I was Reincarnated as the Youngest Child of a Villainous Noble Family Who Controls the Kingdom from Behind the Scenes

The duel was to take place in the training ground located in the  underground of the Balfont family's mansion.

This underground area was built deep beneath the earth, designed to withstand considerable impact.

In other words, no matter how much one might cry out for help, no one would come to the rescue. It was amusing to see Gillium's smug face as he delivered this clichéd threat.

"Lord Alphise is going to duel with Lord Gillium..."

"Forgive me, but I can't see any chance of Lord Alphise winning."

"He hasn't been seen training either..."

This news spread throughout the mansion, and not only did his parents and siblings come, but even the servants gathered.

They were all freely expressing their opinions, but this was pretty much in line with the original story.

In front of the  main characters , Alphise acted like a big shot, but in reality, he was constantly being dominated by his older brothers.

No matter how much he trained, he couldn't match them and was treated as a failure.

The reason for this was likely because he trained alongside his brothers in the  underground .

Continuously being beaten by opponents who were far superior in skill offered no room for growth.

On top of that, Alphise lacked knowledge.

What does that mean? I need to prove it now.

"Alphise, are you ready to be humiliated? Keh keh keh!"

"Brother Gillium, did you prepare properly? A set of recovery items, perhaps? This time, the monsters you control won't be able to help you."

"Do you think I need that against you, you piece of trash?!"

This Gillium really has a low boiling point.

His pride is abnormally high, and he always looks down on the weak.

And this wasn't just taunting; it was actually advice.

Gillium's skills are entirely offense-oriented, with no defensive abilities.

He can't use healing magic either, so he gets taken down more easily than his other brothers.

In short, Gillium's strength relies entirely on the monsters he controls.

"Alphise, Gillium, do you remember the terms of the duel?"

"Yes, Father. If I win, Lucille will make  contract with me. And Brother Gillium will have to wash the servant's clothes he dirtied."

"Yeah, and if I win, Alphise becomes my slave. The outcome is already decided, so there's no need to confirm it."

Although he's a hands-off parent, it seems Leolg is serious about overseeing the duel.

As the head of the family, he can't tolerate disputes.

That said, if I were to tattle about Gillium's harassment, I'd probably just get scolded.

Leolg despises weak people the most.

Because he believes such individuals are useless even as pawns.

"The weapons to be used are wooden swords. The duel ends when one of you yields. Fight with all your might."

As Leolg declared this, Gillium and I took up our weapons.

A 7-year-old challenging a 10-year-old is nothing short of reckless by any normal standard.

By normal standards, that is.

"Keh keh keh, foolish little brother. Look at this. Do you know what this is?"

"Mana?"

"Huh? Y-yeah. You can't possibly do this, can you?"

"Well, not really... but like this?"

Gillium was smugly channeling mana into his wooden sword, but I did the same.

The confident look on Gillium's face stiffened.

"Wha—?! You're using mana?!"

"Did you think I couldn't do it just because I'm 7? Don't underestimate me. In fact, I'm ahead of you. Like this."

I converted my mana into the dark attribute.

Dark mana surged from the blackened wooden sword.

In Princess Sword, each character has their own strengths when it comes to weapons and magic.

Finding those strengths is one of the joys of the game.

Although my strategy wiki pretty much exposed everything in an instant.

Using weapons or magic you're not proficient in naturally results in lower growth rates.

In fact, it can lead to hitting a ceiling in your development, resulting in a failed build.@@novelbin@@

Alphise's affinity is dark magic and swords. I've known this since birth.

Gillium, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have figured out his strengths yet.

"Da-dark?! How can you use that?!"

"Why? It's not like I've been doing nothing. I've been working hard while you were busy being satisfied with controlling monsters."

"Damn it! Even if it's dark, my mana should still be stronger!"

Gillium swung his wooden sword wildly, enraged.

While the mana-enhanced strikes were powerful, his movements were slow.

I easily parried them.

"Ugh! It won't budge!"

"Brother Gillium, have you been training properly? Or are you still holding back?"

"Shut up!"

Gillium stepped back and then lunged at me again.

At that moment, I released a small portion of the dark energy wrapped around my sword.

The dark mist enveloped Gillium's face.

"Wha—?! I can't see! What's going on?!"

"Dark magic can do things like this. Swinging blindly won't hit anything. In fact..."

I struck Gillium's stomach as he flailed wildly.

"Gah!"

"...it just leaves you wide open."

Gillium staggered, clutching his stomach.

The onlookers were in an uproar; no one had expected this turn of events.

"Lord Alphise is using dark magic?!"

"At his age, he's already using attribute magic?!"

Gillium wasn't particularly skilled in magic.

He could use simple mana enhancement, but he was mostly a physical fighter.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, but his reliance on his monsters was undeniable.

"Damn it!"

"Not giving up yet?"

"Like hell I will!"

"Sigh... Then I'll just have to show you one more thing to make you reconsider."

I drew out something other than mana from deep within me.

What I channeled into the wooden sword was a wave of energy.

When I was born, my mother, Lizzania, sensed a powerful wave of energy within me.

This is essentially the innate power that humans possess.

The nature of this power varies from person to person, but mine is destruction.

I only recently learned to draw it out, and in my current state, I can only sustain it for a short time.

But within the Balfont family, only my parents, the eldest son, and the eldest daughter can manipulate this energy.

"Wha-what is that...? There's something mixed with the dark energy on your sword..."

"I can't maintain it for long, so I'll end this now."

"Eek!"

Gillium, now completely terrified, tried to use his wooden sword as a shield.

My wooden sword, imbued with dark energy and the wave of destruction, struck it.

With a loud crack, Gillium's sword shattered.

"Ah! Agh! What is this?!"

"My wave is destruction. This wooden sword has the power to destroy anything. Do you understand what that means?"

"St-stop! Damn it! Please stop!"

"No."

I struck Gillium with the wooden sword.

The sword dug into his stomach, and he vomited blood as he was sent flying.

When he hit the ground, he spat out another mouthful of blood and stopped moving.

"Just kidding. I released the wave before hitting you, so don't worry... Huh? I don't hear you yielding. Should I finish you off?"

"That's enough. The match is over."

Leolg looked down at me with a stern gaze. What's up, World King?

"Alphise, where did you learn that?"

"On my own. I just discovered it. More importantly, I want you to keep your promise."

"Ah, the angel girl. Hey."

Called by Leolg, Lucille, who had been watching the fight, timidly approached me.

She seemed fidgety. Does she need to use the bathroom or something?

"U-um, Lord Alphise... th-thank you..."

"Why are you being so meek?"

I remember her being quite the brat in the original story.

Well, if she's going to be this docile, I guess that's fine.