-----

After Veronica's triumph over Derecho, the Ghouls were greatly in shock… Izquierdo's defeat was already too sudden, but because it is sudden and quick, it did not hold such a strong emotional effect on them.

However, because Veronica faked most of the fight, even in the moments when she felt weakened and gave hope to the people for Derecho's victory when she won and by saying that she was just acting… it really broke through the Ghouls pride.

"T-This… This is… Derecho… lost?

" asked a young Ghoul boy.

"What is with that Armor Woman?!

" asked another young Ghoul with purple skin.

"Wasn't she struggling?!

" roared a Ghoul with dark skin and a burly complexion.

"It was all an act!

" said a red-skinned Ghoul woman.

"We were bamboozled…

" muttered a little Ghoul girl with short crimson hair.

"She's way stronger than we ever imagined?!

" wondered yet another Ghoul man, slowly having his pride broken apart.

Due to Veronica's victory, the pride of the Ghoul men was quickly shattering, and some already began to trust what Veronica and Ervas had said about having fought multiple Rank 6 monsters… Only monstrous beings could fight so many monsters of such high Rank, and they were seeing them right in front of their eyes.

"Then… she might be telling the truth about everything they talked about?

" wondered another Ghoul man.

"No way! I am not willing to believe this crap!

" said an angered and skinny Ghoul man.

"There is still Leonidas! Aniki will beat the next fighter… and it will be our victory!

" said an avid Ghoul man, an admirer of Leonidas.

"Yeah, they might be a bit stronger than Izquierdo or Derecho, but against the strongest, Leonidas Aniki, they will surely lose,

" said another Ghoul man with confidence over Leonida's victory.

"Exactly! If they cannot defeat the strongest, it doesn't matter how many times they defeat Izquierdo and Derecho!

" said a third Ghoul man with a cheeky smirk.

Ghoul men always held on to their pride as something very dearly of them, but now that such pride was being shattered, they were fiercely sticking together to maintain whatever fragments were left within their hearts.

Veronica's intention was not to break their pride, but to surprise them… it seems that her strategy worked way too well.

"Well done, Veronica!

" laughed Shade maliciously.

"Gubo! Veronica humiliated that idiot, guuu!

" said Aqua happily.

"It seems that our intervention was not needed at all, our lady could take care of it without any issues at all!

" said Ozgeth.

"Gishishishi,

" said Charlotte with pride of her master, who was alongside the rest of the party in standby inside of Veronica's hollow armor expanded space.

"Giisha…

" said Nidhogg, who was trying to take a nap in the vast pocket space.

Veronica walked back to her group as she was congratulated by everyone, although they also pointed out that all that acting was not absolutely necessary at all.

"What are you talking about? Such acting was necessary to showcase how strong I truly am! Ghoul men follow the strong, right?

" said Veronica, in her previous life as Anastacia she had never problems with any Ghoul tribes, so she assume that what she just did was necessary without having gathered much information about Ghouls.

"Well, yeah, I agree with your point, Princess Veronica… But it seems that instead of making them admire you, they just got angrier…

" said Riaan.

"Y-Yeah, Princess Veronica, you were way too… well, you humiliated derecho too much,

" said Pekoran.

"Yes, it was overdoing it…

" said Jason.

"Is that so? I think I got through their pride pretty strongly

" said Veronica.

"You're a good actress, but I cannot replicate your actions because I lack the emotions necessary…

" said Ervas, he wanted to do the same after seeing Veronica, but he realized that because of his dull emotions and plain face, he would not be able to do the same as her.

"Ervas, I don't think you should be aiming to do such a thing…

" Jason said while being worried about his son.

"Well, what did you think about the performance, Leonidas? Am I strong enough to be accepted and trusted by your people?

" asked Veronica with a smirk.

"You're indeed very strong… but not yet, you cannot convince me unless you beat me in a fight… And against that little kid, your group will not stand a chance!

" said Leonidas, walking straight to the battlefield.

"He seems very confident still… the cheers of the other males might have increased his ego…

" said Jason.

"So it's your turn, boy, don't overdo it,

" said Ismene, petting Ervas' head.

