Ch#84
84
“Get up this instant!”
Lying with his face buried in his pillow, Lucas jerked his head up at the sound of a shrill scream.
Rubbing his crusty eyes, he looked back to see his nuisance of a younger sister standing defiantly beside his bed.
He clutched his throbbing forehead and let out a grumbled complaint.
“Please! How many times do I have to tell you not to just barge into my bedroom?”
“This is no time to worry about etiquette! Get up, now! It’s an emergency!”
Raina shook his shoulders mercilessly, yelling at the top of her lungs. Lucas pushed his sister away and pressed down on his stinging temples.
He had spent the entire day from early dawn roaming the hunting grounds with fellow squires from Wolfram, then stopped at a tavern to drown himself in ale.
His head felt like it was splitting open as it was, and now she was making this huge fuss.
He glared at his sister through bleary eyes.
“What on earth is it? Did the Zramians invade Raedgo Castle or something?”
“Stop talking nonsense and get up right now!”
Raina stomped her feet, pulling violently on his arm.
“Something terrible has happened! The ‘Black Bear of the South’ is going to duel our brother!”
Lucas felt his drowsiness vanish in an instant as he bolted upright. He stared at his sister with wide, bewildered eyes.
“Who is fighting whom?”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake!”
Her limited patience seemingly exhausted, Raina threw his arm down and marched toward the door.
Lucas watched her back in a daze before scrambling out of bed. He grabbed a tunka he had tossed carelessly onto a chair, threw it over his bare chest, and rushed out after her.
He spotted servants scurrying through the corridors, lanterns in hand.
Looking around in confusion, he caught up to his sister, who was already halfway down the stairs, with his long strides.
“Is Brother really going to duel?”
“I told you he is!”
Raina snapped back, skipping two steps at a time. Lucas frowned. He knew that guests had arrived at Raedgo Castle.
However, he couldn’t fathom how a duel had broken out between the successor of the Si’eikan family and a lord representing the Southeast.
He clutched his head, which was still aching from the hangover, and asked, “Why a duel so suddenly in the middle of the night?”
“Why else? That incarnation of discord finally caused trouble!”
Raina ground her teeth.
“Apparently, that woman barged into the banquet hall, poured wine all over Lord Gutban, and even slapped him!”
Lucas’s jaw dropped.
“By ‘that woman’… do you mean the Second Princess?”
“Who else could it be!”
Raina beat her chest in frustration.
“Because of her, an argument broke out between the ‘Black Bear’ and Brother, and now it’s come to a duel!”
Crossing the hall in an instant, Raina burst out of the building, fuming loudly.
“See! I told you over and over that woman would be a disaster! I was right after all!”
Lucas rolled his eyes as he pulled the front of his open coat together.
To be precise, what his sister had predicted was a cunning villainess who acted fragile in front of their brother while plotting schemes behind his back—not a madwoman who would strike the strongest lance knight of the East in front of everyone.
‘Regardless, there’s no denying she’s become a problem.’
He ran a hand through his messy hair and quickly crossed the wide courtyard.
At the stairs leading to the training grounds, hundreds of people had already gathered, holding torches and lamps.
Lucas pushed through the crowd toward the inner training area. There, the nobles who had come to witness the duel and the elite knights of Wolfram were gathered. Spotting a familiar face among them, Lucas headed straight over.
“Tyrone!”
The lance knight, who had been talking to his subordinates, turned toward him. He, too, looked as though he had rushed out while resting. The man, wearing only a loose coat over his bare chest, looked back and forth between him and Raina and let out a deep sigh.
“What are you doing out at this hour without an escort?”
“Forget the nagging. What exactly happened?”
“I just arrived myself, so I don’t know the exact details.”
Tyrone shrugged nonchalantly.
“One thing is for certain: our next leader possesses a much more bellicose temperament than he appears to have.”
He then gestured with his chin toward one side of the vast equestrian training ground.
There stood Varkas, fully armed in black iron armor, waiting beside a massive grey stallion.
Lucas scanned him with stunned eyes. Amidst the men built like mountains, he looked like a delicately crafted, exquisite statue.
His lithe body encased in armor was by no means small or frail, but he wasn’t burly or gargantuan like the other spearmen. His movements as he tightened the joints of his armor seemed closer to those of a dancer than a warrior.
On the other hand, his opponent was nothing short of a beast in human form.
Lucas shifted his gaze to the opposite side of the grounds and swallowed hard. The man looked to be nearly 7 kuvets (approx. 210cm) tall, and his weight easily exceeded 5 lants (approx. 175kg), nearing 6 lants (approx. 210kg). If one added the weight of the steel armor covering his body, he would likely weigh even more.
