Chapter 124: The Heroes Are Annoying

POV Eliza

"People call me that. But that wasn't my creation." <Eliza>

"You're a woman? You want to make a pass at Corni? Get lost and leave him alone!" <Eleonore>

What was wrong with her all of a sudden? Has she still not got her jealousy under control? Someone needed to show her that she was exaggerating. Besides, I wouldn't even touch the snob if someone paid me to. But this was just the best opportunity to play a little prank on them. I quietly muttered a spell at Cornelius. I used it to heighten his emotions. Let's see what kind of situations that would lead to.

"Eli, calm down. I didn't even know the devil was a woman until now. I don't want her. So you are a woman, aren't you?" <Cornelius>

"Does it matter? But your unfriendly company says enough for me to know what's going on." <Eliza>

"It doesn't matter if you're a woman. All that matters is that you're the devil. And Eli, please, curb your jealousy for once. “ <Cornelius>

”Why am I to blame now? I haven't done anything." <Eleonore>

"Eli, to be honest, you're really getting on my nerves with your jealousy. And you're causing problems too. If you don't get your jealousy under control soon, I really will break up with you." <Cornelius>

Oh well, that promised to be more interesting than I thought. The line exceeded my expectations. Eleonore's face turned bright red and she puffed out her cheeks. You could see that she was completely speechless and struggling for words. I struggled not to make a face and start laughing.

"Cornelius, just stop your love quarrels. It's been getting on my nerves for a long time too." <Ansgar>

“Hmm, sis, now calm down.” <Javier>

The two men weren't much help in defusing the situation. Brilliant. But if this went on, we'd still be standing here tomorrow. I had better things to do.

“So, what do you want from me now?” <Eliza>

"That's right, you're more important now. Do you know who we are?" <Cornelius>

Cornelius puffed out his chest and pretended to be important. He was getting on my nerves with his posturing. I decided to keep provoking him, then maybe he'd be less cautious.

“No. Are you important?” <Eliza>

"Are we important? Of course we are important. We are the heroes, the most important people in humankind." <Cornelius>

“And what do the heroes want from me, an unimportant insignificant person?” <Eliza>

"What? Don't you have any manners? How can you treat us so disdainfully?" <Cornelius>

"Now tell me, what do you want from me? I don't have all day." <Eliza>

"What a nerve! We're the heroes. Have more respect for us!" <Cornelius>

"Why should I have respect for you? You've done nothing to earn my respect. On the contrary. The only things I notice are your quarrels and the rudeness of your bedbunny." <Eliza>

“I AM NOT A BED BUNNY!” <Eleonore>

"Shut up, Eli. And what do you mean we haven't done anything? We are humankind's hope in the fight against the demons. We're going to save this world!" <Cornelius>

"But that's not happening now. So you haven't done anything yet. You can only be arrogant." <Eliza>

"Arrogant? Us? Well wait..." <Cornelius>

"Hmm, Cornelius, calm down. Can't you see how she's trying to provoke you? I told you, she's dangerous. Think of the empty status." <Javier>

"Hah, huh. Take a deep breath, Cornelius. Phew. You're right, Javier, she is dangerous. But we can't let her get away with this disrespect either, or do you see it differently?" <Cornelius>

"Absolutely not. We have to show her what it means to mess with the heroes. My axe is of the same opinion." <Ansgar>

“Corni, don't put up with this insolence!” <Eleonore>

“Yes, yes.” <Cornelius>

Those idiots were really getting on my nerves. How I'd love to deal with them here and now, but my gut told me I'd need the idiots later. But there was no harm in teaching them a lesson as best I could. Besides, I was curious to see how well I would do against them at the moment. I knew from Appraisal that they were significantly weaker than me. I was finally able to analyze them and found out that each of them didn't even have half my EXP. Nevertheless, I feared that although I could win against all four of them, too many of my secrets would be revealed. But I still wanted to fight. However, then I had an idea.

"How about a duel? One of you heroes takes me on and if I lose, I'll give you all the respect you want and leave the dungeon immediately without coming back. And if I win, you leave me alone and don't bother me anymore." <Eliza>

I expected them to agree. Ansgar wanted to fight me anyway, he was immediately on fire. Eleonore was still bright red and about to explode. Javier kept a straight face and just fiddled with his glasses. Presumably, the heroes who weren't taking part in the battle would support the fighters with support spells. At least then it was exciting, because I could easily win against one of them, especially if that one was Ansgar. I was particularly strong against slow opponents who put all their EXP into their damage output.

"A duel? Great, I'm up for it. When do we start? Right away?" <Ansgar>

"Ansgar, not so fast. You can't decide that on your own. What do the rest of you think?" <Cornelius>

"As long as the bitch gets her rubdowns, I don't care who fights. It just won't be me." <Eleonore>

"Hmm, if Ansgar really wants to, we should let him. At least if the conditions are right." <Javier>

"So with the right conditions, everyone agrees? All right, you shall have your duel. But only under certain conditions." <Cornelius>

“Let's hear it.” <Eliza>

"You fight until someone gives up or can't fight anymore. Ansgar, do you want support spells? Or soldiers on your side?" <Cornelius>

"No, I have full confidence in my abilities. Besides, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, so I don't need soldiers. They just get in my way and I have to be careful not to accidentally hit them. They should stay out of it." <Ansgar>

"Okay, you heard him. He's not getting any support, so you won't be talking buffs on yourself either, if you can. You hear me?" <Cornelius>

"Yeah yeah, can we finally get started? I'm getting cold from standing around." <Eliza>

"Soldiers, stand back and don't let any monsters or adventurers get near us. And you two keep back too." <Cornelius>

Apparently they wanted to fight the duel here, where I had just defeated the goblins. That was fine with me, I wasn't hindered by the corpses, but it remained to be seen what Ansgar would do. His style was probably to strike blindly with as much force as possible without much precision. There were also the goblins' weapons lying around. I could use that to my advantage, especially with one of the spells I wanted to try out.

We stood about 20 meters apart and waited for the signal to attack.

"Now I'm going to shut your naughty mouth, bitch. Show me that you live up to your reputation as a devil." <Ansgar>

Oh man, was he full of himself. Couldn't he see that my fighting style was superior to his? No matter how great his strength was, if he didn't hit me, it wouldn't do him any good. I would have been worse off against Cornelius in his thick armor, but this line-up against Ansgar wasn't be a big problem.