Armipotent

Chapter 1930: Disaster in the Making? (1)

”We will need something to raise our soldiers’ morale before facing the Dominion. What about if we hold the fight in the arena and invite the soldiers to watch? It will give them an assurance if they know how strong their God Rank is.”

Albin stood up from his seat and pitched the suggestion. He planned to humiliate the mercenaries in front of thousands of soldiers, if not thousands of soldiers. That was the price for the mercenary, a light price he might add for what they had done to him.

If he let this be, people might think the future of Sorcerer Monarch was a pushover. He might even lose his supporters if he left the Raven Mercenary Guild unpunished. Since the Raven Mercenary Guild Master tried to protect those new people, he would humiliate them in front of him.

Gianni did not expect the opposite party to create a stage for them. But it did not take long for him to figure out what this young lord tried to do. This young lord tried to return the humiliation earlier, and this young lord tried to use them to humiliate the Raven Mercenary Guild Master.

They were just tools in the young lord’s eyes. The tool to humiliate the mercenary guild that acted against him at the start of the meeting. By using them, Guild Master Alves could not use the mercenary guild as an excuse.

Gianni was getting more infuriated that this insolent brat regarded Your Majesty as a tool.

Before, the former commander was hesitating to accept the stage, which would have brought down the morale of the soldiers who had witnessed their God Rank fall. But he changed his mind after realizing what Albin had tried to do.

Alves’ eyes widened with dread because Young Lord Albin was not aware of what he had gotten into. This was no more than a challenge because he was confident that these knights would kill the five God Ranks from Young Lord Albin’s side. Yet Albin proposed to make the battle public.

He almost screamed, but he swallowed his scream back when he felt intense pressure on his shoulder. Mathias and Nikolas strengthen their grip on his shoulder.

Alves did not give up as he looked toward the Sorcerer Mercenary Guild Master. Hera knew well how strong these people were. She should stop this pointless duel, at least stop Albin from making the duel public.

He met Hera’s eyes, and the latter was also dumbfounded by the development. He tried to signal Hera to stop this, but Gianni beat him.

”I accept your proposal,” Gianni replied to Young Lord Albin as he motioned toward Jovrick and the others to come over.

Alves was finally free as Mathias and Nikolas followed Gianni to the middle of the hall along with Ruben and Jovrick.

”They will join me in the duel. Please choose your people who will participate in the duel, Young Lord Albin. Let’s make it fair so you don’t change your pick during the duel,” Gianni announced to the team.

Young Lord Albin let out a chuckle. He looked toward Tang Shaoyang. He wondered why Tang Shaoyang did not participate in the fight, ”Why don’t we make it six against six instead? You have one more person who is idle.”

”Don’t make things harder for yourself, Young Lord Albin. If he joins the duel, then there will be no chance for your people to win,” Nikolas replied instead of letting his stiff Grandfather. He pretended to scan the surroundings, ”He alone could wipe everyone in this room. Trust me, you don’t want him to participate in the duel.”

Albin’s expression changed for a moment before he chose four more God Ranks. When the four God Ranks stepped up, the court buzzed out in murmur. People were speaking among themselves. The Chevalier Monarchy people were speaking among themselves, saying Young Lord Albin went too far. Some of them cast a pitying look toward the five knights.

”NO! Stop this nonsense, Young Lord Albin!” Alves finally spoke out, raising his voice several times higher, ”Stop this pointless duel!”

”I agree. We are about to go into a battle with the Dominion! I don’t see benefits coming from the duel!” Hera supported Alves. Of course, the God Ranks that witnessed the test also gave their support to Hera and Alves.

”I understand your concern, Guild Master Hera and Guild Master Alves. However, they have accepted the challenge; it’s too late to cancel the duel now, no? Unless it’s your purpose to disgrace the Forest Family and also your friends. Why didn’t you stop the duel from the start? You can’t ask us to stop the duel now.”

Young Lord Albin’s statement got approval from the others. The duel could not be canceled when Gianni received the challenge, and he even proposed to change the duel into a five-on-five fight. It was too late to stop now.

”On top of that, I don’t think the absence of five unknown God Ranks from the war is enough to change the flow of the battle, no?” Albin smiled as he finished his sentences. It was clear what he implied: he wanted the five mercenaries to die.

Nikolas burst out into laughter while shaking his head. He waved his hand at the people around him, ”Don’t mind me. Don’t mind me. I am just imagining something funny in my mind.”

Grand General Senton pulled Alves and reprimanded the Guild Leader harshly. He was telling Alves to stop. Hera realized that Alves’s voice did not carry that much weight in this court. She rushed toward Benedict and tried to persuade the eldest son from the Forest Family to stop the duel, as well as Volans.

Benedict just shook his head, and in fact, the eldest seemed to be excited by the duel. Volans just dismissed her with a wave of his hand, saying it was not his problem. At this point, the Guild Master realized that she could no longer stop the duel.

Benedict rose from his seat. ”The court is... not over yet. We still have a duel to end our meeting,” The eldest son smiled, ”For the duel’s fairness, I would like the Chevalier Mercenary Guild Master to be the judge for the duel. We will hold the duel in the Forest Arena, and I will have my people pick the mercenary when the arena is ready.”

Hera immediately rushed toward the Raven Monarchy seats. Alves pushed away General Ravenbarch and the other Generals who wanted to lecture him on behalf of Grand General Senton. He rushed toward Tang Shaoyang. After finding out the dynamic between the players, the only way to minimize the conflict was to persuade Tang Shaoyang.

”Please don’t kill them, Sir. Please tell your people not to kill Young Lord Albin’s people. We can’t afford to lose them when the Dominion is at our door!” Alves changed his attitude, almost begging Tang Shaoyang.

