CHAPTER 9: THE DUEL AGAINST LADY AHRI

***The city of Hemelin, sometime in the past…***

“!!!” The stillness of the Grand Temple of the Golden Hammer was broken when everyone heard the sound of ceramic breaking. At once, the servants and guards of the Lord Louis rushed to his private chambers; it was his dinner time, and he was the only one eating at the moment.

When the dwarves entered his room, they found their god, sitting on his bed that was dirtied by the food that fell on it. A broken plate was by the side, and he blankly stared at it, as if he was stunned.

“Milord,” one of his guards, their captain Farah Koh, asked. “Are you alright? What happened?”

“M-My hand…” he showed them his quivering hand. “I can’t hold my plate properly!”

His servants exchanged glances. The guards sighed with relief. In their minds, they were asking themselves if this was the human body’s condition of ‘growing old,’ seeing that his hairs had become grey and his skin starting to show it wrinkles.

“Milord,” Farah took his hand and sought to calm him. “You’ll be alright. We’re here to help you.” Then she asked the servants to clean the bed, and pick up the broken shards, while she and a few other maids helped their god to change his dress.

Still, even when they were assisting him, the Lord Louis kept on shaking, this time his legs. And they also noticed that his walking was getting slower and steps smaller as the days progressed.

It was Farah who took note of it. “Milord, aren’t you tired? You keep on shaking, and your movements getting weaker?”

“I-I’ll be fine!” he insisted. “Just hurry and…h-help me!”

Trusting the words of her lord, the guard captain did what he asked, but she never left his room even after he finished his dinner…just to make sure the Lord Louis slept soundly.

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“Getting old, I see…?”

Louis opened his eyes, and he was within the swirling whiteness once again. Standing before him was the ‘goddess’ that sent him to the world of the dwarves, Arame, as if she waited for him to wake up. When he realized where he was, Louis immediately got up, and bowed in reverence to the deity.

“I see that you’re enjoying your life in the new world I sent you in.”

“The dwarves are industrious, and they make good wares,” the human reported. “Yet, I feel like they can benefit better from my world’s technologies.”

“You also brought your ideals.”

“I can’t stand it when powerful people oppress the weak ones on the basis of their gender preferences.”

“Well, you’re truly an idealist,” Arame chuckled. “This is what I admire in you, and what made you today. A living god. The praises of the dwarves are on you…”

“Thank you, Your Holiness,” was all Louis could say.

“You deserve it!” the goddess returned the compliment once more. “And you also weakened that blasphemous saint that caused the hardships on the dwarves!”

“The Lady Helgath?” the human was surprised that Arame mentioned her. “I think she’s just a naïve little…uhm, well, not too little because she’s a giant. But, yeah, she’s still naïve…”

“No matter,” the goddess changed the topic. “I called you here because of an important thing we need to discuss.”

“Which is?”

“Have you forgotten?” Arame looked at him like he said the most ridiculous thing possible. “You dropped your plate earlier!”

At once, the horror went back on Louis’ face. Not because he dropped his food; the reason was far more alarming…

“Your Holiness…” the human never wanted to mention it, yet, he had no other choice. “That shaking of my hand, do you think…”

Arame nodded. “Yes, your old human body is degenerating. Only, compared to other humans from your world, it is much faster, for you have this thing your doctors call ‘Parkinson’s disease.’”

The name of the sickness was enough to send shivers down to Louis’ spine. Overwhelmed by dread, he fell to his knees and pleaded to the goddess, “Your Holiness, I did everything you tell me in my whole second life in this place! Please don’t abandon your servant to this debilitating sickness! I don’t want to die! Not yet!”

“Calm down, Louis,” Arame took him by the hand, and gently pulled him to stand. “This is why we are talking right now. I don’t want to lose you as well. I will help you, don’t you worry; but you’ll have to do something for me.”

“Anything, Your Holiness!”

“Yes, I know.” Then, the goddess pulled a paper from somewhere and handed it to him. Louis inspected it, yet he couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Is this written in blood?” he asked after smelling it.

“My blood,” Arame reiterated. “That’s the proof that I’m willing to sacrifice my own self to help you.”

“Thank you, Your Holiness!” Louis bowed the second time, yet he still had questions. “But may I ask what is this?”

