Chapter: 67. Duel (5000 words)
Wow, you really are quite shameless for a Second Prince of this kingdom!
No other way to put it; a prince’s approach to life relies on bullying the weak and fearing the strong, achieving success in the most shameless manner possible.
Xial is in high spirits.
She swings her little fists to adapt to her body reshaped after a millennium, feeling quite good about herself.
However, due to the distance, from the audience’s perspective, she simply looks like a cute little girl being playful and mischievous, quite childlike.
But in reality…
Xial is striking her punches with sound.
Boom!
The unaware Barrier Masters ponder why the barrier they constructed is beginning to waver again? Could it be that the damage caused by the Fire Dragon Clan hasn’t been repaired yet? This is truly strange.
Xial retracts her fists, and at almost the same moment, Princess Xue Fei, using some wondrous magic, communicates her light and agile voice into Xial’s mind.
“Listen up, it’s fine for you to hit the person, but hold back! Don’t kill them! Otherwise, I would have to deal with a corpse, and that’s a hassle. Also, don’t make too much noise; I suggested you participate in the competition because you’re a girl with combat ability, not that you’re only capable of fighting. Don’t let me down.”
Ah… Princess Xue Fei’s voice is so pleasant, resonating in Xial’s mind, making her feel extremely excited.
How about saying a few more words!?
However, Xue Fei never takes pity on her, cutting off her speech immediately.
At the same time, Xial raises a thumb towards Xue Fei, indicating that she understands everything! She will definitely comply!
Ah… I hope she really understood.
On the other side of the arena.
The Second Prince Mi Erhe isn’t taking the little girl opposite him seriously at all.
He casually weighs the long sword in his hand, shaking his head with a wry smile as he casts an approving glance at the referee.
Sure, this match you arranged is spot on. The opponent is gone, and you’ve set up a must-win contest for me. When I get back, I’ll give you all a bonus.
But… at least give me an adult as an opponent, will you?
This guy opposite is completely just a child, isn’t she?
After all, bullying a little girl; even if I win this battle, it wouldn’t be graceful enough, not enough to save face.
So Mi Erhe casually tosses his black bangs aside, stepping forward while spreading his palm and smiling.
“Little girl, you must be very scared right now, right? Don’t worry, I promise not to hurt you when the match starts.”
“Hehe… I’m going to win… Yay!”
“Little girl?”
“Don’t interrupt me; I’m listening for other sounds! So noisy!”
“What…?!”
What is he talking about?!
Could it be that even at this age, his brain hasn’t fully developed?
Mi Erhe is now quite doubtful whether participating in this match was the right decision.
But regardless, he must see victory through to the end.
With a flick of his sword, his Third Stage strength causes the sword to hum. The charity he can show as a prince amounts to this much.
“Little girl, I feel sorry for you being hastily arranged to fill the spot. But I’m sorry; the adult world is quite cruel. You might take a tumble, but don’t worry, I’ll catch you at the moment you fall, and your task will be complete. Just remember not to leave the stage crying, alright? Otherwise, it’ll seem like I’m the one bullying you.”
Mi Erhe feels that his plan is perfect. He can display his martial prowess while also showing the audience the gentle and caring side of royalty.
Undoubtedly, after this match, the boost to his reputation will be significant!
Xial listens repeatedly to the voice in her mind, feeling a bit disheartened.
Princess Xue Fei doesn’t reward her… Little Holy Sword is quite disappointed.
Speaking of which… who was buzzing like a fly just now, continuously nagging?
At this moment, Xial finally looks up at the man approaching her step by step.
Suddenly she remembered.
Oh, right… there’s a match going on!
Hmm…! Princess Xue Fei, I got it; I just need to simply defeat the opponent, right? I will do great!
The Little Holy Sword is rather slow to grasp things, while the host’s explanation of the match continues without pause.
