Why must the devil be Defeated?
Chapter 427: Guests from the 420 Empire

Chapter 427: Guests from the 420 Empire

After leaving the Beizut Family’s house, Shane had initially planned to go to the Royal Palace to visit Luoqi.

But just when he had left the house and hadn’t yet entered the "Concealment" state, Shane was surprised to find that something seemed amiss at the entrance of his home.

Yesterday, those young nobles from around the world were still gathered in front of his house, taunting and claiming they wanted to duel with him, and even with You Lin guarding the place, they did not retreat.

Shane thought that today they would surely come again.

However, though they did come, they gathered a bit farther away instead of taunting like yesterday, and they were constantly whispering and gesturing to each other.

"What’s going on?" Shane couldn’t help but feel surprised.

But then, the next second, Shane noticed something else.

That is, in front of these young nobles, right in front of the Beizut Family’s main gate, stood a group of people.

They were dressed in official Knight Armor, each wearing a longsword at their waist, looking like capable knights, yet they stood arranged with the deadly stillness of an army.

At a glance, Shane found that these military-like knights were all no less than Level 70.

This meant that this Knight Order’s strength was not inferior to that of the Kingdom’s Guard Knight Order.

Of course, compared to the Guard Knight Order of the Kingdom, the number of these highly leveled soldiers was not many—only twelve—but the power of these twelve was sufficient for any of them to become a Knight Captain of any territory. Yet now, they were gathered together and led by three people.

Shane glanced at those three people and then fixed his gaze.

Because he realized that these three were even more extraordinary than the knights.

The leader was a clearly wealthy and handsome young man, radiating a noble aura as if he were a prince from girls’ dreams.

The young man had blond hair and blue eyes; his hair was tied up and hung down his back. He was not dressed in the luxurious attire often worn by nobles but in ceremonial attire appropriate for formal occasions.

Beside the young man was another youth, seemingly around the same age with a defiant look, and an elderly but strong man with graying hair.

Shane knew at once that these three were no ordinary individuals.

Especially the elderly man, who was simply standing there but whose daunting presence made Shane take serious notice.

His Level was incredibly high, a full ninety-seven.

Such a level, such a presence, yet seeming to be guards attending to the prince-like figure, even the defiant-looking young man occasionally gave him respectful glances, which showed the extraordinary backgrounds of these three.

Perhaps, the reason those young nobles didn’t dare come closer was because of these people?

Regarding this, Shane slightly narrowed his eyes.

"This is getting interesting."

As Shane murmured to himself and pondered for a moment, he abandoned the intention of using the "Concealment" Skill and chose rather to walk out through the front gate with dignity.

"————"

In that instant, everyone went suddenly silent, turning all their focus onto Shane.

That group did as well, as if they had spotted Shane’s emergence quicker than anyone else, and their gaze tightly followed him.

Then...

"Shane Beizut!"

"Shane Beizut has finally appeared!"

A surge of clamor burst forth.

Various young noble lords immediately glared fiercely, and the commoners on the outer edge also started shouting loudly, making the scene quite noisy.

However, this noise quickly died down.

"Are you Vice Count Shane Beizut?"

A voice as soothing as a spring breeze filled the place, carrying an incredible force that instantly suppressed all other sounds.

The prince-like young man smiled interestingly and, accompanied by his two guards, approached Shane.

"Are you Shane Beizut?" The defiant young man recklessly scrutinized Shane and then scoffed dismissively, "You don’t seem to be anything special."

The elderly man also glanced at Shane briefly before silently turning away, seemingly not too concerned with Shane.

Is he really trying to play cool?

Shane’s expression looked somewhat mocking.

"Who are you?"

Shane didn’t pay any attention to the elder and the youth, instead, he looked directly at the leading young man.

He had somewhat guessed the identity of the other.

To bring a guard squad comparable to the Guard Knights, protected by a Legendary figure, such a person is rare throughout the Human Realm.

And there was one closest to the Mitra Kingdom.

"I am Harvis Ragna, the First Prince of the Ragnar Royal Family and the First Heir to the Ragnar Empire."

With a crisp and refreshing self-introduction, the self-identified Prince Harvis’s face revealed a smile as sunny as his voice.

"As expected..."

Shane wasn’t surprised at all, clearly having guessed it already.

On the other hand, the defiant young man next to the prince seemed unwilling to see the atmosphere become too friendly and showed a cunning cold smile.