“Magic circles,” was the goddess’ answer. “It was an ancient magic meant to switch the souls between bodies. A good servant of mine in the past did it, and was the first one to test its effectiveness. She ‘died’ in her old body, and was born in another.”

“Wow…”

“Though, I had her tweak those lines a bit to make it so that you’ll only have to transfer your soul to another.”

“Ooh…” The human couldn’t hide his excitement. But then, something came to his thoughts. “Your Holiness, if it’s not too much, what will happen to the original soul if I transferred my spirit to that body? Or this only applied to corpses?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Arame hit him lightly in the head. “Of course, a dead body will remain dead. Perish the thought of transferring your soul to one. And as for the other spirit, before I answer you, let me ask…are you really willing to live? Or those words earlier are just out of desperation?”

“Your Holiness, I want to live.”

“The original soul will die then. For one body cannot exist to have two souls.”

“Huh?”

“I thought you wanted to live?”

“I-I do…but…”

“Oh come on! I thought you already know this! Louis, you are a future god; if you can’t stomach sacrificing a few of your people, then you shouldn’t be there in the first place! There are things that you need to do, even if it seems evil…you should always consider the end result!” At that moment, Arame never hid her impatience at Louis’ indecisiveness. “If you’re so afraid of displacing another soul, then how about you transfer it to your own weak body? Are we good?”

The Golden Hammer just stared at her, though his heart slowly settled for the answer: “Yes, I will do it.”

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**Kuro**

This conflict should end now, the Seductress be damned.

“…”

Well, not really taking her out of the picture. But, while it was a good call that we avoid setting off bloody wars to keep that Void creature from getting stronger, it was my mistake to solely focus on eliminating that threat, missing out the other aspects that prolonged the suffering of people around us. Hemelin’s survivors had to keep running from the gangs that ruled that city, when we have resources and manpower to force a solution to them. The northerners going to a crusade, and ending up nearly starving, when we could also resolve the issues in a decisive, convincing manner. And Albrecht and Ashren’s people getting murdered in their efforts to subdue their enemies without actually killing them.

This is like that internet meme of burning the house down just to get rid of the cockroach.

“…”

Albrecht’s injured state suddenly flashed through my head, and the Lady Helgath mourning for her ‘underling’s’ near-death experience. Well, not that we were underestimating the Seductress. Still, there were lives involved while we were so paralyzed by the danger she brought, when we could’ve done better. So, I should put an end to this whole show.

According to Lady Ahri, the criminal gangs of Hemelin had allied themselves to oppose the group of Albrecht and Ashren. And the human mercenary, talking from his ‘interrogation’ of the dwarves they caught, was telling me that their enemies were being led by a dwarf lady they call the ‘Mouth of the Golden Hammer.’

Yes, the Lord Louis—inside another body—himself.

Knowing his background, the tactics of these gangs were in-line with someone who knew the effective strategies of fighting guerilla warfare in my world. Ashren told me of booby traps, activated by striking or stepping on hidden strings attached to gunpowder. Albrecht and his dwarves got caught in a blast that brought down the building on them, one of his underlings stepping on the trap.

There were also punji sticks, hidden beneath the soil that would injure the dwarves and humans pursuing the criminals. And as if to make it worst, the villains in Hemelin now had access to guns, which they would use to harass the temple district and the warriors of the Army of Stone.

Only one surviving person knew the arsenals of the Church of the Golden Hammer were hidden. And of course, the Vietnam War-era tactics of fighting is well-known to any human from Earth.

“…”

As such, we had to upgrade our own equipment as well. The forces of the dwarven guilds were often armed with steam-powered battle axes and war hammers, which gave them advantage over enemies similarly-equipped. The propulsion of steam added to the powerful swing of the dwarves, and the poor victim had no chance to survive the crushing blow even as they try to parry it with their swords and shields.

Nevertheless, even if it was impressive, the steam-powered battle axes and war hammers were no match for the firepower of guns, which was common in the Church of the Golden Hammer’s arsenal meant for his security. However, compared to our own weapons, dwarf guns used steam propulsion to shoot bullets, unlike our gunpowder-propelled ammunition. This feature extended to their machine guns, which armed the dirigibles and fighter planes. And I could tell the Golden Hammer tried to keep his enemies and ‘unreliable’ allies weak; he never shared the guns outside his inner circle, where Miss Farah Koh was one of the prominent members.