”I don’t participate in the duel, Guild Master Alves. You should persuade them, not me,” Tang Shaoyang shook his head. ”Didn’t you hear what our challenger said earlier? Losing five God Ranks will not change the war. Why are you so concerned?”

”And if you want to persuade someone, you should persuade Gianni, Guild Master Alves. Don’t waste your time on us,” Mathias came over and overheard what Alves said, ”We participate in name only. I don’t think Grea— Gianni will leave us anyone to fight.”

*** ***

Guild Master Alves and Guild Master Hera tried their best, but their effort was futile. Tang Shaoyang just smiled at them, and Gianni did not even speak to them. Both Guild Masters eventually accepted the disaster that would break this night, and they made some preparations if this duel turned into a disaster.

Both guild masters were sitting on the seats designated for them as a mercenary guild master. They were placed on the same level as Generals, and they made sure that Tang Shaoyang sat between them.

”You have crossed the line and also brought an embarrassment to the Raven Monarchy, Alves!” General Ravenbarch, who was followed by three more Generals, came over and sat on their seats.

Alves was tired of playing nice with these people. He just glanced at Ravenbarch, ”I am never representing the Raven Monarchy, Ravenbarch. The mercenary guild is never under the monarchy’s jurisdiction...”

The fox beastmen waved his hand instead of finishing his sentence, ”This argument will be pointless once the duel starts. You will soon understand why I am going so far to stop the duel, Ravenbarch. Yes, just watch, and you will understand.”

Ravenbarch did not like Alves’ attitude, but it was not too late to bring this up again later after the duel. Maybe he could use this excuse to replace Alves with his friend. With that in mind, he sat next to Alves.

The arena was packed with soldiers and mercenaries. The mercenary team with a Gold Rank could enter the arena to watch, and the soldiers also came to watch. They were excited as apparently, the three people Young Lord Albin picked up were the top ten powerhouses in the Sorcerer Monarchy, especially in a duel.

Not just the top ten, but also the strongest one in the Sorcerer Monarchy in terms of a duel. The number one, the number three, and the sixth were the three people who would participate in the duel. There was even a host for the duel, welcoming the participants.

”He is the mercenary who accepted Lord Hector’s challenge, Gianni. From the data I gathered, he is a Red Rank Mercenary??? What??? Red Rank Mercenary dares to accept Lord Hector’s challenge?” The host pretended to be surprised and said in a mocking tone.

”Don’t worry, though, the mercenary guild mentioned Gianni is a God Rank despite his low-ranked mercenary rank. Maybe this will not be as one-sided as we tho... Oh, wait. There’s a note here that says the guild could not confirm Gianni’s actual rank because Gianni never showed his status screen. Let’s hope Gianni survives at least for one minute.”

The whole arena burst out in laughter and mixed with boos, laughing at Gianni as the knight entered the arena. He used the same armor and helmet with seven floating spears on his back. Gianni paid no mind to the audience as he waited at the designated place for him.

”And from the west side is Lord Hector Willem of the Willem Family! I don’t need to tell you guys who he is, right? That’s right, he is our hero who will repel the nasty Dominion from our land! Let’s welcome Lord Hector!”

Hector changed his outfit into plate armor and two swords at his waist. His left hand was holding his helmet as he entered the arena, waving his free hand at the audience, responding to the cheers. The arena boomed as even the mercenaries cheered for Lord Hector.

”And the referee is personally picked by Young Lord Benedict to ensure the fairness of the duel. It’s Chevalier Mercenary Guild Master, Sir Justen!”

Justen stood between Gianni and Hector. He glanced toward the host direction, sending the host a warning glare. He disliked Gianni for causing this mess, but he could not accept it when the host tried to paint the mercenary as the bad guy.

He took a deep breath and calmed down before glancing toward Gianni. He asked both sides if they were ready.

”I am ready!” Gianni responded flatly.

Hector smiled and put on his helmet before nodding his head as he pulled out his swords. He was known for his beautiful swordplay, a dual-wielder God Rank.

”I am ready!”

Justen nodded and raised his right hand upward as he leaped backward. He was not stupid enough to stand in the middle of the God Ranks during the duel.

”Start!”

There was a stalemate situation where the two sides did not make a move in the first three seconds after Justen announced the start of the duel. Exactly after three seconds, Justen saw the spear on Gianni’s back shot toward Hector.

The speed was not as fast as he caught the movement, but it was quite fast, as in the next moment, the spear was in Hector’s range.

Hector did what he would do in that situation, trying to block the spear with his sword. It was not that fast that he could not react to the spear. Blocking the spear was to test out the strength behind the spear, as that would be a judgment on how they should approach the fight later on. That was what Hector and Justen thought until the sword met the spear.

Hector swung the Legendary Grade Sword at the spear. He hit the spear right on the tip, and his face changed how heavy the spear was. But then his eyes widened in terror as he witnessed his sword break apart, and the spear did not stop. He failed to stop the spear, barely nudged the spear to change spear direction.

The spear pierced his stomach instead of his chest, and it was brought with the spear to the arena entrance, where he had made an entrance earlier. His body was stuck above the entrance with a spear in the belly. He was about to pull the spear out, but one spear to the belly was not enough to kill him. To his terror, five more spears were already in front of him.

One spear in his left chest, one spear in the middle of his chest, one spear in his right chest, and two more spears in his stomach. His mouth gurgled blood as his vision slowly blurred. He was about to say he wanted to surrender, but another spear arrived before his face. The last spear was right in the middle of his eyes.

He gurgled out blood, but no words came out as the spear pierced through his chest and exploded. That was right, Hector Willem’s head exploded from the last spear.