Chapter 142: Chapter 213 – The Duel

“How dares he—mhhmmmwwhhhmm!” a woman’s angry voice echoed through the completely silent hall.

Asterios could easily tell that it belonged to Miria and he saw the panthergirl getting gently but firmly restrained by her vulpine sister-mate somewhere at the back of the crowd. The people didn’t seem to take note of her comment or just didn’t care about it with the scene taking place in front of them. Selene winked at Asterios as their eyes met through the gap in the encirclement of guests and he returned his focus to the nobleman before him.

“Eugene, what is the meaning of this?” Silvia stepped forth and glanced at the glove lying on the beautiful marble floor.

“That’s what I’ve been meaning to ask!” the visibly annoyed man spat back, finally freeing himself from his father’s hold. “How come a complete stranger hiding himself behind a foolish mask acts so flippantly and audaciously towards the princess! This cannot stand!”

A small frown appeared on Silvia’s noble forehead and Asterios noticed the man’s parents pale in response. They didn’t dare to insert themselves into the argument anymore after they had failed to prevent it, knowing better than to put themselves and their family even more in harm's way.

“That complete stranger has been chosen as my escort for tonight’s festivities not just by me but also by my father. Their willingness to accompany me is the only reason I have accepted your invitation. I fail to see how the way he acts is any of your concern,” she replied slowly and respectfully.

“What kind of a normal escort gets so familiar with the princess!” Eugene continued, shooting Asterios furious glares.

“When have I stated that he was a normal escort?” Silvia raised a brow at him. “Lord Asterios is my current partner and companion. It is only natural that after benevolently letting me stay by his side to study and practice, I would respond in kind by offering him to stay by my side during official gatherings.”

“Lord?” The young noble seemed surprised but quickly sneered to the side. “There’s not a single person of such standing in the kingdom that I do not know of, and this Lord Asterios certainly doesn’t ring any bells. I’m starting to worry that you have been fooled by some fraudulent pretender, Your Highness.”

A quiet murmur broke amongst the spectators. Asterios sighed silently too. He knew perfectly well how much attention did Silvia pay to the entire kingdom and its people, and so did her father. The man’s statement could easily be taken as a declaration that they weren’t doing their job properly. And it seemed that his parents might have had similar thoughts.

Silvia shook her head softly. “The world is a vast, unending space. There are people and places you wouldn’t have dreamed of, Eugene. Besides, once more, when have I stated that he was someone important specifically from our kingdom?”

“I knew those vicious eyes of his were something else! That’s even worse! No outsider, especially this suspicious, is worthy of standing by your side, Princess! There are much better people amongst your own kin who constantly devote their lives to you and our nation!” he continued, sweeping at the crowd with one hand and placing the other one over his heart.

“Eugene,” Silvia replied with a firmer tone. “From the moment you opened your mouth, you have been nothing but disrespectful towards my personal guest. I’m sure you are aware of the consequences of such conduct. But, having in mind that tonight is a special time for you, I’m willing to ignore your rude remarks and unbecoming behavior as long as you withdraw your untoward request. I shall not pursue any further actions towards you or your family if you do so.”

She didn’t spare the man a single thought before turning to Asterios and making a small, respectful bow, shocking everyone greatly.

“I wholeheartedly apologize for the treatment you have been subjected to in the hands of one of my retainers. I sincerely hope that this little mishap won’t tarnish our relationship. There’s no need to address his impolite and baseless request. Please, continue to enjoy the banquet, and if you would wish to leave after this incident, I shall take that as a cue for me to depart too.”

Asterios placed his hand on Silvia’s shoulder and delicately raised her up. Showing a gentle smile, he received one in response, and knelt down next to her, picking up the leather glove. The crowd immediately stopped whispering once more and primed their ears for the continuation.

“There are two things my dear mother taught me that a man should never break. First, is a girl’s heart. Second, is the noble privilege to issue a challenge for it,” he exclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear. “If I were to ignore or decline such a request, it would mean that I think nothing of you and your honor, Princess, and further on, of your father, the king. I can’t very well put a stain on your names after receiving so much from both of you.”

Sharing one more look with Silvia, he glanced past her, at the crowd and the hosts, spotting a quite apparent smirk on her father’s face, who stood right behind Eugene’s family. His mother’s expression didn’t fall too far behind as she remained next to Welrond. Asterios held himself back from smiling wryly at them and met the eyes of the rude noble.