A formidable human, indeed. He pre-empted his enemies from gathering strength by limiting their weapon options.

Also, dwarves were ‘conditioned’ to view guns as weapons for the coward, and disdained its use, failing to appreciate its battlefield prowess outside the aerial dogfights and long-ranged artillery. This was also why the northerners were equipped with armor; it gave them a false sense of security that played into our hands when we destroyed those.

And so, after gathering information on what we would expect, I sought to upgrade our arsenals as well.

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The dwarves were—as expected—indignant of the changes.

One of the fierce opponents on my proposal to re-arm the dwarf armies on our side with guns was the Lady Lagh Ahri herself. The Lady Helgath did say the mother of the Prince Uhrian was extremely proud of her fighting skills in wielding the war hammer. As much as I wanted to make her see reason, the captain of the Army of Stone never really treated me as the Dwarf Saint’s superior, and so my suggestions would be accepted if it only suited her own goals.

Not that I can blame her. Her distrust of Lord Louis runs deep, and with the recent revelations to me about his ‘other character,’ I’d say she’s correct.

So, when I proposed that our warriors began shooting guns, she vehemently countered it.

“I would rather die with a thousand bullets to my body, than use that thing!” she declared once.

And when I floated the suggestion once again, thinking that the dwarf captain had changed her mind…

“My answer remains the same!” she reiterated, even snapping at me before she realized her mistake and quickly apologized for her actions.

Of course, that put a dead-end to my planned reforms, and had to rethink of our strategy to reclaim Hemelin. While the Army of Stone was only a part of the forces we were assembling, they were still an important part, considering that the ‘best’ warriors on our side came from their unit.

Imagine the crashing morale of everyone else if they fall in the midst of battle against a machine-gun armed opponent…

“Your ‘human way’ of fighting wars will never fit the courage and prowess of us, dwarves!” Lady Ahri taunted. “Don’t pollute our ways too much, milord.”

“No, I’m not doing anything that can put you and your forces at the disadvantage,” I reasoned. “I mean, think of it! In this land, you and your army is our best allies; why would I weaken you?”

“What’s stopping you from doing the same thing as that human, Louis, did?”

Well, if she does put it that way, then her rejection makes sense. But still, her doubts were misplaced. “Alright then, milady, why don’t we settle this in a duel? I can also use that as an opportunity to show how powerful guns can be.”

There was a nasty smirk on the dwarf captain’s lips. She grabbed my hand and shook it, saying, “It’s on, Your Holy Majesty! Give me your best!”

And with that, we agreed to each other’s suggestions. To settle Lady Ahri’s doubts, I would fight her with guns, while she would stick in her trusty steam-powered battle axe. However, it seems someone caught of our agreement and told that to the miner queen…

“Your Heavenly Majesty,” Queen Paula kept on begging me to back off from my attempt. “I’m sure the other dwarves will understand if you talk to them. Going ahead with the demonstration on the power of guns is too dangerous for you.”

“Your Majesty, I already talked many times, yet these people won’t listen,” I countered. “Look, our enemies are armed with repeating weapons, and the best we can give them is to bring battle up close and personal. Let me tell you; before we can even reach halfway, our side would’ve lost men and dwarves.”

And with that, the miner queen knew she couldn’t convince me to back off anymore, thus, she relented.

So, wishing to avoid such catastrophe, I sat down at the planning table once again.

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“Having trouble with your plans?” Lily asked when she saw me brainstorming.

“Well, yes…” I sighed.

“That’s one long exhausted sigh, huh?” she commented.

“Can’t help it,” I replied, pointing to the steam gun nearby. “It’s difficult to convince Lady Lagh Ahri to adapt to the changes in the battlefield, even when it is about the safety of their lives.”

“They truly are stubborn,” the Head Maid laughed softly. “Even back in the old days, dwarves are renowned for their reckless bravery. Their mercenaries were sought after, though only for berserkers.”

Understandable, for if we look at their military value, a brave but stubborn dwarf is as good as a reluctant peasant dragged to fight.

“Well, Her Holiness the Lady Helgath is worried about you,” she revealed. “She keeps asking me about your condition. I guess she is being pressured by Maddie to keep an eye on you, though I guess, looking at you…they really do have a cause for concern.”

“Hmm…I just need a reason to convince Lady Ahri to adapt guns, or go around it and create a new tactic to counter our enemies’ guns.”

