Book 4: Chapter 23 |
In the first-floor hall, all the players who had already been “killed” gathered here to watch the father and daughter’s showdown.
“Go, Sister~! Go, Dad too~!”
“Go, Noya-chan~!”
Mu’en and Helena eagerly took on the role of hype-squad cheerleaders.
A-Guang was in Auntie’s arms, her little tail bobbing up and down with excitement.
After all, over these dozens of hours of gameplay, A-Guang had certainly watched plenty of drama—
But that drama all had a kind of “edging” feeling to it, never quite letting A-Guang get fully high.
But right here, right now, the ultimate duel would be between Big Sis and Dad—
And compared to those other bits of fun that expired quickly and vanished in an instant…
“a loving father, dutiful daughter” was the sort of fun that only got better the more you savored it.
A-Guang even wanted to ask the staff for a few scrying stones, to record this ultimate duel—
So she could replay it over and over once they got home.
At the same time, A-Guang could also feel Auntie’s anticipation for this match.
“Auntie, who do you think will win, Big Sis or Dad?” A-Guang asked.
“Objectively speaking, even if a hundred of your Big Sis came, she still couldn’t win.”
Isha first analyzed it with brutal honesty, then added,
“But it’s hard to say. Who knows whether your old man will go easy on her?”
A-Guang blinked her pretty big eyes.
“Auntie, by your logic… even if Dad went so easy his ‘water’ could flood the entire Samael Continent, Big Sis still couldn’t win, right?”
Isha laughed and gently tapped A-Guang’s nose.
“Just watch slowly. I’m also looking forward to seeing how exactly they’ll carry out this ultimate duel.”
Rosvitha watched quietly from the side.
She knew Leon would definitely “go easy” and let their eldest daughter win.
But the problem was—
Noya wasn’t stupid.
From Rosvitha’s understanding of Noya, she was certain that her daughter had to know, deep down, that she couldn’t defeat her old man.
So this would be a tremendous test of Leon’s acting.
He had to look very serious, and when he “threw” the match, he couldn’t make it too obvious.
He had to achieve the effect of:
“Wow, what a shame—clearly I’ve already given everything, but I still can’t do anything at all!”
In the face of an absolute strength gap, only a perfectly natural “moment of carelessness” would allow their daughter to accept the result.
Of course, ten-odd minutes ago in the cellar, the couple had discussed it carefully too.
They both wanted Noya to win in the end, but they didn’t have to force it.
If they made the “going easy” too obvious just to reach that outcome, it would only make Noya unhappy.
In that case, it would be better to just play normally.
All in all, for Leon—
In this duel, losing “perfectly” was harder than winning easily.
I’ll have to be even more serious than when I used to deal with those Dragon Kings, Leon thought.
Meanwhile, in the very center of the first-floor hall, the father and daughter took their stances.
The mini-game for their ultimate duel was “Snatch the Bell.”
The rules were simple:
Each person tied a bell at their waist.
Whoever snatched the other person’s bell first would be the winner.
At this moment, with their bells already tied, the father and daughter faced off from opposite sides of the field.
“Hey, kid.”
In the dark-golden waterway of her consciousness, the old ancestor—who hadn’t spoken for a long time—suddenly addressed Noya.
“What?”
Time flowed differently in the mind-space than in the real world, so Noya had enough time to chat with the old ancestor for a couple of lines.
“You should know that in a physical, close-contact type of game like this…”
“Against your father, you have absolutely no chance of winning, right?”
“Mm. I know.”
Noya’s tone was flat. She spread her hands and continued at an unhurried pace,
“But what do you want me to do?”
“Just surrender, then act cute with my dad and have him give me the prize, the Black Holy Stone?”
“That does sound time-saving and effortless.”
The old ancestor gave a small, amused snort.
“But I know you won’t do that.”
“I didn’t expect the whole game to end up like this either. So the Night-Spirit Crystal, I might not be able to—”
“If you want to win, then don’t say discouraging things.”
For once, the old ancestor’s tone turned rare and serious.
Her white dragon eyes reflected Noya’s tiny figure as she continued,
“Even if there’s an overwhelming gap in strength, pre-battle analysis and preparation are still necessary.”
“You’re not going to just think, ‘I can’t possibly beat my father,’ so I’ll simply throw brute force at it and gamble, are you?”
Noya’s pupils flickered.
A trace of emotion passed over her calm little face—then vanished in an instant.
She took a deep breath, thought for a moment, and replied,
“Besides the absolute gap in strength…”
“Dad’s combat experience is also much richer than mine.”
“Any tricks I can think of are things he taught me, or the academy taught me.”
“They’re a bit too rigid.”
“Exactly.”
“So later, be more flexible.”
