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Chapter 44: The Start Of The Duel
“I challenge you, the chief of the Thunder Rock tribe, to a duel of warriors!”
Eurius’s voice echoed through the mountains.
‘A duel?’
‘Why does this foreigner want to have a warrior’s duel with us?’
There was a buzz of noise from Nuada’s alliance, including the Thunder Rock tribe.
A warrior’s duel!
The north respected the strong.
They didn’t always apply it in every situation, but when they had something they wanted, they would settle it with a duel.
It wasn’t uncommon among them.
But to hear a sudden challenge from the mouth of the foreigner who seemed to be their leader?
But whether they had heard it somewhere or not, their faces were full of distrust.
“Surely, you won’t accept it?”
“Foreigners are not trustworthy! We don’t even know why he is proposing a duel in this situation
”
Shush.
But Nuada walked through them with a confident stride.
“I am Nuada, the chief of the Thunder Rock tribe!”
They were still hundreds of steps away from their camp, but for superhumans like them, it was no different from being face to face.
For a while, Nuada and Eurius exchanged gazes silently.
Nuada’s first impression was this.
‘I’ve seen him before, but he’s much younger than I thought.’
He was in his prime when he reached this level, just over thirty, but Eurius looked like a fresh young boy who was at least six years younger than him.
‘He blocked my full-strength spear?’
He felt a fiery pride rising in him. But he had to confirm something before that.
“Do you have any conditions for coming here and proposing a duel?”
He wouldn’t have come here without any purpose and simply picked a fight.
Eurius opened his mouth.
“If you win, we will retreat without pursuing you any further.”
“Hmm
”
That was an attractive condition. In a situation where their tribe’s existence was at stake in a full-scale war, he was offering to end it with one duel.
“Foreigners are not reliable! How can you prove that?”
Of course, it was too risky to accept it at face value.
‘As if he has anything like that, my friend.’
Eurius smiled inwardly and answered.
“I don’t have anything like that.”
In an instant, everyone’s expressions changed to disbelief.
“
!?”
‘Is he mocking me?’
Nuada felt insulted and his body emitted a tremendous aura that pressed on them.
“Your highness!”
The knights around him were startled, but Eurius continued calmly.
“Then do you think you can catch me if I decide to leave here with all my might?”
Nuada answered with a growling voice.
“Are you threatening us now?”
In fact, no matter how rough and harsh they were, they had already figured out the mountain path to some extent.
If Eurius took only his knights and left, it would be possible to retreat.
And if they planned to form a large-scale expedition force later and sweep the inside of the mountain range, there was no way for the tribes to stop it with their power.
‘Anyway, since we roughly know the path inside the mountain range, our conditions are absolutely advantageous!’
Eurius was relaxed as ever.
“How can we trust you, who are living people like us, if you say that?”
“
”
“And please listen to my conditions and make a decision.”
“What do you want if you win?”
Nuada had no choice but to agree, grinding his teeth. It was clear that they were in a better position right now.
Eurius’s demand was simple.
“Alliance!”
“Alliance!?”
The tribes looked at him as if he was talking nonsense, and most of Eurius’s side did too, but some knights seemed to have caught on.
‘So that was His highness intention.’
‘Indeed, if this much power joins our side, we can change the course of this war.’
“Join forces with me and deal with the chief or whatever who went down the mountain!”
“What?”
“No matter how suspicious Gundar is, are you telling us to betray our brothers in the mountain range for these foreigners?”
There was a murmur among the tribes, but Nuada thought differently.
‘So there was someone who had a similar idea to mine on that side.’
In Nuada’s opinion, if this war dragged on, the northern mountain range would be devastated, but the enemy would also suffer considerable damage.
‘But the problem is how to trust them.’
His worries could only grow.
If he helped them drive out Gundar and unified the north himself, unnecessary conflicts would surely decrease.
But what would they think of him after that?
Just like there was an unknown force behind Gundar, he could be used and discarded.
“Clap!”
But his worries were broken by a strange clapping sound.
Eurius was looking at him with a confident expression.
“
!?”
“Let’s stop playing games now.”
Eurius knew Nuada’s personality well. He hated to weigh things up and down. His worries were only for the sake of his tribe.
And Eurius’s proposal was to fight first and judge later.
“I heard that the warriors of the north prove themselves through struggle. Is that not true?”
“
”
“In fact, we should have done this a week ago, but don’t we have something to settle?”
That’s right!
Nuada hated to be indecisive by nature. He just wanted to act rather than think.
And Eurius’s demand was an alliance!
On top of that, Nuada had absolute confidence in his own skills.
‘He has a rare way of thinking that I like very much for a foreigner.’
His thoughts finally leaned toward that side. No matter how the negotiations went, he had to fight him anyway.
‘Then
’
At that moment, Nuada’s fighting spirit was reignited.
“Fine! But I have one more condition!”
“Tell me.”
“Our one-on-one fight is not enough. How about you send two more people and make it three-on-three?”
If it was Eurius before he left the fortress, he would have hesitated here. But he trusted his knights now.