“Does that mean that you accept?” Eugene asked, fixing his suit and standing prouder.

“What are the conditions?” Asterios inquired.

“If I win, you will leave the princess alone and never approach her again.”

Some whispers traveled through the air again and Asterios felt the rising annoyance in his mind, which actually belonged to his mates, especially Miria. Ignoring it, though, he nodded respectfully.

“I see. It is only natural that if I win, you will be subjected to the same oath, am I right?” He raised a brow at the man.

Eugene took a moment before answering and Silvia beat him to it. “It is as you say. The stakes need to be equal for the duel to be fair. I shall officially acknowledge the conditions. The challenged party has the privilege to choose the weapon so please, let us know about your pick.”

“What are you best at?” Asterios roamed his eyes over Eugene’s figure.

“You will regret acting so arrogant,” the young man sneered at him. “Daggers.”

“Considering the nature of the chosen weapon, the duel will continue until three bloods are drawn,” the princess announced. “Everyone, please make some space for our contestants. Bryn, my dear friend, may I trouble you with setting up a protective barrier?”

As the people began taking a few steps back, a gust of air hit them from above and the golden-haired Valkyrie gracefully descended to the ground. She made a respectful bow and the shining halo materialized over her head.

“It will be my pleasure, Princess.”

“Thank you. Please, make it as transparent as you can. We don’t want people to miss anything.”

“As per your request.”

Bryn summoned her staff with a flash of warm light and began tracing glowing yellow symbols over the marble floor. Everyone watched her work with enchanting precision and elegance. After completing the pentagonal array, the Valkyrie activated her spell and a spherical barrier rose from the formation, stopping short of the first row of people surrounding them. Shining with a golden glow at first, the magical wall’s color gradually faded and soon became as clear as a glass window, or even clearer as it was extremely tough to spot the surface.

Silvia smiled gratefully at the winged lady and stepped closer to Asterios, leaning into his side to place a delicate peck on his cheek. “Good luck.”

This only seemed to make Eugene even more furious but she ignored the man while heading to her father’s spot, joining him and Kindra at the front of the audience as Bryn let the two of them out of the created arena. 

Giving the princess one last nod with a soft smile, Asterios turned to face his opponent. Eugene had already summoned two fancy daggers from his storage artifact, most likely, and even had taken off his suit’s jacket to increase the range of his movements.

Asterios hadn’t expected him to be skilled in such a fighting style often adored by Assassins or Rogues, but after the man took a lowered stance, it actually felt quite fitting. Eugene emanated that rough, not-so-noble aura. Asterios had no doubt that he wouldn’t act all chivalrous during the duel.

But, it wasn’t like it bothered him in the slightest.

With a faint, crimson flash, he brought out his ceremonial dagger. A few people exclaimed in awe and admiration at its simple but quite intricate design with many carved sigils and patterns. Some agreed that it complemented Ast’s mysterious, quite ominous atmosphere. 

He didn’t really need anything more than it if he were to be honest. Naturally, he would never underestimate an enemy he knew nothing about. But, from what his now-enhanced draconic eyes and senses were telling him, Eugene was nowhere close to being a threat. Silvia and Welrond had to know it too. This entire incident was clearly a stage the man had unknowingly set for their plans and the smart royals chose to make use of it.

“Are you both ready?” Welrond asked instead of his daughter this time. Both sides nodded confidently and Asterios set his dagger casually by his side while fixing his collar. “Begin!”

Eugene wasted no time and rushed at Asterios the very moment the king opened his mouth to start the fight. The spectators gasped at the unexpected speed with which the man shot forward, his shoes surrounded with a faint, blue aura. It seemed that the prideful noble wasn’t just all talk and had a thing or two to back his confidence.

Yet, while the majority of the observers were impressed by his display, Asterios just sidestepped off the man’s path with minimum effort. To him, it looked like Eugene moved in slow motion. The noble’s speed couldn’t even be compared to what Silvia had been able to achieve during their own duel. Asterios wondered if he hadn’t enhanced his senses a bit too much for this fight.

Passing by his side, Eugene came to a quick stop and swung himself around with much more control than should be expected from someone going this fast in a straight line. Asterios knew it well since he had plenty of experience with his beloved feline mate who specialized in that area. He concluded that the little bit of magic imbued in the man’s feet wasn’t just meant to propel him forward.