“Don’t keep clinging to what you learned at school.”
“Respond to moves as they come. Get your brain moving.”
Noya nodded.
“Okay. I understand.”
“Then… at the end, I still have to pump you up.”
The old ancestor gazed at Noya.
Little by little, that small figure in her eyes seemed to overlap with her own past self.
Ten thousand years ago, countless people had also advised her not to try to become the savior of dragonkind.
But she still chose that path without hesitation.
And now, in this little girl, Noah seemed to see that kind of conviction—
Though ten thousand stand before me, still I go.
“Even though this is just a little ‘snatch the bell’ game…”
“Your will to do it, even knowing it can’t be done, still makes me very satisfied.”
“Go on, little one.”
“Give it everything.”
“Leave no regrets.”
Noya gave a low “Mm,” and then withdrew from the mind-space.
The staff member also happened to announce the start of the game.
The father and daughter confronted each other across a distance of five or six meters, neither taking the initiative to strike first.
“I really didn’t expect you to still have a card like that, Noya,” Leon said with a smile.
“Dad, do you know…”
“When I found that card, who do I most hope to duel?”
“And who was that?”
Noya stared straight at the man in front of her.
“It was you, Dad.”
Leon raised his brows slightly, intrigued.
“I thought you’d choose your mom, or Helena.”
“So it was me?”
“Of course it was you.”
“It’s always been you.”
Noya lowered her body slightly, hunching her back and stretching her legs, taking a ready-to-pounce stance.
“I’ve always…”
“Really, really wanted…”
“To have a real match with you, Dad.”
“So even if it’s a mini-game like snatching a bell…”
“I’ll still go all out.”
Leon didn’t quite understand why his eldest daughter would say something like “I’ve always wanted to match you.”
But even knowing the difference in strength was huge, she still kept this kind of fighting spirit…
Leon was still happy.
Once upon a time, when he was young, he had been like Noya now—leaping across who-knew-how-many levels of combat power to challenge his master.
The result was getting beaten so badlythat he rolled around crying.
Well—anyway, he definitely wouldn’t be like his master.
“I’m coming, Dad.”
“Good.”
The moment the words fell, Noya shot forward like an arrow, aiming straight for the bell at Leon’s waist.
But a frontal attack that didn’t even try to hide its intent was child’s play to Leon.
He shifted slightly to the side, easily dodging Noya’s lunge.
Then, Leon smoothly reached toward the bell at Noya’s waist.
His hand moved fast.
But not the fastest.
To avoid snatching Noya’s bell outright, Leon also couldn’t let her realize he was deliberately going easy.
And Noya’s reaction was extremely swift.
After her first strike missed, she immediately adjusted her center of gravity and rotated the side of her waist with the bell to the other direction.
Leon also grabbed nothing.
When she landed, Noya tapped the ground with her toe and launched a second, fiercer round of offense.
Because of their height difference, if Noya wanted to snatch the bell, she had to jump.
But no matter how she jumped, halfway up, she would expose a huge opening.
Noya had sharply noticed this after missing the first lunge.
So in this second round, she didn’t rush.
Instead, she focused on disrupting Leon’s lower-body balance.
She could use the fact that she was shorter to force her dad to bend down to defend.
Leon quickly saw through Noya’s tactic, the corner of his mouth lifting.
“Turning a disadvantage into an advantage—nice one, Noya.”
“A very excellent teacher told me—”
As Noya spoke, her attacking hands never paused for even a moment.
“Don’t cling to set patterns.”
“Use your brain more.”
Deep in her consciousness, it seemed that “excellent teacher” let out a proud little hum.
“Alright—then you…”
“Try this!”
As soon as the words fell, Leon stretched out his arm.
With the advantage of longer reach and height, he pinched the back of Noya’s collar and lifted her whole body.
This was the absolute gap in strength mentioned at the start.
As long as Leon used his natural advantages even a little, any tactic Noya used would be broken quickly.
“Then I won’t hold back—your bell…”
“Is mine.”
Leon held Noya in one hand while his other hand slowly reached toward her waist.
After struggling twice, Noya realized that with her legs dangling in midair, she couldn’t generate any force at all.
But Dad’s merciless hand was about to take her bell.
In the crisis, Noya bit her lower lip hard.
Her waist suddenly drove with power, using the momentum of rocking her body back and forth to swing herself slightly.
Then, Noya seized the timing.
She hooked her tail around Dad’s arm, forcibly shifting the position of her waist.
Leon was also slightly startled.
“Oh—baby, you’re that flexible?”
“There’s even more flexible!”
As she spoke, using Leon’s arm as a fulcrum, Noya yanked with her tail and “levered” her whole body up.
