Chương 99: Chapter 94: For Honor!

The moment Sir Estephon lowered his hand, both knights moved. Neither rushed forward recklessly. Instead, they circled one another with measured steps, each testing the other's guard as the first clash of steel rang across the training grounds. Another exchange followed immediately, then another, the rhythm of sword against sword echoing across the silent arena. Lira watched closely, expecting Sir Deren to seize the initiative as he usually did during his sparring matches with Prince Aric.

Instead, he remained patient, allowing Salvek to dictate the pace while calmly answering every strike. To her untrained eye, the duel seemed surprisingly even, though something about Deren's restraint felt deliberate. Salvek noticed it too.

"Playing it cautiously now, boy?" he sneered as their swords disengaged.

"Are you scared of me?" Deren's expression never changed.

"I am merely baffled by how many openings you are leaving." They crossed blades again. This time, Deren's sword slipped past Salvek's guard, its point drawing a thin line of blood across the back of the older knight's knee before they separated once more. It wasn't a deep wound, yet it forced Salvek to shift his footing.

"You brat!" The older knight immediately pressed the attack, his strikes becoming heavier and noticeably more aggressive. His blade hammered against Deren's guard in rapid succession, forcing sparks to dance from the clashing steel. Yet, in the middle of the exchange, Deren calmly redirected one strike and answered with a precise thrust that nicked Salvek's forearm where the armor gave way to leather beneath the elbow. Lira couldn't help smiling.

Neither wound was serious, but Salvek had now bled twice while Deren remained untouched. Her wager on the younger knight was beginning to look considerably safer.

"I taught you how to fight!" Salvek shouted as he renewed his assault.

"Do you think I don't know every weakness you have?" His sword dipped low toward Deren's left knee. Lira recognized the attack from countless training sessions between Deren and Aric. The few times she had seen Deren lose to the prince were when he would do something similar. Deren however seemed to have anticipated it.

He probably left that opening on purpose, because when Salvek's sword reached him, he simply stepped backward, letting the blade cut through empty air before bringing the pommel of his own sword crashing into the back of Salvek's helmet. The metallic impact echoed across the courtyard. A collective laugh rose from the spectators as Salvek stumbled forward and crashed face-first onto the stone.

He rolled immediately and sprang back to his feet, more embarrassed than injured, but the fury now burning across his scarred face was unmistakable.

"I fixed that weakness two years ago, with Aric's help."

"Curse you, you insolent brat." For the first time since the duel had begun, Salvek abandoned discipline entirely. With an angry shout, he charged straight at Deren in a clumsy frontal attack. Lira frowned. It was such an obvious strike that even she expected Deren to deflect it effortlessly. Deren did exactly that. Then Salvek's sword began to glow. The enchantment flared an instant before the blades met. Deren noticed it and instinctively tried to pull away, but he was a fraction too slow.

The glowing edge sliced cleanly through his sword before continuing into the steel gauntlet protecting his forearm. The broken half of Deren's blade spun across the arena while blood seeped from beneath the mangled armor. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The crowd erupted.

"That's cheating!" shouted the young knight who had already declared his intention to challenge Salvek afterward. Sir Estephon grimaced.

"Magic is permitted in a duel to the death."

"But Sir, that isn't Salvek's magic," Aric protested immediately.

"The sword was enchanted by a third party."

"It doesn't matter," Salvek answered with a smug grin.

"There is precedent for enchanted weapons. There is even precedent for poison. If you don't wish to die..." He raised the glowing blade confidently.

"Don't challenge people." Lira's heart began pounding. Had she miscalculated? The enchanted weapon explained why Salvek had accepted the duel so readily. She had assumed Deren possessed the overwhelming advantage, yet that assumption had never accounted for a blade capable of cutting through steel itself. Then she looked at Deren. The younger knight hadn't panicked.

He merely glanced at the ruined remains of his sword before dropping the broken weapon to the ground as though it had become nothing more than scrap metal. Reaching calmly to his belt, he drew a simple fighting knife.

"Yorad. Cipos. Kalaba." Lira immediately recognized the words. Body. Amplification. Life. The bleeding from Deren's forearm slowed, though it did not stop entirely. He didn't seem to care. Knife in hand, he simply began walking toward Salvek with the same calm expression he had worn since the duel began. There wasn't the slightest trace of fear on his face despite the glowing sword before him that rendered his armor completely useless, nor did he seem concerned by the obvious reach disadvantage.

Instead, he glided silently across the arena, each step so light that even his armored boots barely made a sound. Salvek charged. Deren stepped forward instead of backward. The enchanted blade swept harmlessly past his shoulder as he slipped inside its reach. His knife flashed once, then twice, then a third time before Salvek managed to disengage. Thin streams of blood immediately began leaking from the joints of the older knight's armor where only leather and chain protected him. Lira's pulse quickened.

Those movements... She knew them. Every step, every angle, and every cut came from the Sword Saint manual. The very techniques she had given him.

"What is this?" Salvek demanded while backing away.

"When did you become this good?"

"While you were busy abusing women," Deren answered as he continued advancing, "I was studying the blade." Another slash opened Salvek's shoulder. The older knight retreated again, his breathing becoming increasingly ragged as blood seeped from dozens of small wounds. His enchanted sword remained deadly, but against an opponent who refused to get hit, it was becoming almost useless.

"O-okay..." Salvek suddenly stammered.

"I get it. I get it! I'm sorry..." Deren never slowed.

"I apologize!" Another step.

"Kavard, do something..." he called, his eyes flicking toward the first prince.

"You owe me!"

"King Argon! Hel..." Before he could finish begging, Deren slapped Salvek's sword arm aside with his left hand while sweeping his leg from beneath him in one smooth motion. As the older knight fell backward, the knife came down in a single decisive thrust. It buried itself in Salvek's eye. Silence swept across the training grounds. Deren remained standing for a long moment before calmly pulling a handkerchief from beneath his armor and wiping the blood from his gauntlet.

"With this," he said, his voice carrying effortlessly across the arena, "the honor of Lady Luxia Valis, Lady Paige Sollaris, Lady Ruby Maxwell, Lady Darcia Corvana, Lady Kiressa Evergreen, Lady Tristana Cooper, and Lady Vivian Vanira has been completely restored." After a brief pause, he continued.

"And with this, Maids Mara, Amelia, and Carrie are also halfway avenged." He never looked toward Prince Kavard when he spoke those names, but Lira did. The prince's face had gone completely white. A murmur swept through the crowd before erupting into countless overlapping voices. Several palace maids recognized the names immediately. One burst into tears, another covered her mouth in horror, while others simply stood frozen, only now learning what had become of the friends who had supposedly transferred away.

King Argon looked distinctly displeased that the matter had been brought into the open before the entire court, but he said nothing. Instead, he simply gestured toward the arena. Royal guards stepped forward to carry Salvek's body away, with Dario following them. Deren, on the other hand, bent down and picked up the fallen enchanted sword. Without the magical glow, it looked like an ordinary weapon.

He examined it briefly before sliding it into its scabbard with the quiet practicality of a soldier claiming spoils from a battlefield. Only when Salvek's body was out of sight did Lira finally allow herself to breathe. He was dead. Her plan had succeeded. Another target of hers had fallen.