Chapter 57: Seventh Episode: Chapter 2 (2/2)
To train the knights, Dortmund reinitiated this competition. Even though getting injured was normal, the few Paladins staying on watch outside the ring ensured that they could intervene the competition at the most critical moment. They have successfully stopped a few fights before.
Oscar’s opponent was his blood-related brother. They both have not initiated their attack. They were simply moving slowly in circle in the ring.
Figg did not want to attack, but he did not dare to stop his moving feet. Because if there was a moment of pause, that guy’s machete would be right on his head.
Oscar was finally impatient! He picked up speed in a swift moment! His body gushed towards Figg as if he was flying in a parabolic curve. Figg’s sword moved almost subconsciously. The long sword was up against little Oscar’s body that came rushing forward!
The humming of the collision of the sword and blade was followed by the cheer of the audience! The brothers moved past each other.
Figg took a glance towards the stand. He saw that Tracey closed her mouth nervously.
Obviously, she was scared that she would scream.
”Chance!” Oscar’s machete attacked Figg from an angle he could not see. The young lad did not believe that his brother would be distracted at this moment!
The blade and sword collide again. At the exclamation of the audience, Figg’s sword-holding hand trembled, but he successfully directed the machete away.
Oscar realized a problem. And that was no matter how his machete changed form, his brother could always find the point at which the form had not been changed. That force was eliminated by the long sword at that particular point.
”I can’t do it this way!” Oscar became serious. He wanted his brother to be able to marry a beautiful lady, but he forgot the true meaning of the competition now. This young lad was furious. He simply wanted to win now.
The two people in the ring began to move in circles. They stared hard at the weapons in each other’s hand.
The first to attack was still Oscar. Figg used his blade to welcome the attack, but he quickly found that his little brother’s machete was gone! Figg did not know if he should be happy or worried. His knight’s sword slashed towards the abdominal area of his opponent according to plan.
The light of blade suddenly appeared on top of his head! Figg sighed in his heart. He knew it would not be an easy win. Oscar’s machete would definitely reach its destination faster than the knight’s sword. Figg abandoned his attack. And the cost of changing his attack was that the machete that came from above was flown away.
The yelling of the people became even louder. They were complaining about this competition that was not taken seriously. Because to them, the actions of the two participants were nonchalant. It was far from the intensity they had imagined.
In fact, Oscar was not serious. It was a life-or-death situation. He simply couldn’t accumulate enough killing intent and force. He was always slow for a fraction of second during the critical moment. Like just now, he kept his machete behind his back. His arms and shoulders were at the best angle. If it was as usual, the coming hit from above would definitely slash his opponent into a half, but Oscar was slow as he swung his blade. Thus, Figg successfully got off from the attack!
”That is the duel between two local gangsters using fruit knives!” Tracey could not watch this anymore! She expressed her dissatisfaction to Duke Andrew beside her.
”Daughter-in-law! Be patient!” The Duke took advantage of Tracey. ”Figg is a participant who needs to warm up. Moreover, that little guy is truly hard to deal with.”
As expected, Figg has started to warm up! The first strike, the second strike, the third strike... When he struck seven times at his brother at a great force, little Oscar finally showed his weakness. The people cheered enthusiastically!
Oscar knew his brother started to show his jerk nature. The young lad did not have a tall build, nor did he had a long arm. The older brother took advantage of the difference in build to perform a strategy of hit-and-run. Even though this strategy used up his energy quickly, Oscar was completely passive now. The knight’s sword of the older brother could easily stab any of his body parts, but his machete could not touch the former’s body at all. This was because that his older brother was always out of his attacking range.
The young lad stopped seven strikes. He was feeling exhausted now. The force on the sword became stronger and stronger each time.
Figg saw the loophole in Oscar’s defense. That was a really rare loophole! The speed of the knight’s sword was promoted to the maximum. The long sword seemed to spark a bright sunlight as it rushed forward.
Oscar stared hard at the direction in which the long sword was coming from. He made a mistake! Even though this mistake was designed, he needed a dagger to complete his attack and turn a lose into a win. He had no dagger now. The result of using a machete to block was definitely injury!
The young lad turned around in a swift. This was not the moment he should be hesitating. The machete faced the long sword from an unbelievable angle. The young lad held his step and got prepared to block and defense.
Figg was truly an insidious guy. The long sword did not hit the machete as imagined. Figg simply touched it slightly then left. The spark from the trembling of hands confused the young lad’s eyes. When the machete did not transfer the force that he had imagined, the young lad, who was prepared, felt terrible! He wanted to curse because this was completely the strategy he employed when he was facing old Logiartes.