[Oh! Xial competitor is standing there in a daze! Is she not adapting to the atmosphere of the arena? Prince Mi Erhe doesn’t seem eager to attack either; this battle has almost no suspense… it’s just a matter of whether Prince Mi Erhe can end the fight in one blow?! Or whether Xial can withstand this one strike? Hahaha… I boldly guess this might be the quickest semifinal match in the history of the Gladiatorial Arena!]
While the host says these things, he certainly fails to notice the golden light gathering at Xial’s fingertips.
At any moment, bending her fingers would unleash a gentle attack aimed at Mi Erhe’s head, causing him to faint.
Hehe, Princess Xue Fei said to keep a low profile; then this attack method must be very subtle!
Whether it is subtle or not is yet to be determined.
But…
It may not even be needed.
As Mi Erhe steps within a few meters…
Xial’s clear gaze begins to turn chaotic.
Within her eyes, it seems a raging fire is burning.
The surroundings appear to no longer be solid ground…
But a wasteland of blood and wails, endless resentment, and boundless desolation.
Parental curses and friends leaving.
The chants of “monster” and “get lost” echo in her ears, impossible to shake off.
What is reflected in Xial’s starry eyes… is Mi Erhe’s arm with the royal emblem of “sword and shield.”
She hates…
The autumn wind rustles; turning back again and again, seeing nothing of the enmity of a thousand years.
The winter rain falls; she melancholically looks up, only to realize the sea of hellfire is laden with sorrow.
The Olus Royal Family… that shameless royal clan who once held a sword, demanding her to give up her life and leap into the sea of fire, disguising everything with high-sounding righteousness.
These aren’t the scenes seen at this moment.
But Xial seems to see figures draped in royal emblems from a thousand years ago, coldly walking closer, and behind them, was a blazing sea of fire.
The aura surrounding Xial begins to change; it almost happens in an instant.
The audience cannot feel it.
But facing everything, Mi Erhe suddenly feels as if his feet are nailed to the ground, unable to take another step forward.
He is astonished, staring blankly at his trembling hand…
Strange.
Am I… afraid?
Why? What am I afraid of?
This little girl hasn’t done anything… she’s still just standing there, isn’t she?
Xial keeps her head down and silent, but beads of cold sweat have formed on Mi Erhe’s forehead.
Is this some kind of domain-like magic…? So I’m affected?
No, that’s not right… she clearly shows no signs of using magic.
He doesn’t know what the little girl has done, but he instinctively feels danger.
Maybe this little girl is far more powerful than he imagined… do not underestimate her.
So, to be safe, he must negotiate as usual. Negotiation is for absolute victory.
“Ha… little girl, I might not have explained clearly before; you just need to play along with me in this act. Don’t do anything unnecessary; hold back your magic. I’ll give you coins, a lot of coins, enough that you could spend for a lifetime! I can even promise you titles for your parents…! I’m royalty after all; that Countess Shaya surely can’t match this level! Hahaha… this competition is just a game; you don’t need to risk your life for her. Right now, you just need to make a little sacrifice, and I can… uh?”
Before he can finish his sentence.
She has already acted.
Mi Erhe’s eyes cannot capture it.
It’s an afterimage, a streak of light.
Perhaps the only thing Mi Erhe sees clearly is the little girl raising her head, where beneath her blue hair, her twin pupils shimmer with golden light and scarlet.
Inch by inch, golden magical energy turns into an invisible blade. In just a breath, Mi Erhe feels an uncontrollable sharp pain shooting through his waist.
This pain is indescribable… unprecedented!
As he turns to see the figure that swishes past him.
The blue-haired little girl, who knows when, has already appeared far behind him, letting the golden phantom blade shed sparkles like specks of gold, as if she’s done nothing at all, just changing her standing position.
— She doesn’t even look back.
Mi Erhe instinctively clutches the painful spot, but the waist he grips feels as if it no longer belongs to him, neither visible nor perceptible.
Surroundings seem to fall into pitch black, sounds fading away slowly, an even deeper darkness than night suddenly descends.
Eh…?
