Chapter 366: I Don’t Need Hands To Take You On
The words landed like a bombshell.
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
"Oh my goddess, did she just—"
"She said it! She said his words right back to him!"
"She’s straight-up taunting him! I never thought I’d see the day!"
"Who knew the commander had such a side to her?!"
It was true. Sigrid was known for her dignity, her composure, her unwavering sense of honor.
She never mocked others. Never took pleasure in belittling those weaker than her.
She was straightforward, honest, and kind.
But Luca had pushed her. He had taunted her, threatened to strip her, looked down on her with that infuriating smirk.
And even though she knew that everything he had said was technically true—that at his full power, she wouldn’t stand a chance—it had still stung.
And now, with the tables turned, she found herself unable to resist the temptation.
Just a little retaliation. That was all.
"That’s right, Sigrid!" Poppy shouted from her perch on Thea’s back, pumping her fist in the air. "Go on! Tell him how weak he is right now! Show him that he’s not so tough anymore!"
Thea sighed, shaking her head.
"My lady." She said, her tone gentle but reproachful. "You were the one who was just talking about not using dirty tactics. But now you’re cheering for hitting the Hero while he’s in a very weak position."
"It’s completely unbefitting of someone of your status."
Poppy’s face flushed pink as she realized how un-queenly she sounded, but she just huffed, folding her arms.
"I don’t care! He deserves it!"
Luca, for his part, was honestly a bit frustrated.
Sigrid was looking at him with this quiet, pitying gaze like she was afraid that if she swung her sword too hard, she’d accidentally break his mortal legs.
Normally, Luca had great self-control. If anyone else pulled this kind of nonsense, he’d just laugh it off.
But seeing a stoic, dignified knight like Sigrid going out of her way to smugly look down on him?
It got under his skin in the best way possible.
"Is that so, Commander?" Luca asked, forcing his smile to stay wide. "You really think I’m so helpless right now that I can’t even hold my own in a duel?"
Sigrid nodded without an ounce of hesitation.
"I’m not trying to insult you, Hero. Under normal conditions, you could erase me before I even realized what was happening."
A tiny, breathless chuckle escaped her lips—and Luca’s eyebrow twitched violently.
"But right now." Sigrid continued. "I really don’t think you can do anything to me. I’m not trying to brag, but I am quite strong. I’ve spent my entire life training relentlessly to earn this rank."
She looked down at him, her confidence radiating off her.
"Against a regular human? Yes, I am very confident I can win."
Luca let out a soft laugh, his eyes fixing on hers.
"You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?"
"As ashamed as I am to admit it...yes, I truly am."
Sigrid replied instantly. She quickly added,
"I would never look down on a regular person for being weaker than me. But you? For some reason, I just can’t help myself."
"I’m honored I get such special treatment." Luca said dryly.
The air between them crackled with tension. Their gazes locked, and for a moment, it was as if they were the only two people in the clearing.
The centaurs watched in bated breath, sensing that something had shifted.
Even Poppy felt the intensity in the air, and she fell silent.
Then, all at once, Luca’s expression changed.
The forced smile vanished, replaced by a calm, almost serene look.
"You know." He said, his voice relaxed. "Earlier, I was planning to go easy on you."
"Give you a few swings, let you feel like you had a chance, and then defeat you with some grace so you could walk away with your honor intact."
Sigrid’s brow furrowed.
The way he talked was so absurdly condescending as if, even without his powers, beating her was just a minor inconvenience he was choosing to handle gracefully.
Then, Luca’s calm look turned into a wicked, mischievous grin.
"But now? Now I’m going to make sure that you and everyone else watching learn a very valuable lesson."
"That nobody gets to look down on me just because I lost my powers."
Sigrid forced a laugh, though her voice sounded a bit tight as she asked,
"You...You can’t seriously think you can beat me like this, right?"
"Oh, no, no, no." Luca said, waving his hand dismissively. "It’s not like that at all."
Sigrid felt relieved, thinking that he was about to concede.
But then his next words absolutely made her freeze up.
He looked at her with a rather daunting gaze and said,
"Not only am I going to defeat you right now, but I’m also going to defeat every single one of you here—"
He pointed at every single one of the centaurs gathered around.
"—one after another and make you guys beg for mercy."
For a moment, there was pin-drop silence.
Until finally, the centaurs exploded.
"HAS THE HERO GONE COMPLETELY MAD?!"
"IS HE SERIOUSLY CHALLENGING ALL OF US?!"
"I could understand if he said that when he still had his powers! We would have no choice but to concede! But NOW?!"
"This is ridiculous! He’s looking down on us way too much!"