The light of blade touched the body. Oscar retreated in a bad state. Figg obviously did not plan to let him go. This brother continued striking his little brother six times at an impressive force. Oscar could no longer feel his hands!
The last strike! Figg used up the energy of his whole body, but he quickly realized something was wrong! His little brother did not choose to block. Instead, he hugged his machete as he crashed into the embrace of his brother. Retrieve the sword! Face the attack! Figg’s movement was truly agile. His little brother was not able to get advantage of him. The machete and the long sword collided in a huge humming noise.
This was the moment to compete on their brute strength! Oscar pressed his elbow on the back of his blade and pressed onto the knight’s sword little by little. Just when Figg ran out of ideas, he suddenly saw a hint of cheekiness flash in his little brother’s eyes.
Figg was pushed away by the machete, but no one noticed that there was something in the hand of the bridegroom-to-be.
”Finish it off!” Oscar sent his last challenge.
”Yes! It’s time to finish!” Figg put the knight’s sword horizontal in front of his chest.
The people’s cheer suddenly became enthusiastic. They knew it was about time to decide the winner!
Oscar rushed forward with his machete still at the left side of his body.
Figg did not move. His knight’s sword was still horizontal in front of his chest.
Oscar launched the strongest strike. The light from the blade was biting cold as the blade itself propagated a terrifying aura. Figg started to move! His body turned to the side, but the knight’s sword accurately hit the point at which there was strongest force on the blade.
Oscar only slashed for half of the course of the strike because the long sword accurately hit on the blade and caused it to break in half. The blade flew upwards, but Oscar did not stop his momentum to move forward. Figg knew it was too late to keep the sword. He saw his little brother’s hand enlarging in front of his eyes.
Great pain! Figg knew that half of his ugly face was finished! But this was not only it! The machete that followed slashed at his chest in a solid strike. Figg almost broke his teeth only to stop himself from yelling in pain, but the force on the machete actually sent him flying!
Figg laid on the ground. Without sound!
”No!” A scream shocked the bewildered crowds! They saw a beautiful figure rushed out from the stand!
Tracey did not think it would be this way! Her Figg actually lost. Moreover, he was knocked down to the ground!
This lady rushed into the competition ground. She went directly to Figg. When she helped this jerk up, she was shocked to see a large amount of red blood!
The people screamed once again! Even the generals on the stand were so surprised that they stood up. But they all knew that Figg must not make it already! The weapon that was not taken out from its sheath was also extremely terrifying. If it even caused an injury to the deadly parts of the enemy’s body, then this injured person would mostly die.
”No!” ”No!” ”It shouldn’t be this way!” Tracey moaned in pain subconsciously. She finally understood why she could not accept this reality! Because for a very long time, in her heart, her Figg has never lost!
”Tracey!” Figg opened his eyes. He felt relieved. At this moment, the scars on his face was relaxed and sweat was all over his body. There was an unspeakable aura about this strong man.
It was the aura that showed his utmost weakness! Tracey’s tears dripped onto Figg’s chest. His chest was full of blood stains. The greenish-purple wound was also stained with the dirt on the floor.
This lady did not wish to be strong anymore. All her pretense and determination disappeared along with the loss of this man. She wanted to wrap the wound for Figg, but Figg held her hand tightly.
”Tracey! I have lost! But I am truly happy. I know you love me just as I love you!”
”Yes! Figg, yes! I love you! But I beg of you! Please do not speak! You are bleeding!”
”You have finally admitted it! Will you marry me then?”
”Yes! Yes! But my husband should not be a short-lived ghost! I beg of you! Stop talking. Let me wrap the wound for you.”
”This means that you have agreed to my proposal!”
Tracey was an extremely intelligent lady. She sensed a small hint of alarm. This guy should not speak so much, but she still agreed. There was no need to hesitate anymore at this point.
As expected! Figg got on his feet clumsily. A cheeky smile was shown on his face. This guy did not care about the extremely dark expression of Tracey.
”Haha! This is great, my dear Tracey! Let’s hear from you! Where do you think we should arrange our marriage? I will listen to everything you say!”
The people were finally able to react accordingly! Even though it was a lowly strategy for General Figg to propose to his lover, but they did not hesitate to give their blessings to this pair of couple. Cheers and flowers! Even the knights in the competition ground hit their shield loud as a sign of support!
Tracey was still trapped by this guy! The cost was her whole life. But when she saw the happiness on her lover’s face that no words could describe, it didn’t seem so bad marrying this guy!
”Kiss her!” ”Kiss her” ”Kiss her!”
”Tracey!” Figg made a hopeless expression. ”My beloved, look at this passionate people. Should we do something about it?”
