Chapter 256 The Duel (1/2)

As rounds steadily filled up with ht there were tens of thousands of the htblade arrived as well, a large group of otherbehind them It was clear that they had many allies, both in the House of Seals and in the other Houses

Arran stayed well away fro them the chance to seek a confrontation would be foolish It would hand theood reason

Instead, he sed his anger and turned away frohtblade would put theathered around Arran and Elder Theron as well, however Soave friendly nods and smiles, but others came over to introduce themselves, and a few even approached Arran to discuss his plans after the duel

Most of them understood quickly that Arran was not in any mood to talk, but a few insisted anyway In particular, a burly man from the House of Fists was adamant that Arran train with him when the opportunity arose

Yet as the htblade arrived

Arran had expected her to be alone, but instead, she approached the dueling grounds at the head of a long procession of House of Swords es From what Arran could tell, it seemed like none had been left behind — there were thousands and thousands of roup

At the head of the group, right behind Brightblade, were the strongest nized Grand with others whose names he did not know even if he had seen them before

When the front of the procession reached the group that had forest es there, then immediately turned to him

”Follow me,” she said curtly ”We need to speak”

Without waiting for a response, she headed toward one of the few erounds, then put down a strong ward that would stop others fro Arran a san

Before he could finish the question, Brightblade continued, ”This void bag contains a nus It's bound to me, but if I die, the bond will disappear and you will be able to open it”

”If you die?” Arran looked at her ide eyes While he had known the duel was dangerous, some part of him had still believed that she had souarantee victory But instead, she seemed to consider death a real possibility

”If I lose the duel,” she went on, ”do not linger here for even a second Do not e me Head to my mountain estate immediately — the wards there should buy you so, then follow the path into the uards at the Valley's gates”

Arran stared at her wordlessly, still shocked that she thought she ht die But when his mind calmed a bit some moments later, he asked, ”Didn't you tell me that path only lead to death?”

She nodded, her expression severe ”If you follow that path, with your current strength, you will likely die But it will give you a better chance than staying in the Valley”

Arran sed hard ”Do you have to do this? Can't we just leave the Valley?”

Brightblade responded with a firm shake of her head ”Even if I wanted to, it's too late for that But this fight…” She sighed ”It's necessary Not just for your future in the Valley, but for the Valley's own future as well If I don't fight, or if I lose, the Ninth Valley will fall And sooner rather than later, I suspect”

At this, Arran knitted his brows in thought He knew it had to do with the things Elder Theron had told hihtblade now said, it seemed the situation was far more serious than he had believed

”Still,” he said, unwilling to accept the situation so easily ”Isn't there so that doesn't have you risk death?”

”Sohts cannot be avoided,” she responded ”This is one of those And if this Valley is to survive, I fear it will not be the last”

Arran barely understood what she was talking about, but with a heavy heart, he nodded ”Just be careful”

Brightblade grinned in response, though the grin looked a bit forced ”I have no intention of throwing my life away,” she said Then, more confidently, ”And I am not so easily defeated”

All Arran could do was nod and hope that she was right Because although there were lance at the sky told hihtblade said ”With a bit of luck, we'll be talking again soon enough”

She flashed hirounds As she left, Arran found his he wanted to say, all the words that came to mind seemed trivial now — unfit for the situation

”Good luck,” he finally said in a soft voice, too late for Brightblade to hear him

He didn't leave immediately For sohtblade as she approached the dueling grounds The feeling was far worse than what he felt when going into battle himself — at least then, he controlled the situation