Mi Erhe’s eyes widen as they gradually fill with bloodshot threads of fear and panic.
I’ve… my waist… been severed?!
Severed in two?!
Am I going to bleed…?
A lot of blood…?
Am I going to die!!
The moment this possibility crosses Mi Erhe’s mind, he lets out a shrill and helpless scream as if facing death, tears and snot streaming down uncontrollably!
The screams fill the arena, yet cannot shatter the surrounding dark night.
However…
That hopelessly tragic sight divided into two does not come to pass.
The prince doesn’t know how long he screamed in pain.
As the pain diminishes, his vision gradually clarifies and sounds slowly return.
What he sees and hears are the disdainful gazes of the audience.
And their
clearly scornful remarks.
“Ugh… is this what royalty is? Turns out they’re this useless… I feel like even I wouldn’t be that embarrassed if I went up; look at him, all snot and tears, not knowing that it looks like he’s been killed!”
“I thought so too; didn’t that little girl just walk slowly past him? And he got scared like that? Is it really necessary?”
“I think I saw a sword with condensed magical power in her hand! Could it be that this scared the prince silly?”
“Hahaha, is that for real?! If that’s the case, then this prince probably can’t go to the battlefield! There’s more than one sword in a battlefield; he’d probably die of fright!”
“Pathetic!!”
The prince no longer has the energy to listen to these insults.
His face, drenched in tears and snot, hasn’t had time to wipe it away before he hurriedly checks if his waist is still intact!
He repeatedly checks around his waist, even lifting his gold-trimmed clothes to expose his belly and observe again.
Only then does he realize… there’s no severing at all, and not even a drop of blood is seen!
In a life-and-death moment, when one realizes they are still alive, they don’t think about why they are alive.
They only feel gratitude!
Mi Erhe feels his legs weaken, and he kneels directly on the ground, crying out in fear and relief!
“Ahhh…! So good… so good! I’m still alive… still alive!!!”
Crying as if he were a wilted vegetable, look at how dismal he is.
Meanwhile, Xial, having walked to the other end of the arena, has long dispelled the half-transparent golden sword in her hand, slightly raising her head to gaze at the boundless night sky outside the arena.
With eyes crimson yet hollow, they gradually reflect the starry sky returning to its deep blue galactic hue.
The young girl stands proudly between heaven and earth, still disdainful of looking back.
That disheveled royal figure isn’t worth the slightest turn of her head.
What just happened was an illusory blade, executed with an eye-blurring speed, manifesting an attack beyond comprehension as an illusion in front of the enemy, allowing him to feel the approach of death in a slow-motion time flow that only he can discern.
The brilliance of this sword lies in that it never truly severed.
Princess Xue Fei had previously stated not to create too much noise.
Were it unlike this… kid, what you saw as an illusion would have been destined to become a reality, and in this moment, you would die as tragically as the warriors did on the battlefield a thousand years ago, dying in desolation.
But… I no longer wish to step into this endless cycle of pain.
Xial no longer wants to live in hatred.
She finally turned back.
But this time when she looks back, it isn’t to see if her enemy has lost the will to fight but rather to gaze at Princess Xue Fei, who is standing up, showing her a smile of approval.
Yes… it was you who saved me from the sea of fire; why should I jump back into that infinite vortex, enduring this thousand years of heaviness?
The previous sword did not cut the inconsequential waist.
—but instead severed the chains in Xial’s own heart.
At this moment, the host finally realizes, unable to believe the result that, while it was unexpected, he must fulfill his duty to announce!
[Victory… victory belongs to competitor Xial! Incredible… Prince Mi Erhe seems to have voluntarily conceded, kneeling on the ground and crying, while competitor Xial casually takes victory as if going for a walk! My god… this is simply the biggest upset of the night!]
Xial knows everything.
The only thing she doesn’t understand is the true meaning of the smile on Xue Fei’s face!
That only Xiya, who is close to Xue Fei, knows.
