That black hair, slim figure, and ordinary face - was his. But definitely, Shin"s appearance is much better than his; he doesn"t have baggy eyes, obvious wrinkles, or messy hair, it would be the looks he would wish for if he was still Kagayami Shiro; it would be his look if he did not overwork himself too much.

But if there is one obvious difference between the two of them, it would be the expression they make on their faces.

Vlad had never really made a malicious face before. He had never shown anger or any intent to hurt someone ever, yet right now, he"s seeing that unseen expression of his just in front of him.

Shin had turned his head at him with his eyes asking the question, "Am I finally allowed to?"

Although, as always, he felt like he was looking in the mirror, it felt different this time.

Shin is a totally different person than him. He was his own person and personality. He realized that now. And he will not go on his way to change that.

And so he nodded.

***

[ [ ... ] ] Caiden and Cette stare quietly at their enemy as he swings his weapon up and down.

After he stood up, he requested a weapon from the referee and took one small shield and a tiny sword usually used by Cain and Casper.

"What is he doing?" - was the question they have on their head.

His enemies have way bigger and effective weapons, yet he chose the smallest and cheapest weapon he could possibly pick among various ones.

But thinking he had fought them until now with only using his bare hands, they could only imagine how those two weapons will affect his strength.

[ Are you ready, Shin-san? ] the referee asked.

[ Umu, I think this would be enough. ]

As Shin answers, he faced his two enemies and quietly made his stance.

He hides the hand with the shield behind the back of his waist and pointed the tiny sword to them. It was the complete opposite of how it should be.

( There are too many surprises... I can usually read the enemy"s move before they could even pick their weapons... Yet him... I can"t understand what he"s thinking at all... )

[ Caiden-sama, Cette-sama. ] their names were called asking if they"re both ready.

[ [ Un. ] ]

The battle had only just begun.

And Caiden and Cette can"t be more anxious and scared of their enemy.

***

[ Aach! ] as Caiden blocked Shin"s sword with his axe, he was thrown a meter from where he was at.

( What the h.e.l.l!? With that force, that sword would bend and even break! Yet it managed to knock me back this far!? )

At first, Caiden and Cette were the aggressors, but as soon as Shin got a hold of his weapon, it becomes the opposite.

Shin relentlessly attacks the two of them with both his sword and shield. The style of fighting he is using is completely odd and deviant to what a normal fighter would do; in fact, it"s the complete opposite.

Shin is using his sword to block, parry, and even open their guard up while he uses the shield to attack. He also sometimes switches to bait and confuse them. They just can"t seem to read far ahead on his attacks.

*Thud! Crash!

As soon as Caiden blinked an eye and had an opening, Shin bashed his small shield on his face mercilessly - he fell onto the ground and both the shock and pain had knocked his head unconscious for a moment and only manages to recover after a few seconds.

[ Argh... ] he groaned in pain. He then used his legs to guide himself up and look at the scene in front of him.

( Thi-This is! This is just impossible! )

Their enemy is now completely different from what he was when he fought the first two fights. He is now serious and full of murderous intent. Although it was not that kind of battle, Caiden felt that he would get killed if he makes the wrong move.

His sister - Cette - is still continuing her fight with him. Since her first successful strike on Shin"s face, she was not able to land a hit again at all.

Caiden can see that his sister is at a disadvantage. Shin can block her sword with his own and then counter with his shield, he sees his sister takes. .h.i.t in front of him and he was not able to do anything. And although both he and his sister have strong bodies and their defense was high on average, every strike of Shin pains and stings their very bones.

[ Nee-sama! Let"s retreat for now...! ] he forced himself to shout.

And as Cette hears him, she nodded and immediately jump back, away from Shin and towards Caiden. Shin did not follow and only observed the two of them.

[ You have a plan? ]

[ N... No... ]

[ Tsk! This guy isn"t just too strong... He"s also very skilled. He has to be some kind of joke... His weapons should already be destroyed by ours by now, yet there"s not even a dint on them yet... ]

[ It must be some kind of enhancement magic... But... I"ve never seen someone use it on their own weapon before... ]

[ just how would we be able to defeat this guy...? ]

[ He must have got some kind of weakness. This fight is nothing like any normal one... It actually feels like we"re fighting a demon. But demons also have their weaknesses; I"m sure he has one... ]

Caiden and Cette did not expect that their enemy would be this powerful. They know he was strong, but not to the extreme that they won"t be able to land a single attack. They treated him as an ordinary servant at first, but that was definitely not the case now. He was as powerful as their father, if not, even stronger.

