TL: This will be the last free daily updates of the year. See you again next year on Jan. 3!
Well, if you are also reading Apocalypse’s Billionaire there would be daily updates starting on Dec. 20 for this holidays.
The chapters for that novel will be automatically posted. There is no specific time because it depends on what time I submitted them.
***
A predator. That’s how Raymond appears to Kaham Luhaman right now.
He once went hunting and encountered a bear before.
At that time, the bear was a hungry one and he almost died. If the knight didn’t arrive in time, he would have already become the bear’s food.
His memory from that time still lingers.
A kind of imprint which settled like trauma, and now he is facing it again.
“Why?”
A pressure like from the bear that he saw back then.
Why is he feeling it from Raymond?
His hands hidden behind him trembled and no matter what he distractions he could think of, the fear was still there.
He wanted to ran away. He wanted to stay far from Raymond, however, it seems like his feet are nailed on floor. No matter how much he wanted to move his feet, he couldn’t budge an inch.
“Is he the same Raymond, right?”
He didn’t seem to be the Raymond he knew.
Raymond he knew was never like this.
‘This can’t be happening.’
Kaham Luhaman never missed a banquet, so ever since he was a child he had always been meeting with Raymond.
Therefore, it can be said that he knows Raymond to some extent.
In his mind, Raymond was so timid that he couldn’t express his own opinion.
The pressure of being the son of a Master Wizard and inability to handle magic properly had always weigh on his shoulder.
In order to ran away from that, he started to do bad things.
And now he’s showing that kind of pressure?
‘I’m sure he is a wizard.’
It didn’t make sense unless he used magic.
Raymond.
There is no way that he can show that without abandoning his reasons.
‘You can’t be swayed. If you’re swayed, you lose.’ Kaham said to himself.
The gap between the before and after of Raymond was so great that Kaham could not face the reality.
He wanted to deny what he just felt.
This can’t be.
‘I have to take responsibility? No. I didn’t do anything wrong. I just told the truth.’
Why don’t he propose a duel?
“Then why don’t you have a fight with me?”
He swallowed his dry saliva and looked at Raymond.
What if he refuse?
No. Raymond will not refuse.
If Raymond accepts the duel, he will deal with Raymond properly.
Through the duel, he can proven to everyone that Raymond is incompetent.
That way, he can prove that his words were not wrong.
‘I can fool others’ eyes, but it can’t fool my eyes.’
Swordsman vs. wizard.
Magic is close to omnipotence.
However, no matter how much magical knowledge a person knows, if talent is not up to standard, it will be useless.
Even if Raymond used magic, it didn’t matter.
Raymond is weak.
Since he only achieved 1st circle by the age of 17, he will not lose to Raymond.
‘There’s no way Raymond will reject this duel.’
Raymond cares a lot about his image in public.
Otherwise, he couldn’t have reacted to his provocation.
So he was sure that Raymond will accept the Duel he asked for.
‘While this is going on, I can also relieve the stress that I accumulated.’
That arrogant attitude.
He will crush that attitude of Raymond in front of people.
Kaham has already imagine his victory, while Raymond is begging on his knees.
While waiting for Raymond’s answer, he imagined how he will humiliate Raymond.
Thinking about it makes him smile.
Kaham, who regained his confidence, stared at Raymond and said.
“What will you do?”
***
“Hmm.”
Raymond didn’t accept immediately the sudden duel.
What can be gained through the Duel in this current situation?
He looked around.
Nobles were looking at them with expectations.
“A duel, right?”
“Oh. Kaham asked Raymond for a fight.”
“Isn’t the winner already determined? Kaham is a talented swordsman. But Raymond is still at 1st circle wizard.”
They were whispering among themselves and already predicting who will win or lose.
Most of them were betting on Kaham’s victory.
Even though they saw Raymond exuding a pressure similar to Count Warlug’s, they are not confident with his capability.
‘Are they actually blind?’
The more he listened to them, the more he could see how Raymond is being looked down upon by everyone.
Thanks to their words, Raymond has suffered so much.
If they had said this right in front of him, he would have hit them immediately.
“But a duel is not a bad thing.”
A duel does not bring him any disadvantages at all.
He knows that he is stronger than the youngest knight of his family, he don’t know how strong are the others but he was sure that he will not lose to anyone of his age.
‘Hmm, a duel right in front of a gathering of noble families.’
A banquet hosted by a prestigious family of Wizard is special.
Therefore, many nobles participated.
Among them, there were people who will became famous in the future.
‘There’s nothing bad about showing them a good performance in advance.’
They are people he would meet, at least once, in the future.
It was like a kind of opportunity to inform them of his existence in the Kingdom.
“I accept it.”
One duel would be fine.
It was just a duel, but Kaham’s face, who was carefully looking at me, brightened.
Why is he so happy that I accepted the duel?
“Is he a pervert?”
He could be someone who likes to be hit.
Someone who likes to be beaten up when they’re fighting.
Anyway, it doesn’t have to do with him.
It’s already been a while since he held a wooden sword.
***
All the nobles in the banquet hall gathered at the Fighting ring.
There is only one reason why they gathered.
Raymond Millennium and Kaham Luhaman will be fighting!
It was a big match.