Switching his vision to the magic-sensitive grayscale, he focused his gaze on Eugene’s shoes. It soon became obvious that they were enchanted and the ability hadn’t come straight from the man’s skill set. A small but complex magic formation had been etched into the soles on the inner side. From what Asterios observed, the spell allowed the person controlling it to affect not just speed but also traction, and somewhat gravity. Eugene could technically make his kicks faster, stronger, and heavier, as long as he knew how.

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But, Asterios wasn’t sure if he did since Eugene continued to swing his daggers at him while making occasional use of the maneuverability provided to him by the artifact-grade pieces of gear. Naturally, none of those attacks reached him, cutting through empty air as Asterios unhurriedly stepped just inches away from the knives.

Well, to him and a few other people, it might have looked like he was nonchalantly walking backward, but the majority of the audience saw two men constantly zooming all around the spiritual dome, faster and just a little bit slower at times. They couldn’t see any blow or clashing blades but the only noise echoing through the hall came from the men’s shoes squeaking against the polished ground. No one seemed to have landed a hit yet.

After a while, Asterios was sure that Eugene didn’t have anything else in store besides what he had already shown. The man’s mana was slowly burning away through the arrays under his feet. He was also certain that while those provided Eugene small bursts of speed, the wielder had no way of enhancing his senses to match it.

The swings Eugene made were pre-aimed at the brief moment before his repeated lunges. He didn’t change their trajectory midway. He seemed to be able to do so only after stopping or altering his directions. That way, every single attempt was clearly telegraphed by his legs or feet.

Asterios could basically keep his gaze down and he would be able to read his opponent's movements with ease. Each time the man’s thighs tensed, he would rush forward. Each time the man’s feet twisted, he would switch directions. Each time the man’s ankles were put under a bit of pressure, he would come to a halt. Each of those motions would be accompanied by a single swing.

Finally, after about three minutes, they both stopped, putting some distance between each other. Eugene kept an aggressive posture while catching his breath; sweat dripping from his forehead and neck. His white shirt was starting to slightly cling to his body, emphasizing its decently athletic and attractive shape.

As for Asterios, he barely sighed, mostly out of slight boredom. After the initial attack, he had expected a bit more from the loud noble. He certainly couldn’t deny him some skill in operating his shoes, but that was pretty much all. It was a bit silly in his eyes to hold so much confidence in oneself with just this much, ignoring the fact that they were supposed to duel with just daggers.

“Looks like you can barely keep up with me… Unable to squeeze a single attack in…” Eugene taunted, slowly regaining his breath. “Your time is limited… You will soon make a mistake and you won’t be able to keep running away like this…”

Asterios raised a brow at the man and turned his face to peek over his shoulder, where Silvia and Welrond stood, accompanied by his mother. One single thought was clearly visible in his expression.

Is this dude serious?

Silvia giggled silently, showing a rare hint of a beautiful smile, while her father chuckled wryly. He was most likely somewhat embarrassed about the power level of his retainers. But, Asterios shook his head at the king; it wasn’t anyhow influenced by him. There were actual soldiers, mages, and members of the Royal Division that could actually put up a fight against Asterios.

Well, to some extent.

“Ready to end this?” Eugene asked, capturing his attention.

Asterios sighed once more. “Yeah. I don’t think there’s a point in having you embarrass yourself any further.”

“I’m going to expose you, you fraud!”

With renewed vigor, Eugene lowered his stance even more, setting his feet much wider this time. He brought his daggers to the front and locked his furious eyes on Asterios. The blue aura enveloping his shoes became slightly more apparent and Asterios was sure that it had become clearly visible at least to the people at the front. To him, of course, it looked like Eugene was ankle-deep in a puddle of cyan mana.

Noticing the man’s muscles tensing, Asterios gripped his ceremonial dagger seriously and took a deep breath. Directing more scorching-hot energy into his eyes and heart, he enhanced them to about sixty percent of what he could currently achieve. As Eugene’s body started listing forward, Asterios locked his gaze on his target too, and launched himself off the ground.

Shortly before they met in the middle, Asterios dropped into a slide and dove between Eugene’s legs while making three quick cuts. Passing each other, they effectively switched their spots in the arena. To the spectators, it looked like they teleported after a strong explosion of air, with Asterios somehow ending up near the ground while Eugene was locked in his after-swing pose.