“Well done! Hahaha, Xiya, did you see? Sending Xial to compete was indeed the right decision! I thought she would cause a big commotion like that time in the palace, turning the arena upside down! But look! She held back, aptly living up to the title of ‘death freak’!”
“Oh…? So at the beginning, Xue Fei, you were more inclined to believe the situation would spiral out of control…? Even so, you still recommended her to compete?”
“Cough, cough… Don’t say it like that; if anything were to happen, I would definitely clean up the mess for her, right…?”
“Sure?”
“Sure!”
Oh, I hope so.
Xiya pats the little head of Xue Fei, genuinely curious about just how much untamed longing for freedom resides in that little head.
Xial happily runs back, taking the stance of a victor, and directly leaps into Xue Fei’s arms!
Upon this leap, Xiya’s alert expression behind her can be regarded as quite splendid.
A tender voice suddenly resonates on Xue Fei’s flat chest.
“Princess Xue Fei! I did it! I didn’t embarrass you, did I?”
“Hey, not to mention, you did quite well this time!” Xue Fei taps the Little Holy Sword on the head with her fingers, realizing it was empty, “Keep up the good work! Use this momentum to win the finals; a beautiful tomorrow awaits tomorrow!”
“A beautiful tomorrow awaits tomorrow…? Hmm! I understand! Princess Xue Fei speaks in such an unfathomable manner!”
“That’s right~ what did you think?”
Xiya shakes her head left and right, completely unsure of just how absurd this pair’s conversations can get!
Xial, dear sister, you’re relying too much on Xue Fei!
And Xue Fei, can you refrain from misleading the innocent heart of Xial? She’s still just a thousand-year-old child!
Meanwhile, the Second Prince, still on the arena floor, crying and making a scene, has finally been carried off by the staff.
Surely, he has embarrassed the royal family to the fullest; when he returns, the king will undoubtedly punish him.
The gleam of gold reflects in Xue Fei’s eyes, as victory is now within an arm’s reach.
Since the Second Prince has been crying for far too long, the time for competitors to rest between the semifinals and finals has been significantly shortened.
[There’s been an unexpected little interlude, truly surprising… The match has finally reached the climax of the duel! I don’t know if competitor Xial can continue her good fortune! Or whether last year’s champion, the Seventh Stage Kingdom Mage Miss Fenny can reclaim her title!? Good, good, good, competitor Xial is already back in position! Now, on the other side, Miss Fenny…! Eh? Miss Fenny? Hahaha, everyone please remain calm; Miss Fenny may still be backstage preparing; we’ll ask the staff to invite her out!]
You could say today’s match has indeed been full of surprises.
According to logic, Mage Fenny should have been waiting on the other side for the finale after advancing directly from the semifinals.
But the sound of the finals bell has already rung, and Fenny has yet to make an appearance from the other arena.
Xial is eager to follow Princess Xue Fei’s expectations and claim victory!
Hehe… Princess Xue Fei will surely reward me generously when we get home; I have accomplished something great this time.
However… where is my opponent? I can’t see them!
At this stage in the finals, the audience is not impatient; they are all placing bets on which side will achieve victory.
It’s hard to tell how many minutes have passed; the host is pacing back and forth anxiously, as the people he sent to check on the backstage situation have yet to return!
This didn’t really come as a surprise to him.
Sigh… these people, with low wages, and no interests entangled with the organizers, always treat things as detached; they’ve never known to seize the moment to work a bit harder. After all, it’s only me who’s worried about this!
Fortunately, someone finally appears from the eastern passage.
[Oh…! Our last year’s champion, Fenny, has finally appeared! It seems her delayed entrance is meant to surprise everyone! Surprise… huh? Is that Fenny today also wrapped in a black cloak? Could she be hiding some magical attack…? Everyone, stay tuned!]
That’s right.
The figure slowly walking out from the enemy passage is also wrapped in a large black cloak, much like the Fire Dragon Clan girl when she appeared.
Covering her face, her features remain obscured.
This match does seem to enjoy its mysteries, doesn’t it?
