The Demon King's First General
Chapter 46: Start of Duel

Chapter 46: Start of Duel

Zeno spent the night on the roof of the abandoned building; his eyes remained closed the whole time, yet he didn’t get any sleep. The words of the old warlock kept repeating in his mind.

’This is frustrating; that would be troublesome to deal with,’ he thought.

He opened his eyes and stared at the rising ball of light above the sky.

"There’s no way those beings will come, but if that is actually true, there will be a single reason for that," he uttered.

Then he let out a sigh and spoke in a low tone. "Who cares? I’ll think about it when that time comes."

He rose from lying down and jumped from the roof. He looked to his right and started to walk in that direction.

. . . . .

A series of cheers echoed inside the large arena where the battle would be held. The place was big enough to house almost a thousand people, while others were looking at the large magic crystal floating above the sky.

Even those who didn’t manage to enter could watch the most anticipated event. Everyone was busy chattering with each other when a sudden blast of fireworks exploded in the clouds.

Then, the host’s voice followed it soon. It came from the same small object floating on the side of the magic crystal.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! For those who couldn’t remember and those who couldn’t attend the first day of the Festival, my name is Grazielle, an emerald-class mercenary and still your host for today’s duel! She exclaimed while standing at the center of the stage.

The crowd reacted to her by shouting her name. Then Grazielle looked at where the palace’s balcony was located. She spotted the king watching from there with her children; however, the empire’s crown prince was not present, but Grazielle didn’t delve deeper into it. Then she looked at the king’s signal to start.

"The rules of the duel are simple: knock your opponent out, push them outside the ring, or make them surrender, and you win," she said as soon as she saw the king nod at him.

"The first battle will be the winner from the first circle against the winner from the last circle, then the winner from the second against the seventh, and so on," she explained while letting her eyes survey the sea of people.

"There will be a total of six battles for today, and the grand finals will be set tomorrow before giving the awards," she added.

Afterward, she smiled and inhaled a deep breath.

"So let’s proceed! Are you ready?" She asked before placing her right hand behind her ear to give a gesture to the crowd.

"Start! Start! Start!" The sea of people shouted in unison.

As soon as Grazielle heard the people’s voices, she called out for the first two participants.

"Then, I am calling the attention of the winner of the last circle, Pollux Nightingale!" She said while extending her hand on her right side.

After that, a man dressed in a butler’s uniform walked onto the stage. He was wearing a pair of white gloves and a black top hat.

The audience started to admire his handsome features, especially women, but Lux kept on ignoring them, and he didn’t even let out a flash of a smile on his face.

He was still mad about what Aichelle and her mistress did. They left him behind without letting him know a single thing about where they would go. Then the fact that Aichelle returned home with the unconscious Cinn ruined his morning.

Aichelle’s explanation was not that good, so he ended up waiting for the answers from her mistress’ perspective. But her mistress had not woken up since the time they got home until the moment he left for today.

Upon seeing Lux come up on the stage, Grazielle called out for his opponent.

"And now, the winner of the first circle, Cinn de Stygeia!" She yelled.

However, there weren’t any contenders on the other side of the stage.

"It looks like our sweet participant decided not to fight after seeing how handsome his opponent is," she teased.

Then she looked around, hoping to see a silhouette of the white-haired woman in the crowd. However, several minutes passed, and the audience was now whispering to each other. Soon enough, some of them yelled to proceed to the next duel and marked the first one as Lux’s win by default.

Grazielle looked at the king once more and again waited for his decision. Then the king stood up from his seat to speak.

"Due to the absence of the other contender for the first duel, I declare that it is Pollux Nightingale’s win," he announced.

"Thank you for your declaration, your Highness," Grazielle stated before she turned her gaze to Lux.

However, as soon as the man heard the king’s announcement, he walked down the stage without saying a single word.

’What a snob!’ Grazielle thought.

Then she proceeded to call the next participants for the second duel.