Tracey’s face burned. Her action just now was embarrassing enough! She would not agree to anything he said now.
Figg approached and took Tracey in his embrace. This lady wanted to struggle, but she found Figg’s embrace contained so much strength in it for the first time ever. It was hard to resist.
His Royal Highness Prince O’Neil Andrew Morisette realized that he was not the main character for the first time. He stood at the side of two lovers that shared a kiss as they hugged, silently surrounded by the flower petals that flew all over the sky. He thought that love should be an extremely wonderful thing, but he has never truly experienced it. About this, he decided to properly review his own attitude from now onwards.
Duke Andrew was the first to clap. Even the insidious strategy of his son to propose left him feeling extremely embarrassed. But as the child’s father, he finally saw the day of marriage of this kid. This Marshal always thought that his second son would cause trouble for him forever, but at least he was really pleased with his son’s marriage.
The third son of Andrew ran into the competition ground. At this time, his brother and his sister-in-law have already separated from each other. Figg stretched his arms open and hugged his third little brother who came rushing to give him the blessing.
”Dear Cody! Say it! This time no matter how many yoghurt you want, I promise to give them to you!”
Cody stared at his brother in confusion. He did not come for the yoghurt. This silly child broke away from his brother’s embrace. He pointed to the hilly area on the east.
”Beacon!”
”Beacon?” Everyone looked to that direction! That was correct! Beacon from the east! Damn those Persians ruining Andrew’s Day of Army Formation again!
”Everyone, don’t panic!” Duke Andrew said in a loud voice. His attention has been on his son all this time. He actually did not seen the beacon from afar.
”Do not panic! This is only an attack. Now, the citizen first evacuate, then the battle units who participated in the Day of Army Formation at Andrew Haila rush back to your own Front at the fastest speed.”
Without further orders from the Duke, everyone began to move. The generals of the Front were the first to leave the ground, then the audience who came to watch the competition. As if they have practiced for countless of times, they left the huge training ground in order. The people seemed to not worry about the battle alert that came from afar. They were still excitedly discussing the dramatic proposal just now.
Figg brought his bride-to-be towards the stand. The sudden attack of the Persian seemed to have infuriated him.
‘Father! That means I have to leave my wife behind now?”
”Who is your wife?” Tracey already resumed to be her usual self now. But she soon realized that everyone was looking at her with all smiles. She blushed again. Even though she did not want to admit this, but everyone sees her as the daughter-in-law in the Andrew family.
”Tracey, now is not the time to argue about this!” Figg turned to his father. ”Is that so, my dear father? The Persians who are lonely just can’t let us celebrate our day properly! What arrangement you have in mind?”
Duke Andrew pulled Tracey over. ”She is still now my confidential secretary. Of course, you should get back to your own Front, but the situation is still unclear at this moment. I will make a decision as soon as I receive an accurate piece of information.”
”Tracey.” The Duke continued to give his orders. ”Make a notice to all the Front. If they have not found the enemy within their area of defense, then all sorts of celebration during the Day of Army Formation can still go on as usual. Of course, let them stay on the highest alert. Also, cancel the holidays of all military officers. The camp is entering battle mode. Inform the military to shut off all the transport leading into Andrew Haila at the fastest speed. Do not let any Persians that may have infiltrated from the border to take advantage of us.”
”Oscar!” The Duke called for his youngest son at the last.
The little Prince who was dumbfounded came forward. There seemed to be only him who did not know what is happening in the whole Narcissus County.
”Father, you ask for me?”
”Yes! Your duty is to stay obediently at home! Look after your third brother and take care of the safety of Her Royal Highness Princess.”
”Is there any other thing?” Oscar was a little expectant.
”No! There is none! Remember what I have said. Without my order, you should not go anywhere.”
Oscar replied him with an ‘okay’. He sent the Duke off with the protection of a bunch of military officers as the Duke left the competition ground. Even his second brother and new sister-in-law left the scene. After the whole commotion at the huge training ground, there were not many people left. The young lad scanned the crowd. Luckily, Her Royal Highness Princess was still here. His third brother also did not run off to somewhere. The people were waiting for his decision.
”Hmm...Then... Then... Let us go home!”
At last, Oscar brought the Princess who was still in a daze back home. The massive training ground was empty just like the opera theatre in which its show just ended.
The celebration of the Day of Army Formation in Andrew Haila once again did not end properly. The Persians always knew how to pick the timing. On the hill of the east, the beacon burned by itself. It told the people of Narcissus County that their fated opponent was fierce and strong. The Persians whom used invasion as their motto once again came to their home. A large war would soon break out!