"We’re Lady Poppy’s knights! Even if we don’t fight in wars, that doesn’t mean we’ll let ourselves be bullied like this!"
The outcry was deafening. Centaurs who had been calm and composed moments ago were now bristling with indignation, their hands reaching for their weapons, their hooves stamping the earth.
It was one thing for Luca to taunt them when he had the power to back it up. But now?
Now he was just a mortal. A mortal who was claiming he could take on an entire brigade of centaur knights and come out victorious.
It was absurd.
It was insulting.
And it made them angry.
Poppy was jumping up and down on Thea’s back, her small fists clenched.
"This is too much! He’s taking us too lightly! Just because he’s a Hero doesn’t mean he can say whatever he wants!"
Thea herself felt her composure cracking. She folded her arms, her voice carrying a hint of irritation.
"You must be joking, hero. Challenging all of us while you’re in this state? That has to be the biggest joke I’ve ever heard."
She waited for him to laugh, to wave his hand and say he was just messing with them.
But Luca didn’t laugh.
"No." He said, his voice calm and steady. "It’s not a joke."
He looked around at the assembled centaurs, his expression one of complete seriousness.
"In fact, I’m so confident in my abilities that I can defeat every single one of you, one after another, while standing in the exact same spot."
He stomped his foot on the ground, marking his position.
"Right here. I won’t move from this spot."
Another wave of outrage swept through the crowd.
"And..." He added, raising his voice to be heard over the commotion.
"I won’t even target your lower halves."
He gestured toward Sigrid’s equine body. "I’ll only aim for your upper bodies. That way, it’ll be fair for you. Otherwise, it would be bullying on my part."
The reaction was immediate and explosive.
"That’s it! I’m going to fight him right now!"
"I’ve lived for over four decades, and this is the first time I’ve ever been so thoroughly disrespected!"
"Let me at him! I’ll show him what it means to mock the Galloping Brigade!"
"Please! Someone hold me back before I do something I regret!"
Even the younger centaurs, who had been timid and uncertain before, were now bristling with indignation. The sheer audacity of his words had lit a fire in every single one of them.
Luca, for his part, seemed completely unbothered by the uproar. He shrugged, spreading his arms in a gesture of casual indifference.
"Look, I didn’t want it to come to this. But you guys were the ones looking down on me first. So now I have to prove a point."
He narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping an octave.
"Just because I’m human...doesn’t mean you can look down on me."
It wasn’t shouted. It wasn’t spoken with a grand, magical aura.
It was just a quiet, heavy statement—but the sheer weight behind his voice made the entire crowd freeze up.
For a terrifying fraction of a second, every centaur present felt a chill run down their spine, as if their instincts were screaming that he was telling the exact truth.
Sigrid snapped herself out of the momentary trance, her expression turning dead serious.
"You’re actually serious about this, aren’t you?"
"Dead serious." Luca sneered gently. "So serious that I’m willing to put a bet on it."
"What kind of bet?" Sigrid asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Simple. I fight all of you, back to back. Anyone can step up. If a single one of you manages to beat me—you win."
The knights groaned at how arrogant that sounded—he was making the winning conditions ridiculously easy for them, as if he couldn’t possibly lose.
"But." Luca added. "if I stand my ground and beat every last one of you...I win. What do you say?"
Thea looked at Luca with genuine concern now.
She had thought he was just bantering, but he was dead set on this insanity.
Sigrid noticed it too. Realizing he wasn’t backing down, her pride flared up.
"Fine." Sigrid said, a sharp smirk returning to her face. "If we’re betting, there need to be real stakes."
"...What does the winner get?"
Luca rubbed his chin, looking around the clearing.
"Good point. What do I want...What do I want..."
His eyes roamed over the trees, the equipment, the village, until his gaze finally landed back on Sigrid.
His eyes lit up like he’d just found a prized treasure.
He slowly raised a hand, pointing a finger directly at her chest.
"If I win..."
Luca said clearly, making sure every single knight heard him.
"...I want to ride you."
Sigrid stared at him, momentarily too stunned to respond.
"...I’m sorry. What did you just say?"
"I want to ride you." Luca repeated, completely nonchalant. "Ever since I rode Poppy’s back—"
"Don’t bring that up!" Poppy’s face turned bright red.
"—I realized that sitting on a centaur’s back is really quite nice. Fluffy. Soft. But also strong and powerful."
He looked at Sigrid, his eyes gleaming.
"And you’re clearly the biggest centaur here. The thought of riding a majestic mare like you..."
He let out an appreciative sigh.
"...It’s rather invigorating."