Peaceful Life System: I only need to live peacefully-Chapter 194: Standoff (4)

"Stop it!" she roared, her voice cracking with rage. "Stop hiding in the shadows like a coward!"

She pointed her spear at the nearest silhouette. "Is this the only way you dark mages know how to fight? With tricks and deceit? You are a rat scurrying in the dark, afraid of the light!"

Her voice rose to a desperate shriek. "Face me! Face me like a man, or are you just like another dark roach who fears a true battle?"

This time, all the clones just smirked instead of being angry. Slowly, the shadow clones wavered, then dissolved into smoke.

Silence fell over the field.

Then, Riku appeared. He solidified from the shadows directly in front of her. He stood not ten paces away. His form was no longer a void. It was solid, real, and radiating an immense, terrifying pressure.

"What’s wrong, Knight-Captain?" Riku asked, his voice laced with a cold amusement. "I thought darkness was weak. I thought the Light was pure and strong. Why are you having so much trouble with a simple ’parlor trick’?"

The captain’s face flushed a deeper shade of red. "Stop your cowardly games!" she snarled. "If you had any honor, you would face me in a fair fight!"

"You wanted a direct fight?" Riku asked, his voice quiet. "You wish to face me without tricks?"

The Knight-Captain stared at him. Her heart pounded in her chest. But her pride would not let her back down. "Yes," she snarled. "No more illusions. No more cowardice. Just you and me."

Riku smiled. It was a cold, empty expression. "Very well. I will grant your wish."

He stood perfectly still. He made no move to defend himself. He simply watched her.

"I will not move from this spot," he said. "Attack me. Use your strongest spell. Show me the full power of the Solari Legion."

He tilted his head slightly. "Don’t hold back. I want to see if the Light is as strong as you claim."

The Knight-Captain stared at him.

The arrogance of his words was an intolerable insult. He was not just challenging her. He was mocking her. He was mocking her faith, her empire, her entire existence.

"You will regret this," she whispered, her voice trembling with rage.

She took a deep breath. She planted her feet firmly on the ground. She raised her golden spear, pointing its blazing tip towards the heavens.

"So be it," she roared.

A pillar of golden light erupted from her body. It shot into the sky, so bright it outshone the sun. The ground around her began to crack under the immense pressure. The air itself seemed to sing with holy power.

She was gathering all of her strength. All of her magic. All of her faith.

She was preparing to unleash it all in a single, devastating strike.

The sky glowed with golden light.

One of the younger paladins took a step back, eyes wide. "That’s... Radiant Judgment. She’s really using it."

"Has she lost her mind?" hissed another. "That’s a battlefield spell. It’s meant for wiping out entire squadrons."

The ground beneath her feet cracked apart. Chunks of stone lifted into the air, trembling in the force of the gathering magic. Heat rolled off her in waves. A burning wind swept outward, scattering dust across the field.

"She’s going to kill him!" a third soldier muttered, struggling to keep his footing. "That peasant doesn’t even have a weapon!"

Her spear pointed toward the heavens, and a column of energy surrounded her. The sheer force of it cracked the earth at her feet. Stones floated upward before disintegrating in the pressure. The paladins stepped back again, shielding their faces from the light. Even those standing far from the circle squinted and winced as the glow intensified.

This wasn’t just a spell. It was the full force of the Empire’s divine magic, channeled through a Knight-Captain of the Solari Legion. She was going to end the battle in a single strike.

On the other side, Barou, Lila, Lysaria, and the others were watching with a tensed expression. Even Lord Falco and Marci watched with troubled expressions.

"I will show you the true power of the Light!" The Captain shouted.

Then she moved.

Faster than before. A blur of gold. Her body shot forward like a fired arrow, and her spear, now covered in blinding flames, was aimed directly at Riku’s chest.

Riku, however, didn’t flinch or disappear into the shadows this time.

He lifted his right hand, palm facing her.

A faint wave spread out from his hand. It wasn’t loud. It didn’t explode. It was almost invisible—a slight shimmer in the air, like heat rising off stone.

A harsh, brittle snap cut through the chaos.

The next moment was quiet. Unnaturally quiet.

The Knight-Captain stood a few steps in front of Riku, her chest rising and falling with short, sharp breaths.

Her arm trembled, forcing her to look down.

Only half her weapon remained in her grip. The top half, comprising the blade and shaft, was gone, shattered into pieces that now lay scattered around her feet.

The light was gone too. Snuffed out like a candle.

A heavy silence fell over the legion.

No one spoke.

Then a voice broke it.

"Her spear... it broke?"

"That’s a sacred weapon! Blessed by the High Church—"

"It shattered like it was made of clay..."

The whispers spread like wildfire. Even the older veterans had no words. Their gazes flicked between the broken pieces on the ground and the man who still hadn’t moved.

Riku stepped forward.

He crouched and picked up one jagged fragment of the spearhead. He held it between two fingers, turning it slightly so it caught the light.

"You said darkness was weak," he said, his voice steady. "You said it had no substance. No power."

He held the broken tip up for her to see. "But this is what broke when it touched me."

He let the tip fall. It hit the ground with a dull sound and rolled once before stopping.

The Knight-Captain stared at it. Her hands were shaking slightly. Her lips moved, but she didn’t say anything.

"You never fought for justice," Riku continued. "You fought because you believed you were better. Because you thought power made you right."

He turned his head to look at the others behind him—Lord Falco, Rudolf, Vexia, Marci, and Sherry. They were all watching, wide-eyed and silent.

She took a shaky breath and looked up at him. Her pride didn’t let her kneel, but her posture had changed. She was no longer standing tall. Her shoulders were tense. Her stance had shifted from one of control to defense.

"I fight for the Empire," she said, but her voice was quieter now. Less certain.

"No," Riku replied. "You fight for yourself. And right now, you’re standing alone."

He raised his hand again, but this time, it was not to cast a spell. He extended it toward her, palm open. An offer.

She looked at it, confused.

"You can walk away from this with your dignity," he said. "You lost a fight, not your worth. But only if you stop pretending you were right to begin with."

The field went quiet.

Everyone was watching.

The paladins didn’t move. Not one of them stepped forward.

The Knight-Captain stared at Riku’s hand for a long time.

Then, slowly, she pushed herself up straighter and looked him in the eye.

"I don’t need your hand," she said.

But she didn’t attack again.

She dropped the rest of the broken spear to the ground and took a step back.

The duel was over.

The Knight-Captain turned to her legion. Her face was a mask of cold, hard duty. The humiliation was there, but it was buried deep.

"We are leaving," she commanded, her voice clipped and sharp.

Her paladins looked at each other, confused. "But Captain," one of them started, "our orders..."

"Our orders were to investigate a divine disturbance and contain northern threats," she cut him off. "I have found both. And I have determined that we are not equipped to handle the situation."

She turned and gave Riku one last, long, cold look. "This is not over."

She was no longer speaking as a duelist. She was speaking as a Knight-Captain of the Solari Empire.

"I will be filing a full report with the High Luminar in Krass," she stated, her voice devoid of emotion. "A report on a divine disturbance of unknown origin. And a report on a village in the Korvan Kingdom that harbors and protects a military delegation from the Northern Empire."

Her gaze was like ice. "You have interfered in Imperial matters. You have openly sheltered our enemies. You have defied the authority of the Solari Legion."

She gave a small, bitter smile. "Be ready to face the consequences, ’caretaker’. The Empire does not take such insults lightly."

With a final, sharp command, she and her paladins were engulfed in a column of golden light. They vanished, leaving only the broken spear and the heavy weight of her words behind.