Chapter 228

“Violet.”

“Y- Yes, Your Grace?”

When Milton called her, Violet answered with surprise. Milton gave her a command without even glancing at her.

“Take Trike with you and retreat quickly. If Bianca sees him, she might still be able to save him.”

“What? But you…”

“Do as you’re told! That’s an order.”

“Yes, sir. Understood.”

Even if they were husband and wife, a superior’s order was absolute on the battlefield. At Milton’s command, Violet moved quickly.

Milton got off his horse and faced Duke Schweiker.

“I’ll be your opponent.”

“That’s fine.”

When Milton faced Duke Schweiker, Duke Dominic Florian quickly stepped in.

“Wait, fight me, Grand Duke Forrest.”

Duke Florian urgently interrupted them because he didn’t want to lose the credit for killing Milton Forrest. But…

“Duke Florian, stop.”

Marquis Baker Gotham blocked him.

“What do you mean? I’m more than enough… Uh.”

Duke Florian stopped talking. What shut him up was the cold gaze of Duke Schweiker on his back. Duke Schweiker hadn’t said anything nor had he pressured Duke Florian, but his gaze told him to stay out and away. Although Marquis Baker Gotham couldn’t see, he was the most sensitive to people’s moods and had grasped the situation before anyone else. 

Soon, all the other Masters stopped fighting and left the field. None of them dared to intervene when faced with Duke Schweiker’s overwhelming presence and could only watch from the sideline. In the end, it became a one-on-one fight between Milton and Duke Schweiker.

‘No matter how much I think about it, this is insane… But there’s no other way.’

Milton took up a position in front of Duke Schweiker. 

“I am Milton Forrest of the Lester Kingdom.”

“Christian Schweiker.”

As soon as the self-introduction was complete, Milton raised his sword high with both hands.

“My Lord! It’s too dangerous!”

When Jerome saw that, he tried to warn him. But unlike Jerome, Duke Schweiker looked like he was enjoying it.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Well, it’s not like I can run.”

“Hahaha…”

Duke Schweiker laughed as he looked at Milton, then he took the same position as Milton.

“Then I accept.”

“Thank you.”

In a blink of an eye, the two men held the same position and were facing each other.

“It’s dangerous. How could he fight against Duke Schweiker?”

Jerome continued to look at Milton with a nervous look on his face. 

Milton had raised his sword high above his head with both hands - in other words, he was trying to strike down. No other attack could come out of this stance. If he tried to forcefully change his attack, it would be too slow. Therefore, he has no other choice but to strike down - the strongest attack possible in the shortest distance.

In other words, this was a one-shot battle. The person who cuts first wins.  If they were to cut their opponent at the same time, then the one who was stronger would win. Considering the power of a Master’s blow, the loser would surely die. 

There was nothing more dangerous, but Milton had his own plans. That was why he was luring in his opponent with a victory like this. It wasn’t like this was an opponent he could beat through a proper sword fight. 

Milton had already acknowledged that Schweiker’s swordsmanship was no match for himself when he had seen Schweiker leisurely defeating both Jerome and Violet. 

That was why he had created a situation where technique would have no place and turned it into a fight with pure strength. Of course, if the opponent didn’t accept it, then it was pointless.

But, Milton hadn’t even considered that possibility. He was sure that Duke Schweiker would accept his proposition if only to save his face as the continent’s strongest. 

And now. Milton carefully narrowed the distance between them. Although Duke Schweiker had the skill to let loose his Aura from a distance, it seemed like he planned to lower himself to Milton’s level. And so, Milton was carefully narrowing the gap between himself and his opponent. Likewise, Duke Schweiker was narrowing the distance. 

“Hmph, he doesn’t have a chance.”

Duke Florian scoffed at Milton’s actions. He believed that Milton didn’t stand a chance. With his level, Duke Florian was able to clearly see the difference between Milton and Duke Schweiker. 

And even at a glance, Duke Schweiker’s reach was much longer than Milton's. The physical difference was clear and even if you compared their skill and swordsmanship, Duke Schweiker was clearly better.

If Milton wanted to win, then he had to attack first. But not only did he have to attack before Duke Schweiker even began, but Milton also had to step forward to attack.

But this was impossible. There was no one who could do that against the continental powerhouse that was Duke Christian Schweiker. This was far more unlikely than winning a sword fight against him.

‘Damn, that dumb bastard. If you’re just gonna die, why couldn’t you have died by my sword?’

Not only Duke Florian, but all the other Masters watching expected similar results.

The two men, who had been narrowing the gap bit by bit, finally reached attacking distance.

Duke Schweiker attacked first. Without wavering, his sword silently fell like a single drop of water falling to the ground. It was sheer perfection. No other sword could have moved with that kind of skill or technique.

Milton’s sword moved a bit later.

‘Good!’

‘Duke Schweiker is fast.’

In that short second, the Empire’s Masters were sure of their victory. They believed Milton’s only chance of winning was to attack before Duke Schweiker did. However, now that Duke Schweiker attacked first, the odds were slim to none for Milton.