“The Lady Helgath said this to me: if you want to convince the Lady Ahri, you’ll have to make her ‘fall in love’ in how you fight.”

“Huh?”

Lily shrugged. “I think it’s how you conduct yourself in battle? See, I guess I can understand what she means…even if it’s for a little. The Army of Stone captain has lived her entire life as a guard for the Dwarf Saint, getting involved in her battles. Of course, she can only ‘respect’ the opinion of a fellow warrior.”

“So she’s basically saying that we duel?”

“Seems like that?”

I said nothing. Honestly, it felt weird to fight against someone who had been a subject of legends. But Lily and the Lady Helgath made their points; by now, I would also take the suggestions of people who undergone the same experience as me.

“If I may help, Kuro,” the Head Maid continued. “Why don’t you fight her using guns? You know? Show them the possibilities of fighting with that weapon.”

“That can work…though, really, will that even convince Lady Ahri? She’s been a headache ever since she awakened.”

“Who knows?” Lily shrugged. “Though, it’s the Lady Helgath who suggested it; she knows her people well, even if it has been eons since they were last together.”

Taking into mind the Dwarf Saint’s words, I sought to have a ‘demonstration’ on how to use guns by going on a duel against Lady Ahri. It was also meant to show how ‘outgunned’ our forces would be, should the dwarves insist in their old ways of battle. Good thing that, unlike the guns we manufacture in Chersea and in my world, the dwarf ‘steam guns’ could be adjusted in its power to hurl lethal projectiles. Thus, I could hit them fair-and-square with minimized risks of actually killing them.

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We set our duel to be done in the grassy field at the foot of Montserrant, right outside their mountain. Reason was, it was a wide area, interrupted only by a few patches of trees that was ineffective as hiding spots. Lady Ahri, as she was confident in her fighting prowess, challenged me to prove to her the effectiveness of the guns. I replied that I could defeat her, and her warriors, from a distance a hundred times over. Provoked by my ‘boast,’ she agreed to it.

Honestly, I don’t get it. The Lady Helgath told me that the dwarf commander had been a veteran of numerous conflicts against gun wielders in the past. So, she must’ve seen—along with her dwarves—and experienced the power of guns from a distance. I mean, the dwarf armaments weren’t like the Martini-Henris’ the British Army brought at Isandlwana; these were steam-powered machine-guns. While it had lower punching power than our gunpowder munitions, it could still tear through leather, wood and canvas, the common materials of their planes and dirigibles; it could also make a dent at the iron armors dwarf warriors often wear to battle.

And because it uses water as propellant, the barrels don’t create residue that slowly jams the barrel.

Nevertheless, the Lady Ahri remained unconvinced. She insisted on dueling me, though I gave the condition that I would only use a ‘watered-down’ amount of pressure just enough to knock them down unconscious. I didn’t want to kill someone, after all.

Now, while they were a rowdy and merry folk, the dwarves still loved a good battle. The news that the commander of the Army of Stone challenged me to a duel soon spread all over Montserrant, and the people flocked to the foot of the mountains to witness our fight. Those that couldn’t come to the spectacle counted on the news crews to bring them updates; their dirigibles circled above us. The advertisement boards hyped the event as ‘God vs. Dwarf: Battle of the Ages.’ I think the only thing that lacks is our faces plastered on the boards like we are going to some boxing match.

In any case, Lady Ahri came to the field escorted by her closest lieutenants; four other female dwarves donned in heavy armor with intricate golden details. Whenever I looked at them, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the image of the so-called ‘Space Marines’…only this time, the marines were ladies, and armed with steam-powered battle axes and war hammers.

“…”

By comparison, I looked like a passer-by that was pulled into the fight only because the original contender lost heart and backed out. I wore no armor, though I was armed with my usual dagger, Chersean sword and a steam-powered gun I borrowed from one of the miners of Cole. The ranged weapon held a clip of ten small iron bullets, and the ‘steam’ was actually a heated container that was inserted in the grip. The steam was quickly lost due to cooling, so the dwarves’ solution to it was to ‘pre-heat’ several containers, and bring those to battle, further encumbering their common soldier that wielded it.

To be fair, I’m beginning to see the reason of Lady Ahri not to use guns, efficiency-wise. It’s hard to move around with a big and heavy bag filled with ‘explosive’ air while you’re dodging bullets.

