Saving The Monster Race Starts With Breeding The Elf Village

Realising this, silence swallowed the highlands.

No one breathed. No one moved. The moment stretched into eternity.

Then the commotion detonated.

”SHE...SHE DID IT!”

”MAVIS ACTUALLY DID IT!”

”OH MY GOD! SHE BEAT THE HERO!”

”HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!” A knight screamed, clutching her head with both hands.

”THE WEAKEST CENTAUR BEAT THE STRONGEST WARRIOR IN THE WORLD!”

”IS THIS REAL?! SOMEONE PINCH ME!”

”IT’S REAL, DAMN IT! LOOK! ” Her friend pointed wildly at the sight before them, her eyes manic. ”HER SWORD IS AGAINST HIS NECK! THERE’S BLOOD! SHE ACTUALLY MANAGED TO DO IT!”

The vanguard went completely feral! Warriors were hugging each other, screaming, jumping up and down, weeping tears of pure, chaotic joy!

Poppy was bouncing wildly on Thea’s back, shaking her guard’s shoulders with hysterical glee.

”THEA! THEA! SHE DID IT! MAVIS SAVED US! MY COMMANDER IS SAVED!”

She puffed out her chest, wiping a tear from her eye.

”I knew it! I knew her genius would prevail! My royal intuition never fails me!”

Thea paid her queen’s boasting no mind. She was far too stunned to speak.

She had always known Mavis carried tricks up her sleeves, that her brilliant mind was constantly whirring with schemes and cleverness.

But who could have guessed there would be so many tricks? So perfectly planned, so flawlessly executed, one after another in rapid succession, until even the legendary Hero had been brought down?

She stared at the scene in stunned silence, unable to fully process what she was seeing.

—

Luca himself stood perfectly still, looking down at the blade resting against his throat, and then at the exhausted, panting pony-centaur holding it.

He didn’t look angry. He didn’t look indignant.

Instead, a genuine, highly amused smile spread across his face.

Only he and Mavis knew what had truly happened in that final second inside the fog.

The truth was even with the flash-bangs, the screeching crystals, the launching blade, and the hidden blade, Luca’s godly instincts had still read the trajectory.

Even blinded and disoriented, his arm had been moving to swat her final blade away with absolute perfection.

He was about to end the duel and claim his victory.

But in that exact microsecond, as his blade was rising to parry—

—Mavis had leaned in through the fog and whispered a single sentence.

”Take that massive, fat donkey cock of yours and push it inside me, Hero.”

The sheer sultry lewdness of that statement slammed into Luca’s brain like a runaway train.

In a split second, his mind hadn’t felt like it was in the middle of a honorable martial duel—it felt like he had been yanked straight back into the elf village, naked in bed with Nyx!

The sudden mental flash caused his godly focus to stutter for a fraction of a millisecond.

And a fraction of a millisecond was all Mavis needed!

Before he could recover his train of thought, her blade was already resting snugly against his carotid artery.

Luca let out a soft, helpless laugh, shaking his head.

Was it fair? Absolutely not!

Was it dirty, shameless, and utterly conniving? Without a doubt!

But a win was a win. She had analyzed her opponent, identified his singular mental vulnerability, built a terrifying arsenal of mechanical surprise, and executed the combination with absolute, fearless precision.

Luca looked down into Mavis’s triumphant, exhausted blue eyes, his smile widening.

”Well played, little blacksmith.” Luca whispered softly, so only she could hear. ”Well played indeed.”

—

Hearing those words from Luca, Mavis slowly turned her head and looked around.

She saw Poppy bouncing with such uncontrolled excitement that her horn was nearly stabbing Thea, who had to keep dodging with increasingly desperate maneuvers.

She saw the same centaurs who had doubted her, now staring at her with something that looked almost like awe.

It was then, the truth settled over her like a warm blanket.

”I did it.” She whispered under her breath, the words barely audible. ”I actually defeated the Hero.”

And then a smile broke across her face.

She pulled her blade back from Luca’s neck and raised it high above her head.

”I DID IT!” She shouted, her voice ringing across the highlands. ”I ACTUALLY DEFEATED THE HERO! THE FREAKING HERO OF THE WORLD!”

Laughter bubbled up from somewhere deep inside her, wild and unrestrained, even as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

”T-They always said I wasn’t suited for battle.”

She said to no one in particular and to everyone at once.

”They said I’d die the moment I set foot outside the territory. That I was too small, too weak, too much of a liability.”

She wiped her face with the back of her hand.

”But look—look at this! I proved them wrong!”

She then spun to find her sister somewhere in the crowd.

”Big sis! Did you see that? I told you, didn’t I? I told you that as long as you gave me a chance, I could do anything!”

”And now there’s no problem—none at all—with letting me go with you outside the territory! I can fight! I can protect Lady Poppy! I can—”

”...We forfeit this duel, Hero.”

The words cut through the celebration.

Mavis froze mid-sentence, her mouth still open, her arm still raised in triumph.

The celebrating centaurs around her stiffened as though they had been turned to stone.

Slowly every head turned toward Sigrid—who was facing Luca with a grim expression on her face.

”Unfortunately, that was hardly a proper sword fight. My little sister did nothing but rely on underhanded tricks from beginning to end, disgracing herself in the process.”

”I sincerely apologize for her conduct.”

She gave a small, formal bow.

”For breaking the rules, we forfeit this match.”

”So, without question or reservation, the victory belongs to you, Hero.”

Mavis stared, her mouth working silently before she finally found her voice.