That was what everyone thought. But…

CLANG!

That all changed when Milton and Duke Schweiker’s swords clashed against each other.

‘No way?’

‘Power vs. power?’

‘Crazy bastard!’

Milton’s attack hadn’t been aimed at Duke Schweiker’s body but at his sword. But that was even crazier. The difference between the two of them was more obvious when it came to destructive strength. So how could he purposely aim to meet his sword? That was insane. However…

“Ahhhhhhhhh!!”

The moment their swords met, Milton concentrated his Aura. Of course, the moment they had entered a power struggle, Duke Schweiker had also focused his Aura, but…

Crack... Crack...

“Huh?”

The corners of Duke Schweiker’s mouth tightened. A crack was beginning to grow on his sword.

‘Can’t be.’

He had finally realized what Milton had been aiming for.

Previously, Trike’s attack had pushed Duke Schweiker back. At that time, his sword had a hairline fracture. That was what Milton had been aiming for. He had focused all his focus and technique onto that hairline fracture that Trike had risked his life to make. 

Crack… Crack Crack Crack…

“Kuh…”

Duke Schweiker gritted his teeth as he looked at the growing fracture. This was dangerous. The more Aura he focused, the faster his sword would break. His sword was already breaking because it couldn’t bear its current load. It didn’t matter that he was the continent’s strongest. If his sword broke, then he was finished. 

“This is the end, Duke Schweiker!”

Milton concentrated all his strength. At the same time...

CRACK!

With the sound of steel cracking, Duke Schweiker’s sword broke.

BANG!

Dust rose thickly with the ensuing explosion. 

***

“What happened?”

“You think?”

The Imperial soldiers stared at the battlefield with clammy palms. High up in the watchtower, Antras jumped out of his chair and stared with his eyes wide open as he waited for the dust to clear.

‘Duke Schweiker can’t die here. Not only will it lower morale, it’ll be a fatal blow.’

Antras had already been frowning before the single combat had even started. He had prepared dozens of strategies to help them win, but he failed to consider the competitive spirit of the knights.

He had waited for the single combat to finish because he knew that if he stopped it, not only would it affect the soldiers’ morale, but it would also dirty the honor of the Empire’s warriors who had gone out to fight in the single combat. He had faith in Duke Schweiker and waited with peace of mind, but he hadn’t expected the Lester Kingdom’s warriors to be this persistent.

Eventually, the match took a strange turn, and now, Duke Schweiker was in danger.

‘Please be alive…’

Antras stared at the dust as he prayed desperately.

Soon, the dust cleared up. What was revealed was…

“Waaaaah!!”

“Hooray for the Empire!”

“Long live Duke Schweiker!”

Milton had collapsed and Duke Schweiker stood before him holding onto his broken sword.

“Good!”

Antras forgot his old age as he clenched his fist and shouted. The situation wasn’t what he intended, but it was the best result possible. Duke Schweiker had overpowered Milton Forrest of the Lester Kingdom in a single combat. Whether they killed Milton here or captured him as a hostage, the result was beyond great.

‘We can pressure the Lester Kingdom to attack the Republic and we’ll have an advantage in the post-war process as well.’

In fact, with this single combat, the Andrews Empire’s continental conquest was almost over. But then… 

The situation turned strange.

Jerome approached Milton and helped him up to return to their camp. Duke Schweiker merely watched Jerome without doing anything to stop him.

“What… what the hell are you doing?!”

Antras shouted furiously at him. This was no different from sprinkling ash onto a fully cooked bowl of rice. What was Duke Schweiker doing letting Milton Forrest leave?

“Duke Schweiker! What are you doing? Capture the enemy! Sebastian! Quickly! Capture the Grand Duke Forrest!”

Antras shouted loudly at them, but neither did anything. Duke Schweiker looked down at his broken sword with an indifferent expression on his face while Duke Sebastian looked at the sky forlornly as if he had committed a crime.

“Just why…?”

Antras simply couldn’t understand the situation.

***

Duke Sebastian let out a deep sigh as he continued to stare at the sky.

“I’m sorry, Christian.”

At this teacher’s apology, Duke Schweiker turned to look at him wrly as he replied.

“No, sir. I wasn’t good enough and ended up dirtying your honor, sir.”

There was a reason these two were acting like sinners.

To recap the previous situation: 

The moment Milton broke Duke Schweiker’s sword, Schweiker predicted his death. It was obvious that the moment his sword broke, Milton’s sword would be aimed at him.

‘Constant vigilance. I knew that but…’

Duke Schweiker thought he was heading down to the underworld with a great lesson, but…

CLANG!

Just before Milton’s attack landed, an attack struck Milton from the side. Duke Sebastian had attacked him. He had felt a sense of danger when he saw the crack on Duke Schweiker’s sword. When the sword began to break, he hadn’t been able to stand it any longer and intervened.

As a result, Milton had fallen and Duke Schweiker survived. However…

“Master?”

“......”

Duke Schweiker had survived but he wasn’t happy at all and Duke Sebastian, who had intervened, was also full of guilt.