“…”

But we could always use the bolt-heaters; I only had to convince her of the dangers of fighting ranged weapons with melee, hence I was forced to use this inefficient gun design.

“Milord,” the captain of the Army of Stone gave her respects to me before we started. “Please accept our praises to you, for you bravely showed up for battle.” Likewise, her lieutenants followed her lead. Not wishing to appear ‘high-and-mighty,’ I returned their gesture, much to the delight of our audiences. Everyone began to clap and cheered for both sides.

Good lord, these dwarves treat battle as if it is a big part of their lives.

“…”

And to think, I’m just here to demonstrate…

My eyes fell on the spot where Lily, Queen Paula, and the Lady Helgath watched. While the miner queen was at her usual ‘worried’ look, the Head Maid and the Dwarf Saint had confident expressions, as if they already knew the outcome of what would happen. Or perhaps, the Lady Helgath was reading my mind and was aware of what I was about to do.

“…”

Yep, her wink at me tells me she did.

One of the ministers of Queen Paula served as an ‘arbiter,’ and took his place at the middle of the field. When we saw him, we stood in our positions, too, opposite of each other, and with significant distance. The dwarves readied their weapons; they also did warm-ups by flinging those like they were swinging strings. I, on the other hand, made sure that my steam bottle was still heated, before focusing on the dwarf at the center.

“Begin!” The minister brought down his hand, and the duel started. Just as I suspected, the dwarves attacked me head-on, dismissing a couple of bullets I sent their way. Contrary to most expectations, these warriors advanced with lightning-fast movements, even when they were in their hulking armors and big weapons. As for me, I haven’t used a steam gun before, so…

“Oh shit!” I blurted out. This was because, with the lower steam pressure, so was the range of the weapon I wield. It certainly ‘softened’ the impacts, but it was nearly useless to fight in long distances with it.

When the dwarves were about to pounce on me, I returned their attacks. Shooting at point blank, they also easily dodged my bullets, even as I emptied an entire clip of iron ammunition in quick succession.

“!!!” Just as I loaded a fresh magazine, I had to avoid the flurry of battle axes and war hammers about to smash me. Rolling away, I lost the bag of heated bottles in the process, and the dwarves quickly secured it, depriving me of my means to fight longer with the gun. However, I was determined to land shots at them. I could always rely on my dagger and sword, but that would invalidate my demonstration that guns would be effective against melee. So, with a few minutes remaining before I lost the steam of my weapon, I decided that it was time to take the battle to them. Pulling my sword, I rushed to my opponents…

“Go Kuro!” the Lady Helgath shouted.

“Your Holiness!” Lady Ahri rebuked her. “Please calm down and just watch!”

At once, the Dwarf Saint fell silent, embarrassed by her show of partiality. But, even though the captain of the Army of Stone was distracted for a bit, her lieutenants remained focused. As I charged against them, they defended their commander, skillfully swinging their weapons to counter my own.

Nevertheless, the sword was just a distraction. Once I determined I was at the right distance…

“!!!” I aimed the gun at the dwarves and shot at them, hitting their heads in the process. As it was a ‘watered-down’ steam propellant, it only knocked the living lights out of the lieutenants, and they fell together. Realizing that they were duped, Lady Ahri resumed her attacks. A swing of her axe would be followed by attempts to headbutt, and then, just as I recovered from evading those, she would continue by trying to bash my skull with her gloves.

And dang…I must say, Prince Uhrian’s mother is a real battle-junkie. Just look at the smile on her face!

“I really love how you fight, milord!” she commented. “However, it’s time to show you our difference in skills!” With that, her attacks intensified. Headbutt, swing her axe, follow it with another headbutt, or a bash me with her foot or fist…I rarely got time to mount a counter of my own.

But then…

Increasingly frustrated by my evasion, Lady Ahri’s attacks increased in power while slowly became ‘mindless’ attempt to land a hit on me. Seizing the opportunity, I threw her my sword.

“!!!” It surely surprised her, which cost her a second to realize what I was about to do.

Pulling my dagger, I used it to block the incoming blow from her axe. As it was not steam-powered at the moment, my weapon effectively blocked its blade. Then, just as her guard was lowered, I pointed my gun on her forehead, and fired at close range.

Just like her lieutenants, Lady Ahri was knocked unconscious by the shot.