"Fufufu, Lord Ervas will wipe the floor with Leonidas!

" Mysticia laughed.

"This might end as a very one-sided fight… it might be worst than Veronica's case against Derecho because Ervas can't act, so he will just attack and beat Leonidas

" Pekoran analyzed.

"Alright, I'm going,

" said Ervas, walking slowly with his little legs towards the battlefield.

"Have fun, Ervas!

" said Jason.

"Okay,

" said Ervas with a faint smile.

Ervas reached the center of the battlefield as he glanced upwards to Leonidas, his ugly face that resembled a Japanese Oni glared at him from above, compared to Ervas, Leonidas was about six to seven times bigger than him… It was a ridiculous match.

Many Ghoul men laughed at this size difference, while some complained about how unfair it was.

"Hahaha! Is this even a match for Aniki?!

" asked a dark-skinned burly Ghoul man.

"That kid is a goner!

" said a second Ghoul man with red skin.

"Hey, isn't that kind of unfair? Poor kid, he'll get his ass beat

" said a third blue-skinned Ghoul man.

"At least he'll learn not to lie about being strong enough to fight against an army of Rank 6 monsters like nothing!

" added a younger, purple-skinned Ghoul boy.

"Well, I guess he kind of deserves it if we consider that,

" said another Ghoul boy while nodding in agreement with the words of the other Ghoul.

Unlike the men, some of the women were worried about Ervas safety.

"Leonidas is being a bit of a brute, it's just a kid!

" said a Ghoul who was the mother of many children.

"Hey, can we stop this?

" asked another Ghoul woman with concern in her eyes.

"Poor boy…

" muttered a little Ghoul woman.

"Leonidas better be gentle not to damage the kid permanently!

" said another Ghoul woman.

"Well, he came looking for trouble, so he'll get it… though it still feels off

" muttered a fifth Ghoul woman who had long hair up to her knees.

"Nothing to do about it, let Leonidas decide his fate,

" said a sixth Ghoul woman, resigned with Ervas' fate.

"You're right, I guess…

" muttered yet another.

Ervas heard them all and could not help but hope to grow bigger as he ages.

"They're really quite hopeless about my victory… I don't want to shock them so much, so let's end this quick

" he thought.

"Alright then, prepare yourself, kid, I am going to teach you a lesson, I hope you can at least take one of my punches! GUUUOOO!

" roared Leonidas, directing his fist towards Ervas with great speed and momentum.

"With that fist, he could knock out a human citizen quite easy,

" thought Ervas, as Leonida's fist hit against a transparent wall surrounding Ervas.

Clash!

"Ungh?! My fist! Agh!

" Leonidas said, as he glanced at his pained fist, and then at Ervas.

"What the- what was that?!

" he asked.

"My strength. Let's not draw this much further,

" said Ervas, suddenly moving at a speed that Leonidas couldn't react in time, flying towards his face and punching it with his bare fist… which were enhanced with a few coatings of Telekinesis.

"Huh?! So fast-!

"

Clash!

"Buuuggyyaahh!

"

Leonidas was sent flying through the air, over ten meters above the ground by Ervas' punch, until he fell into the ground with a loud sound. His eyes were in spirals, he was knocked out.

The entire Ghoul tribe was silent.

Ervas glanced at his fist as he cleaned it from dirt while still floating in the sky.

"I won,

" he said.

-----

Unarmed Fighting Technique.

A Skill that is known by almost any being with enough intelligence to understand a special type of technique using any type of body part, as long as it is not armed by a weapon.

However, things such as gauntlets can be used alongside this Skill for greater damage output.

This Skill can be learned by anyone, and even monsters who manage to be well taught by their tamers can develop techniques using their body parts for strong attacks.

Ervas and Veronica are quite the unique users of this Skill as they merge it with their Souls, Phantom, and special abilities.

Such as Veronica merging it with her armor body, which because she is a complete set of armor, counts as her body, nonetheless, giving her the ability to unleash very strong attacks.

Ervas on the other side can merge his Telekinesis into these techniques, using them to form fists, claws, or other things, that count as Unarmed Fighting Techniques.