"

"No..." Moe lowered his head and turned to leave.

"Wait, what does the warrior look like?"

"He wore a black suit of armor. I couldn't see his face, because it was hidden behind a mask."

"Thank you, that is all. You're dismissed."

Youji leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He took slow, deep breaths.

Finally, some peace and quiet.

Not long after Moe left, there was a knock at the door.

Is that Moe again?

"What is it now?"

"Sorry to interrupt you, Knight Commander. Gilgamesh's next match is about to start."

The voice behind the door belonged to his squire.

Youji had heard rumors that Gilgamesh was using a weapon made of adamantium. Adamantium was a supposedly indestructible metal. It was so rare that Youji had never seen it in his life. He wanted to see just how powerful an adamantium weapon really was.

"Thank you for the reminder, Valen. I'll be with you shortly."

***

"Ladies and gentlemen! Feast your eyes on a match between Hupo, the masked man in black, and Gilgamesh, the golden warrior!"

The gamemaster's introduction was greeted with thunderous cheering from the audience.

Hupo couldn’t agree more with the gamemaster's description of his opponent. Everything about Gilgamesh was golden - his short sword, his plate armor, and even his hair.

Gilgmesh glared at Hupo. "Runt!"

Is he trying to use insults to throw me off my game?

"Actually, my name is Hupo."

"Don't even think about blinking. Otherwise, you'll miss the moment when I break your bones and rend your flesh." Gilgamesh licked his sword, as if to drive home a point.

He sure has a flair for the dramatic.

"You may as well give up now, because with this baby, I'm invincible." Gilgamesh raised his sword. "This sword cost me a fortune, but it was worth every penny. It's made of adamantium, the strongest metal in the world. In other words, it's indestructible. You should consider yourself lucky to be one of its first victims."

That’s disappointing. Is adamantium really the strongest metal in this world?

In World of Lorecraft, there were many metals that were stronger than adamantium.

"Indestructible? We'll see about that."

Hupo was fairly confident that he could cut Gilgamesh’s sword. His katana, {Miyamoto}, was an Ultra Rare Item in World of Lorecraft. A meter in length, it was the sharpest sword in the entire game. Its blade was made of soulsteel, a metal that became stronger with every opponent slain. After vanquishing innumerable foes, it became nearly indestructible.

The starting bell rang.

Neither opponent moved. The arena was so quiet that Hupo could hear a breeze blowing.

The silence was broken by Gilgamesh's roaring laughter. "That's a good one! For a moment there, you sounded like you could break it. But my sword is not the only thing you have to worry about. Even if, by some miracle, you land a blow on me, you won't be able to penetrate my mithril armor. Commoners can work their whole lives and still can't buy even one piece of this armor."

"Uh huh."

Gilgamesh took a few steps toward Hupo. "Since you gave me a good laugh, let me return the favor by giving you a run-down of the tragedy that's about to befall you."

He pointed his sword at Hupo's arm. "First, I'm going to lop off your arm."

He pointed it at Hupo's other arm. "Next, I'm going to slice off your other arm."

He waved it at Hupo's legs. "And if you're still conscious, then I'll cut off your -"

Before Gilgamesh could finish, Hupo stepped forward and slashed.

The top half of Gilgamesh's blade fell off.

Gilgamesh tilted his head. "Eh?"

Hupo reversed his grip and took another step forward. He slashed with the blunt edge of his blade.

Gilgamesh, who was still staring at his broken sword, didn’t seem to notice Hupo's falling blade. It broke his armor and clavicle. Blood spewed from his mouth, as he collapsed onto his knees and fell flat on his face.

"A one hit knockout! Hupo is the winner!"

The audience exploded in cheers after hearing the result from the gamemaster.