”Big Sis—WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY ARE YOU GIVING AWAY OUR WIN?!”

She scrambled forward, her face a contorted mask of panic and betrayal.

”I won! I actually beat him! Do you have any idea how hard I worked for this?! I was terrified out of my mind! I thought—I thought I didn’t stand a prayer, but I—”

Her eyes shimmered with a desperate, dying light.

”I did it! SO WHY? Why are you throwing it away right now? YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS!”

Sigrid didn’t even glance at her. She continued to address Luca.

”And since you won this battle, Hero, it also means...you will get to ride on top of me.”

Poppy’s face went pale as fresh snow. She clutched at Thea’s shoulders with trembling hands.

Sigrid exhaled slowly, a woman preparing herself for execution.

”Even though it will be utterly humiliating. Even though it will destroy my image completely.”

She lifted her chin, and there was something almost noble in her resignation.

”I don’t mind. I was the one who made this bet, and as a knight who upholds her values, I must follow through with the consequences. So as the rules imply...”

She swallowed hard. ”I will let you ride me.”

Luca opened his mouth, unsure of what to say, how to defuse this situation—

But Mavis was faster.

She planted herself directly between her sister and Luca, her small body trembling with barely contained fury.

”Big Sis, what are you doing? I told you—I won this battle!”

Sigrid’s gaze finally shifted to her sister, and it was cold enough to freeze water.

”Did you, Mavis?” Her voice was dangerously quiet. ”Did you actually win a sword fight?”

The full force of Sigrid’s intimidating presence bore down on her, and Mavis felt her confidence waver.

But she forced herself to stand her ground.

”Y-YES! I DID! You saw it! I put steel against the Hero’s throat! No one else in the entire brigade managed that—I did! That means the victory is mine!”

Sigrid clicked her tongue, a sharp, cruel sound,

”Really? All I saw was a child embarrassing herself repeatedly, relying on cheap toys to deceive her opponent.”

”It wasn’t—!”

”First of all, was that even a swordfight, Mavis?”

Sigrid stepped closer, her voice dropping into a harsh sneer.

”You used tiny, dishonorable trinkets to confuse a man who was holding back out of courtesy.”

”But—but—” Mavis stammered, shrinking backward.

”Our ancestors would completely disdain such a battle, you know.” Sigrid continued. ”They would especially mock me for letting my sister embarrass our lineage in such a manner.”

”I can’t possibly accept a win achieved through such methods. Which naturally means...”

She let the silence stretch.

”...we forfeit this battle.”

Mavis was completely stunned. For a long moment, she couldn’t find any words at all.

Then the dam broke.

”TRICKS OR NOT!” She shouted, her voice cracking with fury and hurt. ”I still managed to defeat the Hero! NOT YOU—”

She pointed at her sister, her hand shaking.

”—OR ANYONE ELSE OVER HERE HAS MANAGED TO DO THAT!”

Everyone looked embarrassed. Knights who had been celebrating moments ago now stared at their hooves, unwilling to meet Mavis’s gaze. But she didn’t care. She was beyond caring.

”I managed to do that with those so-called cheap tricks of yours! And the Hero himself has accepted the loss! So why are you protesting against it?”

Her voice rose until it was almost a scream.

”Y-You’re my big sister! You’re supposed to stand by me! So why are doing all of this!”

Sigrid’s expression did not change. If anything, it grew colder, more distant.

”I will support you, Mavis.” Her voice was flat, emotionless. ”As long as what you’re doing is dignified and follows along with our virtues, I’ll follow you all the way to the very end.”

”Even if you tell me that we’re going to the depths of hell itself, I’ll make sure to protect you by my side.”

She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice had dropped to a whisper that somehow carried more weight than any shout.

”But when it comes to cheap, underhanded tricks like this, the kind that completely go against our virtue as knights, I will not give you a glance even for a moment.”

Sigrid turned her back, dismissing her with a flick of her tail, and began to walk away.

But Mavis was not done.

She galloped forward, blocking her sister’s path.

”I-I won’t accept this!”

Tears were streaming down her face now, but she didn’t wipe them away.

”I WON’T ACCEPT THIS AT ALL!”

Her shout echoed across the entire valley, bouncing off the hills and returning to her ears like the cry of some wounded animal.

”For this day...for this duel alone...I’ve worked harder than I ever have in my entire life!”

Her breathing became ragged, each breath coming in heavy gasps as her chest rose and fell violently.

”I knew the Hero would eventually come here. I knew I’d get one chance to face him...one chance to prove my worth! To prove that I’m not useless!”

She held up her strange, complicated sword and her hand trembled with the weight of everything she had poured into it.

”And for this, I worked day and night. Without any sleep! Without any rest! I skipped meals—sometimes for days at a time!”

”I locked myself in my workshop and refused to come out until I had solved every problem, fixed every flaw, perfected every mechanism!”

Luca looked more closely now, and what he saw made his breath catch.

Her hands were covered in bandages. Scars crisscrossed her forearms like a map of rivers drawn in silver. Burns dotted her skin—some small, some large, some clearly recent enough that they still glistened with unhealed tissue.

”...I bled for this.” Mavis sobbed, clutching the strange sword tightly against her chest as though it were the most precious thing she owned.

”Every single day was agony. Every bruise, every burn, every sleepless night...it was all for this one moment.”

Tears poured down her face as her voice cracked.

”And you just... you just throw it into the dirt?”

She stared at her sister in utter disbelief.

”You call it...trash?”

Her emotions finally burst.

”HOW COULD YOU?!”