Asterios nonchalantly stood up and dusted off his knees. Hearing his opponent turning around at the other end of the barrier, he did the same to meet the man’s gaze.

“Impressive. But will you be able to dodge it the sec—”

Eugene paused as lively whispers broke in the crowd. Literally everyone directed their eyes at him. Countless noblewomen fanned themselves with their delicate hands or decorative fans, barely keeping back from fainting; their husbands either covering their women's eyes or the eyes of their daughters. The younger noble ladies giggled amongst themselves with a tiny flush decorating their pretty cheeks.

Asterios raised his left hand to the front and Eugene noticed that he held two pieces of fabric in his fingers, one black and one white, while smirking at him. Immediately dropping his gaze down, he found a triangular patch of missing material at his crotch. His manhood dangled freely from the cleanly-sliced window. One red cut decorated his underbelly and two more swollen lines ran over his inner thighs, heading down and to the back, making a perfect shape of an upside-down triangle.

He immediately let go of his daggers and covered his privates from the intense gazes of the gathered guests. His face started quickly assuming a red shade, both from embarrassment and rage.

“You are going to pay—”

“I hereby announce that the winner of the duel is Lord Asterios as he was the first one to draw three bloods from his enemy,” Silvia interrupted him and walked to his side. “You are going to respect your promise, I hope.”

She looked Eugene straight in the eyes, then took a slow glance at his waist, and brought her gaze back up without a single hint of change in her calm, stoic expression. That lack of any reaction seemed to push Eugene even further into his madness.

“I will not stand for this!” He angrily pointed a finger at Asterios and quickly brought it back down after realizing that bits of his family jewels were on the verge of poking out with just one hand covering them. “I do not acknowledge this! He used some dirty trick to shame me!”

“I would like to say that Asterios won fair and square, but I would be lying if I said so.” Welrond slowly walked to join his daughter’s side. Eugene’s expression brightened for a fraction of a second until he met the king’s mighty, stern glare. “You were talking big about exposing his deception, but for someone who relied on the aid of an artifact in an honorable duel of arms, it seems that you are the only one who ended up… exposed.”

Eugene’s face fell in an instant. He felt like just the king’s glare could crush him to dust. It took all his willpower to stop himself from trembling. That would definitely put his nether regions on another display.

“Did you really think neither of us would notice?” Silvia asked with a calm but firm tone too. “This duel wasn’t interrupted right after it started only because Lord Asterios signaled to me that he was fully aware of your trickery from the very beginning. I’m sure he wouldn’t have ever brought it up either. Unfortunately, I won’t remain silent after my partner is blatantly called a cheater and fraud.”

As his eyes widened in pure shock, Eugene moved his gaze from Silvia to Asterios, who shrugged at the man before walking forward to join the royal duo. Respectfully wrapping his arm around the princess’ waist, Asterios received a faint smile from her before Silvia turned to the noble again.

“From this day on, I do not wish to see you in front of me ever again. Now leave. Your presence is disturbing the guests.”

With his head hung low, Eugene didn’t argue and started heading towards one of the doors somewhere on the side of the banquet hall. The people made a path for him, still boring into the man with their intense gazes. He walked in a very awkward manner, trying to preserve what shred of decency he had left.

His parents quickly approached the center and Silvia turned to them. “You don’t need to worry. I will not blame you for the mistakes of your son. I am unable to conceal the shame he brought upon your family, but I do not intend to hold anyone else responsible for his actions.”

They both bowed low before the man replied. “This much is way too much already, Your Highness. Please, have our utmost apologies for being unable to discipline our descendants properly. We are deeply sorry, Your Highness, Lord Asterios.”

Silvia glanced at Asterios and he nodded softly. “Just like the princess, I do not wish to unnecessarily drag this incident out. What is done is done. You, Sir and Madam, still have guests to entertain, so do not worry about me and focus on appeasing them.”

The hosts bowed again and quickly scurried away to salvage whatever they could from this disastrous situation. Silvia sighed gently after all the eyes moved away from them and her slender shoulders lost some previously gathered tension. Asterios squeezed her side reassuringly and they smiled at each other warmly.

“Was my performance helpful to your plans?” he asked with a light chuckle.

She let out a faint giggle too. “Much more than I would have thought.”

“Come on. Let’s join everyone for a small break.”

Silvia nodded and let Asterios lead her to the other girls, who waited for their arrival by one of the snack tables in the back.

 

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