"Now, I am calling the winner of the second circle, the masked participant, Rish! Please come up on the stage," she said.

Cheers from the audience followed her words.

"Show us something amazing like that magic from yesterday!" Exclaimed a man after seeing the contender walk towards the stage.

Upon seeing Rish come, Grazielle called out his opponent.

"And now, the one who surprised us from his battle, our very own prince, Lex Herish!" She said while pointing her hand to the balcony.

The people stood out to show their respect; they even clapped their hands. Smiles were brooding among those who witnessed their prince’s previous battle. Until now, some of them couldn’t believe that Lex could actually wield a sword.

They admired him before due to his crafting skills, and now their respect for him has been even more solidified.

Upon hearing this, the people cheered for him. Lex let out a wide smile and stood up from his seat. He picked up the sword at his side and leaped onto the stage.

"You must be proud of yourself! To be defeated by me is an honor," the crown prince said, grinning.

However, the masked man didn’t respond to his provocation. Instead, he raised his arm, and a grimoire was summoned in front of him. Then he looked into the host’s eyes.

He didn’t utter a single word, yet his actions were saying that he was prepared for the fight and that they could start anytime soon.

Grazielle understood his intention very well, so she stepped outside of the stage and gave the signal to begin.

"Let the second duel start now!" She yelled.

As soon as the two participants heard her. They dashed towards each other, and Lex was somewhat surprised upon seeing his opponent, who was a mage, dash at him.

’What is it now?’ He thought.

"Are you giving up? A mage fighting at a close distance? Don’t make me laugh," Lex stated as soon as he pulled out his sword and slashed it towards his opponent’s neck.

Orbs of lightning flew straight towards the prince as soon as Rish ducked. It appeared in a straight line behind him. He used his body to hide his attack from his opponent.

The attacks exploded upon hitting Lex, and a huge magic circle appeared above him.

"Rain down," the masked man uttered after leaping outside the affected area of his magic.

Lex, who was covering his face from the explosions of lightning orbs, looked above as he heard a buzzing sound.

Then a continuous stream of flaming flares plunged down at him. But he drew an arc above his head, and then a tint of red expanded and protected him from the magic.

"Your tricks are amazing; however, it’s not enough to put me down," the prince said after the flares were deflected in different directions.

"Are you sure about that?" Rish replied, then he snapped his fingers, and the deflected flares swirled around Lex, creating a huge tornado of flames.

The audience reacted to the attack; they felt the intensity of the heat, and they were concerned for their prince.

The king stood up from his seat and knitted his brows, as much as he wanted his son to win. He knew when to withdraw. If this continued for another set of seconds, he would be the one to stop the fight and admit defeat for his son.

The surrounding walls and the stage pavement were melting bit by bit.

"You can now announce me as the victor, and I will extinguish my magic to save him from any harm," Rish said as he looked at Grazielle, who was now several distances away from the stage.

The host nodded, and she immediately spoke, stuttering. "T-Then the winner for the second duel is Ri-"

However, she couldn’t finish her announcement when a loud bang echoed in the arena and the tornado of flame dissipated into thin air.

Then a silhouette charged at the masked man, it was Lex who got his clothes partially destroyed. He was so fast that Rish failed to react to his opponent’s sword.

Rish was struck at his side, and he felt that his blood was getting sucked out.

"Now, let us see your suffering." Lex grinned before he put his hand on Rish’s face to take off his mask.

At the same time, a magic circle appeared beneath them, and Rish vanished, leaving the mask in Lex’s hand. Then, after a few seconds, he appeared meters away from the prince while covering the wound on his abdomen.

’His weapon—there’s some secret about it,’ Rish thought.

However, most of the crowd stood up from their seats as they saw the face hiding behind the mask.

"It can’t be," they murmured.

Meanwhile, Lex remained there, confused by the situation. Even Lexel stood up from her seat and covered her mouth. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. And the king’s expression couldn’t be explained.

. . . . .