She treated Dad’s forearm like a horizontal bar and performed a clean, sharp “stomach circle” around it, successfully hanging onto Leon’s shoulder.
Leon trained a lot in daily life, his arm muscles well-developed—otherwise there was no way he could’ve supported Noya doing such a high-difficulty move.
“Dad, I’m going to be a dragon knight.”
“Huh?”
Noya, standing on Leon’s shoulder, didn’t pause.
She leaned forward and climbed onto Dad’s neck.
Just like the “dragon knight” game Mu’en used to play with Leon.
“But if you’re riding that high…”
“How are you going to snatch the bell on my waist?” Leon said.
As he spoke, one hand gently held his daughter’s ankle where her foot rested against his chest.
He was afraid that once things got intense, she might lose balance and fall.
Noya let out a light laugh.
“Of course…”
“Like this!”
As she spoke, Noya leaned back and arched into a backward fall, her feet hooking under Dad’s armpit area to lock her body firmly in place.
Then she performed a perfectly standard backbend.
Her little head snapped downward, her black-and-silver hair spilling toward the floor.
She was now hanging upside down along Leon’s back—
And her hand could just reach Leon’s waist belt!
“Got it!”
A spark flashed through Noya’s eyes as she reached for Dad’s bell.
Unfortunately—
Old ginger is spicier than young ginger.
Leon firmly grabbed Noya’s ankles and spun in place.
The sudden dizziness made Noya lose her target for the moment.
That round of attack had to be abandoned.
After spinning a few times, Leon slowly stopped, then crouched so his daughter could climb down safely.
“Looks like you’ve improved a lot in the days when I wasn’t paying attention,” Leon praised sincerely.
“I told you, Dad.”
“I’ll go all out.”
After a brief breather, Noya charged again.
And Leon also raised a defensive posture.
At this moment, both father and daughter knew this would very likely be their final attack.
Because they had more or less figured out each other’s patterns.
So who would snatch the bell—
That would be decided in this third round.
Noya kept changing directions; the little one’s attack speed was incredibly fast.
She darted and shifted, and the “corpses” watching the battle were stunned.
“Your daughter…”
“Is she really only five years old?” Even Claudia—who had seen a great deal in her life—couldn’t help exclaiming at Noya’s talent.
“She’ll be six in the second half of this year,” Rosvitha said.
“Mom, Mu’en is going to be six too~.”
Rosvitha lowered her head and rubbed Little Moon’s hair affectionately.
“Yes. Mu’en will be six soon, too.”
“When I was Noya’s age…”
“I absolutely couldn’t do this.”
“Such clean attacks without any drag…”
“And at the same time, such precise defense…”
Helena marveled.
“I knew she was already very strong compared to the young dragons our age…”
“But I didn’t expect she could reach this level even against Uncle Leon…”
Everyone was praising Noya.
Rosvitha naturally felt proud of her daughter’s talent.
But as Noya’s mother, Rosvitha always thought one layer deeper.
For example…
To reach today’s level, in the corners no one knew about—
How much effort had Noya put in?
How much sweat had she shed?
That child…
Could never have all her effort dismissed and overlooked with a single word like “talent.”
……
In the center of the hall, Noya seized a tiny opening, stepped in, and lunged straight for the bell at Leon’s waist.
This strike was extremely fast.
Leon only barely dodged after he realized Noya’s direction.
But this was still like the first round of attacks earlier—
Once a lunge failed, it would expose an even bigger opening.
Leon planned to do the same again and seize the chance to snatch Noya’s bell.
But—
The turning point arrived quietly in the very next instant!
After missing, Noya didn’t immediately readjust her posture.
Instead, she watched the angle at which Dad leaned in.
Seizing the timing, she extended her tail and—at an angle Leon never would’ve expected—swiftly reached for the bell at his waist.
Leon never imagined his daughter would use her tail for a sneak attack.
Crap…
Jingle—
Noya landed with both feet on the ground, her hands empty.
But at the tip of her silver tail—
Hung that delicate little string of bells.
…
Footnotes:
- cùn zhǐSlang meaning “to stop right before the climax / cut off at the critical moment,” leaving someone unsatisfied and wanting more.
- hái bù wén zhī de jiǎo luòLiterally, “corners no one knows about” means the unseen, unrecognized places where someone quietly works hard.
- jiāng hái shì lǎo de làIdiom meaning “older ginger is spicier”; implies elders are more experienced, craftier, and harder to beat.
- fù cí nǚ xiàoA set phrase meaning “a loving father and a filial/dutiful daughter,” often used sincerely, but also jokingly/ironically when people are teasing wholesome family dynamics.
- suī qiān wàn rén wú wǎng yǐClassical-style line meaning “though ten thousand stand before me, still I go”; describes unwavering determination despite overwhelming odds.