Raymond, the son of Count Millennium, was only a 1st circle wizard.
Kaham, from the second best Swordsmanship family after Warlug, is a genius swordsman.
Upon hearing the confrontation between the two, the nobles had already predicted who would win.
Kaham Luhaman will definitely win.
Nevertheless, the reason why people gathered is to spectacle.
Think about it.
Where else would they be able to see a Count’s son being beaten up?
This was a rare sight, so it was natural for spectators to gather around.
‘But it’s annoying that no one thinks I will win.’
Who else would like to be openly looked down upon?
Definitely no one.
As they climb up the fighting ring, Selina approached Raymond and told.
“Please be careful!”
Raymond can interpret it in two ways.
The first is to be careful on not to get hurt.
The second is to moderately knock down the opponent.
Raymond was leaning more on the second choice.
Even if she didn’t say that, he will definitely moderately knock down the opponent.
“Hahaha. I’ll deal with you in moderation, so you don’t have to worry too much about him young lady Selina.”
Kaham secretly approached Selina and when he heard what he said to Raymond, he intervened.
Selina quietly bowed her head at him and left in order to get to her seat.
“She is still very shy.”
I don’t think so.
“Come on up.”
Kaham, who had already climbed up to the Fighting ring before Raymond, look down at him and said.
Let’s break his wrist first, just enough to prevent him holding a sword for a couple of months.
“They are really dueling.”
“But the results is too obvious”.
“Anyway, it’s still fun to watch.”
People’s voices are heard every where.
They don’t even think about whispering, they spoke openly without minding their volume.
I’m looking forward to their faces later.
Standing at the Fighting ring, Raymond just ignored them, a knight approached.
“Please leave your sword to me.”
Raymond didn’t say much and handed him the sword from the commander
Real sword cannot be used at the Fighting ring.
But Raymond wanted to use a real sword.
However, there is nothing he can do.
Setting aside his thoughts about the sword, he grabbed the wooden sword given by the knight.
“It’s heavier than before.”
This isn’t that bad.
He clenched his wooden sword and looked at Kaham.
Kaham was swinging his wooden sword and checking his physical condition.
Then he nodded and smiled.
Was he that confident?
“Are you ready?”
Kaham looked at him with a relaxed face.
He was so relax that it didn’t seem like he was scared earlier.
It was normal to be scared when facing the same pressure from Count Warlug.
Now that the pressure from his acting has disappeared, he must have regained his confidence on his swordsmanship.
“But will it be okay? You are still a 1st circle wizard. I think it’s going you are in a disadvantageous position against me. If you’re scared, you can quit even now. Don’t be humiliated for nothing.”
Did he want him to lose face by emphasizing the words, 1st circle wizard?
“It may seem arrogant for saying this, but Luhaman’s swordsmanship may be too much for you.”
Kaham swung his sword for a few times.
“I’ll show you.”
[“The Unnamed God” watches you with sparkling eyes.]
Lahaman’s swordsmanship.
Raymond is not that interested with their swordsmanship.
In the first place, he couldn’t even hear his voice.
“Whoo…”
A strange excitement wrapped around his body, as he begin ‘acting’ as the main character.
The heat he was feeling on his head subsided and his heartbeat slowed down.
“….”
The voices of the spectators surrounding the fighting ring became quiet.
If it was too noisy, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate.
Raymond looked forward.
It could be said that the stance of Kaham is pretty good. It could be used for either defense or offense.
Just by looking at his posture, he can already see how much he has trained.
That’s good. Few people in his age barely train themselves to this level of understanding.
“But still…”
He was worse than Selina.
Without realizing it, Raymond had unconsciously compared him to Selina.
Of course, Selina is better.
Raymond put all his strength on holding the grip of the sword.
Pat!
He kicked the ground. With the push from his feet, he strode forward to Kaham.
He swung his sword.
“Huh…”
His first strike was a failure, but the eyes of Kaham, who blocked his sword, were wide open.
Raymond back away.
He turned the handle of the sword and aimed to his side.
Pam!
Kaham had managed to block the attack again. Raymond back away because of the rebound.
Taking this opportunity, Kaham made his first move.
Raymond pulled himself back and blocked his sword casually.
“This can’t be!”’
Clenching his teeth, Kaham swung the wooden sword.
Pam! Pam!
For the consecutive strikes, Raymond had manage to block them all.
Avoiding the wooden sword, Raymond had strike Kaham’s side successfully.
His wooden sword hits his abdomen.
Kaham groaned and faltered.
Raymond reached out and grabbed him. Kaham stared at him even though he is in pain.
He still hasn’t grasped the situation properly.
Kaham tried to shook off his hand on his collar by swinging the wooden sword, however, Raymond was faster and he had already hit him.
“Ugh!”
Kaham groaned and swings the wooden sword toward the air.
Hit!
Kaham hit Raymond’s hand on the side of the wooden sword. The wooden sword fell to the ground.
“Ugh.”
Kaham faltered and step back.
Raymond hit was quite strong so his whole body was aching.
When Raymond grabbed the wooden sword, he took a step forward and swung it.
With the last strike, Kaham’s body collapsed.
Wiping off the sweat flowing down to his chin with his sleeves.
He looked around.