“Good. Then let’s have three matches and the side that wins two of them will accept the other’s conditions!”
As the decision was made by the leaders of both sides, the situation was quickly settled.
‘First, we have to decide who will go out.’
In fact, he had not completely ruled out this possibility. The first person he would call was of course decided.
“Sir Heinz! I think you should go out.”
“It is an honor, Your highness!”
Heinz had actually achieved quite a lot of feats by assisting him even after coming to the north, but he was impatient at the moment.
It was because Linfield, an excellent lieutenant who was well-versed in the northern customs, had joined Eurius.
Of course, he did not envy Linfield at all, but rather considered him a reliable colleague, but he had been serving the emperor much longer.
‘Finally, I have a chance to repay His highness a little bit for what I received.’
There was an invisible flame burning in Sir Heinz’s eyes.
The next person Eurius looked at was Linfield.
“It is an honor to be chosen by you, Your highness!”
He was also an excellent knight in his own right. He was content with being a lieutenant who helped Eurius.
His right arm Sir Heinz and his left arm Sir Linfield, two knights were chosen and two people came out from Nuada’s side as well.
“The chief doesn’t need to step up!”
“We can handle those weak foreigners at the bottom of the mountain with just two wins!”
The warriors who came out next to him were also the two warriors that Nuada trusted the most.
Sven, a nimble warrior who used twin swords, and Bogr, a giant who wielded a huge battle axe as lightly as a feather!
These two were skilled enough to be recognized as the best warriors in any tribe if they were not under Nuada.
The place where the Thunder Rock tribe was camped was quickly prepared for a wide open space to fight,
The knights and warriors surrounded the arena and watched silently.
Soon the first match began.
“I am Linfield, the lieutenant!”
“I am Sven, a warrior of the Thunder Rock tribe!”
The two finished their introductions and drew their weapons.
Shiiing!
Without anyone saying anything, they immediately entered into a close combat.
Clang!
Sven’s twin swords and Linfield’s long sword crossed and sparks flew. Both of their weapons were fully condensed with force that could split rocks.
The fight between force users above a certain level varied depending on their combat style.
Coincidentally, both Linfield and Sven were swordsmen who valued speed.
Eurius’s eyes sharpened as he watched the situation.
‘The one who allows the first strike will be at a disadvantage.’
Knights who maximized their reflexes were relatively weak in defense. Whether it was internal or external injuries, the one who suffered a significant wound first would be in a worse position.
Linfield’s sword was fast and precise, as befitting his noble origin. His movements were like a textbook of swordsmanship, and he had gained both sharpness and speed by going through real battles with the tribes in the north.
On the other hand, Sven’s twin swords were irregular but sharp, trying to pierce Linfield’s weak points.
Clang!
He deflected Linfield’s sword that seemed to split his waist and swung down one of his swords.
Linfield also skillfully stepped back and avoided it by widening the distance.
So far, it seemed like a stalemate. But Eurius shook his head inwardly.
‘Sven is one step ahead. It will be hard.’
As he said, Linfield gradually began to be pushed back.
Bang!
Sven slammed down both of his swords at once and Linfield staggered back.
He had also felt it vaguely from the beginning of the close combat.
‘It’s frustrating, but his level is higher than mine.’
Sven was one of the two strongmen that Nuada trusted. He was obviously a master-level warrior as they say in the continent. But unfortunately, Sir Linfield had not yet reached that level.
Slash!
Finally, Sven’s sword left a fairly deep wound on Linfield’s body.
At that moment, Eurius bit his tongue.
‘This was wrong.’
He had thought that the gap between Sven and Linfield was manageable, but surprisingly, Sven was a fairly complete warrior at this point.
“It’s not over yet!”
But Linfield’s fighting spirit was also amazing.
Swish!
His sword surprisingly penetrated between Sven’s twin swords and left a fairly deep wound on his chest.
“
!?”
In fact, using twin swords meant that the force infused into the weapons was also divided into two, so the power of each strike was naturally lower.
Linfield took advantage of that and finally found a gap between the twin swords and landed a hit.
“You bastard!”
Sven, who had been slightly complacent, was surprised and started to use his full strength.
But Linfield also had plenty of combat experience in the north.
‘All I need is one good hit.’
‘If I’m careless, I might suffer an unexpected defeat.’
The first match, which seemed to end soon when Linfield was pushed back, dragged on for more than ten minutes and finally ended.
Eurius raised his hand.
“We concede defeat!”
“Your highness! It’s not over yet.”
Linfield, who shouted, was full of large and small sword wounds all over his body.
“That’s enough. I don’t want to lose you here. Trust our people behind us and rest for now!”
Eurius ordered firmly and asked the knights to take Linfield away.
Sven was not very hurt either. He was bleeding from various places due to Linfield’s occasional sharp strikes.
‘I thought the foreigners were all weaklings, but that’s not the case.’
He lifted his twin swords and held them to his chest. It was a warrior’s courtesy to Linfield, who had done his best.
Nuada nodded at Eurius without saying anything.
‘It’s time for the second match!’