"Hearing the name of Prince Harvis, you still dare not bow?"

The defiant young man seemed to be taunting.

Unfortunately, Shane still ignored him.

"How inconsiderate of me, Prince Harvis," Shane feigned surprise and smiled at Harvis, "I didn’t expect such a distinguished figure like yourself to grace us with your presence. Why don’t you come inside and sit for a while?"

Shane acted as though he was very hospitable.

"No need." Harvis gave Shane a deep look, then said with a half-smile, "It seems that the dragon you keep is not easy to provoke, and it holds great hostility toward us uninvited guests. We dare not rashly barge into a dragon-guarded lair."

Upon hearing this, the defiant young man curled his lips.

"That oversized poser is no match for old Mr. Rocque. What’s there to be afraid of?"

The outspoken remarks of the defiant young man made it clear to Shane that this was definitely a pampered and naive youth.

But...

"Rocque...?"

Shane couldn’t help but turn his gaze toward the legendary old man.

Shane had more or less guessed the identity of this elder named Rocque.

In the Ragna Empire, there existed a knight family similar in status to the Elbein in the kingdom, renowned as the empire’s First Knight Family. The family head was the strongest person in the country, commanding hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry, the indisputable, most powerful knight captain in the empire.

The knight family was named—Bicsler.

And that mightiest knight of the empire, celebrated as second only to Aridia of the kingdom, was the legendary powerhouse—Rocque Bicsler.

"Is it him?"

Shane’s gaze held a hint of inquiry.

The other party seemed to have noticed and met Shane’s gaze, his eyes sharp as a longsword, piercing directly toward Shane.

That sharp gaze, which would even make the average person feel as though their corneas were being pierced, causing a burning pain.

Yet, Shane took it head-on.

"Oh?"

This time, Rocque appeared somewhat surprised.

But Shane, on the other hand, withdrew his gaze, as if it were his turn to lose interest in the person before him, not paying much heed, and looked back at Harvis.

"I wonder what brings Your Highness here," Shane said calmly, "Surely you didn’t come to issue a challenge like the others around here?"

"What?" the defiant young man immediately took up Shane’s words, saying, "Doesn’t His Highness have the right?"

Shane still ignored the defiant fellow, continuing to smile amiably at Harvis.

"You..."

The defiant young man’s expression darkened, he was about to say something but was suddenly stopped.

"Enough, William, this is my affair; don’t interrupt," Harvis spoke indifferently to the defiant youth.

"Tch..."

The defiant youth named William suddenly clicked his tongue, turned his head, but somehow a dagger had appeared in his hand, spinning and jumping continuously, creating one sharp blade flower after another, looking quite impressive.

"Sorry, my man was a bit rude," Harvis smiled at Shane, "But my purpose for coming here is singular, I believe you can guess?"

After all, at this time, those who’d seek out Shane were either acquaintances or enemies.

This person was here to issue a challenge to Shane, the First Priority Candidate.

"It’s surprising that the empire would seek to marry a princess of the kingdom."

Shane’s words were quite suggestive.

But that was indeed the case.

Relations between the kingdom and the empire were originally poor, yet the imperial prince had come to participate in choosing a son-in-law, intending to marry the kingdom’s princess—a fact laden with implications.

To this, the other side had only one thing to say.

"She is special," Harvis looked directly at Shane, unguardedly speaking, "This much, I believe, is understood not only by Lord Beizut but also by everyone who came here today."

Shane raised an eyebrow.

He really hadn’t expected the prince to speak so frankly.

"Our Ragnar Empire Royal Family too descends from heroes. If we can unite with a descendant of the kingdom’s heroes, one who even has the makings of a hero, no matter how one looks at it, the pursuit is worthwhile, right?"

Harvis’s candid statement made Shane take a new view of him.

It seemed this imperial prince was quite cunning and not easily deceived.

However, Shane had no intention of being overly polite to him.

At any rate, this prince was eyeing his own bride, and Shane certainly couldn’t just stand by without showing some response.

The rest of the riff-raff might as well be ignored; Shane had no spare time to entertain them.

But if it was a prince of the Ragna Empire, perhaps that could provide some amusement?

"Speak then, how would you like to compete?"

Shane expressed without any hesitation.

This caused Harvis to raise his eyebrows too, and without wasting anymore time, he threw out his words.

"Let’s go to the stage."