Ch#153
"Ha, why do I feel so uneasy?"
Libia said.
Aleric shot her a glare.
"Don't say ominous things, Libia."
But Libia couldn't shake her uneasy expression.
She glanced once at Tese tan, who was polishing his sword off in the distance, then continued.
"Doesn't it seem weird to you? That the Necromancer King accepted this duel?"
As far as Libia could see, the Necromancer King had no reason to accept the duel.
Tese tan agreed with her opinion too.
That was why he'd deliberately mocked the Necromancer King even more.
To rile up his temper and make him accept the duel in a fit of anger.
But Tese tan hadn't even needed much time to provoke the Necromancer King.
A few obvious taunts, and the Necromancer King bit the bait right away.
"See? Even they're in total panic over there!"
Indeed, where Libia nodded toward, Agavert's members were huddled in a circle.
The Necromancer King was buried among them out of sight, but the atmosphere there looked extremely grave even from afar.
"It was an impulsive decision. Even his own members couldn't predict the Necromancer King's action. That's how absurd it is!"
"And what do you plan to do about it now?"
Aleric stepped in.
"Libia, the duel has already been accepted. The leader will duel the Necromancer King."
Libia muttered in a half-doubting tone.
"...What if the Necromancer King is stronger than the leader?"
Her gaze shook uneasily.
"Otherwise, does it make sense? He must have some hidden power not yet revealed to the world. Something that could easily brush aside even our leader with a flick of the wrist. So he accepted the duel knowing he'd win anyway...!"
"Stop it, Libia. Do you really want Trebaga disbanded?"
Victor clicked his tongue.
"No, I'm just anxious!"
"Enough. All we can do now is watch."
Aleric let out a sigh and rummaged through his luggage.
He soon pulled something out from inside.
It was a pair of Rings of Covenant that hadn't been used in ages.
Ring of Covenant.
A high-grade magic artifact that enforced oaths and promises.
Duel participants always equipped these before starting the fight.
The victor could remove the ring the moment the duel ended.
But the loser couldn't remove it until they fulfilled every promise made before the duel.
The problem was that the longer the delay, the deeper the ring dug into the flesh.
In the end, unless the victor personally released it, the promise-breaker loser would lose their hand.
Since a swordmaster valued their wrist above all, this structure ensured the loser kept their promise no matter what.
"I'm anxious, oh man, really anxious!"
Aleric fiddled with the ring amid Libia's mutterings.
He wasn't entirely at ease himself, truth be told.
'Still, surely not.'
Tese tan, their leader, wouldn't lose.
That's what he thought.
Meanwhile.
"Uncle Bastooo, Tie can just win, right? Yeah?"
Tie tugged and shook Basto's arm dejectedly.
But Basto kept his lips firmly shut without a word.
Tie could tell Basto was extremely angry right now.
Nordics's face was just as pale.
"Tie. That man's a swordsman. He'll try close combat, and if a dangerous situation arises..."
Nordics had been nonstop explaining every possible scenario that could unfold to Tie.
And where was Veil?
He had slipped away from the group and was sitting alone off in the distance.
Tie cast her gaze down sadly at his soul-drained expression.
'...Tie did something wrong.'
Tie knew well that duels were dangerous.
And that she had to consult the members first before doing anything risky.
That was the promise.
But Tie had gone and accepted the duel on her own.
'But I couldn't not do it...'
She hadn't expected it to happen today, but Tie had been imagining and preparing for this day for a very long time.
Once she met Dad, she had to keep him by her side no matter what.
She couldn't let them separate again after finally meeting.
But with Dad not remembering her and in his wild youthful phase, he wouldn't stay quietly by her side.
'So Tie thought hard about it.'
There were actually quite a few methods she could try.
From openly following him around to disbanding the mercenary group and joining as Dad's subordinate.
But every method had a fatal flaw.
Tie always had to give up something.
'If I follow him around, Dad might run away forever.'
Disbanding the mercenary group to become Dad's subordinate meant saying goodbye to her current comrades, which was impossible.
This had tangled Tie's mind so much lately that she'd lost sleep over it.
But today.
Dad, whom she'd finally met, presented an unexpected solution.
'...A duel, right?'
Knight against knight.
No, mercenary against mercenary duel.
To hold this duel, there was a promise that absolutely had to be made beforehand.
Deciding what the loser would yield to the winner.
And according to Basto, this promise was ironclad.
If broken, you'd go to prison and get punished by the magic artifact or something.
Tie saw this as her chance.
'Maybe Tie can win?'
After awakening Marbas.
Tie had diligently practiced mana control with Kkamangi's help.
Every siege, she summoned bone friends, and now made far more undead subordinates than before.
Moreover, the duel location was quite favorable to her.
'Absolutely not in the plaza. His Majesty the Emperor won't take kindly to displays of force here.'
Per the princess—no, Association President's instructions, she and Dad would move to a nearby empty ruin.
Of course, the members were coming too, and for some reason, the Luminen family seemed like they'd tag along.
"Ppuppue says there are tons of bone friends in the ruins. Tie is super strong, yeah?"
Tie worked hard to reassure her members.
But the worry clouding their faces didn't lift easily.
Then.
"Hey."
Someone approached Agavert.
As Raoul and Enzo stepped aside, fiery red hair came into view.
'...Gasp, that sister!'
'Miss. You must always stay healthy. Laugh a lot with the leader.'
Dad's subordinate from her dream back in Pearl City.
The woman who had held and protected Tie until the very moment she died to the monsters!
"All set, right? Unless you have some scheme, let's get on with it quick? Our leader's ready."
But the woman's tone was utterly different from the dream.
Tie unwittingly drooped her eyebrows.
But she soon nodded bravely.
"Yeah, all set! Yo!"
The woman eyed Tie dubiously.
"...Still can't get used to it."
Then she tossed a Teleportation Circle at Agavert's feet.
A circle to take them to the duel site.
"Let's go! Tie will win!"
Tie scampered over, snatched up the Teleportation Circle, and shouted brightly.
Raoul and Enzo had no choice but to nod.
Soon, Enzo stated the coordinates and tore the circle.
After enduring the queasy sensation briefly, their surroundings had changed.
Trebaga, Sori Association, and Luminen family members were arriving one by one in the distance.
Basto swallowed a sigh and bent one knee.
As he adjusted Tie's cloak, a silver-haired man from Trebaga approached and held something out.
"The Ring of Covenant."
Tie gulped.
'So this is the promise bracelet.'
Basto had explained.
Once you put it on, you had no choice but to keep the promise.
But the moment Tie extended her wrist, Veil stormed over fuming.
"Are you insane?! Why equip something like that?!"
Veil glared at Aleric.
"Your leader asked for the duel, and ours agreed. Isn't that enough?"
Aleric's brow furrowed.
"The Ring of Covenant is standard procedure..."
At that moment, Tese tan leisurely appeared behind Aleric.
He took the ring from Aleric's hand and demonstratively slipped it onto his own wrist.
Then he smiled chillingly at Veil.
"Does a life-or-death duel allow for half-measures?"
"What the hell are you saying, you psycho? Suddenly talking about lives on the line! A duel is a contest of honor!"
"Sorry, but it's not my duel."
In the blink of an eye, Tese tan grabbed Tie's wrist.
And before anyone could stop him, he clamped the Ring of Covenant onto it.
As the ring tightened to fit the child's wrist, killing intent rose on Agavert members' faces.