The man led a muscular, giant horse befitting his size into the center of the training ground.
The light of the blazing bonfires fully revealed the man’s terrifying majesty. At the sight, gasps of admiration, excitement, and awe erupted from the crowd.
Lucas let out a low groan.
“This is madness.”
Soon after, four soldiers, presumably the man’s subordinates, came struggling to carry an enormous halberd that looked more like a hunk of iron.
When the man gripped the shaft with one hand and raised the monstrous axe blade high, the roar of the crowd grew even more intense.
Raina, watching the scene with a pale face, grabbed Tyrone by the collar.
“Why aren’t you stopping this right now!”
“That person over there has been trying her best to stop him for a while now, but he isn’t even pretending to listen.”
Tyrone sighed, pointing his thumb at a figure standing beside Varkas.
Following his gaze, Lucas’s eyes widened as he spotted a small figure shouting something at his brother. The woman was shaking her fists as if she were absolutely livid.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Lucas approached them and winced at the sound of the sharp, high-pitched voice. The woman was fearlessly screaming at the man who stood a full head taller than her.
“Are you an idiot? A moron? You could just crush a guy like that with your authority! Why are you being so stupid as to try a contest of strength!”
Lucas let out a dry laugh. He hadn’t known another woman existed besides Raina who would speak so recklessly. And to act that way toward his brother, of all people…
Lucas glanced at Varkas’s expression. He was calmly checking his horse’s condition.
The woman struck his brother’s back with her fist.
“Did you sleep through math class? That man looks three times heavier than you! Don’t you know that weight and strength are proportional?”
“Bring me my helmet.”
Varkas ignored her presence and gave an order to his squire. Angered by this, the woman rolled up her sleeves. Daren hurriedly grabbed her shoulders as she looked ready to deliver a slap.
“Highness, you do not need to worry so much. This is a common occurrence among warriors. Neither of them will go too far…”
“Who says I’m worried about him!”
She shrieked, violently shaking off the man’s hands.
“I’m worried about myself! If I become a widow right after getting married, my future will be in jeopardy!”
Daren stepped back, seemingly appalled by the woman’s venomous words. However, his brother showed no particular reaction to her curses.
He pulled his helmet over his head and vaulted onto his saddle.
“Give me the weapon.”
The squire immediately held out a halberd with a silver, crescent-shaped axe blade. Varkas took it and rode out to the center of the training ground before anyone could stop him.
The woman chased after him desperately. Lucas, who had been watching from a distance, instinctively ran out and caught her. In response, a cold gaze flew at him like a dagger.
Lucas held his breath. For a moment, his mind went blank.
As he looked down at that strangely beautiful face with dazed eyes, a thunderous trumpet blast announced the start of the duel.
Lucas snapped his head up and groaned as Alec Gutban slowly circled the arena, spinning the massive halberd with one hand.
As the axe blade—which was more like a mace—drew a large circle and sliced through the air, it made a sound like a cracking whip.
He could feel the woman trembling as if she were about to collapse. However, he didn’t have the luxury to check on her.
As if flaunting his power, the beast, who had been slowly riding along the spectator stands, spurred his horse.
The heavy sound of hooves shook the earth. Amidst a thick cloud of dust, the man mounted on the giant horse charged toward Varkas at a terrifying speed, spinning his halberd. Screams erupted from the onlookers.
And for good reason. It looked like an enraged buffalo charging at a deer. Lucas clenched his fists. It seemed as though the giant made of iron would crush his brother in a single stroke.
However, what Lucas witnessed was a sight he could hardly believe even with his own eyes. The axe blade, nearly the size of a human torso, was deflected helplessly by a spear tip that flew in as gracefully as a bird’s wing.
Lucas’s eyes bugged out.
The miraculous sight didn’t end there. When Varkas spurred his horse, the man’s massive frame tilted backward as if he had collided with a solid fortress wall.
Varkas did not miss the opening.
Kicking the stallion’s flanks, Varkas thrust his spear straight forward. The sharp spearhead, flying like a flash of light, pierced through the thick breastplate and went right through the man’s chest.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
With his spear still embedded in the man’s chest, he spurred his horse. As he lifted the spearhead, the giant’s body rose high into the air. Screams broke out everywhere at the grotesque sight.
Riding across the open grounds, Varkas swung the shaft in a wide circle before slamming the halberd into the ground. A heavy thud echoed in all directions as the man’s massive body crashed onto the dirt.
A suffocating silence fell over the area.
While everyone stood stunned by the duel that had ended in an instant, Varkas rode up to the mangled corpse and threw his helmet to the ground. Then, with a chilling face devoid of any disarray, he gave an order toward the waiting area.
“Call a priest and have him buried.”