[ This is just ridiculous... He"ll tire us out before we could even find one... Is he really just a mere servant...? ] Cette questions to herself as she looks at Vlad.

( Just how is he able to get hold of this guy...? He"s not even his slave... How is he able to make such a powerful guy into his servant...? Don"t tell me... He"s even more powerful than this butler...? )

She just couldn"t believe that a guy this strong would settle on being a servant. He must"ve seen something about him that made him accept to become his servant.

Is it money? Women? Cette won"t believe that it was because of that. With his strength, he can gather all of those by himself. There was only one acceptable answer she could think of - the strength of his master, Vlad.

[ Caiden, there"s no other choice...! We need to take this seriously... We can"t make a shame of our name with this butler...! ]

[ Of course! ]

[ Let"s give this guy everything we"ve got! ]

Caiden and Cette had been fighting side by side for a long time now. They"ve only recently got separated in the ranks of knights, but they still know how each of them works and perform in a battle; there was no need for them to shout every single one of their moves just to sync to each other.

*Swoosh!!!

They dashed towards their enemy and the enemy dashed towards them, too. They fought head-on and attacks with everything they"ve got.

The colliding sound of metals can be heard, each of which felt as though lighting strikes.

~~~

( Seriously... You give that guy anything and he"ll turn it to a murder weapon... )

*Bam!!!

Again, one of the enemies came flying to the ground.

Vlad watches the fight in front of him with not that much interest. He already knows who would win since the fight began, and as he watches it right now, he couldn"t become more confident to his guess.

He had observed Shin fight with his slaves and his summons many times already. He knows his style and the things he can do.

In the past, Shin specializes in manipulating the land, but it was different now; he now specializes in manipulating his weapons.

There were many things dungeon masters can do. Other than to summon creatures and manipulate their territory, they can also create and enhance their own weapons - this was the case for the shield and sword Shin is holding right now; no ordinary weapon can match with the endurance of the weapons he enhances, and so, no matter how powerful Caiden and Cette"s weapons are, they will not be able to break his shield or cut his sword.

There"s also another aspect to Shin that makes him truly a flexible fighter and a companion to Vlad - no matter what weapon Vlad gives him, he immediately masters it. And since no one actually teaches him how to use them, he invents his own style of fighting with those weapons, making him an unpredictable enemy in combat.

Shin"s physical strength is also his highest attribute. Without the help of Vlad"s spells, skills, and weapons, Shin might be able to pull a chance of getting a tie with him.

With a weapon such as Caiden"s and Cette"s, they will only be able to cut his skin but never bruise it.

( This is to be expected... Now, I wonder what Cristov-san would think of this... ) Vlad thought as he looks at Cristov who, like him, is watching the fight quietly.

***

A swing of the sword.

Its blade shone as the light from the sun illuminates it.

The fight is over.

( It lasted longer than I expected... )

Shin pointed the blade to his enemy"s face and thought so.

Shin was able to beat Caiden fast but Cette was able to survive and even have a decent fight with him to the end.

[ Haa... Haa... ] Cette, who"s sitting exhausted on the ground, catches her breath as she looks at Shin.

[ For... For a mere butler... ]

Shin smiled as he hears those words and pulled his sword away.

[ It was a good fight, Cette-sama. ] both his words and smile were genuine, and Cette could on look at him.

Shin has a personality that enjoys battles. He was a dungeon master, he was destined to fight with numerous individuals. And he couldn"t get even more than being with his master.

Right now, although he was not given the chance to kill, he was still satisfied with the fight. That was why his thanks to her were honest.

[ I hope we could fight again. ]

He wishes for it. But next time, it should be in a real battlefield.

***

Lionhearts recognizes strength. They do. It was the reason they have invited Vlad to their manor.

[ It was a good fight, Cette-sama. ]

Cette sat there, looking at the face of her enemy, Shin, the butler.

She still feels ashamed and distressed with her loss, but those feelings seem to have suddenly faded away as she looks at the genuine smile on her enemy"s face.

[ ... ]

As if a b.u.t.ton was pushed and his deadly atmosphere earlier had dissapeared.

He smiled at her.

There was a feeling of comfort on his smile and she remains staring at it, quiet and expressionless.

[ I hope we could fight again. ]